? The Melting Pot
? The United States is a nation of many ethnic groups, making it a ―melting pot‖, meaning immigrants from different nations all over the world
have combined to make one nation, the American.
? They speak almost the same kind of English with far less class or regional variety than in Britain. ? They have similar habits and manner.
? The Salad Bowl
? Since 1960s, a lot of scholars oppose against the term ―melting pot‖. They think America is similar to a Salad Bowl, every culture can find its
position in American society. Multiculturalism is the symbol of America
? The Statue of Liberty
In the mid-1870s, French artist Frederic Auguste Bartholdi was working on an enormous project called Liberty Enlightening the World, a monument celebrating US independence and the France-America alliance. At the same time, he was in love with a woman whom he had met in Canada. His mother could not approve of her son's affection for a woman she had never met, but Bartholdi went ahead and married his love in 1876.
That same year Bartholdi had assembled the statue's right arm and torch, and displayed them in Philadelphia. It is said that he had used his wife's arm as the model, but felt her face was too beautiful for the statue. He needed someone whose face represented suffering yet strength, someone more severe than beautiful. He chose his mother.
The Statue of Liberty was dedicated on an island in Upper New York Bay in 1886. It had his mother's face and his wife's body, but Bartholdi called it \
2
2.1 What is American Dream?
The big / ambitious dreams ? ? ?
A city upon hill(山巅之城）– an ideal community, view the country as a great experiment, a worthy model for other nations. The Garden of Eden
Democracy（民主）, liberty（自由）, equality（平等）, Pursuit of Happiness（追求幸福）
The individual’s dreams
?
? ? ? ? ? ? ?
For minorities and immigrants, the dream also includes freedom and equal rights. To do what they want
To own a home or rise out of poverty. To serve God, country, or community.
To want to learn to read or run their own business.
To exercise fundamental American rights: to openly practice their religion and to speak what is in their minds and hearts.
The so-called American Dream , is a belief that as long as the United States after a hard struggle will be able to achieve the ideal of a better life, that is, people have to work through their own hard work, courage, creativity and determination to move towards Prosperity, rather than rely on specific social classes and other assistance. ?
A self-made man
所谓的美国梦（American Dream），是一种相信只要在美国经过努力不懈的奋斗便能获致更好生活的理想，亦即人们必须透过自己的工作勤奋、勇气、创意、和决心迈向繁荣，而非依赖于特定的社会阶级和他人的援助。 What are the modern people’s American Dreams? The belief of Americans that their country offers opportunities for a good and successful life.
American Dream
The Protestant Episcopal Church(圣公会)
? ?
原是英国国教在北美大陆的教会，也是北美第一个新 教会。 目前有教徒304万人，白人占95％。
是美国社会中精英的教会、富人的教会。美国开国总统华盛顿就出身于圣公会，后来又有7位总统也来自该教派。 The Christian Church has three main divisions or branches:
? ? ?
The Roman Catholic Church The Eastern Orthodox The Protestant
1. US Constitution
? Constitution—basic instrument law, drawn up in 1787, came into effect in 1789. ? Two characters:
? ? ? ?
? The Federal Government—the central government. ? Three equal and separate branches：
? ? ?
The Executive branch (行政部门)
The Legislative [’led??,sle?t?v]branch （立法部门） The Judicial [d?u:’di??l] branch （司法部门）
represented by the President represented by Congress represented by the Supreme Court They are checked and balanced by one another.
? The Constitution limits the power of each government branch, and prevents any one branch from gaining undue power.
? Both the powers of the federal government and the state government are further limited by certain constitutional guarantees of civil liberties such as The Bill of Rights. In fact the three branches all represent the basic interests of the monopoly capitalist class.
Presidential Election
? Only the candidates nominated by the two major parties have the chance to win a Presidential election; ? The election process is complex; ? The Presidential election (four stages):
?
The first stage: the major parties hold conventions to choose candidates for President and Vice-President and to determine the party's separation of powers, check and balances;
specified exactly what power the central government had and which power was reserved for the states. Taking precedence over all state constitutions and laws, and over laws made by the congress; First of its kind in the world, it has inspired dozens of other countries to seek political reform.
1. It directly derived from the Church of England, has the same form of services and organization or share the same apostolic （使徒的）succession ( the passing on through bishops and priests of powers)
2. The Episcopal Church of the U.S. refuses to accept the supreme authority of the Bishop of Rome( the Pope), but accepts the supreme authority of bishops of its own Church.
? Significance of the Constitution
platform. ?
The second stage is the campaigning stage.
? By early fall the presidential race is on. From that time until the election day, voters are bombarded from all sides—by radio,
television, newspapers, and personal communications with political material.
? There are whistle stop tours by train, by plane, and by car. The candidate delivers countless speeches and shakes countless
hands. This is a very important stage in the general election.
?
The third stage is the time for voters to choose the list of presidential electors for the state.
? The number of electors of each state is equal to that of its senators and representatives in Congress.
? There are altogether 538 presidential electors, 535 from the states and 3 from the District of Columbia (without seats in
Congress).
? All the candidates of Presidential electors are party nominees. People will vote their party candidate for the presidency. As a result, a voter is
actually choosing a President when he casts his vote for an elector. ? ―Winner-take-all‖ principle
?
If the candidates of a party for ―electors‖ in a given state receive a majority of the total vote, then the party is entitled to have all the electoral votes for that state.
? When the presidential electors are chosen out in the presidential election year, people have already known who is going to be the US
president in the next four years.
?
列举5个美国法定节假日：New Years Day Martin Luther King, Jr.s Day VALENTINE’S DAY President’s Day EASTER Fool’s Day Mother’s Day
Father’s Day Thanksgiving Day Christmas
Jazz
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Jazz is a style of music that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States from a confluence of African and European music traditions.
From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th century American popular music. Origins： African music was largely functional, for work or ritual, and included work songs and field hollers The African tradition made use of a single-line melody and call-and-response pattern, but without the European concept of harmony. Rhythms reflected African speech patterns, and the African use of pentatonic scales led to blue notes in blues and jazz. Elements of Jazz： Jazz is very hard to describe because there are now many different styles of jazz. Common instruments used in Jazz music are trumpet, piano, and saxophone Improvisation is a key element. Scat-singing is also common
dance music, jazz has been a major part of popular music, and has also become a major element of Western classical music. Jazz has roots in West African cultural and musical expression, and in African American music traditions including blues and ragtime, as well as European military band music. ? ?
Rock Origins Early Rock music actually came from R&B. Unfortunately, this was a product of racism
Although the result is already known, the electors still meet in their state capitals and cast their votes for President and vice-President on the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December. That is the fourth stage.
Jazz is a kind of music characterized by swung and blue notes, call and response vocals, polyrhythms and improvisation. Though originally a kind of
Bill Haley 被称之为摇滚乐之父，也是摇滚乐的创始人。 Jimmie Rodgers ——Country music's father ?
American Civil War (1861-1865)
1.The cause of the war ?
There existed two economic systems in the North and the South. In the North, the importation of black slaves was outlawed(宣布...为不合法 ) in 1808, the capitalist economy developed rapidly. By 1860, American industry had ranked fourth in the world.
The Wedding Car Sometimes, the couple’s car is decorated with tin cans, paper steamers, or old shoes, along with a “Just Married” sign. The tin can and the old shoes reflect an old idea that noisemakers scare away evil spirits and bring good luck.
? But in the South things were quite different. The south had a large number of plantations(种植园) on which Negro slaves were made to work. They grow cotton , rice, sugar and tobacco, but there was little industry.
The slaves in the South lived in small cabins near their master’s big house. They were often cruelly treated and the punishments on them were rather severe. ?
In 1820, Southern and Northern politicians disputed the question of whether slavery would be legal in the western territories. Congress agreed on a compromise: Slavery was permitted in the new state of Missouri and the Arkansas territory, and it was banned everywhere west and north of Missouri. ?
Whether the new territories from the Mexican war (1846-1848) would be open to slavery or not was another troubling question. In 1850, Congress voted another compromise: California was admitted as a free state, and the inhabitants of the Utah and New Mexico territories were allowed to decide the issue for themselves. ? ?
Congress also passed the Fugitive Slave Act in 1850, which helped Southerners to recapture slaves who had escaped to the free states. Some Northern states did not enforce this law, however, and abolitionists continued to help fleeing blacks.
Fugitive Slave Act :《1850年逃奴追缉法案》.
capitalists of the North considered free labor was more economical and therefore more profitable for their industry.
This was the main cause of the conflict and also the main cause of Civil War between the North and the South.
Nobel Prize in Literature ?
The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895. The prizes in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Peace were first awarded in 1901. ? ?
Since 1901, the Nobel Prize for Literature has been awarded annually to an author from any country who has, in the words from the will of Alfred Nobel, produced \
The highlight of the Nobel Prize Award Ceremony in Stockholm is when each Nobel Laureate steps forward to receive the prize from the hands of His Majesty the King of Sweden. ... Under the eyes of a watching world, the Nobel Laureate receives three things: a diploma, a medal, and a document confirming the prize amount.
1930 - Sinclair Lewis (1885-1951)
1936 - Eugene Gladstone O'Neill (1888-1953) 1949 - William Faulkner (1897-1962) 1954 - Ernest Miller Hemingway (1899-1961) 1962 - John Steinbeck (1902-1968) 1976 - Saul Bellow (1915-2005) 1993 - Toni Morrison (1931- )
Pulitzer Prize
? ? ? ? ? ? ?
Ignorance is not innocence but sin. ---Robert Browning Everyone ----Mark Twain
is
a
moon,
and
has
a
dark
side
which
he
never
shows
to
Man
is
not
made
for
defeat.
A
man
can
be
destroyed
,
but
not
---Ernest Hemingway
Pain does not matter to a man. ---Ernest Hemingway
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper and online journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City.
Prizes are awarded yearly in twenty-one categories. In twenty of these, each winner receives a certificate and a US$10,000 cash award. The winner in the public service category of the journalism competition is awarded a gold medal.
President John F. Kennedy for Biography –Profile in Courage 《勇者无畏》.
Plantation owners insisted that the slavery system should be kept because they considered slaves to constitute cheap labor, while the industrial
defeated.
anybody.
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