Lesson 4 Edgar Allen Poe 美国文学
Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)美国文学作家
Not accepted before French symbolists like Charles Pierre Baudelaire (1821-1867) and Mallarmé.
Edgar Allan Poe
Literary features of Poe Motifs of Poe’s poems and stories: Love Beauty (supernatual beauty) Death (often of a woman, a lover) Terror Neurotic diorder
Edgar Allan Poe
Emerson dismissed him in three words “the jingle man” (打油诗人)，Mark Twain declared his prose to be unreadable. And Whitman was the only famous literary figure present at the Poe Memorial Ceremony in 1875.
(1) Forgotten Lore
may be about the occult or black magic
(2) Bar;Eighty by Charles Dickens
at the end of the fifth chapter of Dickens's novel, Grip makes a noise and someone says, "What was that – him tapping at the door?" The response is, "'Tis someone knocking softly at the shutter." Dickens's raven could speak many words and had many comic turns, including the popping of a champagne cork, but Poe emphasized the bird's more dramatic qualities.
美国文学选读_第三版_课后习题答案_陶洁
美国文学选读第三版课后习题答案陶洁(部分)Unit 1 Benjamin FranklinQuestions1.Why did Franklin write his Autobiography?Franklin says that because his son may wish to know about his life, he is taking his one week vacation in the English countryside to record his past. He also says that he has enjoyed his life and would like to repeat it2.What made Franklin decide to leave the brother to whom he had been apprenticed?His brother was passionate, and had often beaten him. The aversion to arbitrary power that has stuck to him through his whole life .After a brush with the law, Franklin left his brother.3.How did he arrive in Philadelphia?First he set out in a boat for Amboy, the boat dropped him off about 50 miles from Burlington, the next day he reached Burlington on foot, in Burlington he found a boat which was going towards Philadelphia, he arrived there about eight or nine o’clock, on the Sunday morning and landed at the Market Street wharf.4.What features do you find in the style of the above selection?It is the pattern of Puritan simplicity, directness, and concision(言简意赅). The narrative is lucid(易懂的), the structure is simple, the imagery is homely(朴素的).Unit 2 Edgar Allen PoeQuestions1.Who is the narrator? What wrong does he want to redress?Montresor.Fortunato,one of wine experts insulted him, so he wanted to murder him.2.What is the pretext he uses to lure Fortunato to his wine cellar?He baits Fortunato by telling him he has obtained what he believes to be a cask of Amontillado a rare and valuable sherry wine.Fortunato is anxious to determine whether or not it is truly Amontillado, so he goes to the vault with Montresor.3.What happens to Fortunato in the end?He was walled up alive behind bricks in a wine cellar.4.Describe briefly how Poe characterizes Montresor and Fortunato as contrasts?Poe uses color imagery to characterize them. Montresor face is covered in a black silk mask, In contrast, Fortunato dresses the motley-colored costume of the court fool, who gets literally and tragically fooled by Montresor's masked motives.The color schemes here represent the irony of Fortunato's death sentence.Through the acts, words, and thoughts of Fortunato,we know He is greedy, he was lured into the dark and somber vaults just because a cask of Amontillado.This is also due to his bad habit of bibulosity(酗酒）. He lost himself on hearing the wine.At the same time, he was cheated by his enemy, which reflected his ignorance.When he heard the pretended compliment from Montresor, he became very boastful and arrogant.He was easily confused by the superficial phenomena and failed to watch out for others. He couldn’t tolerate that others were stronger than him.For example, Montresor always stimulated him with Luchresi who was good at connoisseur（鉴赏）in wine. Under the impulse of vanity, he fell into Montreso r’s terrible trap.In fact, he was careless and foolish and didn’t find that the danger was approaching him.He looked down upon Montresor and others.He didn’t realize his foolishness until the death was coming.Talking from the appearance, Monstresor was a well-educated and “kind” businessman.He enjoyed the honor and respect in the city. But in fact, he was an evil and awful person.His inner feelings were so cruel that they even made people tremble.Under his rich appearance was the dirty soul and despicable character.We couldn’t see any glorious virtues in his mind. Instead, his heart was cold and dark.It was the revenge that threw Montresor into the deep evil valley.unit 4 Nathaniel HawthorneQuestions :1.Why is the prison the setting of Chapter 1 ?No matter how optimistic the founders of new colonies may be, they are quick to establish a prison and a cemetery in their “Utopia,” for they know that misbehavior, evil, and death are unavoidable.This belief fits into the larger Puritan doctrine, which puts heavy emphasis on the idea of original sin—the notion that all people are born sinners because of the initial transgressions of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. he is therefore using the prison building to represent the crime and the punishment which are aspect of civilized lifeWhat is the implication of the description of the roses?The rosebush symbolizes the ability of nature to endure and outlast man's activities.The narrator suggests that roses offer a reminder of Nature's kindness to the condemned; for his tale, he says, it will provide either a “sweet moral blossom” or else some relief in the face of unrelenting sorrow and gloom.2.Describe the appearance of Hester Prynne and the attitude of the people towards her.The second paragraph on page 30.The crowd in front of the jail is a mixture of men and women, all maintaining severe looks of disapproval. Several of the women begin to discuss Hester Prynne, and they soon vow that Hester would not have received such a light sentence for her crime if they had been the judges.One woman, the ugliest of the group, goes so far as to advocate death for Hester.3.What has happened to Hester?As a young woman, Hester married an elderly scholar, Chillingworth, who sent her ahead to America to live.While waiting for him, she had an affair with a Puritan minister named Dimmesdale, after which she gave birth to Pearl.The scarlet letter is her punishment for her sin and her secrecy.Why does she make the embroidery of the letter A so elaborate?It seems to declare that she is proud, rather than ashamed, of her sin.In reality, however, Hester simply accepts the “sin” and its symbol as part of herself, just as she accepts her child.And although she can hardly believe her present “realities,” she takes them as they are rather thanresisting them or trying to atone for them.How does this tell us about her character?Throughout The Scarlet Letter Hester is portrayed as an intelligent, capable. It is the extraordinary circumstances shaping her that make her such an important figure.Unit5 Herman MelvilleQuestions1.What are the stories Ismael tells about Moby Dick?Ishmael compares the legend of Moby Dick to his experience of the whale.He notes that sperm whale attacks have increased recently and that superstitious sailors have come to regard these attacks as having an intelligent, even supernatural origin.In particular, wild rumors about Moby Dick circulate among whalemen, suggesting that he can be in more than one place at the same time and that he is immortal. Ishmael remarks that even the wildest of rumors usually contains some truth.Whales, for instance, have been known to travel with remarkable speed from the Atlantic to the Pacific; thus, it is possible for a whale to be caught in the Pacific with the harpoons of a Greenland ship in it. Moby Dick, who has defied capture numerous times, exhibits an “intelligent malignity”（狠毒）in his attacks on men2.Why does Ahab react so violently against the white whale?First, he lost one of his legs because of the white whale.Second,He considers Moby Dick the embodiment of evil in the world, and he pursues the White Whale，because he believes it his inescapable fate to destroy this evil.Ishmael suggests that Ahab is “crazy”and call him “a raving lunatic.” Do you agree with him? Why or why not?Ishmael describes Ahab as mad in his narration, and it does indeed seem mad to try to fight the forces of nature or God.3.What narrative features can you find in the selected chapter?In the selected charpter, Melville employed the technique of multiple view of his narrative to portray Moby Dick to achieve the effect of ambiguity and let readers judge the meaning.Unit 7 19th Century American Poets1. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow(1) I Shot an Arrow…1. Why did the speaker lose sight of his arrow and song?The arrow flies too swiftly and too far away to be seen by the speaker; whereas the song is naturally invisible.2. In what circumstances did he find them again?He finds them unexpectedly years later from the trunk of a tree and the heart of a friend.3. What do arrow and song stand for in this poem?The images of arrow and song here may stand for friendship.(2) A Psalm of Life1. What kind of person is the speaker of this poem?The speaker is a man of action, always optimistic and cheerful, trying to achieve as much as possible in the short span of life.2. According to the poem, how should our lives be led to overcome the fact that each day brings us nearer to death?We should work harder and live happier.3. Interpret the metaphor of "Footprints on the sand of time" (line 28).The metaphor refers to human deeds in real life.2. Walt Whitman(1)One's Self I Sing1. What is the significance of singing about one's self?It is an exaltation of the individual spirit, which is typical of American people.2. What is the difference between physiology and physiognomy?Physiology is a science that deals with the functions and life process of human beings, whereas physiognomy refers to an art of judging character from contours of face itself or the appearance of a person.3. What does Whitman mean by the term of "the Modern Man"?He means that a man should be free from any prejudice and pride, totally different from the traditional one, that is full of bias.(3) O Captain! My Captain!1. Why is the word "Captain" capitalized throughout the poem?In this poem the word “Captain” specially refers to Abraham Lincoln, president of the United States. 2. What overall metaphor does the poet employ in this poem?Life is a journey.3. Why do people on the shores exult and bells ring, while the speaker remains so sad?They welcome the ship returning from its hard trip, whereas the speaker is sad because the captain fails to receive his own honor.3.Emily Dickinson(1) To Make a Prairie …1. What things are needed to "make" a prairie? In what sense can one really do it?Some grass and insects and small animals. People can make a prairie with their imagination.2. How can "revery alone" create a prairie?The prairie stays in one's mind.(2) Success Is Counted Sweetest1. Why is success "counted sweetest by those who ne'er succeed"?Those who have tasted the bitterness of failure would have a keener desire for success.2. Who are "the purple host"?The so-called successful people in the world.3. Who is "he" in the last stanza?Anyone who is pursuing his success.(3) I'm Nobody!1. Who are the "pair of us" and "they" in this poem? The "pair of us" refers to the speaker in the poem and the reader, and "they" refers to the public, especially those in power.2. What does "an admiring bog" really mean?" (line 28).It Implies the vain and empty common people, who are always admiring and pursuing the celebrities.3. What is the theme of this poem?The real admirable life is a secluded and common one.4. Do you want to be "nobody" or "somebody"? Explain your reasons.Different persons would have different answers to this question. Personally, I prefer to be nobody.Unit 8 Mark TwainQuestions1: Why do you think Mr.Wheeler is so eager to tell these stories?From Mr.Wheeler’s behaviors and content s of his narration we can know he is so eager to tell these stories.First, when "I" asked him to tell "me" something about W.Smiley, he “ backed me into a corner and blockaded me with his chair, and then sat down and reeled off the narrative”. And during t he process of telling his stories, he never paid any attention to others'response to his story and just went on telling what amused him. At last when the listener felt boring and wanted to leave, Mr.Wheeler even didn't notice it and still asked him to sit there listening to him.Question2: Does his audience share his enthusiasm in telling the stories? No. the audience does not show any interest in Mr.Wheeler’ stories. In fact, the narrator was very feverish about his stories, but ,in the eyes of the listener,the stories were very boring and had nothing to do with his preoccupation. As an educated man, the listener couldn't understand the way of laborers for joy, and he would never bother himself to understand it. So after the long time of Mr.Wheeler’ solo na rration and when the audience got a chance, he fled away.Question3: Do you think the narrator and his listener ever suspect the presence of humor? 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 "wihout 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 .Unit 14 F·Scott Fitzgerald1.Do you think Gatsby deserves to be called “the great”? Why?（1）I think it is too complicated 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 vis ible from West Egg lawn represents Gatsby’s unattainable dream. Although the color itself can be seen as hope a nd bright future, Gatsby’s quest for Daisy back is doomed to be impossible. Daisy lived in ―a material world without being real, where poor ghost s, breathing dream like air‖.（2）After five years when Gatsby met Daisy again, the miracle Daisy had lost her original glory. Therefore, there is no delaying that Gatsby’s dream would not come 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 reflection 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 come. 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. B oth 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.Unit 16 Ernest Hemingway1. How do you interpret the irony of the title after reading the story?（1）The title ―A Clean Well-Lighted Place‖refers to the caféin the text. The caféwas very clean and well- lighted. From the literary meaning, we may feel this place was very warm and comfortable, 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 comfort.（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 overcome 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 overcome nada. On the contrary, the younger waiter had the 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.。
高一英美文学爱伦坡乌鸦EdgarAllenoeandheRavenPPT课件
Introduction
a miserable childhood
was adopted
entered the University
by John Allan
but didn’t finish
went to West Point but
an unhappy
was dismissed
relationship
Ratiocination（推理）
“The Murders in the Rue Morgue” 《莫格街谋杀案》
“The Gold Bug”《金甲虫》
“The Purloined Letter”《被窃的信
件“》The Mystery of Marie Roget” 《玛丽罗杰谜
案》
10
works
at 27 he married his 13-year-old cousin
her death in 1847 left him a bitterer life
died in mysterious circumstance s, in 1849
5
Introduction
a villain with no virtue
Cps. yfacthhoearnoaflfdyatetitcheecrtiovfe
western stories;
criticism;
3
Important Points
• 1. Poe’s major works. • 2. Poe’s literary characteristics
and achievements
Literary theory
The Philosophy of Composition 《创作原理》 The Poetic Principle 《诗歌原则》
Unit Four Edgar Allan Poe
• The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym was published and widely reviewed in 1838. In the summer of 1839, Poe became assistant editor of Burton’s Gentleman’s Magazine . He published numerous articles, stories, and reviews, enhancing his reputation as a critic that he had established at the Southern Literary Messenger. Also in 1839, the collection Tales of the Grotesque and Arabesque was published in two volumes, though he made little money off of it and it received mixed reviews.
• The book once again reprinted the long poems "Tamerlane" and "Al Aaraaf" but also six previously unpublished poems including early versions of "To Helen ", "Israfel ", and "The City in the Sea ". He returned to Baltimore, to his aunt, brother and cousin, in March 1831. After his brother's death in 1831, Poe began more earnest attempts to start his career as a writer. He was the first well-known American to try to live by writing alone.
美国文学史Edgar Allan Poe
• Horror (Gothic )
The Fall of the House of Usher The Tell-TaleHeart Tell-Tale Heart
Literary theory
• The Philosophy of Composition • The Poetic Principle
Style
Traditional, but not easy to read
Reception
“the jingle man”
Emerson
“an enthusiasm for Poe is the mark of a decidedly primitive state of development”
Reputation
• Master of the macabre • Forerunner of the detective story, science fiction, horror fiction, psychoanalytic criticism and symbolism • Aesthetic activist
Themes in Poe’s works
• Death—predominant theme in Poe’s writing
“Poe is not interested in anything alive. Everything in Poe’s writings is dead.”
• Horror • Negative thoughts of science
Henry James
Tennyson Bernard Shaw
美国文学 AllenPoe..
Байду номын сангаас
4. On rhythm
Rhythm：the recurrence of specific sounds or kinds of sounds or the recurrence of stressed and unstressed syllables.
A pair of rhyming lines is called a couplet; three lines that rhyme are called a triplet. Traditional poetic forms have prescribed rhyming patterns; for example, sonnets usually follow the Italian rhyme scheme, abba cbb cde cde, or the English rhyme scheme, abab cdcd ef gg. Blank verse is regular in meter but does not rhyme; free verse is irregular in meter and also does not rhyme.
2. Major works
(1 )As a critic The Poetic Principle The Philosophy of Composition
2. Major works
(2) As a short story writer Tales of the Grotesque and the Arabesque The Purloined Letter The Murders in the Rue Morgue The Oval Portrait The Imp of the Perverse William Wilson The Fall of the House of Usher The Masque of the Red Death The Cask of Amontillado Ligeia
美国文学史Edgar Allan Poe
Other works
Tales
The Black Cat The Cask of Amontillado A Descent into the Maelström The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar The Fall of the House of Usher The Gold-Bug Hop-Frog The Imp of the Perverse Ligeia The Masque of the Red Death Morella The Murders in the Rue Morgue The Oval Portrait The Pit and the Pendulum The Premature Burial The Purloined Letter The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether The Tell-Tale Heart
Байду номын сангаас
Poe and his works influenced literature in the United States and around the world, as well as in specialized fields, such as cosmology and cryptography. Poe and his work appear throughout popular culture in literature, music, films, and television. A number of his homes are dedicated museums today. The Mystery Writers of America present an annual award known as the Edgar Award for distinguished work in the mystery genre.
美国文学选读-第三版-课后习题答案-陶洁
美国文学选读第三版课后习题答案陶洁(部分)Unit 1 Benjamin FranklinQuestionsdid Franklin write his Autobiography？Franklin says that because his son may wish to know about his life, he is taking his one week vacation in the English countryside to record his past. He also says that he has enjoyed his life and would like to repeat itmade Franklin decide to leave the brother to whom he had been apprenticed？His brother was passionate, and had often beaten him. The aversion to arbitrary power that has stuck to him through his whole life .After a brush with the law, Franklin left his brother.did he arrive in Philadephia？First he set out in a boat for Amboy, the boat dropped him off about 50 miles from Burlington, the next day he reached Burlington on foot, in Burlington he found a boat which was going towards Philadelphia, he arrived there about eight or nine o’clock, on the Sunday morning and landed at the Market Street wharf.features do you find in the style of the above selection？It is the pattern of Puritan simplicity, directness, and concision(言简意赅). The narrative is lucid(易懂的), the structure is simple, the imagery is homely(朴素的).Unit 2 Edgar Allen PoeQuestionsis the narrator What wrong does he want to redress？Montresor.Fortunato,one of wine experts insulted him, so he wanted to murder him.is the pretext he uses to lure Fortunato to his wine cellar？He baits Fortunato by telling him he has obtained what he believes to be a cask of Amontillado a rare and valuable sherry wine.Fortunato is anxious to determine whether or not it is truly Amontillado, so he goes to the vault with Montresor. happens to Fortunato in the end？He was walled up alive behind bricks in a wine cellar.briefly how Poe characterizes Montresor and Fortunato as contrasts？Poe uses color imagery to characterize them. Montresor face is covered in a black silk mask, In contrast, Fortunato dresses the motley-colored costume of the court fool, who gets literally and tragically fooled by Montresor's masked motives.The color schemes here represent the irony of Fortunato's death sentence.Through the acts, words, and thoughts of Fortunato,we know He is greedy, he was lured into the dark and somber vaults just because a cask of Amontillado.This is also due to his bad habit of bibulosity(酗酒）. He lost himself on hearing the wine.At the same time, he was cheated by his enemy, which reflected his ignorance.When he heard the pretended compliment from Montresor, he became very boastful and arrogant.He was easily confused by the superfici al phenomena and failed to watch out for others. He couldn’t tolerate that others were stronger than him.For example, Montresor always stimulated him with Luchresi who was good at connoisseur（鉴赏）in wine. Under the impulse of vanity, he fell into Montre sor’s terrible trap.In fact, he was careless and foolish and didn’t find that the danger was approaching him.He looked down upon Montresor and others.He didn’t realize his foolishness until the death was coming.Talking from the appearance, Monstresor was a well-educated and “kind” businessman.He enjoyed the honor and respect in the city. But in fact, he was an evil and awful person.His inner feelings were so cruel that they even made people tremble.Under his rich appearance was the dirty soul and despicable character.We couldn’t see any glorious virtues in his mind. Instead, his heart was cold and dark.It was the revenge that threw Montresor into the deep evil valley.unit 4 Nathaniel HawthorneQuestions : is the prison the setting of Chapter 1No matter how optimistic the founders of new colonies may be, they are quick to establish a prison and a cemetery in their “Utopia,” for they know that misbehavior, evil, and death are unavoidable.This belief fits into the larger Puritan doctrine, which puts heavy emphasis on the idea of original sin—the notion that all people are born sinners because of the initial transgressions of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. he is therefore using the prison building to represent the crime and the punishment which are aspect of civilized life What is the implication of the description of the roses？The rosebush symbolizes the ability of nature to endure and outlast man's activities.The narrator suggests that roses offer a reminder of Nature's kindness to the condemned; for his tale, he says, it will provide either a “sweet moral blossom” or else some relief in the face of unrelenting sorrow and gloom.the appearance of Hester Prynne and the attitude of the people towards her.The second paragraph on page 30.The crowd in front of the jail is a mixture of men and women, all maintaining severe looks of disapproval. Several of the women begin to discuss Hester Prynne, and they soon vow that Hester would not have received such a light sentence for her crime if they had been the judges.One woman, the ugliest of the group, goes so far as to advocate death for Hester.has happened to HesterAs a young woman, Hester married an elderly scholar, Chillingworth, who sent her ahead to America to live. While waiting for him, she had an affair with a Puritan minister named Dimmesdale, after which she gave birth to Pearl.The scarlet letter is her punishment for her sin and her secrecy.Why does she make the embroidery of the letter A so elaborate？It seems to declare that she is proud, rather than ashamed, of her sin.In reality, however, Hester simply accepts the “sin” and its symbol as part of herself, just as she accepts her child. And although she can hardly believe her present “realities,” she takes them as they are rather than resisting them or trying to atone for them.How does this tell us about her character？Throughout The Scarlet Letter Hester is portrayed as an intelligent, capable. It is the extraordinary circumstances shaping her that make her such an important figure.Unit5 Herman MelvilleQuestionsare the stories Ismael tells about Moby Dick？Ishmael compares the legend of Moby Dick to his experience of the whale.He notes that sperm whale attacks have increased recently and that superstitious sailors have come to regard these attacks as having an intelligent, even supernatural origin.In particular, wild rumors about Moby Dick circulate among whalemen, suggesting that he can be in more than one place at the same time and that he is immortal. Ishmael remarks that even the wildest of rumors usually contains some truth.Whales, for instance, have been known to travel with remarkable speed from the Atlantic to the Pacific; thus, it is possible for a whale to be caught in the Pacific with the harpoons of a Greenland ship in it.Moby Dick, who has defied capture numerous times, exhibits an “intelligent malignity”（狠毒）in his attacks on mendoes Ahab react so violently against the white whale？First, he lost one of his legs because of the white whale.Second,He considers Moby Dick the embodiment of evil in the world, and he pursues the White Whale，because he believes it his inescapable fate to destroy this evil.Ishmael suggests that Ahab is “crazy”and call him “a raving lunatic.” Do you agree w ith him Why or why not？Ishmael describes Ahab as mad in his narration, and it does indeed seem mad to try to fight the forces of nature or God.narrative features can you find in the selected chapter？In the selected charpter, Melville employed the technique of multiple view of his narrative to portray Moby Dick to achieve the effect of ambiguity and let readers judge the meaning.Unit 6 Henry David ThoreauQuestionsindeed did Thoreau live, both at a physical level and at a spiritual level？He liv ed in a cabin on Walden Pond, which belonged to Emerson’s property.Thoreau ever bought a farm Why did he enjoy the act of buying？No, he hadn’t.He avoided purchasing a farm because it would inevitably tie him down financially and complicate his life. Thoreau didn’t see the acquisition of wealth as the goal for human existence, he saw the goal of life to be an exploration of the mind and of the magnificent world around us.He regarded the places as an existence free of obligations and full of leisure.it significant that Thoreau mentioned the Fourth of July as the day on which he began to stay in the woods Why？Yes, it is.Because The Fourth of July is known as Independence Day,the birthday ot the United States.Here Thoreau uses the day to express his beginning of regeneration at Walden.It also means a symbol of his conquest of being.could you answer the question Thoreau asked at the end of this selectionUnit 7 19th Century American Poets1. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow(1) I Shot an Arrow…1. Why did the speaker lose sight of his arrow and songThe arrow flies too swiftly and too far away to be seen by the speaker; whereas the song is naturally invisible. 2. In what circumstances did he find them againHe finds them unexpectedly years later from the trunk of a tree and the heart of a friend.3. What do arrow and song stand for in this poemThe images of arrow and song here may stand for friendship.(2) A Psalm of Life1. What kind of person is the speaker of this poemThe speaker is a man of action, always optimistic and cheerful, trying to achieve as much as possible in the short span of life.2. According to the poem, how should our lives be led to overcome the fact that each day brings us nearer to deathWe should work harder and live happier.3. Interpret the metaphor of "Footprints on the sand of time" (line 28).The metaphor refers to human deeds in real life.2. Walt Whitman(1)One's Self I Sing1. What is the significance of singing about one's selfIt is an exaltation of the individual spirit, which is typical of American people.2. What is the difference between physiology and physiognomyPhysiology is a science that deals with the functions and life process of human beings, whereas physiognomy refers to an art of judging character from contours of face itself or the appearance of a person.3. What does Whitman mean by the term of "the Modern Man"He means that a man should be free from any prejudice and pride, totally different from the traditional one, that is full of bias.(3) O Captain! My Captain!1. Why is the word "Captain" capitalized throughout the poemIn this poem the word “Captain” specially refers to Abraham Lincoln, president of the United States.2. What overall metaphor does the poet employ in this poemLife is a journey.3. Why do people on the shores exult and bells ring, while the speaker remains so sadThey welcome the ship returning from its hard trip, whereas the speaker is sad because the captain fails to receive his own honor.Dickinson(1) To Make a Prairie …1. What things are needed to "make" a prairie In what sense can one really do itSome grass and insects and small animals. People can make a prairie with their imagination.2. How can "revery alone" create a prairieThe prairie stays in one's mind.(2) Success Is Counted Sweetest1. Why is success "counted sweetest by those who ne'er succeed"Those who have tasted the bitterness of failure would have a keener desire for success.2. Who are "the purple host"The so-called successful people in the world.3. Who is "he" in the last stanzaAnyone who is pursuing his success.(3) I'm Nobody!1. Who are the "pair of us" and "they" in this poem The "pair of us" refers to the speaker in the poem and the reader, and "they" refers to the public, especially those in power.2. What does "an admiring bog" really mean" (line 28).It Implies the vain and empty common people, who are always admiring and pursuing the celebrities.3. What is the theme of this poemThe real admirable life is a secluded and common one.4. Do you want to be "nobody" or "somebody" Explain your reasons.Different persons would have different answers to this question. Personally, I prefer to be nobody.Unit 8 Mark TwainQuestions1: Why do you think is so eager to tell these storiesFrom ’s behaviors and contents of his narration we can know he is so eager to tell these , when "I" asked him to tell "me" something about , he “ backed me into a corner and blockaded me with his chair, and then sat down and reeled off the narrative”. And during the process of telling his stories, he never paid any attention to others'response to his story and just went on telling what amused him. At last when the listener felt boring and wanted to leave, even didn't notice it and still asked him to sit there listening to him.Question2: Does his audience share his enthusiasm in telling the stories No. the audience does not show any interest in ’ stories. In fact, the narrator was very feveris h about his stories, but ,in the eyes of the listener,the stories were very boring and had nothing to do with his preoccupation. As an educated man, the listener couldn't understand the way of laborers for joy, and he would never bother himself to understand it. So after the long time of ’ solo narration and when the audience got a chance, he fled away.Question3: Do you think the narrator and his listener ever suspect the presence of humor Why How do you interpret their interactions The narrator and his listener never noticed or suspected the presence of the intercourse,the narrator went vigorously on his monotonous narrative "wihout a little smiling" talking about the animals and the things like ,while the listener felt rather puzzled or bothered by his seemed to be kind of coarse things. So the two different scenes go on separately without a their interaction was a complete failure according toour common sense about it in this sense produced the effect of humor which can be tasted by our readers due to the skills adopted by Mark Twain .Unit 14 F·Scott Fitzgeraldyou think Gatsby deserves to be called “the great”Why（1）I think it is too complicated to simply say Gatsby deserves to be ―great‖or 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.“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 vis ible 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 mat erial 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, there is no delaying that Gatsby’s dream would not come 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.does Gatsby’s Schedule reveal about him and how does it relate to the American Dream（1）The schedule is a reflection 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 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.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 come. He feels sympathy for Gatsby’s tragedy.（2）After reading this line, I cannot help thinking of the 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.Unit 16 Ernest Hemingway1. How do you interpret the irony of the title after reading the story（1）The title ―A Clean Well-Lighted Place‖refers to the caféin the text. The caféwas very clean and well- lighted. From the literary meaning, we may feel this place was very warm and comfortable, 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 comfort.（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 darkWhy or why not （1）I don’t think 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 overcome 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.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 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 oldman 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 overcome nada. On the contrary, the younger waiter had the two most important factors for withstanding nada; howev er, he didn’t realize the nada in his heart at all. Then his youth and confidence became useless.Unit 17 20th -Century American Poets1. Ezra Pound In A Station of the Metro1. Why does the poet call the faces of pedestrians "apparition"These pedestrians are all walking in a hurry amidst the drizzling rain.2. What do "petals" and "bough" stand for Petals refer to the faces while the bough stands for the floating crowd.2. Wallace Stevens Anecdote of the Jar1. What does the jar in poem symbolize Why does the speaker place it on top of a hill The jar here symbolizes a certain perspective on looking at this world. If the perspective of the viewing is creative and unique, it will change the conventional order of the old world. When a new perspective comes out, it will certainly hold attention from the rest.2. The jar is "round" and "of a port in air," meaning that it has a stately importance. What effect does it have on surroundings when placed on the ground Maybe the round jar assumes the air of a domineering figure, which helps to form a certain order out of the disordered surrounding.3. How did the wilderness of Tennessee characterized What words or phrases does the poet use to describe it Tennessee seems to a place full of life and ene rgy. “Slovenly,” “sprawl” and “wild” are some of the words used to describe the place. (See Anecdote of the Jar )Frost(1)Fire and Ice1. What are the symbolic meanings of fire in this poem Fire symbolizes natural disaster, human passion, as well as war.2. Why does the speaker say that ice is also great for destruction Explain what ice stands for here. Ice, oppose to fire, is also a dreadful natural disaster in this world, and ice is always related to indifference, coldness, hatred, and the other negative sentiments of human beings.3. What is your opinion about fire and ice Which one is more destructive Both fire and ice can destroy this beautiful world if they are beyond control of human beings. Therefore we should be open-minded and reduce our prejudice and pride so as to keep this world in peace.(2)Stopping By Woods On a Snowy Evening1. In your opinion, what was the reason that made the speaker stop by the woods on a snowy evening The poet was deeply attracted by the natural beauty of the scene at that very moment.2. Why did the horse give the harness bell a shake The horse grew impatient by stopping in the middle of the dark, cold woods at midnight. It was eager to go home.3. Why couldn't the speaker stay longer by the woods to appreciate its mysterious beauty He realized that it was late at night and he would have to hurry home to get some food and sleep, because the next morning he would have a lot of work to do.4. What is the effect of repetition in the last two lines The refrain-like repetition in the last two lines reminds the reader a simple fact of life: whatever happens, one must go forward in the journey of his or her life.(3) The Road Not Taken1. What is the speaker's initial response to the divergence of the two roads The speaker is at a loss which road he should choose, and he feels sorry that he cannot explore both roads at the same time.2. Describe the similarities and differences of these two roads. Which one does the speaker take Two roads are similar e xcept one of them is more “grassy,” which implies that it is less traveled by people. The speaker prefers the less traveled one, because he likes adventure.3. What might the two roads stand for in the speaker's mind One road stands for the traditional one and the other is unconventional one and full of challenges and difficulties. To follow other people's footsteps or to open a new road for himself is really not an easy decision for us to make in our lives.Unit22 Allen GinsbergAll through the poem, the speaker is addressing to Walt Whitman. Is this poem about Walt Whitman or about modern America-----from Allen Ginsberg A Supermarket in CaliforniaThe author in this poem wanted to emphasis his theme about showing his respect to the passed age and showing his worry about the corrupt in the part of spirit and society. As we all know, Walt Whitman’s poetry was a revolution in American literature can be seen in the first publication of Leaves of Grass in 1855. His poetry is “free verse” in that the la ck of meter and rhyme is known as his major technical innovation. Allen Ginsberg had a highly praise on him. As the movement of Beat Generation, Allen Ginsberg used poetry as weapon to express his own understanding of Beat---beatific and beat down.In th is poem, the author wrote the sentence “shopping for images”. What he wanted to buy is the things which were listed by Walt Whitman many years ago. What is in the supermarket The fresh fruits on the shelf fit the needs of customers and the families. We across a strange statement: shopping for images. How can we shop for images What he refers to us is still the pure image---“dreaming of your enumerations”. The things on the shelf are the images of languages in Walt Whitman’s poetry. The language in Walt Whitman’s poetry and the spirit in his poetry are the things which Allen Ginsberg dreamed of. A young America which is full of energy is worth being praised. Allen Ginsberg found the song of himself, the song full of courage and the echo of the real world among Walt Whitman’s work. The meaning of age in this poem is that the nation or the race opens the age which belongs to them and creates the history of them own. To a certain extend, the age singer equals the nationalsinger. The world is the world which has its features of timing and events. This means that the link of combining the world is not the same as the goods on the shelf but the things which contain the world and individual spirits.There is a difference between Walt Whitman’s poetry and the successor’s poetry.The former poetry focused on the point of the combing of the poetry and the real world. It extended the full of fruit of the history through he understood the meaning of lives living on earth.The latter’s poetry showed that the nature of material has been deprived from the former world. Our moral and spirit has become the goods in the supermarket or the desire in every family in the capitalism nations. Allen Ginsberg recalled the dream of poetry and moral in Walt Whitman’s age.In this poem, Allen Ginsberg imaged Walt Whitman passing through the death to come to the age which was so called the Golden Age of America. What he can see How can he do Would he care about the price and market’s conditions as the American middle-aged women Allen Ginsberg follows Walt Whitman in the supermarket, but never reached the collection office. They did not like the goods which had been deprived the nature of them but pursuit the things which existed front their eyes and enjoyed the pleasure of nature.。
美国文学史 Allen Poe
It has been supposed that he was captured in a drunken condition by a political gang, which used him for the then common practice of repeating votes. Four days later, he died.
On his way North to bring Mr. Clemm (first mother-in-law) to the second wedding, he stopped in Baltimore, where five days afterward he was discovered in a delirious condition near a saloon that had been used for a voting place.
Poe was a fascinating man of imagination interested in deduction and induction. On the one hand he was much given to the world of imagination and fancy, and on the other, he was also a full rational human being, logical to a fault, with an intuitive faculty and a sixth sense impossible to define.
Major Themes
1. Love - usually of a mourning man for his deceased beloved.Poe-The Raven.doc 2. Pride - physical and intellectual. 3. Beauty - of a young woman either dying or dead. Poe-Annabel Lee.doc 4. Death - a source of horror.
(完整word版)美国文学选读 第三版 课后习题答案 陶洁
美国文学选读第三版课后习题答案陶洁(部分)Unit 1 Benjamin FranklinQuestions1.Why did Franklin write his Autobiography?Franklin says that because his son may wish to know about his life, he is taking his one week vacation in the English countryside to record his past. He also says that he has enjoyed his life and would like to repeat it2.What made Franklin decide to leave the brother to whom he had been apprenticed?His brother was passionate, and had often beaten him. The aversion to arbitrary power that has stuck to him through his whole life .After a brush with the law, Franklin left his brother.3.How did he arrive in Philadephia?First he set out in a boat for Amboy, the boat dropped him off about 50 miles from Burlington, the next day he reached Burlington on foot, in Burlington he found a boat which was going towards Philadelphia, he arrived there about eight or nine o’clock, on the Sunday morning and landed at the Market Street wharf.4.What features do you find in the style of the above selection?It is the pattern of Puritan simplicity, directness, and concision(言简意赅). The narrative is lucid(易懂的), the structure is simple, the imagery is homely(朴素的).Unit 2 Edgar Allen PoeQuestions1.Who is the narrator? What wrong does he want to redress?Montresor.Fortunato,one of wine experts insulted him, so he wanted to murder him.2.What is the pretext he uses to lure Fortunato to his wine cellar?He baits Fortunato by telling him he has obtained what he believes to be a cask of Amontillado a rare and valuable sherry wine.Fortunato is anxious to determine whether or not it is truly Amontillado, so he goes to the vault with Montresor.3.What happens to Fortunato in the end?He was walled up alive behind bricks in a wine cellar.4.Describe briefly how Poe characterizes Montresor and Fortunato as contrasts?Poe uses color imagery to characterize them. Montresor face is covered in a black silk mask, In contrast, Fortunato dresses the motley-colored costume of the court fool, who gets literally and tragically fooled by Montresor's masked motives.The color schemes here represent the irony of Fortunato's death sentence.Through the acts, words, and thoughts of Fortunato,we know He is greedy, he was lured into the dark and somber vaults just because a cask of Amontillado.This is also due to his bad habit of bibulosity(酗酒）. He lost himself on hearing the wine.At the same time, he was cheated by his enemy, which reflected his ignorance.When he heard the pretended compliment from Montresor, he became very boastful and arrogant.He was easily confused by the superficial phenomena and failed to watch out for others. He couldn’t tolerate that others were stronger than him.For example, Montresor always stimulated him with Luchresi who was good at connoisseur（鉴赏）in wine. Under the impulse of vanity, he fell into Montreso r’s terrible trap.In fact, he was careless and foolish and didn’t find that the danger was approaching him.He looked down upon Montresor and others.He didn’t realize his foolishness until the death was coming.Talking from the appearance, Monstresor was a well-educated and “kind” businessman.He enjoyed the honor and respect in the city. But in fact, he was an evil and awful person.His inner feelings were so cruel that they even made people tremble.Under his rich appearance was the dirty soul and despicable character.We couldn’t see any glorious virtues in his mind. Instead, his heart was cold and dark.It was the revenge that threw Montresor into the deep evil valley.unit 4 Nathaniel HawthorneQuestions :1.Why is the prison the setting of Chapter 1 ?No matter how optimistic the founders of new colonies may be, they are quick to establish a prison and a cemetery in their “Utopia,” for they know that misbehavior, evil, and death are unavoidable.This belief fits into the larger Puritan doctrine, which puts heavy emphasis on the idea of original sin—the notion that all people are born sinners because of the initial transgressions of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. he is therefore using the prison building to represent the crime and the punishment which are aspect of civilized lifeWhat is the implication of the description of the roses?The rosebush symbolizes the ability of nature to endure and outlast man's activities.The narrator suggests that roses offer a reminder of Nature's kindness to the condemned; for his tale, he says, it will provide either a “sweet moral blossom” or else some relief in the face of unrelenting sorrow and gloom.2.Describe the appearance of Hester Prynne and the attitude of the people towards her.The second paragraph on page 30.The crowd in front of the jail is a mixture of men and women, all maintaining severe looks of disapproval. Several of the women begin to discuss Hester Prynne, and they soon vow that Hester would not have received such a light sentence for her crime if they had been the judges.One woman, the ugliest of the group, goes so far as to advocate death for Hester.3.What has happened to Hester?As a young woman, Hester married an elderly scholar, Chillingworth, who sent her ahead to America to live.While waiting for him, she had an affair with a Puritan minister named Dimmesdale, after which she gave birth to Pearl.The scarlet letter is her punishment for her sin and her secrecy.Why does she make the embroidery of the letter A so elaborate?It seems to declare that she is proud, rather than ashamed, of her sin.In reality, however, Hester simply accepts the “sin” and its symbol as part of herself, just as she accepts her child.And although she can hardly believe her present “realities,” she takes them as they are rather thanresisting them or trying to atone for them.How does this tell us about her character?Throughout The Scarlet Letter Hester is portrayed as an intelligent, capable. It is the extraordinary circumstances shaping her that make her such an important figure.Unit5 Herman MelvilleQuestions1.What are the stories Ismael tells about Moby Dick?Ishmael compares the legend of Moby Dick to his experience of the whale.He notes that sperm whale attacks have increased recently and that superstitious sailors have come to regard these attacks as having an intelligent, even supernatural origin.In particular, wild rumors about Moby Dick circulate among whalemen, suggesting that he can be in more than one place at the same time and that he is immortal. Ishmael remarks that even the wildest of rumors usually contains some truth.Whales, for instance, have been known to travel with remarkable speed from the Atlantic to the Pacific; thus, it is possible for a whale to be caught in the Pacific with the harpoons of a Greenland ship in it. Moby Dick, who has defied capture numerous times, exhibits an “intelligent malignity”（狠毒）in his attacks on men2.Why does Ahab react so violently against the white whale?First, he lost one of his legs because of the white whale.Second,He considers Moby Dick the embodiment of evil in the world, and he pursues the White Whale，because he believes it his inescapable fate to destroy this evil.Ishmael suggests that Ahab is “crazy”and call him “a raving lunatic.” Do you agree with him? Why or why not?Ishmael describes Ahab as mad in his narration, and it does indeed seem mad to try to fight the forces of nature or God.3.What narrative features can you find in the selected chapter?In the selected charpter, Melville employed the technique of multiple view of his narrative to portray Moby Dick to achieve the effect of ambiguity and let readers judge the meaning.Unit 6 Henry David ThoreauQuestions1.Where indeed did Thoreau live, both at a physical level and at a spiritual level?He lived in a cabin on Walden Pond, which belonged to Emerson’s property.2.Had Thoreau ever bought a farm? Why did he enjoy the act of buying?No, he hadn’t.He avoided purchasing a farm because it would inevitably tie him down financially and complicate his life. Thoreau didn’t see the acquisition of wealth as the goal for human existence, he saw the goal of lif e to bean exploration of the mind and of the magnificent world around us.He regarded the places as an existence free of obligations and full of leisure.3.Is it significant that Thoreau mentioned the Fourth of July as the day on which he began to stay in the woods? Why?Yes, it is.Because The Fourth of July is known as Independence Day,the birthday ot the United States.Here Thoreau uses the day to express his beginning of regeneration at Walden.It also means a symbol of his conquest of being.4.How could you answer the question Thoreau asked at the end of this selection?Unit 7 19th Century American Poets1. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow(1) I Shot an Arrow…1. Why did the speaker lose sight of his arrow and song?The arrow flies too swiftly and too far away to be seen by the speaker; whereas the song is naturally invisible.2. In what circumstances did he find them again?He finds them unexpectedly years later from the trunk of a tree and the heart of a friend.3. What do arrow and song stand for in this poem?The images of arrow and song here may stand for friendship.(2) A Psalm of Life1. What kind of person is the speaker of this poem?The speaker is a man of action, always optimistic and cheerful, trying to achieve as much as possible in the short span of life.2. According to the poem, how should our lives be led to overcome the fact that each day brings us nearer to death?We should work harder and live happier.3. Interpret the metaphor of "Footprints on the sand of time" (line 28).The metaphor refers to human deeds in real life.2. Walt Whitman(1)One's Self I Sing1. What is the significance of singing about one's self?It is an exaltation of the individual spirit, which is typical of American people.2. What is the difference between physiology and physiognomy?Physiology is a science that deals with the functions and life process of human beings, whereas physiognomy refers to an art of judging character from contours of face itself or the appearance of a person.3. What does Whitman mean by the term of "the Modern Man"?He means that a man should be free from any prejudice and pride, totally different from the traditional one, that is full of bias.(3) O Captain! My Captain!1. Why is the word "Captain" capitalized throughout the poem?In this poem the word “Captain” specially refers to Abraham Lincoln, president of the United States. 2. What overall metaphor does the poet employ in this poem?Life is a journey.3. Why do people on the shores exult and bells ring, while the speaker remains so sad?They welcome the ship returning from its hard trip, whereas the speaker is sad because the captain fails to receive his own honor.3.Emily Dickinson(1) To Make a Prairie …1. What things are needed to "make" a prairie? In what sense can one really do it?Some grass and insects and small animals. People can make a prairie with their imagination.2. How can "revery alone" create a prairie?The prairie stays in one's mind.(2) Success Is Counted Sweetest1. Why is success "counted sweetest by those who ne'er succeed"?Those who have tasted the bitterness of failure would have a keener desire for success.2. Who are "the purple host"?The so-called successful people in the world.3. Who is "he" in the last stanza?Anyone who is pursuing his success.(3) I'm Nobody!1. Who are the "pair of us" and "they" in this poem? The "pair of us" refers to the speaker in the poem and the reader, and "they" refers to the public, especially those in power.2. What does "an admiring bog" really mean?" (line 28).It Implies the vain and empty common people, who are always admiring and pursuing the celebrities.3. What is the theme of this poem?The real admirable life is a secluded and common one.4. Do you want to be "nobody" or "somebody"? Explain your reasons.Different persons would have different answers to this question. Personally, I prefer to be nobody. Unit 8 Mark TwainQuestions1: Why do you think Mr.Wheeler is so eager to tell these stories?From Mr.Wheeler’s behaviors and contents of his narration we can know he is so eager to tell these stories.First, when "I" asked him to tell "me" something about W.Smiley, he “ backed me into a corner and blockaded me with his chair, and then s at down and reeled off the narrative”. And during the process of telling his stories, he never paid any attention to others'response to his story and just went on telling what amused him. At last when the listener felt boring and wanted to leave, Mr.Wheeler even didn't notice it and still asked him to sit there listening to him.Question2: Does his audience share his enthusiasm in telling the stories? No. the audience does not show any interest in Mr.Wheeler’ stories. In fact, the narrator was very feveris h about his stories, but ,in the eyes of the listener,the stories were very boring and had nothing to do with his preoccupation. As an educated man, the listener couldn't understand the way of laborers for joy, and he would never bother himself to understa nd it. So after the long time of Mr.Wheeler’ solo narration and when the audience got a chance, he fled away.Question3: Do you think the narrator and his listener ever suspect the presence of humor? 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 "wihout 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 .Unit 14 F·Scott Fitzgerald1.Do you think Gatsby deserves to be called “the great”? Why?（1）I think it is too complicated 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 vis ible from West Egg lawn represents Gatsby’s unattainable dream. Although the color itself can be seen as hope a nd bright future, Gatsby’s quest for Daisy back is doomed to be impossible. Daisy lived in ―a material world without being real, where poor ghost s, breathing dream like air‖.（2）After five years when Gatsby met Daisy again, the miracle Daisy had lost her original glory. Therefore, there is no delaying that Gatsby’s dream would not come 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 reflection 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 come. 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. B oth 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.Unit 16 Ernest Hemingway1. How do you interpret the irony of the title after reading the story?（1）The title ―A Clean Well-Lighted Place‖refers to the caféin the text. The caféwas very clean and well- lighted. From the literary meaning, we may feel this place was very warm and comfortable, 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 comfort.（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 overcome 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 overcome nada. On the contrary, the younger waiter had the 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.Unit 17 20th -Century American Poets1. Ezra Pound In A Station of the Metro1. Why does the poet call the faces of pedestrians "apparition"?These pedestrians are all walking in a hurry amidst the drizzling rain.2. What do "petals" and "bough" stand for? Petals refer to the faces while the bough stands for the floating crowd.2. Wallace Stevens Anecdote of the Jar1. What does the jar in poem symbolize? Why does the speaker place it on top of a hill? The jar here symbolizes a certain perspective on looking at this world. If the perspective of the viewing is creative and unique, it will change the conventional order of the old world. When a new perspective comes out, it will certainly hold attention from the rest.2. The jar is "round" and "of a port in air," meaning that it has a stately importance. What effect does it have on surroundings when placed on the ground? Maybe the round jar assumes the air of a domineering figure, which helps to form a certain order out of the disordered surrounding.3. How did the wilderness of Tennessee characterized? What words or phrases does the poet use to describe it? Tennessee seems to a place full of life and energy. “Slovenly,” “sprawl” and “wild” are some of the words used to describe the place. (See Anecdote of the Jar )4.Robert Frost(1)Fire and Ice1. What are the symbolic meanings of fire in this poem? Fire symbolizes natural disaster, human passion, as well as war.2. Why does the speaker say that ice is also great for destruction? Explain what ice stands for here. Ice, oppose to fire, is also a dreadful natural disaster in this world, and ice is always related to indifference, coldness, hatred, and the other negative sentiments of human beings.3. What is your opinion about fire and ice? Which one is more destructive? Both fire and ice can destroy this beautiful world if they are beyond control of human beings. Therefore we should be open-minded and reduce our prejudice and pride so as to keep this world in peace.(2)Stopping By Woods On a Snowy Evening1. In your opinion, what was the reason that made the speaker stop by the woods on a snowy evening? The poet was deeply attracted by the natural beauty of the scene at that very moment.2. Why did the horse give the harness bell a shake? The horse grew impatient by stopping in the middle of the dark, cold woods at midnight. It was eager to go home.3. Why couldn't the speaker stay longer by the woods to appreciate its mysterious beauty? He realized that it was late at night and he would have to hurry home to get some food and sleep, because the next morning he would have a lot of work to do.4. What is the effect of repetition in the last two lines? The refrain-like repetition in the last two lines reminds the reader a simple fact of life: whatever happens, one must go forward in the journey of his or her life.(3) The Road Not Taken1. What is the speaker's initial response to the divergence of the two roads? The speaker is at a loss which road he should choose, and he feels sorry that he cannot explore both roads at the same time.2. Describe the similarities and differences of these two roads. Which one does the speaker take? Two roads are similar except one of them is more “grassy,” which implies that it is less traveled by pe ople. The speaker prefers the less traveled one, because he likes adventure.3. What might the two roads stand for in the speaker's mind? One road stands for the traditional one and the other is unconventional one and full of challenges and difficulties. To follow other people's footsteps or to open a new road for himself is really not an easy decision for us to make in our lives.Unit22 Allen GinsbergAll through the poem, the speaker is addressing to Walt Whitman. Is this poem about Walt Whitman or about modern America?-----from Allen Ginsberg A Supermarket in CaliforniaThe author in this poem wanted to emphasis his theme about showing his respect to the passed age and showing his worry about the corrupt in the part of spirit and society. As we all know, Walt Whitman’s poetry was a revolution in American literature can be seen in the first publication of Leaves of Grass in 1855. His poetry is “free verse” in that the lack of meter and rhyme is known as his major technical innovation. Allen Ginsberg had a highly praise on him. As the movement of Beat Generation, Allen Ginsberg used poetry as weapon to express his own understanding of Beat---beatific and beat down.In this poem, the author wrote the sentence “shopping for images”. What he wanted t o buy is the things which were listed by Walt Whitman many years ago. What is in the supermarket? The fresh fruits on the shelf fit the needs of customers and the families. We across a strange statement: shopping for images. How can we shop for images? What he refers to us is still the pure image---“dreaming of your enumerations”. The things on the shelf are the images of languages in Walt Whitman’s poetry. The language in Walt Whitman’s poetry and the spirit in his poetry are the things which Allen Ginsber g dreamed of. A young America which is full of energy is worth being praised. Allen Ginsberg found the song of himself, the song full of courage and the echo of the real world among Walt Whitman’s work. The meaning of age in this poem is that the nation or the race opens the age which belongs to them and。
陶洁版 美国文学选读_第三版_课后习题答案.doc
美国文学选读第三版课后习题答案陶洁(部分)Unit 1 Benjamin FranklinQuestions1.Why did Franklin write his Autobiography?Franklin says that because his son may wish to know about his life, he is taking his one week vacation in the English countryside to record his past. He also says that he has enjoyed his life and would like to repeat it2.What made Franklin decide to leave the brother to whom he had been apprenticed?His brother was passionate, and had often beaten him. The aversion to arbitrary power that has stuck to him through his whole life .After a brush with the law, Franklin left his brother.3.How did he arrive in Philadephia?First he set out in a boat for Amboy, the boat dropped him off about 50 miles from Burlington, the next day he reached Burlington on foot, in Burlington he found a boat which was going towards Philadelphia, he arrived there about eight or nine o’clock, on the Sunday morning and landed at the Market Streetwharf.4.What features do you find in the style of the above selection? It is the pattern of Puritan simplicity, directness, and concision(言简意赅). The narrative is lucid(易懂的), the structure is simple, the imagery is homely(朴素的).Unit 2 Edgar Allen Poe1.Who is the narrator? What wrong does he want to redress? Montresor.Fortunato, one of wine experts insulted him, so he wanted to murder him.2.What is the pretext he uses to lure Fortunato to his wine cellar?He baits Fortunato by telling him he has obtained what he believes to be a cask of Amontillado a rare and valuable sherry wine.Fortunato is anxious to determine whether or not it is truly Amontillado, so he goes to the vault with Montresor.3.What happens to Fortunato in the end?He was walled up alive behind bricks in a wine cellar.4.Describe briefly how Poe characterizes Montresor and Fortunato as contrasts?Poe uses color imagery to characterize them. Montresor face is covered in a black silk mask, In contrast, Fortunato dresses the motley-colored costume of the court fool, who gets literally and tragically fooled by Montresor's masked motives.The color schemes here represent the irony of Fortunato's death sentence.Through the acts, words, and thoughts of Fortunato,we know He is greedy, he was lured into the dark and somber vaults just because a cask of Amontillado.This is also due to his bad habit of bibulosity(酗酒）. He lost himself on hearing the wine.At the same time, he was cheated by his enemy, which reflected his ignorance.When he heard the pretended compliment from Montresor, he became very boastful and arrogant.He was easily confused by the superficial phenomena and failed to watch out for others. He couldn’t tolerate that others werestronger than him.For example, Montresor always stimulated him with Luchresi who was good at connoisseur（鉴赏）in wine.Under the impulse of vanity, he fell into Montreso r’s terrible trap.In fact, he was careless and foolish and didn’t find that the danger was approaching him.He looked down upon Montresor and others.He didn’t realize his foolishness until the death was coming. Talking from the appearance, Monstresor was a well-educated and “kind” businessman.He enjoyed the honor and respect in the city. But in fact, he was an evil and awful person.His inner feelings were so cruel that they even made people tremble.Under his rich appearance was the dirty soul and despicable character.We couldn’t see any glorious virtues in his mind. Instead, his heart was cold and dark.It was the revenge that threw Montresor into the deep evil valley.unit 4 Nathaniel Hawthorne1.Why is the prison the setting of Chapter 1 ?No matter how optimistic the founders of new colonies may be, they are quick to establish a prison and a cemetery in their “Utopia,” for they know that misbehavior, evil, and death are unavoidable.This belief fits into the larger Puritan doctrine, which puts heavy emphasis on the idea of original sin—the notion that all people are born sinners because of the initial transgressions of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. he is therefore using the prison building to represent the crime and the punishment which are aspect of civilized lifeWhat is the implication of the description of the roses?The rosebush symbolizes the ability of nature to endure and outlast man's activities.The narrator suggests that roses offer a reminder of Nature's kindness to the condemned; for his tale, he says, it will provide either a “sweet moral blossom” or else some relief in the face of unrelenting sorrow and gloom.2.Describe the appearance of Hester Prynne and the attitude of the people towards her.The second paragraph on page 30.The crowd in front of the jail is a mixture of men and women, all maintaining severe looks of disapproval.Several of the women begin to discuss Hester Prynne, and they soon vow that Hester would not have received such a light sentence for her crime if they had been the judges.One woman, the ugliest of the group, goes so far as to advocate death for Hester.3.What has happened to Hester?As a young woman, Hester married an elderly scholar, Chillingworth, who sent her ahead to America to live.While waiting for him, she had an affair with a Puritan minister named Dimmesdale, after which she gave birth to Pearl.The scarlet letter is her punishment for her sin and her secrecy. Why does she make the embroidery of the letter A so elaborate? It seems to declare that she is proud, rather than ashamed, of her sin.In reality, however, Hester simply accepts the “sin” and its symbol as part of herself, just as she accepts her child.And although she can hardly believe her present “realities,” she takes them as they are rather than resisting them or trying toatone for them.How does this tell us about her character?Throughout The Scarlet Letter Hester is portrayed as an intelligent, capable. It is the extraordinary circumstances shaping her that make her such an important figure.Unit5 Herman Melville1.What are the stories Ismael tells about Moby Dick? Ishmael compares the legend of Moby Dick to his experience of the whale.He notes that sperm whale attacks have increased recently and that superstitious sailors have come to regard these attacks as having an intelligent, even supernatural origin.In particular, wild rumors about Moby Dick circulate among whalemen, suggesting that he can be in more than one place at the same time and that he is immortal. Ishmael remarks that even the wildest of rumors usually contains some truth. Whales, for instance, have been known to travel with remarkable speed from the Atlantic to the Pacific; thus, it is possible for a whale to be caught in the Pacific with the harpoons of a Greenland ship in it.Moby Dick, who has defied capture numerous times, exhibits an “intelligent malignity”（狠毒）in his attacks on men2.Why does Ahab react so violently against the white whale? First, he lost one of his legs because of the white whale. Second,He considers Moby Dick the embodiment of evil in the world, and he pursues the White Whale，because he believes it his inescapable fate to destroy this evil.Ishmael suggests that Ahab is “crazy”and call him “a raving lunatic.” Do you agree with him? Why or why not?Ishmael describes Ahab as mad in his narration, and it does indeed seem mad to try to fight the forces of nature or God.3. What narrative features can you find in the selected chapter? In the selected charpter, Melville employed the technique of multiple view of his narrative to portray Moby Dick to achieve the effect of ambiguity and let readers judge the meaning.Unit 6 Henry David Thoreau1.Where indeed did Thoreau live, both at a physical level and ata spiritual level?He lived in a cabin on Walden Pond, which belonged to Emerson’s property.2.Had Thoreau ever bought a farm? Why did he enjoy the act of buying?No, he hadn’t.He avoided purchasing a farm because it would inevitably tie him down financially and complicate his life.Thoreau didn’t see the acquisition of wealth as the goal for human existence, he saw the goal of life to be an exploration of the mind and of the magnificent world around us.He regarded the places as an existence free of obligations and full of leisure.3.Is it significant that Thoreau mentioned the Fourth of July as the day on which he began to stay in the woods? Why? Yes, it is.Because The Fourth of July is known as Independence Day,the birthday ot the United States.Here Thoreau uses the day to express his beginningof regeneration at Walden.It also means a symbol of his conquest of being.4.How could you answer the question Thoreau asked at the end of this selection?Unit 7 19th Century American Poets1. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow(1) I Shot an Arrow…1. Why did the speaker lose sight of his arrow and song? The arrow flies too swiftly and too far away to be seen by the speaker; whereas the song is naturally invisible.2. In what circumstances did he find them again?He finds them unexpectedly years later from the trunk of a tree and the heart of a friend.3. What do arrow and song stand for in this poem?The images of arrow and song here may stand for friendship.(2) A Psalm of Life1. What kind of person is the speaker of this poem?The speaker is a man of action, always optimistic and cheerful, trying to achieve as much as possible in the short span of life.2. According to the poem, how should our lives be led to overcome the fact that each day brings us nearer to death? We should work harder and live happier.3. Interpret the metaphor of "Footprints on the sand of time" (line 28).The metaphor refers to human deeds in real life.2. Walt Whitman(1)One's Self I Sing1. What is the significance of singing about one's self?It is an exaltation of the individual spirit, which is typical of American people.2. What is the difference between physiology and physiognomy?Physiology is a science that deals with the functions and life process of human beings, whereas physiognomy refers to an art of judging character from contours of face itself or the appearance of a person.3. What does Whitman mean by the term of "the Modern Man"? He means that a man should be free from any prejudice and pride, totally different from the traditional one, that is full of bias.(3) O Captain! My Captain!1. Why is the word "Captain" capitalized throughout the poem?In this poem the word “Captain” specially refers to Abraham Lincoln, president of the United States.2. What overall metaphor does the poet employ in this poem? Life is a journey.3. Why do people on the shores exult and bells ring, while the speaker remains so sad?They welcome the ship returning from its hard trip, whereas the speaker is sad because the captain fails to receive his own honor.3.Emily Dickinson(1) To Make a Prairie …1. What things are needed to "make" a prairie? In what sense can one really do it?Some grass and insects and small animals. People can make a prairie with their imagination.2. How can "revery alone" create a prairie?The prairie stays in one's mind.(2) Success Is Counted Sweetest1. Why is success "counted sweetest by those who ne'er succeed"?Those who have tasted the bitterness of failure would have a keener desire for success.2. Who are "the purple host"?The so-called successful people in the world.3. Who is "he" in the last stanza?Anyone who is pursuing his success.(3) I'm Nobody!1. Who are the "pair of us" and "they" in this poem? The "pair of us" refers to the speaker in the poem and the reader, and "they" refers to the public, especially those in power.2. What does "an admiring bog" really mean?" (line 28).It Implies the vain and empty common people, who are always admiring and pursuing the celebrities.3. What is the theme of this poem?The real admirable life is a secluded and common one.4. Do you want to be "nobody" or "somebody"? Explain your reasons.Different persons would have different answers to this question. Personally, I prefer to be nobody.Unit 8 Mark Twain1: Why do you think Mr.Wheeler is so eager to tell these stories?From Mr.Wheeler’s behaviors and contents of his narration we can know he is so eager to tell these stories.First, when "I" asked him to tell "me" something about W.Smiley, he “ backed me into a corner and blockaded me with his chair, and then sat down a nd reeled off the narrative”. And during the process of telling his stories, he never paid any attention to others'response to his story and just went on telling what amused him. At last when the listener felt boring and wanted toleave, Mr.Wheeler even didn't notice it and still asked him to sit there listening to him.2: Does his audience share his enthusiasm in telling the stories? No. the audience does not show any interest in Mr.Wheeler’ stories. In fact, the narrator was very feverish about his stories, but ,in the eyes of the listener,the stories were very boring and had nothing to do with his preoccupation. As an educated man, the listener couldn't understand the way of laborers for joy, and he would never bother himself to understand it. So after the long time of Mr.Wheeler’ solo narration and when the audience got a chance, he fled away.3: Do you think the narrator and his listener ever suspect the presence of humor? 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 "wihout 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 bekind 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 .Unit 14 F·Scott Fitzgerald1.Do you think Gatsby deserves to be called “the great”? Why?（1）I think it is too complicated 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 realizingthat 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 a nd 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, there is no delaying that Gatsby’s dream would not come 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 reflection 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’snumerous 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 come. 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. B oth 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.Unit 16 Ernest Hemingway1. How do you interpret the irony of the title after reading the story?（1）The title ―A Clean Well-Lighted Place‖refers to the caf éin the text. The caféwas very clean and well- lighted. From the literary meaning, we may feel this place was very warm and comfortable, 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 comfort.（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 thinkso.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 overcome 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 imp ossible to avoid nada in one’s whole life. The only thing hecan 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 overcome nada. On the contrary, the younger waiter had the 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.Unit 17 20th -Century American Poets1. Ezra Pound In A Station of the Metro1. Why does the poet call the faces of pedestrians "apparition"?These pedestrians are all walking in a hurry amidst the drizzling rain.2. What do "petals" and "bough" stand for? Petals refer to the faces while the bough stands for the floating crowd.2. Wallace Stevens Anecdote of the Jar1. What does the jar in poem symbolize? Why does the speaker place it on top of a hill? The jar here symbolizes a certainperspective on looking at this world. If the perspective of the viewing is creative and unique, it will change the conventional order of the old world. When a new perspective comes out, it will certainly hold attention from the rest.2. The jar is "round" and "of a port in air," meaning that it has a stately importance. What effect does it have on surroundings when placed on the ground? Maybe the round jar assumes the air of a domineering figure, which helps to form a certain order out of the disordered surrounding.3. How did the wilderness of Tennessee characterized? What words or phrases does the poet use to describe it? Tennessee seems to a place full of life and energy. “Slovenly,” “sprawl” and “wild” are some of the words used to describe the place. (See Anecdote of the Jar )4.Robert Frost(1)Fire and Ice1. What are the symbolic meanings of fire in this poem? Fire symbolizes natural disaster, human passion, as well as war.2. Why does the speaker say that ice is also great for destruction? Explain what ice stands for here. Ice, oppose to fire, is also a dreadful natural disaster in this world, and ice is always related to indifference, coldness, hatred, and the other negative sentiments of human beings.3. What is your opinion about fire and ice? Which one is more destructive? Both fire and ice can destroy this beautiful world if they are beyond control of human beings. Therefore we should be open-minded and reduce our prejudice and pride so as to keep this world in peace.(2)Stopping By Woods On a Snowy Evening1. In your opinion, what was the reason that made the speaker stop by the woods on a snowy evening? The poet was deeply attracted by the natural beauty of the scene at that very moment.2. Why did the horse give the harness bell a shake? The horse grew impatient by stopping in the middle of the dark, cold woods at midnight. It was eager to go home.3. Why couldn't the speaker stay longer by the woods to appreciate its mysterious beauty? He realized that it was lateat night and he would have to hurry home to get some food and sleep, because the next morning he would have a lot of work to do.4. What is the effect of repetition in the last two lines? The refrain-like repetition in the last two lines reminds the reader a simple fact of life: whatever happens, one must go forward in the journey of his or her life.(3) The Road Not Taken1. What is the speaker's initial response to the divergence of the two roads? The speaker is at a loss which road he should choose, and he feels sorry that he cannot explore both roads at the same time.2. Describe the similarities and differences of these two roads. Which one does the speaker take? Two roads are similar except one of them is more “grassy,” which implies that it is less traveled by people. The speaker prefers the less traveled one, because he likes adventure.3. What might the two roads stand for in the speaker's mind? One road stands for the traditional one and the other is unconventional one and full of challenges and difficulties. Tofollow other people's footsteps or to open a new road for himself is really not an easy decision for us to make in our lives.Unit22 Allen GinsbergAll through the poem, the speaker is addressing to Walt Whitman. Is this poem about Walt Whitman or about modern America?-----from Allen Ginsberg A Supermarket in CaliforniaThe author in this poem wanted to emphasis his theme about showing his respect to the passed age and showing his worry about the corrupt in the part of spirit and society. As we all know, Walt Whitman’s poetry was a revolution in American literature can be seen in the first publication of Leaves of Grass in 1855. His poetry is “free verse” in that the lack of meter and rhyme is known as his major technical innovation. Allen Ginsberg had a highly praise on him. As the movement of Beat Generation, Allen Ginsberg used poetry as weapon to express his own understanding of Beat---beatific and beat down.In this poem, the author wrote the sentence “shopping for images”. What he wanted t o buy is the things which were listed by Walt Whitman many years ago. What is in the supermarket? The fresh fruits on the shelf fit the needs of customers and the families. We across a strange statement: shopping for images. How can we shop for images? What he refers to us is still the pure image---“dreaming of your enumerations”. The things on the shelf are the images of languages in Walt Whitman’s poetry. The language in Walt Whitman’s poetry and the spirit in his poetry are the things which Allen Ginsberg dreamed of. A young America which is full of energy is worth being praised. Allen Ginsberg found the song of himself, the song full of courage and the echo of the real world among Walt Whitman’s work. The meaning of age in this poem is that the nation or the race opens the age which belongs to them and creates the history of them own. To a certain extend, the age singer equals the national singer. The world is the world which has its features of timing and events. This means that the link of combining the world is not the same as the goods on the shelf but the things which contain the world and individual spirits.。
EdgerAllenPoe
EdgerAllenPoeLiterary Giant: Edgar Allen PoeRalph Waldo Emerson called him the jingle man, Mark Twain said that his prose was unreadable, and Henry James felt that a taste for his work was the mark of a second-rate sensibility. He is the literary giant in America and also the world, Edgar Allen Poe.1. General introduction about Edger Allen PoeEdgar Allen Poe was an American writer, poet, editor and literary critic, considered part of the American Romantic Movement. He was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective-fiction genre. And also he was the first well-known American writer to try to earn a living through writing alone, which resulting in a financially difficult life and career.2. Life and experienceEdgar Allen Pop lived a roundabout life. From his born to his death he lived so arduously.2.1 Early lifeHe was born in 1809 and lost his parents when he was still very small, then adopted by John Allan, a wealthy merchant of Virginia. For a brief period Poe was happy with the Allen family, but friction soon began to develop between the boy and his foster father.2.2 College and Military careerPop enter the University of Virginia, but left a short time of law as Allen wished. After a brief enlistment in the army, Pop accepted an appointment toWest Point, which Allen had helped to arrange. Pop was discharged less than a year later, in 1831, for reasons that are still not completely clear. The episode marked the final break between Pop and the Allan.By 1831, Poe had already published three version of his early poetry.Poe was first stationed at Boston's Fort Independence while in the army.2.3 Publishing careerThe year from 1837 to 1845 were hard, yet in spirit of shifting jobs and chronic poverty, Pop managed to write some of his most famous stories during this period. In 1838, he published his one full-length novel, the narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym. And in 1841, his another work the murders in the rue morgue, an ingenious detective story, became the ancestor of the genre, influencing many writers including Conan Doyle. The Raven was published in 1845 as the title poem of a collection. The poem ―the raven‖ was an immediate success and has remained one of his most enduring works. He also worked as editor of a number of magazines. Through his essays and reviews, Pop had also gained stature as a literary critic. Yet none of his successes brought him security. Misfortune spoiled every opportunity and frustrated his dream of starting his own magazine.2.3 Poe‘s DeathAt 27, he married his 13-year-old cousin, whose death in 1847 left him inconsolable and bitterer with life than ever. During the last two years of his life, Poe was seriously ill--perhaps with a brain lesion--and drinking steadily. On Election Day, October 3, 1949, he was found senseless near a polling place. And he was taken to a hospital, he died on October 7, ―of congestion of the brain.‖3. Poe's achievement3.1 Poe's best known fiction works are Gothic, a genre he followed toappease the public taste .Many of his works are generally considered part of the dark romanticism genre, a literary reaction to transcendentalism, which Poe strongly disliked. So the themes of his works are about the death–predominant theme ―Poe is not interested in anything alive. Everything in Poe‘s writings is dead.‖ Another theme is the horror and the last one is negative thoughts of science.3.2 Firstly, Poe was mostly recognized as a literary critic. Secondly, Poe was also known as a writer of fiction and became one of the first American authors of the 19th century to become more popular in Europe than in the United States. Thirdly, Poe's early detective fiction tales laid the groundwork for future detectives in literature.No writer has the ability to evoke a sense of horror and dread more effectively than Edgar Allan Poe.He has always advocated ―art for art ‖ and a great writer offiction, a poet of the first rank, and a critic of insight.3.3 Fellow critic James Russell Lowell called him "the most discriminating, philosophical, and fearless critic upon imaginative works who has written in America", though he questioned if he occasionally used prussic acid instead of ink.4. Comprehension of Edger Allen PopEdger Allen Pop is a contentious person in the literary field. Different people have different opinions. People who endure different backgrounds will have different understanding of him and his works.4.1 Positive AssessmentEdgar Allen Pop is a giant of literature. Many famous people have a high appraisal to him. Bernard Shaw says that "America has produced two great writers —— Edgar Allan Poe and Mark Twain." ―He is a sitting of the anchor of American literature, he will be able to provide a solid foundation of American literature alone." which is the comment of Carlos.4.2 Negative AssessmentNevertheless there are also some negative assessments to him. For example Poe?s writing was the equivalent of wearing a diamond ring on every fingerand that his poetry tried to be ―too poetical‖ and ―falls into vulgarity.‖ And Almost any moral principles, there is no concrete things and their heroism and no more simple soul . Edgar‘s poetry showed great skill and beauty. The rhythm of the night , a leopard cannot change the subject of unspoken preference, each page of a domestic----the general background.4.3 You may say he is a devil or he is a angel. However, no matter how you definite his character we must realize that his life and background made him whom he is. We can not ignore the inherent genetic and the surrounding of his whole life. Especially the body and mind damages in his old age.He grew up without the accompany of parents so he was not satisfied with the warmth ansd security which made him a sensitive person. For him the real world is unbearable so he indulge in writing and drinking. He can felt satisfication and press his emotion. But he is neither a person who escape from the reality nor a dreaming person. We can see that he is a person who strive for reality from his positive attitude towards writing. His review article are strong proofs of his personality. For that only keep a sober-mind can he write so much clear, logical, and thoroughly works.When we want to describe a person we shoule notice that nobody is perfect. Though he is a great one he also has his fault. But wu must recognise him objectively. Just for Edgar Allen Pop, actually he has some negative assessments but he is really a giant in the American literature. As an American writer, poet, editor and literary critic, he was considered part of the American Romantic Movement. He was one of the earliest American practitioners of the short story and is considered the inventor of the detective-fiction genre. And also he was the first well-known American writerto try to earn a living through writing alone. Poe was mostly recognized as a literary critic. Poe was also known as a writer of fiction and became one of the first American authors of the 19th century to become more popular in Europe than in the United States. Poe's early detective fiction tales laid the groundwork for future detectives in literature.No writer has the ability to evoke a sense of horror and dread more effectively than Edgar Allan Poe.He has always advocated ―art for art‖ and a great writer of fiction, a poet of the first rank, an d a critic of insight. These are all the demonstration of that Edger Allen Pop is a literary giant.My Future:I want to be a teacher after my graduation. I always work hard for my dream. The most important thing is the Teacher Certification and I will get it right now. And I am trying to develop my teaching skills. After I finish my college I will go back my hometown and to be a teacher in the junior high school in my hometown.Literary Giant: Edgar Allen Poe2009级英语宋⽉娇学号：19。
Lecture 4 Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)His life:•He was born as Edgar Poe in Boston; his parents died when he was young.•Poe was taken in by John and Frances Allan.•After spending a short period at the University of Virginia and briefly attempting a military career, Poe parted ways with the Allans.•He was the first well-known American writer to try to earn a living through writing alone, resulting in a financially difficult life and career .•In 1827, Poe's publishing career began humbly, with an anonymous collection of poems, Tamerlane and Other Poems.•In January 1845, Poe published his poem "The Raven" to instant success.•His wife died of tuberculosis two years later.•In 1849, at age 40, Poe died; the cause of his death is unknown.Poe’ s Short stories:•One of the earliest American practitioners of the short story•Best known for his tales of mystery and the macabre.•The inventor of the detective-fiction genre.•He believed that quality work should be brief and focus on a specific single effect. To that end, he believed that the writer should carefully calculate every sentiment and idea.The Cask of Amontillado :The story is set in a nameless Italian city in an unspecified year and concerns the deadly revenge taken by the narrator on a friend who he claims has insulted him.•The narrator has been irreparably insulted by his acquaintance, Fortunato. Angry over some unspecified insult, he seeks revenge.•He wants to exact this revenge, however, in a measured way, without placing himself at risk.•He decides to use Fortunato’s fondness for wine against him.•Then Montresor tells the story of the night that he took his revenge on Fortunato.•He plots to murder his friend during Carnival when the man is drunk, dizzy, and wearinga jester’s motley.•He baits Fortunato by telling him he has obtained what he believes to be a pipe of Amontillado (about 130 gallons), a rare and valuable sherry wine.•He claims he wants his friend’s expert opinion on the subject.•Fortunato goes with Montresor to his wine cellars of the latter’s palazzo, where they wander in the catacombs.•During their walk, Montresor mentions his family arms: a foot in a blue background crushing a snake whose fangs are embedded in the foot’s heel, with the motto “Nemo me impune lacessit”. (=No one attacks me with impunity).•When they come to a niche, Montresor tells his victim that the Amontillado is within.•Fortunato enters and, drunk and unsuspecting, does not resist as Montresor quickly chains him to the wall.•Montresor walls up the niche, entombing his friend alive.•In the last few sentences, Montresor reveals that it has been 50 years since the murder, hehas never been caught, and Fortunato’s body still hangs from its chains in the niche where he left it.•The murderer, seemingly unrepentant, ends the story by remarking: In pace requiescat (=May he rest in peace).•The mystery in the story is in Montresor’s motive for murder. Without a detective in the story, it is up to the reader to solve the mystery.•The enduring horror of the story is the fact of punishment without proof and the insanity of the narrator.•Poe uses Fortunato’s name symbolically, as an ironic device. Though his name means “the fortunate one”in Italian, Fortunato meets an unfortunate fate as the victim of Montresor’s revenge.•Fortunato adds to the irony of his name by wearing the costume of a court jester. While Fortunato plays in jest, Montresor sets out to fool him, with murderous results.•While the carnival usually indicates joyful occasion, now it can be murderously serious. •The carnival and the costumes suggest deception, falseness and presenting an innocent image, while hiding Montresor’s true nature.•The repeated allusions to the bones of Montresor’s family that line the vaults foreshadow the story’s descent into the underworld.•The two men’s underground travels are a metaphor for their trip to hell.The Style•The story features the dark side of human nature, set in eerie places. The catacombs definitely fit that description, and Montresor’s resolutely and calmly planned revenge fit the feature of exploring the darkness that humans are capable of.•It is also written in first-person, which allows the reader to get inside the narrator's head. This way, we know the sinister thoughts of Montresor. That first-person angle adds suspense.•The narrator’s voice and style is also very distinct; Montresor is a calculated, calm, unrepentant murderer, and it shows in his commentary.Questions:1.To build suspense in the story, Poe often employs foreshadowing. Please cite someexamples.2.Please explain some symbols used in the story.。
edgar_allan_poe_爱伦坡_美国文学选读
(1809-1849)
Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)
• I. Literary Status
• Pioneer of American Horror Tales, American Detective Tales, American Southern writings, American PsychoAnalytic fiction
• Editor, Poet and Professional literary critic
• II. Life and Career
• Born in an actor and actress’s family – his parents died when he was very young –adopted by a Virginia rich businessman John Allan – entered the Virginia University at 17 – West Point where he began to write poetry – then tales – editor of magazines.
正如尼安色建造的古船， 在芬芳馥郁的大海徐徐扬帆， 海伦，你的美丽与此相仿， 承载我这游子的疲乏厌倦， 送我重返故土的彼岸。
• The poet first mentioned Helen, the most famous beauty in Greek mythology. Then Poe compared himself to Odysseus, who wandered for ten years over the sea to get home. As Odysseus, Poe was persistent in his chasing after fine arts with the sincere belief that art, or beauty and truth, was the ultimate aim, the home, for the wandering poet; while Helen, the embodiment of ancient beauty, was the guider to that dreamland.
Lesson 4 Edgar Allen Poe 美国文学
II. Life and Career
• Poe 生在一个演员家庭，当Poe很小的时候他的父母就过世 了，由弗吉尼亚的商人 John Allan 收养。Poe 17岁进入弗吉 尼亚大学学习。他在西点军校任职期间开始写诗歌，神话 ，做过杂志的编辑 如《南方文学信使》，《格雷厄姆杂志 》等。
• At 27 he married his 13-year-old cousin Virginia who died very young in 1847. Poe 27岁时和他13岁的表妹结婚，他的表妹 太太很年轻就离开了人世，1847.
死去也是一个最诗意的主题。
• C. Purity: Poe is opposed to the heresy of the didactic and called for pure poetry. What he seems to be saying is that art lies not so much in what is being said as in the way it says it. • 纯正：Poe被认为是主流诗歌之外的一个异类，他认为艺 术并不在于它被说成该是艺术的样子。 • Besides, he stresses rhythm, defines true poetry as ―the rhythmical creation of beauty‖ and declares that ―music is the perfection of the soul, or ideas, of poetry.‖ Poe 强调诗歌的韵 律，他认为诗歌是音律创造的美，并称音乐使得灵魂，思 想，诗歌更完美。 • He cited his own poem ―The Raven‖ of 108 lines to show his aesthetics : a sense of melancholy over the death of a beloved beautiful young woman pervades the whole poem. • 他以自己的108行诗 《乌鸦》为例子，该诗歌整个气氛就 是哀伤– 作者喜欢的美丽姑娘死去，这一悲伤充满了整首 诗歌。
(完整word版)美国文学选读课后习题答案(word文档良心出品)
3.Is it significant that Thoreau mentioned the Fourth ofJuly as the day on which he began to stay in the woods?Why?
Yes, it is.Because The Fourth of July is known asIndependence Day,the birthdayofthe United States.HereThoreau uses the day to express his beginningof regeneration at Walden.It also means a symbol of hisconquest of being.
This belief fits into the larger Puritan doctrine, which puts heavy emphasis on the idea of original sin—the notion that all people are born sinners because of the initial transgressions of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. he is therefore using the prison building to represent the crime and the punishment which are aspect of civilized life. What is the implication of the description of the roses?The rosebush symbolizes the ability of nature to endure and outlast man's activities. The narrator suggests that roses offer a reminder of Nature's kindness to the condemned; for his tale, he says, it will provide either a “sweet moral blossom” or else some relief in the face of unrelenting sorrow and gloom.
美国文学欣赏Edgar_Allan_Poe PPT
• An unhappy youth: at 17 went to the University of Virginia but did not finish, an appointment to West Point but was dismissed less than a year later
大家有疑问的，可以询问和交流
可以互相讨论下，但要小声点
His position
Poe’s position in world literature is secure. His influence is world-wide in modern literature. His aesthetics and conscious craftsmanship, his attack on “the heresy of the didactic” and his call for “the rhythmical creation of beauty” have influenced French symbolism and the devotees of “art for art’s sake”. Poe is father of many things, one of which is psychoanalytic criticism, the other being the detective story.
Part II. Poe’s literary position
– Forerunner of western decadent literature – Forerunner of aesthetic literature – Explorer of abnormal psychology – Father of psychoanalytic criticism – Path-breaker of American detective novel – Father of modern short story
常耀信《美国文学简史》(第3版)章节题库-第七章至第八章【圣才出品】
第7章埃德加·爱伦·坡Ⅰ.Fill in the blanks.1.In consideration of the beauty of poems,_____concludes that“the death of a beautiful woman is unquestionably the most poetical topic in the world.”[天津外国语学院2007研]【答案】Edgar Allan Poe【解析】爱伦·坡认为，美的效应在于使灵魂激动而变得高尚；无论哪种美，其最高形式必然使敏感的灵魂悲泣。
因此，诗的基调应该是“忧郁”。
人最感到忧郁的事莫过于死，而最富于诗意的死莫过于心爱的年轻美女离世。
2._____is regarded as the father of psychoanalytic criticism and the detective story. [首师大2008研]【答案】Edgar Allan Poe【解析】爱伦·坡被认为是精神分析批评之父和侦探小说的鼻祖。
3._____is generally thought of as the true beginner of the short stories because he was the first writer who formulated poetics of the short stories.【答案】Edgar Allan Poe【解析】爱伦·坡被视作短篇小说的真正始祖因为他是第一个在小说中赋予了诗意的作家。
4._____is usually acknowledged as the originator of detective stories.He is also credited with developing many of the standard features of detective fiction.His detective M August Dupin of Murders in the Rue Morgue and The Purloined letter is the forerunner of a long line of fictional detectives who are eccentric and brilliant.【答案】Edgar Allan Poe【解析】爱伦·坡被视作侦探小说的鼻祖。
陶洁版 美国文学选读_第三版_课后习题答案之欧阳理创编
美国文学选读第三版课后习题答案陶洁(部分)Unit 1 Benjamin FranklinQuestions1.Why did Franklin write his Autobiography? Franklin says that because his son may wish to know about his life, he is taking his one week vacation in the English countryside to record his past. He also says that he has enjoyed his life and would like to repeat it2.What made Franklin decide to leave the brother to whom he had been apprenticed? His brother was passionate, and had often beaten him. The aversion to arbitrary power that has stuck to him through his whole life .After a brush with the law, Franklin left his brother.3.How did he arrive in Philadephia? First he set out in a boat for Amboy, the boat dropped him off about 50 miles from Burlington, the next day he reached Burlington on foot, in Burlington he found a boat which was going towards Philadelphia, he arrived there about eight or nine o’clock, on the Sunday morning and landed at the Market Street wharf.4.What features do you find in the style of the above selection?It is the pattern of Puritan simplicity, directness, and concision(言简意赅). The narrative is lucid(易懂的), the structure is simple, the imagery is homely(朴素的).Unit 2 Edgar Allen Poe 1.Who is the narrator? What wrong does he want to redress? Montresor.Fortunato,one of wine experts insulted him, so he wanted to murder him.2.What is the pretext he uses to lure Fortunato to his wine cellar?He baits Fortunato by telling him he has obtained what he believes to be a cask of Amontillado a rare and valuable sherry wine. Fortunato is anxious to determine whether or not it is truly Amontillado, so he goes to the vault with Montresor.3.What happens to Fortunato in the end? He was walled up alive behind bricks in a wine cellar.4.Describe briefly how Poe characterizes Montresor and Fortunato as contrasts? Poe uses color imagery to characterize them. Montresor face is covered in a black silk mask, In contrast, Fortunato dresses the motleycolored costume of the court fool, who gets literally and tragically fooled by Montresor's masked motives.The color schemes here represent the irony of Fortunato's death sentence.Through the acts, words, and thoughts of Fortunato,we know He is greedy, he was lured into the dark and somber vaults just because a cask of Amontillado. This is also due to his bad habit of bibulosity(酗酒）. He lost himself on hearing the wine. At the same time, he was cheated by his enemy, which reflected his ignorance. When he heard the pretended compliment from Montresor, he became very boastful and arrogant. He was easily confused by the superficial phenomena and failed to watch out for others. He couldn’t tolerate that others were stronger than him. For example, Montresor always stimulated him with Luchresi who was good at connoisseur（鉴赏）in wine. Under the impulse of vanity, he fell into Montresor’s terrible trap.In fact, he was careless and foolish and didn’t find that the danger was approaching him. He looked down upon Montresor and others. He didn’t realize his foolishness until th e death was coming. Talking from the appearance, Monstresor was a welleducatedand “kind” businessman. He enjoyed the honor and respect in the city. But in fact, he was an evil and awful person. His inner feelings were so cruel that they even made people tremble.Under his rich appearance was the dirty soul and despicable character.We couldn’t see any glorious virtues in his mind. Instead, his heart was cold and dark. It was the revenge that threw Montresor into the deep evil valley.unit 4 Nathaniel Hawthorne1.Why is the prison the setting of Chapter 1 ? No matter how optimistic the founders of new colonies may be, they are quick to establish a prison and a cemetery in their “Utopia,” for they know that misbehavior, evil, and death are unavoidable. This belief fits into the larger Puritan doctrine, which puts heavy emphasis on the idea of original sin—the notion that all people are born sinners because of the initialtransgressions of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. he is therefore using the prison building to represent the crime and the punishment which are aspect of civilized life What is the implication of the description of the roses? The rosebush symbolizes the ability of nature to endure and outlast man's activities. The narrator suggests that roses offer a reminder of Nature's kindness to the condemned; for his tale, he says, it will provide either a “sweet moral blossom” or else some relief in the face of unrelenting sorrow and gloom.2.Describe the appearance of Hester Prynne and the attitude of the people towards her. The second paragraph on page 30. The crowd in front of the jail is a mixture of men and women, all maintaining severe looks of disapproval. Several of the women begin to discuss Hester Prynne, and they soon vow that Hester would not have received such a light sentence for her crime if they had been the judges. One woman, the ugliest of the group, goes so far as toadvocate death for Hester.3.What has happened to Hester? As a young woman, Hester married an elderly scholar, Chillingworth, who sent her ahead to America to live. While waiting for him, she had an affair with a Puritan minister named Dimmesdale, after which she gave birth to Pearl.The scarlet letter is her punishment for her sin and her secrecy.Why does she make the embroidery of the letter A so elaborate?It seems to declare that she is proud, rather than ashamed, of her sin. In reality, however, Hester simply accepts the “sin” and its symbol as part of herself, just as she accepts her child. And alt hough she can hardly believe her present “realities,” she takes them as they are rather than resisting them or trying to atone for them. How does this tell us about her character? Throughout The Scarlet Letter Hester is portrayed as anintelligent, capable. It is the extraordinary circumstances shaping her that make her such an important figure.Unit5 Herman Melville 1.What are the stories Ismael tells about Moby Dick? Ishmael compares the legend of Moby Dick to his experience of the whale. He notes that sperm whale attacks have increased recently and that superstitious sailors have come to regard these attacks as having an intelligent, even supernatural origin. In particular, wild rumors about Moby Dick circulate among whalemen, suggesting that he can be in more than one place at the same time and that he is immortal. Ishmael remarks that even the wildest of rumors usually contains some truth. Whales, for instance, have been known to travel with remarkable speed from the Atlantic to the Pacific; thus, it is possible for a whale to be caught in the Pacific with the harpoons of a Greenland ship in it. Moby Dick, who has defied capture numerous times, exhibits an “intelligent malignity”（狠毒） in his attacks on men2.Why does Ahab react so violently against the white whale? First, he lost one of his legs because of the white whale. Second,He considers Moby Dick the embodiment of evil in the world, and he pursues the White Whale，because he believes it his inescapable fate to destroy this evil. Ishmael suggests th at Ahab is “crazy”and call him “a raving lunatic.” Do you agree with him? Why or why not? Ishmael describes Ahab as mad in his narration, and it does indeed seem mad to try to fight the forces of nature or God.3.What narrative features can you find in the selected chapter? In the selected charpter, Melville employed the technique of multiple view of his narrative to portray Moby Dick to achieve the effect of ambiguity and let readers judge the meaning.Unit 6 Henry David Thoreau 1.Where indeed did Thoreau live, both at a physical level and at a spiritual level? He lived in a cabin on Walden Pond, which belonged toEmerson’s property.2.Had Thoreau ever bought a farm? Why did he enjoy the act of buying? No, he hadn’t. He avoided purchasing a farm because it would inevitably tie him down financially and complicate his life. Thoreau didn’t see the acquisition of wealth as the goal for human existence, he saw the goal of life to be an exploration of the mind and of the magnificent world around us. He regarded the places as an existence free of obligations and full of leisure.3.Is it significant that Thoreau mentioned the Fourth of July as the day on which he began to stay in the woods? Why? Yes, it is. Because The Fourth of July is known as Independence Day,the birthday ot the United States. Here Thoreau uses the day to express his beginning of regeneration at Walden.It also means a symbol of his conquest of being.4.How could you answer the question Thoreau asked at the end of this selection?Unit 7 19th Century American Poets1. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow(1) I Shot an Arrow…1. Why did the speaker lose sight of his arrow and song? The arrow flies too swiftly and too far away to be seen by the speaker; whereas the song is naturally invisible.2. In what circumstances did he find them again?He finds them unexpectedly years later from the trunk of a tree and the heart of a friend.3. What do arrow and song stand for in this poem?The images of arrow and song here may stand for friendship.(2) A Psalm of Life1. What kind of person is the speaker of this poem?The speaker is a man of action, always optimistic and cheerful, trying to achieve as much as possible in the short span of life.2. According to the poem, how should our lives be led to overcome the fact that each day brings us nearer to death?We should work harder and live happier.3. Interpret the metaphor of "Footprints on the sand of time" (line 28).The metaphor refers to human deeds in real life.2. Walt Whitman(1)One's Self I Sing1. What is the significance of singing about one's self?It is an exaltation of the individual spirit, which is typical of American people.2. What is the difference between physiology and physiognomy?Physiology is a science that deals with the functions and life process of human beings, whereas physiognomy refers to an art of judging character from contours of face itself or the appearance of a person.3. What does Whitman mean by the term of "the Modern Man"?He means that a man should be free from any prejudice and pride, totally different from the traditional one, that is full of bias.(3) O Captain! My Captain!1. Why is the word "Captain" capitalized throughout the poem?In this poem the word “Captain” specially refers to Abraham Lincoln, president of the United States.2. What overall metaphor does the poet employ in this poem? Life is a journey.3. Why do people on the shores exult and bells ring, while the speaker remains so sad?They welcome the ship returning from its hard trip, whereas the speaker is sad because the captain fails to receive his own honor.3.Emily Dickinson(1) To Make a Prairie …1. What things are needed to "make" a prairie? In what sense can one really do it?Some grass and insects and small animals. People can make a prairie with their imagination.2. How can "revery alone" create a prairie?The prairie stays in one's mind.(2) Success Is Counted Sweetest1. Why is success "counted sweetest by those who ne'er succeed"?Those who have tasted the bitterness of failure would have a keener desire for success.2. Who are "the purple host"?The socalled successful people in the world.3. Who is "he" in the last stanza?Anyone who is pursuing his success.(3) I'm Nobody!1. Who are the "pair of us" and "they" in this poem? The "pair of us" refers to the speaker in the poem and the reader, and "they" refers to the public, especially those in power.2. What does "an admiring bog" really mean?" (line 28).It Implies the vain and empty common people, who are always admiring and pursuing the celebrities.3. What is the theme of this poem?The real admirable life is a secluded and common one.4. Do you want to be "nobody" or "somebody"? Explain your reasons.Different persons would have different answers to this question. Personally, I prefer to be nobody.Unit 8 Mark Twain1: Why do you think Mr.Wheeler is so eager to tell these stories?From Mr.Wheeler’s behaviors and contents of his narration we can know he is so eager to tell these stories.First, when "I" asked him to tell "me" something about W.Smiley, he “ backed me into a corner and blockaded me with his chair, and then sat down and reeled off the narrative”. And during the process of telling his stories, he never paid any attention to others'response to his story and just went on telling what amused him. At last when the listener felt boring and wanted to leave, Mr.Wheeler even didn't notice it and still asked him to sit there listening to him.2: Does his audience share his enthusiasm in telling the stories? No. the audience does not show any interest inMr.Wheeler’ stories. In fact, the narrator was very feverish about his stories, but ,in the eyes of the listener,the stories were very boring and had nothing to do with his preoccupation. As an educated man, the listener couldn't understand the way of laborers for joy, and he would never bother himself to understand it. So after the long time of Mr.Wheeler’ solo narration and when the audience got a chance, he fled away.3: Do you think the narrator and his listener ever suspect the presence of humor? 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 "wihout 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 senseproduced the effect of humor which can be tasted by our readers due to the skills adopted by Mark Twain .Unit 14 F·Scott Fitzgerald1.Do you think Gatsby deserves to be called “the great”? Why?（1）I think it is too complicated 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）I n 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 o f 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 livedin ―a material world without being r eal, 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, there is no delaying that Gatsby’s dream would not come 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 reflection of Gatsby’s determination and ambition. It reveals that he is hard on himself in pursuit of his goal—to be an upperclass 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 upperclass 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 owleyed glasses) took off his glasses and wiped them again, outside and in ,” what images does it create in your mind, given the novel’snumerous references to the strikingly strange scene of the spectacled eyes?（1）From this line , superficially, owleyes 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 owlwise observer and sees more clearly than anyone else in the novel. OwlEyes, except Nick, is the only friend to appear at the rainsoaked burial of Gatsby, when others are unwilling to come. He feel s 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 "allseeing" eyes. The OwlEyed 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. Owleyes is the avatar of the sightless Dr. Eckleburg.Unit 16 Ernest Hemingway1. How do you interpret the irony of the title after reading the story?（1）The title ―A Clean WellLighted Place‖ refers to the caféin the text. The caféwas very clean and well lighted. From the literary meaning, we may feel this place was very warm and comfortable, 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 comfort.（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 caféshould 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 throu gh 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 overcome 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 soon 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 differ ent? （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 welllighted 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 overcome nada. On the contrary, the younger waiter had the two most important factors for withstand ing nada; however, he didn’t realize the nada in his heart at all. Then his youth and confidence became useless. Unit 17 20th Century American Poets1. Ezra Pound In A Station of the Metro1. Why does the poet call the faces of pedestrians "apparition"?These pedestrians are all walking in a hurry amidst the drizzling rain.2. What do "petals" and "bough" stand for? Petals refer to the faces while the bough stands for the floating crowd.2. Wallace Stevens Anecdote of the Jar1. What does the jar in poem symbolize? Why does the speaker place it on top of a hill? The jar here symbolizes a certain perspective on looking at this world. If the perspective of the viewing is creative and unique, it will change the conventional order of the old world. When a new perspective comes out, it will certainly hold attention from the rest.2. The jar is "round" and "of a port in air," meaning that it has a stately importance. What effect does it have on surroundings when placed on the ground? Maybe the round jar assumes the air of a domineering figure, which helps to form a certain order out of the disordered surrounding.3. How did the wilderness of Tennessee characterized? What words or phrases does the poet use to describe it? Tennesseeseems to a place f ull of life and energy. “Slovenly,” “sprawl” and “wild” are some of the words used to describe the place. (See Anecdote of the Jar )4.Robert Frost(1)Fire and Ice1. What are the symbolic meanings of fire in this poem? Fire symbolizes natural disaster, human passion, as well as war.2. Why does the speaker say that ice is also great for destruction? Explain what ice stands for here. Ice, oppose to fire, is also a dreadful natural disaster in this world, and ice is always related to indifference, coldness, hatred, and the other negative sentiments of human beings.3. What is your opinion about fire and ice? Which one is more destructive? Both fire and ice can destroy this beautiful world if they are beyond control of human beings. Therefore we should be openminded and reduce our prejudice and pride so as to keep this world in peace.(2)Stopping By Woods On a Snowy Evening1. In your opinion, what was the reason that made the speaker stop by the woods on a snowy evening? The poet was deeply attracted by the natural beauty of the scene at that very moment.2. Why did the horse give the harness bell a shake? The horse grew impatient by stopping in the middle of the dark, cold woods at midnight. It was eager to go home.3. Why couldn't the speaker stay longer by the woods to appreciate its mysterious beauty? He realized that it was late at night and he would have to hurry home to get some food and sleep, because the next morning he would have a lot of work to do.4. What is the effect of repetition in the last two lines? The refrainlike repetition in the last two lines reminds the reader a simple fact of life: whatever happens, one must go forward in the journey of his or her life.(3) The Road Not Taken1. What is the speaker's initial response to the divergence of the two roads? The speaker is at a loss which road he shouldchoose, and he feels sorry that he cannot explore both roads at the same time.2. Describe the similarities and differences of these two roads. Which one does the speaker take? Two roads are similar except one of them is more “grassy,” which implies that it is less traveled by people. The speaker prefers the less traveled one, because he likes adventure.3. What might the two roads stand for in the speaker's mind? One road stands for the traditional one and the other is unconventional one and full of challenges and difficulties. To follow other people's footsteps or to open a new road for himself is really not an easy decision for us to make in our lives.Unit22 Allen GinsbergAll through the poem, the speaker is addressing to Walt Whitman. Is this poem about Walt Whitman or about modern America?from Allen Ginsberg A Supermarket in CaliforniaThe author in this poem wanted to emphasis his theme about showing his respect to the passed age and showing his worry about the corrupt in the part of spirit and society. As we all know, Walt Whitman’s poetry was a revolution in American literature can be seen in the first publication of Leaves of Grass in 1855. His poetry is “free verse” in that the lack of meter and rhyme is known as his major technical innovation. Allen Ginsberg had a highly praise on him. As the movement of Beat Generation, Allen Ginsberg used poetry as weapon to express his own understanding of Beatbeatific and beat down. In this poem, the author wrote the sentence “shopping for images”. What he wanted to buy is the things which were listed by Walt Whitman many years ago. What is in the supermarket? The fresh fruits on the shelf fit the needs of customers and the families. We across a strange statement: shopping for images. How can we shop for images? What he refers to us is still the pure image“dreaming of your enumerations”. The things on the shelf are the images of languages in Walt Whitman’s poetry. The language in Walt Whitman’s poetry and the spirit in his poetry are the things which Allen Ginsberg dreamed of. A young America whichis full of energy is worth being praised. Allen Ginsberg found the song of himself, the song full of courage and the ec ho of the real world among Walt Whitman’s work. The meaning of age in this poem is that the nation or the race opens the age which belongs to them and creates the history of them own. To a certain extend, the age singer equals the national singer. The world is the world which has its features of timing and events. This means that the link of combining the world is not the same as the goods on the shelf but the things which contain the world and individual spirits.There is a difference between Walt Whitman’s poetry and the successor’s poetry.The former poetry focused on the point of the combing of the poetry and the real world. It extended the full of fruit of the history through he understood the meaning of lives living on earth.The latter’s poetry sho wed that the nature of material has been deprived from the former world. Our moral and spirit has become the goods in the supermarket or the desire in every family in the capitalism nations. Allen Ginsberg。
- 1、下载文档前请自行甄别文档内容的完整性，平台不提供额外的编辑、内容补充、找答案等附加服务。
- 2、"仅部分预览"的文档,不可在线预览部分如存在完整性等问题,可反馈申请退款(可完整预览的文档不适用该条件!)。
- 3、如文档侵犯您的权益，请联系客服反馈,我们会尽快为您处理(人工客服工作时间：9:00-18:30)。
• 4. Baudelaire first took note of the psychological content of Poe’s tales and regarded Poe as ―a writer of nerves‖, and Erich Heller saw Poe’s contribution to the ―discovery and colonization of the mind‖; what interests Poe most is the deep abyss of the unconscious and subconscious mental activity of the people. Poe 在精神分析小说做出了贡献，他对非意识 和潜意识的精神活动的分析非常感兴趣。 • 5. Poe’s assumption seems to be that every mind is half mad or capable of slipping into insanity. As a result of this, his fictional characters are mostly neurotics. Poe 认为每个人都有 神经质的一面，所以他的小说主人公大多是神经病患者。 • 6. Poe’s heroes are mostly ―isolatoes‖, with no sense of identity, no names even, alienation from society. 他的小说主 人公大多没有确切的身份，没有名字，远离社会。
III. Edgarrotesque and the Arabesque 《奇异怪诞故事 集》 • MS. Found in a Bottle 《瓶子里发现的手稿》 • The Murders in the Rue Morgue 《毛格街杀人案》 • The Fall of the House of Usher 《厄舍古屋的倒塌》 • The Masque of the Red Death 《红色死亡的化妆舞会 》 • The Cask of Amontillado 《一桶酒的故事》 • The Raven 《乌鸦》 • Israfel 《伊斯拉菲尔》 • Annabel Lee 《安娜贝尔•李》 • To Helen 《致海伦》 • The Poetic Principle 《诗歌原理》 • The Philosophy of Composition 《创作哲学》
死去也是一个最诗意的主题。
• C. Purity: Poe is opposed to the heresy of the didactic and called for pure poetry. What he seems to be saying is that art lies not so much in what is being said as in the way it says it. • 纯正：Poe被认为是主流诗歌之外的一个异类，他认为艺 术并不在于它被说成该是艺术的样子。 • Besides, he stresses rhythm, defines true poetry as ―the rhythmical creation of beauty‖ and declares that ―music is the perfection of the soul, or ideas, of poetry.‖ Poe 强调诗歌的韵 律，他认为诗歌是音律创造的美，并称音乐使得灵魂，思 想，诗歌更完美。 • He cited his own poem ―The Raven‖ of 108 lines to show his aesthetics : a sense of melancholy over the death of a beloved beautiful young woman pervades the whole poem. • 他以自己的108行诗 《乌鸦》为例子，该诗歌整个气氛就 是哀伤– 作者喜欢的美丽姑娘死去，这一悲伤充满了整首 诗歌。
primitive state of development‖
V. Poe as a literary critic (his aesthetics)
Poe作为文学评论家（他的美学观）
• 1. Aesthetic writings: ―The Philosophy of Composition‖ ―The Poetic Principle‖ • 2. Aesthetic ideas: A. Brevity: the poem should be short, readable at one sitting
II. Life and Career
• Poe 生在一个演员家庭，当Poe很小的时候他的父母就过世 了，由弗吉尼亚的商人 John Allan 收养。Poe 17岁进入弗吉 尼亚大学学习。他在西点军校任职期间开始写诗歌，神话 ，做过杂志的编辑 如《南方文学信使》，《格雷厄姆杂志 》等。
• At 27 he married his 13-year-old cousin Virginia who died very young in 1847. Poe 27岁时和他13岁的表妹结婚，他的表妹 太太很年轻就离开了人世，1847.
• IV. Controversial Comments on Poe
• Probably the most controversial and most misunderstood literary figure in American literary history
• Poe 也许是美国文学历史上最备受争议的人物。
To Helen
• Background 致海伦的背景 • Edgar Allan Poe wrote ―To Helen‖ as a reflection on the beauty of Mrs. Jane Stith Stanard, of Richmond, Va., who died in 1824. She was the mother of one of Poe‘s school classmates, Robert Stanard. When Robert invited Edgar, then 14, to his home (at 19th and East Grace Streets in Richmond) in 1823, Poe was greatly taken with the 27year-old woman, who is said to have urged him to write poetry. He was later to write that she was his first real love. 致海伦这首诗是爱伦坡纪念 Jane Stith Standard 夫人， 1824年过世。 Standard 夫人是爱伦坡同学的妈妈，爱伦坡 第一次见到她是在同学家里，里士满 东格莱士街19号， 1823年，当时爱伦坡只有14岁，惊叹于Standard夫人的美 貌。Standard 夫人待人友善并鼓励爱伦坡写诗，后来爱伦 坡写道 Standard夫人是他的 first love.
About Helen--海伦
VI. Poe’s Writing Features 写作特点
• 1. Poe was a fascinating man of imagination. 富有想象力 • 2. In theme, Poe anticipated 20th century literature in his treatment of the disintegration of the self in a world of nothingness. 主题：虚无 • 3. Poe was sensitive enough to feel the pressure of a world where science and reason reign supreme, where ―there is neither joy, nor love, nor light, nor certitude, nor peace, nor help from pain.‖ • Poe 敏感地感受到 一个被科技和理性统治的世界，没有喜悦，没 有爱，没有光，没有确信，没有和平，没有缓解痛苦的帮助。
• Born in an actor and actress’ family – his parents died when he was very small –adopted by a Virginia rich businessman John Allan – entered the Virginia University at 17 – West Point where he began to write poetry – then tales – editor of magazines such as The Southern Literary Messenger, Graham’s magazine, etc.
Edgar Allan Poe
Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849)
• • • • • I. Literary Status 埃德加. 爱伦坡的文学地位 Pioneer of American Horror Tales 美国恐怖小说的先驱 Pioneer of American Detective Tales 美 国侦探小说先驱 • Pioneer of American Psycho-Analytic fiction 美国心理分析小说先驱 • Editor, Poet and Professional literary critic 编辑，诗人，文学评论家
• Reasons: • His criticisms against Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 他曾发