Chaptercolonialperiod.docVIP

PAGE  PAGE 7 Chapter One Colonial Period 教案纸 From the arrival of the Mayflower to the end of the 18th century 教学目的与要求Grasping the historical background of this period Puritanism, Calvinism and their influence on literature in this period Having a general idea of the schools of literature 教学重点与难点Historical background of the period Puritan representatives generally， and their thoughts and ideas and their contributions to American literature Literary features generally教学方法Lectures: providing essential background knowledge 2) Seminars: discussing on the given topics教学手段Traditional teaching Multi-media equipment 学时分配Two periods 教 学 过 程Step one: Leading in Step two: The colonial period I. Historical background First settlers, the founding fathers, were just Puritans from England. We know that they were persecuted in England because of their different religious beliefs. They hated the persecution so that they fled to this newly-found continent where they thought it provided them a good place to realize their dream, to be free in religion and in politics. These Puritans were idealists. They believed that the Church should be restored to the “purity” of the first century Church as established by Jesus Christ Himself. Religion was a primary importance to them. So here in America they tended to prove that they were God’s chosen people enjoying His blessing on this continent as in heaven. However, with their hard work on this earth, they became more practical. The very severity of the frontier conditions taught them to be tougher, to be ready for any misfortune and tragic failure that might lie in wait for them. They worked optimistically with indomitable courage and confident hope toward building a New Garden of Eden in America. They had never been daunted. 1. Puritanism 1.1 Puritans: We have mentioned “puritan” frequently. But what is Puritan? What does it mean? What is Puritanism? As the word itself hints, Puritans wanted to make pure their