谈学好《英美文学选读》的看法

谈学好《英美文学选读》的看法众所周知，文学是语言的最高形式，同时又是文化的载体，要学好《英美文学选读》无疑要有点文化方面的知识。

在英语专业的课程设置中，《英语国家概况》、《欧洲文化入门》以及《英美文学选读》都属于知识类型的课程，而且相互关联。

一谈到这些课程，许多考生会产生“畏惧心理"和“厌烦心态”。

不过我们应调整一下心态，以好奇的眼光、强烈的求知欲来培养自己在文化知识和文学知识的兴趣。

以《欧洲文化入门》为背景、《英语国家概况》为前提，在《英美文学选读》的知识长河边漫步。

其间，你会见到斯堪的纳维亚的英雄贝尔武夫，英国的荷马。

再往前走，你又遇到将自己的灵魂出卖给魔鬼的浮士德，忧郁型的王子哈姆雷特和被上帝逐出伊甸园的亚当和夏娃。

再更上前一步你又碰见英帝国的缔造者鲁宾逊·克鲁索、历险英雄格列佛、还有弃儿汤姆·琼斯、雾都孤儿奥立弗·特维斯特，被社会摧残惨死的苔丝等。

美国有沉睡2O年的瑞普·凡·温克尔，有小伙子布朗，还有凶猛的白鲸和嘉莉妹妹等。

此时你会觉得自己面前有一群鲜活的人物，视野开阔了，浓厚的兴趣就油然而生。

有了兴趣还不够，还得有科学的学习方法。

好的方法能提高学习的效率，使你达到事半功倍的效果。

下面具体谈谈本人在学好《英美文学选读》的几点看法。

一．结合大纲，总体把握。

正如我们所知，本教程由英国部分和美国部分组成共八章。

英国文学部分由古代文学、中世纪文学、文艺复兴时期文学、新古典时期文学、浪漫主义时期文学、维多利亚时期文学和现代文学组成。

美国文学部分由浪漫主义时期文学、现实主义文学和现代文学组成。

在学每章时，应结合大纲的考核要求，对本章内容作总体归纳，有一个总体印象，并列出本章重点。

如每章有：本时期时间界定，文学形式，主要代表作家作品及其文学特色等。

二．针对考点，重点搜索。

鉴于本教程的知识结构，并结合历年考试题型，本书重要知识点包含：各时期的时间界定、代表作家与作品、作品主题、寓意等。

现将第一、二章重要知识点罗列如下，供大家参考。

其他各章请大家按同样的方式整理。

英国文学部分I、古代文学：1．时间界定：Old English literature extends from about 450 to 1066．2．古代文学中诗歌分类：宗教诗和世俗诗：The Old English poetry can be divided into two groups：the religious group and the secullar one．3．主要代表作品：贝尔武夫A．性质：Beowulf is regarded today as the national epic of the Anglo-Saxons．B．主题：The poem presents a vivid picture of how the primitive people wage under a wiSe heroic struggles against the hostile forces of the natural world under a wise and mighty leader．*************************************************************************************** II、中世纪文学：1、时间界定：From 1066 up to the mid-14th century．2、文学分类：民间通俗文学骑士浪漫诗A．Popular folk literature also occupies an important place in this period．B．Romance which uses narrative verse or prose to sing knightly adventures or other heroic deeds is a popular literary form in the medieval period．3A．The father of English poetry．(Chaucer)B．The English Homer．(Chaucer)C．In Canterbury tale s，Chaucer presented to us a comprehensive realistic picture of the English society of his time and created a whole gallery of vivid characters from all walks of life．D．In Troilus and Criseyde，he gave the world what is virtually the first modern novel．************************************************************************************** III、文艺复兴时期：1．时间界定：It refers to the period between the 14th and mid-17th centuries．2．文艺复兴的理论基础：人文主义兴起。

A．核心：Humanism is the essence of the Renaissance．It sprang from the endeavor努力to restore a medieval中世纪的reverence尊敬for the antique authors．B．基础：It was based on such a conception that man is the measure of all things．3．文艺复兴的文化背景：A．场所：English schools and universities were established in place of the old monasteries修道院．B．印刷术的引进：William Caxton introduced printing into England．C．翻译的时代的出现。

With the introduction of printing，an age of translation came into being.4．文学形式：诗歌：A．早期特点：The first period of the English Renaissance was one of imitation and assmilation.B．代表作家及作品：a．Spenser’s The Shepheardes Calender showed the pastoral田园的、牧人的convention.b．In "The Passionate Shepherd to His Love"，Marlowe spoke that it would be very difficult for us to connect it with the voice in his tragedies.C．Poetry and poetic drama were the most outstanding literary forms and carried on by Shakespeare and Ben Johnson．戏剧：A．特点：The Elizabethan drama is the real mainstream主流of the English RenaissanceB．作家：The most famous dramatists are Christopher Marlowe，William Shakespeare，and Ben Johnson．5．本章主要作家：r and The Faerie Queene．A．创作意图：The principal intention is to present through a "historical poem" the example of a perfect gentlemanB．整体线索：The recurring appearances of Arthur serve as a unifying element for the poem as a whole．C．寓意：The Redcrosse Knight in Book I stands for St．George，he also represents Holiness陛下. D．主题：The theme is not "Arms and the man，" but something more romantic "Fierce wares and faithful loves."E．作者文学地位：His exquisite melody that make him known as "the poets’ poet"―Edmund SpenseA．作者创作分类：a．The plays：(6 plays)b．The non-dramatic poetry．c．The verse translation．B．代表作品：a．Tamburlaine：Marlowe voiced the supreme desire of the man of the Renaissance for infinite power and authority．b．Dr．Faustus：It celebrates the human passion for knowledge，power and happinessC．文学艺术成就：a．文体与风格：Marlowe perfected the blank verse and brought vitality and grandeur伟大into the blank verse with his mighty lines．Hyperbole夸张法is his major figure of speech.b．人物塑造：Marlowe’s second achievement is his creation of the Renaissance hero for English drama. Such a hero is always individualistic and full of ambition.莎士比亚A．创作生涯及作品a．Apprenticeship period．b．Highly individualized period．c．Greatest tragedies and dark comedies period．d．Romantic tragicomedies period．B．作品主题a．Shakespeare’s history plays are mainly written under the principle that national unity under a mighty and just sovereign is a necessity．b．In his romantic comedies，Shakespeare takes an optimistic attitude toward love and youth，and the romantic elements are brought into full playc．The tragedies：The play, though a tragedy，is permeated 充满with optimistic spirit．C．四大悲剧a．The common features：are Hamlet, Othello，King Lear，and Macbeth．They have some characteristics．in common．Each portrays描绘some noble hero，who faces the injustice of human life and is caught in a difficult situation and whose fate is closely connected with the fate of the whole nation．b．The realistic spirits：Along with the portrayal of the weakness or bias of the hero，we see the sharp conflicts between the individual and the evil force in the society，which shows that Shakespeare is a great realist in the true sense．D．艺术成就A．The characters：a．Shakespeare’s major characters are neither merely individual ones nor type ones.b．By applying a psycho-analytical心理学分析approach，Shakespeare succeeds in exploring the characters’ inner mind．c．Shakespeare also portrays his characters in pairs．Contrasts are frequently used to bring vividness to his characters.B．Construction：a．Shakespeare’s plays are well-known for their adroit熟练的plot construction．He borrows them from some old plays or storybooks, or from ancient Greek and Roman sources．b．He would shorten the time and intensify the story．There are usually several threads running through the play．C．Language and stylea．Irony is a good means of dramatic presentation．Disguise 掩饰、伪装is also an important device to create dramatic irony，usually with woman disguised as man．b．He has an amazing wealth of vocabulary and idiom．His influence on later writers is immeasurable．Almost all English writers after him have been influenced by him either in artistic point of view，in literary form or in language．*************************************************************************************培根Francis BaconA．《科学的进步与发展》The Advancement of Learning：It is a great tract on education．B．《新工具》Novum Organum is a successful treatise written in Latin on methodology．C．《散文集》Montaigne is the predecessor of Bacon．The term “essay” was borrowed from Montaigne’s Essais.邓恩John DonneA．作品特点a．The inherently theatrical impression：John Donne is the leading figure of the “metaphysical school．"His poems give a more inherently theatrical impression．b．The poetic modeThe mode dynamic rather than static with ingenuity of speech，vividness of imagery and vitality of rhythms．c．The Stylistic features：The most striking f eature of Donne’s poetry is precisely its tang of reality，in the sense that it seems to reflect life in a real rather than a poetical world．B．《歌与十四行》及作者的爱情观The songs and sonnets：a．The theme：The Songs and Sonnets, contains most of his early lyrics．Love is the basic theme．b．The understanding of love：Donne holds that the nature of love is the union of soul and body．This thought is quite contrary to the medieval love idea. What is more，idealism and cynicism about love coexist in Donne’s love poetry．He sometimes expresses the futility and instability of love in his poems．c．The stylistic．method：When euiogizing a woman，Donne tells us very little about her physical beauty，Instead，Donne’s interest lies in dramatizing and illustrating the state of being in love．弥尔顿John MiltonA．创作Milton’s literary achievements can be divided into three groups：a．The early works：Milton appears as the inheritor of all that was best in Elizabethan literature．Lycidas is a typical example．b．The middle works：His powerful pamphlets written during this period make him the greatest prose writer of his age．Areopagitica is probably his most memorable prose work．c．The last great poems：Milton wrote his three major poetical works：Paradise Lost, Paradise regained，and Samson Agonistes.B．代表作：Paradise Lost：A)．The theme and structure：Paradise Lost is a long epic divided into 12 books．The theme is the "Fall of Man"．B)．The humanistic spiritsa．Working through the tradition of a Christian humanism，Milton wrote Paradise Lost，intending to expose the ways of Satan and to "justify the ways of God to man．"b．At the center of the conflict between human love and spiritual duty lies Milton’s fundamental concern with freedom and choice．c．The freedom of the will is the keystone of Milton’s cr eed.IV、新古典主义时期：The neoclassical period1．时间界定The neoclassical period is between the return of the Stuarts in 1660 and the full assertion of Romanticism which came with the publication of Lyrical Ballads in 1798．2．启蒙运动A．概述a．特点The eighteenth-century England is also known as the Age of Enlightenment or the Age of Reason．The Enlightenment Movement was a progressive intellectual movement．b．起源It flourished in France and swept through the whole Western Europe at the time．C．性质The movement was a furtherance of the Renaissance of the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries．d．目的Its purpose was to enlighten the whole world with the light of modern philosophical and artistic ideas．B．人文观与文学特点a．The enlighteners advocated universal education．They believed that human beings were limited，dualistic，imperfect，and yet capable of rationality and perfection through education．b．Literature at the time，heavily didactic and moralizing，became a very popular means of public education．3．文学形式A．伤感主义文学In the last few decades of the 18th century，however，the neoclassical emphasis upon reason，intellect，wit and form was rebelled against or challenged by the sentimentalists，and was gradually by Romanticism．B．新古典主义诗歌The neoclassical period witnessed the flourish of English poetry in the classical style climaxing with John Dryden，Alexander Pope and Samuel Johnson．C．现实主义小说The mid-century was，however，predominated by a newly rising literary form-the modern English novel，gives a realistic presentation of life of the common English people．D．哥特式小说及其它Gothic novels—mostly stories of mystery and horror which take place in some haunted or dilapidated Middle Age castles—were turned out profusely by both male and female writers．4．主要作家与作品班杨：John BunyanA．作品风格a．Bunyan’s style was modeled after that of the English Bible．b．He used concrete and living language and vivid details．C．He made it possible for the reader of the least education to share the pleasure of reading his novel．B．代表作：a．The Pilgrim’s Progress is the most successful religious allegory in t he English languageb．Its predominant metaphor-life as a journey—is simple and familiar．蒲柏：Alexander PopeA．现实批评观：a．He upheld the existing social system as an ideal one，but he was not entirely blind to the rapid moral，political and cultural deterioration．b．He published The Rape of the Lock and use the mock epic form to retell the cutting of the lock to ridicule the trivial incident and to satirize the foolish，meaningless life of the lords and ladies in the aristocratic bourgeois society of the eighteenth century England．B．文学观：He strongly advocated neoclassicism．C．代表作品：An Essay on Criticism，The Rape of the Lock，The Dunciad，An Essay on Man．The translations of Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey．The edition of Shakespeare’s plays．笛福：Daniel DefoeA．主要作品：a．The first novel：Robinson Crusoe．b．four other novels：Captain Singleton，Moll Flanders，Colonel Jack and Roxana．c．The pseudo-factual account of Great Plague：A Journal the Plague Year．B．代表作：a．Robinson Crusoe，an adventure story very much in the spirit of the time，is universally considered his masterpiece．b．Robinson is here a real hero：a typical eighteenth-century English middle-class man．c．He is the very prototype of the empire builder，the pioneer colonist．In describing Robinson’s life on the island，Defoe glorifies、human labor and the Puritan fortitude．斯威夫特：Jonathan SwiftA．创作a．The works to establish his name：A Tale of a Tub and The Battle of the Books established his name as a satirist．b．The Drapier’s lettersHe published, under the pseudonym of Drapier, a series of letters．Even today Swift is still respected as a national hero in Ireland．C．The greatest satiric work：He wrote and published his greatest satiric work，Gulliver’s Travels.B．代表作a．Gulliver’s Travels，Jonathan’s best fictional work．The book contains foor parts：His experience in Lilliput，Alone in Brobdingnag. Visit to the Flying Island and Account of his discoveries in the Houyhnhnm land．In structure，the four parts make an organic whole.b．Gulliver gives an account of some aspects of Lilliputian life and obviously alludes to the Similar ridiculous practices or tricks of the English government.费尔丁Henry FieldingA．戏剧创作The best known are, The coffee-House Politician，The Tragedy of Tragedies，Pasquin, and The Historical Register for the Year 1736．B．小说创作a．The History of the Adventures of JosephAndrews and of his friend Mr．Abraham Adams，the book quickly turns into a great novel of the open road，a “comic epm in prosell．”b．The History of Jonathan Wild the Great，points out the Great Man is no letter than a great gangster．c．The History of Tom Jones，a Foundling and The History of Amelia．The former is a masterpiece on the sun ect of human nature and the latter the story of the unfortunate life of an idealized woman．C．对文学的贡献About novel：A．The purpose of the novel was not just to amuse，but to instruct．The object of his novel was to present a faithful picture of life，to teach men to know themselves．B．Fielding has been regarded by some as “Father of the English Novel.”a．He was the first to set out，to write specifically a “comic epic in prose” ．b．The first to give the modern novel its structure and style．c．Fielding adopted “the third-person narration.”d．In planning his stories，he tries to retain the grand epical form of the classical works but at the same time keeps faithful to his realistic presentation of common life as it is．About language：A) Fielding’s language is easy，unlaboured and familiar，but extremely，vivid and vigorous．B) His sentences are always distinguished by logic and rhythm，and his structure carefully planned towards an inevitable ending．约翰逊Samuel JohnsonA．代表作品As a lexicographer，Johnson distinguished himself as the author of the first English dictionary by an Englishman — A Dictionary of the English Language．B．新古典主义文学观a．The literary theme：He was very much concerned with the theme of the vanity of human wishes．b．The principle of literary creation：In literary creation and criticism，he was rather conservative．He insisted that a writer must please to universal truth and experience，i.e. Nature．谢立丹Richard Brinsley SheridanA．创作a)The masterpiece：The School for Scandalb)others：the Rivals，St．Patrick’S Day，or the Scheming Lieutenant，The Duenna，The Critic and Pizarro．B．戏剧主题与艺术成就a．The status：Sheridan was the only important English dramatist of the eighteenth century．His plays link between the masterpieces of Shakespeare and those of Bernard Shaw．b．The theme：In his Nays，morality is the constant theme．格雷Thomas GrayA．主要作品a．His masterpiece，“Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”b．The poem established his fame as the leader of the sentimental poetry of the day，His，other poems include “Ode on the Spring”，“Ode on a Distant Prospect of Eton College”，“Ode on the Death of a Favourite Cat”and“Hymn to Adversity”.B．诗歌风格a．Gray wrote slowly and carefully，painstakingly seeking perfection of form and phrase．b．His poems are characterized by an exquisite sense of form.c．His style is sophisticated and allusive．三、依据真题，归类整理从01年至04年的真题看，试题题型相对稳定，题量不变，题型为四大类：选择题40题，分值40分。