美国文学选读马克吐温.doc

.- early Works 1)The celebrated Humping Frog of CalaverasCounty, 加拉维拉县有名的跳蛙 2)The Innocents Abroad傻子出国记 3)The Adventures of Tom Sawyer 4)The Gilded Age镀金时代 5) A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court 亚瑟王宫廷中的美国佬 6)The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 7) Roughing It (含辛茹苦) 8)Life on the Mississippi late works: 1) The Tragedy of Pudd‟nhead Wilson (傻瓜威尔逊) 2)The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg  败坏了的赫德莱堡的人 Brief introduction l The celebrated Humping Frog of CalaverasCounty "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County" is an 1865 short story by Mark Twain. It was his first great success as a writer and brought him national attention. The story has also been published as "Jim Smiley and His Jumping Frog" (its original title) and "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County". In it, the narrator retells a story he heard from a bartender, Simon Wheeler, at the Angels Hotel in Angels Camp, California, about the gambler Jim Smiley. The narrator describes him: "If he even seen a straddle bug start to go anywheres, he would bet you how long it would take him to get to wherever he going to, and if you took him up, he would foller that straddle bug to Mexico but what he would find out where he was bound for and how long he was on the road."The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County, and Other Sketches is also the title story of an 1867 collection of short stories by Mark Twain. It was Twains first book and collected 27 stories that were previously published in magazines and newspapers. l The Innocents Abroad The Innocents Abroad, or The New Pilgrims Progress is a travel book by American author Mark Twain, published in 1869, which humorously chronicles what Twain called his "Great Pleasure Excursion" on board the chartered vessel Quaker City (formerly USS Quaker City), through Europe and the Holy Land, with a group of American travelers in 1867. It was the best-selling of Twains works during his lifetime,as well as one of the best-selling travel books of all time. A major theme of the book, insofar as a book can have a theme when assembled and revised from the newspaper columns Twain sent back to America as the journey progressed, is that of the conflict between history and the modern world; the narrator continually encounters petty profiteering and trivializations of history as he journeys, as well as a strange emphasis placed on particular past events, and is either outraged, puzzled, or bored by the encounter. One example can be found in the sequence during which the boat has stopped at Gibraltar. On shore, the narrator encounters seemingly dozens of people intent on regaling him, and everyone else, with a bland and pointless anecdote concerning how a particular hill nearby acquired its name, heedless of the fact that the anecdote is, indeed, bland, pointless, and entirely too repetitive. Another example may be found in the discussion of the story of Abelard and Heloise, where the skeptical American deconstructs the story and comes to the conclusion that far too much fuss has been made about the two lovers. Only when the ship reaches areas of the world that do not exploit for profit or bore passers-by with inexplicable interest in their history, such as the passage dealing with the ships time at the Canary Islands, is this attitude not found in the text. l The Gilded Age The Gilded Age in United States history is the late 19th century, from the 1870s to about 1900. The term for this period came into use in the 1920s and 30s and was derived from writer Mark Twains 1873 The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today, which satirized an era of serious social problems masked by a thin gold gilding. The early half of the Gilded Age roughly coincided with the middle portion of the Victorian era in Britain and Belle poque in France. It was preceded by the Reconstruction Era that ended in 1877 and was succeeded by the Progressive Era that began in the 1890s.The Gilded Age was an era of rapid economic growth, especially in the North and West. As American wages were much higher than those in Europe, especially for skilled workers, the period saw an influx of millions of European immigrants. The rapid expansion of industrialization led to real wage growth of 60% between 1860 and 1890, spread across the ever-increasing labor force. The average annual wage per industrial worker (including men, women and children) rose from $380 in 1880 to $564 in 1890, a gain of 48%. However, the Gilded Age was also an era of abject poverty and inequality as millions of immigrants—many from impoverished European nations—poured into the United States, and the high concentration of wealth became more visible and contentious. l A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court the narrator—implied to be Twain himself—describes meeting the title character at Warwick Castle, drawn by his "candid simplicity, his marvelous familiarity with ancient armor, and the restfulness of his company" (0.1).The Yankee (a.k.a. Hank) asks him if he knows anything about the transmigration of souls—kind of a weird question for someone youve just met, right? The narrator says that he doesnt.The Yankee departs and the narrator avoids boredom by reading Malory (big mistake), taking in a story about Sir Launcelot killing two giants.As the narrator sets the book down, he hears a knock at the door. Its the Yankee. The narrator sits him down, and loosens his tongue with copious amounts of booze to get him to tell his story.The Yankee says that he was born and raised in Hartford, and that he worked as the head superintendent of an arms factory. He could make nearly anything out of metal, including guns and complex machinery.One day, during a fight with one of the workers named Hercules, he got hit in the head with a crowbar. Um… serves him right for picking a fight with a guy named Hercules. Anyway, Hank passed out and when he woke up, he found himself sitting under an oak tree in the countryside. night on horseback took him captive and led him to Camelot—turns out Hank had been transported thirteen centuries back in time.Back in the present, the Yankee starts to nod off, so he gives the narrator his journal to read. l The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a Sequence to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. The story takes place along the Mississippi Riverbefore the Civil War in the United States, around 1850. Along the river floats a small raft, with two people on it: One is an ignorant, uneducated black slave named Jimand the other is little uneducated outcast white boy about the age of 13, called Huckleberry Finnor Huck Finn. Itis a Sequence to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. The story takes place along the Mississippi Riverbefore the Civil War in the United States, around 1850. Along the river floats a small raft, with two people on it: One is an ignorant, uneducated black slave named Jimand the other is little uneducated outcast white boy about the age of 13, called Huckleberry Finnor Huck Finn. l The Man That Corrupted Hadleyburg Chapter I Hadleyburg enjoys the reputation of being an "incorruptible" town known for its responsible, honest people that are trained to avoid temptation. However, at some point the people of Hadleyburg manage to offend a passing stranger, and he vows to get his revenge by corrupting the town.The strangers plan centers around a sack of gold (worth around $40,000) he drops off in Hadleyburg at the house of Mr. and Mrs. Richards, to be given to a man in the town who purportedly gave him some life-changing advice (and 20 dollars in a time of need) long ago. To identify the man, a letter with the sack suggests that anyone who claims to know what the advice was should write the remark down and submit it to Reverend Burgess, who will open the sack at a public meeting and find the actual remark inside. News of the mysterious sack of gold spreads throughout the town and even gains attention across the country. Chapter II The residents beam with pride as stories of the sack and Hadleyburgs honesty spread throughout the nation, but the mood soon changes. Initially reluctant to give into the temptation of the gold, soon even the most upstanding citizens are trying to guess the remark.Mr. and Mrs. Richards, one of the towns 19 model couples, receive a letter from a stranger revealing the remark: "You are far from being a bad man: go, and reform". Mrs. Richards is ecstatic that they will be able to claim the gold. Unbeknownst to one another, all 19 couples have received exactly the same letter. They submit their claims to Burgess and begin to recklessly purchase things on credit in anticipation of their future wealth. Chapter III The town hall meeting to decide the rightful owner of the sack arrives, and it is packed with residents, outsiders, and reporters. Burgess reads the first two claims, and a dispute quickly arises between two members of the town, "Shadbelly" Billson and Lawyer Wilson. Both of their letters contain nearly the same remark. To settle which is right, Burgess cuts open the sack and finds the note that reveals the full remark: "You are far from being a bad man—go, and reform—or, mark my words—some day, for your sins you will die and go to hell or Hadleyburg—try and make it the former". Neither mans claim includes the second half of remark. The next claim reads the same, and the town hall bursts into laughter at the obvious dishonesty behind the identical, incorrect claims. Burgess continues to read the rest of the claims, all with the same remark, and one by one the prominent couples of the town are publicly shamed. Mr. and Mrs. Richards await their name with anguish, but surprisingly it is never read.With all the claims presented, another note in the sack is opened. It reveals the strangers plot and his desire for revenge. He says that it was foolish for the citizens of Hadleyburg to always avoid temptation, because it is easy to corrupt those who have never had their resolve tested. It is discovered the sack contains not gold but lead pieces. A townsperson proposes to auction the lead off and give the money to the Richardses, the only prominent couple in town that did not have their name read off. Mr. and Mrs. Richards are in despair, unsure whether to come clean and stop the auction or to accept the money.The stranger who set up the whole scheme in the first place is revealed to have been in the town hall the whole time. He contrives to reward the Richardses for their supposed honesty by buying the sack at auction for its price in gold. Chapter IV The following day the stranger delivers checks totaling $40,000 to the Richardses. They fret about whether they should burn them. A message arrives from Burgess, explaining that he intentionally kept the Richardses claim from being read as a way to return an old favor done to him by Mr. Richards.Mr. and Mrs. Richards become distraught over their situation. They grow paranoid and start to think Burgess has revealed their dishonesty to other people in the town. Their anxiety causes them both to fall ill and Mr. Richards confesses their guilt shortly before he and his wife die. Hadleyburg, with its reputation irreparably damaged, decides to rename itself. The story ends with the line "It is an honest town once more, and the man will have to rise early that catches it napping again".