The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is Mark Twain's masterpiece,the one book from which,as Ernest Hemingway noted," All modern American literature comes ".It accounts the adventures of white Huck helping black slave Jim escape and pursue freedom.Through their long journey along the Mississippi River,we can see panorama of America,such as its slavery,racial conflicts and integration,American Puritanism,and Westward Movement,etc.This thesis mainly deals with Americans'national traits reflected in The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn from the perspective of American developmental history and American culture.
The last of the Mohicans was written by American novelist James Fenimore Cooper in 1826,who is considered as the first long novelist of America.The work has no concentrate plots but the white people and the Indians'friendship,communication,and wars.The Last of the Mohicans was set in the mid-18th century when the French colonists and English colonists were fighting for Indian lands.English colonized America and were at loggerheads with France.It belongs to the frontier literature and creates a precedent for the American Frontier Fiction.The American western fiction has the most native feature.With the rise of multiculturalism trend at present,it is the best way for understanding the American local culture and history to study the American western fiction which is bred during the course of the frontier-running and Westward Movement.Cooper is a novelist who depicted the real and pure American life.Based on the frontier theme,he created Leatherstocking Tales,which is a series of five novels,are his masterpieces representing his style.Among them,The Last of the Mohicans prominently reflects the Indian culture.This thesis mainly explores the historical and cultural elements embodied in The Last of the Mohicans from the perspective of cross-cultural communication.
Elizabeth I and Empress Wu, the former was the last queen of Tudor Dynasty in England and the latter was an empress who had crowned herself as the regent of Tang Dynasty. The two female monarchs had many similarities. First, in terms of cultur al policies, both implemented moderately flexible policies, which promoted cultural development. Second, in terms of heir prob lem, both did not determine their successors until old age so as that their heirs to the throne would not threaten their own politi cal status. Third, in terms of religion, both implemented religious tolerance policies, which helped avoid social unrest and strengthened centralization of authority. However, due to different historical era and environment where the two female mon archs lived, there still exist many differences between their policies. First, in matters of economy, Elizabeth I adopted mercantilist policies, while Empress Wu took agriculture into serious consideration and scorned commerce and trade. Second, in matters of military policies, under the leadership of Elizabeth I, the war between England and Spain took very long time and suffered tre mendous losses, while Empress Wu was more successful in solving the border problem of her country.
