Part One Colonial America

Chapter Ⅰ American Puritanism

1. The New World

2. Puritan Fathers

3. The Puritan Principles

4. Characteristics of American Puritans

5. The Puritan Heritage

Chapter Ⅱ The Colonial Literature

1. Characteristics of the Colonial Literature

2. William Bradford

3. Anne Bradstreet

4. Edward Taylor

5. Jonathan Edwards

Part Two America Independence

Chapter Ⅰ American Revolution and Enlightenment

1. American Revolution

2. Enlightenment

Chapter Ⅱ The Literature of Revolution and Enlightenment

1. The Literary Features

2. Thomas Paine

3. Thomas Jefferson

4. Philip Freneau

Chapter Ⅲ Benjamin Franklin

Part Three The Age of Romanticism

Chapter Ⅰ The Rise of American Romanticism

1. Historical Background

2. Characteristics of Romanticism

3. Features of American Romanticism

Chapter Ⅱ Early Romanticism

1. Characteristics of Early Romanticism

2. Early Romantic Novelists

3. Early Romantic Poets

Chapter Ⅲ Late Romanticism

1. Characteristics of Late Romanticism and the Flowering of American Literature

2. Late Romantic Poets—Whitman,Dickinson, Poe

3. Late Romantic Essayists—Emerson and Thoreau

4. Late Romantic Novelists—Hawthorne and Melville

Part Four The Age of Realism

Chapter Ⅰ The Rise of Realism

1. Realism

2. Features of Critical Realism

3. Historical Background of American Realism

4. Features of American Realism

Chapter Ⅱ Three Major Novelists of Realism

Chapter Ⅲ Four Novelists of Naturalism

Chapter Ⅳ Other Writers of Social Criticism

Part Five The Age of Modernism

Chapter Ⅰ The Rise of Modernism

1. Modernism

2. Features of Modernism

3. Historical Introduction of American Modernism

4. Modern American Poetry

5. Modem American Drama

6. Modern American Fiction

Chapter Ⅱ Modern Poets

Poets of Native Traditions

Chapter Ⅲ Imagist and Symbolist Poets

Chapter Ⅳ Modern Novelists

Chapter Ⅴ Modern Playwrights

Chapter Ⅵ Some Contemporary Writers

Appendix Glossary of Literary Terms

References