《美国文学选读》(第3版)斯蒂芬

第10单元斯蒂芬•克莱恩
10.1复习笔记
I.Introduction to author（作者简介）
1.Life（生平）
Stephen Crane was an American novelist,short story writer,poet and journalist. Prolific throughout his short life,he wrote notable works in the Realist tradition as well as early examples of American Naturalism and Impressionism.He is recognized by modern critics as one of the most innovative writers of his generation.
斯蒂芬·克莱恩是美国小说家、短篇小说家、诗人、记者。

他在短暂的一生中著作颇丰，在现实主义传统下写了许多著名作品，也成为美国自然主义和印象主义的早期范例。

他被当代批评家认为是同时代最具有创意的作家。

2.Major Works（主要作品）
Maggie:A Girl of the Street(1893)《街头女郎麦姬》
The Red Badge of Courage(1895)《红色英勇勋章》
“The Open Boat”(1897)《海上扁舟》
The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky(1898)《新娘来到黄天镇》
The Blue Hotel(1898)《蓝色旅店》
Ⅱ.Selected works（选读作品）
◆The Open Boat《海上扁舟》
This story is based on Crane’s personal experiences.While traveling to Cuba to work as a newspaper correspondent during the Cuban insurrection against Spain, Crane was stranded at sea after his ship the Commodore sank off the coast of Florida.Stephen Crane and three others endured the rage of the sea for thirty hours. Billy Higgins a friend of Cranes drowned while swimming to shore.This realistic story of their life-threatening ordeal captures the emotions of four men in a fight against nature.
The most significant aspect of this struggle lies in the men’s attempts to help one another survive when they are confronted with danger and disaster.
故事取材于克莱恩真实的个人经历。

作为一名记者，古巴起义反抗西班牙时，他在前往古巴采访途中被搁浅在海上，因为他乘的船在弗罗里达海滨沉没。

斯蒂芬·克莱恩和其他三个人在海上经受住了海水长达三十个小时的暴虐。

克莱恩的一个朋友比利·希金斯在游上岸的途中不幸被淹死。

这个真实的故事对他们的生命造成严重的威胁，也激发了他们与自然对抗时的情感。

这种斗争最重要的意义在于人们面对危险和灾难时尽最大努力拯救别人的生命。

10.2课后习题详解
1.What does the opening sentence imply?
Key:It implies the extremely dangerous and hard situation that they are faced with.They can only focus on the sea and do not once take their eyes off the
ocean.They have to fight with the ocean with all their strength and attention.
2.How does the following outburst contribute to the theme(s)of the story?“If I am going to be drowned—if I am going to be drowned—if I am going to be drowned. Why,in the name of the seven mad gods who rule the sea,was I allowed to come thus far and contemplate sand and trees?Was I brought here merely to have my nose dragged away as I was about to nibble the sacred cheese of life?It is preposterous.If this old ninny woman,Fate,cannot do better than this,she should be deprived of the management of men’s fortunes.She is an old hen who knows not her intention.If she has decided to drown me.why did she not do it in the beginning and save me all this trouble.The whole affair is absurd....But,no, she cannot mean to drown me.She dare not drown me.She cannot drown me. Not after all this work.”
Key:The following outburst is a desperate one which shows the speaker’s rebellions and resentfulness to the seven gods of sea.He thinks that he would be unfairly treated if he is drowned.Through the story,the struggle between man and the natural world is the most apparent theme.In fact,the speaker knows that nature is powerful and ruthless,and it will not show sympathy nor punish anyone, so,he thinks that he must survive by his own efforts.He must save himself.
3.In what way could the survivors be interpreters?
Key:The survivors can be interpreters to interpret the relationships between man
and nature.They went through the hard struggles with nature,so they would have a better understanding of nature and man.
10.3考研真题与典型题详解
I.Fill in the blanks.
1.In the novel entitled_____written by_____,a boy dreams of glorious battle in the
Union Army in the Civil War.However,his initial confrontation with true war perplexes him.(大连外国语2008研；天津外国语学院2009研)
【答案】The Red Badge of Courage；Stephen Crane
【解析】克莱恩的小说《红色英勇勋章》以南北战争为背景，小说的主人公亨利怀着对战争的美妙幻想，参加了北方军队，但在最初真正面对战争的时候，他却失去了勇气，当了逃兵，后来他克服了恐惧心理，经过战火的洗礼，重新获得了自信和勇气。

2.______,the first American naturalist,was not much influenced by the scientific
approach.He was a genius with amazing sympathy and imagination.
【答案】Stephen Crane
【解析】斯蒂芬·克莱恩是美国第一位自然主义作家，是一位极富同情心和想象力的天才。

3.All of Stephen Crane’s characters are controlled by______.This is what makes
Crane a“naturalist”.
【答案】the environment
【解析】斯蒂芬·克莱恩作品中所有人物都受制于环境，所以他被视为自然主义作家。

4.In______,Stephen Crane’s greatest novel,the accident of war makes a young
man seem to be a hero.War changes men into animals.In the view of author, good and bad,hero and coward,are merely matters of chance,of fate.
【答案】The Red Badge of Courage
【解析】在斯蒂芬·克莱恩的著作《红色英勇勋章》中，战争把一名普通的年轻人变成了英雄，把人变成了动物。

在作者眼中，好与坏、英雄与懦夫，都取决于偶然或命运。

5._____is the pioneer who wrote in the naturalistic tradition.
【答案】Stephen Crane
【解析】斯蒂芬·克莱恩是美国著名作家，他是美国自然主义文学的先驱者，其代表作有《街头女郎麦姬》(Maggie:A Girl of the Streets)和《红色英勇勋章》(The Red Badge of Courage)。

6.Stephen Crane’s novel_____relates the story of a good woman’s down fall and
destruction in a slum environment.
【答案】Maggie:A Girl of the Streets
【解析】美国自然主义作家斯蒂芬·克莱恩第一部小说《街头女郎麦姬》(Maggie:A Girl of the Streets)是美国文学史上重要的自然主义作品。

他通过小说的主人公麦姬的成长历程来探索主体的社会化过程,最终寻找促使麦姬走向毁灭的“现实”。

本文旨在从社会心理学的角度探讨该部作品,进而挖掘其小说的社会心理表征。

Ⅱ.Multiple Choice
1.Which of the following books deals with American Civil War?(天津外国语学院2008研)
A.The Red Badge of Courage
B.For Whom the Bell Tolls
C.Slaughterhouse-Five
D.Catch-22
【答案】A
【解析】《红色英勇勋章》是美国作家Stephen Crane的小说，描绘了美国内战的残酷。

《丧钟为谁而鸣》是美国作家Ernest Miller Hemingway以西班牙内战为背景的小说。

《第五屠宰场》是美国小说家Kurt Vonnegut关于第二次世界大战的反战科幻小说。

《第二十二条军规》是美国作家Joseph Heller以第二次世界大战为背景的小说。

2.Of the following writers______is not influenced by naturalistic writing.(北二外2010研)
A.Theodore Dreiser
B.Stephen Crane
C.Isaac Singer
D.Frank Norris
【答案】C
【解析】Theodore Dreiser，Stephen Crane和Frank Norris均是美国自然主义的代表作。