《英国文学史及选读》复习题Part One: Brief Questions1.What‟s the symbolic meaning of the “Vanity Fair” in Bunyan‟s “The Pilgrim‟sProgress”?2.What can we see from the Soliloquy of Hamlet?This is an internal philosophical debate on the advantages and disadvantages of existence, and whether it is one's right to end his or her own life. It presents a most logical and powerful examination of the theme of the moral legitimacy of suicide in an unbearably painful world.3.What‟s the main idea of “Of Studies” by Bacon?It analyzes what studies chiefly serve for, the different ways adopted by different people to pursue studies, and how studies exert influence over human character.4.What‟re the four stories of “Gulliver‟s Travels” by Swift?The first part tells about Gulliver‟s experience in Lilliput;in the second part,Gulliver is left alone in Brobdingnag;the third part deals mainly with his accidental visit to the Flying Island and the last part is a most interesting account of his discoveries in the Houyhnhnm land.5.What‟s the writing feature of Beowulf?1 ) It is not a Christian but a pagan poem, despite the Christian flavor given to it by themonastery scribe. It is the product of all advanced pagan civilization. The whole poem presents us an all-round picture of the tribal society. The social conditions and customs can be .seen in it. So the poem has a great social significance.2) The use of the strong stress and the predominance of consonants are very notable inthis poem. Each line is divided into two halves, and each half has two heavy stresses.3) The use of the alliteration is another notable feature. Three stresses of the whole lineare made even more emphatic by the use of alliteration.4) A lot of metaphors and understatements are used in the poem. For example, the sea iscalled "the whale-road" or "the swan road"; the soldiers are called "shield-man"; the chieftains are called the "treasure keepers"; human-body is referred to as "the bone-house"; God is called "wonder-wielder"; monster is referred to as "soul-destroyer''.6.What‟s the contribution made by Geoffrey Chaucer?He introduces from France the rhymed stanzas of various types, esp. the rhymed couplet of iambic pentameter (…heroic couplet‟) to English poetry. He is the first great poet who wrote in the current English language, making the dialect of London the foundation for modern English speech.7.What‟s the historical significance of the Glorious Revolution?The supremacy of ParliamentThe beginning of modern EnglandThe final triumph of the principle of political liberty8.Explain the literary trends in the 17th century.One of confusion, due to the breaking up of old ideas.Medieval standards of chivalry, impossible loves and romances, the ideal of a national church perishedDisapproving of the sonnets and the love poetry, and theatres was closed then.Bible became the only book to read.It tended to suppress literary art.Part Two: Detailed Appreciation9.Read the poem (“Sonnet 18” by Shakespeare) and answer the following questions.a)What is the theme of the poem?Theme: a profound meditation on the destructive power of time and the eternal beauty brought forth by poetry to the one he loves.b)Explain the rhyme and tone in the poem by drawing the first two lines. Rhetorical questioning: the 1st line, used to create a tone of respect, and to engage the audience.c)Why is the speaker‟s loved one more lovely than a summer‟s day?If I compared you to a summer day, / I'd have to say you are more beautiful and serene: / By comparison, summer is rough on budding life, / And doesn't last long either:Extravagant praise compares a summer day as less lovely and constant as the beloved.10.Read the poem (“Sonnet 29” by Shakespeare) and answer the following questions.a)In the first two thirds of the sonnet, the speaker is complaining about themisfortunes in his life. What suddenly lifts him out of his bad mood?b)In the last line, the speaker scorns to change his state with kings. What doesthe word “state” mean?11.Read the poem (“Song: Go and Catch the Falling Star” by Donne) and answer thefollowing questions.a)What is the speaker‟s tone? What‟s his opinion about the constancy ofwomen?This poem chief concerns the lack of constancy in women.b)How much impossibility does Donne list in the poem? What are they? What‟sthe additional impossibilities does he have in mind throughout this stanza?There is seven impossibility list in the poem and they are catch a falling star, Get with child a mandrake roote, all past yeares, cleft the Divels foot, hear Mermaides singing, keep off envies stinging and advance an honest minde.The additional impossibilities in his mind is Lives a woman true.12.Read the poem (“A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning” by Donne) and answer thefollowing questions.a)Why does Donne‟s “Valediction” (a poem of farewell) forbid mourning?b)Comment on the relation of the various images to each other. Is there adevelopment of some kind?13.Read the poem (“The Flea” by Donne) and answer the following questions.a)Who‟re the speaker and the listener? What‟s the situation in the poem?The speaker is a man and the listener is a lady.b)How‟s the speaker‟s reasoning to persuade the listener? And point out theconceits used in the poem.14.Read the poem (“Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard” by Gray) and answerthe following questions.a)How does Gray begin the essay?b)Where does Gray begin to make a shift from visual to acoustic perception?Why?c)From which stanza, does Gray begin to describe the country churchyard?d)How many sounds does Gray employ in stanza 5? Wha t‟re they, and why doeshe make a list of these sounds?e)What‟s the main idea of stanza 6?f)What can we see about the occupation of the dead person from stanza 7?Please make a list of the words which can certify your guess.g)What do stanzas 8 and 9 tell us?15.Read the poem (“The Tiger” by Blake) and answer the following questions.a)Analyze the form and rhythm of the poem, and what‟s the central question inthis poem?b)What do the lamb and the tiger represent respectively?The problem with that, though, is that the speaker of “The Lamb” sees the creator as a lamb. The speaker of “The Tyger” sees only tygers, and therefore the Creator must be like a tyger.T he problem is in the basic selection process. And what causes him to make that selection is what he believes. If he believes that the world is shaped by mercy, pity, peace and love, then that‟s what he‟s going to see, a lamb as the creator. And vice versa with the tyger.16.Read the poem (“London” by Blake) and answer the following questions.a)Analyze the form and rhythm of the poem.The poem has four quatrains, with alternate lines rhyming. Repetition is the most striking formal feature of the poem, and it serves to emphasize the prevalence of the horrors the speaker describes.b)What kind of picture about London do you have in your mind after reading thepoem (London)? Describe in your own words with supportive details from thepoem.17.Read the poem (“Lines” by Wordsworth), from the beauteous forms in heart, thepoet could see into the life of things. How did it come? Analyze it by drawing a flow chart.18.Read the poem (“Break, Break, Break” by Tennyson) and answer the foll owingquestions.a)What feelings of loss arise in the speaker as he looks out at the sea breakingendlessly against the shore?b)The meter of lines 1 and 13 obviously differ from that of the whole poem. Howdo they differ, and how do they control the tone of the poem? What is the effectof the repetition?c)In the second stanza, what does the poet describe? What do you think is hisintention for giving such a setting? And how does this setting intensify the speaker‟s mood?19.Read the poem (“Crossing the Bar” by Tennyson) and answer the followingquestions.a)What overall mood and atmosphere does Tennyson create in this poem?This poem was written in the later years of Tennyson‟s life. We can feel hisfearlessness towards death, his faith in God and an afterlife.Bar: a bank of sand or stones under the water as in a river, parallel to the shore, at the entrance to a harbor.“Crossing the Bar” means leaving this world and entering the next world.b)Instead of saying death directly, Tennyson uses a metaphor. What is themetaphor? How effective is it used?Metaphor is a figure of speech. It refers to a comparison between unlikethings without the use of "like" or "as". This comparison is done between two things that are basically different but have something in common in some significant way. It is used in reference to something that does not literallysuggest a similarity. Metaphor is different from a simile or analogy because metaphor asserts that one thing is another thing and not just that they are like one another.Sunset,evening star,twilight,evening bell:all images of the end of life.c)What is Tennyson‟s attitude towards death?This poem was written in the later years of Tennyson‟s life. We can feel hisfearlessness towards death, his faith in God and an afterlife.Part Three: Reading Comprehension20.“And thus the native hue of resolution / Is sicklied o'er with the pale cast ofthought.”a)Identify the title and the author.The author is William Shakespeare and the title is Hamlet.b)What idea do the lines express?1.lose the honor due to action2.Our conscience makes us cowards, our natural colour is drained by theprospect of it. Things of gravity and importance lose their momentum.The “native hue of resolution” is the resolve to kill one‟s self;it‟s what‟s “sicklied o‟er with the pale cast of thought”Hamlet thus concludes that the dread of the afterlife leads to excessive moral sensitivity that makes action impossible.21.“Whether I went over by the ladder, as first contrived, or went in at the hole in therock, which I called a door, I cannot remember; no, nor could I remember the next morning, for never frighted hare fled to cover, or fox to earth, with more terror of mind than I to this retreat.”a)Identify the title and the author of the selected part.The title is Robinson Crusoe and the author is Daniel Defoe.b)Why was I so frighted, according to the story?22.“If he be not apt to beat over matters, let him study the lawyer‟s cases. So everydefect of the mind may have a special receipt.”a)Identify the author and the essay from which the quoted sentences are taken.The auther is Francis Bacon and the essay is Of Studies.b)What is the essay mainly about?It analyzes what studies chiefly serve for, the different ways adopted by different people to pursue studies, and how studies exert influence over human character.23.“Five hundred carpenters and engineers were immediately set at work to pre pare thegreatest engine they had. It was a frame of wood raised three inches from the ground, about seven foot long and four wide, moving upon twenty-two wheels.”a)Identify the title and the author.The title is Gulliver's Travels and the author is Jonathan Swift.b)Why did they make such a great engine?。
