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1、BenjaminFranklin TheAmericanEnlightenmentHaoGuilian,Ph.D.YunnanNormalUniversitySpring,2011HistoricalBackground-1Americahasalwaysbeenalandofbeginnings.AfterEuropeans"discovered"Americainthefifteenthcentury,themysteriousNewWorldbecameformanypeopleagenuinehopeofanewlife,andescapef
2、rompovertyandpersecution,achancetostartagain.Wecansaythat,asanation,Americabeginswiththathope.When,however,doesAmericanliteraturebegin?HistoricalBackground-2AmericanliteraturebeginswithAmericanexperiences.TheNewWorldprovideagreatvarietyofexperiences,andtheseexperiencesdemandeda
3、widevarietyofexpressionsbyaevenwidervarietyofearlyAmericanwriters.ThesewritersincludedJohnSmith,whospentonlyabouttwo-and-one-halfyearsontheAmericancontinent.TheyincludedJonathanEdwardsandWilliamByrd,whothoughtofthemselvesasBritishsubjects,neversuspectingarevolutionthatwouldcrea
4、teaUnitedStatesofAmericawithaliteratureofitsown.AmericanIndians,explorers,Pilgrims,Puritanministers,frontierwives,plantationowners---theyareallthecreatorsofthefirstAmericanliterature.Puritanism-1ThePuritansweredevoutChristianswhowantedtopurifytheirlivesandtheirchurchofwhattheys
5、awasthecorruptionsofEnglishsocietyanditsstatereligion,theChurchofEngland.TheycalledthemselvesSaintsorSeparatists,buttheyarenowgenerallycalledPuritans--anamethatbecameasignoftheirseparateness.WritingwasanimportantpartofPuritanlife;itwasoftenanextensionofreligion.Theywrotetoinstr
6、uctothersortotestifytheirexperienceofdivinegrace;theywrotespiritualautobiographies.Puritanism-2Puritanwriting,inotherwords,waspractical.Thewritersweredeeplyinvolvedwiththeirspiritualselvesandattemptstoimprovethem.Theywrotenofiction,nordidtheyevenapproveofreadingfiction,andtheyw
7、rotenoplays.Theirwritingsconsistedlargelyofjournals,sermons,hymns,histories,andpoems.TheypreferredtowriteinwhattheycalledPlainStyle,whichwasmeantsimplytocommunicateideasasclearlyaspossible.WritingwasnotawayofshowingoffclevernessorlearningbutawayofservingGodandthecommunity.TheAm
8、ericanEnlightenment-1The18th-centuryAmericanEnlightenm
