考研英美文学必做9道题

1.What is in the book “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn” that makesHemingway say that all modern American literature comes from this book?(这个题找了2个小时，实在是找不到了。

看看下面的会不会有所帮助) (海明威写的Green Hills of Africa中的原文)All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn. If you read it you must stop where the Nigger Jim is stolen from the boys. That is the real end. The rest is just cheating. But it's the best book we've had. All American writing comes from that. There was nothing before. There has been nothing as good since.The best work that Mark Twain ever produced is, as we noted earlier on, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. It tells a story about the United States before the Civil War, around 1850, when the great Mississippi Valley was still being settled. Here lies an America, with its great national faults, full of violence and even cruelty(n. 残酷；残忍；残酷的行为), yet still retaining the virtues of …some simplicity, some innocence(n. 清白，无罪；天真无邪), and some peace.‟ The story takes plac e along the Mississippi River, onboth sides of which there was unpopulated(adj. 无人居住的) wilderness(n. 荒地) and a dense forest(密林). It relates the story of theescape of Jim from slavery and, more important, how Huck Finn, floating along with him and helping him as best he could, changes his mind, his prejudice about black people, and comes to accept Jim as a man and as a close friend as well.At the heart of Twain‟s achievement(n. 成就；完成；达到) is his creation of Huck Finn, who embodies(v t. 体现) that mythic(adj. 神话的；虚构的) America, midway(n. 中途；娱乐场adj. 中途的adv. 中途) between the wilderness and the modern super state.2.Is Mr. Bennett in “Pride and P rejudice” a positive figure? Why or why not?(这是原题答案，第一句为第一问，剩下的是第二问)Mr. Bennet‟s chief characteristics are an iron ic detachment(n. 分离，拆开；超然；分遣；分遣队) and a sharp, cutting wit. The distance that he creates between himself and the absurdity(n.荒谬的言行；谬论；) around him often endears(v t. 使…受钟爱；使…亲密) him to the reader and parallels the amused detachment with which Austen treats ridiculous(adj. 可笑的；荒谬的) characters such as Mr. Collins and Lady Catherine. To associate the author‟s point of view with that of Mr. Bennet, however, is to ignore his ultimate failure as a father and husband. He is endlessly witty(adj. 诙谐的；富于机智的), but his distance from the events around him makes him an ineffective parent. Detached humor may prove useful for handling the Mr. Collinses of the world, but it is helpless against the depredations(n. 掠夺；破坏，破坏痕迹) of the villainous (but likable) Wickham. When the crisis of Lydia‟s elopement(n. 私奔；潜逃) strikes, Mr. Bennet proves unable to handle the situation. Darcy, decent(adj. 正派的；得体的；) and energetic(adj. 精力充沛的；积极的；有力的), and the Gardiners, whose intelligence, perceptiveness, and resourcefulness(n. 足智多谋) make them the strongest adult force in the novel, must step in. He is a likable(adj. 可爱的), entertaining character, but he never manages to earn the respect of the reader.3.Discuss the theme of Fitzgerald’s "The Great Gatsby".(at least 200 words) (两个主题，有上千字，我不知道怎么概括，我把对每个主题描述的第一段话写在下面了)1) The Decline of the American Dream in the 1920sOn the surface, The Great Gatsby is a story of the thwarted(v. 挫败（thwart的过去分词）；反对adj. 挫败的) love between a man and a woman. The main theme of the novel, however, encompasses a much larger, less romantic scope(n. 范围；余地；视野；眼界；导弹射程v t. 审视). Though all of its action takes place over a mere few months during the summer of 1922 and is set in a circumscribed(adj. 外接的；局限的；受限制的) geographical area in the vicinity of Long Island, New Y ork, The Great Gatsby is a highly symbolic meditation(n. 冥想；沉思，深思) on 1920s America as a whole, in particular the disintegration(n. 瓦解，崩溃；分解) of the American dream in an era of(在…时期) unprecedented(adj. 空前的) prosperity and material excess.2) The Hollowness of the Upper ClassOne of the major topics explored in The Great Gatsby is the sociology(n. 社会学) of wealth, specifically, how the newly minted(adj. 刚完成的；刚制作的v. 铸造；发明；铸币（mint的过去分词）) millionaires(n. 百万富翁) of the 1920s differ from and relate to the old aristocracy(n. 贵族) of the country‟s richest families. In the novel, West Egg and its denizens represent the newly rich, while East Egg and its denizens(n. 居民), especially Daisy and Tom, represent the old aristocracy. Fitzgerald portrays(v t. 描绘；扮演) the newly rich as being vulgar(n. 平民，百姓adj. 粗俗的；通俗的；本土的), gaudy(adj. 华而不实的), ostentatious(adj. 招摇的；卖弄的；夸耀的), and lacking in social graces and taste. Gatsby, for example, lives in a monstrously ornate mansion(十分华丽的豪宅), wears a pink suit, drives a Rolls-Royce, and does not pick up on subtle(adj. 微妙的；精细的；敏感的；狡猾的；稀薄的) social signals, such as the insincerity(n. 伪善；无诚意) of the Sloanes‟ invitation to lunch. In contrast, the old aristocracy possesses grace, taste, subtlety, and elegance(n. 典雅；高雅), epitomized by the Buchanans‟ tasteful hom e and the flowing white dresses of Daisy and Jordan Baker.4.Discuss how Sister Carrie embodies Dreiser’s naturalism belief. (at least 200words)In Sister Carrie Dreiser expressed his naturalistic pursuit by expounding the purposelessness of life and attacking the conventional(adj. 符合习俗的，传统的；常见的；惯例的) moral standards.Sister Carrie best embodies Dreiser‟s naturalistic belief that men are controlled and conditioned by heredity(n. 遗传，遗传性), environment and chance, but a few extraordinary and unsophisticated(adj. 纯洁的；不精细的；天真无邪的) human beings refuse to accept their fate(n. 命运v t. 注定) wordlessly and instead strive(v i. 努力；奋斗；抗争), unsuccessfully, to find meaning and purpose for their existence. Carrie, as one of such, senses that she is merely a cipher(n. 密码；暗号；零) in an uncaring(adj. 心不在焉的) world yet seeks to grasp the mysteries of life and thereby satisfies her desires for social status and material comfort(物质享受). In Sister Carrie, Dreiser expressed his naturalistic pursuit by expounding the purposelessness of life and impotence(n.阳萎；虚弱；无效) of men. As a genre(n. 类型；流派；), naturalism emphasized heredity and environment as important deterministic forces shaping individualized characters who were presented in special and detailed circumstances. At bottom, life was shown to be ironic, even tragi c. Dreiser described earthly existence as “a welter of inscrutable forces,(一大堆的变幻莫测的力量)” in which was trapped each individual human being. In his words, Man is a “victim of forces over which he has no control.” To him, life is "so sad, so strange, so mysterious and so inexplicable." No wonder the characters in his books are often subject to the control of the natural forces -- especially those of environment and heredity.5.Say a few words about Mrs. Deborah and Miss Bridget in "Tom Jones".(Mrs. Deborah就是Mrs. Wilkins？)In the character of Mrs. Wilkins in Tom Jones, she insists that it would not be "Christian" to protect the foundling (young Tom) Mr. Allworthy finds on his bed, and tells him to leave it at the churchwarden door "it is a good night, only a little rainy and windy, and if it is wrapped up(结束；包起来；全神贯注于) and put in a warm basket, it is two to one but it lives till it is found in the morning (Fielding 33). To Mrs. Wilkins, this is infinitely more Christian than protecting the child of a "strumpet(n. 妓女) who lays her sins(n. 罪恶) at men doors" (33). When Mr. Allworthy is dying, Mrs. Wilkins, Mr. Twackum, and Mr. Square all hypocritically(adv. 伪善地) pretend like they care when they are angry at what is being left to them in Mr. Allworthy will.Bridget Allworthy Bridget Allworthy is the mother of Blifil and Tom. An unattractive lady who resents beautiful women, Bridget marries Captain Blifil because he flatters(v t. 奉承；谄媚；使高兴) her religious views. Although Bridget's affection wavers between Blifil and Tom as the boys mature(v i. 成熟), she becomes devoted to Tom before her death—largely due to his good looks and gallantry(n. 勇敢；殷勤；).6.What is the function of the general prologue of "The Canterbury Tales"The Prologue to Chaucer's Canterbury Tales is one of the most important works of literature ever written. Chaucer gives us a wonderful slice of medieval(adj. 中世纪的) society as we meet the colorful characters. Through the characters, the author also makes allusions(n. 暗示；提及) to the controversial topics of the time.It is the General Prologue that serves to establish firmly the framework for the entire story-collection: the pilgrimage(n. 漫游；朝圣之行) that risks being turned into a tale-telling competition.The Canterbury Tales is a frame story, a story, or in this case, stories, within another story. In the Prologue, we learn the framework of the plot that weaves the individual tales together: A group of pilgrims(n. 朝圣者；旅行者) meet at the Tabard Inn the night before their trek(n. 艰苦跋涉) to the shrine of Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral.7.What role do first impressions play in pride and prejudice?(简要答案)The first impressions are ironic. Darcy sees Elizabeth as not worthy of him and mocks her, and Elizabeth thinks he is too arrogant(adj. 自大的，傲慢的) and cold to like him at all. In the end they fall in love and marry, which is opposite of what a reader would expect; thus it is ironic.(完全标准答案)Pride and Prejudice is, first and foremost(首要的是), a novel aboutsurmounting obstacles(越过障碍)and achieving romantic happiness. For Elizabeth, the heroine, and Darcy, her eventual husband, the chief obstacle resides in the book‟s original title: First Impressions. Darcy, the proud, prickly(adj. 多刺的；刺痛的；易动怒的；) noble woman‟s nephew(n. 侄子), must break free from his original dismissal(n. 解雇；免职) of Elizabeth as “not handsome enough to tempt me,” and from his class-based prejudice against her lack of wealth and family connections. Elizabeth‟s first impressions, meanwhile, catalogue Darcy as arrogant and self-satisfied; as a result, she later accepts slanderous(adj. 诽谤的；诽谤性的；中伤的) accusations against him as true.Both Elizabeth and Darcy are forced to come to grips with(与…争论；与…冲突；认真对待；设法对付；开始搏斗) their own initial mistakes. Structurally, the first half of the novel traces Darcy‟s progression to t he point at which he is able to admit his love in spite of his prejudice. In the second half, Elizabeth‟s mistaken impressions are supplanted(v t. 代替；排挤掉) by informed realizations about Darcy‟s true character. Darcy‟s two proposals(n.求婚) to Elizabeth chart the mature development of their relationship. He delivers the first at the mid-point of the novel, when he has realized his love for Elizabeth but has not yet escaped his prejudices against her family, and when she is still in the grip of her first, negative impression of him. The second proposal—in which Darcy humbly(adv. 谦逊地；卑贱地；低声下气地) restates(v t. 重申) his love for her and Elizabeth, now with full knowledge of Mr. Darcy‟s good character, happily accepts—marks the arrival of the two characters, each finally achieving the ability to view the other through unprejudiced eyes.8.What is Allen Poe's contribution to American literature?A review of Edgar Allan Poe's great contributions to literature, which includes the invention of the modern detective story(现代侦探小说) and mastery of the psychological thriller(n. 惊险小说).Edgar Allan Poe Edgar Allen Poe's contributions to American literature have become increasingly more prominent(adj. 突出的，显著的；杰出的；卓越的) as the years have passed. As short fiction has become a more accepted genre in literary circles, Poe's theories are studied with more passion. Although he lived a rather melancholy(adj. 忧郁的) life, Poe did experience moments of joy, and desired to capture(v t. 俘获；夺得) the beauty through poetic form. Indeed, what he left behind for the literary world was his gifted genus, revealed through his poetry, fiction, and criticism.9.What does the green light at the end of Daisy's dock symbolize in "The GreatGatsby" and how do symbols function in the novel? (粗线是第1问答案，波浪线是第2问答案)Situat ed at the end of Daisy‟s East Egg dock and barely visible from Gatsby‟s West Egg lawn, the green light represents Gatsby‟s hopes and dreams for the future. Gatsby associates it with Daisy, and in Chapter I he reaches toward it in the darkness as a guiding light to lead him to his goal. Because Gatsby‟s que st(n. 追求；寻找) for Daisy is broadly associated with the American dream, the green light also symbolizes that more generalized ideal. In Chapter IX, Nick compares the green light to how America, rising out of the ocean, must have looked to early settlers of the new nation.Charactersin The Great Gatsby infuse symbols with meaning—the green light is only a green light, but to Gatsby it becomes the embodiment(n. 体现；化身) of his dream for the future, and it beckons to(召唤) him in the night like a vision of the fulfillment of his desires.。