1、Lesson 14 - After Twenty Years,Lesson 14 - After Twenty Years,AuthorThe American Westa. General Introductionb. the Rocky Mountain statesc. the Pacific Coast statesd. Frontier Spirit and Expansion towards the Weste. Violence in the 19th Century,Background information,Contents,O. Henry (18621910) was
2、the pen name of William Sydney Porter, an American short story writer. His short, simple stories are noted for their careful plotting, ironic coincidences, and surprise endings.,Lesson 14 - After Twenty Years,Author,To be continued on the next page.,O. Henry was born William Sydney Porter in Greensb
3、oro, North Carolina. He went to Texas in 1882 and worked at various jobsas teller in an Austin bank (18911894) and as a newspaperman for the Houston Post.,Lesson 14 - After Twenty Years,Author,To be continued on the next page.,In 1898 an unexplained shortage in the Austin bank was charged to him. Al
4、though many people believed him innocent, he fled to the Honduras but returned to be with his wife, who was fatally ill. He eventually served three years in prison, where he first started writing short stories.,Lesson 14 - After Twenty Years,Author,To be continued on the next page.,Upon his release
5、he settled in New York. Although his stories have been criticized as shallow and contrived, O. Henry did catch the color and movement of the city and evidenced a genuine sympathy for ordinary people.,Lesson 14 - After Twenty Years,Author,To be continued on the next page.,O. Henrys humorous, energeti
6、c style shows the influence of Mark Twain and Ambrose Bierce.,His approximately 300 stories are collected in Cabbages and Kings (1904), The Four Million (1906), The Voice of the City (1908), Options (1909), and others.,Lesson 14 - After Twenty Years,Author,The end of the Author.,Write what you like;
7、 there is no other rule. - O. Henry,The American West is generally considered to include the eight Rocky Mountain states and the three Pacific Coast states. Historically, the West has been mainly a sociopolitical or even mythological concept rather than a specific geographical area.,Lesson 14 - Afte
8、r Twenty Years,The American West,To be continued on the next page.,General Introduction,The Rocky Mountain states: This region consists of eight states: Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.,Lesson 14 - After Twenty Years,The American West,To be continued on the n
9、ext page.,Arizona,Lesson 14 - After Twenty Years,The American West,To be continued on the next page.,Colorado,Idaho,Lesson 14 - After Twenty Years,The American West,To be continued on the next page.,Montana,Nevada,New Mexico,Utah,Lesson 14 - After Twenty Years,The American West,To be continued on th
10、e next page.,Utah Lake,Wyoming,Yellow Stone,The Pacific Coast states: This division includes Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington and, as its name suggests, they all have coastlines on the Pacific Ocean (and are the only states that border that ocean) according to the United States Cens
11、us Bureaus definition of West Region.,Lesson 14 - After Twenty Years,The American West,To be continued on the next page.,Lesson 14 - After Twenty Years,The American West,To be continued on the next page.,Alaska,Hawaii,Lesson 14 - After Twenty Years,The American West,To be continued on the next page.
12、,California,Oregon,Washington State,Frontier Spirit and Expansiontowards the West,Lesson 14 - After Twenty Years,The American West,To be continued on the next page.,This spirit has shaped American history in a unique way. The frontier spirit that existed in the 19th century was born in part of a nee
13、d to own land. And the government then encouraged the white to exploit the West. This mentality and historical experience is favored by most Americans today as adventurous, active, and enterprising.,.,Lesson 14 - After Twenty Years,The American West,To be continued on the next page.,In 1803 Presiden
14、t Thomas Jefferson sent a secret message to Congress calling for an expedition into the area west of the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean. From then on the white Americans spared no effort to exploit the West; during this course, the West was developed but the native Americans suffered extreme
15、ly especially in the 19th century.,Frontier Spirit and Expansion towards the West,Lesson 14 - After Twenty Years,The American West,To be continued on the next page.,The Americans were a competitive, ambitious, upwardly mobile people who had a strong sense of self-reliance. The conquering of an envir
16、onment by an individual was a mark of success. Fear of unknown places was unacceptable and a hindrance to movement. These traits, first formulated in western expansion, persist today with the slightest modifications.,Frontier Spirit and Expansion towards the West,Violence in the 19th Century,Lesson
17、14 - After Twenty Years,The American West,The end of the American Wes.t,In the 19th century, the settlers in the west were most very tough and imprudent. The way they settled conflicts with each other was very violent as then there were no adequate system of law and governmental institutions to turn to. And gunfighters were common. To be able to handle guns seemed to be a basic survival skill under the circumstances.,Lesson 14 - After Twenty Years,Part Two,Background Information,This is the end of Part Two. Please click HOME to visit other parts.,
