1.What’s Washington Irving’s main contribution to American Literature?
华盛顿·欧文对美国文学的主要贡献
Washington Irving’s contribution to American literature is unique in more way than one. He did a number of things whic h have been regarded as the first of their kind in America. He was the first American writer of imaginative literature to gain international fame:when he returned home in 1832, he was acclaimed as(被誉为) the one American author whom pe ople in Europe knew about, and the Americans took as a sign that American literature was emerging as an independent en tity（形成一个独立的实体）. To say that he was father of Am erican literature is not much exaggeration（夸大）. The sho rt story as a genre（风格） in American literature probably began with Irving’s the sketch book（见闻札记）, a collecti on of essays, sketches（草图）, and tales, of which the mos t famous and frequently anthologized are “Rip Van Winkle”an d “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”. The book touched the Ame rican imagination and foreshadowed（预示） the coming of Ha wthorne霍桑, Melville,梅尔维尔,and Poe爱伦·坡, in whose han ds the short story attained a degree of perfection as liter
ary tradition. It also marked the beginning of Amercian Rom anticism.
2.What is Nathaniel Hawthorne’s writing style?
纳撒尼尔·霍桑的写作风格
Hawthorne’s vocabulary was wide and well-controlled. Writing is at the formal level. He chose his words with a sharp sense of precise meaning and a keen ear for pleasant sound. His style is also noteworthy for his frequent use of images. Metaphors and similes abound, most of them stirringly fresh and effective, he makes skillful use of colors as a means for conveying mood. His style is soft, flowing and almost feminine. His language is smooth, clear, beautiful in sound and meaning. He also frequently uses symbols and settings to reveal the psychology of the characters.
3.Make a brief comment on symbolism in the novel Moby Dick. (Herman Melville赫尔曼·麦尔维尔)
对《白鲸记》中的象征主义做出一个简短的评论
There is symbolism in the book. The Voyage itself is a metaphor for "search and discovery, the search for the ultimate truth of experience." The Pequod is the ship of the American
soul, and the endeavor of its crew represents "the maniacal fanaticism of our white mental consciousness". By far the most conspicuous symbol in the book is, of course, Moby Dick. The white whale is capable of many interpretations. It is a symbol of evil to some, readers of goodness to others, and of both to still others. He is "paradoxically benign and malevolent, nourishing and destructive," "massive, brutal, monolithic, but at the same time protean, erotically beautiful, infinitely variable." Its whiteness is a paradoxical color, too, signifying as it does death and corruption as well as purity, innocence, and youth. It represents the final mystery of the universe which man will do well to desist from pursuing. As Ahab and his crew do not leave it alone, it is only natural that they get drowned.
4.Give a brief introduction about Uncle Tom’s Cabin.
对《汤姆叔叔的小屋》做出一个简短的介绍
The book opens with a Kentucky farmer named Arthur Shelby facing the loss of his farm because of debts. Even though he and his wife, Emily Shelby, believe that they have a benevolent relationship with their slaves, Shelby decides to raise the needed funds by selling two of them—Uncle Tom, a middle-aged
man with a wife and children, and Harry, the son of Emily Shelby’s maid Eliza—to a slave trader. Emily Shelby hates the idea of doing this because she had promised her maid that her child would never be sold; Emily's son, George Shelby, hates to see Tom go because he sees the man as his friend and mentor. When Eliza overhears Mr. and Mrs. Shelby discussing plans to sell Tom and Harry, Eliza determines to run away with her son. The novel states that Eliza made this decision because she fears losing her only surviving child (she had already miscarried two children). Eliza departs that night, leaving a note of apology to her mistress.
While all of this is happening, Uncle Tom is sold and placed on a riverboat, which sets sail down the Mississippi River. While on board, Tom meets and befriends a young white girl named Eva. When Eva falls into the river, Tom saves her. In gratitude, Eva's father, Augustine St. Clare, buys Tom from the slave trader and takes him with the family to their home in New Orleans. During this time, Tom and Eva begin to relate to one another because of the deep Christian faith they both share.
During Eliza's escape, she meets up with her husband George Harris, who had run away previously. They decide to attempt to reach Canada. However, they are now being tracked by a slave
hunter named Tom Loker. Eventually Loker and his men trap Eliza and her family, causing George to shoot Loker. Worried that Loker may die, Eliza convinces George to bring the slave hunter to a nearby Quaker settlement for medical treatment.
While all of this is happening, Uncle Tom is sold and placed on a riverboat, which sets sail down the Mississippi River. While on board, Tom meets and befriends a young white girl named Eva. When Eva falls into the river, Tom saves her. In gratitude, Eva's father, Augustine St. Clare, buys Tom from the slave trader and takes him with the family to their home in New Orleans. During this time, Tom and Eva begin to relate to one another because of the deep Christian faith they both share.
During Eliza's escape, she meets up with her husband George Harris, who had run away previously. They decide to attempt to reach Canada. However, they are now being tracked by a slave hunter named Tom Loker. Eventually Loker and his men trap Eliza and her family, causing George to shoot Loker. Worried that Loker may die, Eliza convinces George to bring the slave hunter to a nearby Quaker settlement for medical treatment.
Back in New Orleans, St. Clare debates slavery with his Northern cousin Ophelia who, while opposing slavery, is prejudiced against black people. St. Clare, however, believes he is not
biased, even though he is a slave owner. In an attempt to show Ophelia that her views on blacks are wrong, St. Clare purchases Topsy, a young black slave. St. Clare then asks Ophelia to educate her.
After Tom has lived with the St. Clares for two years, Eva grows very ill. Before she dies she experiences a vision of heaven, which she shares with the people around her. As a result of her death and vision, the other characters resolve to change their lives, with Ophelia promising to throw off her personal prejudices against blacks, Topsy saying she will better herself, and St. Clare pledging to free Uncle Tom.
Before St. Clare can follow through on his pledge, however, he dies after being stabbed while entering a New Orleans tavern. His wife reneges on her late husband's vow and sells Tom at auction to a vicious plantation owner named Simon Legree. Legree (a transplanted northerner) takes Tom to rural Louisiana, where Tom meets Legree's other slaves, including Emmeline (whom Legree purchased at the same time).
Legree begins to hate Tom when Tom refuses Legree's order to whip his fellow slave. Legree beats Tom viciously, and resolves to crush his new slave's faith in God. Despite Legree's cruelty, however, Tom refuses to stop reading his Bible and comforting
the other slaves as best he can. While at the plantation, Tom meets Cassy, another of Legree's slaves. Cassy was previously separated from her son and daughter when they were sold; unable to endure the pain of seeing another child sold, she killed her third child.
At this point Tom Loker returns to the story. Loker has changed as the result of being healed by the Quakers. George, Eliza, and Harry have also obtained their freedom after crossing into Canada. In Louisiana, Uncle Tom almost succumbs to hopelessness, as his faith in God is tested by the hardships of the plantation. However, he has two visions, one of Jesus and one of Eva, which renew his resolve to remain a faithful Christian, even unto death. He encourages Cassy to escape, which she does, taking Emmeline with her. When Tom refuses to tell Legree where Cassy and Emmeline have gone, Legree orders his overseers to kill Tom. As Tom is dying, he forgives the overseers who savagely beat him. Humbled by the character of the man they have killed, both men become Christians. Very shortly before Tom's death, George Shelby (Arthur Shelby's son) arrives to buy Tom’s freedom, but finds he is too late.
On their boat ride to freedom, Cassy and Emmeline meet George Harris' sister and accompany her to Canada. Once there, Cassy
discovers that Eliza is her long-lost daughter who was sold as a child. Now that their family is together again, they travel to France and eventually Liberia, the African nation created for former American slaves. There they meet Cassy's long-lost son. George Shelby returns to the Kentucky farm and frees all his slaves. George tells them to remember Tom's sacrifice and his belief in the true meaning of Christianity.
Brief Introduction
This book is about the early nineteenth century, Kentucky's farmer Shelby’s failed business, was forced to sell slaves to repay debts with Tom and little Harry. George Harris, his wife Eliza and his son Harry were fleeing to Northern Canada, twists and turns, and finally safely met each other and lived a truly free people’s lives. Honest, sincere Uncle Tom got a new owner St· Clare and his daughter Eva’s love, but unfortunately Eva was ill and died, and Mr. Clare was killed when he was going to give free to Uncle Tom. Uncle Tom died from abusing and beating by the devil incarnate of the farmer Legree.?
5.According to Henry James’s viewpoint, what’s the conflict between the American personalities and European personalities? 根据亨利·詹姆斯的观点，在美国现实主义和欧洲现实主义之间有什
么冲突？
He saw that Europeans were often regarded as over-refined 过度细致的, degenerate堕落的, and artificial虚伪的 by Amer icans, and that Americans were considered native土著的, vul gar粗俗的, and ignorant无知的 by many Europeans. The misun derstanding caused personality conflicts性格冲突, and even where the two races found each other agreeable 令人愉快的 a nd the national difference provided an opportunity for cont rast of character相反的性格. The typical American in a Jame s’ novel is fresh, enthusiastic and perhaps as cultured as he might be, but eager to learn and basically “good” in spi te of his disregard忽视 of the outworn conventions陈腐的约定 and social graces社交礼仪 of Europe. The European, on th e other hand, is highly cultivated, urban, sometimes boring, but always correct.
6.What’s the difference between Henry Jame’s realism and Mark Twain’s realism?
亨利·詹姆斯的现实主义和马克·吐温的现实主义有什么不同？
In thematic terms(在主题上), James wrote mostly of the upper reaches of American society, whereas Mark Twain dealt largely with the lower strata(阶层) of society. Technically(在技术上),
James pursued the Psychological realism, but Twain’s contribution to the development of realism was partly through local colorism(地方色彩) and colloquial(口语的) style. James believed that reality lies in the impressions(印象) made by life on the spectator(旁观者), and not in any facts of which the spectator is unaware. He shifted the ground of realistic art from the outer to the inner world. Mark Twain preferred to represent social life through portraits of local places that he knew best.
7.What are the characteristics of O.Henry’s writing?
欧亨利的写作特点是什么？
His stories are usually short. The plots are exceedingly clever and interesting, humor abounds, and the end is always surprising. Often there are two endings: first an unexpected ending, then another, which is quite a different one and a still better surprise. Many of his stories contain a great deal of slang and colloquial expressions that make them hard to be understood by people outside of America. Such forms of speech are used to give what is called local color, to make the stories fit in with the characters and scenes described. His own speech, both spoken and written, was always chaste and clear.
8.Give a brief introduction about The Great Gatsby.
对伟大的盖茨比做出一个简要的介绍(F.Scott Fitzgerald弗朗西斯·斯科特·菲茨杰拉德 )
The Great Gatsby is a1925 novel written by American author F. Scott Fitzgerald that follows a cast of characters living in the fictional town of West Egg on prosperous Long Island in the summer of 1922. The story primarily concerns the young and mysterious millionaire Jay Gatsby and his quixotic passion and obsession for the beautiful former debutante Daisy Buchanan. Considered to be Fitzgerald's magnum opus,The Great
Gatsby explores themes of decadence, idealism, resistance to change, social upheaval, and excess, creating a portrait of the Jazz Age or the Roaring Twenties that has been described as a cautionary tale regarding the American Dream.
The Great Gatsby is the single most profound commentary in American fiction on American Dream. The novel deals symbolically with the frustration and despair resulting from the failure of the American dream. It is a story of an idealist who tries to recapture his lost love but in vain and is finally destroyed by the influence of the wealthy people around him. Gatsby is the true heir to the American dream. He fails to
understand that he cannot recapture the past (his fresh new love for Daisy) no matter how much money he makes. Daisy refuses to leave the security of her established position for Gatsby’s adoration and precarious wealth.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s greatness lies in the fact that he found intuitively in his personal experience the embodiment of that of the nation and created a myth out of American life. Gatsby’s life follows a clear pattern: There is, at first, a dream, then disenchantment, and finally a sense of failure and despair. In this, Gatsby’s personal experience approximates the whole of the American experience up to the first few decades of this century. America had been “a fresh, green breast of the new world,”had “pandered to the last and greatest of all human dreams”and promised something like “the orgiastic future”for humanity.
Now the virgin forests have vanished and made way for a modern civilization, the only fitting symbol of which is the “valley of ashes,” the living hell. Here modern men live in sterility and meaninglessness and futility as best illustrated by Gatsby’s essentially pointless parties. The crowds hardly know their host; many come and go without invitation. The music, the laughter, and the faces, all blurred as one confused mass,
signify the purposelessness and loneliness of the partygoers beneath their masks of relaxation and joviality.
The shallowness of Daisy whose voice is “full of money”, the restless wickedness of Tom, the representative of the egocentric, careless rich, and Gatsby who is, on the one hand, charmingly innocent enough to believe that the past can be recovered and resurrected, but is on the other hand, both corrupt and corrupting, tragically convinced of the power of money, however it was made – the behavior of these and other people like the Wilsons all clearly denote the vanishing of the great expectation which the first settlement of the American continent had inspired. The hope is gone; despair and doom have set in. Thus Gatsby’s personal life has assumed a magnitude as a “cultural-historical allegory” for the nation. Here, then, lies the greatest intellectual achievement that F. Scott Fitzgerald ever achieved.
This novel is narrated by Nick, is a young bachelor who returns to the Midwest before setting to the New York City. Daisy, the heroine, is Nick’s second cousin once removed and Nick knows of her husband, Tom. With the development of the novel, Nick knows that his next-door neighbor, who always hosting lavish parties of hundreds of peoples, is the wealthy
Gatsby. Jordon Baker, takes interests in Nick, reveals that Gatsby had fallen in love with Daisy in 1917 as Army Lieutenant stationed near Daisy’s hometown. But Gatsby had no money to married Daisy, so Daisy married to the wealthy Tom, after that Gatsby is aiming to be a millionaire. With few years of illegal traffic and smuggling, he accumulates a great amount of wealth. He would like Nick to arrange a meeting with Daisy, Nick agrees. And invite Gatsby and Daisy to his house, so they begin a love affair again. But actually, Daisy only treats this relationship as an exciting game. Daisy invites Gatsby and Nick to her mansion, where Tom finds that Gatsby loves Daisy. Tom knows Daisy’s superficial nature very well and by taking away Daisy’s financial security, with that Daisy is now beyond his reach. With the situation between them, Daisy runs out of the hotel and Gatsby follows her into his car, where she insists on driving because it will calm her nerves. But it fells that Daisy knocks down and kills Myrtle, Tom’s mistress. Gatsby absolve Daisy from her guilty to protect her. After that Tom talks into Myrtle’s husband to shoot Gatsby dead. So the magic bubble of love and dreams broke up. Despite Nick’s efforts, only Gatsby’s father, an woman and Nick attends his funeral. Discussed with Tom and Daisy, Nick returns to his hometown, reflecting on
Gatsby’s dreams and cyclical nature of the past.
The Raven.乌鸦(爱伦·坡著)
?乌鸦
?从前一个阴郁的子夜，我独自沉思，慵懒疲竭，
?沉思许多古怪而离奇、早已被人遗忘的传闻——
?当我开始打盹，几乎入睡，突然传来一阵轻擂，
?仿佛有人在轻轻叩击，轻轻叩击我的房门。
?“有人来了，”我轻声嘟喃，“正在叩击我的房门——
?唯此而已，别无他般。”
?哦，我清楚地记得那是在萧瑟的十二月；
?每一团奄奄一息的余烬都形成阴影伏在地板。
?我当时真盼望翌日；——因为我已经枉费心机
?想用书来消除悲哀——消除因失去丽诺尔的悲叹——?因那被天使叫作丽诺尔的少女，她美丽娇艳——
?在这儿却默默无闻，直至永远。
?那柔软、暗淡、飒飒飘动的每一块紫色窗布
?使我心中充满前所未有的恐怖——我毛骨惊然；
?为平息我心儿停跳．我站起身反复叨念
?“这是有人想进屋，在叩我的房门——。
?更深夜半有人想进屋，在叩我的房门；——
?唯此而已，别无他般。”
?很快我的心变得坚强；不再犹疑，不再彷徨，
?“先生，”我说，“或夫人，我求你多多包涵；
?刚才我正睡意昏昏，而你来敲门又那么轻，
?你来敲门又那么轻，轻轻叩击我的房门，
?我差点以为没听见你”——说着我拉开门扇；——?唯有黑夜，别无他般。
?凝视着夜色幽幽，我站在门边惊惧良久，
?疑惑中似乎梦见从前没人敢梦见的梦幻；
?可那未被打破的寂静，没显示任何迹象。
?“丽诺尔？”便是我嗫嚅念叨的唯一字眼，
?我念叨“丽诺尔！”，回声把这名字轻轻送还，
?唯此而已，别无他般。
?我转身回到房中，我的整个心烧灼般疼痛，
?很快我又听到叩击声，比刚才听起来明显。
?“肯定，”我说，“肯定有什么在我的窗棂；
?让我瞧瞧是什么在那里，去把那秘密发现——
?让我的心先镇静一会儿，去把那秘密发现；——?那不过是风，别无他般！”
?我猛然推开窗户，。心儿扑扑直跳就像打鼓，
?一只神圣往昔的健壮乌鸦慢慢走进我房间；
?它既没向我致意问候；也没有片刻的停留；
?而以绅士淑女的风度，栖在我房门的上面——
?栖在我房门上方一尊帕拉斯半身雕像上面——
?栖坐在那儿，仅如此这般。
?于是这只黑鸟把我悲伤的幻觉哄骗成微笑，
?以它那老成持重一本正经温文尔雅的容颜，
?“虽然冠毛被剪除，”我说，“但你肯定不是懦夫，?你这幽灵般可怕的古鸦，漂泊夜的彼岸——
?请告诉我你尊姓大名，在黑沉沉的冥府阴间！”?乌鸦答日“永不复述。”
?听见如此直率的回答，我惊叹这丑陋的乌鸦，
?虽说它的回答不着边际——与提问几乎无关；
?因为我们不得不承认，从来没有活着的世人
?曾如此有幸地看见一只鸟栖在他房门的面——
?鸟或兽栖在他房间门上方的半身雕像上面，
?有这种名字“永不复还。”
?但那只独栖于肃穆的半身雕像上的乌鸦只说了
?这一句话，仿佛它倾泻灵魂就用那一个字眼。
?然后它便一声不吭——也不把它的羽毛拍动——?直到我几乎是哺哺自语“其他朋友早已消散——?明晨它也将离我而去——如同我的希望已消散。”?这时那鸟说“永不复还。”
?惊异于那死寂漠漠被如此恰当的回话打破，
?“肯定，”我说，“这句话是它唯一的本钱，
?从它不幸动主人那儿学未。一连串无情飞灾
?曾接踵而至，直到它主人的歌中有了这字眼——?直到他希望的挽歌中有了这个忧伤的字眼
?‘永不复还，永不复还。’”
?但那只乌鸦仍然把我悲伤的幻觉哄骗成微笑，
?我即刻拖了张软椅到门旁雕像下那只鸟跟前；
?然后坐在天鹅绒椅垫上，我开始冥思苦想，
?浮想连着浮想，猜度这不祥的古鸟何出此言——?这只狰狞丑陋可怕不吉不祥的古鸟何出此言，
?为何聒噪‘永不复还。”
?我坐着猜想那意见但没对那鸟说片语只言。
?此时，它炯炯发光的眼睛已燃烧进我的心坎；
?我依然坐在那儿猜度，把我的头靠得很舒服，
?舒舒服服地靠在那被灯光凝视的天鹅绒衬垫，
?但被灯光爱慕地凝视着的紫色的天鹅绒衬垫，
?她将显出，啊，永不复还！
?接着我想，空气变得稠密，被无形香炉熏香，
?提香炉的撒拉弗的脚步声响在有簇饰的地板。
?“可怜的人，”我呼叫，“是上帝派天使为你送药，
?这忘忧药能中止你对失去的丽诺尔的思念；
?喝吧如吧，忘掉对失去的丽诺尔的思念！”
?乌鸦说“永不复还。”
?“先知！”我说“凶兆！——仍是先知，不管是鸟还是魔！?是不是魔鬼送你，或是暴风雨抛你来到此岸，
?孤独但毫不气馁，在这片妖惑鬼崇的荒原——
?在这恐怖萦绕之家——告诉我真话，求你可怜——
?基列有香膏吗？——告诉我——告诉我，求你可怜！”?乌鸦说“永不复还。”
?“先知！”我说，“凶兆！——仍是先知、不管是鸟是魔！
?凭我们头顶的苍天起誓——凭我们都崇拜的上帝起誓——
?告诉这充满悲伤的灵魂。它能否在遥远的仙境
?拥抱被天使叫作丽诺尔的少女，她纤尘不染——
?拥抱被天使叫作丽诺尔的少女，她美丽娇艳。”
?乌鸦说“永不复还。”
?“让这话做我们的道别之辞，鸟或魔！”我突然叫道——
?“回你的暴风雨中去吧，回你黑沉沉的冥府阴间！
?别留下黑色羽毛作为你的灵魂谎言的象征！
?留给我完整的孤独！——快从我门上的雕像滚蛋！
?从我心中带走你的嘴；从我房门带走你的外观！”
?乌鸦说“永不复还。”
?那乌鸦并没飞去，它仍然栖息，仍然栖息
?在房门上方那苍白的帕拉斯半身雕像上面；
?而它的眼光与正在做梦的魔鬼眼光一模一样，
?照在它身上的灯光把它的阴影投射在地板；
?而我的灵魂，会从那团在地板上漂浮的阴暗
?被擢升么——永不复还！
The Raven is a narrative poem by American writer Edgar Allan
美国文学试题库 注：试题库内容仅作为学习参考使用，并不代表考试内容。任何一道题均可能变化为其它形式的试题。 1. Naturalism is evolved from realism when the author’s tone in writing becomes less serious and less sympathetic but more ironic and more_____________. A. rational B. humorous C. optimistic D. pessimistic 2.The impact of Darwin’s evolutionary theory on the American thought and the influence of the nineteenth-century French literature on the American men of letters gave rise to yet another school of realism: American___________ . A. local colorism B. vernacularism C. modernism D. naturalism 3. ____________were idealists, believing the church should be restored to complete “purity” and dreaming that they would build the new land to an Eden on earth. A. Calvinists B. Puritans C. Romanticists D. Transcendentalists 4. All of the following are the features of Puritans EXCEPT _____. A. wanting to make pure their religious beliefs and practices
美国文学笔记 I. Colonial Period（殖民地时期）（约1607-1765） II. The Revolutionary period（革命时期) :( 1765-18世纪末）Benjamin Franklin（1706-1790） III.The Romantic period （浪漫主义时期）: （1800-1865）Edgar Allan Poe（1809-1849） Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882) Henry Daivd Thoreau (1817-1862) Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864) Herman Melville (1819-1891) Walt Whitman (1819~1892) Emily Dickinson (1830-1886) IV.The Realism and Naturalism（现实主义和自然主义) : （1865-1918） Mark Twain (1835-1910) Henry James (1843-1916) Stephen Crane (1881-1900) V. The Modern period (现代主义时期）: 1918-1945 F. Scott Fitzgerald (1896-1940) William Faulkner (1897-1962) Ernest Hemingway (1899—1961) Ezra Pound (1885—1972) Robert Frost（1847-1963） Eugene O’ Neil (1888-1953) VI. Contemporary literature（当代文学):（1945- ） I. Colonial Period（殖民地时期）（约1607-1765） II. The Revolutionary period（革命时期): (1765-18世纪末）Benjamin Franklin（1706-1790）： 1. Summary: One of the greatest founding fathers of the American Nation First great self-made man in America
一．The Literature of Colonial America(Puritanism) 1.The first English colony: Jamestown in Virginia in 1607 2.The first American writer: John Smith 3.Anne Bradstreet: first American woman poet; a Puritan poet; once called “Tenth Muse”; 二．Literature of Reason and Revolution War of Independence (1775-1783);The French and Indian War / the Seven Y ears’War(1756-1763) 1..Benjamin Franklin: Autobiography; Richard’s Almanac Maxims from Poor Richard’s Almanac (proverbs that give practical wisdom) 2..Thomas Paine (1737-1809): Common Sense: a strong push for the Revolution W ar; four parts (British enslavement of the colonies; praising democratic election; America’s economic and military potential to protect the rights of people) 3..Philip Freneau (1752-1832) The first American-born poet;“Poet of the American Revolution”, “Father of American Poetry”, the most significant poet of 18th century America W orks:The Wild Honey Suckle《野忍冬花》on mortality, The Indian Burying Ground 《印第安人殡葬地》on the imagined afterlife, The British Prison Ship《英国囚船》about his imprisoned experience. 三．Romanticism The American Romantic period is considered one of the most important periods, the first literary Renaissance, in the history of American literature. It stretches from the end of the 18th century through the outbreak of the Civil W ar. It started with the publication of W ashington Irving’s The Sketch Book and ended with Whitman’s Leaves of Grass. 1.Washington Irving (1783-1859) Literary status: the first American to earn an international reputation; Father of the American short stories The Sketch Book: winning him international popularity，the first modern short stories and the first great American juvenile literature. Major works: A History of New York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty under the name of “Diedrich Knickerbocker
I. Multiple Choices (40%) 1-5 DCADA 6-10 ADDAD 11-15DBCBA 16-20 DBCCC 21-25 DCDAC 26-30 ACDBC 31-35CAACD 36-40 DDCAB II. Choose the relevant match from column B for each item in column A. (10%) 1-5 CABDE 6-10CDEAB III. Interpreting the following texts. （15%） Passage 1 1.Ezra Pound(2’) 2.This short poem is one of the most famous representative works of Imagist school. In the poem, “the object” to be treated is the faces in that dim and dam context. The impression is brought out most vividly by the single, dominant image of flower petals on a wet, black bough, which serves as the most. (5’) Passage 2 1. Theodore Dreiser. Sister Carrie(2’) 2. (1)The world is cold and harsh to Sister Carrie. Alone and helpless, she moves along like a mechanism driven by desire and catches blindly at any opportunity for a better existence. A feather in the wind, she is totally at the mercy of forces she cannot comprehend, still less to say control. She does not seem to possess what may be called a mora l fiber in her. (4’) (2) Spencer’s influence is seen at its most powerful as to Hustwood’s tragedy. Dreiser’s portrait is an authentic one of the impotent modern man unfit to survive. He cannot help himself in his relationship with Sister Carrie. No respectable job, no handsome income, no genteel family, nothing could overcome his biological need and stop him from returning to savage, atavistic unreason. He thus hovers between being a man and beast in his behavior. He must die. (6’) IV. Explain the following terms（15%） 1. Local Colorism or Regionalism as a trend first came to prominence in the late 19th century in America. The local colorists were devoted to capturing the unique customs, manners, speech, folklore, and other qualities of a particular regional community, usually in humorous short stories. (3分) The most famous of the local colorists was Mark Twain, with his masterpiece The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. (2分) 2. Transcendentalism is the summit of the Romantic Movement in the history of American literature in the 19th century. （1分）Transcendentalism has been defined philosophically as “the recognition in man of the capacity of knowing truth intuitively”. （1分）Transcendentalists place emphasis on the importance of the Over-soul, the individual and Nature. （2分）The most important representatives are Ralph Waldo Emerson and Henry David Thoreau. （1分） 3. It defines a sense of moral loss or aimlessness. The WWI destroyed the in ocent ideas, many good young men went to the war and died, or returned damaged, both physically and mentally; their moral faith were no longer valid--- they were “Lost.”（2分）. So in a broad Sense: it refers to the entire post -WWI American young generation. In a narrow sense: The Lost Generation is a term used to describe a group of American writers who were rebelling against what America had become by the 1900’s, including Heming way, F.S.Fitzgerald, etc. Who left
I、Write the Names of the Authors、 1、Poor Richard’s Almanac 2、Common Sense 3、The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn 4、A Streetcar Named Desire 5、The Waste Land 6、Sister Carrie 7、The House of the Seven Gables 8、The Great Gatsby 9、The Bluest Eye 10、 A Farewell to Arms 11、R ip Van Winkle 12、Raven 13、The Call of the Wild 14、The Marble Faun 15、Moby Dick 16、The Wing of the Dove 17、Of Mice and Men 18、The Bluest Eye 19、The Great Gatsby 20、The Bluest Eye 21、The Sound and the Fury II、Multiple Choices(Choose the best answer from the four choices)、 1、From 1622 until his death, , one of the greatest of colonial American, was reelected thirty times as governor、 A、Anne Bradstreet B、William Bradford C、Edward Taylor D、Thomas Pain 2、carries the voice not of an individual but of a whole people、It is more than writing of the Revolutionary period, it defined the meaning of the American Revolution、 A、Common Sense B、The American Crisis C、Declaration of Independence D、Defense of the English People 3、usually was regarded as the first American writer、 A、William Bradford B、Anne Bradstreet C、Emily Dickinson D、Captain John Smith 4、Anne Bradstreet was a Puritan poet、Her poems made such a stir in England that she became known as the " "who appeared in America、 A、Ninth Muse B、Tenth Muse C、Best Muse D、First Muse 5、_____ was the most leading spirit of the Transcendental Club、 A、Henry David Thoreau B、Ralph Waldo Emerson C、Nathanial Hawthorne D、Walt Whitman
第13单元凯萨琳?安?波特 13.1复习笔记 I.Introduction to author（作者简介） 1.Life（生平） Katherine Anne Porter(1890-1980)was born in Indian Greek,Texas.She began her life as a news reporter and sometimes as an actress and ballad https://www.doczj.com/doc/c03148012.html,ter she stayed in Europe and Mexico which proved very valuable for her writing.She was basically a short-story writer.Her Collected Stories won her both a Pulitzer Prize and a National Book Award.She lectured at various universities and received honorary doctorates from various institutions.She was vice president of the National Institute of Arts and Letters from1950to1952. 凯萨琳·安·波特(1890—1980)出生于德克萨斯州印第安河市。她曾做过报社记者，演员和民谣歌手。后来她到过欧洲和墨西哥。这段经历对她日后的写作很有帮助。她主要是短篇小说家。她的《短篇小说集》获得了普利策奖和全国图书奖。她曾到许多大学做讲座，收到了许多机构授予的荣誉博士学位。从1950年到1952年她担任美国国家艺术与文学协会副主席。 2.Major Works（主要作品） The Flowering Judas(1930)《开花的紫荆树》 Pale Horse,Pale Rider(1939)《灰色骑士灰色马》
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
美国文学复习题(有答案版)
美国文学复习提纲 第一部分连线题（1*10=10’） 1. Thomas Jefferson The Declaration of Independence 2. Walt Whitman O’ Captain, My Captain 3. Mark Twain Jumping Frog 4. Robert Frost Mending Wall 5. Ezra Pound In a Station of the Metro 6. Carl Sandburg Chicago 7. Saul Bellow The Adventure of Augie March 8. Ernest Hemingway Men without Women 9. John Steinbeck The Grape of Wrath 10. Jack London The Call of the Wild 11. Sinclair Lewis Babbit 12. Flannery O’ Connor A Good Man Is Hard to Find 13. O. Henry The Last Leaf 14. Jerome David Salinger The Catcher in the Rye 15. William Falkner The Sound and the Fury 第二部分单项选择(1.5*20=30’) 1. Anne Bradstreet was a Puritan poet. Her poems made such a stir in England that she became known as the “________” who appeared in America. A. Tenth Muse B. Ninth Muse C. Best Muse D. First Muse 2. In American literature, the 18th century was the age of the Enlightenment. ________ was the dominant spirit. A. Humanism B. Rationalism C. Revolution D. Evolution 3. Which of the following stirred the world and helped form the American republic? A. The American Crisis B. The Federalist C. Declaration of Independence D. The Age of Reason 4. At the Reason and Revolution Period, Americans were influenced by the European movement called the ________. A. Chartist Movement B. Romanticist Movement C. Enlightenment Movement D. Modernist Movement 5. Thoreau was often alone in the woods or by the pond, lost in spiritual communication with ________. A. nature B. transcendentalist ideas C. human beings D. celestial beings 6. ________tells a simple but very moving story in which four people living in a puritan community are involved in and affected by the sin of adultery in different ways. A. Twice-Told Tales B. The Scarlet Letter C. The House of the Seven Gables D. The Marble Faun
1. For Melville, as well as for the reader and _________, the narrator, Moby Dick is still a mystery, an ultimate mystery of the universe. A. Ahab B. Ishmael C. Stubb D. Starbuck 2. Naturalism is evolved from re alism when the author’s tone in writing becomes less serious and less sympathetic but more ironic and more_____________. A. rational B. humorous C. optimistic D. pessimistic 3. Dreiser’s Trilogy of Desire includes th ree novels. They are The Financier, The Titan and_____ . A. The Genius B. The Tycoon C. The Stoic D. The Giant 4. The impact of Darwin’s evolutionary theory on the American thought and the influence of the nineteenth-century French literature on the American men of letters gave rise to yet another school of realism: American___________ . A. local colorism B. vernacularism C. modernism D. naturalism 5. Robert Frost combined traditional verse forms -the sonnet, rhyming couplets, blank verse -with a clear American local speech rhythm, the speech of _______farmers with its idiosyncratic diction and syntax. A. Southern B. Western C. New Hampshire D. New England 6. As an autobiographical play, O’Neill’s ___________(1956) has gained its status as a world classic and simultaneously marks the climax of his literary career and the coming of age of American drama. A. The Iceman Cometh B. Long Day’s Journey Into Night C. The Hairy Ape D. Desire Under the Elms 7. Apart from the dislocation of time and the modern stream-of-consciousness, the other narrative techniques Faulkner used to construct his stories include_________, symbolism and mythological and biblical allusions. A. impressionism B. expressionism C. multiple points of view D. first person point of view 8. Stylistically, Henry James’ fiction is characterized by____________. A. short, clear sentences B. abundance of local images C. ordinary American speech D. highly refined language 9. One of the characteristics that have made Mark Twain a major literary figure in the 19th century America is his use of____________ . A. vernacular B. interior monologue C. point of view D. photographic description 10. It is on his____________ that Washington Irving’s fame mainly rested. A. childhood recollections B. sketches about his European tours C. early poetry D. tales about America 11. At the middle of 19th century, America witnessed a cultural flowering which is called “____________________”.
I. Multiple choice. Please choose the best answer among the four items. (10 x 1’= 10’) 1. In American literature, the 18th century was the age of Enlightenment. ____ was the dominant. 2. The short story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” is taken from Irving’s work named ____. 3. Which of the following is not the characteristic of American Romanticism? 4. The short story “Rip Van Winkle” reveals the __ attitude of its author.
5.Stylistically, Henry James’ fiction is characterized by ___. 6.Transcendentalist doctrines found their greatest literary advocates in ___ and Thoreau. 7.Which is regarded as the “Declaration of Intellectual Independence”? 8.____ is considered Mark Twain’s greatest achievement.
名词解释： Imagism: It’s a poetic movement of England and the U.S. flourished from 1909 to 1917.The movement insists on the creation of images in poetry by “the direct treatment of the thing” and the economy of wording. The leaders of this movement were Ezra Pound and Amy Lowell. Beat generation: The term was coined by Jack Kerouac in 1948 to refer to a group of disillusioned writers following World War Two. Later, this literary and cultural movement continued into the 1960s. The Beat Generation must not be confused with the Lost Generation of writers. Spokesmen and representatives of the Beat Generation were Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and others. They revolted against an America that was materialistic, belligerent and frustrating. Social, intellectual and sexual freedom was advocated. Traditional culture and normal social behavior were attacked and violated. Many of them were drug addicts wearing long hair and dirty clothes. They were fond of slangs and jazz. Masterpieces created by writers of this g roup include Kerouac’s On the Road and Ginsberg’s Howl and Other Poems, which were regarded as pocket Bibles of that generation. Other prominent Beats include William S. Burroughs, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Gregory Corso, Michael McClure, and Neal Cassady. The Beat Generation, had greatly influenced the countercultural movements of the 1960s and the adolescents and adults in other countries. In England, the “angry young men” made an echo and imitated the American “beatnik.” 二、1. Ralph Waldo Emerson: Nature: it is generally regarded as the Bible of New England Transcendentalism. The American Scholar:it has been regarded as “America’s Declaration of Intellectual Independence”. 2. Henry David Thoreau: Walden 3. Nathaniel Hawthorne: The Scarlet Letter: 主题：Hawthorne focuses his attention on the moral, emotional, and psychological effects or consequences of the sin on the people in general and those main characters in particular, so as to show us the tension between society and individuals. To Hawthorne, everybody is potentially a sinner, and great moral courage is therefore indispensable for the improvement of human nature. 4. Herman Melville: Moby Dick A. 作品分析： （1）Moby Dick represents the sum total of Melville’s bleak view of the world in which he lived. It is at once godless and purposeless. The loss of faith and the sense of futility and meaningless which characterize modern life of the West were expresse d in Melville’s work so well that the twentieth century has found it both fascinating and great. (2) One of the major themes of this novel is alienation, which exists in the life of Melville on different levels, between man and man, man and society, and man and nature. Melville also criticizes New England Transcendentalism of its emphasis on individualism and Oversoul. Another theme of this novel is “rejection and quest.” (3) The novel is highly symbolic. The voyage itself is a metaphor for “search and discovery, the search for the ultimate truth of experience.” Moby Dick is the most conspicuous symbol in the book and it is capable of many interpretations. It is a symbol of evil to some, one of goodness to others, and both to still others. Its whiteness is a paradoxical color, signifying as it does death and corruption as well as purity, innocence, and youth. It represents the final mystery of the universe which man will do well to desist from pursuing. (4) Melville manages to achieve the effect of ambiguity through employing the technique of multiple views of his narratives. He tends to write periodic sentences. His rich rhythmical prose and his poetic power have been profusely commented upon and praised. B. what does the white whale in Moby Dick symbolize? Why do you think so? For Captain Ahab, the white whale represents evil. After the loss of his leg in his encounter with the white whale, Ahab begins to hate Moby Dick and tries his best to kill the whale. It seems that he embodies all of the evil he once consigned to the white whale. For other members on the whaling ship, the white whale symbolizes the unknown, mysterious natural force of the universe. For the readers, the white whale is capable of many interpretations, for it is “paradoxically benign an d malevolent, nourishing and destructive,” “massive, brutal, monolithic, but at the same time protean, erotically beautiful, infinitely variable.” C. Major themes: obsession, religion, and idealism versus pragmatism, revenge, racism, sanity, hierarchical relationships, and politics. D. the Pequod is the microcosm of human society and the voyage becomes a search for truth. Moby Dick is a mystery, an ultimate mystery of the universe, and the voyage of the mind will forever remain a search, not a discovery, of the truth. The whole story turns out to be a symbolic voyage of the mind quest of the truth and knowledge of the universe, a spiritual exploration into man’s deep reality and psychology. 5. Walt Whitman: Leaves of Grass.It has been praised as “Democ ratic Bible”, and as American Epic. 主题：(1)he shows concern for the whole hard-working people and the burgeoning life of cities. (2) realization of the individual value. (3) pursuit of love and happiness. (4) Before and during the Civil War, Whitman expressed much mourning for the sufferings of the young lives in the battlefield and showed a determination to carry on the fighting dauntlessly until the final victory. 写作风格：(1) Whitman wrote “free verse”, that is, poetry without a fixed beat or regular rhyme scheme. (2) There is a strong sense of the poems being rhythmical. Parallelism and phonetic recurrence at the beginning of the lines contribute to the musicality of his poems. (3) Most of the pictures he painted with words are honest, undistorted images of different aspects of America of the day. (4) Whitman’s language is relatively simple and even rather crude. Another characteristic in Whitman’s language is his strong tendency to use oral English. Whitman’s vocabulary is amazing. He would use powerful, colorful, as well as rarely-used words. Leaves of Grass的分析： (1). Grass, the most common thing with the greatest vitality, is an image of the poet himself, a symbol of the then rising American nation and an embodiment of his ideals about democracy and freedom. (2). In this giant work, openness, freedom, and above all, individualism are all that concerned him. (3). In this book he also praises nature, democracy, labor and creation, and sings of man’s dignity and equality, and of th e brightest future of mankind. Most of the poems in Leaves of Grass sing of the “en-masse” and self as well. 6. Emily Dickinson: 诗歌的主要内容：love, nature, death and immortality. 7. Edgar Allen Poe: 短篇小说家和诗人。 Poe is the father of psychoanalytic criticism and the father of detective story. 主题：death of one’s beloved lover of great intelligence and beauty. He also writes about horror (Gothic) stories, murder, and insanity. 8. Henry James: The turn of the screw The founder of psychological realism. He was the first American writer to conceive his artistic work in international themes. 9. Mark Twain:The adventures of Huckleberry Finn Hemingway described it as the book from which “all modern American literature comes”. The style of this book is quite simple. The book is written in the colloquial style. Though a local book, it touches upon the human situation in a general, indeed universal way: humanitarianism ultimately triumphs. It tells a story about the United States before the Civil War, around 1850, when the great Mississippi Valley was still being settled. Here lies an America, wit its great national faults, full of violence and even cruelty, yet still retaining the virtues of “some simplicity, some innocence, some peace.” 10. Stephen Crane, Frank Norris, Theodore Dreiser: 自然主义的代表人物。 11. F. Scott Fitzgerald:The Great Gatsby 迷惘一代的代表人物 12. Ernest Hemingway: A Farewell to Arms; For Whom the Bell Tolls; The Old Man and the Sea The title of For Whom the Bell Tolls comes from John Donne’s Meditation. 13. William Faulkner: stream of consciousness的写作手法 14. Ezra Pound: 意象派代表人物。 意象派基本主张： (1) Direct treatment of the “thing”, whether subjective or objective. (2) To use absolutely no word that does not contribute to the presentation (3) As regarding rhythm, to compose in the sequence of the musical phrase, not in the sequence of a metronome. 15. Robert Frost: natural poet. 16. Eugene Glastone O’Neill: Desire Under the Elms Long Days Journey into Night: Mark Twain H. L. Mencken considered "the true father of our national literatu re” Adventures of Huckleberry Finn(1884) and Life on the Mississippi(1883) Twain shaped the world's view of American and made a more extensive combination of American folk humor and serious literature than previous writers had ever done. Mark Twain’s sty le 1) Twain is also known as a local colorist, who preferred to present social life through portraits of the local characters of his regions 2) Another fact that made Twain unique is his magic power with language, his use of vernacular. His words are colloquial, concrete and direct in effect, and his sentence structures are simple, even ungrammatical, which is typical of the spoken language 3) Mark Twain's humor is remarkable, too. Most of his works tend to be funny, containing some practical jokes, comic details, witty remarks. 4) Paid more attention to the "life" of the Americans, Concerned with the life of a small, well-defined region and the lower-class people 5) Nostalgic in a vanishing way of life and recorders of a present that faded before their eyes Adventures of Huckleberry Fin The character analysis and social meaning of Huck Finn Huck is a typical American boy with “a sound heart and a deformed conscience”. He appears to be vulgar in language and in manner, but he is honest and decent in es sence. His remarkable raft’s journey down on the Mississippi river can be regarded as his process of education and his way to grow up. Huck is the son of nature and a symbol for freedom and earthly pragmatism. Through the eye of Huck, the innocent and reluctant rebel, we see the pre-Civil War American society fully exposed. Twain contrasts the life on the river and the life on the banks, the innocence and the experience, the nature and the culture, the wilderness and the civilization. Ernest Hemingway A Nobel Prize winner for literature His style, the particular type of hero in his novels, and his life attitudes have been widely recognized, not only in English-speaking countries but all over the world Hemingway shot himself with a hunting gun In Our Time (1925)is the first book to present a Hemingway hero--Nick Adams The Sun Also Rises(1926) is Hemingway's first true novel. A vivid portrait of "The Lost Generation," -- a group of young Americans who left their native land and fought in the war and later engaged themselves in writing in a new way about their own experiences. Hemingway's second big success is A Farewell to Arms, telling us a story about the tragic love affair of a wounded American soldier with a British nurse -- emphasizes his belief that man is trapped both physically and mentally, but goes to some lengths to refute the idea of nature, man is doomed to be entrapped For Whom the Bell Tolls clearly represents a new beginning in Hemingway's career as a writer, which concerns a volunteer American guerrilla Robert Jordan fighting in the Spanish Civil War, this work Caps his career and leads to his receipt of the Nobel Prize The Old Man and the Sea, Men Without Women(1927), Death in the Afternoon(1932), The Snows of Kilimanjaro, To Have and Have Not (1937) Hemingway develops the style of colloquialism initiated by Mark Twain Hemingway was highly praised by the Nobel Prize Committee for "his powerful style-forming mastery of the art" of creating modern fiction. Indian Camp The title indicates that the material is contemporary and to some extent, representative of the early twentieth-century experience A reference to the well-know phrase from the Book of Common Prayer:" Give us peace in our time, O Lord," the title is very ironic because there is no peace at all in the stories In a chronological order, introduces Nick Adams to readers from his childhood to adolescence and manhood Nick watches his father deliver an Indian woman of a baby by Caesarian section, with a Jack-knife and without anesthesia. This incident brings the boy into contact with something that is perplexing and unpleasant, and is actually Nick's initiation into the pain and violence of birth and death. Most of Hemingway's later works are merely variations of the Nick Adams stories in In Our Time The Hemingway code heroes and grace under pressure They have seen the cold world, and for one cause, they boldly and courageously face the reality. They have an indestructible spirit for his optimistic view of life. Whatever the result is, they are ready to live with grace under pressure. No matter how tragic the ending is, they will never be defeated. Finally, they will be prevailing because of their indestructible spirit and courage. The iceberg technique Hemingway believes that a good writer does not need to reveal every detail of a character or action. The one-eighth is presented will suggest all other meaningful dimensions of the story. Thus, Hemingway’s language is symbolic and suggestive.