英美文学选择题
D1. The most outstanding romance on Arthurian legend was the anonymous D .
A. Beowulf
B. The Vision of Piers the Plowman
C. The Canterbury Tales
D. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
A2. Who is the “Father of English Poetry”?A
A. Geoffrey Chaucer
B. William Shakespeare
C. Venerable Bede
D. Alfred the Great
B3. Which of the following is Chaucer’s masterpiece, containing a general prologue and 24 tales?B
A. The Legend of Good Women
B. The Canterbury Tales
C. The Vision of Piers the Plowman
D. The House of Fame
A4. Which of the following is considered as the most monumental work in English history of the early Anglo-Saxon period, existed in oral form as early as the 6th century A.D. and was not written down till the 7th or 8th century?A
A. Beowulf
B. The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle
C. The Canterbury Tales
D. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight
C5. At the beginning of the 16th century, the outstanding humanist wrote Utopia in which he not only revealed truthfully the social evils but also presented an ideal society.
A. Ben Johnson
B. Christopher Marlowe
C. Thomas More
D. Francis Bacon
B6. The Essays is written by .
A. Thomas More
B. Francis Bacon
C. John Lyly
D. William Shakespeare
B7. introduces the Spenserian Stanza (9-line stanzaic form) into English poetry.
A. Philip Sidney
B. Edmund Spenser
C. John Lyly
D. William Shakespeare
A8. Shylock, a Jewish usurer, appears in the play called .
A. The Merchant of V enice
B. Hamlet
C. Romeo and Juliet
D. A Midsummer Night’s Dream
C9. All of the following are the most outstanding dramatists in the Renaissance England EXCEPT .
A. William Shakespeare
B. Ben Johnson
C. Thomas More
D. Christopher Marlowe
A10. Which of the following is NOT right about Shakespeare?
A. Shakespeare only wrote tragedies.
B. Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets.
C. Shakespeare wrote 2 long dramatic poems.
D. Shakespeare wrote altogether 37 plays.
A11. Which of the following does not belong to Shakespeare’s four great tragedies?
A. Romeo and Juliet
B. King Lear
C. Hamlet
D. Othello
B12. John Milton wrote his masterpiece during his blindness.
A. The Defense of the English People
B. Paradise Lost
C. Lycidas
D. Comus
D13. Which of the following work is NOT Written by Milton?
A. Paradise Lost.
B. Paradise Regained.
C. Samson Agonistes.
D. The Pilgrim’s Progress.
C14. John Bunyan is his gave a vivid and satirical description of vanity fair which is the symbol of London at the time of Restoration.
A. Paradise Lost
B. The Defense of the English People
C. The Pilgrim’s Progress
D. V anity Fair
D15. The is a progressive intellectual movement through Western Europe on the 18th century.
A. Renaissance
B. Neoclassicism
C. Romanism
D. Enlightenment
B16. In the 18th century England, is the most remarkable satirist whose masterpiece Gulliver’s Travels was published anonymously in 1726.
A. Daniel Defoe
B. Jonathan Swift
C. Alexander Pope
D. Henry Fielding
B17. In the 18th century England, is the most outstanding dramatist?
A. Jonathan Swift.
B. Henry Fielding.
C. Richard Sheridan.
D. Richard Steele.
A18. In the last twenty years of the 18th century, England produced two well-known romantic poets and Robert Burns.
A. William Blake
B. Oliver Goldsmith
C. Alexander Pope
D. Thomas Gray
D19. The poem was NOT written by William Blake.
A. The Tiger
B. London
C. The Chimney-Sweeper
D. A Red, Red Rose
B20. William Blake should be chiefly remembered for his in which he bitterly utters his social criticism towards the reality of his day, such as one of his greatest poem London.
A. Songs of Innocence
B. Songs of Experience
C. The Deserted Village
D. Poems Chiefly in the Scottish Dialect
D21. Who is the greatest poet Scotland has ever produced? Whose poems chiefly written in Scottish dialect are among the best?
A. Alexander Pope.
B. William Blake.
C. Edward Young.
D. Robert Burns.
C22. The publication of marks the beginning of Romantic Age.
A. The Prelude
B. Kubla Khna
C. The Lyrical Ballads
D. Don Juan
A23. The Romantic Age comes to end with the death of last well-known writer .
A. Walter Scott
B. Jane Austen
C. George Byron
D. William Wordsworth
C24. Which of the following romantic writers belong to the “Lake Poets”?
A. George Byron; Percy Bysshe Shelley.
B. John Keats; Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
C. William Wordsworth; Samuel Taylor Coleridge.
D. Walter Scott; William Wordsworth.
B25. In ’s poem does the line “If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind” belong to.
A. George Byron, Don Juan
B. Percy Bysshe Shelley, Ode to the West Wind
C. William Wordsworth, The Lyrical Ballads
D. John Keats, Ode to a Nightingale
C26. Which of the following Odes does NOT belong to John Keats?
A. Ode to a Nightingale.
B. Ode to a Grecian Urn
C. Ode to the West Wind
D. Ode on Melancholy.
A27. “Beauty is truth, truth beauty” comes from which of the following poet?
A. Keats.
B. Byron.
C. Shelley.
D. Wordsworth.
A28. The English Romantic Period produce two major novelists, and .
A. Walter Scott, Jane Austen
B. Charles Lamb, Thomas De Quincey
C. William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge
D. George Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley
D29. was NOT written by Jane Austen?
A. Sense and Sensibility.
B. Emma.
C. Pride and Prejudice.
D. Jane Eyre.
D30. All of the following writers belong to the critical realism tradition, EXCEPT .
A. Charles Dickens
B. William Makepeace Thackeray
C. Charlotte Bronte
D. Oscar Wilde
A31. In English literature, the greatest critical realists should be , who criticizes the injustice and cruelty of the bourgeois society and shows his deep sympathy towards the miserable common people.
A. Charles Dickens
B. Emily Bronte
C. George Eliot
D. Thomas Hardy
D32. Which of the following Dickens’s novels contains the autobiographical element?
A. Oliver Twist.
B. The Old Curiosity Shop.
C. Dombey and Son.
D. David Copperfield.
C33. Which of the following writers is a critical realist whose masterpiece is Vanity Fair?
A. Charles Dickens.
B. Emily Bronte.
C. William Makepeace Thackeray.
D. Thomas Hardy.
A34. The name of “Vanity Fair” is borrowed by Thackeray from by John Bunyan.
A. The Pilgrim’s Progress
B. A Modest Proposal
C. The Faerie Queen
D. The Shepherd Calendar
A35. The novelist establishes her fame as one of the greatest writers in English literature on her only novel Wuthering Heights?
A. Emily Bronte
B. Charlotte Bronte
C. Anne Bronte
D. George Eliot
C36. Though the major literary trend of the Victorian age is not poetry, yet and Alfred
Tennyson are two great poets.
A. George Eliot
B. William Wordsworth
C. Robert Browning
D. Charlotte Bronte
D37. There is a distinctive not of pessimism in the work of .
A. Charles Dickens
B. George Eliot
C. Emily Bronte
D. Thomas Hardy
B38. Thomas Hardy is not only a novelist but also a well-known .
A. dramatist
B. poet
C. essayist
D. pamphleteers
D39.Oscar Wilde is the representative among the writers of .
A. Critical Realism
B. Romanticism
C. Naturalism
D. Aestheticism
英语专业-英美文学试卷及答案-期末
英语专业-英美文学试卷及答案-期末
英美文学试卷A 共9页第 I. Mark the following statements as true (T) or false (F). (10 x 1’=10’) 1. ( ) Chaucer is the first English short-story teller and the founder of English poetry as well as the founder of English realism. His masterpiece The Canterbury tales contains 26 stories. 2. ( ) English Renaissance is an age of essay and drama. 3. ( ) The rise of the modern novel is closely related to the rise of the middle class and an urban life. 4. ( ) The French Revolution and the American War of Independence were two big influences that brought about the English Romantic Movement. 5. ( ) Charlotte’s novels are all about lonely and neglected young women with a fierce longing for life and love. Her novels are more or less based on her own experience and feelings and the life as she sees around. 6. ( ) The leading figures of the naturalism at the turn of 19th century are Thomas Hardy, John Galsworthy and Bernard Shaw. 7. ( ) Emily Dickinson is remembered as the “All American Writer”. 8. ( )The Civil War divides the American literature into romantic literature and realist literature. 9. ( ) Mark Twain is the first American writer to discover an American language and American consciousness.
自考英美文学选读 第一章 文艺复兴时期(英国)(课文翻译)
英美文学选读翻译（英语专业自考） 第一部分：英国文学 第一章文艺复兴时期 文艺复兴标志着一个过渡时期,即中世纪的结束和现代社会的开始。一般来说,文艺复兴时期是从十四世纪到十七世纪中叶。它从意大利兴起,伴随着绘画、雕塑和文学领域的百花齐放,而后文艺复兴浪潮席卷了整个欧洲。文艺复兴,顾名思义即重生、复苏,是由一系列历史事件激发推动的,其中包括对古希腊罗马文化的重新发现。地理天文领域的新发现,宗教改革及经济发展。因此,文艺复兴从本质上是欧洲人文主义者竭力摒弃中世纪欧洲的封建主义,推行代表新兴城市资产阶级利益的新思想,并恢复早期宗教的纯洁性,远离腐败的罗马天主教廷的一场运动。 文艺复兴浪潮影响到英国的速度比较慢,不仅因为英国远离欧洲大陆,而且还因为其国内的动荡不安。乔叟去世后的一个半世纪是英国历史上最动荡不安的时期。好战的贵族篡取了王位,使英国走上自我毁灭之路。著名的玫瑰之战就是极好的例子。后来理查三世的恐怖统治标志着内战的结束,在都铎王朝的统治下英国的民族情感又成长起来。然而直到亨利八世统治期间(1509-1547),文艺复兴的春风才吹入英国。在亨利八世的鼓励下,牛津的改革派学者和人文主义者们将古典文学引入英国。基于古典文学作品及《圣经》的教育重获生机,而十五世纪就被广泛传阅的文学作品则更加流行了。自此,英国的文艺复兴开始了。英国,尤其是英国文学进入了黄金时代。这个时期涌现出莎士比亚、斯宾塞、约翰逊、锡德尼、马洛、培根及邓恩等一大批文学巨匠。但英国的文艺复兴并未使新文学与旧时代彻底决裂,带有十四、十五世纪特点的创作态度与情感依然贯穿在人文主义与改革时代。 人文主义是文艺复兴的核心。它源于努力恢复中世纪产生的对古希腊罗马文化的尊崇。人文主义作为文艺复兴的起源是因为古希腊罗马文明的基础是以"人"为中心,人是万物之灵。通过这些对古代文化崭新的研究,人文主义者不仅看到了光彩夺目的艺术启明星,还在那古典作品中寻求到了人的价值。在中世纪的社会中,个人完全隶属于封建统治,没有独立和自由可言;在中世纪的神学理论中,人与周围世界的关系仅仅是人消极适应或消极遁世,不允许追求快乐,以备死后灵魂得以超脱。然而人文主义者们却从古代文化遗产中找到了充足的论据,来赞美人性,并开始注意到人类是光荣的生命,人自己可以不断发展,至善至美,而且人们生存的世界是属于他们的,供他们怀疑、探索以及享受。由此,人文主义者通过强调人类的尊严、强调今生今世的重要性,喊出了他们的信仰,即人类不仅有权利在今生今世美好生活,而且还有能力完善自我,创造奇迹。人文主义遍布英国思想领域的。标志是荷兰学者伊拉斯谟先后到牛津大学与剑桥大学讲授古典文化研究。托马斯·漠尔、克利斯朵夫·马洛和威廉·莎士比亚是英国人文主义的代表。
英美文学复习
Romantic period Came from two great shapers of thought 1.rousseau’s du contrat social and emile 2.thomas paine’s declaration of right of man Time: from1798 the publication of wordsworth and coleridge’s lyrical ballads to 1832 scott’s death and the passage of first reform bill in the parliament The romantic focus on following things: Stong imagnationg Individual feelings Return to nature Being nationalistic 文学思想： 1.constitudes a change of direction from attention to the outer world of social civilization to the inner world of human spirit.社会文明的外部世界与人类精神的内部世界的转变 2.litery and philosophical theory which tends to see the individual as the very center of all life and all experience.文学和哲学理论倾向于把个人思想作为所有生活和经历的中心。 3.poetry writing, the writers employed new theories and innovated new techniques.preface acts as a manifesto for the new school.强调新理论和创作新手法，序言作为新学派的里程碑。 4.not only extol the faculty of imagination, but also elevate the concepts of spontaneity and inspiration.不仅要称颂想象的作用，也要重视自发和联想的概念。 5.regarded nature as the major source of poetic imagery and the dominant subject.自然是诗歌想象的主要资源也是永恒的主题 6.romantics also tend to the nationalistic.大多具有民族主义 Poems Balke,wordsworth,coleridge,byron,shelley and keats are the major romatic poets.
英美文学欣赏考题整理及答案
Part One：English Poetry 1.William Shakespeare Sonnet 18 ?Why does the poet compare `thee` to a summer?s day? And who could `thee` be? Because summer?s day and thee both represent beauty . thee could be beauty, love. ?What picture have you got of English summer, and could you explain why? Warm, beautiful, sunshine. Because summer is the best season of a year ,the most beautiful season. It is like our May. ?How does the poet answer the question he puts forth in the first line? Thee is more beautiful than summer. ?What makes the poet think that “thou” can be more fair than summer and immortal? Because humanism is more eternal than summer and immortal. ?What figures of speech are used in this poem? Simile, metaphor, personification, oxymoron and so on . ?What is the theme of the poem? Love conquers all, Beauty lives on. 2. Thomas Nashe Spring ?Read the poem carefully, pay attention to those image- bearing words, and see how many images the poet created in the poem and what sense impressions you can get from those images. There is “Blooms each thing, maids dance in a ring, the pretty birds do sing, the palm and may make country houses gay, Lambs frisk' and play, the shepherds pipe all day, And we hear aye birds tune this merry lay, The fields breathe sweet, the daisies kiss our feet, Young lovers meet, old wives a-sunning sit, In every street these tunes bur ears do greet!” The “Young lovers meet, old wives a-sunning sit，”impressions me most because of the harmony of the people?s relationship. ?Can you point out and explain the sound and their musical effect in the poem? In the Poem, each section has four lines, each line has ten syllables ( five tone step ) . In order to give the reader a spring breeze , streams , flowers , winding , Song Xin texture of sound and light flavor, Naixi greater uses English word S , z , f , V , R , L , and θconsonants means. In Naixi's poem, the use of phonological is also very harmonious, very smooth , very mellow. Section I of the poetry has Three pairs [ ing ] , section II of the poem has three pairs [ ei ] and the third quarter has three pairs [ i : ]. 3.John Donne A Valediction: Forbidding Mourning ?What is a “valediction” any way? Is the speaker in the poem about to die? Why does the speaker forbid mourning? No, it is about the lover s?separation. As the poem metaphors, the poet believed he and his wife?s love is sacred, he didn?t hope they cry when separation comes, let their love be stained by the ordinary and mundane.
英美文学选读要点总结精心整理3
英美文学选读要点总结精心整理3 I). Washington Irving华盛顿.欧文 11. He is regarded as Father of the American short stories.他是美国浪漫主义文学代表作家之一,美国短篇小说之父。 12. With the publication of The Sketch Book of Geoffrey Crayon, Irving won a measure of international fame on both sides of the Atlantic.1819年至1820年，欧文出版了《见闻札记》，该书为欧文获得了欧美两大洲的文学荣誉。 13. A History of New York---He parodies or imitates Homer.《纽约史》在多方面模仿了荷马。 14. Like the two famous personae he created, Diedrich Knickerbocker and Geoffrey Crayon, Irving remained a conservative and always exalted a disappearing past.他所创造的两个人物Diedrich Knickerbocker和Geoffrey Crayon和他一样，都停留在对过去的事情的津津乐道上。 15. We hear rather than read, for there is musicality in almost every line of his prose. We seldom learn a moral lesson because he wants us amused and relaxed.他的作品行文优美流畅，犹如音乐。他的作品寓教于乐，给人以轻松安逸之感，如入梦境。 16. He is worth the honor of being“the American Goldsmith”for his literary craftsmanship.在创作艺术方面他堪称是“美国的近匠”。 17. “rip van winkle”—Here, Irving’s pervasive theme of nostalgia for the unrecoverable past is at on ce made unforgettable.“瑞普.凡.温克尔”---欧文在此表达了对一去不复返的东西十分依恋，笔触生动，令人难忘。 (II). Ralph Waldo Emerson拉尔夫.华尔多.爱默生 18. New England Transcendentalism, which is unanimously agreed to be the summit of the Romantic period in the history of American literature.在美国浪漫主义时期的文学中，新英格兰的超验主义是不可或缺的。 19. Emersonian Transcendentalism is actually a philosophical school which absorbed some ideological concerns of American Puritanism and European Romanticism, with its focus on the intuitive knowledge of human beings to grasp the absolute in the universe and the divinity of man.爱默生的超验主义实际上是在吸收美国清教思想，强调人类具有本能的掌握宇宙绝对真理和人的神性而形成的一个哲学流派。 20. In his essays, Emerson put forward his philosophy of the over-soul, the importance of the individual, and Nature.爱默生的文章提出了超灵哲学,个人及自然的重要性。 21. Emerson id a ffirmative about man’s intuitive knowledge, with which a man can trust himself to decide what is right and to act accordingly.爱默生相信人的直觉知识。人类可以利用自己的直觉决定是非并采取相应得行动。 22. The ideal individual should be a self-reliant man.一个理想的个人应是自助自立的人。 23. “Go back to nature, sink yourself back into its influence and you’ll become spiritually whole again.”“回到自然中去吧，沉浸在自然的影响中吧，你将重新获得精神的完整。” 24. In 1845, a great transcendentalist work Walden was born.1845年，写成了超验主义的伟大作品《沃尔登》。
英美文学复习题
Part One The Age of Romanticism I．Multiple-choices: 1.American literature produced only one female poet during the nineteenth century. This was ________. A. Anne Bradstreet B. Jane Austen C. Katherie Anne Porter D. Emily Dickinson 2.In the middle of the 19th century, America witnessed a cultural flowering which is called “______”. A. the English Renaissance B. the American Renaissance C. the Second Renaissance D. the Salem Renaissance 3.The main issues involved in the debate of Transcendentalism are generally philosophical, concerning ______. A. the cold, rigid rationalism of Unitarianism B. the relationship between man and woman C. the development of Romanticism in America D. nature, man and the universe 4.______ is unanimously agreed to be the summit of the American Romanticism in the history of American literature. A. New England Transcendentalism B. England Transcendentalism C. the Harlem Renaissance D. New Transcendentalism 5.Moby-Dick is usually considered ______. A. a symbolic voyage of the mind in quest of the truth and knowledge of the universe B. a spiritual exploration into man's deep reality and psychology C. a simple whaling tale or sea adventure D. both A and B 6.Dickinson's poems are usually based on her own experiences, her sorrows and joys. But many of her little lyrics concern ______. A. the whole human beings, which include religion, death, immortality, love, and nature B. the lower-class working people who live a life of poverty and sordidness C. the middle-class people who live in confusion and in void of faith D. the upper-class people who live in comfort and idleness 7.As a great innovator in American literature, Walt Whitman wrote his poetry in an unconventional style which is now called ______, that is ______. A. hymn…poetry with chanting refrains B. blank verse…poetry without rhymes at the end of the lines but with a fixed beat C. free verse…poetry without a fixed beat or regular rhyme scheme
英美文学史期末考试资料
Comment on Walden In 1845, Thoreau decided to conduct an experiment of self-sufficiency by building his own house on the shores of Walden Pond and living off the food he grew on his farm. He sought to reduce his physical needs to a minimum, in order to free himself for study, thought, and observation of nature, himself. Walden can be many things and can be read on more than one level. But it is, first and foremost, a book about man, what he is, and what he should be and must be. Considered one of the all-time great books, Walden is a record of Thoreau's two year experiment of living at Walden Pond. The writer's chief emphasis is on the simplifications and enjoyment of life now. It is regarded as 1. a nature book.2. a do-it-yourself guide to simple life. 3. a satirical criticism of modern life and living. 4. a belletristic achievement 5. a spiritual book. The Scarlet Letter Symbolic meaning of the letter “A” :1.The scarlet letter “A” is the central symbol of the novel. At the beginning it symbolized the sin of Hester—“adultery”, 2.then gradually when Hester became accepted by the community, it stands for Hester’s intelligence and diligence—“able”. 3.At the end of the novel the symbol has evolved to represent the high virtues of Hester Prynne—“angel”. Comments on The Scarlet Letter:1.The theme of the story should be the moral, emotional and psychological effects of the sin on people. 2.Scarlet Letter is a cultural allegory, in which the author indirectly tells the future of Puritanism.3.Scarlet Letter is a sample in which American Romanticism adapted itself to American Puritanism.(Because of the strong influence of Puritanism in American society, Hawthorne only expressed his ideas on the sin indirectly by employing symbolism.) Symbolism in the novel Moby Dick A. the voyage itself is a metaphor for “search and discovery, the search for the ultimate truth of experience.” B. the Pequod is the ship of the American soul and consciousness. C. Moby Dick is a symbol of evil to some, of goodness to others, and of both to still others. D. The whiteness of Moby Dick is a paradoxical color, signifying death and corruption as well as purity, innocence and youth; it represents the final mystery of the universe. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn Setting: unpopulated wildness an a dense forest along Mississippi River Characters:1.Ignorant uneducated black slave Jim2.Uneducated outcast white boy Huck Finn。Theme: Huck’s inner waving struggle between what he was taught and what he thought out of good-heart and humanity.Its Features：1.Profound portrait of Huckleberry Finn 2.Magic power with language, the use of vernacular. 3. Humor In a Station of the Metro1 by Ezra Pound The apparition of these faces in the crowd: Petals on a wet, black bough. Note: 1。a Paris subway station Analysis of this poem The poem’s form is similar to Japanese haiku, with considering its title as a verse-line. The word “apparition” has double meaning:1. “appearance”, something which can be clearly observed;2. something which seems real but perhaps is not real; something ghostly which cannot be clearly observed. Petals may refer to the faces in the crowd, while bough may refer to the railway in the Metro.
自考英美文学选读要点总结精心整理
自考英美文学选读要点总结精心整理 [英国』Chapter1 The Renaissance period（14世纪至七世纪中叶）文艺复兴 1、Humanism is the essence of the Renaissance、人文主义是文艺复兴的核心。 2、 the Greek and Roman civilization was based on such a conception that man is the measure of all things、人文主义作为文艺复兴的起源是因为古希腊罗马文明的基础是以“人”为中心，人是万物之灵。 3、 Renaissance humanists found in then classics a justification to exalt human nature and came to see that human beings were glorious creatures capable of individual development in the direction of perfection, and that the world they inhabited was theirs not to despise but to question, explore, and enjoy、人文主义者们却从古代文化遗产中找到充足的论据，来赞美人性，并开始注意到人类是崇高的生命，人可以不断发展完善自己，而且世界是属于他们的，供他们怀疑，探索以及享受。 4、 Thomas More, Christopher Marlowe and William Shakespeare are the best representatives of the English
英美文学考试复习点重点整理
1.现实主义、批判现实主义（代表人物、作品，以及每部作品讲了什么故事）P276—比如《匹克威克外传》主要讲什么？P281 《双城记》主要讲什么？P298 《大卫科波菲尔》主要讲什么？P292 2.其中自传体形式的作品有哪些？ 3.傲慢与偏见的第一个名字：first impression(Pride and prejudice现) 4.三姐妹指的是？ 5.19世纪有名小说名利场副标题：“A Novel Without a Hero”作者：William Makepeace Thackeray P303 6.18th浪漫主义作家、代表作P211 反对什么,反抗什么思想？ 7.Pop代表作有哪些？P134 剪发记？ 8.玄学诗派有哪些人物组成？Leading Feature? P116 9.乌托邦is written in form of ?P33 10.Universal Wicks大学才子是谁？P50 11.中世纪文学流行的是? 主题特征骑马精神P8？ 12.最著名作家：乔叟P19 13.对于三次征服的概念（1）罗马征服P1 （2）英国人征服P2（3）诺曼征服P5 14.人民大宪章什么时候出现？时间：1837年
1.John Milton He was born in London in 1608. He is a master of the blank verse, and a great stylist. And he is famous for his grand style.But his style is never exactly natural. He devoted almost twenty years of his best life to the fight for political, religious and personal liberty as a writer. His famous works are Paradise lost, Paradise Regained, and Samson Agonistes. 2.Romance Romance was the most prevailing kind of literature of the upper class in feudal England in the Medieval Ages. It is a long composition in verse or in prose which describes the life and chivalric adventures of a noble hero. The central character of romances is the knight, a man of noble birth skilled in the use of weapon. The theme of loyalty to king and lord was repeatedly emphasized in romances. 3.the Enlightenment It is the philosophical and artistic movement growing out of the Renaissance and continuing until the nineteenth century. It was an optimistic belief that humanity could improve itself by applying logic and reasons to all things. Typically, these enlightenment writers would use satire to ridicule what they felt illogical errors in government, social
英美文学史及选读期末考试常用名词解释
1.Alliteration：Alliteration is the repetition of a speech sound in a sequence of nearby words. The term is usually applied only to consonants, and only when the recurrent sound begins a word or a stressed syllable within a word. In old English alliteration is the principle organizing device of the verse line. 2.Romance：Romance is a long composition, sometimes in verse, sometimes in prose, describing the life and adventure of a noble hero. Romance was characteristic of the early feudal age, as it reflected the spirit of chivalry. The content of romance was usually about love, chivalry, and religion. 3.Soliloquy is a dramatic speech delivered by one character speaking aloud while under the impression of being alone. The soliloquist thus reveals his inner thoughts and feelings to the audience. It is also known as interior monologue. 4.sonnet: A sonnet is a short song in the original meaning of the word. Later it became a poem of 14 lines, usually in iambic pentameter with various rhyming schemes. 5.Conceit--- a kind of metaphor that makes a comparison between two startling different things. A conceit may strike the readers weird at first glance, but proves appropriate in the end. 6.The name applied to an intellectual movement which developed in Western Europe during the seventeenth century and reached its height in the eighteenth. The common element was a trust in human reason as adequate to solve the crucial problems and to establish the essential norms in life, together with the belief that the application of reason was rapidly dissipating the remaining feudal traditions. It influenced lots of famous English writers especially those neoclassic writers, such as Alexander Pope, Samuel Johnson etc.. 7.Renaissance refers to the period between the 14th and mid-17th centuries. It makes a transition from the medieval to the modern world. It started in Italy with the flowering of painting, sculpture and literature, and then spread to the rest of Europe. The term Renaissance means rebirth or revival. The Renaissance period was marked by a reawakening of interest in learning, in the individual and in the world of nature. The revival of learning led scholars back to the culture of Greece and Rome. The rebirth of interest in the individual gave rise to a new appreciation of beauty, to a desire for self-expression in varied activities and to the creation of art. The renewal of curiosity about the nature word ultimately drew men to discover new lands and new scientific truths.