美国文学复习题(有答案版)
美国文学复习题有答案
美国文学复习题有答案
1. 谁是美国文学史上第一位重要的诗人？
答案：爱德华·泰勒（Edward Taylor）。
2. 19世纪美国文学中，哪位作家的作品以幽默和讽刺著称？
答案：马克·吐温（Mark Twain）。
3. 简述赫尔曼·梅尔维尔的《白鲸》中的主要冲突。
答案：《白鲸》中的主要冲突是船长亚哈对白鲸莫比·迪克的复仇。
4. 谁是“垮掉的一代”文学运动中最著名的诗人？
答案：艾伦·金斯伯格（Allen Ginsberg）。
5. 在菲茨杰拉德的《了不起的盖茨比》中，盖茨比的悲剧结局是什么？
答案：盖茨比被威尔逊误杀，因为他认为盖茨比是导致他妻子死亡
的罪魁祸首。
6. 描述艾米莉·狄金森的诗歌风格。
答案：艾米莉·狄金森的诗歌风格以简洁、使用短句和强烈个人情
感表达为特点。
7. 谁是20世纪美国文学中“南方文艺复兴”的代表人物？
答案：威廉·福克纳（William Faulkner）。
8. 在《杀死一只知更鸟》中，阿提克斯·芬奇律师为何受到小镇居民
的尊敬？
答案：阿提克斯·芬奇律师因坚持正义和平等，为一个被错误指控
的黑人辩护而受到尊敬。
9. 简述海明威的“冰山理论”。
答案：海明威的“冰山理论”是指在写作中只展示故事的表面部分，而将更深层的意义和情感留给读者去揣摩。
10. 在《愤怒的葡萄》中，约德一家的旅程象征着什么？
答案：约德一家的旅程象征着美国大萧条时期农民的苦难和对更
好生活的不懈追求。
西南大学网络教育0171美国文学史及选读期末考试复习题及参考答案
0171美国文学史及选读1、艾伦坡（Edgar Allan Poe）的小说表现出怎样的艺术特征？答：作品主题爱伦·坡的恐怖小说带有浪漫主义的特色。
纵观爱伦·坡的恐怖小说创作，其故事主题大都“揭示了人类意识及潜意识中的阴暗面”，这一点显然迥异于同时代的其他浪漫主义作家。
爱伦·坡以恐怖小说这样一种特殊的文学形式深入刻画与呈现了非现实状态下人的精神状态和心理特征，试图“以非现实、非理性的表达方式来揭示现代人的精神因顿”。
他借助想象奇特、恐怖怪异的故事情节，通过夸张、隐喻和象征等修辞手段表现人性的危机，激起读者浓厚阅读兴趣的同时，震撼心灵，发人深省。
爱伦·坡的创作原则是其“效果说”理论，他选择“死亡”作为其文学创作的主题是由他的这个创作原则决定的。
坡认为，无论是创作诗歌还是小说，作家必须讲究效果的统一，必须时刻想到预定的结局，要使每一个情节变得必不可少。
他在《评霍桑的“故事重述”》中曾经这样阐述自己的创作原则：“聪明的艺术家不是将自己的思想纳入他的情节，而是事先精心策划，想出某种独特的、与众不同的效果，然后再杜撰出这样一些情节——他把这些情节联结起来，而他所做的一切都将最大限度地有利于实现在预先构思的效果”。
使“每一事件，每一描写细节，甚至一字一句都收到一定的统一效果，一个预想的效果，印象主义的效果”。
他强调作品对读者所能唤起的情绪和产生的效果。
在“创作的哲学”中，他认为，故事的首要目的是要在情感上扣住读者的心弦，产生最激动人心的效果。
死亡主题是通过谨严紧凑的结构和作品的简洁而表现的。
爱伦坡的作品形式精美，技巧圆熟。
爱伦坡在《评霍桑的“故事重述”》里，强调了作品的简洁和统一效果。
在写作中，他还平萍理留情节和结构的高度简洁，小说中通常只有两个，最多三个人物，也没有离题的枝节和无关的装饰品。
在他看来，一位技巧高明的文学家在写作之前，必须成竹在胸，深思熟虑，为实现预期效果而选择和组织情节，并且不应该有一个词的意向直接或间接与预先的构思无关。
陶洁美国文学第三版选择题复习资料
Test 1一、单选题（共2题，10分）1、Which of the following values doesn't belong to that of Puritans'?A、hard workB、thriftC、self-relianceD、Patriotism正确答案： D解析：Patriotism指爱国主义，早期清教徒初到北美时，当地并不是一个国家，同时，当时人们的宗教信仰更强烈2、________ is a book written by Benjamin Franklin to recollect his life and encourage young people to strive for a better life.A、Poor Richards AlmanacB、The AutobiographyC、The Arrival in PhiladelphiaD、The Way to Wealth正确答案：B二、多选题（共3题，15分）1、How much do you know about Benjamin Franklin?A、He is one of the founding fathers of America.B、He is a self-made man and set a good example for American Dream.C、He made a lot of contributions to America and has a colorful life.D、He is very proud of his achievements and shows his pride in his work The Autobiography.正确答案：ABC解析：Franklin 一直很谦虚，他写的《自传》全文语气温和，平易近人，死后墓碑上的铭文也只留下简单的一个身份词：A Printer。
美国文学第一册练习(有答案)
1. “God helps them that help themselves.” is found in ____________work.A. Paine’sB. Franklin’sC. Freneau’sD. Jefferson’s2. Which of the following stirred the world and helped form the American republic?A. The American Crisis.B. The Federalist.C. Declaration of Independence.D. The Age of Reason.3. “These are the times that try men’s souls”, these words were once read to Washington’s troops and did much to spur excitement to further action with hope and confidence. Who is the author of these words?A. Benjamin FranklinB. Thomas PaineC. Thomas JeffersonD. George Washington4. Which work is written by Freneau?A. The Right of ManB. The Wild honey SuckleC. Poor Richard’s AlmanacD. The Day of Doom5. Who was considered as the “Poet of American Revolution”?A. Anne BradstreetB. Edward TaylorC. Michael WiggleworthD. Philip Freneau6. In Moby Dick, the voyage symbolizes ___________.A. the microcosm of human societyB. the search for truthC. the unknown worldD. nature7.Thoreau was often alone in the woods or by the pond, lost in spiritual communication with _________________.A. natureB. transcendentalist ideasC. human beingsD. celestial beings8. The Transcendentalist group includes two of the most significant writers America has produced so far, Emerson and ____________-.A. Henry David ThoreauB. Washington IrvingC. Nathanel HawthorneD. Walt Whitman9. ___________is regarded as the first American prose epic.A. NatureB. The Scarlet letterC. WaldenD. Moby Dick10. The Romantic Period of American literature started with the publication of Washington Irving’s ___________ and ended with Whitman’s Leaves of Grass.A. The Sketch BookB. Tales of a TravelerC. The AlhambraD. A History of New York11. The convention of the desire for an escape from society and a return to nature in American literature is particularly evident in ___________________.A. Cooper’s Leatherstocking TalesB. Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter.C. Whitman’s Leaves of Grass.D. Irving’s Rip Van Winkle.12. As a philosophical and literary movement, _________ flourished in New England from the 1830s to the Civil War.A. modernismB. rationalismC. sentimentalismD. transcendentalism13. For Melville, as well as for the reader and ____________, the narrator, Moby Dick is still a mystery, an ultimate mystery of the universe.A. StarbuckB. StubbC. IshmaelD. Arab14. All of the following are works by Nathaniel Hawthorne except_____________.A. The House of Seven GablesB. White JacketC. The Marble FaunD. The Blithdale Romance15. In the following works, which signs the beginning of the American literature?A. The Sketch BookB. Leaves of GrassC. Leatherstocking Tales..D. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn16. The main theme of Emily Dickinson is the following except_______________.A. religionB. love and marriageC. life and deathD. war and peace17. Emily Dickinson’s poetic idiom is noted for the following except_____________.A. brevityB. directnessC. plainestD. obscure18. “There is evil in every human heart, which may remain latent, perhaps, trough the whole life, but circumstances may rouse it to activity.” Which of the following writings is the thought reflected in?A. Nathaniel Hawthorne’s Yo ung Goodman Brown.B. Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.C. Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass.D. Herman Melville’s Moby Dick.19. The publication of ____________established Emerson as the most eloquent spokesman of New England Transcendentalism.A. NatureB. Self-RelianceC. The American ScholarD. The Over Soul20. Most of the poems in Whitman’s leaves of Grass sing of the “en-mass” and the ___________as well.A. natureB. lifeC. selfD. self-relianceII. Fill into the blanks with suitable phrase or term. (2x10=20%)1.The American of Scholar is regarded as the “Declaration of Intellectual Independence”.2.In 1620, a number of Puritans who tried to purify or reform the church of Englandstepped on the New England shore at Plymouth in the ship named Mayflower3.Among all the settlers in the New Continent, English settlers were the mostinfluential.4.In American Literature, the eighteenth century was an Age of Reason andRevolution.5.In Franklin’s Autobiography he talks first of all about how he studied language.6.Irving was best known for his famous short stories such as Rip Van Winklewhich is about a good-natured lazy husband who falls into a 20-year sleep. 7．Published in 1823, The Pioneers was the first of the Leatherstocking Tales, in their order.8．Philip Freneau was considered as the “poet of the American Revolution” and the “Father of American Poetry.”9．A superb book Walden came out of Thoreau’s two-year experiment at Walden pond. 10．As one of America’s first and foremost realists and humorists, Mark Twain , the pen name of Samuel Langhorne. Clemens, usually wrote about his own personal experiences and things he knew about from firsthand experiences.III. Match the writer in Column A with the works in Column B (1X10=10%)Column A Column Ba.Franklinb.John Smithc.William Cullen Bryantd.James Fennimore Coopere.Philip Freneauf.Washington Irvingg.Nathaniel Hawthorneh.Edgar Allan Poei.Ralph Waldo Emersonj.Walt Whitman1.( b) A Description of New England2.( h) The Raven3.( g) The Scarlet Letter4.( a) Autobiography5.( e) The Wild Honey Suckle6.( c) To a Waterfowl7.( d) The Deerslayer8 ( j)Leaves of Grass9.( f) The Legend of Sleepy Hollow10.( i ) Nature。
(完整版)美国文学期末试卷及答案,推荐文档
《美国文学》期末考试试卷（B卷）1.Poor Richard’s Almanac ( )2.The House of the Seven Gables ( )3.“Raven”( )4.My Antonia ( )5.Babbitt ( )6.A Streetcar Named Desire ( )7.Maggie: A Girl of the Streets ( )8.A Farewell to Arms ( )9.The Call of the Wild ( )10.Long Day's Journey into Night ( )mon Sense ( )12. “Rip Van Winkle”( )13. Walden( )14. The Song of Hiawatha( )15. Uncle Tom’s Cabin( )16.The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn( )17.Sister Carrie( )18.The Waste Land( )19. A Farewell to Arms( )20.The Great Gatsby( )1.defined poetry as the rhythmical creation of beauty.2.While working for the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, Samuel LanghorneClemens adopted the pseudonym , the way of a boatman taking soundings, and meaning two fathoms.3.Ezra Pound initiated a campaign for , which emphasized the directtreatment of an object or situation. He also advocated the language of common speech, but always the exact word.4.Fitzgerald summarized the experiences and attitudes of the 1920s decade in hismasterpiece novel _________.5.is the first American to win the Nobel Prize for Literature for hisvigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit and humor, new types of characters.6.The first of American literature was not written by an American, but by___________________, a British captain, who thus became the first American writer.7._________________ has been considered the “Father of modern American Poetry.\8._______________________was a great democratic poet. He is also the great poet touse the form of free verse.9._____________________is the first American lyric poet.10._______________________is also called novel of the road, it strings the incidentson the line of the hero’s travel.Ⅲ. Choose only one answer form the four choices as the most appropriate answer. (30%)1. In American literature, the eighteenth century was the age of the Enlightenment, _______________ was the dominant spirit.A. HumanismB. RationalismC. RevolutionD. Evolution2. Who was considered as the “Poet of American Revolution”?A. Michael WigglesworthB. Edward TaylorC. Anne BradstreetD. Philip Freneau3. The finest example of Hawthorne’s symbolism is the recreation of Puritan Boston in_______.A. The Scarlet LetterB. Young Goodman BrownC. The Marble FaunD. The Ambitious Guest4. ____________ was the most leading spirit of the Transcendental Club.A. ThoreauB. EmersonC. HawthorneD. Whitman5. Choose the work NOT written by Mark Twain.A. The Adventures of Tom SawyerB. Innocents AbroadC. Life on the MississippiD. The Rise of Silas Lapham6. Which is regarded as the “Declaration of Intellectual Independence”?A. The American ScholarB. English TraitsC. The Conduct of LifeD. Representative Men7. Melville’s ____________________ is an encyclopedia of everything, history,philosophy, religion, etc, in addition to a detailed account of the operations of the whaling industry.A. The Old Man and the SeaB. Moby DickC. White JacketD. Billy Budd8. American literature produced only one female poet during the nineteenth century. Thiswas ___________.A. Anne BradstreetB. Jane AustenC. Emily DickinsonD. Harriet Beecher9. The main theme of _______________ The Art of Fiction reveals his literary credo thatrepresentation of life should be the main object of the novel.A. Henry James’B. William Dean Howells’C. Mark Twain’sD. O. Henry’s10. ___________ showed great interest in Chinese literature and translated the poetry of Li Po into English, and was influenced by Confucian ideas.A. Ezra PoundB. Robert FrostC. T. S. EliotD. E. E. Cummings11. With William Dean Howells, Henry James, and Mark Twain active on the scene,_______ became the major trend in the seventies and eighties of the nineteenth century.A. sentimentalismB. romanticismC. realismD. naturalism12. Ezra Pound's long poem____________ contained more than one hundred poemsloosely connected.A. The Waste LandB. The CantosC. Don JuanD. Queen Mab13. In Paris, Ernest Hemingway, along with _____________, accomplished a revolutionin literary style and language.A. Gertrude SteinB. Ezra PoundC. James JoyceD. all of the above14. __________ tells the Joad family' s life from the time they were evicted from theirfarm in Oklahoma until their first winter in California.A. Of Mice and MenB. The Grapes of WrathC. The Great GatsbyD. For Whom the Bell Tolls15. The two areas on which the modem American writers concentrated their criticismwere the failures of American society and ___________ .A. the failure of communication among AmericansB. the economic depressionC. the extreme prosperity of AmericaD. the paradise of New LandIV. Choose TEN of the following and decide whether the statements are true or false. (10%)1. All his literary life, Hawthorne seemed to be haunted by his sense of sin and evil in life.2. Most of the poems in Leaves of Grass are about love and religion.3.The First World War led the American intellectuals to a bitter disillusionment.4. Hemingway’s works have sometimes been read as an essentially negative commentary on a modern world filled with sterility, failure, and death.5.Mark Twain’s region was the Deep South, with its bitter history of slavery, civil war and destruction.6. Ernest Hemingway developed a spare, tight, reportorial prose based on simple sentence structure and using a restricted vocabulary, precise imagery, and an impersonal, dramatic tone.7.John Steinbeck' s theme was usually that simple human virtues such as kindness and fair treatment were far superior to official hard-heartedness, or the dehumanizing cruelty of exploiters for their own commercial advantage.8. Short-lived, the Imagist movement failed to exert a tremendous influence on modern poetry.9. Robert Frost won four Nobel Prizes in his life.10.In his novels, F. Scott Fitzgerald had revealed the stridency of an age of glittering innocence, he had portrayed the hollowness of the American worship of riches and the unending American dream of love, splendor and fulfilled desires.11.Of Plymouth Plantation was written by William Bradford.12.Realists thought highly of individual status and role in the world. The romanticists preferred the innate or intuitive perception by the heart of man. They thought that man was essentially of goodwill, only the civilized society made him degenerate. They pointed out, the means to uproot evils and to save mankind was habits, and to return to “natural primitive state”.13.Deists believed in a Creator God, but rejected providence(Godly direction) and revelation (divine will or Godly "truth")in favor of reason.14..President Lincoln praised Anne Bradstreet as “the little woman who wrote the book that made this great war.”15.Edgar Allan Poe wrote two poems both entitled “ To Helen”.16.The thinking of Locke, Hobbes, and Rousseau also greatly influenced the activethinking of Americans who became increasingly concerned with the possibility of building a government. Locke and Rousseau represented the impulse for a Jeffersonian democracy, and Hobbes represented the point of view, often expressed by Hamilton, of a strong central government.17.Hemingway, Pound, Cummings, Dos Passos, and Fitzgerald, belong to the school of “Beat Generation”.18.F. Scott Fitzgerald is called the leader and poet laureate of the Jazz Age who wrote the novels of the Jazz Age.19.Yoknapatawpha saga is a name for John Steinbeck’s novels.20.“Thanatopsis” is a word Bryant borrowed from Greek meaning “meditation on death”. V. Choose THREE of the following fragments and answer the questions. (20%)Passage OneLo! in you brilliant window-nicheHow statue-like I see thee stand,The agate lamp within thy hand!Ah, Psyche, from the regions whichAre Holy-Land!Questions:1.This is the last stanza of a poem “To Helen”. Its writer is _________.(1%)2. With whom is Helen associated in this stanza? (1%)3. How to appreciate the beauty of this poem? (3%)Passage 2I shall be telling this with a sighSomewhere ages and ages hence:Two roads diverged in a wood, and I-I took the one less traveled by,And that has made all the differenceQuestions:1. Who is the writer of this poem? (1%)2. What is the title of this poem? (1%)3. What kind of feeling does this stanza show? (3%)4. How do you appreciate this poem? (3%)Passage 3I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived. I did not wish to live what was not life, living is so dear; nor did I wish to practise resignation, unless it was quite necessary. I wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life, to live so sturdily and Spartan-like as to put to rout all that was not life, to cut a broad swath and shave close, to drive life into a corner, and reduce it to its lowest terms, and, if it proved to be mean, why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it, and publish its meanness to the world; or if it were sublime, to know it byexperience, and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion. For most men, it appears to me, are in a strange uncertainty about it, whether it is of the devil or of God. Questions:1. This passage is taken from a famous work entitled _________ . (1%)2. The author of the work is____________ . (1%)3.List by yourself at least five reasons that the author gives for going to live in thewoods. (5%)Passage 4But, on one side of the portal（入口），and rooted almost at the threshold, was a wild rose-bush, covered, in this month of June, with its delicate gems, which might be imagined to offer their fragrance and fragile beauty to the prisoner as he went in, and to the condemned criminal as he came forth to his doom, in token that the deep heart of Nature could pity and be kind to him.Questions:1.This part is from the novel , written by . (2%)2.What does “the wild rose bush” symbolize according to your opinion? (5%)Passage 5Often I think of the beautiful townThat is seated by the sea;Often in thought go up and downThe pleasant streets of that dear old town,And my youth comes back to me.And a verse of a Lapland songIs haunting my memory still:"A boy's will is the wind's will,And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts." Questions:1.The stanza is taken from the poem______?(1%)2.The author of the poem is_____ . (1%)3.The seventh line in each Stanza of this poem contains a key word, usually averb, which sums up the feeling established in the stanza. What is the verb andwhat kind feeling that it conveys?(4%)Passage 6Thou hast an house on high erect,Framed by that mighty Architect,With glory richly furnished,Stands permanent though this be fled.It’s purchased and paid for tooBy Him who hath enough to do.Questions:1.This stanza is taken from the poem _______by_______.(2%)2.What is one’s real house according to the poet? (5%)VI. Choose TWO of the following and Comment on them. (20%)1.Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. （10%）2.Emily Dickinson's “Because I Could not stop for Death”.（10%）3.Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Self-Reliance.（10%）《美国文学》期末考试试卷B卷答案暨评分标准Ⅰ. Choose TEN of the following works and write the names of the authors. (1*10=10%)1.Benjamin Franklin2.Nathaniel Hawthorne3.Edgar Allan Poe4.Willa Cather5.Sinclair Lewis6.Tennessee Williams7.Stephen Crane8.Ernest Hemingway9.Jack London10.Eugene O’Neill11.Thomas Paine12.Washington Irving13.Henry David Thoreau14.Henry Wadsworth Longfellow15.Harriet Beecher Stowe16.Mark Twin17.Theodore Dreiser18.T.S. Eliot19.Ernest Hemingway20.F. Scott FitzgeraldⅡ. Choose FIVE of the following and fill in the blanks. (2*5=10%)1.Edgar Allan Poe2.Mark Twain3.Imagism4.The Great Gatsby5.Sinclair Lewis6.John Smith7.Ezra Pound8.Walt Whitman9.William Cullen Bryant10.Picaresque novelⅢ. Choose only one answer form the four choices as the most appropriate answer. (2*15=30%)IV. Choose TEN of the following and decide whether the statements are true or false. (1*10=10%)V. Choose THREE of the following fragments and answer the questions. (20%)Passage 11.Edgar Allan Poe (1)2.Psyche (1)3.The beauty of form. （diction，rhyme and rhythm，rhetorical devices.）The beauty of content. (3)Passage 21.Robert Frost(1)2."Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening"(1)3.This poem is written in classic five-line stanzas, with the rhyme scheme a-b-a-a-b and conversational rhythm. The poem seems to be about the poet, walking in the woods in autumn, choosing which road he should follow on his walk. In reality, it concerns the important decisions which one must make in life, when one must give up one desirable thing in order to possess another. Then, whatever the outcome, one must accept the consequences of one' s choice for it is not possible to go back and have another chance to choose differently.4.In the poem, the poet hesitates for a long time, wondering which road to take, because they are both pretty. In the end, he follows the one which seems to have fewer travelers on it. Symbolically, he chose to follow an unusual, solitary life; perhaps he was speaking of his choice to become a poet rather than some commoner profession. But he always remembers the road which he might have taken, and which would have given him a different kind of life.Passage 3Walden (1)Henry David Thoreau (1)Find the answer from the passage. (5)Passage 41.The Scarlet Letter, Nathaniel Hawthorne.(2)2.life and liberty.(2)Passage 51.My Lost Youth.(1)2.Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1)3.“haunting" sums up the feeling that was begun earlier with "Often in thought "and "comes back to me" .(3)Passage 61.Upon the Burning of Our House, Anne Bradstreet.(2)2.One's real house is in heaven, built by the great architect, God. (2)VI. Choose TWO of the three passages and comment on them. (20%)1. Analyze Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. （10%）2. Analyze Emily Dickinson's “Because I Could not stop for Death”.（10%）3. Ralph Waldo Emerson’s Self-Reliance.（10%）The score is given to the theme, (7) content (6) and writing style(7) of the work chosen.。
美国文学期末考试问答题及答案
1.What is Emerson’s attitude towards charity? Why does he holdsuch an attitude?The worst of charity is that the lives you are asked to preserve are not worth preserving.Not all charity mean goodness.One must explore if it be goodness.If malice and vanity wear the coat of philanthropy,that shall not pass,One’s goodness must have some edge to it,else it is none.2.According to the poem “A Psalm of Life”, how should our lives beled to overcome the fact that each day brings us nearer to death? According to these sentences“Be not like dumb, driven cattle!Be a hero in the strife!”“Act, -act in the living Present!Heart within, and God o'er head!”we can see the speaker is a man of action, always optimistic and cheerful, trying to achieve as much as possible in the short span of life.We should work harder and live happier.Llife is not a dream, but very real, and urges us to live it to the fullest. The purpose of life is to do something. Our own individual time on earth is limited and will pass very quickly, we should try to achieve sth on earth and leave behind something.3.Do you think the narrator and his listener ever suspect thepresence of the humor of the story in “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”? Why? How do you interpret their interactions?The narrator and his listener never noticed or suspected the presence of humor.During the intercourse the narrator went vigorously on his monotonous narrative without a little smiling talking about the animals and the things like while the listener felt rather puzzled or bothered by his stories.It seemed to be kind of coarse things. So the two different scenes go on separately without a intersection.And their interaction was a complete failure according toour common sense about communication.But it in this sense produced the effect of humor which can be tasted by our readers due to the skills adopted by Mark Twain .4.What does the title of the play “A Streetcar Named Desire” standfor?"Desire" is in fact a streetcar's name in America,but in this drama,it alludes the life of Blanche who indulging herself in desire and lies.There is an actual streetcar named “Desire” that Blanche takes on her way to the Kowalskis’. Which brings us nicely into our discussion of the metaphorical meaning of the title .Blanche is literally brought to the Kowalski place by “Desire,” but she is also brought there by desire; her sexual escapeds in Laurel ruined her reputation and drove her out of town.Desire.then Cemeterird , then Elysian Fields.Sex,death,afterlife.It’s like a linear progression.Sec leads to death,or at least some heavy-duty wreckage. Blanche herself seems to recognize some sort of connection here with this line, one that is key to understanding the role that desire plays in Streetcar: “Death, death was as close as you are. The opposite is desire” . Blanche is somehow under the impression that sex is her escape from death. She turned to sex to comfort herself after her husband died, and after her relatives passedaway one by one.5.In “A Clean, Well-Lighted Place”, the old waiter said to theyounger waiter: “We are of two different kinds.” In what way do you think they are different?The two waiters represent two contrasting attitudes towards life. The young waiter tends to be selfish and confident. He is fully confident of his marriage and work, but he does not know that all these are based on his youth, which is not reliable since it is temporary. He lives in nada, of which he is not aware at all. He lives in a state of ignorance, muddling along. We can say that he is physically alive but spiritually dead. The old waiter tends to be sympathetic and less confident. He wants to help other lonely people who have lost their beliefs, although the only thing he can offer them is a decent place as a refuge from the disorderly, dark, and meaningless world. He is fully aware of the nihilistic life of modern men, therefore, he faces such a meaningless life with courage, endurance, and dignity by seeking order, code, and meaning of life in his heart.6.What is speaker’s reaction to modern America in “ASupermarket in California”?"A Supermarket in California" doesn't use the word "America" until the end of the poem, but that doesn't mean this one's not all about our fair nation. Ginsberg imagines an America that fits a very 1950s ideal: blue automobiles in driveways of suburban homes, whole families shopping together. The speaker feels like an outsider in this America, which is all about the things you can buy; he conjures up Whitman who, he hopes, represents a "lost America of love," which was more about love than about things. But in the last line of the poem, the speaker calls all this into question: was there really ever an "America of love"? Or, like Walt Whitman, is this all a fantasy? 7.How is the egg in “The Triumph of the Egg”used to unify thenarrative elements?In the whole story of the article,the checked destiny of eggs,surly,is the main clue of all the episodes of the whole story,also,eggs reflect changes of father,mother and I.Chicken raising represents father’s starting pursuing his dream.Then chickens become sick and die constantly,making father meet troubles and can not control his own life.Grotesques somewhat equals to distorted concept. The dreadful circle ,shows the abnormal relations between egg and chicken, people and their generation.Egg trick reveals father’s desire to be respected, but the failure finally break his dream .In the end,father lay the egg, close the restaurant and go to bed ,shows that he finally decides to give up.。
美国文学秋季学期练习题8. 有答案
美国文学史及作品选读练习7I. Multiple Choice.(每小题1分，共20分)1. Transcendentalists took their ideas from_________.A. the romantic literature in EuropeB. neo-PlatonismC. German idealistic philosophyD. All of the above2. As a philosophical and literary movement, ______flourished in New England from the 1830s to the Civil War.A. modernismB. rationalismC. sentimentalismD. transcendentalism3. Transcendentalist doctrines found their greatest literary advocates in ________ And Thoreau.A. JeffersonB. EmersonC. FreneauD. Oversoul4. The appearance of The Scarlet Letter marked the maturity of Nathaniel Hawthorne as a novelist. Soon he composed the other three important novels including ______, The Blithedale Romance and The Marble Faun.A. The house of the Seven GablesB. The PrairieC. The Fall of the House of UsherD. Walden5. ________was the most leading spirit of the Transcendental Club.A. ThoreauB. EmersonC. HawthorneD. Whitman6. Transcendentalists recognized _________as the ―highest power of the soul‖.A. intuitionB. logicC. data of the sensesD. thinking7. The desire for an escape from society and a return to nature became a permanent convention of American literature, evident in ________.A. James Fennimore Cooper’s Leatherstocking TalesB. Henry David Tho reau’s WaldenC. Mark Twain’s Huckleberry FinnD. All of the above8. Herman Melville’s ______ is not only an adventure story, but also a significant philosophical work on spiritual exploration.A. Moby DickB. The EggC. NatureD. The Over-Soul9. In the 19th century America, Romanticism had certain general characteristics. Choose such characteristics from the following items.A. Moral enthusiasmB. Faith in the value of individualism and intuitive perceptionC. Adoration for the natural worldD. All of the above10. Ralph Waldo Emerson’s first book________ is the fundamental document of his philosophy, and expresses his constant, deeply felt love for the natural scenes.A. Walden B . Nature C. Daisy Miller D. Leatherstocking Tales.11. Which essay is not written by Raqlph Waldo Emerson?A. Of StudiesB. Self –RelianceC.The American ScholarD. The Divinity School Address12. From Henry David Thoreau’s jail experience, came his famous essay, ____ which states Thoreau’s belief that no man should violate his conscience at the command of a government.A. WaldenB. NatureC. Civil DisobedienceD. Common Sense13.The finest example of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s symbolism is the recreation of Puritan Boston in ________.A. The Scarlet LetterB. Young Goodman BrownC. The Marble FaunD. The Ambitious Guest14.Nathaniel Hawthorne is a master of psychological insight and the central subject of his major works is the human soul. Choose his short story from the following ones.A. Young Goodman BrownB. OmooC. Uncle Tom’s cabinD. The Pearl15.Which is not Nathaniel Hawthorne’s long novel?A. The Scarlet LetterB. The Marble FaunC. The House of Severn GablesD. Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment16.Choose form the following items the one written by Melville Herman.A. TypeeB. The Sea-WolfC. The SpyD. Twice-Told Tales17. ________’s stories still had many unrealistic qualities: ―tall tales‖ and unlikely coincidences. He is never a pure reali st.A. Henry JamesB. Mark TwainC. Nathaniel HawthorneD Henry David Thoreau18.______in the 1860s was the first American writer of local color to achieve wide popularity.A. Mark TwainB. William Dean HowellsC. Bret HarteD.Harriet Beecher Stowe19. Mark Twain’s first novel, ______ was an artistic failure , but it gave its n ame to the America of the postbellum period which it attempts to satirize.A. The Giled AgeB. Life on the MississippiC.The Innocents AbroadD. The Mysterious Stranger20. The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn was Mark Twain’s masterwork form which, as __________noted, ―all modern American literature comes.‖A. Henry JamesB. William Dean HowellsC. Ernest HemingwayD. Theodore DreiserII Fill in the blanks.(每小题2 分，共20分)1. Ralph _________ Emerson was responsible for bringing Transcendentalism to New England.2. Emerson’s truest disciple, the man who put into practice many of Emerson’s theories, was Henry ________Thoreau.3. A superb book ________ came out of Thoreau’s two-year experiment at Walden pond.4. From Thoreau’s Concord jail experience, came his famous essay ________.5. Hester Prynne is the heroine in Hawthorne’s novel_________.6. _________ was a great American Transcendentalist and revolutionary Romanticist, whose first book nature is thefundamental document of his philosophy.7. Herman Melville’s novel________ is a tremendous chronicle of a whaling voyage in pursuit of a seeminglysupernatural white whale.8. In I Hear America Singing, _________ depicts the beauty of labor and laborers.9. As one of America’s first and foremost realists and humorists,________, the pen n ame of Samuel Langhorne.Clemens, usually wrote about his own personal experiences and things he knew about from firsthand experiences.10. The poem I’m nobody! Who are you? is written by __________.III. Decide Whether the Statements are True or False.(10%)1. Emerson was recognized as the leader of transcendentalist movement , and he always applied the term ―Transcendentalist‖ toe himself or to his belief and ideas. ( )2. In 1836, Whitman published his first book, Nature, which met with a wild reception.( )3. Melville devised a unique poetic style called free verse that refers to the poetry without fixed beat or regular rhyme scheme.( )4. Transcendentalism exalted feeling over reason, individual expression over the restraints of law and custom. ( )5. All his literary life, Thoreau seemed to be haunted by his sense of sin and evil in life. ( ).6. The Scarlet Letter is set in the seventeenth century. It is an elaboration of a fact which the author took out of the life of the Puritan pat.( )7. Mark Twin should be remembered both as a great literary artist and a great social critic in the history of the U.S. ( )8. Most of the poems in Leaves of Grass are about man and nature.( )9. The subjects of Walt Whitman are often war and its effects on people, or contests, such as hunting or bullfighting, which demand stamina and courage.( )10. Emily Dickinson’s poems are short, many of them being based on a single image or symbol. ( )PartIV. Identification. (共20分)Passage oneThere’s a time in every man’s education when he arrives tat eh conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself for better, for worse, as his portion… Trust thyself; very heart vibrates to that iron str ing.Whoso would be a man must be a nonconformist.Questions:1. This selection is selected form an essay. What is the title of that ? (2’)2. Who is the author of the essay? (2)3. According to the selection, what do you think the author believe in?(4’)Passage Two:Hester Prynne’s t erm of confinement was now at an end. Her prison-door was thrown open, and she came forth into sunshine which, falling on all alike, seemed, to her sick and morbid heart, as if meant for no other purpose than to real the scarlet letter on her breast. Perhaps there was a more real torture in her first unattended footsteps from the threshold of the prison, than even in the procession and spectacle that have been described, where she was made the common infamy , at which all mankind was summoned to point its finger. Then, she was supported by an unnatural tension of the nerves, and by all the combative energy of her character, which enabled her to convert the scene into a kind of lurid triumph.Questions:1. Which novel is this selection taken from (2’)2. What is the name of the novelist?(2)Passage Three :At length as the craft was cast to one side, and ran ranging along with the White Whale’s flank, he seemed strangely oblivious of its advance—as the whale sometimes will---and Ahab was fairly within the smoky mountain mist, which, thrown off from the whale’s spout, curled round his great Monadnock hump; he was even thus close to him; when, with body arched back, and both arms lengthwise high-lifted to the poise, he darted his fierce iron, and his far fiercer curse into the hated whale.Question:1. From which novel is this paragraph taken? (2)2. What is the name of the novelist? (2’)3. What is the theme of the novel? (4’)Part V. Defining Literary terms.(每小题5分，共10分)1. Romanticism2. TranscendentalismPart VI. Essay writing.(20%)Summarize the story of Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in 100 words, and comment on the theme ofthe novel.参考答案Part I. (20%) I.1-5: D D B A B 6-10: A D A DB 11-15 A C AAD 16-20 ABCACPart II.(20%) 1. Waldo 2. David 3. Walden 4. Civil Disobedience 5.The Scarlet Letter6. Emerson7. Moby Dick8. Walt Whitman9.Mark Twain 10. Emily DickinsonPart III. (10%)1. T 2. F 3. F 4.T 5. F 6.T 7. T 8.T 9.F 10.TPart IV. (20%)Passage one:1. Self- Reliance2. Ralph Waldo Emerson3. He believed above all in individualism, independence of mind , and self-reliance.Passage Two: 1. The Scarlet Letter 2. HawthornePassage Three:1. Moby Dick2. Herman Melville3. The rebellious struggle of Captain Ahab against eh overwhelming, mysterious vastness of the universe and itsawesome sometimes merciless forces.Part V.1. Romanticism: The literature terms was first applied to the writers of the 18th century in Europe who broke away from the formal rules of classical writing. When it was used in American literature it referred to the writers of the middle of the 19th century who stimulated the sentimental emotions of their readers. They wrote of the mysteries of life, love birth, and death. The romantic writers expressed themselves freely and without restraint. They wrote all kinds of materials: poetry, essays, plays, fiction, history, works of travel, and biography.2. Transcendentalism is a philosophic and literary movement that flourished in New England, particularly at Concord, asa reaction against rationalism and Calvinism. Mainly, it stressed intuitive understanding of God without the help of the church, and advocated independence of the mind. The representative writers are Emerson and Thoreau.Part VI. (20%)The story takes place along the Mississippi River. Along this river floats a small raft, with two people on it: one is an ignorant, uneducated Black slave named Jim and the other is a little uneducated outcast whit boy of about the age of 13, called Huckleberry Finn. The book relates the story of the escape of Jim from slavery and , more important, how Huck Finn, floating along with Jim and helping him as best he could, changed his mind, his prejudice, about Black people, and came to accept Jim as a man and as a close friend as well.The story mainly involves two themes. The first is of slavery, demonstrates how racism distorts the oppressors as much as it does those who are oppressed. The result is a world of moral confusion, in which seemingly ―good‖ white people such as Miss Watson and Sally Phelps express no concern about the injustice of slavery or the cruelty of separating Jim from his family The second theme is the hypocrisy of ―civilized‖ society. When Huck plans to head west at eh end of the novel in order to es cape further ― civilizing,‖ he is trying to avoid more than regular baths and mandatory school attendance. Throughout the novel, Twain depicts the society that surrounds Huck as little more than a collection of degraded rules an precepts that defy logic.。
《美国文学》题库及答案
《美国⽂学》题库及答案《美国⽂学》题库及答案I.Multiple Choice1. American literature is only more than ____ years old.A. 500B.400C. 200D.1002. The Puritan values did no include______.A. wastefulnessB. thriftC. pietyD. hard work3. The 18th century was the age of the Enlightenment.______was the dominant spirit.A. HumanismB. RationalismC. RomanticismD. Realism4. Franklin was the epitome of the______.A. American EnlightenmentB. Sugar ActC. Charlist movementD. Romanticism5. _____was the most leading spirit of the Transcendentalism.A. FranklinB. HawthorneC. PaineD. Emerson6. “Moby Dick was written by_____A. Mark TwainB. ThoreauC. MelvilleD. Whitman7. “The Scarlet Letter” is characterized by its______.C. PlatonismD. classicism8. “Huckleberry Finn is the masterpiece of________.A. Henry JamesB. Jack LondonC. Mark TwainD. Stephen Crane9. Choose the novel written by Henry JamesA. The Golden BowlB. The Portrait of a LadyC. Sister CarrieD. Daisy Miller10. Early in the 20th century, _____ published works that would change the nature of American poetry.A. Ezra PoundB. T.S. EliotC. Robert FrostD. both A and B11._____ is the founder of “Imagist” movement.A. Ezra PoundB. HemingwayC. Robert FrostD. Steinbeck12. Mark Twain’s works are characterized by_____A. NaturalismB. TranscendentalismC. Local ColorismD. Imagism13. ________ is said to be the father of American poetryA. T.S. EliotB. E.D. RobinsonC. Philip FreneauD. Dreiser14. Hawthorne is regarded as a _______.C. realistD. romanticist15. ______ represents the most leading spirit of American Transcendentalism.A. EmersonB. FranklinC. Mark TwainD. Whitman16.“The Art of Fiction” was written by_____A. LongfellowB. Henry JamesC. FitzgeraldD. Faulkner17. Imagination plays the most important part in________.A. realismB. romanticismC. naturalismD. classicism18. ______ is considered to be the masterpiece of John Steinbeck.A. Mending WallB. Dry SeptemberC. A Farewell to ArmsD. The Grapes of Wrath19. Uncle Tom in the novel “Uncle Tom’s Cabin was a(n)______A. Negro slaveB. salesmanC. industrialistD. officer20. Mark Twain’s works are characterized by______A. NaturalismB. TranscendentalismC. Local ColorismD. Imagism21. “The Great Gatsby” is the masterpiece of_____C. DickinsonD. Hemingway22. The United States of America was founded in______.A. 1776B. 1876C. 1789D.168923. The ancestors of American Indians were______A. AsiansB. AfricansC. EuropeansD. Australians24. “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” was written by______.A. H.B. Stowe B. John SteinbeckC. HawthorneD. Mark Twain25. ______ does not belong to the lost generation.A. DreiserB. T.S. EliotC. FaulknerD. Hemingway26. ______ was well known for his story “Rip Van Winkle.”A. BryantB. Washington IrvingC. Allan PoeD. Philip Freneau27. “Farewell to Arms” is the master pieced produced by______A. FaulknerB. DreiserC. HemingwayD. Longfellow28. It was ______ who wrote the formal declaration of independence.A. Thomas JeffersonB. Benjamin FranklinC. WashingtonD. Washington Irving29. _____has been exerting a great and enduring influence upon world literature, especially that of France and European symbolism.A. FranklinB. BradstreetC. Edgar Allan PoeD. Philip Freneau30. The masterpiece of Hawthorne is _________.A. The Scarlet LetterB. Sister CarrieC. Richard CoryD. A Psalm of Life31. Engene O’Neill is a _______.A. novelistB. poetC. puritanD. dramatist32.Hemingway’s style of writing is characterized by______.A. high-sounding wordsB. simple dictionC. complicated sentencesD. mix metaphor33. T.S. Eliot is not only a poet but also a ______.A. criticB. statesmanC. churchmanD. novelists34. “Long Day’s Journey Into Night” was written by_____.A. T.S. EliotB. O’NeillC. Stephen CraneD. Saul Bellow35. “The Grape of Wrath” is one of the remarkable novels of_____.A. the Civil WarB. DepressionC. SuppressionD. Aggression36. Theodore Dreiser showed the_____ tendency in his novels.A. PuritanismB. classicismC. romanticismD. naturalism37. Ralph Waldo Emerson was the leading figure of________.A. TranscendentalismB. RomanticismC. RationalismD. Naturalism38. “The Sound and the Fury” was the masterpiece of ______A. Robert Lee FrostB. T.S. EliotC. FaulknerD. Steinbeck39. Emily Dickinson is an American________.A. dramatistB. novelistC. female poetD. male poet40. “Th Emily Dickinson is an American ark Twain’s______A. materialismB. classicismC. socialismD. colorism41. “The Portrait of a Lady” is one of best novels of_________.A. Henry JamesB. John SteinbeckC. William FaulknerD. Walt Whitman42. What Whitman is famous for his_________.A. “Leaves of Grass”B. “Mending Wall”C. “Richard Cory”D. “The Burial of the Dead”43. “Catch-22” is the masterpiece of______A. Saul BellowB. Joseph HellerC. DreiserD. Fitzgerald44. The English settlement in America began in_________A.1507B.1607C.1707D.180745. The first World War broke out in______.A.1614B.1714C.1814D.191446. The jazz age refers to the decade ofA.1950’sB.1980’sC.1920’sD.1820’s47. Franklin was a _____.A. PuritanB. romanticistC. classicistD. imagist48. “Rip Van Winkle” was written by_______.A. FreneauB. Allan PoeC. Washington IrvingD. Thomas Jefferson49.“The Scarlet Letter” is the masterpiece of______.C. BradstreetD. Allan Poe50.It was______who wrote “The Age of Reason”A. WashingtonB. JeffersonC. Benjamin FranklinD. Thomas Paine51.“Song of Myself” is a ______written by Whitman.A. novelB. poemC. dramaD. essay52.Tom in Beecher Stowe’s novel “Uncle Tom’s Cabin is a _____.A. Negro slaveB. American IndianC. School masterD. industrialist53. Mark Twain belongs to the literary school of_____.A. transcendentalismB. realismC. romanticismD. naturalism54._______is a famous American female poet.A. Allan PoeB. FreneauC. Emily DickinsonD. Robinson55. “The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn” is the masterpiece of_____.A. Mark TwainB. Henry JamesC. Stephen CraneD. Robert Lee Frost56. It was____ who wrote the poem “The Road Not Taken.”C. Robert Lee FrostD. T.S.EliotⅡ Define the literary terms briefly in English1. American Transcendentalism2. Romanticism3. The Puritans4. Realism5. Enlightenment6. Transcendentalism7. EnlightenmentIII Explain the following quotations in your own words.1. Success is counted sweetest By those who ne’er succeed.2. Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less traveled by And that has made all the difference.3. Let us, then, be up and doing, With heart for any fate;Still achieving, still pursuing, Learn to labor and to wait.4. And he was always quietly arrayed, And he was always human when he talked.5. Tell me not, in mournful numbers, Life is but an empty dream!_____6. To comprehend a nectar Requires sorest need.7. But still he fluttered pulses when he said,“Good morning”, and he glittered when he walked.8. something there is that doesn’t love a wall,He says again, “Good fences make good neighbors.”9. Fair flower, that dost so comely grow, Hid in this silent, dull retreat10. But to act, that each tomorrow Find us farther than today11. But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep. Ⅳ Answer the following questions in English1. Why is American literature important for you?2. What is the theme of “The Waste Land”?3. Whose novel (or which novel) do you enjoy most?Why?4. What is the style of Hemingway’s novel?5. What is the significance of American literature?6. Do you like American literature? Why?7. What is the real theme in “Sister Carrie”?8. What is the central subject and primary significance of Hawthorne’s major works?9. Which American writer do you like best? Why?10. What is the theme of “Catch-22”?11. What are the features of Emily Dickinson’s poems?12. Why should we learn American literature?13. Which poem do you enjoy most? Why?《美国⽂学》作业参考答案I.Multiple Choice1.C2.A3.B4.A5.D6.C7.A8.C9.B 10.D11.A 12.C 13.C 14.D 15.A 16.B 17.B 18.D 19.A 20.C21.B 22.C 23.A 24.D 25.A 26.B 27.C 28.A 29.C 30.A31.D 32.B 33.A 34.B 35.B 36.D 37.A 38.C 39.C 40.D41.A 42.A 43.B 44.B 45.D 46.C 47.A 48.B 49. A 50.D51.B 52.A 53.B 54.C 55. A 56. CII.Define the literary terms briefly in English1.American transcendentalism was a philosophical dissent from Unitarianism. Transcendentalists rejected the materialistic psychology in favor of the idealism of Kant who asserted that intuition could surpass reason as a guide to the truth. To transcendentalists, spirit is inherent and pervading and is the only reality in the universe in which nature stood as a symbol of Spirit. Transcendentalismemphasized the divinity of man, the significance and right of the individual, and the possibility of the self-perfection of the individual.2. Romanticism is characterized by the pursuit of freedom, emphasis of individualism, a reliance upon the good of nature and “natural” man, and an abiding faith in the boundless resources of the human spirit and imagination.3.The Puritans were members of the church of England who at first wished to reform or “Purify its doctrines. They kept in common with all advocates o f strict Christian orthodox, insisting on man’s original sin and depravity.4. Realism is a literary school. The American realist William Dean Howells refered to the method of realistic literary creation as “nothing more and nothing less than the truthful treatment of material. The realists tended to be highly selective in their choice of material, focusing upon what seemed real to their largely middle-class readers.5. Enlightenment in America was a progressive “intellectual movement which contributed to free the Americans from the limitation of Puritanism which had been prevailing in American society, and stimulate them to strive for the establishment of their independent and democratic nation. The enlighteners were confident in the proqress by education and appealed to Reason.6．American transcendentalism was a political dissent from Unitarianism. Transcendentalists rejected the materialistic psychology in favour of the idealism of kant who asserted that intuition could surpass reason as a guide to the truth. To transcendentalists, spirit is inherent and pervading and is the only reality in the universe in which nature stood as a symbol of Spirit. Transcendentalists emphasized the divinity of man, the significance and right of the individual, and the possibility of the self-perfection of the individual.7. Enlightenment in America was a progressive intellectual movement which contributed to free the Americans fromthe limitations of Purtanism which had been prevailing in American society, and stimulate them to strive for their independent and democratic nation. The enlighteners were confident in the proqress of education and appealed to reason.III Explain the following quotations in your own words.1. Those who have never succeeded before will enjoy the sweetness o success most.2. In my life and literary creation, I did not follow others’ footsteps (or footprints). SometimesI chose a different way. That was the reason why I was unique and different from them both in life and poetic writing.3. Let us rise up and take actionTo meet any challenge in our life.We should learn to work and to be patientAnd persevere in pursuing our goalTill we reap the fruit of achievement one after another.4. He always dressed himself properly and elegantly And he showed his kindness and considerateness when talked with others.5. Don’t tell me in sad voice that life is nothing but an meaningless and empty dream.6. Only when you feel thirstiest and bitterest, can you really understand and enjoy the holy sweet drink.7. He stirred the pulses of the persons he was greeting with “Good morning”. While he was walking, his manners appeared to be so brilliant and attractive that he drow much public attention.8. Wall, as a barrier for communication or mutual understanding, is not good at all. Sometimes, it is necessary to remove the wall.Wall, as a boundary or limitation or border, is needed sometimes, so that good relations can be kept among different strata of people, or different countries.Wall is a paradox, which is both good and bad in haman life9.The honeysuckle qrows so agreeably and beautifully.However the beautiful flower hid its beauty in the quiet and lonely place.10.We had better take action every day, not remain idle and inactive so that we can make progress each day.11.I have a lot of obligations and duties to fulfill, so there is still a long way for me to go beforeI can relax or leave this world.Ⅳ Answer the following questions in English1. Key points:① the significance of American literature in the world literature ② the manifestation of American life and culture③the requirement of improving English2. The theme of the poem is modern spiritual barrenness, the despair and depression that followed the first world war, the sterility and turbulence of the modern world, and the decline and breakdown of Western culture.3. The answer depends on individual student’s inclination.4. His style of writing is characterized by short and terse sentences, simple diction filled with emotion, vivid colloquialisms, and particularly the simplicity of his laconic statements.5. Key points: ① its place in the world literature② the manifestation of American life and culture③ the requirement of professional knowledge and skills as English majon.6. The answer is flexible. It de pends on an individual Student’s inclination.7. The real theme in Sister Carrie is the purposelessness of life. While looking at individuals with warm, human sympathy, he also sees the disorder and cruelty of life in general.8. The central subject of Haw thorne’s major works was the human soul. His exploration of the soul resulted from his skeptical attitude toward the social reality that was characterized by a rapid change in almost all aspects of social life, and from his ambition to probe into the nature of man. The primary significance of his major works dwells in the interect and the consistend vitality of his criticism of life.9. The answer is flexible, depending on students’ inclination, logic and language skills.10. Its real theme is to expose the dehumanization of all contemporary institutions, the absurd and corrupt bureancracy and the alienation of individuals existing in a systemized chaotic condition, such as war.punctuation and capitalization. Her mode of expression is characterized by clear-cut and delicately original imagery, precise diction, and fragmentary and enigmatic metrical pattern.12. Key points: ①the significance of American literature in the world literature ② the manifestation of American life and culture ③ the requirement of improving English.13. The answer is flexible and depends on student’s inclination.。
美国文学试题库
美国文学试题库
一、选择题
1. 下列哪位作家被誉为“美国短篇小说之父”？
A.马克·吐温
B.爱默生
C.莎士比亚
D.海明威
2. 著名小说《傲慢与偏见》的作者是？
A.查尔斯·狄更斯
B.简·奥斯汀
C.夏洛蒂·勃朗特
D.莫言
3. 哪位作家被称为“美国现代诗歌之母”？
A.西莉亚·普拉斯
B.艾米丽·狄金森
C.露易丝·格莱兹
D.玛丽·奥利弗
4. 林肯总统的“葬礼演说”是由哪位作家完成的？
A.埃德加·爱伦·坡
B.拉尔夫·沃尔多·爱默生
C.赫尔曼·梅尔维尔
D.爱米莉·狄金森
5. 下列哪部作品是由海明威创作的？
A.《傲慢与偏见》
B.《老人与海》
C.《威尼斯商人》
D.《包法利夫人》
二、简答题
1. 请简要介绍一下美国文学的发展历程以及其代表作品。
2. 谈谈你对马克·吐温作品的理解以及他在美国文学史上的地位。
3. 分析简·奥斯汀小说《傲慢与偏见》中人物形象和情节发展。
4. 通过阅读爱默生的论文，你认为他对美国文学和文化的影响是什么？
5. 谈谈海明威的小说创作风格及其代表作品对世界文学的影响。
三、论述题
请结合你对美国文学史上的经典作品和作家进行深入分析，论述美国文学对世界文学的影响以及其独特之处。
美国文学试题及答案
美国文学试题及答案一、单项选择题（每题2分，共20分）1. 马克·吐温的代表作是以下哪一部？A. 《了不起的盖茨比》B. 《哈克贝利·芬历险记》C. 《白鲸》D. 《老人与海》答案：B2. 爱伦·坡的《乌鸦》属于什么文学流派？A. 浪漫主义B. 现实主义C. 哥特式D. 现代主义答案：C3. 《飘》的作者是谁？A. 弗吉尼亚·伍尔夫B. 玛格丽特·米切尔C. 简·奥斯汀D. 乔治·艾略特答案：B4. 以下哪部作品不是亨利·詹姆斯的作品？A. 《贵妇人的画像》B. 《使节》C. 《简·爱》D. 《贵妇人的画像》答案：C5. 以下哪部作品是威廉·福克纳的代表作？A. 《了不起的盖茨比》B. 《喧哗与骚动》C. 《老人与海》D. 《白鲸》答案：B二、填空题（每题2分，共10分）1. 《汤姆叔叔的小屋》的作者是________。
答案：哈丽叶特·比彻·斯托2. 《红字》的作者是________。
答案：纳撒尼尔·霍桑3. 《草叶集》的作者是________。
答案：沃尔特·惠特曼4. 《愤怒的葡萄》的作者是________。
答案：约翰·斯坦贝克5. 《太阳照样升起》的作者是________。
答案：欧内斯特·海明威三、简答题（每题5分，共20分）1. 简述《白鲸》中主人公艾哈布船长的形象。
答案：艾哈布船长是《白鲸》中的主人公，他是一个对捕鲸有着极端执着的船长，他的复仇心理和对白鲸的执念几乎占据了他整个人生。
他的形象代表了人类对自然的挑战和对未知的恐惧。
2. 描述《了不起的盖茨比》中盖茨比的美国梦。
答案：《了不起的盖茨比》中的盖茨比代表了20世纪20年代的美国梦，他通过自己的努力从贫穷中崛起，追求财富和社会地位，但最终因为追求一个无法实现的爱情和对过去的执着而走向悲剧。
美国文学期末复习(1)
美国文学期末复习选择题Unit 21) To Montresor, the fatal weakness of Fortunato is his _______ for his connoisseurship in wine.A) knowledgeB) arroganceC) faithD) seeming ignorance2) Montresor wants to take revenge on Fortunato during the carnival because _______ .A) almost all the people would habitually celebrate the festival, excessively drinking and dancing in delight and giving less attention to other activities beyond celebration.B) Fortunato would be too busy as a wine connoisseur during the festival so that he might not see through the tricky plan of Montresor to put an end to his life.C) he would work together with Fortunato during the festival so as to have chance to kill him.D) he chooses the time at random instead of a deliberate scheme.3) In the story Amontillado is known as the good wine whose _______ , as Montresor deceptively claims, has strong appeal to Fortunato.A) taste and smellB) reputation and tasteC) reputation and quantityD) recommendations by Italian virtuosos4) Who is Luchresi ?A) a boy in the barB) a arrogant neighborC) a wine connoisseurD) a Sherry producer5) As Montresor and Fortunato walk further into the catacomb, the latter keeps coughing becauseA) the nitre hanging like moss upon the vaults increases to strongly provoke him.B) he pretends so in order to encourage himself.C) he takes "Nemo me impune lacessit".D) the nitre distills the rheum of intoxication.6) Before taking his last breath, Fortunato still seems unable to perceive the intention of Montresor, mistaking what Montresor does to him as " a very good joke, indeed —an excellent jest". Why does he react so slowly?A) Fortunato has drunk too much to see his coming death.B) Poe intends to use Fortunato's slow comprehension as a foil to the blackness of Montresor 's well-planned revenge.C) Fortunato wants to get Montresor's mercy by fooling him this way so that he may free himself from the threshold of death.D) It is only Montresor's illusion because Fortunato has been dead when the former builds up the eleven tiers of the stone wall.7) Where does the story take place?A) It is only a psychological experience without the setting in reality.B) Poe never intends to give any information about the setting.C) It couldn't be identified.D) Italy as the setting of the story is only hinted in such as the names of characters and those of wines.8) Montresor and Fortunato mean "wealth " and "treasure" in the Italian language, symbolically mirroring _______ .A) their identical parentageB) something hidden as their mutual weaknessC) their mutual love of goldD) their mutual mania for material possession9) As it is suggestive of the Italian culture where the story is set, the word Palazzo means _______ .A) a fancy restaurant serving good winesB) a large, splendid residence or building such as a palace or museum for public activitiesC) a dreamy place as paradiseD) a place as storage of wine10) The story end with a Latin quotation "In pace requiescat", by which Poe hints that _______ .A) Montresor thinks he will die soonB) Montresor seems to be sorry for the death of FortunatoC) Montresor's hatred for Fortunato is still so strong that he couldn't get it over even when he murdered the latter half a century agoD) Montresor eventually regrets for what has done to Fortunato and implores God to give peace to the latter参考答案BACCA BDBBCUnit 41) The story is set in Boston because this town as one of the largest communities of European immigrants of the time could stand in many ways for ________.A) the Puritan culture;B) the Continental culture;C) the typical culture of the native Indians;D) the trend of immigration.2) Generally speaking, the Puritan culture is characterized by ________.A) its moral rigor and its hostility to social pleasures and indulgences.B) a stress on education and simplicity of life.C) a stress on human creation and free will.D) its concern for the afterlife of man.3) Antinomian refers to a person who believes ________.A) that all the laws are harmful to human freedom.B) that Puritanism is the key to all social problems.C) that the Gospel frees Christians from required obedience to any law, whether scriptural, civil, or moral, and that salvation is attained solely through faith and the gift of divine grace.D) that moral power is the strongest and most useful for man’s self-perfection and social development.4) Why do people call Hester Prynne “Madam Hester”or “Mistress Prynne”, respectively?A) It reflects their habitual use of the English language.B) It makes no difference.C) It hints their social status.D) It shows their different attitudes toward her.5) Why doesn’t Hawthorne explicitly tell his audience the weaver of the scarlet letter upon the bosom of Hester Prynne, though its image he presents is “so fantastically embroidered and illuminated”?A) It means that no one knows the identity of the weaver.B) It means that he wants to increase the suspension of the story.C) He is reluctant to tell it because the weaver is the Reverend Master Dimmesdale, who is seemingly free from the scandal at the moment.D) He just hints that Hester Prynne is the weaver of the meaningful letter by way of the positive comment of a spectator on her skills at needlework, because he seems to think that such an indirect narrative helps mirror how much she has tried to reclaim herself without the public knowledge.6) The grim beadle loudly orders Hester Prynne to show her scarlet letter to all the spectators in the market place, as he desires to ________.A) make all the spectators know the power he has in the community.B) fulfill his duty there.C) humiliate her as an adulterous woman.D) gratify the demand of the spectators.7) As it is compared to “the guillotine among the terrorists of France”, the scaffold, in the front of which Hester Prynne and her daughter are humiliated, symbolizes ________.A) the severity of the social punishment on her.B) the long history of humiliating the convict in the market place.C) her courage in face of dilemma.D) the on-going influence of the European law in America.8) Whom does “the image of Divine Maternity”refer to?A) Hester Prynne.B) Blessed Virgin Mary as the mother of Jesus Christ.C) Hester Prynne’s mother living in England.D) The mother of a papist.9) It is by associating the figure of Hester Prynne to “the image of Divine Maternity”that Hawthorne intends to show that ________.A) He is sympathetic with Hester Prynne.B) he looks down on the cowardice of Dimmesdale.C) Hester Prynne’s visage resembles that of the Virgin Mary.D) as Virgin Mary is sinless, so is Hester Prynne.10) Standing on the scaffold and looking downwards at the assembly, Hester Prynne suddenly clutches her daughter so fiercely to her breast that it sends forth a cry, because she wants to ________.A) distract herself from the dreadful gaze of the assembly.B) assure herself that her daughter is still with her.C) wake herself up from somewhat incontroable illusion about her early life.D) wake up her daughter.参考答案AACDD CABDCUnit 51) There are many biblical allusions in Moby Dick such as characters’ names, which often have symbolic meaning. The narrator Ishmael as an example in point was the son of Abraham and cast out after the birth of Isaac, and as the Old Testament tells, he is traditionally considered to be the forebear of the Arabs. Ishmael may be symbolically seen as ________.A) an outsider when an event takes place.B) a marginalized participant when an event takes place.C) a witness with holy mission.D) a marginalized participant/survivor in a disastrous event.2) Why does Melville name the White Whale Moby Dick and call him so in the story instead of the whale or the white whale?A) He seems to personify the evil and mysterious whale representing all that is mysteriously powerful and antagonistic to mankind.B) It is common in the West to give a creature a human name.C) He names it so for the convenience of his narration.D) He happens to do it without any connotation.3) Moby Dick gives a comprehensive and detailed account of whale fishing such as location, ship, skills, and various kinds of facilities because ________.A) whale fishing was already a developed industry in the nineteenth century, with which Melville was familiar.B) Melville was fond of whale fishing and he had such experiences.C) Melville thinks it necessary to give a realistic picture of whale fishing when narrating the story of Moby Dick.D) Melville wants to appeal to his urban readers by presenting something beyond their everyday experiences.4) Why does Captain Ahab make his mind to hunt for Moby Dick despite of the opposition ofmany whale men as well as the risk of the fatal destruction on his crew?A) He never takes the advice of others.B) His crew want him to make that decision.C) He doesn’t think his pursuit is risky.D) It shows their different attitudes toward her.5) What does the Leviathan imply in the story?A) It implies all perils in nature.B) It is a monstrous sea creature mentioned in the Old Testament and thus its name is mentioned in the story to imply the fatally destructive nature of the White Whale.C) It implies that the Leviathan is less aggressive than the whale.D) It stands for the inexplicable power of all creatures such as the White Whale.6) As the name of the Captain in the Pequod, Ahab is said to come from the Bible. If so, who is Ahab in the Bible?A) He was a heroic captain who was good at sea adventures.B) He was a prophet of the Egyptian.C) He was a Pagan king of Israel and husband of Jezebel, who was killed by Jehu, an Israeli king proverbially known for his swift chariot driving.D) He was a blind poet known for his songs of celebrating agricultural harvests.7) What does Ahab imply as the name of the Captain in the Pequod?A) It seems to imply that the captain is destined to die for his sailors.B) It seems to imply that the captain is a kingly conqueror of all his enemies.C) It seems to imply that the fate of the captain is predetermined as there is something fatally defective in his nature.D) It seems to imply that this tragic captain embodies Melville’s view on the fate of mankind.8) To make Moby Dick an interestingly convincing story, Melville is good at ________.A) picturing the whale fishery with deliberate exaggeration.B) telling all the episodes in the omniscient third person.C) characterizing his characters with exoticism.D) narrating with factual details that are combined with exoticism and biblical allusions.9) In addition to his sympathy for the catastrophic death of Ahab, Ishmael gives a vivid account of the whole story of the Captain mainly because ________.A) he was fond of the whale fishery.B) he wanted to give more people access to sharing such interesting experiences.C) he shared the feud of the decedent as stated in the first paragraph of the selected reading.D) he was keen to explore how the tragedy of Ahab took place.10) In comparison with other equally successful novels by Melville’s contemporaries, Moby Dick is unique in that its author wrote it ________.A) by resorting to the encyclopedia about the whale fishing in America.B) chiefly out of his own encyclopedic experiences in sea instead of sheer imagination.C) out of sheer imagination as his contemporary readers were morbidly interested in sea adventures.D) to turn the attention of the reading public from focusing on the social vanity to the unfathomable recesses of human mind.参考答案DAADB CCDCBUnit 131. Katherine Anne Porter wrote many short stories but only _______ novel.A) oneB) twoC) threeD) four2. Why is the story titled "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall"?A) Granny Weatherall rejects George, her husband-to-be.B) John rejects Granny Weatherall by not appearing at the wedding.C) George rejects Granny Weatherall by not appearing at the wedding.D) Granny is first rejected by her lover and then later by God.3. The jilting took place ______years ago.A) 20B) 40C) 60D) 354. Granny Weatherall rebukes Cornelia and Doctor Harry because ______.A) she wants to sleep.B) she hates them.C) she doesn't think there is any wrong with her.D) She thinks they should mind their own business.5. What is it that Granny Weatherall doesn't like to be reminded of?A) It is that she should go through the letters in the attic.B) It is that she is old and weak.C) It is that she should look for HapsyD) It is that she has to take care of the children, the land and the house.6. What is it that Granny Weatherall can never forget?A) It is that she was jilted by her lover George 60 years ago.B) It is that her husband John died when he was still quite young.C) It is that Cornelia always keeps things secret in a public way.D) It is that her children no longer ask her for advice.7. The "fog" rising over the valley is a symbol to indicate______.A) Granny Weatherall is in her right mindB) Granny Weatherall can still see a lot through the fogC) Granny Weatherall's mind is so confused that she can no longer tell the present from the pastD) The beauty of the scenary8. Who does Granny Weatherall want to see most as she is dying?A) CorneliaB) GeorgeC) JohnD) Hapsy9. Who "cursed like a sailor's parrot and said 'I'll kill him for you.'"?A) GeorgeB) JohnC) Doctor HarryD) Father Connolly10. On what occasion does Granny Weatherall have to face a priest all by herself?A) It is at the wedding from which George runs away.B) It is when she is dyingC) It is when she has to put up post holes.D) It is when Hapsy comes to see her.参考答案ADCCB ACDBAUnit 141. Fitzgerald's first novel ___________ was an immediate success.A) The Great GatsbyB) This Side of ParadiseC) Tales of the Jazz Age2. Fitzgerald fell in love with Zelda Sayre while serving in the military _________.A) and married her immediately afterwardsB) but they never got marriedC) but they broke their engagement only to be joined in matrimony later after his first novel had been published.3. The Fitzgeralds lived _______.A) extravagantlyB) a moderate lifeC) in frugality4. The Great Gatsby was published when Fitzgerald was living in _______.A) New YorkB) EuropeC) Africa5. On the day of Gatsby's funeral, ___________ came to pay last respects to him.A) many of his friendsB) quite a few of his friendsC) few of his friends6. When Wolfsheim exclaimed, "I made him," referring to Gatsby, he meant that ________.A) without him, Gatsby could not have gotten where he was before his ill-fated deathB) he made Gatsby a good manC) he made business deals with Gatsby7. Gatsby's father _______.A) was tremendously proud of his son in spite of his grief over his son's deathB) really understood his sonC) knew what his son's business was8. The man with owl-eyed glasses at the funeral called Gatsby "the poor son-of-a-bitch," because______.A) he detested GatsbyB) he thought Gatsby was a son-of-a-bitchC) he felt sorry for Gatsby9. Nick described Gatsby's house as "huge incoherent failure of a house, meaning ________.A) the house would fall soonB) what the house symbolized failedC) the parties held in the house failed10. When Nick said, "the dazzling parties of Gatsby's were with me so vividly that I could still hear the music and the laughter," he meant _______.A) he missed the partiesB) he was haunted by the memories of the partiesC) he had been to too many such parties11. Gatsby believed in the green light, thinking _________.A) it was beautifulB) he was very close to itC) he could reach it参考答案BCABC AACBBC简答题Unit21) Who is the narrator? What wrong does he want to redress?2) What is the pretext Montresor uses to lure Fortunado to his wine cellar?3) What happens to Fortunado in the end?4) Describe briefly how Poe characterizes Mortresor and Fortunado as contrasts.参考答案1)It is Montresor. Fortunato has given Montresor thousands of injuries that he has to bear before he has this opportunity of taking revenge.2)He claims that he has just got a cask of Amontilado and stores it in the wine cellar before he may find a connoisseur to testify to its authenticity.3)The deceived Fortunado is killed because of his inability of getting out of the catacomb.4)Poe characterizes Mortresor and Fortunado as seemingly contrasting characters chiefly by presenting their identical habit in wine and their different manners towards each other, but actually he intends to show some similarly defective aspects in their nature. The similarity in their nature is also suggested by their names as synonyms in Italian: Mortresor means “fortune” while Fortunado “treasure”. Their defective nature is highlighted when the revenger Mortresor, who is fully prepared on psychological and operating levels, throws the hardly prepared but totally deceived wrong-doer Fortunado into the deep and damp catacomb and blocks up its entrance with huge rocks.Unit41) Why is the prison the setting of Chapter II?2) Describe the appearance of Hester Prynne and the attitude of the people toward her.3) What has happened to Hester? Why does she make the embroidery of the letter A so elaborate? How does this tell us about her character?参考答案1)The prison is used as the setting of the story because the execution of Hester Prynne as an infamous culprit is expected to take place here and the sentence of a legal tribunal on her has but confirmed the verdict of public sentiment. In addition, the setting also suggests the tragic fate of the protagonist.2)Hester Prynne is a young and tall woman with dark and abundant hair that is so glossy that it may throws off the sunshine with a gleam. She has a beautiful face with the impressiveness belonging to a marked brow and deep black eyes. With a figure of perfect elegance on a large scale, she is ladylike with such character as characterized by a certain state and dignity, rather than by the delicate, evanescent, and indescribable grace. Besides, the attitudes of the people toward her are diverse, but mostly negative and unsympathetic largely from the conventional moral stand of the times.3)As a married woman, Hester falls in love with Dimmesdale, a reverend minister of the local community, and their love affair is discovered after she gives birth to a baby daughter. She makes the embroidery of the letter A so elaborate in the hope that the letter may embody her affirmative attitude toward the dilemma in her life, and that it may have the effect of a powerful spell to take her out of the ordinary relations with humanity and enclose her in a sphere by herself. This detail also mirrors her idea of love and moral value, which is explicitly different from the cowardice and hypocrisy of Dimmesdale.Unit5What are the stories Ishmael tells about Moby Dick?As one of the crew in the Pequod, Ishmael is the only sailor having survived the fatal shipwreck. Thus according to what he witnesses when following Ahab and the crew in search of Moby Dick, he relates how the white whale Moby Dick bites off one of Ahab’s legs and how the latter seeks his own revenge on the former.Why does Ahab react so violently against the while whale? Ishmael sUggests that Ahab is “crazy” and calls him “ a raving lunatic”. Do you agree with him? Why or why not?In their earlier contact Moby Dick bit off one of Ahab’s legs and thus the latter determined to kill the former with the help of his crew. Despite of the advice from his counterparts in other ships, Ahab couldn’t free himself from the idea of revenge. That is why Ishmael describes Ahab as madly obsessed with a search of Moby Dick. Ishmael’s attitude seems convincing because Melville intends to show in the romance that extreme elements in the human soul could be fatally destructive.What narrative features can you find in the selected chapter?Like the other parts of Moby Dick, this chapter is written in the first-person perspective and because the narrator Ishmael is said to have survived the Pequod shipwreck, so what the narrative "he" gives is a recollection of the process of Ahab and his crew’s hunting of Moby DickUnit13Does Granny Weatherall like Doctor Harry? Why or why not?Granny does not like Doctor Harry. First, she does not think she is ill and has to see the doctor. Second, she thinks the doctor treats her as if she were a child. He is not respectful to her.Granny intends to do a lot "tomorrow." What is the most important thing? Can she do it?The most important thing is to go through George's letters and John's letters and her letters to them both. She cannot do this because she is now sick and has to stay in bed.What advice does Granny give her family?She gives advice to Lydia about how to bring up children, to Jimmy about how to do business, even how to move the furniture to Cornelia.What happened 60 years ago? Who is George? How does Granny feel about him?She was jilted by George, the man she was to marry. He did not come to the wedding. Granny is psychologically much wounded by George's jilting. She tries very hard to forget the event and suppresses her grief. However, just before her death, the agony surfaces and she cannot forget him.Who is John? How does Granny feel about him?John is the man Granny marries eventually. They have several children during their marriage. Granny is thankful that John is sympathetic to her being jilted. She feels that, with John, there is nothing to worry about any more. But John dies when he is still rather young. She misses himfrom time to time, hoping to see him again in order to show him that she does not do badly without a husband.What is it that she would like to tell George?She, like any other woman, had a husband, fine children and a house. She is given back everything he takes away. However, the agony he causes her is 'unbelievable,' so great that she tries to think of it as that of having a baby.What is it that she would like to tell John?She has brought up their children, kept a good house and taken good care of the farm. She has changed, becoming tough by overcoming all the difficulties.Who does Granny want to see most before her death? Who is this person? Is Granny's wish realized?It is Hapsy. She is Granny's daughter and she dies in childbirth. In her semi-consciousness, Granny feels as if she had to go through many rooms to find Hapsy with her baby. She even hears Hapsy say “I thought you'd never come,” and “You haven't changed a bit!” Even at the time of death, she is concerned w ith the question “ What if I don't find her?”What is Granny's attitude towards death?She thinks that she is well prepared for death. Twenty years ago, she felt very old and finished. So she went around making farewell trips to her children. Later she made her will and came down with a long fever. Then she got over the idea of dying for a long time. However, she becomes surprised when the real time comes and thinks it is not time yet and that she cannot go. Eventually, she accepts death by blowing out the light herself.When does Granny realize that she is going to die?It is when she realizes that her children have come a long way and are there by her bed to say good-bye to her.What is the sign she looks forward to at the end of her life? Does it appear?It is the sign of Jesus in the form of a bridegroom coming to take her to Heaven. But it does not appear. So she is jilted again.Unit 141. Who was described as "madman" after Gatsby's death?2. How did Gatsby's father learn of his son's death?3. Did Nick reach Daisy by phone after Gatsby's death?4. Did Gatsby's friend Wolfsheim plan to attend his funeral?5. What did Gatsby's father proudly show to Nick?6. Where did Nick meet the man with owl-eyed glasses for the first time?7. Where did Gatsby, Nick, Daisy and Jordan come from?8. Was Jordan once attracted to Nick?9. How did Nick feel toward Jordan when he parted with her?10. Why did Nick think Tom was in a sense justified for doing what he had done?参考答案1)Wilson. 2)He saw the news in a newspaper.3)No, he didn't. 4)No, he didn't.5)Gatsby's Schedule he wrote down as a young boy. 6)In Gatsby's library.7)Middle West. 8)Yes, she was. 9)He had mixed feelings toward her. 10)He was one of those careless people who smashed up things and creatures and then retreat back into their money or their vast carelessness and let other people clean up the mess they had made.Unit151. Where is the Harris-versus-Snopes case tried?2. Why does Mr. Harris stop asking Sarty to be his witness?3. What causes Abner to walk with a limp?4. Why does Abner have the habit of making small fires?5. What does Abner teach Sarty that night?6. What does Sarty feel when he first saw De Spain's house?7. Why does De Spain's black servant refuse Abner's entrance into the house?8. Is Sarty willing to pay the amount of corn for De Spain's damaged rug?9. Does Sarty get the can of oil as his father has told him?10. Where does Sarty go and what for after he gets free of his mother's hold?参考答案1)In the store. 2)The boy will not tell the truth. 3)He was wounded in the heel on a stolen horse. 4)A habit he formed when hiding from people with his stolen horses. 5)He should stick to his own blood. 6)It stands for peace and dignity. 7)He has not wiped his feet. 8)No. He will hide it. 9)No. 10)To De Spain's house to warn De Spain.英译汉Unit2At the most remote end of the crypt there appeared another less spacious. Its walls had been lined with human remains, piled to the vault overhead, in the fashion if the great catacombs of Pads. Three sides of this interior crypt were still ornamented in this manner. From the fourth side the bones had been thrown down, and lay promiscuously upon the earth, forming at one point a mound of some size. Within the wall thus exposed by the displacing of the bones, we perceived a still interior crypt or recess, in depth about four feet, in width three, in height six or seven. It seemed to have been constructed for no especial use within itself, but formed merely the interval between two of the colossal supports of the roof of the catacombs, and was backed by one of their circumscribing walls of solid granite.It was in vain that Fortunato, uplifting his dull torch, endeavored to pry into the depth of the recess. Its termination the feeble light did not enable us to see."Proceed," I said; "herein is the Amontillado. As for Luchresi — ""He is an ignoramus ", " interrupted my friend, as he stepped unsteadily forward, while Ifollowed immediately at his heels. In an instant he had reached the extremity of the niche, and finding his progress arrested by the rock, stood stupidly bewildered. A moment more and I had fettered him to the granite. In its surface were two iron staples, distant from each other about two feet, horizontally. From one of these depended a short chain, from the other a padlock . Throwing the links about his waist, it was but the work of a few seconds to secure it. He was too much astounded to resist. Withdrawing the key I stepped back from the recess. "Pass your hand, " I said, "over the wall; you cannot help feeling the nitre. Indeed, it is very damp. Once more let me implore you to return. No? Then I must positively leave you. But I will first render you all thelittle attentions in my power.""The Amontillado!" ejaculated my friend, not yet recovered from his astonishment. "True," I replied; " the Amontillado."As I said these words I busied myself among the pile of bones of which I have before spoken. Throwing them aside, I soon uncovered a quantity of building stone and mortar. With these materials and with the aid of my trowel, I began vigorously to wall up the entrance of the niche.在墓穴的尽头，又出现了更狭窄的墓穴。
美国文学试题及答案
美国文学试题及答案# 美国文学试题及答案## 一、选择题（每题2分，共20分）1. 马克·吐温的代表作是以下哪部作品？A. 《了不起的盖茨比》B. 《汤姆·索亚历险记》C. 《白鲸》D. 《草叶集》2. 以下哪位作家被誉为“美国现代主义文学之父”？A. 欧内斯特·海明威B. 弗朗西斯·斯科特·菲茨杰拉德C. 亨利·詹姆斯D. 埃德加·爱伦·坡3. 《飘》的作者是谁？A. 玛格丽特·米切尔B. 哈珀·李C. 弗吉尼亚·伍尔夫D. 乔治·奥威尔4. 《老人与海》的主人公是以下哪位？A. 汤姆·索亚B. 哈克贝利·芬C. 桑地亚哥D. 盖茨比5. 以下哪部作品是威廉·福克纳的代表作？A. 《喧哗与骚动》B. 《熊》C. 《我弥留之际》D. 《太阳照常升起》## 二、填空题（每空2分，共20分）6. 爱伦·坡的《_________》被认为是侦探小说的开山之作。
7. 《了不起的盖茨比》中，盖茨比的豪宅位于_________。
8. 《汤姆叔叔的小屋》是美国内战前的一部重要作品，它由_________所著。
9. 弗吉尼亚·伍尔夫是_________文学流派的代表人物之一。
10. 哈珀·李的《杀死一只知更鸟》通过_________的视角探讨了种族歧视问题。
## 三、简答题（每题15分，共30分）11. 简述《白鲸》中主人公艾哈布船长的性格特点。
12. 描述《草叶集》中惠特曼的诗歌风格。
## 四、论述题（30分）13. 论述《飘》中斯嘉丽·奥哈拉的人物形象及其在小说中的意义。
## 参考答案1. B2. C3. A4. C5. A6. 莫格街谋杀案7. 长岛8. 哈里特·比彻·斯托9. 现代主义10. 斯库特·芬奇11. 艾哈布船长是一个坚定、固执且有些偏执的人。
美国文学试题及答案
美国文学试题及答案美国文学试题：1. 请描述美国文学的起源和发展过程。
2. 简要介绍美国文学中的几位重要作家及其代表作品。
3. 分析美国文学对社会和文化的影响。
4. 探讨美国文学在世界文学中的地位和影响力。
5. 比较美国文学与其他国家文学的异同之处。
6. 讨论美国文学中的主题和风格变化。
7. 探究美国文学与历史事件的关联。
美国文学答案：1. 美国文学的起源可以追溯到17世纪，当时美洲殖民地的英国移民开始写作并记录他们在新大陆的生活。
这些作品以宗教、开拓和探索为题材，如《普利茅斯的劝导师》(1620)等。
美国文学的发展经历了启蒙时代、浪漫主义运动、现实主义时期等阶段，并逐渐形成了独特的美国文学风格。
2. 以下是几位重要的美国作家及其代表作品：- 马克·吐温：《哈克贝里·费恩历险记》、《汤姆·索亚历险记》 - 菲利普·罗斯：《美国牧歌》、《喧哗与骚动》- 艾米丽·狄金森：《狄金森诗选》- 弗朗西斯·斯科特·菲茨杰拉德：《了不起的盖茨比》- 威廉·福克纳：《喧哗与骚动》、《把狗放了吧》3. 美国文学对社会和文化具有重要影响。
例如，哈莱姆复兴时期的作家们为非洲裔美国人争取了平等的机会，并反映了种族和身份认同的问题。
此外，20世纪美国现实主义文学通过揭示社会问题和不公正现象，推动了社会改革运动。
美国文学也塑造了美国人的国家意识和身份认同。
4. 美国文学在世界文学中占据重要地位，被广泛翻译和阅读。
美国作家的作品对世界文学发展产生了巨大影响，例如海明威、福克纳、杰克·伦敦等作家的作品具有全球影响力。
美国文学代表了美国独特的价值观和文化传统，吸引着世界各地读者的关注。
5. 美国文学与其他国家文学相比具有明显的不同。
美国文学更加关注个人主义、自由和追求幸福的主题。
与欧洲文学相比，美国文学较少涉及庄重的古典主题，更倾向于写实和现实主义的描写方式。
(完整word版)美国文学考试题
选择题（20个共20分）1. James Fenimore Cooper作品The Leatherstocking Tale皮袜子故事集》2. Philip FreneauThe wild Honey SuC野忍冬花》3. Edgar Allan PoeTo Helen4. Henry David ThoreauWalde l瓦尔登湖》5. America n Roma nticiSmi 主义Period: from the end of the 18th century to the outbreak of the civil warIt started with the publication of WasIrhvii ng toTnh'eSsketch Baonodkended with WhitmLeaanves of'Grsass6. Nathaniel HawthorneThe Scarlet Lette红字》7. 美国内战（南北战争）时间1861.4.—121865.4.98. Westward Movement运动，开始于18世纪末，终于19世纪末20世纪初。
9. Henry JamesThe Portrait of a L l d一个女人的画像》10. Ralph Waldo EmersonNature《论自然》11. John SmithFirst American writer12. Herman MelvilleMoby-Dic《k 大白鲸》二连线题（作者和作品10分）1. Benjamin FranklinThe Autobiography2. O.HenryThe Cop and the Antr i m察与赞美诗》3. Jack LondonThe Sea W《侮狼》三名词解释2 个（以下四选二，共10分）1. American DreamThe freedom allowi ng all America n people to pursue their goals in life through分ia rd work and free It often refers to the opportunity for immigrants to achieve greater material prosperity than was pos coun tries of orig3h）T2ie founding Fathers used thlsf^hlrlaeEty, and the pursuit of”opp in ess encompaaslsl thatis availabline AmericanIt. 'thesopportuntitoymakeindividucahl oicews ithouttherestrictio ns of class, race or 分)gio n. (22. American Purita美国清教主义A religious moveme nt in the late 16thseeitarTyoffshb支t() in the third and fourth decades ofthe 17th century to the northern English colonies iInt ltahied Nth e wfoWunodrladtion for the religious, intellectual the church was corrupted and had tooonTrnbeitaaRurita n: tak ing religi on as the mostand social order of the NewPWndds wan ted to purify the church to its original state, b importa nt thi ng; living for glorifying God.3. American Roman浪漫主义(1) The Romanticism Period stretches from th thc e netunrdyotfo1th8e outbreak of the Civil War. It is aperiod of the great flowering of American literature. It started with thetopnuIbrvlicinagtion o'fWs ashing The Sketch Book and ended with WhitmGarnass . ' s Leaves of(2) It was rebellion against the objectivity of rationalism.4. American Literaturemainly refers to literature produced in American English by people living in the U.S.. It also include produced in other countries by American expatriates and in other languages by minorities in the co as American Indian literature and the Jewish literature.四赏析题1-2诗的赏析两首诗二选一答题标准：标出韵脚5分，中文译文15分共20分。
美国文学复习标准答案
2.术语解释1、Puritanism :Puritanism is the practices and beliefs of the puritans. The Puritans were originally members of a division of the protestant church who wanted to purify their religious beliefs and practices. They accepted the doctrines of predestination, original sin and total depravity, and limited atonement through a special infusion of grace from God. American literature in the 17th century mostly consisted of Puritan literature. Puritanism had an enduring influence on American literature. It had become, to some extent, so much a state of mind, so much a part of national cultural atmosphere, rather than a set of tenets.2、Alliteration: Alliteration is the repeated occurrence of the same consonant sound at the beginning of several words in the same phrase.3、Symbolism4、School-room Poets5、American Romanticism6、American Realism: In American literature, the Civil War brought the Romantic Period to an end. The Age of Realism came into existence. It came as a reaction against the lie of romanticism and sentimentalism. Realism turned from an emphasis on the strange toward a faithful rendering of the ordinary, a slice of life as it is really lived. It expresses the concern for commonplace and the low, and it offers an objective rather than an idealistic view of human nature and human experience.7、Psychological Realism:It is the realistic writing that probes deeply into the complexities of characters‟ thoughts and motivations. Henry James is considered the founder of psychological realism. His novel The Ambassadors is considered to be a masterpiece of psychological realism. 8、American Naturalism:American naturalism was a new and harsher realism. American naturalism had been shaped by the war; by the social upheavals that undermined the comforting faith of an earlier age. America‟s literary natural ists dismissed the validity of comforting moral truths. They attempted to achieve extreme objectivity and frankness, presenting characters of low social and economic classes who were determined by their environment and heredity. In presenting the extremes of life, the naturalists sometimes displayed an affinity to the sensationalism of early romanticism, but unlike their romantic predecessors, the naturalists emphasized that the world was amoral, that men and women had no free will, that lives were controlled by heredity and environment, that the destiny of humanity was misery in life and oblivion in death. Although naturalist literature described the world with sometimes brutal realism, it sometimes also aimed at bettering the world through social reform.9、Regionalism：Regionalism as a trend first made its presence felt in the late 1860s and early seventies in America. It may be defined as the careful attegogoms in speech, dress or behavior peculiar to a geographical locality. The ultimate aim of the local colorists is to create the illusion of an indigenous little world with qualities that tell it apart from the world outside. The social and intellectual climate of the country provided a stimulating milieu for the growth of local color fiction in America. Local colorists concerned themselves with presenting and interpreting the local character of their regions. They tended to idealize and glorify, but they never forgot to keep an eye on the truthful color of local life. They formed an important part of the realistic movement. Although it lost its momentum toward the end of the 19th century, the local spirit continued to inspire and fertilize the imagination of author.10、The Gilded Age：the Gilded Age refers to the era of rapid economic and population growth in the United States during the post-Civil War and post-Reconstruction eras of the late 19th century (1865-1901). The term "Gilded Age" was coined by Mark Twain and Charles Dudley Warner in their 1873 book, The Gilded Age: A Tale of Today. The name refers to the process of gilding and is meant to ridicule ostentatious display.11、Local Colorism: Local Colorism or Regionalism as a trend first made its presence felt in the late 1860s and early seventies in America. It may be defined as the careful attegogoms in speech, dress or behavior peculiar to a geographical locality. The ultimate aim of the local colorists is to create the illusion of an indigenous little world with qualities that tell it apart from the world outside. The social and intellectual climate of the country provided a stimulating milieu for the growth of local color fiction in America. Local colorists concerned themselves with presenting and interpreting the local character of their regions. They tended to idealize and glorify, but they never forgot to keep an eye on the truthful color of local life. They formed an important part of the realistic movement. Although it lost its momentum toward the end of the 19th century, the local spirit continued to inspire and fertilize the imagination of author.12、Lost Generation:This term has been used again and again to describe the people of the postwar years. It describes the Americans who remained in Paris as a colony of “ expatriates” or exiles. It describes the writers like Hemingway who lived in semi poverty. It describes the Americans who returned to their native land with an intense awareness of living in an unfamiliar changing world. The young English and American expatriates, men and women, were caught in the war and cut off from the old values and yet unable to come to terms with the new era when civilization had gone mad. They wandered pointlessly and restlessly, enjoying things like fishing, swimming, bullfight and beauties of nature, but they were aware all the while that the world is crazy and meaningless and futile. Their whole life is undercut and defeated.82. Lyric: A poem, usually a short one, that expresses a speaker‟s personal thoughts or feelings. The elegy, ode, and sonnet are all forms of the lyric.13、Imagism:It‟s a poetic movement of England and the U.S. flourished from 1909 to 1917.The movement insists on the creation of images in poetry by “the direct treatment of the thing” and the economy of wording. The leaders of this movement were Ezra Pound and Amy Lowell.14、Impressionism：Impressionism was a form of artistic expression in the 19th century. It was most pervasive in painting，but it was also found in literature and art. The term “impressionism”first appeared in 1874 in a newspaper review of an exhibition held in the studio by a group of young painters. It was taken directly from the title of Monet‘s Impression：Sunrise.15、Hemingway Heroes16、Steam-of-Consciousness:“Stream-of-Consciousness” or “interior monologue”, is one of the modern literary techniques. It is the style of writing that attempts to imitate the natural flow of a character‟s thoughts, feelings, reflections, memories, and mental images as the character experiences them. It was first used in 1922 by the Irish novelist James Jo yce. Those novels brokethrough the bounds of time and space, and depicted vividly and skillfully the unconscious activity of the mind fast changing and flowing incessantly, particularly the hesitant, misted, distracted and illusory psychology people had when they faced reality. The modern American writer William Faulkner successfully advanced this technique. In his stories, action and plots were less important than the reactions and inner musings of the narrators. Time sequences were often dislocated. The reader feels himself to be a participant in the stories, rather than an observer. A high degree of emotion can be achieved by this technique.17、Multiple Points of View:It is one of the literary techniques William Faulkner used, which shows within the same story how the characters reacted differently to the same person or the same situation. The use of this technique gave the story a circular form wherein one event was the center, with various points of view radiating from it. The multiple points of view technique makes the reader recognize the difficulty of arriving at a true judgment.18、The Jazz Age:The Jazz Age describes the period after the end of World War I, through the Roaring Twenties, ending with the onset of the Great Depression. Traditional values of the previous period declined while the American stock market soared.The age takes its name from popular music, which saw a tremendous surge in popularity. Among the prominent concerns and trends of the period are the public embrace of technological developments typically seen as progress —cars, air travel and the telephone - as well as new modernist trends in social behavior, the arts, and culture. Central developments included Art Deco design and architecture. The phrase was coined by the writer F. Scott Fitzgerald, who greatly criticized this new era of 'relaxation' in novels such as The Great Gatsby.19、The Era of Modernism：The years from 1910 to 1930 are often called the Era of Modernism, for there seems to have been in both Europe and America a strong awareness of some sort of “break” with the past. The new artists shared a desire to capture the comple xity of modern life, to focus on the variety and confusion of the 20th century by reshaping and sometimes discarding the ideas and habits of the 19th century. The Era of Modernism was indeed the era of the New.20、Confessional poetry: Confessional poetry emphasizes the intimate, and sometimes unflattering, information about details of the poet's personal life, such as in poems about illness, sexuality, and despondence. The confessionalist label was applied to a number of poets of the 1950s and 1960s. John Berryman, Allen Ginsberg, Robert Lowell, Sylvia Plath, Theodore Roethke, Anne Sexton, and William De Witt Snodgrass have all been called 'Confessional Poets'. As fresh and different as the work of these poets appeared at the time, it is also true that several poets prominent in the canon of Western literature, perhaps most notably Sextus Propertius and Petrarch, could easily share the label of "confessional" with the confessional poets of the fifties and sixties. 21、Beat Generation：The Beat Generation in America refers to a group of American youngsters who refused to accept “respectability”and conventional social behaviour and who cultivated a rootless manner of living. The distinctive features of the Beat Generatio n is that they used a special slang language and loved jazz. The Beat Generation was represented by Ginsberg‘s Howland Jack Keroual‘s on the road.22、Dramatic conflict23、Feminism: Feminism refers to political, cultural, and economic movements aimed at establishing greater rights and legal protections for women. Feminism includes some of the sociological theories and philosophies concerned with issues of gender difference. It is also a movement that campaigns for women's rights and interests.[1][2][3][4][5]Nancy Cott defines feminism as the belief in the importance of gender equality, invalidating the idea of gender hierarchy as a socially constructed concept.24、The short story25、Ecocriticism: Ecocriticism is the study of literature and environment from an interdisciplinarypoint of view where all sciences come together to analyze the environment and brainstorm possible solutions for the correction of the contemporary environmental situation. Ecocriticism was officially heralded by the publication of two seminal works, both published in the mid-1990s: The Ecocriticism Reader, edited by Cheryll Glotfelty and Harold Fromm, and The Environmental Imagination, by Lawrence Buell.In the United States, Ecocriticism is often associated with the Association for the Study of Literature and Environment(ASLE), which hosts biennial meetings for scholars who deal with environmental matters in literature. ASLE has an official journal—Interdisciplinary Studies in Literature and Environment (ISLE)—in which much of the most current American scholarship in the rapidly evolving field of ecocriticism can be found.Ecocriticism is an intentionally broad approach that is known by a number of other designations, including "green (cultural) studies", "ecopoetics", and "environmental literary criticism".3. 作品连线（略）4. 回答问题1)What are the characteristics of Edgar Allen Poe‟s writing?Poe‟s style is traditional. It is much too rational,too ordinary to reflect the peculiarity of his theme.it is fluent and coherent .poe‟s choice of words his syntax may have been responsible for his difficult prose. Occasionally feels his mannerism hindering a smooth and poeasuranle reading‟2) What are the characteristics of Whitman‟s poems?Whitman was a daring es xperimentalist who broke the new wood. His early poems were in comventional rime and meter.but apparently he found the restrictoions disappointing . he began to experiment about 1847 which led to a complete break with traditional poetics. One of the major princi;les of whitman‟s technique is parallesism ofr a rhythm of thought in which the lline is the rhythmical unit . another main principle of whitman‟s versification is phonetic recurrence,i.e.,the systematic repetition of words and phrases at the beginning of the line ,in the middle or at the end.these two principles coordinate with and reinforce each other . whitman broke free from the traditional iambic pentameter and wrote “free verse.”3) What are the characteristics of O. Henry‟s writing?O. Henry's short stories are well known for their wit, wordplay, warm characterization and clever twist endings. surprise endings，twist endings，much more playful and，optimistic，witty narration4) What‟s the difference between Henry James‟ realism and Mark Twain‟s realism? P93Although James and T wain both worked for realism, there were obvious differences between them. In thematic terms, James wrote mostly of the upper reaches of American society, whereas Mark Twain dealt largely with the lower strata of society. Technically, James pursued the Psychological realism, but Mark Twain's contribution to the development of realism and to American literature as a whole was partly through his theories of Local Colorism in American fiction, and partly through his colloquial style.5) What’s Jack London’s writing style and theme?P1516) Summarize American poetic revolution of the 20th century.7) Make a summary about Black American literature.8) Make a comparison between free verse and blank verse.Free Verse is poetry that is based on the irregular rhythmic cadence recurring, with variations of phrases, images, and syntactical patterns rather than the conventional use of meter. In other words, free verse has no rhythm scheme or pattern. However, much poetic language and devices are found in free verse. Rhyme may or may not be used in free verse, but, when rhyme is used, it is used with great freedom. In other words, free verse has no rhyme scheme or pattern.Free verse does not mean rhyme cannot be used, only that it must be used without any pattern.Blank verse consists of unrhymed lines of iambic pentameter (ten syllables with the second, fourth, sixth, eighth, and tenth syllables accented). The form has generally been accepted as the best for dramatic verse in English and is commonly used for long poems whether dramatic, philosophical, or narrative.While blank verse appears easy to write, good blank verse demands more artistry and genius than most any other verse form. The freedom gained through the lack of rhyme is offset by the demands for required variety.9)Make a summary about the America Drama.5.诗歌赏析1)Analyze the poem “The Wild Honey Suckle”.This poem is writed by philip freneau.in his poem ,the lyrid beauty,the heartfelt pathos,and the multiple emotional responses and echoes that the sight described can awaken in the bosmms of the readers—all these are simply amazing.the poem is bo doubt a graphic illustration of freneau‟s poetic genius.Freneau moving his eyes from the relics of the Old World over to his own continent to enjoy the beauty that the american landscape is capable of offering to the observing andappreciative eyes.it is a kind of beauty that people in those days had to learn to bacome aware of .freneau‟s observation is historically significant because, to many writers of his and later pereods,the new natin was poor in materisl for people with some literary ambitions.the poem is an dndicatoon of the poet‟s dedication to American subject matter as he examined the peculiar characteristics of the American countryside.2） Analyze Whitman’s “Song of Myself”(Over 200 words)In this poem Whitman is explaining how all of humanity is like one living organism, and no one part is more important than the other. In section 44 of "Song of Myself" Whitman says, "We have thus far exhausted trillions of winters and summers, There are trillions ahead, a nd trillions ahead of them. Births have brought us richness and variety, And other births will bring us richness and variety. I do not call one greater and one smaller, That which fills its period and place is equal to any." It is clear that Whitman had a perspective of the human race and its history that escaped most writers. More specifically, Whitman speaks of equal contribution to the human experience in section 42: "Here and there with dimes on the eyes walking, To feed the greed of the belly thebrains liberally spooning, Tickets buying, taking, selling, but in to the feast never once going, Many sweating, ploughing, thrashing, and then the chaff for payment receiving, A few idly owning, and they the wheat continually claiming. This is the city and I am one of the citizens, Whatever interests the rest interests me, politics, wars, markets, newspapers, schools, The mayor and councils, banks, tariffs, steamships, factories, stocks, stores, real estate and personal estate.3）Emily’s “Because I Could Not Stop for Death”(Over 300 words) The poem begins with a leisurely image. At first, the protagonist feels totally at ease and the usually frightening death is described as if a familiar friend, gentle and polite. Continuingly, the poem is developed upon a basic metaphor that life is a journey. It was truly rather old a comparison, but Dickinson enriched it with her creativity and imagination: "School, where Children strove" --childhood; "Fields of Gazing Grain"--maturity; and "Setting Sun"--old age. Then “the Dews drew quivering and chill-” makes the protagonist feel terribly cold, which may mean that they are getting nearer and nearer to the tomb. But at last, his companions, Immortality and Death, finally desert him and leave him alone to go toward Eternity.So it seems that though death cheats him and at the same time deserts him, the experience of death itself is not painful. Emily Dickinson‟s poems just explain this kind of essence of life, which then lead you to a world of imagination and thinking.4）Appreciate the poem “In a Station of the Metro”.The poem is essentially a set of images that have unexpected likeness and convey the rare emotion that Pound was experiencing at that time. Arguably the heart of the poem is not the first line, nor the second, but the mental process that links the two together. "In a poem of this sort," as Pound explained, "one is trying to record the precise instant when a thing outward and objective transforms itself, or darts into a thing inward and subjective." This darting takes place between the first and second lines. The pivotal semi-colon has stirred debate as to whether the first line is in fact subordinate to the second or both lines are of equal, independent importance. Pound contrasts the factual, mundane image that he actually witnessed with a metaphor from nature and thus infuses this “apparition” with visual beauty. There is a quick transition from the statement of the first line to the second line‟s vivid metaphor; this …super-pository‟ technique exemplifi es the Japanese haiku style. The word “apparition” is considered crucial as it evokes a mystical and supernatural sense of imprecision which is then reinforced by the metaphor of the second line. The plosive word …Petals‟ conjures ideas of delicate, femini ne beauty which contrasts with the bleakness of the …wet, black bough‟. What the poem signifies is questionable; many critics argue that it deliberately transcends traditional form and therefore its meaning is solely found in its technique as opposed to in its content. However when Pound had the inspiration to write this poem few of these considerations came into view. He simply wished to translate his perception of beauty in the midst of ugliness into a single, perfect image in written form.It is also worth noting that the number of words in the poem (fourteen) is the same as the number of lines in a sonnet. The words are distributed with eight in the first line and six in the second, mirroring the octet-sestet form of the Italian (or Petrarchan) sonnet.5）Appreciate the poem “Stopping by W oods on a Snow Evening”.“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening,” like many of Frost's poems, explores the theme of the individual caught between nature and civilization. The speaker's location on the border between civilization and wilderness echoes a common theme throughout American literature. The speaker is drawn to the beauty and allure of the woods, which represent nature, but has obligations—“promises to keep”—which draw him away from nature and back to society and the world of men. The speaker is thus faced with a choice of whether to give in to the allure of nature, or remain in the realm of society. Some critics have interpreted the poem as a meditation on death—the woods represent the allure of death, perhaps suicide, which the speaker resists in order to return to the mundane tasks which order daily life.6）Analyze the poem “The Road Not Taken”.the poem is inspirational, a paean to individualism and non-conformism.The poem consists of four stanzas. In the first stanza, the speaker describes his position. He has been out walking in the woods and comes to two roads, and he stands looking as far down eachone as he can see. He would like to try out both, but doubts he could do that, so therefore he continues to look down the roads for a long time trying to make his decision about which road to take. The ironic interpretation, widely held by critics, is that the poem is instead about regret and personal myth-making, rationalizing our decisions.In this interpretation, the final two lines:I took the one less traveled by,And that has made all the difference.are ironic : the choice made little or no difference at all, the speaker's protestations to the contrary. The speaker admits in the second and third stanzas that both paths may be equally wor n and equally leaf-covered, and it is only in his future recollection that he will call one road "less traveled by".The sigh, widely interpreted as a sigh of regret, might also be interpreted ironically: in a 1925 letter to Cristine Y ates of Dickson, Tennessee, asking about the sigh, Frost replied: "It was my rather private jest at the expense of those who might think I would yet live to be sorry for the way I had taken in life."7）Analyze the poem “Anecdote of the Jar”.This famous, much-anthologized poem succinctly accommodates a remarkable number of different and plausible interpretations, as Jacqueline Brogan observes in a discussion of how she teaches it to her students.It can be approached from a New Critical perspective as a poem about writing poetry and making art generally. From a poststructuralist perspective the poem is concerned with temporal and linguistic disjunction, especially in the convoluted syntax of the last two lines. A feminist perspective reveals a poem concerned with male dominance over a traditionally feminized landscape. A cultural critic might find a sense of industrial imperialism. Brogan concludes: "When the debate gets particularly intense, I introduce Roy Harvey Pearce's discovery of the Dominion canning jars (a picture of which is then passed around)."8）Analyze T. S. Eliot’s “The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock”. (Over 500words) On the surface, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" relays the thoughts of a sexually frustrated middle-aged man who wants to say something but is afraid to do so, and ultimately does not.The dispute, however, lies in to whom Prufrock is speaking, whether he is actually going anywhere, what he wants to say, and to what the various images refer.The intended audience is not evident. Some believe that Prufrock is talking to a nother person or directly to the reader, while others believe Prufrock's monologue is internal. Perrine writes "The 'you and I' of the first line are divided parts of Prufrock's own nature", while Mutlu Konuk Blasing suggests that the "you and I" refers to the relationship between the dilemmas of the character and the author. Similarly, critics dispute whether Prufrock is going somewhere during the course of the poem. In the first half of the poem, Prufrock uses various outdoor images (the sky, streets, che ap restaurants and hotels, fog), and talks about how there will be time for various things before "the taking of toast and tea", and "time to turn back and descend the stair." This has led many to believe that Prufrock is on his way to an afternoon tea, in which he is preparing to ask this "overwhelming question". Others, however, believe that Prufrock is not physically going anywhere, but rather, is playing through it in his mind.Perhaps the most significant dispute lies over the "overwhelming question" that Prufrock is trying to ask. Many believe that Prufrock is trying to tell a woman of his romantic interest in her, pointing to the various images of women's arms and clothing and the final few lines in which Prufrock laments that the mermaids will not sing to him. Others, however, believe that Prufrock is trying to express some deeper philosophical insight or disillusionment with society, but fears rejection, pointing to statements that express a disillusionment with society such as "I have measured out my life with coffee spoons" (line 51). Many believe that the poem is a criticism of Edwardian society and Prufrock's dilemma represents the inability to live a meaningful existence in the modern world. McCoy and Harlan wrote "For many readers in the 1920s, Prufrock seemed to epitomize the frustration and impotence of the modern individual. He seemed to represent thwarted desires and modern disillusionment."As the poem uses the stream of consciousness technique, it is often difficult to determine what is meant to be interpreted literally or symbolically. In general, Eliot uses imagery which is indicativeof Prufrock's character, representing aging and decay. For example, "When the evening is spread out against the sky / Like a patient etherized upon a table" (lines 2-3), the "sawdust restaurants" and "cheap hotels," the yellow fog, and the afternoon "Asleep...tired... or it malingers" (line 77), are reminiscent of languor and decay, while Prufrock's various concerns about his hair and teeth, as well as the mermaids "Combing the white hair of the waves blown back / When the wind blows the water white and black," show his concern over aging.6. 小说评论1) Comment on Mark Twain’s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Over 400 words).The book is noted for its colorful description of people and places along the Mississippi River. Satirizing a Southern antebellum society that was already out of date by the time the work was published, Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is an often scathing look at entrenched attitudes, particularly racism. The drifting journey of Huck and his friend Jim, a runaway slave, down the Mississippi River on their raft may be one of the most enduring images of escape and freedom in all of American literature.The work has been popular with readers since its publication and is taken as a sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer. It has also been the continued object of study by serious literary critics. It was criticized upon release because of its coarse language and became even more controversial in the 20th century because of its perceived use of racial stereotypes and because of its frequent use of the racial slur "nigger."Twain wrote a novel that embodies the search for freedom. He wrote during the post-Civil War period when there was an intense white reaction against blacks. According to some critics, Twain took aim squarely against racial prejudice, increasing segregation, lynchings, a nd the generally accepted belief that blacks were sub-human. He "made it clear that Jim was good, deeply loving, human, and anxious for freedom."However, others have criticized the novel as racist, citing the use of the word "nigger" and Jim's Sambo-like character.Throughout the story, Huck is in moral conflict with the received values of the society in which he lives, and while he is unable to consciously refute those values even in his thoughts, he makes a moral choice based on his own valuation of Jim's friendship and human worth, a decision in direct opposition to the things he has been taught. Mark Twain in his lecture notes proposes that "a sound heart is a surer guide than an ill-trained conscience," and goes on to describe the novel as "...a book of mine where a sound heart and a deformed conscience come into collision and conscience suffers defeat."2) Comment on Henry James’ The Portrait of a Lady (Over 400 words).James's first idea for The Portrait of a Lady was simplicity itself: a young American woman confronting her destiny, whatever it might be. Only then did he begin to form a plot to bring out the character of his central figure. Ironically, the plot became an uncompromising story of the free-spirited Isabel losing her freedom—despite (or because of) suddenly coming into a great deal of money—and getting "ground in the very mill of the conventional." The theme of freedom vs. responsibility runs throughout The Portrait and helps explain Isabel's possible final decision to return to Osmond. In this sense it is rather existentialist, as Isabel is very committed to living with the consequences of her choice with integrity but also a sort of stubbornness.But that decision is affected by another major theme of the novel: Isabel's sexual fears and diffidence. Although she is eventually shown as capable of deep arousal, she rejects Lord Warburton and Goodwood, two very strong and masculine suitors, in favor of the seemingly less threatening and hopelessly cold Osmond. Although the conventions of 19th-century Anglo-American fiction prevented a completely frank treatment of this part of Isabel's character, James still makes it clear that her fate was at least partially shaped by her uneasiness with passionate commitment.The richness of The Portrait is hardly exhausted by a review of Isabel's character. The novel exhibits a huge panorama of trans-Atlantic life, a far larger canvas than any James had previously painted. This moneyed world appears charming and leisurely but proves to be plagued with treachery, deceit, and suffering. It is only through disappointment and loss, James seems to say, that one can grow to complete maturity. The Portrait of a Lady received critical acclaim since its first publication in the pages of The Atlantic Monthly, and it remains the most popular of James's。
美国文学复习资料题(有标准答案版)
美国文学复习提纲第一部分连线题（1*10=10’）1. Thomas Jefferson The Declaration of Independence2. Walt Whitman O’ Captain, My Captain3. Mark Twain Jumping Frog4. Robert Frost Mending Wall5. Ezra Pound In a Station of the Metro6. Carl Sandburg Chicago7. Saul Bellow The Adventure of Augie March8. Ernest Hemingway Men without Women9. John Steinbeck The Grape of Wrath10. Jack London The Call of the Wild11. Sinclair Lewis Babbit12. Flannery O’ Conno r A Good Man Is Hard to Find13. O. Henry The Last Leaf14. Jerome David Salinger The Catcher in the Rye15. William Falkner The Sound and the Fury第二部分单项选择(1.5*20=30’)1. Anne Bradstreet was a Puritan poet. Her poems made such a stir in England that shebecame known as the “________” who appeared in America.A. Tenth MuseB. Ninth MuseC. Best MuseD. First Muse2. In American literature, the 18th century was the age of the Enlightenment. ________ wasthe dominant spirit.A. HumanismB. RationalismC. RevolutionD. Evolution3. Which of the following stirred the world and helped form the American republic?A. The American CrisisB. The FederalistC. Declaration of IndependenceD. The Age of Reason4. At the Reason and Revolution Period, Americans were influenced by the Europeanmovement called the ________.A. Chartist MovementB. Romanticist MovementC. Enlightenment MovementD. Modernist Movement5. Thoreau was often alone in the woods or by the pond, lost in spiritual communicationwith ________.A. natureB. transcendentalist ideasC. human beingsD. celestial beings6. ________tells a simple but very moving story in which four people living in a puritancommunity are involved in and affected by the sin of adultery in different ways.A. Twice-Told TalesB. The Scarlet LetterC. The House of the Seven GablesD. The Marble Faun7. Washington Irving’s social conservation and literary for the past is revealed, to someextent, in his famous story, ________.A. The Legend of Sleepy HollowB. Rip Van WinkleC. The Custom-houseD. The Birthmark8. The convention of the desire for an escape from society and a return to nature inAmerican literature is particularly evident in ________.A. Cooper’s Leatherstocking TalesB. Hawthorne’s The Scarlet LetterC. Whitman’s Leaves of GrassD. Irving’s Rip Van Winkle9. As a philosophical and literary movement, ________ flourished in New England from1830s to the Civil War.A. modernismB. rationalismC. sentimentalismD. transcendentalism10. Edgar Allan Poe mainly writes __________.A. poemsB. literary critic theoriesC. short storiesD. dramas11. In Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, “A” may stand for ________.A. AdulteryB. AngelC. AmiableD. All the above12. The period before the American Civil War is generally referred to as ________.A. the Naturalist PeriodB. the Modern PeriodC. the Romantic PeriodD. the Realistic Period13. In the following works, which signs the beginning of the American literature?A. The Sketch BookB. Leaves of GrassC. Leatherstocking TalesD. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn14. The main theme of Emily Dickinson is the following except ________.A. war and peaceB. love and marriageC. life and deathD. religion15. Emily Dickinson’s poetic idiom is noted for the following except ________.A. brevityB. directnessC. plainest wordsD. obscure16. The publication of ________ established Emerson as the most eloquent spokesman ofNew England Transcendentalism.A. NatureB. Self-RelianceC. The American ScholarD. The Over-Soul17. The Age of Realism in the literary history of the United States refers to the periodfrom ________ to ________.A. 1861...1914 B. 1863...1918 C. 1865...1914 D. 1865 (1918)18. ________ is considered to be Theodore Dreiser’s greatest work.A. An American TragedyB. Sister CarrieC. The FinancierD. The Titan19. ________ is a novella about a young American girl who gets “killed” by the winter inRome, and it brought Henry James international fame for the first time.A. The AmericanB. The EuropeansC. Daisy MillerD. The Portrait of a Lady20. ________ is described by Mark twain as a boy with “a sound heart and a deformedconscience”.A. T om SawyerB. Huckleberry FinnC. JimD. Tony21. Mark Twain wrote most of his literary works with a ________ language.A. grandB. pompousC. simpleD. vernacular22. The book from which “all modern American literature comes” refers to ________.A. The Great GatsbyB. The Sun Also RisesC. The Adventures of Huckleberry FinnD. Moby-Dick23. In which of the following works Hemingway presents his philosophy about life anddeath through the depiction of the bull-fight as a kind of microcosmic tragedy?A. Death in the AfternoonB. The Snows of KilimanjaroC. To Have and Have NotD. The Green Hills of Africa24. ________ is Hemingway’s first true novel in which he depicts a vivid portrait of “TheLost Generation”.A. The Sun Also RisesB. A Farewell to ArmsC. In Our TimeD. For Whom the Bell Tolls25. Robert Frost combined traditional verse forms—the sonnet, rhyming couplets,blank verse—with a clear American local speech rhythm, the speech of ________ farmers with its idiosyncratic diction and syntax.A. SouthernB. WesternC. New HampshireD. New England26. ________, one of the most important poets in his time, is a leading spokesman of the“Imagist Movement”.A. J. D. SalingerB. Ezra PoundC. Richard WrightD. Ralph Ellison27. “Tender Is the Night” is a ________ by Fitzgerald.A. short storyB. novellaC. poemD. novel28. ________ is said to be a “historical novel” by Faulkner.A. Go Down, MosesB. Light in AugustC. The Sound and the FuryD. Absalom29. ________ stems from the ambiguity of the speaker’s choice between safety and theunknown.A. Mending the wall B Home BurialC. The Road not TakenD. Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening30. Hemingway’s writing style, together with his theme and the hero, is greatly andpermanently influenced by his experiences ________.A. in his childhoodB. in the warC. in AmericaD. in Africa31. The following writers were awarded Nobel Prize for literature except ________.A. William FaulknerB. F. Scott FitzgeraldC. John SteinbeckD. Ernest Hemingway32. ________ is not considered to be one of the masters in the field of American fiction inthe modernistic period.A. F. Scott FitzgeraldB. Ernest HemingwayC. Arthur MillerD. William Faulkner33. “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood and sorry I could not travel both…” Inthe above two lines of Robert Frost’s “The Road not Taken”, the poet, by implication, was referring to ________.A. one’s course of lifeB. a marriage decisionC. a middle-age crisisD. a travel experience34. Most of the writers in the modern period were able to probe into the inner world ofhuman reality on the base of ________.A. William James’ “stream of consciousness”B. Carl Jung’s “collective unconscious” and “archetypal symbol”C. Sigmund Freud’s “interpretation of dreams”D. All of the above35. Writers of the second postwar era self-consciously acknowledged that they were____________.A. a Lost GenerationB. a Beat GenerationC. a Jazz GenerationD. none of the above36. In 1862, President Lincoln exclaimed: “So you are the little woman who wrote thebook that started this great war!” The book refers to ________.A. Uncle Tom’s CabinB. BelovedC.Pride and PrejudiceD.The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn37. In Leaves of Grass, _______ is all that concerned Whitman.A. individualismB. freedomC. democracyD. all the above38. It is not surprising to find in _______’s fiction a world of jungle, where “kill or to bekilled” was the law.A. Mark TwainB. Emily DickinsonC. Theodore DreiserD. Henry James39. Which one of the following statements is NOT true of William Faulkner?A. He is master of stream-of-consciousness narrative.B. His writing is often complex and difficult to understand.C. He often depicts slum life in New York and Chicago.D. He represents a new group of Southern writers40. The setting of the novel The Scarlet Letter is in ________.A. England during World War IB. Paris during the French RevolutionC. Puritan AmericaD. America after the Revolutionary War第三部分判断对错(1*15=15’)(T)1. The Calvinist doctrine of “original sin” exerted great influence upon Hawthorne. (T)2. To Hawthorne sin will get punished, one way or another.(T)3. Roger Chillingworth, the scholar, the embodiment of pure intellect, committed the “Unpardonable Sin”.(F)4. Emily Dickinson didn’t like using capital letters where small ones are needed. (T)5. Walt Whitman used parallelism and refrain in his poems.(T)6. Walt Whitman was regarded as the Zenith in American romantic poetry.(T)7. Dickinson was original. She never imitates others.(T)8. Allan Poe defined poetry as the rhythmical creation of beauty.(F)9. O. Henry seldom wrote about poor people.(T)10. According to Poe, art serves for pleasure. The chief aim of poetry is beauty, namely, to produce a feeling of beauty in the reader.(T)11. According to Dickinson, death means immortality.(F)12. According to Poe, truth is beauty, beauty truth.(T)13. According to Henry James, the aim of the novel is to reflect life reality.(T)14. James wrote mostly of the upper reaches of American society, and Howellsconcerned himself chiefly with middle class life whereas Twain dealt largely with the lower strata of society.(F)15. American writers, especially novelists were rather experimental after the World Wars.(T)16. O. Henry’s short stories are famous for their surprising endings.(T)17. Allen Ginsberg was the representative of the Beat Generation.(T)18. Allan Poe exerted great influence upon many southern American writers, especially William Faulkner.(F)19. Emily Dickinson was regarded as the forerunner of symbolism.(F)20. Mark Twain never touched upon the problem of slavery system in his novels. (F)21. Allan Poe was regarded as the forerunner of American Imagism.(T)22. Mark Twain was the father of American language.(T)23. Allan Poe advocated “pure” poetry.(F)24. Mark Twain’s contribution to the development of realism and to American literature as a whole was partly through his theories of localism in American fiction and partly through his themes.(T)25. Toni Morrison is one of the most famous contemporary women writers.(T)26. O. Henry was the pen name of William Sidney Porter.(T)27. Thomas Jefferson was the major writer of The Declaration of Independence (T)28. Henry James discovered the trick of making his characters reveal themselves with minimal intervention of the author.(T)29. N. Hawthorne was a symbolic writer in some sense.(T)30. Whitman’s poetry suggests rather than tells.第四部分术语解释(4*5=20’)1. TranscendentalismTranscendentalism refers to the religious and philosophical doctrines of Ralph Waldo Emerson and others in New England in the middle 1800’s, which emphasized the importance of individual inspiration and intuition, the Oversoul, and nature. Other concepts that accompanied Transcendentalism include the idea that nature is ennobling and the idea that the individual is divine and, therefore, self-reliant.2. NaturalismNaturalism, a more deliberate kind of realism, usually involves a view of human beings as passive victims of natural forces and social environment. As a literary movement, naturalism was initiated in France and it came to be led by Zola, who claimed at “scientific” status for his studies of impoverished characters miserably subjected to hunger, sexual obsession, and hereditary defects.3. American DreamThe American Dream is the faith held by many people in the United States of America that through hard work, courage and determination one can achieve a better life for oneself, usually through financial prosperity. These were values held by many early European settlers, and have been passed on to subsequent generations.4. The Lost GenerationThe term Lost Generation was coined by Gertrude Stein to refer to a group ofAmerican Literary notables who lived in Paris from the time period which saw the end of WWI to the beginning of the Great Depression. Significant members included Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ezra Pound, Sherwood Anderson, T.S. Eliot, and Gertrude Stein herself. Hemingway likely popularized the term, quoting Stein (“You are all a lost generation”) as epigraph to his novel The Sun Also Rises. More generally, the term is being used for the young adults of Europe and America during WWI. They were “lost” because after the war many of them were disillusioned with the world in general and unwilling to move into settled life.5. ModernismModern writing is marked by a strong and conscious break with traditional forms and techniques of expression; it believes that we create the world in the act of perceiving it. Modernism implies historical discontinuity, a sense of alienation, of loss, and of despair. It elevates the individual and his inner being over social man and prefers the unconscious to the self-conscious.6. PuritanismThe principles and practices of puritans were popularly known as Puritanism. Puritanism accepted the doctrines of Calvinism: the sovereignty of God; the supreme authority of the Bible; the irresistibility of God’s will for man in ever act of life from cradle to grave. These doctrines led the Puritans to examine their souls to find whether they were of the elect and to search the Bible to determine God’s will.7. Hemingway Heroes (Code Hero)“Hemingway Heroes” refer to some protagonists in Hemingway’s works. Such a hero usually is an average man of decidedly masculine tastes, sensitive and intelligent. And usually he is a man of action and of a few words. He is such an individualist, alone even when with other people, somewhat an outsider, keeping emotions under control, stoic and self-disciplined in a dreadful place where one can not get happiness.8. Jazz Age“The Jazz Age” describes the period of the 1920s and 1930s, the years between WWI and WWII, particularly in North America; with the rise of the Great Depression, the values of this age saw much decline. Perhaps the most representative literary work of the age is American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, a highlighting what some describe as the decadence and hedonism, as well as the growth of individualism.第五部分选读分析25’Text1.From the listless repose of the place, and the peculiar character of its inhabitants, who are descendants from[he original Dutch settlers, this sequestered glen has long been known by the name of SLEEPY HOLLOW, and its rustic lads are called the Sleepy Hollow Boys throughout all the neighboring country. Drowsy and dreamy influence seems to hang over the land，and to pervade the very atmosphere. Some say that the place was bewitched by a high German doctor, during the early days of the settlement; others, that an old Indian chief, the prophet or wizard of histribe, held his powwows there before the country was discovered by Master Hendrick Hudson.Questions:(1) Who is the writer of this short story from which the passage is taken?(2) What is the title of this short story?(3) Give a definition of “short story”.Answer:(1) Washington Irving(2) The Legend of Sleepy Hollow(3) A short story is a brief prose fiction, usually one that can be read in a single sitting. It generally contains the six major elements of fiction—characterization, setting, theme, plot, point of view and style.Text 2.Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,And sorry I could not travel bothAnd be one traveler, long I stoodAnd looked down one as far as I couldTo where it bent in the undergrowth;Then took the other, as just as fair,And having perhaps the better claim,Because it was grassy and wanted wear;Though as for that the passing thereHad worn them really about the same,And both that morning equally layIn leaves no step had trodden black.Oh, I kept the first for another day!Yet knowing how way leads on to way,I doubted if I should ever come back.I shall be telling this with a sighSomewhere ages and ages hence:Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by,And that has made all the difference.Questions:(1) Please examine the poetic form (rhyme and meter) (2’)(2) Describe the similarities and differences of these two roads. Which one does the speaker take? (3’)(3) How do you understand the word “sigh”? (4’)(4) What might the two roads stand for in the speaker’s mind? (2’)(5) What is the theme of this poem? (2’)Answer:(1) It is written in iambic tetrameter and rhymed abaab.(2) Similarities: both of the roads are beautiful;Differences: one is quiet and grassy, less-traveled, the other is trodden by many people and flatHe took the less-traveled road.(3) The word “sigh” is a tricky word. Because sigh can be interpreted into nostalgic relief or regret. If it is the relief sigh, then the difference means the speaker feels glad with the road he took. If it is the regret sigh, then the difference would not be good, and the speaker would be signing in regret. Hence, sigh is ambiguous here for the speaker is not showing whether his choice is right or wrong.(4) The real road, the life road and the road in career.(5) Choices is inevitable but you never know what you choice will mean until you have lived it. This is also the theme of the poem.Text 3.Tell me not, in mournful numbers,Life is but an empty dream!For the soul is dead that slumbers,And things are not what they seem.Life is real-life is earnest-And the grave is not its goal;Dust thou art, to dust returnest,Was not spoken of the soul.Questions:(1). Who is the writer of the lines?(2). What is the title of the whole poem from which the two stanzas are taken?(3). Summarize the poet’s advice for living.Answers:(1). Henry Wadsworth Longfellow(2). A Psalm of Life(3). His optimism which has characterized much of his poetry, also endeared many critics to him. He seemed to have persevered despite tragedy. This poem is the cry of his heart, “rallying from depression”, ready to affirm life, to regroup from losses, to push on despite momentary defeat.Text 4.Because I could not stop for Death —He kindly stopped for me —The Carriage held but just Ourselves —And Immortality.We slowly drove — He knew no hasteAnd I had put awayMy labor and my leisure too,For His Civility —We passed the School, where Children stroveAt Recess — in the Ring —We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain —We passed the Setting Sun —Or rather — He passed Us —The Dews drew quivering and Chill —For only Gossamer, my Gown —My Tippet — only Tulle —We paused before a House that seemedA Swelling of the Ground —The Roof was scarcely visible —The Cornice — in the Ground —Since then —’tis Centuries — and yetFeels shorter than the DayI first surmised the Horses’ HeadsWere toward Eternity —Questions:(1) Who wrote this poem? In the poem, what is he/she watching and recording? (3%)(2) What is death compared to in the poem? (2%)(3) What does the poet think of eternity? (2%)(4) What is the attitude of the poet towards death? (2%)Answer:(1) Emily Dickinson. She is watching and recording her own funeral.(2) Death is compared to a polite gentleman or polite wooer.(3) The speaker is not quite sure whether there will be eternity after death since she just surmises that “the Horses’ Heads were toward Eternity —”.(4) She treats death light-heartedly for she believes that death is a necessary step towards eternity or immortality.。
美国文学题库整理版
美国⽂学题库整理版. 美国⽂学史及选读期末复习重点考试题型：1.名词解释（20分）5个*4=20分2.选择题（20分）3.连线题（10分）4.判断题（10分）5.⽚段赏析（20分）⼀个10分2个⼀个⼩说⼀个诗歌6.论述题（20分）⼀个10分2个⼀个⼩说⼀个诗歌The Outline of American LiteratureThe Realistic Period 1865-1914Realists:Henry James and his psychological realismWilliam Dean Howells and his moral realismLocal Colorism/Regionalism: Mark TwainNaturalists:Stephen Crane /DreiserThe Modern Period 1914-1945Modern Poetry:Imagism:Ezra PoundW.C.WilliamsLyrical Poet：Robert FrostCarl SandburgWallace StevensModern Novelists:Representatives of the Lost Generation:(Jazz Age)F.Scott Fitzgerald/Ernest Hemingway/T.S.EliotEpitome of the Southern Renaissance:William FaulknerThe Leftist Novelists:John Dos Passos/John SteinbeckThe Jewish American Novelists in this period:Eugene O·NeillPart I Term Definition1.American Naturalism:美国⾃然主义1.Naturalism is a more deliberate kind of realism and this term describes a type of literature that attempts to apply scientific principles of objectivity（客观）and detachment（冷静）to its study of human beings.2.Naturalism is a literary movement that used detailed realism to suggest that social conditions, heredity, and environment had inescapable force in shaping human character.3.Although naturalist literature.described the world with sometimes brutal realism, it sometimes also aimed at bettering the world through social reform.4.It accepted the interpretationDreiser is a leading Key words ：Darwin ’s Evolutionary Theory;environment and heredity; objectivity and detachment Theodore Dreiser; Sister Carrie, Stephen Crane, etc.2. American Realism:美国现实主义1.时间：In American literature, the Civil War brought the Romantic Period to an end. The Age of Realism came into existence. 内战将浪漫主义结束，开启现实主义。
英美文学考试题目及答案
英美文学考试题目及答案一、选择题（每题2分，共10分）1. 英国文学史上被称为“英国诗歌之父”的诗人是：A. 乔叟B. 莎士比亚C. 弥尔顿D. 拜伦答案：A2. 下列哪部作品不是简·奥斯汀的小说？A. 《傲慢与偏见》B. 《理智与情感》C. 《简·爱》D. 《曼斯菲尔德庄园》答案：C3. 美国文学中，被誉为“美国文学之父”的作家是：A. 爱伦·坡B. 马克·吐温C. 华盛顿·欧文D. 亨利·詹姆斯答案：C4. 以下哪位作家是现代主义文学的代表人物？A. 狄更斯B. 哈代C. 弗吉尼亚·伍尔夫D. 简·奥斯汀答案：C5. 美国文学中的“迷惘的一代”是指：A. 第一次世界大战后的作家群体B. 第二次世界大战后的作家群体C. 独立战争后的作家群体D. 内战后的作家群体答案：A二、填空题（每题2分，共10分）1. 威廉·莎士比亚的四大悲剧包括《哈姆雷特》、《奥赛罗》、《李尔王》和________。
答案：《麦克白》2. 《了不起的盖茨比》是美国作家________创作的一部以20世纪20年代的纽约为背景的小说。
答案：F·司各特·菲茨杰拉德3. 英国浪漫主义诗人威廉·华兹华斯与________共同发起了浪漫主义诗歌运动。
答案：塞缪尔·泰勒·柯勒律治4. 美国诗人沃尔特·惠特曼的代表作是________，它被认为是美国文学史上的里程碑。
答案：《草叶集》5. 英国现代主义诗人T.S.艾略特的代表作《荒原》是一首________诗。
答案：长三、简答题（每题10分，共20分）1. 简述乔治·奥威尔的《1984》中“老大哥”的象征意义。
答案：在《1984》中，“老大哥”象征着极权主义政权的无所不在和无所不知，代表了对个人自由和思想的全面控制。
他的形象无处不在，监视着社会的每一个角落，象征着对个人隐私的侵犯和对思想自由的压制。
美国文学复习+答案
1.The American Transcendentalists formed a club called _________ .the Transcendental Club2.______ was regarded as the first great prose stylist of American romanticism. Washington Irving 3.At nineteen___________ published in his b rother ’ｓ newspaper, his "Jonathan Oldstyle" satires of New York life.4.In Washington Irving ’ｓ work___________ appeared the first modern short stories and the first great American juvenile literature. The Sketch Book 5.The first important American novelist was____________. James Fenimore Cooper 6.James Fenimore C ooper ’ｓ novel ___________ was a rousing tale about espionage against the British during the Revolutionary War.The Spy 7.The best of James Fenimore Cooper's sea romances was_____________.The Pilot 8."To a Waterfowl" is perhaps the peak of_______________’ｓ work; it has been called by an eminent English critic “the most perfect brief poem in the language .”William Cullen Bryant 9.__________ was the first American to gain the stature of a major poet in the world literature.10.Edgar Allan Poe ’ｓ poem____________ is perhaps the best example of onomatopoeia in the English language.The Bells 11.Edgar Allan Poe's poem____________ was published in 1845 as the title poem of a collection. The Raven 12.From Henry David Thoreau ’ｓ Concord jail experience, came his famous essay ______.Civil DisobedienceBy the 1830s Washington Irving was judged the nation' s greatest writer, a lofty position he later shared with James Fenimore Cooper and William Cullen Bryant.In the early nineteenth century, the attitude of American writers was shaped by their NewWorld environment and an array of ideas inherited from the romantic tradition of Europe.As a moral philosophy, transcendentalism was neither logical nor systematical.The foundation of American national literature was laid by the early American romanticists.At mid-19th century, a cultural reawakening brought a "flowering of New England".Romantic writers in the 19th century placed increasing value on the free expression of emotion and displayed increasing attention to the psychic states of their characters.With a vast group of supporting characters, virtuous or villainous, James Fenimore Cooper made the America conscious of his past, and made the European conscious of America.No other American poet ever surpassed Edgar Allan Poe’ｓability in the use of English as a medium of pure musical and rhythmic beauty.The Fall of the House of Usher is one of Edgar Allan Poe'sshort stories.Ralph Waldo Emerson was recognized as the leader of transcendentalist movement, but he never applied the term "Transcendentalist" to himself or to his beliefs and ideas.In 1836, Ralph Waldo Emerson published his first book, Nature, which met with a mild reception.Ralph Waldo Emerson's prose style was sometimes as highly individual as his poetry.The harsh rhythms and striking images of Ralph Waldo Emerson’ｓpoetry appeal to many modern readers as artful techniques.writings belong to the milder aspects of the RomanticHenry Wadsworth Longfellow’ｓMovement.American romanticism was in a way derivative: American romantic writing was some of them modeled on English and European works.aesthetics brought about a revolution in American literature inRalph Waldo Emerson’ｓgeneral and in American poetry in particular.Henry David Thoreau was an active Transcendentalist. He was by no means an "escapist" ora recluse, but was intensely involved in the life of his day.The Scarlet Letter is set in the seventeenth century. It is an elaboration of a fact which the author took out of the life of the Puritan past.2. Transcendentalism took their ideas from___________ .A. the romantic literature in EuropeB. neo-PlatonismC. German idealistic philosophyD. the revelations of oriental mysticismABCD8. Transcendentalists recognized__________ as the "highest power of the soul.”A. intuition10. Transcendentalism appealed to those who disdained the harsh God of the Puritan ancestors, and it appealed to those who scorned the pale deity of New EnglandA. TranscendentalismB. HumanismC. NaturalismD. UnitarianismD13. The desire for an escape from society and a return to nature became a permanent convention of American literature, evident in _________ .A. James Fenimore Cooper's Leatherstocking TalesWaldenB. Henry David Thoreau’ｓC. Mark Twain’ｓH uckleberry FinnD. Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet LetterABC14. A preoccupation with the demonic and the mystery of evil marked the works of_________ , and a host of lesser writers.A. Nathaniel HawthorneB. Edgar Allan PoeC. Herman MelvilleD. Mark TwainABC16. In the nineteenth century America, Romantics often shared certain general characteristics. Choose such characteristics from the following.A. moral enthusiasmB. faith in the value of individualism and intuitive perceptionC. adoration for the natural worldD. presumption about the corrosive effect of human societyABCD17. Choose Washington Irving' s works from the following.A. The Sketch BookB. Bracebridge HallC. Tales of a TravellerD. A History of New YorkABCD18. In James Fenimore Cooper's novels, close after Natty Bumppo in romantic appeal , come the two noble red men. Choose them from the following.A. the Mohican Chief ChingachgookB. UncasC. Tom JonesD. Kubla KhanABIn 1817, the stately poem called T hanatopsisintroduced the best poet___________ to appear in America up to that time.A. Edward TaylorB. Philip FreneauC. William Cullen BryantD. Edgar Allan PoeC To a Waterfowl Thanatopsis21. From the following, choose the poems written by Edgar Allan Poe.A. To HelenB. The RavenC. Annabel LeeD. The BellsABCD23. Edgar Allan Poe's first collection of short stories is___________ .D. Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque24. From the following, choose the characteristics of Ralph Waldo Emerson's poetry.A. being highly individualB. harsh rhythmsC. lack of form and polishD. striking imagesABCD25. Which book is not written by Ralph Waldo Emerson?A. Representative MenB. English TraitsC. NatureD. The RhodoraD26. Which essay is not written by Ralph Waldo Emerson?A. Of StudiesB. Self-RelianceC. The American ScholarD. The Divinity School AddressA30. Nathaniel Hawthorne's ability to create vivid and symbolic images that embody greatmoral questions also appears strongly in his short stories. Choose his short stories from the following.A. Young Goodman BrownB. The Great Stone FaceC. The Ambitious Guest ABCDD. Ethan BrandE. The Pearl32. Herman Melville called his friend Nathaniel Hawthorne_____________ in American literature.A. the largest brain with the largest heart34. __________ was a romanticized account of Herman Melville's stay among the Polynesians. The success of the book soon made Melville well known as the " man who lived among cannibals". Typee37. In the early nineteenth century American moral values were essentially Puritan. Nothing has left a deeper imprint on the character of the people as a whole than did__________ .A. Puritanism"The universe is composed of Nature and the soul... Spirit is present everywhere". This is the voice of the book Nature written by Emerson, which pushed American Romanticism into anew phase, the phase of New England______ Transcendentalism43. Which is generally regarded as the Bible of New England Transcendentalism?A. Nature45. _________ is an appalling fictional version of Nathaniel Hawthorne' s belief that "the wrong doing of one generation lives into the successive ones" and that evil will come out ofevil though it may take many generations to happen.A. The Marble FaunB. The House of Seven GablesC. The Blithedale RomanceD. Young Goodman BrownBOnce upon a midnight dreary, while i pondered, weak and weary,Over many a quaint and curious volume of forgotten lore,While I nodded, nearly napping, suddenly there came a tapping,As of some one gently rapping, rapping at my chamber door."Tis some visitor," I muttered, "tapping at my chamber door—Only this, and nothing more. "Ah, distinctly I remember it was in the bleak December,And each separate dying ember wrought its ghost upon the floor.Eagerly I wished the morrow; —vainly I had tried to borrowFrom my books surcease of sorrow-sorrow for the lost.Edgar Allan PoeThe RavenDescribe the mood of this poem: A sense of melancholy over the death of a beloved beautiful young woman pervades the whole poem, the portrayal of a young man grieving for his lost Leno-re, his grief turned to madness under the steady one-word repetition of the talking bird. Work 3: Nuture1.As the leading New England Transcendentalist, Emerson effected a most articulatesynthesis of the Transcendentalist views. One major element of his philosophy if hisfirm belief in the transcendence of the "Oversoul". His emphasis on the spirit runsthrough virtually all his writings. " Philosophically considered," he states in Nature,which is generally regarded as the Bible of New England Transcendentalism, "theuniverse is composed of Nature and the Soul. " He sees the world as phenomenal, and emphasizes the need for idealism, for idealism sees the world in God. "It beholds thewhole circle of persons and things, of actions and events, of country and religion, as one vast picture which God paints on the eternity for the contemplation of the soul. " Heregards nature as the purest, and the most sanctifying moral influence on man, andadvocated a direct intuition of a spiritual and immanent God in nature. In thisconnection, Emerson' s emotional experiences are exemplary in more ways than one.Alone in the woods one day, for instance, he experienced a moment of "ecstasy" which he records thus in his N ature:2.Standing on the bare ground, my head bathed by the blithe air and uplifted into infinitespace, all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eyeball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the Universal Being circulate through me; I am part or particle ofGod.3.Now this is a moment of "conversion" when one feels completely merged with theoutside world, when one has completely sunk into nature and become one with it, and when the soul has gone beyond the physical limits of the body to share the omniscienceof the Oversoul. In a word, the soul has completely transcended the limits ofindividuality and beome part of the Oversoul. Emerson sees spirit pervadingeverywhere, not only in the soul of man, but behind nature, throughout nature. The world proceeds, as he observes, from the same source as the body of man. "TheUniversal Being" is in point of fact the Oversoul that he never stopped talking about for the rest of his life. Emerson' s doctrine of the Oversoul is graphically illustrated in such famous statements; "Each mind lives in the Grand mind," "There in one mind common to all individual men," and "Man is conscious of a universal soul within or behind his individual life. " In his opinion, man is made in the image of God and is just a little less than Him. This is as much as to say that the spiritual and immanent God is operative in the soul of man, and that man is divine. The divinity of man became, incidentally, a favorite subject in his lectures and essays.4.This naturally led to another, equally significant, Transcendentalist thesis, that theindividual, not the crowd, is the most important of all. If man depends upon himself, cultivates himself, and brings out the divine in himself, he can hop to become better and even perfect. This is what Emerson means by the "infinitude of the privates man. " He tried to convince people that the possibilities for man to develop and improve himself are infinite. Men should and could be self-reliant. Each man should feel the world as his, and the world exists for him alone. He should determine his own existence. Everyone should understand that he makes himself by making his world, and that he makes the world by making himself. " Know then that the world exists for you " he says. "Build therefore your own world. " "Trust thy self!" and "Make thyself!" Trust your owndiscretion and the world is yours. Thus, as Henry Nash Smith ventures to suggest, "Emerson' s message was eventually (to use a telegraphic abbreviation) self-reliance. "Emerson' s eye was on man as he could be or could become; he was in the mainoptimistic about human perfectibility. The regeneration of the individual leads to the regeneration of society. Hence his famous remark, "I ask for the individuals, not the nation. " Emerson ' s self-reliance was an expression, on a very high level, of thebuoyant spirit of his time, the hope that man can become the best person he could hope to be. Emerson ' s Transcendentalism, with its emphasis on the democraticindividualism, may have provided an ideal explanation for the conduct and activities of an expanding capitalist society. His essays such as "Power", "Wealth", and "Napoleon"(in his The Representative Men) reveal his ambivalence toward aggressiveness and self-seeking.5.To Emerson's Transcendentalist eyes, the physical world was vitalistic and evolutionary.Nature was, to him as to his Puritan forebears, emblematic of God. It mediates between man and God, and its voice leads to higher truth. " Nature is the vehicle of thought,"and " particular natural facts are symbols of particular spiritual facts. " Thus Emerson' s world was one of multiple significance; everything bears a second sense and an ulterior sense. In a word, " Nature is the symbol of spirit." That is probably why he called his first philosophical work Nature rather ihan anything else. The sensual man, Emerson feels, conforms thoughts to things, and man' s power to connect his thought with its proper symbol depends upon the simplicity and purity of his character; "The lover of nature is he who has retained the spirit of infancy even into the era of manhood. " Tohim nature is a wholesome moral influence on man and his character. A natural implication of Emerson' s view on nature is that the world around is symbolic. A lowing river indicates the ceaseless motion of the universe. The seasons correspond to the life span of man. The ant, the little drudge, with a small body and a mighty heart, is the sublime image of man himself.。
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美国文学复习题(有答案版)美国文学复习提纲第一部分连线题（1*10=10’）1. Thomas Jefferson The Declaration of Independence2. Walt Whitman O’ Captain, My Captain3. Mark Twain Jumping Frog4. Robert Frost Mending Wall5. Ezra Pound In a Station of the Metro6. Carl Sandburg Chicago7. Saul Bellow The Adventure of Augie March8. Ernest Hemingway Men without Women9. John Steinbeck The Grape of Wrath10. Jack London The Call of the Wild11. Sinclair Lewis Babbit12. Flannery O’ Connor A Good Man Is Hard to Find13. O. Henry The Last Leaf14. Jerome David Salinger The Catcher in the Rye15. William Falkner The Sound and the Fury第二部分单项选择(1.5*20=30’)1. Anne Bradstreet was a Puritan poet. Her poems made such a stir in Englandthat she became known as the “________” who appeared in America.A. Tenth MuseB. Ninth MuseC. Best MuseD. FirstMuse2. In American literature, the 18th century was the age of the Enlightenment.________ was the dominant spirit.A. HumanismB. RationalismC. RevolutionD.Evolution3. Which of the following stirred the world and helped form the American republic?A. The American CrisisB. The FederalistC. Declaration of IndependenceD. The Age of Reason4. At the Reason and Revolution Period, Americans were influenced by theEuropean movement called the ________.A. Chartist MovementB. Romanticist MovementC. Enlightenment MovementD. Modernist Movement5. Thoreau was often alone in the woods or by the pond, lost in spiritualcommunication with ________.A. natureB. transcendentalist ideasC. human beingsD. celestial beings6. ________tells a simple but very moving story in which four people living in apuritan community are involved in and affected by the sin of adultery in different ways.A. Twice-Told TalesB. The Scarlet LetterC. The House of the Seven GablesD. The Marble FaunA. The AmericanB. The EuropeansC. Daisy Mill erD. The Portrait of a Lady20. ________ is d escribed by Mark twain as a boy with “a sound heart and ad eformed conscience”.A. Tom SawyerB. Huckl eberry FinnC. JimD. Tony21. Mark Twain wrote most of his literary works with a ________ l anguage.A. grandB. pompousC. simpl eD.vernacul ar22. The book from which “all mod ern American literature comes” refers to ________.A. The Great G atsbyB. The Sun Also RisesC. The Adventures of Huckl eberry FinnD. Moby-Dick23. In which of the foll owing works Hemingway present s his phil osophy about lifeand d eath through the d epiction of the bull-fight as a kind of microcosmic tragedy?A. Death in the AfternoonB. The Snows of KilimanjaroC. To Have and Have NotD. The Green Hills of Africa24. ________ is Hemingway’s first true novel in which he d epict s a vivid portrait of“The Lost Generation”.A. The Sun Also RisesB. A Farewell to ArmsC. In Our TimeD. For Whom the Bell Tolls25. Robert Frost combined traditional verse forms—the sonnet, rhyming coupl et s,bl ank verse—with a cl ear American l ocal speech rhythm, the speech of ________ farmers with it s idiosyncratic diction and synt ax.A. SouthernB. WesternC. New HampshireD. New Engl and26. ________, one of the most import ant poet s in his time, is a l eading spokesman ofthe “Imagist Movement”.A. J. D. SalingerB. Ezra PoundC. Richard WrightD. Ralph Ellison27. “Tender Is the Night” is a ________ by Fitzgeral d.A. short storyB. novell aC. poemD. novel28. ________ is said to be a “historical novel” by Faulkner.A. Go Down, MosesB. Light in AugustC. The Sound and the FuryD. Absal om29. ________ stems from the ambiguity of the speaker’s choice between safety andthe unknown.A. Mending the wall B Home BurialC. The Road not TakenD. Stopping by Wood s on a SnowyEvening30. Hemingway’s writing styl e, together with his theme and the hero, is greatlyand permanently influenced by his experiences ________.A. in his chil dhoodB. in the warC. in AmericaD. in Africa31. The foll owing writers were award ed Nobel Prize for literature except ________.A. William FaulknerB. F. Scott Fitzgeral dC. John SteinbeckD. Ernest Hemingway32. ________ is not consid ered to be one of the masters in the fiel d of Americanfiction in the mod ernistic period.A. F. Scott Fitzgeral dB. Ernest HemingwayC. Arthur Mill erD. William Faulkner33. “Two roads diverged in a yellow wood and sorry I could not travel both…”In the above two lines of Robert Frost’s “The Road not Taken”, the poet, by implication, was referring to ________.A. one’s course of lifeB. a marriage d ecisionC. a mid dl e-age crisisD. a travel experience34. Most of the writers in the mod ern period were abl e to probe into the innerworl d of human reality on the base of ________.A. William James’ “stream of consciousness”B. Carl Jung’s “coll ective unconscious” and “archetypal symbol”C. Sigmund Freud’s “interpret ation of dreams”D. All of the above35. Writers of the second postwar era self-consciously acknowl ed ged that theywere ____________.A. a Lost GenerationB. a Beat GenerationC. a Jazz GenerationD. none of the above36. In 1862, Presid ent Lincoln excl aimed: “So you are the littl e woman who wrotethe book that st arted this great war!” The book refers to ________.A. Unc l e Tom’s CabinB. Bel ovedC. Prid e and PrejudiceD.The Adventures of Huckl eberryFinn37. In Leaves of Grass, _______ is all that concerned Whitman.A. individualismB. freedomC. democracyD. all the above38. It is not surprising to find in _______’s fiction a world of jungle,where “kill or to be killed” was the law.A. Mark TwainB. Emily DickinsonC. Theodore DreiserD. Henry James39. Which one of the following statements is NOT true of William Faulkner?A. He is master of stream-of-consciousness narrative.B. His writing is often complex and difficult to understand.C. He often depicts slum life in New York and Chicago.D. He represents a new group of Southern writers40. The setting of the novel The Scarlet Letter is in ________.A. England during World War IB. Paris during the French RevolutionC. Puritan AmericaD. America after the Revolutionary War第三部分判断对错 (1*15=15’)(T)1. The Calvinist doctrine of “original sin” exerted great influence upon Hawthorne.(T)2. To Hawthorne sin will get punished, one way or another.(T)3. Roger Chillingworth, the scholar, the embodiment of pure intellect, committed the “Unpardonable Sin”.(F)4. Emily Dickinson didn’t like using capital letters where small ones are needed.(T)5. Walt Whitman used parallelism and refrain in his poems.(T)6. Walt Whitman was regarded as the Zenith in American romantic poetry. (T)7. Dickinson was original. She never imitates others.(T)8. Allan Poe defined poetry as the rhythmical creation of beauty.(F)9. O. Henry seldom wrote about poor people.(T)10. According to Poe, art serves for pleasure. The chief aim of poetry is beauty, namely, to produce a feeling of beauty in the reader. (T)11. According to Dickinson, death means immortality.(F)12. According to Poe, truth is beauty, beauty truth.(T)13. According to Henry James, the aim of the novel is to reflect life reality.(T)14. James wrote mostly of the upper reaches of American society, and Howells concerned himself chiefly with middle class life whereas Twain dealt largely with the lower strata of society.(F)15. American writers, especially novelists were rather experimental after the World Wars.(T)16. O. Henry’s short stories are famous for their surprising endings. (T)17. Allen Ginsberg was the representative of the Beat Generation. (T)18. Allan Poe exerted great influence upon many southern American writers, especially William Faulkner.(F)19. Emily Dickinson was regarded as the forerunner of symbolism.(F)20. Mark Twain never touched upon the problem of slavery system in his novels.(F)21. Allan Poe was regarded as the forerunner of American Imagism. (T)22. Mark Twain was the father of American language.(T)23. Allan Poe advocated “pure” poetry.(F)24. Mark Twain’s contribution to the development of realism and to American literature as a whole was partly through his theories of localism in American fiction and partly through his themes.(T)25. Toni Morrison is one of the most famous contemporary women writers. (T)26. O. Henry was the pen name of William Sidney Porter.(T)27. Thomas Jefferson was the major writer of The Declaration of Independence(T)28. Henry James discovered the trick of making his characters reveal themselves with minimal intervention of the author.(T)29. N. Hawthorne was a symbolic writer in some sense.(T)30. Whitman’s poetry suggests rather than tells.第四部分术语解释 (4*5=20’)1. TranscendentalismTranscendentalism refers to the religious and philosophical doctrines of Ralph Waldo Emerson and others in New England in the middle 1800’s, which emphasized the importance of individual inspiration and intuition, the Oversoul, and nature. Other concepts that accompanied Transcendentalism include the idea that nature is ennobling and the idea that the individual is divine and, therefore, self-reliant.2. NaturalismNaturalism, a more deliberate kind of realism, usually involves a view of human beings as passive victims of natural forces and social environment. As a literary movement, naturalism was initiated in France and it came to be led by Zola, who claimed at “scientific” status for his studies of impoverished characters miserably subjected to hunger, sexual obsession, and hereditary defects.3. American DreamThe American Dream is the faith held by many people in the United States of America that through hard work, courage and determination one can achieve a better life for oneself, usually through financial prosperity. These were values held by many early European settlers, and have been passed on to subsequent generations.4. The Lost GenerationThe term Lost Generation was coined by Gertrude Stein to refer to a group of American Literary notables who lived in Paris from the time period which saw the end of WWI to the beginning of the Great Depression. Significant members included Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ezra Pound, Sherwood Anderson, T.S. Eliot, and Gertrude Stein herself. Hemingway likely popularized the term, quoting Stein (“You are all a lost generation”) as epigraph to his novel The Sun Also Rises. More generally, the term is being used for the young adults of Europe and America during WWI. They were “lost” because after the war many of them were disillusioned with the world in general and unwilling to move into settled life.5. ModernismModern writing is marked by a strong and conscious break with traditional forms and techniques of expression; it believes that we create the world in the act of perceiving it. Modernism implies historical discontinuity, a sense of alienation, of loss, and of despair. It elevates the individual and his inner being over social man and prefers the unconscious to the self-conscious.6. PuritanismThe principles and practices of puritans were popularly known asPuritanism. Puritanism accepted the doctrines of Calvinism: the sovereignty of God; the supreme authority of the Bible; the irresistibility of God’s will for man in ever act of life from cradle to grave. These doctrines led the Puritans to examine their souls to find whether they were of the elect and to search the Bible to determine God’s will.7. Hemingway Heroes (Code Hero)“Hemingway Heroes” refer to some protagonists in Hemingway’s works. Such a hero usually is an average man of decidedly masculine tastes, sensitive and intelligent. And usually he is a man of action and of a few words. He is such an individualist, alone even when with other people, somewhat an outsider, keeping emotions under control, stoic and self-disciplined in a dreadful place where one can not get happiness.8. Jazz Age“The Jazz Age” describes the period of the 1920s and 1930s, the years between WWI and WWII, particularly in North America; with the rise of the Great Depression, the values of this age saw much decline. Perhaps the most representative literary work of the age is American writer F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, a highlighting what some describe as the decadence and hedonism, as well as the growth of individualism.第五部分选读分析 25’Text1.From the listless repose of the place, and the peculiar character of its inhabitants, who are descendants from[he original Dutch settlers, this sequestered glen has long been known by the name of SLEEPY HOLLOW, and its rustic lads are called the Sleepy Hollow Boys throughout all the neighboring country. Drowsy and dreamy influence seems to hang over the land，and to pervade the very atmosphere. Some say that the place was bewitched by a high German doctor, during the early days of the settlement; others, that an old Indian chief, the prophet or wizard of his tribe, held his powwows there before the country was discovered by Master Hendrick Hudson.Questions:(1) Who is the writer of this short story from which the passage is taken?(2) What is the title of this short story?(3) Give a definition of “short story”.Answer:(1) Washington Irving(2) The Legend of Sleepy Hollow(3) A short story is a brief prose fiction, usually one that can be read in a single sitting. It generally contains the six major elements offiction—characterization, setting, theme, plot, point of view and style.Text 2.Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,And sorry I could not travel bothAnd be one traveler, long I stoodAnd looked down one as far as I couldTo where it bent in the undergrowth;Then took the other, as just as fair,And having perhaps the better claim,Because it was grassy and wanted wear;Though as for that the passing thereHad worn them really about the same,And both that morning equally layIn leaves no step had trodden black.Oh, I kept the first for another day!Yet knowing how way leads on to way,I doubted if I should ever come back.I shall be telling this with a sighSomewhere ages and ages hence:Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—I took the one less traveled by,And that has made all the difference.Questions:(1) Please examine the poetic form (rhyme and meter) (2’)(2) Describe the similarities and differences of these two roads. Which one does the speaker take? (3’)(3) How do you understand the word “sigh”? (4’)(4) What might the two roads stand for in the spea ker’s mind? (2’)(5) What is the theme of this poem? (2’)Answer:(1) It is written in iambic tetrameter and rhymed abaab.(2) Similarities: both of the roads are beautiful;Differences: one is quiet and grassy, less-traveled, the other is trodden by many people and flatHe took the less-traveled road.(3) The word “sigh” is a tricky word. Because sigh can be interpreted into nostalgic relief or regret. If it is the relief sigh, then thedifference means the speaker feels glad with the road he took. If it is the regret sigh, then the difference would not be good, and the speaker would be signing in regret. Hence, sigh is ambiguous here for the speaker is not showing whether his choice is right or wrong.(4) The real road, the life road and the road in career.(5) Choices is inevitable but you never know what you choice will mean until you have lived it. This is also the theme of the poem.Text 3.Tell me not, in mournful numbers,Life is but an empty dream!For the soul is dead that slumbers,And things are not what they seem.Life is real-life is earnest-And the grave is not its goal;Dust thou art, to dust returnest,Was not spoken of the soul.Questions:(1). Who is the writer of the lines?(2). What is the title of the whole poem from which the two stanzas are taken?(3). Summarize the poet’s advice for living.Answers:(1). Henry Wadsworth Longfellow(2). A Psalm of Life(3). His optimism which has characterized much of his poetry, also endeared many critics to him. He seemed to have persevered despite tragedy. This poem is the cry of his heart, “rallying from depression”, ready to affirm life, to regroup from losses, to push on despite momentary defeat.Text 4.Because I could not stop for Death —He kindly stopped for me —The Carriage held but just Ourselves —And Immortality.We slowly drove — He knew no hasteAnd I had put awayMy labor and my leisure too,For His Civility —We passed the School, where Children stroveAt Recess — in the Ring —We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain —We passed the Setting Sun —Or rather — He passed Us —The Dews drew quivering and Chill —For only Gossamer, my Gown —My Tippet — only Tulle —We paused before a House that seemedA Swelling of the Ground —The Roof was scarcely visible —The Cornice — in the Ground —Since then —’tis Centuries — and yetFeels shorter than the DayI first surmised the Horses’ HeadsWere toward Eternity —Questions:(1) Who wrote this poem? In the poem, what is he/she watching and recording? (3%)(2) What is death compared to in the poem? (2%)(3) What does the poet think of eternity? (2%)(4) What is the attitude of the poet towards death? (2%)Answer:(1) Emily Dickinson. She is watching and recording her own funeral.(2) Death is compared to a polite gentleman or polite wooer.(3) The speaker is not quite sure whether there will be eternity after death since she just s urmises that “the Horses’ Heads were toward Eternity —”.(4) She treats death light-heartedly for she believes that death is a necessary step towards eternity or immortality.。