Week Seven (2015.10.28) --- Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher"
Edgar Allan Poe was an American writer, editor, and literary critic. Poe is best known for his poetry and short stories, particularly his tales of mystery and the macabre. Widely regarded as a central figure of Romanticism in the United States and American literature as a whole, he was one of the country's earliest practitioners of the short story. Poe is generally considered the inventor of the detective fiction genre and is further credited with contributing to the emerging genre of science fiction. He was the first well-known American writer to try to earn a living through writing alone, resulting in a financially difficult life and career.
"The Fall of the House of Usher"
“Usher” has been read and re-read by critic after critic, and there are several interesting “theories” to explain the major action of the tale. Most have approached the tale from a psychological viewpoint, which will make more sense to you after you read the text and check out our “Character Analyses.” There’s also been some criticism regarding the story’s typical Poe-ness; some feel that it is too formulaic and relies on stock Poe characters that can be found in any number of his stories. Decide for yourself.
The American Revolution was a political upheaval that took place between 1765 and 1783 during which colonists in the Thirteen American Colonies rejected the British monarchy and aristocracy, overthrew the authority of Great Britain, and founded the United States of America.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) was one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. A renowned polymath, Franklin was a leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, freemason, postmaster, scientist, inventor, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat. As a scientist, he was a major figure in the American Enlightenment and the history of physics for his discoveries and theories regarding electricity. As an inventor, he is known for the lightning rod, bifocals, and the Franklin stove, among other inventions. He facilitated many civic organizations, including Philadelphia's fire department and a university.
auto-: self
e.g. autobiography: a biography written by the person it is about
mobo-: move
e.g. mobocracy: the mob as a ruling class
“Vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”
Temperance is defined as moderation or voluntary self-restraint. It is typically described in terms of what an individual voluntarily refrains from doing. This includes restraint from retaliation in the form of non-violence and forgiveness, restraint from arrogance in the form of humility and modesty, restraint from excesses such as splurging now in the form of prudence, and restraint from excessive anger or craving for something in the form of calmness and self-control.
snobbish 勢利眼
"That government is best which governs least, because its people discipline themselves." －Thomas Jefferson
管得最少的政府就是最好的政府
The American Dream is a national ethos of the United States, the set of ideals (Democracy, Rights, Liberty, Opportunity, and Equality) in which freedom includes the opportunity for prosperity and success, and an upward social mobility for the family and children, achieved through hard work in a society with few barriers.
Ode on a Grecian Urn by John Keats
Alliteration is a stylistic literary device identified by the repeated sound of the first consonant in a series of multiple words, or the repetition of the same sounds of the same kinds of sounds at the beginning of words or in stressed syllables of a phrase.
"La Belle Dame sans Merci" (French: "The Beautiful Lady Without Mercy") is a ballad written by the English poet John Keats. It exists in two versions, with minor differences between them. The original was written by Keats in 1819. He used the title of the 15th-century La Belle Dame sans Mercy by Alain Chartier, though the plots of the two poems are different.
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