英国文学

Part I The Anglo-Saxon Period

I. Fill in the following blanks.
1. Angles, Saxons and usually known as Anglo-Saxons are the first Englishmen. Language spoken by them is called the Old English, which is the foundation of English language and literature.
2. The literature of the Anglo-Saxon period falls naturally into two divisions, and christian.
3. Among the early Anglo-Saxon poets we may mention _____ , who wrote a poetic “Paraphrase” of the Bible, and Cynewulf.
4. “ ”is the oldest poem in the English language, and also the oldest surviving epic in the English language.
II. Choose the best answer for each blank.
1. When we speak of the old English prose, the first name that comes into our minds is , who is the first scholar in English literature and has been regarded as father of English learning.
a. William Shakespeare b. Beowulf
c. Julius Caesar D. Venerable Bede
2. is the first important religious poet in English literature.
a. John Donne b. George Herbert
c. Caedmon d. Milton
3. In Anglo-Saxon period, “Beowulf” represented the _______ poetry.
a. pagan b. religious
c. romantic d. sentimental

Part one
1. Jutes 2. Pagan 3. Caedmon 4. The Song of Beowulf
1.d 2.c 3.a

I. Fill in the following blanks.
1. In the year 1066, the Normans defeated the Anglo-Saxons at the battle of .
2. In the 14th century, the two most important writers are _____ and _____.
3. Today Chaucer is acclaimed not only as “the father of English poetry” but also as “the father of English fiction”. His masterpiece is .
4. The fifteen century has been traditionally described as the barren age in English literature. But it is the spring tide of English .
II. Choose the best answer for each statement.
1. In 1066, led the Norman army to invade and defeat English.
a. William the Conqueror b. Julius Caesar
c. Alfred the Great d. Claudius
2. In the 14th century, the most important writer is .
a. Langland b. Wyclif
c. Gower d. Chaucer
3. The prevailing form of Medieval English literature is the .
a. French b. Latin
c. romance d. science
4. The story of “ ” is the culmination of the Arthurian romances.
a. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
b. The story of Beowulf
c. Piers the plowman
d. The Canterbury Tales
5. The most important work of Alfred the Great is ____, which is regarded as the best monument of the Old English prose.
A. The Song of Beowulf
B. The Ecclesiastical History of the English People
C. Apollonius of Tyre
D. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicles
6. In English poetry, a four-line stanza is called ___.
A. heroic couplet B. quatrain
C. Spenserian stanza D. terza rima

Part two
1. Hastings 2. Chaucer 3. The Canterbury Tales 4. ballads
5. Thomas Malory 6. Westminster Abbey
1.a 2. d 3.c

4. a 5.b


Part III Geoffrey Chaucer

I. Fill in the following blanks.
1. “The Canterbury Tales” contains in fact a general Prologue and only _______ tales, of which two are left unfinished.
2. The provides a framework for the tales in “The Canterbury Tales”, and it comprises a group of vivid pictures of various medieval figures.
3. “The Canterbury Tales” is Chaucer’s greatest work and written for the greater part in couplets.
4. The name of the “jolly innkeeper” in “The Canterbury Tales” is , who proposes that each pilgrim of the 32 should tell two tales on the way to Canterbury and two more on the way back.
5. “The Canterbury Tales” opens with a general Prologue where we are told of a company of pilgrims that gathered at Inn in Southwark, a suburb of London.
6. The pilgrims in “The Canterbury Tales” are on their way to the shrine of St. Thomas a Becket at a place named .
7. Chaucer’s work “ ” gives us a picture of the condition of English life of his day, such as its work and play, its deeds and dreams, its fun and sympathy.


II. From a, b, c, or d, choose the best one to complete each statement.
1. the “father of English poetry” and one of the greatest narrative poets of England, was born in London about 1340.
a. Geoffrey Chaucer b. Sir Gawain
c. Francis Bacon d. John Dryden
2. Chaucer died on the 25th of October 1400, and was buried in .
a. Flanders b. France
c. Italy d. Westminster Abbey
3. was the first to be buried in the Poet’s Corner of Westminster Abbey.
a. Chaucer b. Keats
c. Southey d. Tennyson
4. Chaucer’s earliest work of any length is his “ ”, a translation of the French “Roman de la Rose” by Gaillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meung, which was a love allegory enjoying widespread popularity in the 13th and 14th centuries not only in France but throughout Europe.
a. Romance of the Rose b. A Red, Red Rose
c. Piers the plowman d. Troilus and Criseyde


5. The second period of Chaucer’s literary career includes mainly the three longer poems written prior to “The Canterbury Tales”. Choose the three from the following.
a. The House of Fame
b. Troilus and Criseyde
c. The Legend of Good Women
d. The Book of the Duchess
6. In his life time Chaucer served in a great variety of occupations which had impact on the wide range of his writings. Which one is not his career?
a. engineer b. courtier
c. office-holder d. soldier
e. ambassador f. legislator
7. creative work vividly reflected the changes which had taken root in English culture of the second half of the 14th century.
a. Chaucer’s b. Byron’s
c. Shelley’s d. Eliot’s
8. Apart from original poems, Chaucer translated various works of French authors, among them is the famous “ ”.
a. The Canterbury Tales
b. The Romance of the Rose
c. The Parliament of Fowls
d. T

he House of Fame
9. Chaucer composes a long narrative poem named “ ”based on Boccaccio’s poem “Filostrato”.
a. The Legend of Good Women
b. Troilus and Criseyde
c. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
d. Beowulf
10. Generally speaking, Chaucer’s works fall into three main groups corresponding roughly to the three periods of his adult life. Which period is wrong?
a. The period of French influence (1359-1372)
b. the period of Italian influence (1372-1386)
c. the period of English influence (1386-1400)
d. the period of Latin influence(1371-1382)

III. Exercises on selected readings.
“ who gives me this maid?” said Little John;
Quoth Robin Hood, “ That do I,
And he that takes her from Allin-a-Dale
Full dearly he shall her buy.”

And thus having end of this merry wedding,
The bride looked like a queen;
And so they returned to the merry greenwood,
Amongst the leaves so green.

Questions:
These lines are taken from a ____.
A. sonnet B. ballad C. play
2. Its title is _____.











Part three
1.24 2.Prologue 3.heroic 4. Harry Baily 5. Tabard 6.Canterbury 7. The Canterbury Tales


1.a 2.d 3.a 4.a 5.abc 6.a 7.a 8.b 9.b 10.d
III. 1.B 2. Robin Hood and Allin-a-Dale


Answer Sheet
Part one
1. Jutes 2. Pagan 3. Caedmon 4. The Song of Beowulf
1.d 2.c 3.a
Part two
1. Hastings 2. Chaucer 3. The Canterbury Tales 4. ballads
1.a 2. d 3.c 4. a
Part three
1.24 2.Prologue 3.heroic 4. Harry Baily 5. Tabard 6.Canterbury 7. The Canterbury Tales
1.a 2.d 3.a 4.a 5.abc 6.a 7.a 8.b 9.b 10.d
III. 1.B 2. Robin Hood and Allin-a-Dale


Part IV The Renaissance
William Shakespeare
I. Fill in each blank.
1. The 16th century in England was a period of the breaking up of feudal relations and the establishing of the foundations of .
2. Thomas More wrote his famous prose work “ ”.
3. is often referred to as “the poets’ poet”.
4. Spenser is generally regarded as the greatest nondramatic poet of the Elizabethan Age. His fame is chiefly based on his masterpiece “ ”.
5. “When in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes” is the beginning line of a sonnet written by .
6. “Hamlet”, “Othello”, “King Lear” and “ ”are generally regarded as Shakespeare’s four great tragedies.
7. “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day” is one of ’s best known sonnets.
II. Choose one or more than one suitable answers for each statement.
1. was the first to introduce the sonnet into English literature.
a. Thomas Wyatt b. William Shakespeare
c. Philip Sidney d. Thomas Campion
2. The epoch of Renaissance witnessed a particular development of English drama. It was who made blank verse the principal vehicle of expression in drama.
a. Christopher Marlowe b. Thomas Loge
c. Edmund Spenser d. Thomas

More
3. Great popularity was won by John Lyly’s prose romance which gave rise to the term “euphuism”, designating an affected style of court speech.
a. Cymbeline b. Venus and Adonis
c. Lucrece d. Euphues
4. Absolute monarchy in England reached its summit during the reign of Queen .
a. Mary b. Elizabeth
c. William d. Victoria
6. English Renaissance period was an age of .
a. prose and novel b. poetry and drama
c. essays and journals d. ballads and songs
7. The greatest and most distinctive achievement of Elizabethan literature is drama. Thus appeared a group of excellent dramatists. Mainly they are .
a. John Lyly b. Thomas Kyd
c. George Peele d. Christopher Marlowe.
e. William Shakespeare
8. Elizabethan poetry is remarkable. England then became “a nest of singing birds”. The famous poets of that period were .
a. Thomas Wyatt b. Henry Howard
c. Philip Sidney d. Edmund Spenser
9. English Renaissance Period was not an age of prose, but Thomas More wrote his famous prose work .
a. Utopia b. Robinson Crusoe
c. Gulliver’s Travels d. of Studies
10. “Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” This is the beginning line of one of Shakespeare’s .
a. songs b. plays
c. comedies d. sonnets
11. Which play is not a comedy?
a. A Midsummer Night’s Dream
b. The Merchant of Venice
c. Twelfth Night
d. Romeo and Juliet
e. As You Like It
12. ___ used wisdom in saving Antonio from being punished by Shylock in The Merchant of Venice.
a. Judge b. Bassanio c. Portia d. Nobody
13. Which historical plays are written by Shakespeare?
a. Henry VI b. Henry IV
c. Richard III d. Henry V
e. Richard II f. Charles I
g. Otto the Great
Answer
Part four
I. Fill in each blank.
1.capitalism 2.Utopia 3. Edmund Spenser 4.The Faerie Queene 5. William Shakespeare 6.Macebeth 7.William Shakespeare
II. Choose one or more than one suitable answers for each statement.
1.a 2.a 3.d 4.a 5.b 6.b 7.abcde 8.abcd 9.a 10.d 11.d 12.c 13.abcde
Francis Bacon

I. Fill in each blank.
1. In Elizabethan Period, wrote more than fifty excellent essays, which made him one of the best essayists in English literature.
2. The writings of Francis Bacon mainly fall into three categories: ___, purely literary and professional.
II. Choose one or more than one suitable answers for each statement.
1. Here is a sentence from an essay, “Read not to contradict and confuse, nor to believe and take for granted, nor to find talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider.” The essay must be ___
a. Of Studies
b. The Advancement of Learning
c. Novum Organum d. Essays
2. From the following, choose the one which is not Francis Bacon’s work.
a. The Advancement of Learning
b. The New Instrument
c. Essays
d. The New Atlantics
e. Venus and Adonis
3. ____ is a great tract on education written by Bacon.
a. Novum Organum b. The New Atlan

tis c. Essays
d. The Advancement of Learning
4. ____ lays the foundation for modern science with his insistence on scientific way of thinking and fresh observation rather than authority as a basis for obtaining knowledge.
a. Francis Bacon b. Thomas Hardy
c. Charles Dickens d. William Blake
Answer
I. Fill in each blank.
1. Francis Bacon 2. philosophical
II. Choose one or more than one suitable answers for each statement.
1. a 2. e 3. d 4. a

Part V The Period of Revolution and Restoration
In 1642, civil war broke out in England; the royalists were defeated by the parliament army led by ______.
The Revolution Period is also called _____, because the English Revolution was carried out under a religious cloak.
The Revolution Period produced one of the most important poets in English literature, whose name is ____.
Milton wrote his masterpiece _____ during his blindness.
In the field of prose writing of the Puritan Age, _____ occupied the most important place.
II. Choose one or more answers for the following.
In1649, _____ was beheaded. England became a commonwealth.
James I b. James II c. Charles I d. Charles II
The revolution of 1688 meant three of the following things:
the supremacy of Parliament b. the beginning of modern England
c. the triumph of the principle of political liberty
d. the Restoration of monarchy
3. Who of the following were the important metaphysical poets?
a. John Donne b. George Herbert c. John Milton
d. Richard Lovelace
4. Paradise Lost is ____.
a. Milton’s masterpiece b. a great epic in 12 books
c. written in blank verse d. about the heroic revolt of Satan against God’s authority.
5. In his blindness, Milton wrote his most important poetic works, such as ____.
a. Paradise Lost b. Samson Agonistes c. Paradise Regained
d. The Pilgrim’s Progress e. L’ Allegro









Part V.
I. 1. Oliver Cromwell 2. the Puritan Age 3. John Milton
4. Paradise Lost 5. John Bunyan
II. 1. c 2. abc 3. ab 4. abcd 5. abc



















Answer sheet
Part one
1. Jutes 2. Pagan 3. Caedmon 4. The Song of Beowulf
1.d 2.c 3.a
Part two
1. Hastings 2. Chaucer 3. The Canterbury Tales 4. ballads
1.a 2. d 3.c 4. a
Part three
1.24 2.Prologue 3.heroic 4. Harry Baily 5. Tabard 6.Canterbury 7. The Canterbury Tales
1.a 2.d 3.a 4.a 5.abc 6.a 7.a 8.b 9.b 10.d
Part four
1.capitalism 2.Utopia 3.Francis Bacon 4.Edmund Spenser 5.The Faerie Queene 6.Shakespeare 7.William Shakespeare 8. Francis Bacon 9.Edmund Spenser 10.Macebeth 11.Christopher Marlowe 12.William Shakespeare
1.a 2.a 3.d 4.a 5.b 6.b 7.abcde 8.abcd 9.a 10e 11.d 12.d 13.abcde
part V.
I. 1. Oliver Cromwell 2. the Puritan Age 3. John Milton
4. Paradise Lost 5. John Bunyan
II. 1. c 2. abc 3. ab 4. abcd 5. abc

Answer Question
English literature in the Renaissanc

e Period is usually regarded as the highlight in the history of English literature.
in the second period of English Renaissance that is, in Elizabethan Period, Elizabethan Period, English literature developed with a great speed and made a magnificent achievement.
The greatest and most distinctive achievement of Elizabethan literature is the drama. Thus appeared a group of excellent dramatists. They are John Lyly, Thomas Kyd, George Peele, Robert Greene, and William Shakespeare.
next to the drama is the lyrical poetry. Elizabethan poetry is remarkable for its variety, its freshness, its youthfulness and its romantic feeling. England then became “ a nest of singing birds”. The famous poets of that period were Thomas Wyatt, Henry Howard and Edmund Spenser.
in the beginning period, the great humanist, Thomas More wrote his famous work “ Utopia ”, which may be thought of as the first literary masterpiece of the English Renaissance. In Elizabethan period, Francis Bacon wrote more than fifty excellent essays, which make him one of the best essayists in English literature.