殖民地时期文学.doc

Part I. The Literature of Colonial America
Historical Introduction
Puritan
Puritanism
Early American writers and Poets
I. Historical Introduction
The native American and their culture–-Indians
Christopher Columbus discovered the American continent in 1492
Captain Christopher Newport reached Virginia in 1607.
Puritans came to the New England area by “Mayflower” in 1620.
The Puritan migration began.
Puritans
One division of English Protestant. They regarded the reformation of the church under Elizabeth as plete, and called for further purification. To them, religion is a matter of primary importance.()
The 17th-century American Puritans included two parts: Separatists and Massachusetts Bay Group.
Religious Doctrines of Puritans
Predestination, original sin, total depravity, and limited atonement through a special infusion of grace from God.
They regarded themselves as chosen people of God. They embraced hardships, industry and frugality. They favored a disciplined, hard, somber, ascetic and harsh life. They opposed arts and pleasure. They suspect joy and laughter as symptoms of sin.
Puritanism
A dominant factor in American life, one of the most enduring shaping influences in American thought and American literature.()
it has been, by and large, a healthy legacy to the Americans though it was once under violent attacks for its religious intolerance