英美文学选读第五章笔记Modern period

英国文学—The old and medieval periods1．Beowuf这部作品Romance是这个时期最流行的文学形式；Chaucer第一个引进“英雄偶句”诗体。

Beowulf（贝奥武甫(八世纪初的一篇古英语史诗; 该史诗中的主角)）, a typical example of old English poetry, is regarded today as the national epic (民族史诗)of the Anglo-Saxons. Literary position: The poem was originally in an oral form, it is written down in the 10th century. Thematically the poem presents a vivid picture of how the primitive people wage heroic struggles against the hostile forces of the natural world under a wise and mighty leader.Romance (骑士抒情诗)，a popular literary form in the medieval period) uses narrative verse or prose to sing knightly adventures or other heroic deeds, whose motifs（主题, 主旨）of the quest is for truth, beauty and kindness.Chaucer(乔叟): whose masterpiece is The Canterbury Tales《坎特伯雷故事集》. The famous character of his works is the Wife of Bath. Chaucer employed the heroic coupletverse form (英雄双韵诗形式) with true ease and charm for the first time in the history of English literature. He is the father of English poetry.英国文学—The renaissance periods 1.《仙后》一部寓言(allegory), 人物象征意义与主题.The Faerie is an allegory.The Red-crosse Knight stands for St.George, the patron saint of England, and he also represent Holiness.A lovely Ladie, virgin Una, symbolizes the thruth or the true faith of religion.A milke white lambe reprents the God.Dragon and infernall feend refer the SatanThe theme is not “Arms and the man,” but something more romantic—“fiece warres and faithful loves”.2. 斯宾塞的诗歌特点The five main quailites of spenser’spoetry are:1) a perfect melody;2) a rare sense of beauty;3) a splendid imagination;4) a lofty purity and seriousness;5) a dedicated idealism.3.《浮士德》的主题Dr. Faustus is a play based on theGerman legend of a magician aspiringfor knowledge and finally meeting histragic end as a result of selling his soulto the Devil. The play’s dominantmoral is human than religious. Itcelebrates the human passion forknowledge, power and happiness; italso reveals man’s frustration inrealizing the high aspiration in ahostile moral order. And theconfinement to time is the cruelest factof man’s condition.4.《威尼丝商人》的故事及主题The play has a double plot:1) Bassanio——Portia2) Antonio——ShylockThe traditional theme of the playis to praise the friendship betweemAntonio and Bassanio, to idealizePortia as a heroine of greate beaulity,wit and loyalty, and to expose theinsatiable greed and brutality of theJew. Tody, many people tend to regardthe play as a satire of the christians’hypocrisy and their false standards offrindship and love, their cunning wayof pursuing worldliness(俗心, 俗气)and their unreasoning prejudice againstJews.5．Milton的三部作品Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained,Samson Agonistes.英国文学—The neoclassical periods1．Bunyan的《天路历程》是一部寓言(allegory)，其主题及《名利场》的寓意The Pilgrim’s Progress is themost successful religious allegory inthe English language. Its purpose is tourge people to abide by Christiandoctrines and seek salvation throughconstant struggle with their ownweakness and all kinds of social evils.Its predominant metaphor —life as ajourney — is simple and familiar. Theobjects that Christian meets arehomely and commonplace, and thescence presented a typical Englishones, but throughout the allegory aspiritual signifiance is added to thecommonplace details.The Vanity Fair symbolizeshuman world, for “All that cometh isvanity.”Everything and anything inthis world is “vanity”, having no valueand no meaning. The Vanity Fair, a“marcket selling nothingness” of allsorts, is a dirty place originally built upby devils, but, this town “lay” in theway to the Celestial City, meaningpilgrims had to resist the tempatationsthere way through. So, the depiction ofthe “Fair” in selling things worldly andin attracting people bad, representsJohn Bunyan’s rejection of the worldlyseekings and pious longing for the pureand charming “Celestial City” hisChristian ideal.2．鲁宾逊的意义Robinson is here a real hero: atypical eighteenth-century Enlishmiddle-class man, with a greatcapacity for work, inexhaustible energy,courage, patience and persistence inovercoming obstacles, in stugglingagainst the hostile natural environment.He is the very prototype of the empirebuilder, the pioneer colonist.3．Gulliver’s Travel的四个部分The book contains four parts.The first part —— LilliputThe second part —— BrobdingnagThe third part —— flying IslandThe fourth part —— Houyhnhnmland, YahooAs a whole, the book is one of themost effcetive and devastatingcriticisms and satires of all aspects inthen English and European life —socially, politically, religiously,philosophically, scientifically, andmorally.4．Fielding的贡献Fielding has been regarded by some as “Father of the English Novel”.He was first to set out, both in theory and practice, to write specifically a “comic epic in prose,” the first to give the modern novel its structure and syle. Before him, the relating of a story in a novel was either the Episolary form or the picaresque form, but fielding adopted “the third-person narration,” in which the author become the “all-knowing God”.英国文学—The romantic periods 1．Blake青春之歌与经验之歌的比较The Song of Innocence is a lovely volume of poems, presenting a happy and innocent world, though not without its evils and suffering.His Songs of Experiecnce paints a different world, a world of misery, poverty, disease, war and repression with melancholy tone.The two “Chimney Sweeper” poems are good examples to reveal the relation between an economic circumstance, i.e. the exploitation of child labor, and an ideological circumstance, i.e. the role played by religion in making compiant to exploitation. The poem from the Songs of Innocence indicates the conditions which make religion a consolation, a prospect(景色, 前景)of “illusory happiness;” the poem from the Songs of the Experience reveals the true nature of religion which helps bring misery to the poor child.2．拜伦式英雄Buyron’s chief contribution is his creation of the “Byronic hero,” a proud, mysterious rebel figure of noble origin. With immense superiority in his passions and powers, this Byronic hero would carry on his shoulders the burdens of righting all the wrongs in a corrupt society, and would rise single-handedly against any kind of tyrannical rules either in government, in religion, or in moral principles with unconquerable wills and inexhaustilbeenergies.3．KEATS的希腊古瓮颂的主题Ode on an grecian Urn shows thecontrast between the permanence of artand the transcience of human passion.4．奥丝丁的三种婚姻观Stories of love and marriageprovide the major theme in all JaneAusten’s novels, in which femalechatacters are always playing an activepart. In their pursuit of a marriage,they ate usually categorize into threetypes according to their differentattitudes: those who would marry formaterial wealth and social position,those who would marry just for beautyand passion, and those who wouldmarry for true love with aconsideration of the partn er’s personalmerit as well ad his economical andsocial status.5.《傲慢与偏见》的故事及主题Pride and Prejudice mainly tellsof the love story between a rich,pround young man Darcy and thebeautiful and intelligent ElizaethBennet. None of the daughters caninherit the estate of the family for ithas been entailed upon the nearestmale heir, Willian Collins, Collinsintends to marry and he decides toshoose Elizabeth as a way of makingamends for inheriting the family’sestate. Collins is a preposterous(荒谬的) suitor, and Elizabeth rejects theproposal. Another young man calledDarcy proposes her, but she hasprejudice against him because shethinks that he has nothing but pride.After many twists and turns, they arehappily united. This book tells us agreat deal about attitude towardmarriage in Austen’s time.Stories of love and marriageprovide the major themes in all hernovels, Jane Austen tries to say that itis wrong to marry just for money or forbeauty, but it is also wrong to marrywithout it.as it is said in the book that it is a truthuniversally acknowledged that a singeman in possession of a good foutunemust be in want of a wife.英国文学—The victorian periods1．Dickens小说的3种角色类型及创作生涯。

【英国】Chapter 5 The Modern Period现代时期1. The once sun-never-set Empire finally collapsed.日不落帝国终于日薄西山了。

2. Arthur Schopenhauer, a pessimistic philosopher, started a rebellion against rationalism, stressing the importance of will and intuition.德国哲学家亚瑟.叔本华的悲观主义与反理性哲学强调了人的意愿与直觉的重要性。

3. Friedrich Nietzsche advocated the doctrines of power and superman and by completely rejecting the Christian morality.尼采继承了叔本华的理论后，更进一步的反叛理性主义与基督教精神，推崇强权与霸权。

4. Henry Bergson established his irrational philosophy, which put the emphasis on creation, intuition, irrationality and unconsciousness.亨利.伯格森在前人基础上创立了非理性哲学，强调创造力，直觉，非理性与无意识。

5. The appalling shock of the First World War severely destroyed people’s faith in the Victorian values.一战的毁灭性灾难摧垮了人们对维多利亚道德标准的信奉。

6. The French symbolism, appearing in the late 19th century, heralded modernism.19世纪晚期法国的象征主义预示了现代主义的诞生。

自考英语本科《英美文学选读》-美国现代时期一天全掌握The modern period 现代时期the second American Renaissance,the expatriate移居海外movement,the Lost Generation, 迷茫的一代a transformation from order to disorderSeize the day, enjoy the present, 及时行乐spiritual wasteland, collective unconscious,psychoanalysisImagist movement, Jazz Age应用名词解释："迷惘的一代"，意象派诗歌，象征主义，表现主义，意识流"荒原"意识在美国20世纪文学中的反映《地铁站一瞥》《盟约》《河商的妻子》：主题、意象、语言弗洛斯特的自然诗《摘苹果后》《未选择的路》《雪夜停马在林边》：主题、象征与比喻、语言《毛猿》第八场：主题结构、表现主义和象征主义手《了不起的盖茨比》第三章：主题结构、人物刻画、语言风格age:second half of the 19th century to early decades of the 20th centurybackground:(1)the U.S. has become the most powerful country(2)technological revolution(3)a decline in moral standard, a spiritual wasteland, feelings of fear, loss, disorientation and disillusionmentinfluencing ideas:(1)the same as English Modern period: Karl Marx, Darwin,Freud(2)stream of consciousness:modernism's features:literature: convey a vision of social breakdown and moral decaywriter: develop techniques that could represent a break with the past. modernistic works are discontinuity and fragmentation The differences between Modernism America and England(1)American writers emphasize the concrete sensory images or details as the direct conveyor of experience(2)modern fiction employ the first narration or confine the reader to the "central consciousness" or one character‘s point of viewcommon ground: directness, compression, vividness, sparing of wordsThe idea of “seize the day” or “enjoy the present ” was pervasive, as opposed to placing all hope in the future.“及时行乐”的思想十分横行，他们不把希望寄托在将来。

1234代价,与敌人同归于尽。

51. In his life, Milton shows himself a real revolutionary, a master poet and a great prose writer. 弥尔顿毕生都展现了真正的革命精神和非凡的诗歌才华。

52. Paradise Lost:人类由于理性不强,意志薄弱,经不起考验,暗示英国自产主义革命失败的原因。

Chapter2 The Neoclassical Period(1660-1798新古典主义1. In short, it was an age full of conflicts and divergence of values. 总之, 这一时期是矛盾与价值观分歧的时期。

2. The eighteenth-century England is also known as the Age of Enlighte nment or the Age of Reason. 英国的十八世纪也同时是启蒙主义时代, 或曰理性时代。

3. Its purpose was to enlighten the whole world with the light of modern philosophical and artistic ideas. 运动的主旨便是用当代哲学与艺术思想的晨光启迪整个世界。

4. Enlighteners held that rationality or reason should be the only, the fin al cause of any human thought and activities. They called for a referenc e to order, reason and rules. 启蒙者主张理性是任何人思想与行动的唯一缘由。

他们大力提倡秩序,理性及法律。

5. As a matter of fact, literature at the time, heavily didactic and moralizi ng, becamea very popular means of public education. 其实, 当时的文学作品种充满了说教与道德理念,就已经成为大众教育的良好工具。

应用必背单元Chapter 1 The Ren aissa nee Period (2)Chapter 2 The Neoclassical Period (6)Chapter3 The Romantic Period. (9)Chapter 4 The Victorian Period (14)Chapter 5 The Modern Period (18)Chapter 1 The Renaissance Period1. 文艺复兴的主要作家及其作品1) Edmund Spenser: The Faerie Queene2) Christopher Marlowe: Dr Faustus Tamburlaine3) William Shakespeare: Henry IV; The Merchant of Venice; Hamlet; Othello;King Lear; Macbeth; Romeo and Juliet.4) John Donne: The Songs and Sonnets; The Sun Rising; Death, Be Not Proud5) John Milton: Paradise Lost; Paradise Regained; Samson Agonisttes2. 文艺复兴The Renaissanceis a historical period in which the European humanist thinkers and scholars made attempts to get rid of those old feudalist ideas in medieval Europe, to introduce new ideas that expressed the interests of the rising bourgeoisie, and to recover the purity of the early church form the corruption of the Roman Catholic Church.3. 人文主义Humanism is the essence of the Renaissance. It sprang from the endeavor to restore a medieval reverence for the antique authors and is frequently taken as the beginning of the Renaissanceon its conscious, intellectual side, for the Greek and Roman civilization was based on such a conception that man is the measure of all things. Thus, by emphasizing the dignity of human beings and the importance of the present life, they voiced their beliefs that man did not only have the right to enjoy the beauty of this life, but had the ability to perfect himself and to perform wonders.4. 玄学诗The term “metaphysical poetry”is commonly used to name the work of the 17th-century writers who wrote under the influence of John Donne. With a rebellious spirit the metaphysical poets tried to break away from the conventional fashion of the Elizabethan love poetry. The diction is simple as compared with that of the Elizabethan or the Neoclassic periods, and echoes the words and cadences of common speech. The imagery is drawn from the actual life. The form is frequently that of an argument with the poet's beloved, with God, or with himself.5. 莎士比亚的诗歌的主题、意向Shakespeare, as a humanist of the time, is against religious persecution and racial discrimination, against social inequality and the corrupting influence of gold andmoney. In his plays, he does not hesitate to describe the cruelty and anti-natural character of the civil wars, but he did not go all the way against the feudal rule. Shakespeare is against religious persecution and racial discrimination, against social inequality and the corrupting influence of gold and money.Shakespeare has accepted the Renaissance views on literature. He holds that literature should be a combination of beauty, kindness and truth, and should reflect nature and reality.A. Shakespeare's views on literature:Shakespeare has accepted the Renaissance views on literature. He holds that literature should be a combination of beauty, kindness and truth, and should reflect nature and reality. Shakespearealso states that literary works which have truly reflected nature and reality can reach immortality.B. The characteristics of Shakespear'se characters:Shakespear'es major characters are neither merely individual ones nor type ones; they are individuals representing certain types. Each character has his or her own personalities; meanwhile, they may share features with others.C. The characteristics of Shakespear'se plot:Shakespear'es plays are well-known for their adroit plot construction. Shakespeare seldom invents his own plots; instead, he borrows them from some old plays or storybooks, or from ancient Greek and Roman sources.D. The characteristics of Shakespear'se language:It is necessary to study the subtlest of his instruments—the language. Shakespearecan write skillfully in different poetic form, like the sonnet, the blank verse, and the rhymed couplet. He has an amazing wealth of vocabulary and idiom. His coinage of new words and distortion of the meaning of the old ones also create striking effects on the reader.3. 莎士比亚的四大悲剧：Shakespear'es greatest tragedies are: Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth. They have some characteristics in common. Each portrays some noble hero, who faces the injustice of human life and is caught in a difficult situation and whose fate is closely connected with the fate of the whole action. Each hero has his weakness of nature. With the concentration on the tragic hero, we see the sharp conflicts between the individual and the evil force in the society, which shows that Shakespeare is a great realist in the true sense. Hamlet the melancholic scholar; Othello 's inner weakness is made use of by the outside evil force; the old King Lear who is unwilling to totally give up his power; and Macbeth 's lust for power stirs up his ambition and leads him to incessant crimes.4. 邓恩诗歌的主题、意向<The Songs and Sonnets>. Love is the basic theme. Donne holds that thenature of love is the union of soul and body. The perfection of human lovers will not be made with souls alone. This thought is quite contrary to the medieval love idea which merely put stress on spiritual love. Donne's interest lies in dramatizing and illustrating the state of being in love.5. 戏剧《威尼斯商人》的主题和主要人物的性格分析In his romantic comedies, Shakespearetakes an optimistic attitude toward love and youth, and the romantic elements are brought into full play. The most important play among the comedies is The Merchant of Venice. The sophistication derives in part from the play between high, outgoing romance and dark forces of negativity and hate. The traditional theme of this play is to praise the friendship between Antonio and Bassanio, to idealize Portia as a heroine of great beauty, wit and loyalty, and to expose the insatiable greed and brutality of the Jew.Compared with the idealism of other plays, The Merchant of Venice takes a step forward in its realistic presentation of human nature and human conflict. Though there is a ridiculous touch on the part of the characters restrained by their limitations, Shakespeare's youthful Renaissance spirit of jollity can be fully seen in contrast to the medieval emphasis on future life in the next world.6. 哈姆雷特的性格分析Hamlet has none of the single-minded blood lust of the earlier revenger. It is not because he is incapable of action, but because the cast of his mind is so speculative, so questioning, and so contemplative that action, when it finally comes, seems almost like defeat, diminishing rather than adding to the stature of the here. Trapped in a night mare world of spying, testing and plotting, and apparently bearing the intolerable burden of the duty to revenge his father's death, Hamlet is obliged to inhabit a shadow world, to live suspendedbetween fact and fiction, language and action. His life is one of constant role-playing, examining the nature of action only to deny its possibility, for he is too sophisticated to degrade his nature to the conventional role of a stage revenger.The hero Hamlet in Shakespeare's play Hamlet is noted for his hesitation to take his revenge, his melancholy nature of action only to deny possibilities to do anything. He came to know that his father was murdered by his uncle who became king. He hated him so deeply that he wanted to kill him. But he loved his widowed mother who later married his uncle, and he was afraid to hurt his mother. And also, when everything was ready for him to kill his uncle, he forgave him for his uncle was praying to God for his crime. Thus he lost the good chance. Hamlet represented humanism of his time.7. 诗歌《失乐园》的结构、人物性格、语言特点的分析Working through the tradition of a Christian humanism, Milton wrote Paradise Lost, intending to expose the ways of Satan and to“justify the ways of God to men.”At the center of the conflict between human love and spiritual duty lies Milton 's fundamental concern with freedom and choice; the freedom to submit to God's prohibition on eating the apple and the choice of disobedience made for love.Eve, seduced by Satan's rhetoric and her own confused ambition-as well as the mere prompting of hunger- falls into sin through innocent credulity. Adam falls by consciously choosing human love rather than obeying God. In the fall of man Adam discovered his full humanity. But man's fall is the sequel to another and more stupendous tragedy, the fall of the angels.The freedom of the will is the keystone of Milton 's creed. His poem attempts to convince us that the unquestionable truth of Biblical revelation means that an all-knowing God was just in allowing Adam and Eve to be tempted and, of their free will, to choose sin and its inevitable punishment. And, thereby, it opens the way for the voluntary sacrifice of Christ which showed the mercy of God in bringing good out of evil.Chapter 2 The Neoclassical Period1. 新古典时期的作家及其作品1) John Bunyan ：<The Pilgrim's Progress>2) Alexander Pope：<An Essay on Criticism> <The Dunciad> <The Rape of theLock> <An Essay on Man>3) Daniel Defoe：<Robinson Crusoe>4) Jonathan Swift ：<A Tale of a Tub> <The Battle of the Books> <The Drapier'sLetters> <Gulliver's Travels> <A Modest Proposal>5) Henry Fielding：<The History of Jonathan Wild the Great> <The History ofTom Jones a Foundling> <The History of Amelia>6) Samuel Johnson：<To the Right Honorable the Earl of Chester field>7) Richard Brinsley Sheridan：<The School for Scandal>8) Thomas Gray ：<Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard>2. 启蒙运动The Enlightenment Movement was a progressive intellectual movement which flourished in France and swept through the whole Western Europe at the time. The movement was a furtherance of the Renaissance of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries. Its purpose was to enlighten the whole world with the light of modern philosophical and artistic ideas. They believed that the artistic ideals should be order, logic, restrained emotion and accuracy and that literature should be judged in terms of its service to humanity. They seek proportion, unity, harmony and grace in literary expressions, in an effort to delight, instruct and correct human beings. Thus a polite, elegant, witty, and intellectual art developed.3. 新古典主义In the field of literature, the Enlightenment Movement brought about a revival of interest in the old classical works. This tendency is known as neoclassicism. According to neoclassical period, all forms of literature were to be modeled after the classical works of the ancient Greek and Roman writers(Homer etc) and those of the contemporary French ones. They believed that the artistic ideals should be order, logic, restrained emotion and accuracy, and that literature should be judged in terms of its service to humanity.4. 英雄双行诗Prose should be precise, direct, smooth and flexible; Poetry should be lyrical 抒情的)，epical(叙事诗的,英雄的,有重大历史意义的)，didactic, satiric or dramatic, andeach class should be guided by its own principles; Drama should be written in the Heroic Couplets(iambic pentameter rhymed in two lines); the three unities of time,space and action should be strictly observed; regularity in construction should be adhered to, and type characters rather than individuals should be represented.5. 英国现实主义小说The modern English novel, which, contrary to the traditional romance of aristocrats, gives a realistic presentation of life of the common English people. Thus —the most significant phenomenon in the history of the development of English literature in the eighteenth century —is a natural product of the Industrial Revolution and a symbol of the growing importance and strength of the English middle class.6. 《天国历程》中“名利场”的寓意The Pilgrim's Progress is the most successful religious allegory in the English Ianguage. Its purpose is to urge people to abide（遵守，坚持）by Christian doctrines and seek salvation through constant struggles with their own weaknesses and all kinds of social evils. It is not only about something spiritual but also bears much relevance to the time. Its predominant metaphor（r寓意，隐喻）—life as a journey—is simple and familiar.7. 蒲伯的文学（诗歌）批评观点及其诗歌特色An Essay on Criticism, the poem, as a comprehensive study of the theories of literary criticism, exert great influence upon Pope's contemporary writers in advocating the classical rules and popularizing the neoclassicist tradition in England. The whole poem is written in a plain style, hardly containing any imagery or eloquence and therefore makes easy reading. Pope satirized all sorts of false learning and pedantry in literature, philosophy, science and other branches of knowledge.8. 鲁滨逊漂流记的特点The all-powerful influence of material circumstances or social environment upon the thoughts and actions of the hero or the heroine is highlighted. The struggle of the poor unfortunate for mere existence, mixed with their desire for great wealth, comes into conflict with the social environment which prevents them from obtaining the goal under normal circumstances and thus forces them into criminal actions or bold adventures.In most of his works, he gave his praise to the hard-working, sturdy middle class and showed his sympathy for the downtrodden, unfortunate poor.Robinson is here a real hero: a typical eighteenth-century English middle-class man, with a great capacity for work, inexhaustible energy, courage, patience and persistence in overcoming obstacles, in struggling against the hostile naturalenvironment. He is the very prototype（n雏形，范例，原型）of the empire builder, the pioneer colonist. In describing Robinson's life on the island, Defoe glorifies（v 赞美，美化）human labor and the Puritan（W青教徒）fortitude（n 刚/坚毅，不屈不挠）,which save Robinson from despair and are a source of pride and happiness9. 《格列佛游记》的社会讽刺As a whole, the book is one of the most effective and devastating criticisms and satires of all aspects in the then English and European life-socially, politically, religiously, philosophically, scientifically, and morally. Its social significance is great and its exploration into human nature profound.The exaggerated smallness in Part1 works just as effectively as the exaggerated largeness in Part 2. the similarities between human beings and the Lilliputians and the contrast between the Brobdingnagians and human beings both bear reference to the possibilities of human state. Part 3, though seemingly a bit random, furthers the criticism of the western civilization and deals with different malpractices and false illusions about science philosophy, history and even immortality. The last part, where comparison is made through both similarities and differences, leads the reader to fundamental question: What on earth is a human bein、g10. 菲尔丁“散文体史诗Fielding was the first to set out, both in theory and practice, to write specifically a "comic epic in prose". He adopted" the third—person narration," in which the author becomes the "al—l knowing God." He "thinks the thought " of all his characters, so he is able to present not only their external behaviours but also the internal workings of their minds. In planning his stories, he tries to retain the grand epical form of the classical works but at the same time keeps faithful to his realistic presentation of common life as it is.11. 格雷诗歌的主题与意象It is more or less或多或少）conn ected with the mela ncholy eve nt of death of Richard West, Gray's intimate friend. In this poem, Gray reflects on death, the sorrows of life, and the mysteries of human life with a touch of his personal melancholy. The poet compares the common folk with the great ones, wondering what the commons could have achieved if they had had the chance. Here he reveals his sympathy for the poor and the unknown, but mocks the great ones who despise the poor and bring havoc（n/v 破坏，混舌L ） on them.His poems, as a whole, are mostly devoted to a sentimental lamentation or meditation on life, past and present. His poems are characterized by an exquisite sense of form. His style is sophisticated and allusive. His poems are often marked with the trait （n 特征，特点）of a highly artificial diction and a distorted word order.Chapter3 The Romantic Period1. 浪漫主义时期的作家及其作品1) William Blake: Songs of Experience Songs of Innocence2) Marriage of Heaven and Hell3) William Wordsworth: The Prelude Composed upon Westminster Bridge4) Lyrical Ballads I Wondered Lonely as a Cloud5) The Solitary Reaper6) Samuel Taylor Coleridge: Kubla Khan The Rime of the Ancient Mariner7) George Gordon Byron: Don Juan Childe Harold ' s Pilgrimage8) Song for the Ludites9) Percy Bysshe Shelley: To a Skylark Men of England10) Ode to the West Wind11) John Keats: Ode to a Nightingale Ode on a Grecian Urn12) Jane Austen: Pride and Prejudice2. 浪漫主义Romanticism actually constitutes a change of direction from attention to the outer world of social civilization to the inner world of the human spirit. In essenceit designates a literary and philosophical theory which tends to see the individual as the very center of all life and all experience. It also places the individual at center of art, making literature most valuable as an expression of his or her unique feelings and particular attitudes, and valuing its accuracy in portraying the individual 's experiences.3. 浪漫主义时期文学特点的分析A. In poetry writing, the romanticists employed new theories and innovated newtechniques, for example, the preface to the second edition of the Lyrical Ballads acts as a manifesto for the new school.B. The romanticists not only extol the faculty off imagination, but also elevate theconcepts of spontaneity and inspiration.C. They regarded nature as the major source of poetic imagery and the dominantsubject.D. Romantics also tend to be nationalistic.4. 浪漫主义(所选作品)的主题、意象分析A. To Wordsworth, nature acts as a substitute for imaginative and intellectual engagement with the development of embodied human beings in their diverse circumstances. It's nature that gives him“strength and knowledge full of peace.Wordsworth thinks that common life is the only subject of literary interest. The joys and sorrows of the common people are his themes. His sympathy always goes to the suffering poor.B. Byron puts into Don Juan his rich knowledge of the world and the wisdom gained from experience. It presents brilliant pictures of life in its various stages of love, joy, suffering, hatred and fear. The unifying principle in Don Juan is the basic ironic theme of appearanceand reality, ie. what things seem to be and what they actually are. Byron's satire on the English society in the later part of the poem can be compared with Pope's; and his satire is much less personal than that of Pope's, for Byron is here attacking not a personal enemy but the whole hypocritical society. And the diverse materials and the clash of emotions gathered in the poem are harmonized by Byron's insight into the difference between life's appearance and its actuality.5. a. The Romantic MovementIt expressed a more or less negative attitude towards the existing social & political conditions that came with industrialization & the growing importance of the bourgeoisie. The Romantics felt that the existing society denied people theiressential human needs, so they demonstrated a strong reaction against thedominant modes of thinking of the 18th-century writers & philosophers. Where their predecessors saw man as a social animal, the Romantics saw him essentially as an individual in the solitary state & emphasized the special qualities of each individual's mind. Romanticism actually constitutes a change of direction from attention to the outer.b. The Gothic novelIt is a type of romantic fiction that predominated in the late 18th century & was one phase of the Romantic movement, its principal elements are violence, horror & the supernatural, which strongly appeal to the reader's emotion. With its descriptions of the dark, irrational side of human nature, the Gothic form has exerted a great influence over the writer of the Romantic period. Works like The Mysteries of Udolpho (1794) by Ann Radcliffe & Frankenstein (1818) by Mary Shelley are typical Gothic romance.(2) Characteristics of Romantic literature in English history.The Romantic period is an age of poetry Blake, Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Shelley & Keats are the major Romantic poets. They started a rebellion against the neoclassical literature, which was later regarded as the poetic revolution. Wordsworth & Coleridge were the major representativesof this movement. They explored new theories & innovated new techniques in poetry writing. They saw poetry as a healing energy: they believed that poetry could purify both individual souls & the society. The Romantics not only extol the faculty of imagination, but also stress the concept of spontaneity & inspiration, regarding them as something crucial for true poetry. The natural world comes to the forefront of the poetic imagination. Nature is not only the major source of poetic imagery, but also provides the dominant subject matter.Wordsworth is the closest to nature.To escape from a world that had became excessively rational, as well as excessively materialistic & ugly, the Romantics would turn to other times & places, where thequalities they valued could be convincingly depicted. Romantics also tend to be nationalistic, defending the great poets & dramatists of their own national heritage against the advocates of classical rules who tended to glorify Rome & rational Italian & French neoclassical art as superior to the native traditions. To the Romantics, poetry should be free from all rules. They would turn to the humble people & their everyday life for subjects, Romantic writers are always seeking for the Absolute, the Ideal through the transcendenceof the actual. They have also made bold experiments in poetic language, versification & design, & constructed a variety of forms on original principles of structure & style.6. 小说《傲慢与偏见》的主题和主要人物的性格分析Austen's main literary concern is about human beings in their personal relationships. Because of this, her novels have a universal significance. She is particularly preoccupied with the relationship between men & women in love. Stories of love & marriage provide the major themes in all her novels.1) Structure, characterization & language styleThe structure of the novel is exquisitely deft, the characterization in the highest degree memorable, while the irony has a radiant shrewdness unmatched elsewhere. At the heart of the novelist's exploration of the marriage, property & intrigue lies the exhilarating suspense of the relationship between Elizabeth Bennet & Darcy, & Jane Austen's delicate probing of the values of the gentry. The moments of high comedy in the novel are always related to deeper issues. Elizabeth's rejection of the odious Mr. Collins suggests her independence & self-esteem, but when Collins is accepted by her friend Charlotte Lucas, we see the reality of marriage as a necessary step if a woman is to a void the wretchedness of aging spinsterhood. Conversely, in the elopement of Lydia & Wickham, we are shown the dangers of feckless relationships unsupported by money. The comic characters in Pride & Prejudice are: Mr. & Mrs. Bennet, Mr. Collins & that monstrous snob Lady Catherine de Burgh, who make us laugh even as they parody erroneous views of marriage & class.5. 应用Characteristics of Jane Austen's novels1) Austen's novels describe a narrow range of society & events: a quiet, prosperous, middle class circle in provincial surroundings, which she knew well from her own experience2) Her subject matter is also limited, for most of her novels deal with the subject of getting married, which was in fact the central problem for the young leisure-class lady of that age, who had no other choice in her life but to find a good husband.3) Austen's interest was in human nature; in her depiction of human nature, instead of being fascinated by great waves of elevated emotion, by passion or heroic experience, she focused on the trivial & petty details of everyday living, which became very interesting through her truthful & lively description.4) Austen's novels are brightened by their witty conversation & omnipresent humor. Her language shines with an exquisite touch of lively gracefulness, elegant & refined, but never showy.6. 简奥斯丁对英国文学的伟大贡献：A ．Jane Austen is one of the most important Romantic novelists in Englishliterature. She creates six influential novels.B．Her main literary concern is about human beings in their personalrelationships. She makes trivial daily life as important as the concerns abouthuman belief career and salient social events. This is what makes her important in English literature.C．Jane Austen has brought the English novel, as an art of for, to its maturity becauseof her sensitivity to universal patterns of human behavior and heraccurate portrayal of human individuals.D．She describes the world from a woman's point of view, and depicts a group of authentic and common women.7. Wordsworth 的写作风格1) The Lyrical Ballads differs in marked ways from his early poetry, notablythe uncompromising simplicity of much of the language, the strongsympathy not merely with the poor in general but with particular,dramatized examples of them, and the fusion of natural description withexpressions of inward states of mind.2) According to subjects, Wordsworth's short poems can be classified intotwo groups: poems about nature and poems about human life.3) To Wordsworth, nature acts as a substitute for imaginative and intellectualengagement with the development of embodied human beings in theirdiverse circumstances. I'ts nature that gives him“strength and knowledgefull of peace.4) Wordsworth thinks that common life is the only subject of literary interest.The joys and sorrows of the common people are his themes. His sympathyalways goes to the suffering poor.5) Wordsworth's deliberate simplicity ad refusal to decorate the truth ofexperience produced a kind of pure and profound poetry which no otherpoet has ever equaled.8. Romantic poets 与Romantic Age 的不同处：The poetic ideals announced by Words worth and Coleridge provided a major inspiration for the brilliant young writers who made p the second generation of English Romantic poets. Wordsworth and Coleridge both became more conservative politically after the democratic idealism. The second generation of Romantic poets are revolutionary in thinking. They set themselves against the bourgeois society and the ruling class.9. Songs of innocence 与Songs of ExperieneeA. Songs of Innocence is a lovely volume of poems, presenting a happy andinnocent world, though not without its evils.B. Songs of Experience paints a different world, a world of misery, disease, warand repression with melancholy tone.C. The two books hold the similar subject-matter, but the tone, emphasis andconclusion differ.Chapter 4 The Victorian Period1. 维多利亚时期的主要作家与作品1) Charles Dicke ns: Oliver Twist; The Pickwick Paper; David Copper field.;Dombey and Son; A Tale of Two Cities; Bleak House; Hard Times; GreatExpectation; Our Mutual Friend.2) Emily Bronte: Wutheri ng Heights.Charlotte Bron te: Jane Eyre3) Alfred Tennyson: Ulysses; In Memoriam; Break, Break, Break;Dora; Crossing the Bar; Morte d' Arthur; The Gardener's Daughter; ThePrin cess4) Robert Browning: The Ring and the Book; My Last Duchess5) George Eliot: The Mill on the Floss: Middlemarch: Daniel Deron da; Romola6) Thomas Hardy: Under the Greenwood Tree; Far From the MaddingCrowd: The Return of the Native; The Mayor of Casterbridge: Tess of theD 'Urbervilles1. 宪章运动The worse ning liv ing and work ing con diti ons, the mass un employme nt fin ally gave rise to the Chartist Moveme nt. The En glish workers got themselves orga ni zed in big cities and brought forth the People's charter, in which they demanded basic rights and better living and working conditions. They, for three times, made appeals to the gover nment, with hun dreds of thousa nds of people's sig natures. The moveme nt swept over most of the cities in the country. Although the movement declined to an end in 1848, it did bring some improvement to the welfare of the working class. This was the first mass movement of the English working class & the early sign of the awakening of the poor, oppressed people.2. 功利主义Almost everything was put to the test by the criterion of utility, that is, the extent to which it could promote the material happ in ess. This theory held a special appeal to the middle-class in dustrialists, whose greed drove them to exploit ing workers to the utmost and brought greater sufferi ng and poverty to the work ing mass.3. 批判现实主义The Victorian Age is an age of realism rather than of romanticism-a realism which strives to tell the whole truth showing moral and physical diseases as they are. To be true to life becomes the first requirement for literary writing. As the mirror of truth, literature has come very close to daily life, reflecting its practical problems and interests and is used as。

Chapter 3 The Modern Period1.The second American Renaissance is the _________________________.2.In 1915 Pound began writing his great work___________________.3.Frost‟s fourth Pulitzer Prize was awarded for ____________________ which includes ______________________,the poem he later recited at President Kennedy‟s inauguration.4._______________________ made a great hit and won O‟Neil the first Pulitzer5.A group of writers were called_______________________ named by an American writer Gertrude Stein.6.Faulkner published a volume of poetry The Marble Faun and his first novel _________________________________.7.In a tragic sense, ________________________ is representation of life as a struggle against unconquerable natural forces in which only a partial victory is possible.8.The author ____________ has not only cast light on his affinity to the Chinese and his strenuous effort in the study of Oriental literature.9.The one-image poem of ________________ best demonstrates his principles of what a new poetry should be.10.In 1950, Faulkner was awarded the Noble Prize for the anti-racist __________________________. The author _____________ used “i” instead of “I” to refer to himself as a protest against self-importance.10.The poem ________________________________ is an observation of the poet of the human faces seen in a Paris subway station.11. A masterpiece in American literature, _________________________ evokes a haunting mood of a glamorous, wild time that seemingly will news come again.12. Of Faulkner‟s literary works, four novels are masterpieces by any standards :____________________________, _________________________, ________________________________, __________________________________.13. Hemingway‟s second big success is ______________________________.14. _________________, Hemingway, and___________________ are considered to be the masters in the field of American fiction.15. __________________ wrote in both the metrical forms and the free verse , in a from that might be called semi-free or semi-conventional.16. In 1920, Fitzgerald‟s first novel__________________________ , which won him the wealth and fame.17. ______________________________ has gained its status as a world classic and simultaneously marks the climax of O‟Neil‟s literary career and the coming of age of American drama.18. Fitzgerald wrote one more important novel ___________________, in which he traces the decline of young American psychiatrist whose marriage to a beautiful and wealthy patient .19. _________________________ clearly presents a new beginning in Hemingway‟s career as a writer.20. The grapes of Wrath of ________________ proves to be a symbolic journey of man on the way to finding some truth about life and himself.21. The poem________________________ is so vivid a memory of experience on the farm .22. The play____________ concerns the problem of modern man‟s identity.23. In the poem_____________________, Pound started to find some agreement between “Whitmanesque” free verse.24. In 1954, ________________________ was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature.25. In the story _______________________________, Faulkner makes best use of the Gothic devices in narration.26. The novels Rabbit of ________________ examine the middle-class values and portray the troubled relationships in people‟s private life and their internal decay under the stress of the modern times.27. ________________________________________ is Faulkner‟s first short story published in 1930.28. The poem______________________________ is a deceptively simple poem in which the speaker literally stops his horse in the winter twilight to observe the beauty of the forest scene.29. __________________________ is a leading spokesman of the “Imagist Movement”30. _________________________ made the O‟Neil the third Pulitzer Prize.31. _____________________ is described by the author as “a book of people”.32. Fitzgerald …s ________________collection won him great popularity.33. Salinger‟s novel ______________________________ is regarded as a student‟s classic.34. ___________________ is Hemingway‟s first true novel.35. American fiction in the 1960s and 1970s always referred to as ________________________.36. _____________________ is a great novel that is set against the ending of the war.37. _________________________ is the first book to present a Hemingway hero ----Nick Adams.38. Those who survive in the process of seeking to master the code with the__________, the ______________ and the ____________ are Hemingway‟s Code heroes.39. ______________________ that won Frost the first of four Pulitzer Prize.40. ________________ was the only dramatist ever to win a Nobel Prize41. The defining formal characteristic works are ______________ and __________________.42. ___________________ was highly praised by the Nobel prize Committee for “his powerful style-forming mastery of the are” of creating modern fiction.43. ________________________ is often acclaimed literary spokesman of the Jazz Age.44.Most of Faulkner‟s works are set in the American South, with his emphasis on the Southern ______________________.45. ______________, whose “Howl” became the manifesto of the Beat Movement46. ______________________ cap Hemingway‟s career and lead to his receipt of the Nobel Prize.47. The major concern of _____________________________ is primarily about the South as a state of mind.48.Faulkner once said that _____________________________ is a story of “lost innocence.”。

●The Modern Period1. After the First World War, all kinds of literary trends of Modernism including stream of consciousness appeared. What is stream of consciousness?In Joyce's opinion, the artist, who wants to reach the highest stage and to gain the insights necessary for the creation of dramatic art, should rise to the position of a god-like objectivity; he should have the complete conscious control over the creative process and depersonalize his own emotion in the artistic creation. He should appear as an omniscient author and present unspoken materials directly from the psyche of the characters, or make the characters tell their own inner thoughts in monologues. This literary approach to the presentation of psychological aspects of characters is usually termed as "stream of consciousness”.2. How did “The Lost Generation" come into existence in the literary history of the United States? What does the term “The Lost Generation" mean? Who were the leading figures of this literary movement? (Give at least two)When the First World War broke out, many American young men volunteered to take part in "the war to end wars" only to find that modern warfare was not as glorious or heroic as they thought it to be. Disillusioned and disgusted by the frivolous, greedy, and heedless way of life in America, they began to write and they wrote from their own experiences in the war. Among these young writers were the most prominent figures in American literature, especially in modern American literature. They were basically expatriates who left America and formed a community of writers and artists in Paris, involved with other European novelists and poets in their experimentation on new modes of though and expression. These writers were named by an American writer, Gertrude Stein, “The Lost Generation". Among the greatest figures in "The Lost Generation" are Ezra Pound, William Carlos Williams, Robert Frost, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, and William Faulkner.◆Robert Lee Frost(The Road Not Taken//Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening)1. Frost's poem are mostly concerned with his contemplation on nature and the relationship between nature and man. What is the characteristic of Robert Frost's poetry?By using simple spoken language and conversational rhythms, Frost achieve an effortless grace in his style. He combined traditional verse forms---the sonnet, rhyming couplets, blank verse----with a clear American local speech rhythm, the speech of New England farmers with its idiosyncratic diction and syntax. In verse form he was assorted; he wrote in both the metrical forms and the free verse, and sometimes he wrote in a form that borrows freely from the merits of both, in a form that might be called semi-free or semi-conventional. 2. Comment briefly on Robert Frost’snature poetry.A. Unlike his contemporaries in the early20th century, Robert Frost did not break upwith the poetic tradition nor made anyexperiment on form. Instead, he learnedfrom the tradition, especially the familiarconventions of nature poetry and ofclassical pastoral poetry, and made thecolloquial New England speech into apoetic expression.B. Many of his poems are fragrant withnatural quality. Images and metaphors inhis poems are drawn from the simplecountry life and the pastoral landscape thatcan be easily understood. But it would be amistake to imagine that Frost is easy tounderstand because it is easy to read.C. Profound ideas are delivered under thedisguise of the plain language and thesimple form, for what Frost did is to takesymbols from the limited human world andthe pastoral landscape to refer to the greatworld beyond the rustic scene.D. These thematic concerns include theterror and tragedy in nature, as well as itsbeauty, and the loneliness and poverty ofthe isolated human being. But first andforemost Frost is concerned with his love oflife and his belief in a serenity that onlycame from working usefully, while hepracticed himself throughout his life.◆F. Scott Fitzgerald(The Great Gatsby)1. The Great Gatsby, a masterpiece inAmerican literature, evokes a hauntingmood of a glamorous, wild time thatseemingly will never come again. Basedon the novel, discuss the characteristicsof Fitzgerald's works.A. Fitzgerald fictional world is the bestembodiment of the spirit of the Jazz Age, inwhich he shows a particular interest in theupper class society, especially the upperclass young people.B. Fitzgerald never spared an intimatetouch in his fiction to deal with thebankruptcy of the American Dream.C. Fitzgerald is a great stylist in Americanliterature. His style, closely related to histhemes, is explicit and chilly. His accuratedialogues, his careful observation ofmannerism, styles, models and attitudesprovide the reader with a vivid sense ofreality.D. He follows the Jamesian tradition inusing the scenic method in his chapters,each one of which consists of one or moredramatic scenes, sometimes withintervening passages of narration, leavingthe tedious process of transition to thereaders' imagination.2. F. Scott Fitzgerald is a great stylist inAmerican literature. What is his art ofnovels?A. His style, closely related to his themes,is explicit and chilly.B. His accurate dialogues, his carefulobservation of mannerism, styles, modelsand attitudes provide the reader with a vividsense of reality.C. He also skillfully employs the device ofhaving events observed by a "centralconsciousness" to his great advantage.D. In his words, there are plenty of accuratedetails, the completely original diction andmetaphors, the bold impressionistic andcolorful quality.3. Briefly discuss The Great Gatsby.The Great Gatsby, a novel written by F.Scott Fitzgerald, is one of the greatestnovels in American literature. It fullyexplores the disillusionment and despair ofthe Lost Generation through the personaltragedy of a young man whose"incorruptible dream" is easily smashedinto pieces by the crude reality. Theprotagonist, Gatsby, is a mythical figurewhose intensity of dream partakes of a stateof mind that embodies American itself. Hisfailure magnifies the end of the Americandream. The style of the story is explicit andchilly. Fitzgerald's accurate dialogues, hiscareful observation of mannerism and thecolorful images provide the reader with avivid and profound scene of the reality.4. The Great Gatsby is an examination ofAmerican myth in the 20th century.Fitzgerald deliberately depicts Gatsby asa mysterious person so as to achieve theeffect that Gatsby is American Everyman.Please make a brief comment on TheGreat Gatsby.The Great Gatsby is a masterpiece inAmerican literature. It evokes a hauntingmood of a glamorous, wild time thatseemingly will never come again. Besides,the loss of an ideal and the disillusionmentthat comes with the failure are exploitedfully in the personal tragedy of a youngman whose "incorruptible dream" is“smashed into pi eces by the relentlessreality". Gatsby is a mythical figure whoseintensity of dream partakes of a state ofmind that embodies America itself; Gatsbyis the last of the romantic hero, whoseenergy and sense of commitment takes himin search of his personal grail; Gatsby’sfailure magnifies to a great extent the endof the American Dream. However, theaffirmation of hope and expectation isself-asserted in Fitzgerald's artisticmanipulation of the central symbol in thenovel, the green light.◆Ernest Hemingway(In Our Time//The Sun Also Rise//AFarewell to Arms//Men Without Woman)1. What is “Hemingway Code Heroes"?Hemingway's world is limited. He dealswith a limited range of characters in quitesimilar circumstances and measures themagainst an unvarying code, known as “graceunder pressure”, which is actually anattitude towards life that Hemingway hadbeen trying to demonstrate is his works.Those who survive in the process ofseeking to master the code with the honesty,the discipline, and the restraint areHemingway Code Heroes2. Ernest Hemingway, a winner of NobelPrize on Literature, is one of the greatestAmerican writers. Discuss Hemingway'sart of fiction: his style, the particulartype of hero in his novels, and his lifeattitudes, etc.A. Typical of the "iceberg" analogy isHemingway's style.B. "Grace under pressure is actually anattitude towards life that Hemingway hadbeen trying to demonstrate in his works. Inhis works, he depicts characters as braveand unyielded heroes.C. Human speech is full of accents andmannerisms and the use of short, simpleand conventional words and sentences hasan effect of clearness, terseness and greatcare.3. How do you understand Hemingway'sIceberg Principle according to hisworks?A. He deals with a limited range ofcharacters in quite similar circumstancesand measures them against an unvaryingcode, known as “grace under pressure .B. The characters he depicted, with thehonesty, the discipline and the restraint,survive in the process of seeking to masterthe code.C. According to Hemingway, good literarywriting should be able to make readers feelthe emotion of the characters directly andthe best way to produce the effect is to setdown exactly every particular kind offeeling without any authorial comments,without conventionally emotion language,and with a bare minimum of adjectives andadverbs.D. Hemingway develops the style ofcolloquialism initiated by Mark Twain.◆William Faulkner(A Rose for Emily//The Sound and theFury//Light in August//Go Down, Moses)1. What does Yoknapatwapha Countrystand for in Faulkner's novels?A. In William Faulkner's writings, the placeYoknapatawpha Country is frequently set asthe background for the stories. This place isactually an imaginary place based onFaulkner's childhood memory about theplace where he grew up, the town ofOxford in his native Lafayette Country inthe American South.B. With his rich imagination, Faulknerturned the land, the people and the historyof the region into a literary creation and amythical kingdom. The YoknapatawphaCountry series have an overall pattern inwhich the fate of a ruined homeland alwaysfocuses on the collision of Faulkner'sintelligent, sensitive, an idealisticprotagonist with the society of the twentiethcentury. Most of the major themes aredirectly related to this confrontation inFaulkner's novels.2. Give a brief analysis of EmilyGrierson, the protagonist of A Rose forEmily by Faulkner.Set in the town of Jefferson inYoknapatawpa, the story focuses on EmilyGrierson, an eccentric spinster who refusesto accept the passage of time, or theinevitable charge and loss that accompaniedit. As a descendent of the Southernaristocracy, Emily is typical of those inFaulkner's. Yoknapatwapha stories who arethe symbols of the Old South but theprisoners of the past.1.For all/that struck the earth,/No matter if not bruised or spiked with stubble,/Went surely to the cider-apple heap/As of no worth. /One can see what will trouble/ this sliip of mine,whatever sleep it is./were he not gone, /the woodchuck could say whether it’s like his/Long sleep,as I describe its coming on./or just some human sleep.答：Robert Lee Frost. After Apple Picking.Briefly interpret: This poem is a vivid memory of the poet’s working experience on the farm. The poet feels satisfied and tired as well. In this part the poet hints that he will never forget the scene of harvest even in his human sleep, which indicates death.2.Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,/And sorry I could not travel both.答：Robert Lee Frost. “Diverged”means seperated and went on different directions. Two lines imply one has to make choice especially in the course of one’s life.3.There was music from my neighbor's house through the summer nights. In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars. At high tide in the afternoon I watched his guests diving from the tower of his raft, or taking the sun on the hot sand of his beach while his two motor−boats slit the waters of the Sound, drawing aquaplanes over cataracts of foam. On week−ends his Rolls−Royce became an omnibus, bearing parties to and from the city between nine in the morning and long past midnight, while his station wagon scampered like a brisk yellow bug to meet all trains. And on Mondays eight servants, including an extra gardener, toiled all day with mops and scrubbing−brushes and hammers and garden−shears, repairing the ravages of the night before.答：F.Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby. This passage describes Gatsby’s extravagance. “moths”are used metaphorically to refer to those people who are drawn to the party simply for its glamour,for the wealth of Gatsby.4.He smiled understandingly—much more than understandingly. It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, which you may come across four or five times in life. It faced—or seemed to face—the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on you with an irresistible prejudice in your favor.答：F.Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby，He is Gatsby, A luxurious party is being held in Gatsby’s house.5.“I glanced back once .A wafer of a moon was shining over Gatsby’s house, making the night fine as before, and surviving the laughter and the sound of his still glowing garden. A sudden emptiness seemed to flow now from the windows and the great doors, endowing with complete isolation the figure of the host, who stood on the porch, his hand up in a formal gesture of farewell.答：F.Scott Fitzgerald The Great Gatsby. The passage describes the end of a big party. The passage hints at the meaninglessness, spiritual emptiness and vanity of such a pleasure-seeking life.There is a tragic sense.6.Is dying hard, Daddy? No, I think it’s pretty easy, Nick. It all depends.答：Ernest Hemingway,Indian Camp. (2)What was Nick preoccupied with when he asked the question? Life and death. (3)why did the father add “it all depends”after he answered his son’s question? When the father says that dying is pretty easy, he might be thinking about the self-murdered husband. But when he reflects on the wife’s miracle survival of the violent pain in the whole process of birth, he adds the final sentence. Dying is both hard and easy, it all depends on individuals.7.When Miss Emily Grierson died, our whole town went to her funeral: the men through a sort of respectful affection for a fallen monument, the women mostly out of curiosity to see the inside of her house, which no one save an old man-servant-a combined gardener and cook-had seen in at least ten years.答：A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner.(2) Why is Miss Emily Grierson’s death regarded as a fallen monument?Emily is regarded as the symbol of tradition and the old way of life. Thus her death is like the falling of a monument. Emily is typical of those who are the symbols of the Old South but the prisoners of past, and she is an eccentric spinster who refuses to accept the passage of time, or the inevitable change and loss that accompanies it.8. Only Miss Emily’s house was left, lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumps-an eyesore among eyesores.答：A Rose for Emily by William Faulkner. “an eyesore among eyesores”means the most unpleasant thing to look at. The passage indicate the house is a perfect mirror image of the owner who is stubborn and coquettish and deliberately detaches herself from the communal life in this small town.。

英美文学选读中文翻译及重点习题答案英国文学(AMERICAN LITERATURE)第五章现代时期(The Modern Period)一、背景知识(Background knowledge)1、历史背景(Historical background)（1）一般认为第一次世界大战是英国历史的分水岭，因为这场战争给英国社会的各个领域带来了急剧的变化。

暴风骤雨般的第一次世界大战极大地削弱了大英帝国，使英国有史以来第一次成为债务国，伦敦失去了其世界金融中心的地位。

战后经济的混乱和精神的幻灭对英国人民产生了深远的影响，他们开始认清资本主义普遍存在的罪恶。

（2）第二次世界大战标志着大英帝国的最终瓦解，在这场战争中英国损失惨重。

更糟的是随着战争的结束，英国的殖民地掀起了声势浩大的独立运动。

到1970年，英国几乎失去了所有的前殖民地，昔日的“日不落帝国”终于瓦解。

（3）大英帝国的结束极大地削弱了它的实力和对世界的影响，战后英国对其国际地位的改变所作的调整是艰难、痛苦的。

这几乎用了二十年的时间才让大多数英国人真正理解和接受英国不再是世界事务的中心这样一个事实。

然而，英国成功地度过最困难的时期，今天它依然是世界上主要的资本主义国家之一。

2、文化背景(Cultural background)（1）19世纪后半期以及20世纪头几十年，欧洲自然科学和社会科学得到巨大的发展。

在意识形态方面，自然科学的发展产生了各种各样的悲观论和宿命论。

自然主义是这些论点在文学上的一种反映。

达尔文的进化论、爱因斯坦的相对论等等理论在20世纪的头几十年对塑造人们的心理状态产生了极大的影响。

然而，更重要的是弗洛伊德的分析心理学，因为这种心理分析的方法在现实生活中以及在文学中极大地改变了人们对人类本性的看法。

（2）在社会科学领域，马克思和恩格斯提出了科学社会主义理论，事实证明这种理论不仅是一种指导原则，而且鼓励着劳动人民为自身的解放而斗争。

同时，唯心主义哲学也蓬勃兴起，叔本华、尼采、伯格森等名列本时期最著名的人物之中。

《英美文学选读》（美国文学部分）American LiteratureChapter one : The romantic periodI. Emerson’s transcendentalism and his attitude toward nature:1.Transcendentalism—it is a philosophic and literary movement that flourish in New England, as a reaction against rationalism and Calvinism. It stressed intuitive understanding of god without the help of the church, and advocated independence of the mind.2. Emerson’s transcendentalism:The over-soul—it is an all-pervading power goodness, from which all things come and of which all are a part. It is a supreme reality of mind, a spiritual unity of all beings and a religion. It is a communication between an individual soul and the universal over-soul. And he strongly believe in the divinity and infinity of man as an individual, so man can totally rely on himself.3.His toward nature:Emerson loves nature. His nature is the garment of the over-soul, symbolic and moral bound. Nature is not something purely of the matter, but alive with God’s presence. It ex ercise a healthy and restorative influence on human beings. Children can see nature better than adult.II. Hawthorne’s Puritanism and his black vision of man:1. Puritanism—it is the religious belief of the Puristans, who had intended to purify and simplify the religious ritual of the church of England.2. his black vision of man—by the Calvinistic concept of original sin, he believed that human being are evil natured and sinful, and this sin is ever present in human heart and will pass one generation to another.3. Young Goodman Brown—it shows that everyone has some evil secrets. The innocent and na?ve Brown is confronted with the vision of human evil in one terrible night, and then he becomes distrustful and doubtful. Brown stands for everyone ,who is born pure and has no contact with the real world ,and the prominent people of the village and church. They cover their secrets during daily lives, and under some circumstances such as the witch’s Sabbath, they become what they are. Even his closed wife, Faith, is no exception. So Brown is aged in that night.III. The symbolism of Melville’s Mobby-Dick1.The voyage to catch the white whale is the one of the mind in quest of the truth and knowledge of universe.2. To Ahab, the whale is an evil creature or the agent of an evil force that control the universe. As to readers, the whale is a symbol of physical limits, or a symbol of nature. It also can stand for the ultimate mystery of the universe and the wall behind which unknown malicious things are hiding.IV. Whitman and his Leaves of Grass :1. Theme: sing of the “en-mass” and the self / pursuit of love, happiness, and ***ual love / sometimes about politics (Drum taps)2. Whitman’s originality first in his use of the poetic form free verse (i.e. poetry without a fixed beat or regular rhyme scheme),by means of which he becomes conversational and casual.3.He uses the first person pronoun “I” to stress individualism, and oral language to acquire sympathy from the common reader.Chapter two : The realistic periodI. The character analysis and social meaning of Huck Finn in Adventure of Huckleberry Finn by Mark TwainHuck is a typical American boy with “a sound heart and a deformed conscience”. He appears to be vulgar in language and in manner, but he is honest and decent in essence. His remarkable raft’s journey down on the Mississippi river can be regarded as his process of education and his way to grow up. At first, he stands by slavery, for he clings to the idea that if he lets go the slave, he will be damned to go to hell. And when the “King” sells Jim for money, Huck decides to inform Jim’s master. After he thinks of the past good time when Jim and he are on the raft where Jim shows great care and deep affection for him, he decide to rescue Jim. AndHuck still thinks he is wrong while he is doing the right thing.Huck is the son of nature and a symbol for freedom and earthly pragmatism. Through the eye of Huck, the innocent and reluctant rebel, we see the pre-Civil War American society fully exposed. Twain contrasts the life on the river and the life on the banks, the innocence and the experience, the nature and the culture, the wilderness and the civilization.II. Daisy Miller by Henry James1. Theme: The novel is a story about American innocence defeated by the stiff, traditional values of Europe. James condemns the American failure to adopt expressive manners intelligently and point out the false believing that a good heart is readily visible to all. The death of Daisy results from the misunderstanding between people with different cultural backgrounds.2. The character analysis of Daisy: She represents typical American girl, who is uninformed and without the mature guidance. Ignorance and parental indulgence combine to foster he assertive self-confidence and fierce willfulness. She behaves in the same daring naive way in Europe as she does at home. When someone is against her, she becomes more contrary. She knows that she means no harm and is amazed that anyone should think she does. She does not compromise to the European manners.3. The character analysis of Winterbourne: He is a Europeanized American, who has live too long in foreign parts. He is very experience and has a problem understanding Daisy. He endeavors to put her in sort of formula, i.e. to classify her.III. Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser:1. Theme: The author invented the success of Carrie and the downfall of Hurstwood out of an inevitable and natural judgment, because the fittest can survive in a competitive, amoral society according to the social Darwinism.2. The character analysis of Carrie: She follows the right direction to a pursuit of the American dream, and the circumstances and her desire for a better life direct to the successful goal. But she is not contented, because with wealth and fame, she still finds herself lonely. She is a product of the society, a realization of the theory of the survival of the fittest.3. The character analysis of Hurstwood: He is a negative evidence of the theory of the survival of the fittest. Because he is still conventional and can not throw away the social morals, he is not fitted to live in New York.Chapter Three: The Modern PeriodI. Ezra Pound and his theory of Imagism1. The principles: a. direct treatment of the thing; b. to use absolutely noword that does not contribute to the presentation; c. to compose in the sequence of the musical; d. to use the language of common speech and the exact word; e. to create new rhythms; f. absolutely freedom in the choice of subject.2. Imagism is to present an intellectual and emotional complex in an instant of time. An imagistic poem must present the object exactly the way the thing is seen. And the reader can form the image of the object through the process of reading the abstract and concrete words.II. Frost and his poetry on nature:Frost is deeply interested in nature and in men’s relationship to nature. Nature appears as an explicator and a mediator for man and serve as the center of reference of his behavior. Peace and order can be found in Frost’s poetical natural world. With surface simplicity of his poems, the thematic concerns are always presented in rich symbols. Therefore his work resists easy interpretation.III. F. Scott Fitzgerald and his The Great Gatsby1. Theme: Gatsby is American Everyman. His extraordinary energy and wealth make him pursue the dream. His death in the end points at the truth about the withering of the American Dream. The spiritual and moral sterility that has resulted from the withered American Dream is fullyrevealed in the article. However, although he is defeated, the dream has gave Gatsby a dignity and a set of qualities. His hope and belief in the promise of future makes him the embodiment of the values of the incorruptible American Dream .2. The character analysis of Gatsby: Gatsby is great, because he is dignified and ennobled by his dream and his mythic vision of life. He has the desire to repeat the past, the desire for money, and the desire for incarnation of unutterable vision on this material earth. For Gatsby, Daisy is the soul of his dreams. He believe he can regain Daisy and romantically rebels of time. Although he has the wealth that can match with the leisured class, he does not have their manners. His tragedy lies in his possession of a naive sense and chivalry.IV. Ernest Hemingway’s artistic features:1. The Hemingway code heroes and grace under pressure:They have seen the cold world ,and for one cause, they boldly and courageously face the reality. They has an indestructible spirit for his optimistic view of life. Whatever is the result is, the are ready to live with grace under pressure. No matter how tragic the ending is, they will never be defeated. Finally, they will be prevail because of their indestructible spirit and courage.2. The iceberg technique:Hemingway believe that a good writer does not need to reveal every detail of a character or action. The one-eighth the is presented will suggest all other meaningful dimensions of the story. Thus, Hemingway’s language is symbolic and suggestive.V. The character analysis of Emily in A Rose for Emily:Emily is a symbol of old values, standing for tradition, duty and past glory. But she is also a victim to all those she cares and embrace. The source of Emily’s strange ness is from her born pride and self-esteem, the domineering behavior of her father and the betrayal of her lover. Barricaded in her house, she has frozen the past to protect her dreams. Her life is tragic because the defiance of the community, her refusal to accept the change and her extreme pride have pushed her to abnormality and insanity.。

《英美文学选读》笔记背完必过Part One: English LiteratureAn Introduction to Old and Medieval English LiteratureI Understanding and application: (理解应用)1. England’s inhabitants are Celts. And it is conquered by Romans, Anglo Saxons and Normans. The Anglo-Saxons brought the Germanic language and culture to England, while Normans brought the Mediterranean civilization, including Greek culture, Rome law and the Christian religion. It is the cultural influence of these two conquests that provided the source for the rise and growth of English literature.2. The old English literature extends from about 450 to 1066, the year of the Norman conquest of England.3. The old English poetry that has survived can be divided into two groups: The religious group and the secular one4. Beowulf: a typical example of Old English poetry is regarded as the national epic of the Anglo-Saxons. It is an example of the mingling of nature myths and heroic legends.5. After the Norman’s conquest, three languages co-existed in England. French is the official language that is used by king and the Norman lords. Latin is the principal tongue of church affairs and in universities. Old English was spoken only by the common English people.6. In the second half of 14th century, English literature started to flourish with the appearance of writers like Geoffrey Chaucer, William Langland, John Gower, and others II Recite: (识记再现)1. Romance:①It uses narrative verse or prose to sing knightly adventures or other heroic deeds is a popular literary form in the medieval period.②It has developed the characteristic medieval motifs of the quest, the test, the meeting with the evil giant and the encounter with the beautiful beloved.③The hero is usually the knight, who sets out on a journey to accomplish some missions. There are often mysteries and fantasies in romance.④Romantic love is an important part of the plot in romance.Characterization is standardized, While the structure is loose and episodic, the language is simple and straightforward.⑤The importance of the romance itself can be seen as a means of showing medieval aristocratic men and women in relation to their idealized view of the world.2. Heroic couplet:Heroic couplet is a rhymed couplet of iambic pentameter. It is Chaucer who used it for the first time in English in his work The Legend of Good Woman.3. The theme of Beowulf:The poem presents a vivid picture of how the primitive people wage heroic struggles against the hostile forces of the natural world under a wise and mighty leader. The poem is an example of the mingling of the nature myths and heroic legends.4. The Wife of Bath in The Canterbury Tales:The Wife of Bath is depicted as the new bourgeois wife asserting her independence. Chaucer develops his characterization to a higher artistic level by presenting characters with both typical qualities and individual dispositions.5. Chaucer’s achievement:①He presented a comprehensive realistic picture of his age and created a whole gallery of vivid characters in his works, especially in The Canterbury Tales.②He anticipated a new ear, the Renaissance, to come under the influence of the Italian writers.③He developed his characterization to a higher level by presenting characters with both typical qualities and individual dispositions.④He greatly contributed to the maturing of English poetry. Today, Chaucer’s reputation has been securely established as one of the best English poets for his wisdom, humor and humanity.6. “The F ather of English poetry”:Originally, Old English poems are mainly alliterative verses with few variations.①Chaucer introduced from France the rhymed stanzas of various types to English poetry to replace it.②In The Romaunt of the Rose (玫瑰传奇), he first introduced to the English the octosyllabic couplet (八音节对偶句).③In The Legend of Good Women, he used for the first time in English heroic couplet.④And in his masterpiece, The Canterbury Tales, he employed heroic couplet with true ease and charm for the first time in the history of English literature.⑤His art made him one of the greatest poets in English; John Dryden called him “the father of English poetry”.【例题】The work that presented, for the first time in English literature, a comprehensive realistic picture of the medieval English society and created awhole gallery of vivid characters from all walks of life is most likely ______________.(0704)A. William Langland’s Piers PlowmanB. Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury TalesC. John Gower’s Confession AmantisD. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight【答案】B【解析】(P4.para.2)本题考查的是中世纪时期几位诗人作品的创作主题和创作范围。