1.Among these three masterpieces, I am most impressed by The Story of an Hour. Black humor is reflected from the plot, which leaves gaps for readers to fill. At the first sight of the title “The Story of an Hour”, I was enchanted, wondering what happened on earth in an hour. Having finished reading this story, I think Mrs Mallard is the very one who needs our analyzing. She is a typical sentimental lady, who desires for true love, freedom. It is not hard to conclude that her husband is ignorant, a purely workaholic, who is dominant and cares little about her wife. To some degree, their relationship is neither harmonious nor intimate, depressing atmosphere always covers them. We know that when Mrs Mallard got the news that her husband died in an accident, she was afflicted with transient sorrow, then her grief gradually decreased while she stayed alone in her room.
“Free, free, free! Body and soul free”, this is the shout from her inner heart, the desire for freedom is so strong that her spouse’s death is actually a relief for her. She is quite different from those traditional women, she is gentle, well-educated and adorable. However, at last, when Mr Mallard entered the door, everyone was shocked, especially for Mrs Mallard, this is completely out of expectation. She fell into the despairing abyss, of course, almost no one could bear this huge change of mood. As a result, she had died of heart disease-of joy that kills. This story is really full of suspense, joy interweaves sorrow, I like it.
2.Having read The Soft-Hearted Sioux, we can perceive the conflict of young Sioux’s inner heart. The Indian culture is quite different from the notion the mission school advocates. The law of life is their principle of lives, no can should break it, or the failure of obey it will be punished. In order to survive, killing is necessary, and what they adore is the bravest warriors of their people. Otherwise, without killing, they will be starved to death.
In addition, they believe in the power of medicine-man strongly, no matter how sick or weak, they feel they could be saved by the medicine-man’s action. They are stubborn and conservative, rejecting all the new culture. They have a stereotyped thinking pattern, slandering the soft-hearted preach.
To some degree, from the words of grandmother, father and the medicine-man, their concept of marriage, survival, death are shown. They still follow the law of nature in an obedient way. They can’t live in harmony with nature, it belongs to an original culture.
3.A Rose for Emily, without any background knowledge, the title seems to give us a romantic impression. After learning this novel, we may find that the style of stream-of –consciousness adds much attraction to the whole story. Emily, the leading role of the text, leaves a stubborn and mighty image to me. When she was very young, she has learned much from her dominant father, she witnessed how he drove all the young men away. This father and daughter relationship plays an important role when her father is still alive, so when her father passed away, she rejected the fact and didn’t allow people to bury him. Then the story goes, it seems that Miss Emily has scouted the so called “Mr Right”, Homer Barron. But all things are beyond control, the man betrayed innocent Emily, nothing could trigger greater strike to a lady like that. She suffered a lot and took certain action, maybe got what she wanted. At last, when she was old, the loyal servant still accompanies her, she also treated those tax-askers unreasonably like her father did. When she’s dead, some secrets are revealed, we are surprised and shocked at what she did. In a word, she is traditional and stubborn, a lively tragic character in a new social system.
4.In The Black Cat, the black cat symbolizes the darkness of human beings’inner heart, it is a representative of evil spirit. It is easy to find this fact from the early beginning. “Pluto was our favorite pet and playmate. The cat was a remarkably beautiful animal, entirely black and sagacious to an astonishing degree. In speaking of his intelligence, my wife made frequent allusion to the ancient popular notion, which regarded all black cats as witches in disguise.” The witches, who can use magic, make people afraid and fearful. Black cats are regarded as their pets, to help and keep watch on their action. As a result, cats were given mysterious and devil images in people’s notion. With the development of plot, we can feel that the black cat possesses a dark
and blue element, creating a kind of gloomy atmosphere for the short story. Death interweaves rage and dread, which is related closely to black cats. “One night, returning home, much intoxicated, I fancied that the cat avoided my presence. I seized him, when, in his fright at my violence, he inflicted a slight wound upon my hand with his teeth. The fury of a demon instantly possessed me. I took from my pocket a pen-knife, deliberately cut one of its eyes!”“I” was infuriated by this black creature, I became twisted and cruel. “I experienced a sentiment half of horror, half of remorse, for the crime of which I had been guilty. In the meantime the cat slowly recovered. He went about the house as usual, but fled in extreme terror at my approach. I had so much of my old heart left. But this feeling soon gave place to irritation.”
In this masterpiece, black cat plays a role as a devil. It made the leading character infuriated and did crazy thing. At last, I killed the annoying cat. The sense of guilt haunted me, so another black cat entered my life, which closely resembled Pluto in every respect but one. This cat had a large, although indefinite blotch of white, covering nearly the whole region of the breast. But for my own part, I soon found a dislike to it arising within me. “During the day the creature left me no moment alone; and, in the night, I started, hourly, from dreams of unutterable fear.” In fact, the image is like a devil, following me day and night. “One day my wife accompanied me into the cellar. The cat followed me down the steep stairs and, nearly throwing me headlong, exasperated me to madness. Uplifting an axe, I aimed a blow at the animal. But this blow was arrested by the hand of my wife. Goaded, by the interference, into a rage more than demoniacal, I withdrew my arm from her grasp and buried the axe in her brain. She fell dead upon the spot, without a groan.”This incident, the direct blasting fuse was t he black cat. It is the evil spirit of my inner heart. So the black cat symbolizes the darkness of human being s’inner heart, it is a representative of evil spirit.
Part I The Literature of Colonial America I．Historical Introduction The colonial period stretched roughly from the settlement of America in the early 17th century through the end of the 18th. The first permanent settlement in America was established by English in 1607. ( A group of people was sent by the English King James I to hunt for gold. They arrived at Virginia in 1607. They named the James River and build the James town.) II．The pre-revolutionary writing in the colonies was essentially of two kinds: 1) Practical matter-of-fact accounts of farming, hunting, travel, etc. designed to inform people "at home" what life was like in the new world, and, often, to induce their immigration 2) Highly theoretical, generally polemical, discussions of religious questions. III．The First American Writer The first writings that we call American were the narratives and journals of these settlements. They wrote about their voyage to the new land, their lives in the new land, their dealings with Indians. Captain John Smith is the first American writer. A True Relation of such Occurrences and Accidents of Note as Hath Happened in Virginia Since the First Planting of That Colony (1608) A Map of Virginia: A Description of the Country (1612) General History of Virgini a (1624): the Indian princess Pocahontas Captain John Smith was one of the first early 17th-century British settlers in North America. He was one of the founders of the colony of Jamestown, Virginia. His writings about North America became the source of information about the New World for later settlers. One of the things he wrote about that has become an American legend was his capture by the Indians and his rescue by the famous Indian Princess, Pocahontas. IV．Early New England Literature William Bradford and John Winthrop John Cotton and Roger Williams Anne Bradstreet and Edward Taylor V．Puritan Thoughts 1. The origin of puritan In the mediaeval Europe, there was widespread religious revolution. In the 16th Century, the English King Henry VIII (At that time, the Catholics were not allowed to divorce unless they have the Pope's permission. Henry VIII wanted to divorce his wife because she couldn't bear him a son. But the Pope didn't allow him to divorce, so he) broke away from the Roman Catholic Church & established the Church of
2018春《美国文学》作业1．第1题 Among the following novels, only one was not written by Herman Melville. It is _____________. A.The Confidence-Man B.The PIlot C.Moby Dick 答案:B 您的答案：B 题目分数：2.0 此题得分：2.0 2．第2题 The Author of the short story "A Gift for Maggie" is ---. A. O. Henry B. Mark Twain C.Jack London 答案:A 您的答案：A 题目分数：2.0 此题得分：2.0 3．第3题 Of Mice ａnd Men is a novel written by ---. A. John Steinbeck B.Sherwood Anderson C.Sinklair Lewis 答案:A 您的答案：A 题目分数：2.0 此题得分：2.0
4．第4题 “by nature’s self in white arrayed\ she bade thee shun the vulgar eye,\ ａnd planted here the guarding shade,\ ａnd sent soft waters murmuring by; \ thus quietly thy summer goes,\ thy days declining to repose.” the rhyme scheme of the lines above is ______________. A.ababab B.ababcc C.aabbcc 答案:B 您的答案：B 题目分数：2.0 此题得分：2.0 5．第5题 when we say that a poor young man ｆrom the west tried to make his fortune in the east but was disillusioned in the quest of an idealized dream, we are probably discussing about ______’s thematic concern in his fiction writing. A.Henry James B.Scott Fitzgerald C.Hemingway D.William Faulkner 答案:B 您的答案：B 题目分数：2.0 此题得分：2.0 6．第6题 ____ Bryant’s best-known poem, was written when
1.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 it 2.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). 二、Questions 1.How many characters does Poe include in The Cask of Amontillado? What are these names? Montresor, Fortunato and Luchesi 2. What drink are the French most famous for? Wine 3.Does Montresor have something of great value to him which we might consider to be his treasure? His pride and the pride of his French family heritage. Perhaps his devious plot of revenge. 4.Does Montresor seem to have much respect for Italians? Montresor does not have much respect for Italians. He feels the French are superior, especially with respect to wine. 5.What was Fortunato's insult? Poe does not tell us directly, but only implies it in the third paragraph 6.Which wine does Montresor use to lure Fortunato into the catacombs? "Amontillado" (the Spanish wine; Montresor's ruse to lead Fortunato down into the catacombs. 7.Why does Montresor entertain Fortunato with wines from his collection? Montresor wants to get Fortunato drunk enough to be able to trap him in his plan of vengeance. 8.In what two ways does Montresor imprison Fortunato? He fetters (chains and locks) Fortunato to the wall of the catacombs. He builds a wall to close Fortunato off in a small corner of the catacombs, where Montresor will leave him to die. 9.In what ways is The Cask of Amontillado grotesque? First, which of Montresor's actions are abnormal? The whole obsessive plot of vengeance. The fettering and entombment of Fortunato. Montresor's sick sense of humor. 10.Is there anything grotesque about Fortunato? His obsession with alcohol. His drunkenness. His tendency to berate Luchesi (he may have been drunk and may have insulted Montresor in a similar
美国文学期末考试复习必备（精） 1. What’s Puritanism? A religious and political movement which appeals to the right of the individual to political & religious independence. It includes three parts: a code of values, a point of view & a philosophy of life 2. What are the basic Puritan beliefs? 1). Total Depravity 2). Unconditional Election 3). Limited Atonement 4). Irresistible Grace 5). Perseverance of the "saints" 3. What are American Puritan values? Sobriety thrift, Self-reliance Diligence, Struggle, simple tastes 4. What are the features of American literature in the Colonial Period? A. Humble origins: diaries, journals, histories, letters. Its various forms, occupy a major position in the literature of the early colonial period. B. in content: serving either god or colonial expansion or both C. in form: imitating English literary traditions. D. in style: tight and logic structure, precise and compact expression, avoidance of rhetorical decoration, adoption of homely imagery and simplicity of diction. E. Symbolism formed in this period ------To the pious Puritan, the physical, phenomenal world was nothing but a symbol of God. F. Simple, fresh and direct style
[0171]《美国文学史及选读》 第一次作业 [判断题]Faith in Christianity is one of the main ideas advocated by Raph Waldo Emerson, the chief spokesman of American Romanticism. 参考答案：错误 [判断题]In Desire Under the Elms by Eugene G. O'Neill, Abbie is the second wife of Cabot after his first wife dies. 参考答案：错误 [判断题]Langston Hughes is often entitled "New England Poet”. 参考答案：错误 [判断题]Franklin was a symbol of the American dream. 参考答案：正确 [判断题]Rip Van Winkle was written by James Cooper. 参考答案：错误 [判断题]Fitzgerald was the spokesman of the Jazz Age. 参考答案：正确 [判断题]Allan Poe wrote the first detective stories in America. 参考答案：正确 [判断题]The Beat Generation and the Lost Generation are the same. 参考答案：错误 [判断题]Beyond the Horizon was the first full-length play of O'Neill. 参考答案：正确 [判断题]Irving was the first American writer to get an international reputation. 参考答案：正确 第二次作业 [判断题]Chinese poetry and philosophy had exerted great influence on Ezra Pound. 参考答案：正确 [判断题]Howl is a symbol in the movement of the Beat Generation, which was written by Allen Ginsberg. 参考答案：正确 [判断题] Joseph Heller was an American satirical novelist, poet and short story writer. 参考答案：错误 [判断题]Mark Twain was the Lincoln of American literature. 参考答案：正确 [判断题]The best work of Whitman was The Leaves of Grass 参考答案：正确 [判断题]Anne Bradstreet was father of American poetry. 参考答案：错误 [判断题]The Autobiography was the masterpiece of Franklin. 参考答案：正确 [判断题]The Legend of Sleepy Hollow is a short story 参考答案：正确
III Multiple choice (20%) 1. Anne Bradstreet was a Puritan poet. When her poems were published in England, she became known as the “______” who appeared in America. A Ninth Muse B Tenth Muse C Best Muse D First Muse 2. ______ is the sometimes exaggerated use of local language, characters and customs in regional literature. A purple prose B waste-land imagery C local color D symbolism 3. The Fitzgeralds lived so extravagantly that they frequently spent more money than F. Scoot Fitzgerald earned for parties, liquor, entertaining their friends and traveling. It was this living style that nicknamed the decade of the 1920s as _______. A The Jazz Age B The Gilded Age C The Glorious Age D The Beat Age 4. ___________ was a reaction to the ideas of the Age of Reason and the Enlightenment. A Romanticism B Realism C Naturalism D Modernism 5. Although only few of her poems were published in her lifetime and a complete collection of them didn’t appear until the 1950’s, _____ had a major impact on 20th century poetry. A Anne Bradstreet B Gertrude Stein C Emily Dickinson D Amy Lowell 6. Who of the following is NOT a 20th century American poet? A Henry Wordsworth Longsfellow B Amy Lowell C Ezra Pound D Robert Frost 7. Mark Twain, one of the greatest 19th century American writers, is well known for his ______. A International theme B Waste-land imagery C Local color
美国文学史复习1（colonialism) 第一部分殖民主义时期的文学 一、时期综述 1、清教徒采用的文学体裁：a、narratives 日记b、journals 游记 2、清教徒在美国的写作内容： 1）their voyage to the new land 2) Adapting themselves to unfamiliar climates and crops 3) About dealing with Indians 4) Guide to the new land, endless bounty, invitation to bold spirit 3、清教徒的思想： 1）puritan want to make up pure their religious beliefs and practices 净化信仰和行为方式 2) Wish to restore simplicity to church and the authority of the Bible to the theology. 重建教堂，提供简单服务，建立神圣地位 3）look upon themselves as chosen people, and it follow logically that anyone who challenged their way of life is opposing God's will and is not to be accepted. 认为自己是上帝选民，对他们的生活有异议就是反对上帝 4）puritan opposition to pleasure and the arts sometimes has been exaggerated. 反对对快乐和艺术的追求到了十分荒唐的地步5）religious teaching tended to emphasize the image of a wrathful God.强调上帝严厉的一面，忽视上帝仁慈的一面。 4、典型的清教徒：John Cotton & Roger William 他们的不同：John Cotton was much more concerned with authority than with democracy; William begins the history of religious toleration in America. 5、William的宗教观点：Toleration did not stem from a lack of religious convictions. Instead, it sprang from the idea that simply to be virtuous in conduct and devout in belief did not give anyone the right to force belief on others. He also felt that no political order or church system could identify itself directly with God. 行为上的德，信仰上的诚，并没有给任何人强迫别人该如何行事的权利。没有任何政治秩序和教会体制能够直接体现神本身的意旨。 6、英国最早移民到美国的诗人：Anne Bradstreet 7、在殖民时期最好的清教徒诗人：the best of Puritan poets is Edward Tayor. 学习指南： 1、Could you give a description of American Puritans? 关于美国清教徒的描绘 Like their brothers back in England, were idealists, believing that the church should be restored to the "purity" of the first-century church as established by Jesus Christ himself. To them religion was a matter of primary importance. They made it their chief business to see that man lived and thought and acted in a way which tended to the glory of God. They accepted the doctrine of predestination, original sin and total depravity, and limited atonement through a special infusion of grace from God, all that John Calvin, the great French theologian who lived in Geneva had preached. It was this kind of religious belief that they brought with them into the wildness. There they meaant to prove that were God's chosen people enjoying his blessings on this earth as in Heaven. 2、Hard work, thrift, piety and sobriety were the Puritan values that dominated much of the earliest American writing. 3、The work of two writers, Anne Bradstreet & Edward Taylor, rose to the level of real poetry. 4、The earliest settlers included Dutch, Swedes, Germans, French, Spaniards Italian, and Portuguese. 美国文学史复习2（reasoning and revolution) (2009-01-17 15:54:25) 一、美国的性质： The war for Independence ended in the formation of a Federative bourgeois democratic republic - the United States of America. 联邦的资产阶级民主共和国--美利坚合众国。 二、代表作家： 1、Benjamin Franklin 本杰明·富兰克林1706-1790 1）"Poor Richard's Almanac" 穷人查理德的年鉴annual collection of proverbs 流行谚语集 It soon became the most popular book of its kind, largely because of Franklin's shrewd humor, and first spread his reputation 2) Founded the Junto, a club for informal discussion of scientific, economic and political ideas. 建立了一个秘密俱乐部，讨论的主题是政治、经济和科学等时事方面的问题 3）established America's first circulating library, founded the college--University of Pennsylvania. 建立了美国第一个可租借的图书馆，还创办了一所大学——就是现在的宾夕法尼亚大学。 4）first applied the terms "positive" and "negative" to electrical charges. 5)As a representative of the Colonies, he tried in vain to counsel the British toward policies that would let America grow and flourish in association with England. He conducted the difficulty negotiations with France that brought financial and military support for America in the war. 作为殖民地的代表，他不断建议英国改变政策，使美国可以和英国一起发展、繁荣。他说服法国支持美国的独立战争。 6）As an author he had power of expression, simplicity, a subtle humor, sarcastic.作为作家具有非凡的才能，表达简洁明了，幽默，讽刺天才、 7）The Way to Wealth致富之道The Autobiography自传18世纪美国唯一流传至今的自传
《美国文学》期末考试试卷（B卷） 1.Poor Richard’s Almanac ( ) 2.The House of the Seven Gables ( ) 3.“Raven”( ) 4.My Antonia ( ) 5.Babbitt ( ) 6.A Streetcar Named Desire ( ) 7.Maggie: A Girl of the Streets ( ) 8.A Farewell to Arms ( ) 9.The Call of the Wild ( ) 10.Long Day's Journey into Night ( ) https://www.doczj.com/doc/603069677.html,mon Sense ( ) 12. “Rip Van Winkle”( ) 13. Walden( ) 14. The Song of Hiawatha( ) 15. Uncle Tom’s Cabin( ) 16.The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn( ) 17.Sister Carrie( ) 18.The Waste Land( ) 19. A Farewell to Arms( ) 20.The Great Gatsby( ) 1.defined poetry as the rhythmical creation of beauty. 2.While working for the Virginia City Territorial Enterprise, Samuel Langhorne Clemens adopted the pseudonym , the way of a boatman taking soundings, and meaning two fathoms. 3.Ezra Pound initiated a campaign for , which emphasized the direct treatment of an object or situation. He also advocated the language of common speech, but always the exact word. 4.Fitzgerald summarized the experiences and attitudes of the 1920s decade in his masterpiece novel _________. 5.is the first American to win the Nobel Prize for Literature for his vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit and humor, new types of characters. 6.The first of American literature was not written by an American, but by ___________________, a British captain, who thus became the first American writer. 7._________________ has been considered the “Father of modern American Poetry.\
作业 1．第1题 When we say that a poor young man from the West tried to make his fortune in the East but was disillusioned in the quest of an idealized dream, we are probably discussing about ______’s thematic concern in his fiction writing. A.Henry James B.Scott Fitzgerald C.Hemingway D.William Faulkne 答案:B 您的答案：B 题目分数：2.0 此题得分：2.0 2．第2题 ___ did not ever show his/her concern for the Indians. A.Anne Bradstreet B.Philip Freneau C.Roger Williams D.John Eliot 答案:A 您的答案：A 题目分数：2.0 此题得分：2.0 3．第3题 ____ made many translations, among which, Dante’s Divine Comedy was the best. A.William C. Bryant B.Henry W. Longfellow C.Emerson D.Hawthorne 答案:B 您的答案：B 题目分数：2.0 此题得分：2.0 4．第4题 The Declaration of Independence was the product of the joint efforts by ___, A.George Washington
Literary terms这部分的答案均来自星火《英美文学》一书，质量高 1.Transcendentalism: is literature，philosophical and literary movement that flourished in New England from about 1836 to1860. It originated among a small group of intellectuals who were reaching against the orthodoxy of Calvinism and the rationalism of the Unitarian Church, their own faith centering on the divinity of humanity and the natural world instead. Transcendentalism derived some of its basic idealistic concepts from romantic German philosophy, and from such English authors as Carlyle，Coleridge, and Wordsworth. The ideas of transcendentalism were most eloquently expressed by Ralph Waldo Emerson in such essays as Nature and Self-Reliance and by Henry David Thoreau in his book Walden. 2.American naturalism：this term was created by Emile Zola. Charles Darwin’s evolutionary theory played an important role in naturalism. In the works off naturalism，characters were conceived as complex combinations of inherited attributes and habits conditioned by social and economic forces. At the end of the 19th century，this pessimistic form of realism appeared in America. Naturalism attempted to achieve extreme objectivity and frankness. Characters in the works of naturalism were dominated by their environment and heredity. Naturalism emphasized：the world was around；men had no free will；religious “truth” were illusory；the destiny of human beings was misery in life and oblivion in death. The dominant figures in naturalism were Stephen crane，Frank Norris, Jack London and Theodore Dreiser. 3.The lost generation: included the young English and American expatriates as well as men and women caught in the war and cut from the old value and yet unable to come to terms with the new era when civilization had gone mad. These writers adopted unconventional style of writing and reacted against the tendencies of the older writers in the 1920s. The term came from Gertrude Stein who said in Hemingway's presence that “you are all a lost generation.” 4.Jazz age: the novelist F. Scott Fitzgerald coined the term "Jazz Age" retroactively to refer to the decade after World War I and before the stock market crash in 1929, during which Americans embarked upon what he called "the gaudiest spree in history". Jazz Age is inextricably associated with the wealthy white "flappers" and socialites immortalized in Fitzgerald's fiction. 5.Free verse: is a poetry that has an irregular rhythm and line length and that attempts to avoid any predetermined verse structure, instead, it uses the cadences of natural speech. While it alternates stressed and unstressed syllables as stricter verse forms do, free verse does so in a looser way. Whitman's poetry is an example of free verse at its most impressive. It has since been used by Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot and other major American can poets of the 20th century. 6. The iceberg analogy: The Iceberg Theory is a writing theory by American writer Ernest Hemingway, as follows：if a writer of a prose knows enough about what he is writing about he may omit things that he knows and the reader，if the writer is writing truly enough, will have a feeling of those things as strongly as though the writer had stated them. 这部分来自星火的为：3,7,8, 来自课本为：1,4,9 来自网络为：2,5,6大家自取之 1.Poe's Poetic Ideas A.His conviction that the function of poetry is not to summarize and interpret earthly experience, but to create a mood in which the soul soars toward supernal beauty. B.He insists that poetry must be disembarrassed of that moral sense. C.Poe believes that the elevation of excitement of the soul should be “the poetic principle” thus poetry must concern itself only with “supernal beauty”. D.Poe defines poetry as “the rhythmical creation of beauty” a definition gi ving unexampled emphasis upon the importance of the rhythmical or musical element in poetry.