2011年7月全国自考英美文学选读试题和答案

45. What’s the theme of the poem Paradise Lost? What’s the author’s intention to create it and the implication that the poem expresses?

1.The theme of the poem “ParadiseLost”is the” Fall of Man,”i.e.mans disobedience and the loss of Paradise, with its prime cause----Satan.

2.The athor’s intention to write this poem is to expose the ways of Satan to” justifythe ways of God to men.”

3.In this poem,the author implicitly expresses his fundamental concern with freedom and choice and his belief 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.

46. The Waste Land is T. S. Eliot’s most important single poem. What’s the theme of the poem? The theme of The Waste Land: The Waste Land is a poem concerned with the spiritual breakup of a modern civilization in which human life has lost its meaning, significance and purpose. The poem has developed a whole set of historical, cultural and religious themes; but it is often regarded as being primarily a reflection of the 20th-century disillusionment and frustration in a sterile and futile society.

47. In American literature, Emily Dickinson’s poetry is unique and unconventional in its own way. What are the features of Dickinson’s poems? 1.Dickinson is poems are usually based on her own experiences,her sorrows and joys.2.Love is another subject Dickinson dwelt on.3.Many poems Dickinson wrote are about nature,in which her general skepticism about the relationship between man and nature is well-expressed.4.Dickinson is poetry is unique and unconventional in own way.Her poems have no titles,hence are always quoted by their first lines. 48. What’s the theme of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The G reat Gatsby? The Great Gatsby evokes a haunting mood of a glamorous, wild time that seemingly will never come again. Besides, the loss of an ideal and the disillusionment that comes with the failure are exploited fully in the personal tragedy of a young man whose "incorruptible dream" is "smashed into pieces by the relentless reality." IV. Topic Discussion(20 points in all, 10 for each) Write no less than 150 words on each of the following topics in English in the corresponding space on the answer sheet. 49. Discuss Charles Dickens’ art of fiction: the setting, the character- portrayal, the language, etc. , based on his novel Oliver Twist. (1)Charles Dickens uses a mixture of the contemporary and recollected past as his fictional setting. In his works, he sets out a full map and a large scale criticism of the 19th century England, especially London. Oliver Twist is his early novel, in which Dickens reveals the dehumanizing workhouse system and the dark, criminal underworld life.

(2)Character-por trayal is the most distinguished feature of Dickens’s works. His works best-depicted characters are those innocent, virtuous, persecuted, helpless child characters such as Oliver Twist, Little Nell. Dickens writes best when she writes from the child’s poin t of view. And he is also famous for the description of those horrible and grotesque characters like Fagin, Bill Sikes.. (3)With his first sentence, he engages the reader’s attention and holds it to the end. In language, he is often compared with Shakespeare for his adeptness with vernacular and large vocabulary with which he brings out many a wonderful verbal picture of man and scene. Dickens’s works are also characterized by a mingling of humor and pathos.His humor and wit seem inexhaustible. 50. Summ arize 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