专业考试指导：美国文学简史（六）

会计考友

　　Chapter 4 American Naturalism
4 k  V* f& a/ c( Y! \# ~( ]6 y7 I　　I.                   Background
　　1.         Darwin’s theory: “natural selection”
9 I- o  y- p; [; y( o　　2.         Spenser’s idea: “social Darwinism”
' m  d" F* |" Q# f: Z* W' p! \+ n　　3.         French Naturalism: Zora
8 R+ N5 o0 B" p" N6 P3 v　　II.                Features
) k, |* J9 z9 t　　1.         environment and heredity
　　2.         scientific accuracy and a lot of details
' }* Q% x# k' [: s8 M( I　　3.         general tone: hopelessness, despair, gloom, ugly side of the society
　　III.             significance
5 Q2 C6 Q( H* w/ X: h　　It prepares the way for the writing of 1920s’ “lost generation” and T. S. Eliot.
　　IV.              Theodore Dreiser
　　1.         life
1 P1 l7 _/ f: q' L　　2.         works
4 U/ K1 q' j1 K/ v　　(1)      Sister Carrie
) Y, T  f+ z2 j7 K1 V1 }3 `　　(2)      The trilogy: Financier, The Titan, The Stoic
, o8 G, [; n+ U　　(3)      Jennie Gerhardt
8 O* P/ J, u. X　　(4)      American Tragedy
　　(5)      The Genius
　　3.         point of view
　　(1)      He embraced social Darwinism – survival of the fittest. He learned to regard man as merely an animal driven by greed and lust in a struggle for existence in which only the “fittest”, the most ruthless, survive.
　　(2)      Life is predatory, a “game” of the lecherous and heartless, a jungle struggle in which man, being “a waif and an interloper in Nature”, a “wisp in the wind of social forces”, is a mere pawn in the general scheme of things, with no power whatever to assert his will.
　　(3)      No one is ethically free; everything is determined by a complex of internal chemisms and by the forces of social pressure.
　　4.         Sister Carrie
　　(1)      Plot
/ W, S$ W( T" m　　(2)      Analysis
　　5.         Style
' N/ I$ R1 c2 a; w3 y5 j% x　　(1)      Without good structure
　　(2)      Deficient characterization
　　(3)      Lack in imagination
5 c0 r" w8 Z$ b) H　　(4)      Journalistic method
0 `7 P$ R/ Z& I/ ^7 y　　(5)      Techniques in painting