本书分四部分：美国早期文学、美国浪漫主义文学、美国现实主义和自然主义文学、美国现代文学。在每一部分中，编者先概述了本时期的社会、政治、经济、意识形态的状况，归纳本时期的文学趋势与流派特征，之后介绍了本时期具有代表性的优秀作家的生平、写作特色及重点选文，并对文中难点加以注释，以供读者参考。本书的使用对象为高等院校英语专业高年级学生，对美国文学感兴趣的非英语专业的学生、教师、硕士研究生和文学爱好者，也希望能有所帮助。

Part Ⅰ　The Early American Literature

 Chapter Ⅰ.The Literature of Colonial America

Ⅰ.The Background

Ⅱ.The Literature of Colonial America

 Chapter II.The Literature of Revolutionary America(1700—1800)

Ⅰ.The Background

Ⅱ.The Literature of Revolutionary America

Ⅲ.Benjamin Franklin and The Autobiography

Ⅳ.Thomas Jefferson and The Declaration of Independence

Part Ⅱ American Romanticism

 Chapter Ⅰ.Historical Background

 Chapter II.Literary Features and Writers

Ⅰ.Washington Irving and Rip Van Winkle

　　　1.Irving's life and literary works

　　　2.Rip Van Winkle

　　Ⅱ.Ralph Waldo Emerson and Nature

　　　1.Emerson's life and literary works

　　　2.Nature

Ⅲ.Nathaniel Hawthorne and Scarlet Letter

　　　1.Hawthorne's life and literary works

 2.The Scarlet Letter

Ⅳ.Walt Whitman and Leaves of Grass

　　　1.Whitman's life and literary works

 2.Leaves of Grass

Ⅴ.Herman Melville and Moby Dick

　　　1.Melville's life and literary works

 2.Moby Dick

Part Ⅲ　American Realism and Naturalism

　Chapter Ⅰ.Realism

　　Ⅰ.Historical Background

　　Ⅱ.The Literary Characteristics of the Realism

Ⅲ.Mark Twain and The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County

 1.Mark Twain's life and his literary career

　　　2.The Celebrated Jumping Frog

Ⅳ.Henry James and The Portrait of a Lady

　　　1.Henry James'life and his literary career

　　　2.The Portrait of a Lady

Ⅴ.Emily Dickenson and a Poem

　　　1.Emily Dickenson's life and her literary career

 2.A poem

 Chapter Ⅱ.Naturalism

　　Ⅰ.Historical Background

　　Ⅱ.The Literary Characteristics of the Naturalistic Period in America Literature

　　Ⅲ.Theodore Dreiser and Sister Carrie

　　　1.Theodore Dreiser's life and life career

 2.An American Tragedy

 3.Sister Carrie

Ⅳ.Jack London and The Call of the Wild

　　　1.Jack London's life and his literary career

 2.The Call of the Wild

Part Ⅳ　American Modernism

 Chapter Ⅰ.The Historical Background

 Chapter Ⅱ.Literary Features and Major Writers

 Chapter Ⅲ.Major writers

　　Ⅰ.Ernest Hemingway and For Whom the Bell Tolls

　　　1.Hemingway's life and literary works

 2.For whom the Bell Tolls

　　Ⅱ.F.Scott Fitzgerald and The Great Gatsby

 1.F.Scott Fitzgerald's life and literary works

 2.The Great Gatsby

　　Ⅲ.John Ernst Steinbeck and The Grapes of Wrath

 1.John Steinbeck's life and literary works

 2.The Grapes of Wrath

Ⅳ.Ezra Pound and a Poem

 1.Ezra Pound's life and his works

 2.A poem

Ⅴ.Thomas Stearns Eliot and The Waste Land

 1.T.S.Eliot's life and literary works

 2.The Waste Land

　　Ⅵ.William Faulkner and Light in August

 1.William Faulkner's life and literary works

　　　2.Light in August

　　Ⅶ.Robert Frost and Mending Wall

　　　1.Frost's life and literary works

 2.Mending Wall

　　Ⅷ.Eugene O'Neill and The Hairy Ape

　　　1.Eugene O'Neill's life and literary works

 2.The Hairy Ape

References