美国文学选读课后题答案

1、Do you think Gatsby deserves to be called “the great”? Why?-------from F、Scoot、Fitzgerald The Great GatsbyGatsby pursuit “a universe of ineffable gorgeous” in his young age、In fact, Gatsby from West Egg insists his Platonic fantasy、He fell in love with the blonde and his ineffable gorgeous ideal is bined with Daisy’s breathing and desire、Daisy bees the image of ideal in his mind; though she marries Tom and may does not love him, though he can realize her soul full of money and desire, he cannot change his mind which back his love and be together as before、Maybe that is the shining and great part of his soul、Maybe that is the American dream which can show to us、But through the novel, we can have the clear idea that Daisy’s desire was not his drea m, it is not Daisy’s fault but his dream has giant vitality and energy、His dream is far behind Daisy and everything exists、He does his best to build the perfect world and aim in his mind、So his spirit which pursuits on ideal and dedication is also far behind secular frolicking in the bed、For realizing his dream, he donated himself to mud of money in New York; he showed no interests in wealth itself and the life of debauchery、Just like the lotus lives in the pound around with mud but not be polluted、His soul no doubt is suffering in the social life but without any plain、3、What do “petals” and “bough” stands for?-----from Ezra Pound In A Station of the Metro、First of all, this poem stands the points of economy by Imagism、Every word in this poem has its own unique meaning、For example, the color of black in this poem may represent the train’s color, the railway’s color, the pillar’s color or the dim light of the metro station、Ezra Pound was very sensitive to the color and usually used their different meanings in his poetry、He used the skill of painting in his process of creating the poem、In this poem, every word is used as the pigment、Petals stand for the meaning of color from their unique image、The word “wet” brings the feeling of fresh and bright to the people、And the word “apparition” gives the dim color of pale and weak to the “faces” and “petals”、And the author put the petals and faces together let the faces have the feeling of tender and red、Several pretty faces appear in the metro station from the dimly lit, and they bee the shining petals in the black bough which was wet by the rain、This transformation is based on our vision, but it also shows that the same point between the quiet nature scenery and the noisy industrial environment、Ezra Pound wants tell us that we can find the beauty everywhere in our daily life、And it also shows the metaphor of Imagism、1、Do you think Gatsby deserves to be called “the great”? Why?(1)I think it is too plicated to simply say Gatsby deserves to be “great” or not、For one thing, Gatsby was ambitious, hardworking, generous and passionate、He was so extremely loyal to his love and Daisy that he could do anything to get Daisy back: he did shady business to earn money and social position; he threw luxurious parties just to draw Daisy’s attention; he could take the blame for a death that he did not cause、(2)In this respect, he is much “greater” than his contemporaries、For another thing, Gatsby never realized that Daisy wasn’t the girl he loved anymore、Gatsby was so innocent that he staked everything on his dreams, not realizing that his dreams are unworthy of him、He wasn’t sober enough to be great、2、Does “the green light” Gatsby believed in exist in reality? Why or why not ?(1)I think “the green light” does not exist in reality、Because the green light which situated at the end of Daisy’s East Egg dock and barely visible from West Egg lawn represents Gatsby’s unattainable dream、Although the color itself can be seen as hope and bright future, Gatsby’s quest for Daisy back is doomed to be impossible、Daisy lived in “a material world without being real, where poor ghosts, breathing dream like air”、(2)After five years when Gatsby met Daisy again, the miracle Daisy had lost her original glory、Therefore, t here is no delaying that Gatsby’s dream would not e true、In the novel, the green light not only represents that innocent Gatsby looked forward to the future, but also means his longing for the history –his happy past with Daisy、The distinction between ideal and reality was huge、As if American dream between golden past and golden future always suffered from the realistic betrayal and crush、3、What does Gatsby’s Schedule reveal about him and how does it relate to the American Dream?(1)The schedule is a re flection of Gatsby’s determination and ambition、It reveals that he is hard on himself in pursuit of his goal—to be an upper-class man、(2)On one hand, we can know that he is persistent in pursuing his American Dream-- to attain wealth and happiness through his struggle、On the other hand, he is too idealistic and naive、(3)He tries his best to make money and learns everything required to be an upper-class man so that he can get access to his beloved girl、Money is important,but there are other barriers difficult to penetrate、The girl he loves is as vulgar and superficial as others in her circle, she is unable to meets Gatsby’s romantic fantasy、So his dream is destined to shatter, which indicates the disillusion of American Dream、4、When you read the line “He (the man with owl-eyed glasses) took off his glasses and wiped them again, outside and in ,” what images does it create in your mind, given the novel’s numerous references to the strikingly strange scene of the spectacled eyes?(1)From this line , superficially, owl-eyes is a person with thick and blurry glasses who can not see clearly all the things in the world、However, we know he is actually an owl-wise observer and sees more clearly than anyone else in the novel、Owl-Eyes, except Nick, is the only friend to appear at the rain-soaked burial of Gatsby, when others are unwilling to e、He feels sympathy for Gatsby’s tragedy、(2)After reading this line, I cannot help thinking of the Dr、Eckleburg billboard with its huge yellow spectacles in this novel、In many rainy days, Dr、Eckleburg’s eyes are also dimmed and seem blind、But in fact this is a pair of "all-seeing" eyes、The Owl-Eyed Man is similar to Dr、Eckleburg, sadly looking at the people’s life and idealism of this time、Both of them symbolize an uninvolved spectator god、They watch all the activities of the humans、Owl-eyes is the avatar of the sightless Dr、Eckleburg、1、How do you interpret the irony of the title after reading the story?(1)The title “A Clean Well-Lighted Place” refers to the café in the text、The café was very clean and well- lighted、From the literary meaning, we may feel this place wasvery warm and fortable, was a place where people need warmth wanted to go、So the old man, who was rich but deaf and lonely came here to find warmth and avoided nada、It was the only place he could go and could find some fort、(2)However, the younger waiter was very selfish、As his wife was waiting him on the bed, he wanted to go home early、Therefore, he refused to offer the old man another cup of wine by the excuse that the business was finished、In fact, there was still an hour from closing time、The younger thought an hour was more important to him than to the old man、The old man needed to leave the only place where he could get far away from nada/ nothing、This café should be warm but the younger waiter forced the lonely and deaf to leave without any sympathy、This is the irony of the title、2、Do you think youth and confidence can help one withstand the metaphorical dark？Why or why not?(1)I don’t think so、In our opinion, the metaphorical dark means nada,nothing in one’s inner heart、In the article, the younger waiter had both youth and confidence; however, he never made full use of them、As we can see, he didn’t understand the old man’s suicide and excessive drinking, and failed to see his tomorrow through the old man’s present situation、(2)What’s more, he had no idea that youth is not permanent, which cannot guarantee love and work、From above, there is no denying that he didn’t realize his nada、Therefore, his youth and confidence never contributed to withstanding his metaphorical dark、(3)I think that, nowadays, youth and confidence do can help to withstand the metaphorical dark, for one can bravely face the reality and overe the nada with youth and confidence、But they only serve as two main factors、In fact, we need some other factors such as courage, dignity and so on if we want to withstand the metaphorical dark successfully、3、The older waiter said to the younger waiter:“We are of two different kinds、” In what way do you think they are different?(1)I think they are different from each other in the following four aspects:In the beginning, they are in different ages、The older waiter was in his middle age; while the other was much younger、(2)Then, they have different attitudes towards the old man、From the article, we know the older waiter had suffered a lot、He had maintained a clean and well-lighted place in his heart, and he could understand the old man and show sympathy to him、However, the young man was very selfish、He wanted to go home early so that he finished the business one hour earlier and forced the old man to leave、He showed hatred rather than sympathy to the old man、(3)Next, they have different attitudes towards life、The older waiter had a deep sense of life、He was brave and wanted to fight again nada、Besides, he cared about others、The younger one was totally different; he has a shadow understanding of life、He satisfied with his present love and work, he only care about himself and was reluctant to take others into consideration、He even never thought of his future、(4)Finally, they have different attitudes towards nada、The older waiter had realized that it is impossible to avoid nada in one’s whole life、The only thing he can do is to keep a kind of clearness in his own mind、So he was willing to work late for the lonely old man and was pleased to help those who are suffering nada、But out of youth and confidence, he failed to overe nada、On the contrary, the younger waiterhad th e two most important factors for withstanding nada; however, he didn’t realize the nada in his heart at all、Then his youth and confidence became useless、1、What are the qualities that Granny possesses which help her live successfully?(1)Granny Weatherall is hard-working and able、She cooks food, keeps a good house for her family、She stays up throughout the night to look after sick horses, sick children or sick black servants、(2)She has endurance and is tough、She is able to face downfalls and frustrations in life、She gets over the jilting by George, her husband-to-be and later the death of her husband, John、She single-handedly brings up her children, works on the land and keeps a good farm、(3)She is rather proud and will not admit that she is old and weak、She rebukes Cornelia and Dr、Harry for taking care of her、She even gets over the idea of dying when she was 60 years old、2、Does Granny have any weaknesses? If so, what are they?Yes、Her weakness is that she refuses to face the fact that she is badly hurt when George jilts her by not appearing at the wedding、She represses her anger and tries hard to believe she has had a successful life、However, the anger is hidden deep at heart all her life and explodes as she is dying、In a way, she does not have a happy life、3、What intelligent advice and wisdom 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、4、Try to reorder the events told in the story as they would have happened in real life or as they flashed through Granny’s mind、(1)Sixty years ago, when Ellen Weatherall was young, she was to marry George、But he did not appear at the wedding、(2)She is later married to John, another young man、(3)She then has several children with John—George, Jim, Cornelia, Lydia, and Hapsy、(4)John dies and she has to bring up the children and take care of the house and the land totally on her own、(5)At 60, she pays a farewell visit to each of her children because she thinks she is going to die soon、(6)Now she is 80 and is dying when the story opens、。