本书将美国文学史分为殖民时期与清教主义，启蒙时期，美国文艺复兴，现实主义、地方主义与自然主义，现代主义和后现代主义六个时期，并精选了每个时期的代表作家和经典作品，以求反映美国文学的全貌。这些选段深具代表性，可以帮助读者理解每个时代的精神和精髓。希望此书可以为读者了解美国文学与文化的深层架构提供参考与帮助。

Chapter One Early Settlements and Puritanism
　Rending -A Description of New England
　Further Reading - A ModeU of Christian Charity
Chapter Two Enlightenment
　Reading - Poor Richard's Almanac
　Further Rending - Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God
Chapter Three Romanticism
　Reading i - I Hear America Singing
　Reading 2 - "Nature" is what we see
　Further Reading 1 - Nature
　Further Reading 2 - Moby Dick
　Further Reading 3 - The Scarlet Letter
Chapter Four Realism, Regionalism and Naturalism
　Reading - The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
　Further Rending 1 - The Awakening
　Further Reading 2 - The Red Badge of Courage
Chapter Five Modernism
　Reading 1 -Mending Wall
　Reading 2 - In a Station of the Metro
　Further Rending I - The Red Wheelbarrow
　Further Reading 2 - Sea Rose
　Further Reading 3 - Tender is the Night
Chapter Six Postmodernism
　Reading - Nobel Acceptance Speech
　Further Reading - Nobel Acceptance Speech
References