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独立宣言是一份由托马斯·杰斐逊起草，并由其它13个殖民地代表签署的最初声明美国从英国独立的文件。早在独立前的一百多年间，欧洲启蒙思想就开始在北美传播，为《独立宣言》的发表奠定了理论基础。在欧洲启蒙思想的熏陶下，北美殖民地也产生了自己的启蒙思想家，代表人物是本杰明·富兰克林和托马斯·杰斐逊，他们反对奴隶制，主张人民享有自由、平等的权利。并且喊出了：“没有代表权，就不得征税”（“No Taxation without Representation”）的口号。这句口号原本是英国政治的基本原则，在英国贵族与王室的斗争中使用过，但独立战争期间被殖民者用来捍卫自己的权利。

《太阳照常升起》是美国作家海明威于1926年出版的长篇小说。作者藉此成为“迷惘的一代”的代言人，并以此书开创了海明威式的独特文风。 小说以1924年至1925年这一历史时段和名城巴黎为背景，围绕一群在感情或爱情上遭受过严重创伤或者在战争中落下了严重心理或生理机能障碍的英美男女青年放浪形骸的生活以及发生在他们之间的情感纠葛而展开，反映了这代人意识觉醒后却又感到无路可走的痛苦、悲哀的心境。

Take your story seriously. No matter how riotously absurd it is- or how full of inane repetition- remember if it is good enough to tell- it is a real story and must be treated with respect.

The Rainbow, published first in 1915, is the complete and exquisitely organized form of D.H. Lawrence's views about familial relationships. The novel relates the story of three generations of an English family- the Brangwens. As the main characters move in and out of the story’s framework, readers are brought face to face before an intriguing theory of passion and power among the familiar social roles of husbands, wives, children, and parents. Read more about the novel.　　《彩虹》成书于1914年，写作时间晚于《儿子与情人》，此时劳伦斯的写作艺术与思维都已得到了提高。 　　《彩虹》仍然以受到大工业生产严重侵蚀的英国中部乡村——劳伦斯的故乡为背景。对于资本主义工业化所造成的灾难，书中有一些生动的描写，但是劳伦斯的笔触在于探讨人与人，尤其是两性之间的关系上。在一篇他死后才能发表的文章中，他写道：“我只能写我强烈感觉到的，在目前这就是男女之间的关系。毕竟这是今日的问题——建立男女间的新关系，或者调整旧的关系。” 　　汤姆·布兰温和莉迪亚·布兰温是这个家族的第一代。汤姆是典型的十九世纪中期的农民，与土地、山川血肉相连；他的妻子莉迪亚是波兰人，带着与前夫生的女儿来到英国，孤独无助。汤姆和莉迪亚之间始终有一点生疏，他们停留在一种婚姻的初级阶段，彼此要求不多，安静地生活着。劳伦斯认为这点生疏是好的，他的主张是夫妻之间不但应当合成一体，还应该保持各自的特异性，这样的婚姻才是美满的。 　　但是这样的两性关系并不理想，第二代的安娜（莉迪亚前夫的女儿）和威尔有所提高，他们在探求人生真谛的路上前进了一步，他们的婚后生活最初是美满的，他们缠绵缱绻，浑然忘我；然而他们终于感受到不满足，想知道在性爱之外还有什么——威尔在教堂建筑上找到他的答案，教堂的拱顶有如彩虹，似乎是一切向上腾跃的势头的聚焦点，在那里：“没有时间，没有生命，没有死亡，在那里一切向上伸延的东西相会在一起，被锁在狂喜的拱顶石之中。”人生、宇宙的奥秘似乎在教堂的拱顶里能够得到解决，也就是说教堂的建筑包含了人生的奥秘，能给他宗教的启发。 　　但是安娜对此表示怀疑。她想：“教堂屋顶上还有青天呢，它不是真正的彩虹，解决不了什么问题。”她要求的是向上的自由权利，高出屋顶。 　　矛盾使二人陷入痛苦之中，终于威尔专心致志于木刻，而安娜则沉迷于不断地生孩子。 　　对人类关系的探讨落在女儿厄秀拉的身上。她做了许多尝试去寻找彩虹，都没有成功。 　　厄秀拉一度沉浸于肉欲，可是她发现这远远不够，精神生活是很必要的。她先是寄希望于科学，一度与女教师产生了同性恋，后来发现女教师的庸俗，她失望了。最使她失望的是情人斯克里班斯基。他们的矛盾越出了个人私生活的范畴，涉及到许多重大的社会问题。斯克里班斯基想成为一个为国家而战的军人。厄秀拉对他说：“尽管如此，你不是国家。你将为你自己做些什么呢？”他回答道：“我属于国家，必须对它尽义务。”厄秀拉认为他受传统观念的束缚，没有自己的看法和个性。她说：“你好像什么都不是，在你那里好像没有人。你是人吗？对我来说，你好像子虚乌有。” 　　斯克里班斯基是一个具有所有传统观念的人，他只会随波逐流，不可能真正有所作为。与他相比，厄秀拉则真实地寻找那高踞在天上的彩虹。 　　这里的三代人，第一代的汤姆和莉迪亚没有奢望，满足于低水平的美满生活并生活得很好；第二代的安娜和威尔不安于现状，曾努力追求理想生活，却半途而废；第三代的厄秀拉则前进了一步，她越出了个人的狭隘生活，看到了世界。她模糊的认识到，一方面个人必须找到充分发挥其潜力的办法，她最初想追求两性生活的完美，可是这不够，作为社会的一分子，她有责任去了解和改造社会。 　　她抛弃了许多假的彩虹，终于在书的末尾，她看到了憧憬未来的真的彩虹： 　　“彩虹拱架在大地上。她知道，红硬壳包着的，在世界的腐朽表层四处爬行的贱民们都仍然活着；她知道，彩虹已弯弯地扎根在他们的血液里，并将在他们的精神中抖动着恢复生命；　她知道，他们会抛掉覆盖在身上的硬壳，这样，崭新、干净的赤裸裸体便会脱颖而出，经历新的萌生、新的成长，起来迎接天上降临的阳光、风和纯净的雨水。她在这道彩虹中看到了大地上的新建筑，看到旧的、腐朽不堪的房子和工厂被一扫而光，看见世界将建筑在生气勃勃的真理结构之上，与笼罩大地的苍穹正好协调。”

《挪威的森林》是日本作家村上春树于1987年所著的一部长篇爱情小说。故事讲述主角纠缠在情绪不稳定且患有精神疾病的直子和开朗活泼的小林绿子之间，展开了自我成长的旅程。自本书在日本问世，截止2012年在日本共销出1500余万册。 渡边的第一个恋人直子原是他高中要好同学木月的女友，但后来木月自杀了，直子一人生活着。一年后，渡边同直子巧遇开始了交往，此时的直子已变得娴静腼腆，眸子里不时掠过一丝阴翳。直子20岁生日的晚上两人发生了性关系，不料第二天直子便不知去向。几个月后直子来信说她住进一家远在深山里的精神疗养院。渡边前去探望时发现直子开始带有成熟女性的丰腴与娇美，还认识了和直子同一宿舍的玲子，在离开前渡边表示永远等待直子。 在一家小餐馆渡边结识了绿子，因为绿子问他借了《戏剧史II》的课堂笔记，以后就渐渐熟络。当绿子的父亲去世后，渡边开始与低年级的绿子交往。绿子同内向的直子截然相反，显得十分清纯活泼。 这期间，渡边内心十分苦闷彷徨。一方面念念不忘直子缠绵的病情与柔情，一方面又难以抗拒绿子大胆的表白和迷人的活力。不久传来直子自杀的噩耗，渡边失魂落魄地四处徒步旅行。最后，在直子同房病友玲子的鼓励下，开始摸索此后的人生。

JOHN WOOLMAN was born at Northampton, N. J., in 1720, and died at York,England, in 1772. He Was the child of Quaker parents, and from his youth was azealous member of the Society of Friends. His "Journal," published posthumouslyin 1774, sufficiently describes his way of life and the spirit in which he didhis work; but his extreme humility prevents him from making clear theimportance of the part he played in the movement against slaveholding among theQuakers. 　　During the earlier years of their settlement in America, the Friends tookpart in the traffic in slaves with apparently as little hesitation as their fellow colonists; but in 1671 George Fox, visiting the Barbados, was struck bythe inconsistency of slave-holding with the religious principles of hisSociety. His protests, along with those of others, led to the growth of anagitation which spread from section to section. In 1742, Woolman, then a youngclerk in the employment of a storekeeper in New Jersey, was asked to make out abill of sale for a negro woman; and the scruples which then occurred to himwere the beginning of a life-long activity against the traffic. Shortlyafterward he began his laborious foot-journeys, pleading everywhere with hisco-religionists, and inspiring others to take up the crusade. The result of theagitation was that the various Yearly Meetings one by one decided thatemancipation was a religious duty; and within twenty years after Woolman'sdeath the practise of slavery had ceased in the Society of Friends. But hisinfluence did not stop there, for no small part of the enthusiasm of thegeneral emancipation movement is traceable to his labors. 　　His own words in this "Journal" of an extraordinary simplicity and charm,are the best expression of a personality which in its ardor, purity of motive,breadth of sympathy, and clear spiritual insight, gives Woolman a place amongthe uncanonized saints of America.

Ten time-honored tales—brimming with enchantment, whimsy and sly humor—offer hours of reading pleasure: "The Birth of Bran," "The Little Brawl at Allen," "The Enchanted Cave of Cesh Corran," "Becuma of the White Skin," "Mongan’s Frenzy," and five others.

Stranger in a Strange Land is a 1961 science fiction novel by American author Robert A. Heinlein. It tells the story of Valentine Michael Smith, a human who has returned to Earth in early adulthood after being raised by Martians on the planet Mars. The novel explores his interaction with—and the eventual transformation of—Earth culture. The title seems to be an allusion to the phrase in Exodus 2:22 (in the Biblical Book of Exodus).[1] According to Heinlein, the novel's working title was The Heretic. Several later editions of the book have promoted it as "The most famous Science Fiction Novel ever written." When Heinlein first wrote Stranger in a Strange Land, his editors at Putnam required him to drastically cut its original 220,000-word length down to 160,067 words. Scenes that might have been considered too shocking at the time were removed.In 1962, this version received the Hugo Award for Best Novel.After Heinlein's death in 1988, his wife Virginia arranged to have the original uncut version of the manuscript published in 1991 by Ace/Putnam. Critics disagree over whether Heinlein's preferred original manuscript is in fact better than the heavily-edited version originally published. There is similar contention over the two versions of Heinlein's Podkayne of Mars. While initially a success among science fiction readers, over the following six years word-of-mouth caused sales to build, requiring numerous subsequent printings of the first Putnam edition. The novel has never been out of print. Eventually Stranger in a Strange Land became a cult classic, attracting many readers who would not ordinarily read a work of science fiction. The late-1960s counterculture, popularized by the hippie movement, was influenced by its themes of individual liberty, self-responsibility, sexual freedom, and the influence of organized religion on human culture and government, and adopted the book as something of a manifesto.[citation needed] In 1968, Tim Zell (now Oberon Zell-Ravenheart) and others formed a neo-pagan religious organization called the Church of All Worlds, modeled after the religion founded by the primary characters in the novel.Except for correspondence with Zell (a lengthy letter to Zell appears as a letter to "a Fan" toward the end of the book in Grumbles from the Grave) and a paid subscription to the Church's Green Egg magazine during the 1970s (as Heinlein refused to accept a complimentary subscription), Heinlein had no other connection to the project.

《恋爱中的女人》，是D．H .劳伦斯最伟大、最有代表性、最脍炙人口的两部长篇小说之一（另一部是《虹》），他本人也认为它是他的“最佳作品”；它以英国小说中没有先例的热情与深度探索了有关恋爱的心理问题，代表了劳伦斯作品的最高成就，因此它同《虹》成为了现代小说的先驱。