Câu hỏi 1: Những điểm đặc biệt, tiêu biểu của nên văn học Mỹ

History of American Literature

OVERVIEW

During its early history, America was a series of British colonies on the eastern coast of the present-day
United States. Therefore, its literary tradition begins as linked to the broader tradition of English
literature. However, unique American characteristics and the breadth of its production usually now
cause it to be considered a separate path and tradition.

. Colonial Literature Some of the earliest forms of American literature were pamphlets and writings
extolling the benefits of the colonies to both a European and colonist audience. John Smith Captain John
Smith could be considered the first American author with his works: A True Relation of ... Virginia (1608).
The revolutionary period also contained Samuel Adams political writings, including those by colonist
Samuel Adams. Two key figures were Benjamin Franklin and Thomas Paine. Franklin's Poor Richard's
Almanac and The Benjamin Franklin Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin are esteemed works with their
wit and influence toward the formation of a budding American identity. Thomas Paine

Early U.S. Literature In the post-war period, The Federalist essays by Alexander Hamilton, James
Madison, and John Jay represented a historical Alexander Hamilton discussion of government
organization and republican values. Thomas Jefferson's United States Declaration of Independence, his
influence on the James Madison Constitution, and the mass of his letters have led to him being
considered one of the most talented early American writers. John Jay The first American novel is
sometimes considered to be William Hill Brown's The Power of Sympathy (1789). Much of the early
literature of the new nation struggled Thomas Jefferson to find a uniquely American voice. European
forms and styles were often transferred to new locales and critics often saw them as inferior W.H.
Brown

Unique American Style With the War of 1812 and an increasing desire to produce uniquely American
work, a number of key new literary figures appeared, perhaps most prominently Washington Irving
Washington Irving, James Fenimore Cooper, and Edgar Allan Poe. Irving, often considered the first writer
to develop a unique American style (although James Fenimore this is debated) wrote humorous works
Cooper in Salmagundi and the well-known satire A History of New York, by Diedrich Edgar Allan Poe
Knickerbocker (1809). Anti-transcendental works from Melville (Moby-Dick), Hawthorne (Scarlet Letter),
and Poe (The Fall of the House of Usher) all comprise the Dark Romanticism subgenre of Hawthorne
literature popular during this time.

American 19th Century Poetry America's two greatest 19th-century poets could hardly have been more
different in temperament and style. Walt Whitman (1819-1892) was a working man, a traveler, a
selfappointed nurse during the American Civil War (18611865), and a poetic innovator. His magnum
opus was Leaves of Grass, in which he uses a free-flowing verse and lines of irregular length to depict
the all-inclusiveness of American democracy. Taking that motif one step further, the poet equates the
vast range of American experience with himself without being egotistical. Emily Dickinson (1830-1886),
on the other hand, lived the sheltered life of a genteel unmarried woman in small-town Amherst,
Massachusetts. Within its formal structure, her poetry is ingenious, witty, exquisitely wrought, and
psychologically penetrating. Her work was unconventional for its day, and little of it was published
during her lifetime. Many of her poems dwell on death, often with a mischievous twist. Walt Whitman
Emily Dickinson

Realism Mark Twain (the pen name of Samuel Langhorne Clemens, 1835-1910) was the first major
American writer to be born away from the East Coast -- in the border state of Missouri. His regional
masterpieces were the memoir Life on the Mississippi and the novel Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.
Twain's style changed the way Americans write their language. His characters speak like real people
and sound distinctively American, using local dialects, newly invented words, and regional accents.
Henry James (1843-1916) confronted the Old WorldNew World dilemma by writing directly about it.
Among his more accessible works are the novellas Daisy Miller, about an enchanting American girl in
Europe, and The Turn of the Screw, an enigmatic ghost story. Mark Twain Henry James

Turn of the Century At the beginning of the 20th century, American novelists were expanding fiction's
social spectrum to encompass both high and low life and sometimes connected to the naturalist school
of realism. More directly political writings discussed social issues and power of corporations. Some like
Edward Bellamy in Looking Backward outlined other possible political and social frameworks. Upton
Sinclair, most famous for his meat-packing novel The Jungle, advocated socialism. Henry Adams'
literate autobiography, The Education of Henry Adams also depicted a stinging description of the
education system and modern life. Experimentation in style and form soon joined the new freedom in
subject matter. Edward Bellamy Upton Sinclair Henry Adams

Turn of the Century American writers also expressed the disillusionment following upon the war. The
stories and novels of F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940) capture the restless, pleasure-hungry, defiant
mood of the 1920s. Fitzgerald's characteristic theme, expressed poignantly in The Great Gatsby, is the
tendency of youth's golden dreams to dissolve in failure and disappointment. Depression era literature
was blunt and direct in its social criticism. John Steinbeck (1902-1968). His style was simple and
evocative, winning him the favor of the readers but not of the critics. The Grapes of Wrath, considered
his masterpiece, is a strong, socially-oriented novel that tells the story of the Joads, a poor family from
Oklahoma and their journey to California in search of a better life. Scott Fritzgerald John Steinbeck

Post-World War II The period in time from the end of World War II up until, roughly, the late 1960s and
early 1970s saw to the publication of some of the most popular works in American history. The poetry
and fiction of the "Beat Generation," largely born of a circle of intellects formed in New York City around
Columbia University and established more officially some time later in San Francisco, came of age. The
term, Beat, referred, all at the same time, to the countercultural rhythm of the Jazz scene, to a sense of
rebellion regarding the conservative stress of post-war society, and to an interest in new forms of
spiritual experience through drugs, alcohol, philosophy, and religion, and specifically through Zen
Buddhism Regarding the war novel specifically, there was a literary explosion in America during the
post-World War II era. Some of the most well known of the works produced included Norman Mailer's
The Naked and the Dead (1948). Norman Mailer

Câu 2: Điểm nổi bật của văn học Anh thế kỷ 20

In the seventies of the 19th century most writers on social problems believed that science and science
alone would finally sweep away all human misery and bring civilization to all. Men of science were
greatly admired. They were invited to speak in public halls and express their opinions on all kinds of
subjects. Many of these scientists believed in positivism, and spread their demagogic ideas among the
people.

But during the last decades of the 19th century doubts began to arise as to the faultless nature of
European civilization. People had awakened to the fact that scientific progress was increasing the wealth
of the upper classes only. They began to see that some human beings were born to riches for which they
had not worked, while the majority was born to poverty from which there was no escape.

Philanthropy, never having been able to prevent poverty, now became a laughing stock. Disillusionment
led to pessimism and found its expression in a very pessimistic literature, the literature of the
Decadence. So the phrase “the End of the Century” meant not only the turn of the century: It also
meant that a certain change had occurred in the more clearly-thinking minds.

It was the End of the Century that created writers who were interested in human society as a whole
(Shaw, Galsworthy), and a. new type of writer who was preoccupied with the future of mankind (Wells).
The spirit of the time lasted till the First World War of 1914-1918.

Some historical facts

It was in the last decades of the century that new trade-unions sprang up, which workers, regardless of
their qualifications, could join; even unskilled factory-hands were accepted. It was now easier for the
workers to help one another during strikes. The trade-union officials were no longer representatives of
the bourgeois liberal party: the leaders were real workers, such as Tom Mann, who later founded the
British Communist Party.

The growing class-consciousness of the workers threw the upper class into a panic of fear. In 1883 a
group of independent socialists organized the Fabian Society. These Socialists came from the middle
class, but they wanted to improve the economic situation of the common people. Many progressive-
minded writers, such as Bernard Shaw, Herbert Wells and some Marxists, belonged at various times to
the Fabian Society.
The Fabians thought that the fut~ depended on a careful scientific organization of society, which they
hoped would lead the country to state capitalism. They refused to recognize the ,class struggle as
necessary for social progress. English Fabian Socialism never became part of the actual workers'
movement.

The activities of these Socialists are interesting, howeyer, from a 'historical point of view. They
investigated different systems of labour and made a thorough examination of the housing conditions in
working-class districts, particularly in the East End of London with its factories and docks, which was the
poorest part of the city.

Among the social investigators who began to walk the slums were young women from cultured families.
The diaries they left give a complete picture of how the workers lived. Here are some of the notes.

The houses looked ready to fall, many of them out of the perpendicular. Entire families were crowded
into one room. Most of the doors stood open all day as well as all night, and the passages and stairs
sheltered many who were altogether homeless. Here a mother would stand with her baby of'sit with it
on the stairs, or companions would huddle together in cold weather. Everywhere there was drunk-
enness, dirt and bad language. Gambling was the chief amusement of the young men, and fights in the
streets were common, ending at times even in murder.

Only a small number of dock workers had permanent work; the majority were casuals employed for one
job only. The casuals would walk to the docks early in the morning and wait at the entrances to the
various wharves hoping for the chance that a foreman might need someone. Whenever it happened
that an extra man was wanted for some work on the wharf, there would be brutal fighting and struggle
at the gates.

The houses looked ready to fall, many of them out of the perpendicular. Entire families were crowded
into one room. Most of the doors stood open all day as well as all night, and the passages and stairs
sheltered many who were altogether homeless. Here a mother would stand with her baby of'sit with it
on the stairs, or companions would huddle together in cold weather. Everywhere there was drunk-
enness, dirt and bad language. Gambling was the chief amusement of the young men, and fights in the
streets were common, ending at times even in murder.

Only a small number of dock workers had permanent work; the majority were casuals employed for one
job only. The casuals would walk to the docks early in the morning and wait at the entrances to the
various wharves hoping for the chance that a foreman might need someone. Whenever it happened
that an extra man was wanted for some work on the wharf, there would be brutal fighting and struggle
at the gates.

The workers who had permanent work stood on a higher social level. On Sundays they would crowd into
the parks and listen to various speakers. Here an atheist would stand on a soap-box and explain that if
there be a God he must be a monster to permit such misery as unemployment' .Back to back with the
atheist, facing another crowd, would be a man from a Christian association who would explain
unemployment as God's punishment of unbelievers.

In the summer of 1889 a great dock strike broke out in London led by Tom Mann and other workers'
leaders.

Meanwhile the British imperialists were fighting for colonial expansion and preparing for the Boer War
in South Africa. The name of Joseph Chamberlain appeared in the newspapers. With a view to getting
the support of the nation for his colonial policy, he said in his speeches that he was against
individualism, he was for a united British Empire working collectively together. Collectivism was a nice
word to draw the attention of the masses away from class struggle. He appealed to their 'pride of
country', boasting that Britain was the richest country in the world and that every man would be sure of
a good living if he and his fellow workers fought for the good of the Empire. The idea that the British
race was superior to all others was flattering, especially to the bourgeoisie. It meant that they were
supermen. The imperialists came to power in 1895. Four Fars later the Boer War broke out.

Câu 3: Tìm hiểu thông tin về nhà văn William Shakespeare

William Shakespeare (1564-1616)

The great English playwright and poet William Shakespeare was born on April 23, 1564 in the small
town of Stratford-upon-Avon, about seventy-five miles from London. Ile was the son of a tradesman.
When a boy he went to Stratford Grammar School where Latin and Greek were almost the only subjects.
Life itself, contact with people and his acquaintance with the rich English folklore gave him more than
the scholastic methods used at school. In those days Stratford-upon-Avon was often visited by traveling
groups of actors. It is quite possible that Shakespeare saw some plays performed by such actors and was
impressed by them.

William Shakespeare
(1564-1616)

Shakespeare lived in Stratford-upon-Avon until he was twenty-one. By that time he was married and
had three children. At twenty-one he left Stratford-upon-Avon for London where he joined a theatrical
company and worked as an actor and a playwright.

In the late 90s a new theatre called The Globe was built on the bank of the Thames. Shakespeare
became one of its owners. The people of the London liked it better than any other theatre. It was in The
Globe that most of Shakespeare's plays were staged at that time.

In 1613, Shakespeare left London and returned to his native town of Stratford-upon-Avon. Three years
later, on April 23, 1616, he died and was buried there. Shakespeare is the author of 2 poems, 37 plays
and 154 sonnets. His creative work is usually divided into three periods.

The first period that lasted from 1590 to 1600 was marked by the optimism so characteristic of all
humanist literature. It is best reflected in his brilliant comedies: The Comedies of Errors (1592), The
Taming of the Shrew (1593), The Two Gentlemen of Verona (1594), Love’s Labor’s Lost (1594), A
Midsummer Night’s Dream (1595), Much Ado About Nothing (1598), The Merry Wives of Windsor
(1599), As You Like It (1599), Twelfth Night; Or, What You Will (1600).

The comedies describe the adventures of young men and women, their friendship and love, their
search for happiness. The scene is usually laid in some southern countries. But one cannot help feeling
that the comedies show the “Merry England” of Shakespeare’s time.

The comedies are usually based on some misunderstanding that creates comic situations. They are full
of fun. But the laughter is not a mockery directed against the people and their vices. Shakespeare never
moralizes in his comedies. He laughs with people, but not at them. His comedies are filled with humanist
love for people and the belief in the nobleness and kindness of human nature.

The historical chronicles form another group of plays written by Shakespeare in the first period. They
are: King Henry VI (part II) (1590), King Henry VI (part III) (1590), King Henry VI (part I) (1591), The
Tragedy of King Richard II (1592), The Tragedy of King Richard II (1595), The Life and Death of King John
(1596), King Henry IV (part I) (1597), King Henry IV (part II) (1597), The Life of King Henry V (1598).
Historical Chronicles are plays written on subjects from national history. Shakespeare’s chronicles
cover a period of more than three hundred years of English history (from the rule of King John in the
12th century up to the 16th century). However, the main subjects of the chronicles are not the lives and
fates of Kings but history itself and the development of the country. Like all humanists of his time
Shakespeare believed a centralized monarchy to be an ideal form of state power. He thought it would
put an end to the struggle of feudal and would create conditions for the progress of the country. One of
the great achievements of Shakespeare was that in his chronicles he showed not only the kings, feudal,
and churchmen, but the lower classes too.

The drama The Merchant of Venice and the two early tragedies Romeo and Juliet and Julius Caesar,
also written in the 90s, show a change in the playwright's understanding of life, whose approach to
reality becomes more pessimistic. The main works written by Shakespeare during the second period
(1601-1608) are his four great tragedies: Hamlet, Prince of Denmark (1601), Othello, the Moor of Venice
(1604), King Lear (1605), Macbeth (1605). The tragedies reflect the deep, unsolvable contradictions of
life, the falsehood, injustice and tyranny existing in society. They show people whoperish in the struggle
against Evil.

The tragedies, like the chronicles, are also based on real events but there is a considerable difference
between the two genres. The playwright raised great problems of Good and Evil in both. But in the
chronicles they are mostly linked with political themes-the question of the state and public life of the
period described. In the tragedies which are centered round the life of one man Shakespeare touched
on the moral problems of universal significance - honesty, cruelty, kindness, love, vanity and others.
That is why his tragedies are of great interest to every new generation

The plays of the third period (1609 - 1612) differ from everything written by Shakespeare before. The
playwright still touches upon important social and moral problems. But now he suggests utopian
solution to them. He introduces romantic and fantastic elements, which have a decisive role in his plays.
Due to these peculiarities the works of this period - Cymbeline (1609), The Winter's Tale (1610) and The
Tempest (1612) are called romantic dramas.