简明英国文学史 简答题 重点

1. Analyse the themes and artistic features of Beowulf.

themes : The main theme of Beowulf is heroism. This involves far more than physical courage. It also means that the warrior must fulfill his obligations to the group of which he is a key member.

artistic features : The most noticeable artistic feature is alliteration. Alliteration is the repetition of initial sounds, usually consonants, or consonant clusters. Alliteration is used off and on in modern poetry but it is an important device in Anglo-Saxon poetry. Another peculiar feature characteristic is the frequent use of kennings, to poetically present the meaning of one single word through a compound simile of two elements. Finally, the general mood and spirit of Anglo-Saxon epic poetry is both solemn and animated.

2. Comment on Chaucer’s achievements and contributions with examples from his works.

Chaucer learned from both French and Latin poetry and then worked out a unique style for the English poetry. The realism and humanistic concerns demonstrated in his works looked forward to the coming English Renaissance. Because he uses the English of the London dialect to compose poetry, it becomes a literary language, which is a language rich and expressive enough to use for literary purposes. We call the English used and developed by Chaucer and his contemporaries Middle English, which was the foundation of modern English. His masterpiece and representative work is The Canterbury Tales.

3. Say something about Neoclassicism and its representation in English literature.

Neoclassicism was inspired by the rationality, simplicity grandeur of ancient Greece and Rome. These movements were between 18th and 20th centuries. There are many reasons that Neoclassicism happened in British. First, the glorious revolution made the constitutional monarchy was established. Second, there were many conflicts in the religious. Third, deism became a new force.

During this time, English literature had many special changes. First English literature show respect for classic writers, especially the Roman. Second, many writers have a new thinking about poems. The poems became more formal and followed more rules.

There were many good poets during this time, such as John Dryden, Alexander Pope, Jonathan Swift and Johnson.

4. Comment on Alexander Pope and his contributions to English poetry.

Alexander Pope is the greatest poet of the Augustan age, best known for his satirical verse and for his translation of Homer. His major works are An Essay on Criticism, An Essay on Man, The Rape of the Lock.

He was so perfect in heroic couplets that no one can approach him. And in the field of satiric and didactic verse, he was the undisputed master. He popularized the neo-classical literary tradition. He was one of the early representatives of the Enlightenment who introduced into English culture the spirit of rationalism and greater interest in the human world. He represented the highest glory and authority in matters of literary art and made great contributions to the theory and practice of prosody.

5. Write an introduction of Shakespeare, his life and his literary achievements.

Shakespeare has been and is still one of the greatest playwrights the world has ever had. He was born and raised in Stratford-on-Avon. Between 1585 and 1592, he began a successful career in London as an actor, writer and part owner of a playing company, later known as The King’s Men. After he retired to Stratford in 1610, he still went on writing. He died in 1616. Shakespeare wrote altogether 37 plays and 154 sonnets. His contribution to the development of drama is tremendous. His major works are As You Like It, The Twelfth Night, Hamlet, King Lear and The Winter’s Tale.

6. Give a historical review of the Old English Period.

In about BC 600 Celts, who inhabited the upper Rhineland, started to migrate to the British Isles, and among them the Britons came to the Isles in BC 400 to BC 300. Later, the Romans invaded the British Isles. After the Romans, the Teutonic or Germanic tribes of Angles, Saxons and Jutes moved to live in the British Isles. Starting from the late 8th century, the Danes from Scandinavia came plundering the Isles. The greatest historical event that followed was the Norman Conquest of 1066. And gradually the English language entered a new period of its history.

《英国文学史及选读》第一册复习要点 1. Beowulf: national epic of the English people; Denmark story; alliteration, metaphors and understatements (此处可能会有填空,选择等小题 2. Romance (名词解释 3. “Sir Gawain and the Green Knight”: a famous roman about King Arthur’ s story 4. Ballad(名词解释 5. Character of Robin Hood 6. Geoffrey Chaucer: founder of English poetry; The Canterbury Tales (main contents; 124 stories planned, only 24 finished; written in Middle English; significance; form: heroic couplet 7. Heroic couplet (名词解释 8. Renaissance(名词解释 9.Thomas More—— Utopia 10. Sonnet(名词解释 11. Blank verse(名词解释12. Edmund Spenser “The Faerie Queene” 13. Francis Bacon “essays” esp. “Of Studies” (推荐阅读,学习写正式语体的英文文章的好参照,本文用词正式优雅,多排比句和长句,语言造诣非常高,里面很多话都可以引用做格言警句,非常值得一读 14. William Shakespeare四大悲剧比较重要,此外就是罗密欧与朱立叶了,这些剧的主题,背景,情节,人物形象都要熟悉,当然他最重要的是 Hamlet 这是肯定的。他的sonnet 也很重要,最重要属 sonnet18。 (其戏剧中著名对白和几首有名的十四行诗可能会出选读 15. John Milton 三大史诗非常重要,特别是 Paradise Lost 和 Samson Agonistes。对于 Paradise Lost 需要知道它是 blank verse写成的,故事情节来自 Old Testament,另外要知道此书 theme 和 Satan 的形象。

1. Analyse the themes and artistic features of Beowulf. themes : The main theme of Beowulf is heroism. This involves far more than physical courage. It also means that the warrior must fulfill his obligations to the group of which he is a key member. artistic features : The most noticeable artistic feature is alliteration. Alliteration is the repetition of initial sounds, usually consonants, or consonant clusters. Alliteration is used off and on in modern poetry but it is an important device in Anglo-Saxon poetry. Another peculiar feature characteristic is the frequent use of kennings, to poetically present the meaning of one single word through a compound simile of two elements. Finally, the general mood and spirit of Anglo-Saxon epic poetry is both solemn and animated. 2. Comment on Chaucer’s achievements and contributions with examples from his works. Chaucer learned from both French and Latin poetry and then worked out a unique style for the English poetry. The realism and humanistic concerns demonstrated in his works looked forward to the coming English Renaissance. Because he uses the English of the London dialect to compose poetry, it becomes a literary language, which is a language rich and expressive enough to use for literary purposes. We call the English used and developed by Chaucer and his

考试课程：英国文学史及选读考核类型：A 卷 考试方式：闭卷出卷教师: XXX 考试专业：英语考试班级：英语xx班 I.Multiple choice (30 points, 1 point for each) select from the four choices of each item the one that best answers the question or completes the statement. 1._____，a typical example of old English poetry ,is regarded today as the national epic of the Anglo-Saxons. A.The Canterbury Tales B.The Ballad of Robin Hood C.The Song of Beowulf D.Sir Gawain and the Green Kinght 2._____is the most common foot in English poetry. A.The anapest B.The trochee C.The iamb D.The dactyl 3.The Renaissance is actually a movement stimulated by a series of historical events, which one of the following is NOT such an event? A.The rediscovery of ancient Roman and Greek culture. B.England’s domestic rest C.New discovery in geography and astrology D.The religious reformation and the economic expansion 4._____is the most successful religious allegory in the English language. A.The Pilgrims Progress B.Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners C.The Life and Death of Mr.Badman D.The Holy War 5.Generally, the Renaissance refers to the period between the 14th and mid-17th centuries, its essence is _____. A.science B.philosophy C.arts D.humanism 6.“So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,/So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.”(Shakespeare, Sonnets18)What does“this”refer to ? A.Lover. B.Time. C.Summer. D.Poetry. 7.“O prince, O chief of my throned powers, /That led th’ embattled seraphim to war/Under thy conduct, and in dreadful deeds/Fearless, endangered Heaven’s perpetual king”In the third line of the above passage quoted from Milton’s Paradise Los t, the phrase“thy conduct”refers to _____conduct. A.God’s B.Satan’s C.Adam’s D.Eve’s

英国文学源远流长，经历了长期、复杂的发展演变过程。在这个过程中，文学本体以外的各种现实的、历史的、政治的、文化的力量对文学发生着影响，文学内部遵循自身规律，历经盎格鲁-撒克逊、文艺复兴、新古典主义、浪漫主义、现实主义、现代主义等不同历史阶段。下面对英国文学的发展过程作一概述。 一、中世纪文学（约5世纪-1485） 英国最初的文学同其他国家最初的文学一样，不是书面的，而是口头的。故事与传说口头流传，并在讲述中不断得到加工、扩展，最后才有写本。公元5世纪中叶，盎格鲁、撒克逊、朱特三个日耳曼部落开始从丹麦以及现在的荷兰一带地区迁入不列颠。盎格鲁-撒克逊时代给我们留下的古英语文学作品中，最重要的一部是《贝奥武甫》（Beowulf），它被认为是英国的民族史诗。《贝奥武甫》讲述主人公贝尔武甫斩妖除魔、与火龙搏斗的故事，具有神话传奇色彩。这部作品取材于日耳曼民间传说，随盎格鲁-撒克逊人入侵传入今天的英国，现在我们所看到的诗是8世纪初由英格兰诗人写定的，当时，不列颠正处于从中世纪异教社会向以基督教文化为主导的新型社会过渡的时期。因此，《贝奥武甫》也反映了7、8世纪不列颠的生活风貌，呈现出新旧生活方式的混合，兼有氏族时期的英雄主义和封建时期的理想，体现了非基督教日耳曼文化和基督教文化两种不同的传统。 公元1066年，居住在法国北部的诺曼底人在威廉公爵率领下越过英吉利海峡，征服英格兰。诺曼底人占领英格兰后，封建等级制度得以加强和完备，法国文化占据主导地位，法语成为宫廷和上层贵族社会的语言。这一时期风行一时的文学形式是浪漫传奇，流传最广的是关于亚瑟王和圆桌骑士的故事。《高文爵士和绿衣骑士》（Sir Gawain and the Green Knight，1375-1400）以亚瑟王和他的骑士为题材，歌颂勇敢、忠贞、美德，是中古英语传奇最精美的作品之一。传奇文学专门描写高贵的骑士所经历的冒险生活和浪漫爱情，是英国封建社会发展到成熟阶段一种社会理想的体现。 14世纪以后，英国资本主义工商业发展较快，市民阶级兴起，英语逐渐恢复了它的声誉，社会各阶层普遍使用英语，为优秀英语文学作品的产生提供了条件。杰弗利·乔叟（Geoffrey Chaucer， 1343-1400）的出现标志着以本土文学为主流的英国书面文学历史的开始。《坎特伯雷故事》（The Canterbury Tales）以一群香客从伦敦出发去坎特伯雷朝圣为线索，通过对香客的生动描绘和他们沿途讲述的故事，勾勒出一幅中世纪英国社会千姿百态生活风貌的图画。乔叟首创英雄诗行，即五步抑扬格双韵体，对英诗韵律作出了很大贡献，被誉为"英国诗歌之父".乔叟的文笔精练优美，流畅自然，他的创作实践将英语提升到一个较高的文学水平，推动了英语作为英国统一的民族语言的进程。 二、文艺复兴时期文学（15世纪后期-17世纪初） 相对于欧洲其他国家来说，英国的文艺复兴起始较晚，通常认为是在15世纪末。文艺复兴时期形成的思想体系被称为人文主义，它主张以人为本，反对中世纪以神为中心的世界观，提倡积极进取、享受现世欢乐的生活理想。托马斯·莫尔（Thomas More， 1478-1535）是英国最主要的早期人文主义者，他的《乌托邦》（Utopia）批评了当时的英国和欧洲社会，设计了一个社会平等、财产公有、人们和谐相处的理想国。Utopia现已成为空想主义的代名词，但乌托邦是作者对当时社会状况进行严肃思考的结果。《乌托邦》开创了英国哲理幻想小说传统的先河，这一传统从培根的《新大西岛》（The New Atlantis）、斯威夫特的《格列佛游记》（Gulliver's Travels）、勃特勒的《埃瑞璜》（Erewhon）一直延续到20世纪

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第15章维多利亚时期小说家 1. Choose to discuss one of Dicken s’ novels. Key: A Tale of Two Cities is a novel telling about individual destinies in a gigantic and turbulent social change like the French Revolution. The two cities referred in the title are Paris and London and the main characters shuttle between the two cities with the former as the center of all conflicts and dangers whereas the latter as the stronghold of safety and the final retreat of the victims of revolution. Unlike his other novels, this one adopts the basic tone of a romantic tale. This novel has always been well received mostly for its thrilling story and the dramatic depiction of characters. It is also good material for films and TV shows. In it we see clearly Dickens’ profound sympathy for the exploited and oppressed French peasant class and the persecuted Doctor Manette. Besides the horrible rape and killing and the kidnapping of the innocent doctor to bury his whole life in prison, Dickens’ strong accusation of the dissipated and cruel French aristocratic class is also shown in the famous e pisode of the marquis’ carriage dashing through the small town and running over a poor child. Without even stopping, he throws a handful of coins out of the carriage and then orders the carriage to dash ahead, leaving the poor father howling with the dead boy in his arms.

①Beowulf: The national heroic epic of the English people. It has over 3,000 lines. It describes the battles between the two monsters and Beowulf, who won the battle finally and dead for the fatal wound. The poem ends with the funeral of the hero. The most striking feature in its poetical form is the use if alliteration. Other features of it are the use of metaphors(暗喻) and of understatements(含蓄). ②Alliteration: In alliterative verse, certain accented(重音) words in a line begin with the same consonant sound(辅音). There are generally 4accents in a line, 3 of which show alliteration, as can be seen from the above quotation. ③Romance: The most prevailing(流行的) kind of literature in feudal England was the Romance. It was a long composition, sometimes in verse(诗篇), sometimes in prose(散文), describing the life and adventures of a noble hero, usually a knight, as riding forth to seek adventures, taking part in tournament(竞赛), or fighting for his lord in battle and the swearing of oaths. ④Epic: An epic is a lengthy narrative poem, ordinarily concerning a serious subject containing details of heroic deeds and events significantly to a culture or nation. The first epics are known as primacy, or original epics. ⑤Ballad: The most important department of English folk literature is the ballad which is a story told in song, usually in 4-line stanzas(诗节), with the second and fourth lines rhymed. The subjects of ballads are various in kind, as the struggle of young lovers against their feudal-minded families, the conflict between love and wealth, the cruelty of jealousy, the criticism of the civil war, and the matters and class struggle. The paramount(卓越的) important ballad is Robin Hood(《绿林好汉》). ⑥Geoffrey Chaucer杰弗里.乔叟: He was an English author, poet, philosopher and diplomat. He is the founder of English poetry. He obtained a good knowledge of Latin, French and Italian. His best remembered narrative is the Canterbury Tales(《坎特伯雷故事集》), which the Prologue(序言) supplies a miniature(缩影) of the English society of Chaucer’s time. That is why Chaucer has been called “the founder of English realism”. Chaucer affirms men and women’s right to pursue their happiness on earth and opposes(反对) the dogma of asceticism(禁欲主义) preached(鼓吹) by the church. As a forerunner of humanism, he praises man’s energy, intellect, quick wit and love of life. Chaucer’s contribution to English poetry lies chiefly in the fact that he introduced from France the rhymed stanza of various types, especially the rhymed couplet of 5 accents in iambic(抑扬格) meter(the “heroic couplet”) to English poetry, instead of the old Anglo-Saxon alliterative verse. ⑦【William Langland威廉.朗兰: Piers the Plowman《农夫皮尔斯》】

英国文学史及作品选读 （模拟试题二） Ⅰ. Multiple Choice（1′×20=20分） 1．______can be justly termed England’s national epic. A. The Canterbury Tales B. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight C. The Song of Beowulf D. The Romance of the Rose 2. Among of the following dramas, which is one of Shakespeare’s four tragedies? A.Macbeth B.As You Like it C. Twelfth Night D. The Merchant of Venice 3. _______ is called as “ father of English novels” A. William Shakespeare B. Christopher Marlowe C. Daniel Defoe D.John Donne 4. It was ____who made blank verse the principal vehicle of expression in drama. A. Thomas Wyatt B. William Shakespeare C. Edmund Spenser D. Christopher Marlowe 5. Absoulute monarchy in England reached its summit during the reign of ____, especially Britain’s sea power was established. A.James I B. Henry VIII C. Queen Elizabeth D. Charles I 6. Hamlet, the most popular of Shakespeare's plays for readers and theater audiences, tells about the story of Hamlet, Prince of _______, and son of the dead king, who seeks revenge for his father’s death. A. England B. Norway C. Scotland D. Denmark 7. Which comment on John Donne is wrong? A. He is the leading figure of metaphysical poetry. B. His poetry is characterized by mysticism and peculiar conceit. C. John Donne’s poetry is characterized regularity among irregularity D. He never shows positive attitude towards love. 8. Robinson Crosue can be termed as____. A. a self-dependent person B. a person with colonial mind C. an adventuous person D. all of the above 9. Robert Burns is the representative of _____. A. Sentimentalism B. Pre-Romanticism C. Romanticism D. English Renaissance 10. William Blake’s ____ paint a world of misery, poverty, disease, war and repression with a melancholy tone. A.Poetical Sketches B. The Book of Thel C. Songs of Experience D. Songs of Innocence 11. The notorious “Peterloo Massacre” happened in _____. A. English Romantic period B. English Renaissance C. period of Restoration D. Neo-classical period 12. Lyrical Ballads are made by ____. A. Wordsworth and Shelley B. Wordsworth and Southey C. Wordsworth and Coleridge D. Shelley and Byron 13. According to____, poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings which originates in emotion and recollected in tranquillity.

简明英国文学史 A Brief History of English Literature Part I Old and Middle English Periods (450-1066) Chapter 1 Old English Period and Beowulf Historical situation Britons, a branch of Celts, came to the Isles in BC400 to BC300, at the early stage of the Iron Age Julius Caesar of the Roman Empire defeated the Celts and ruled there from BC55 to AD 407 The Roman Empire declined, the Teutonic or Germanic tribes of Angles, Saxons and Jutes moved to live in the British Isles in about AD450 They drove the Celts to Wales, Scotland and Ireland, the English language has gradually changed, Old Anglo-Saxon. 8 to 11 Century, Danes from Scandinavia came to the Isles Norman Conquest 1066, it influenced the evolution of the English language, life style and culture. Religion Christianity Part II English Renaissance and Shakespeare (1485-1616) Chapter 3 The English Renaissance Literature

第24章战后文学 1.What is Graham Greene’s understanding of sin and sinner?How does this understanding express itself in his major novels? Key:In Greene’s understanding,only with a full recognition of our own as well as other people’s evil can we really understand life and God’s grace.Indeed,in many of his novels,Greene seems to be confirming the Christian idea that a morally imperfect man may enjoy a better chance of religious understanding and spiritual depth,since,in a way,the struggles of these tainted souls bear a closer resemblance to the passion of Christ. For example,in his novel The Power and The Glory,Greene’s Christian understanding of human failings and religious passion are translated into the unconventional image of the priest in this novel.Contrasting to the whiskey priest’s imperfect character was the hagiographical stories that a Mexican mother read to her son.The sentimental perfection of these saints’lives had a negative effect upon the boy,religion-wise,which made him help the Lieutenant in his hunt for the priest.It was the death of the priest,a not so impeccable sacrifice that restored the boy’s faith in God. https://www.wendangku.net/doc/e718488131.html,pare the three major women novelists of postwar English Literature, Murdoch,Spark,and Lessing. Key:Owing to her education in philosophy,Murdoch’s novels exhibit an intense

名词解释 ENGLISH LITERATURE--DEFINITION OF TERMS 1 were passed down from generation to generation. 3) Robin Hood is a famous ballad singing the goods of Robin Hood. Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is a 19th century English ballad. 2Critical Realism of the 19th century flourished in the forties and in the beginning of fifties.2)The realists first and foremost set themselves the task of criticizing capitalist society from a democratic viewpoint and delineated the crying contradictions of bourgeois reality. But they did not find a way to eradicate social evils.3) Charles Dickens is the most important critical realist. 3With the advent of the 18th century, in England, as in other European countries, there sprang into life a public movement known as the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment on the whole, was an expression of struggle of the then progressive class of bourgeois against feudalism. The social inequality, stagnation, prejudices and other survivals of feudalism. They attempted to place all branches of science at the service of mankind by connecting them with the actual deeds and requirements of the people. 启蒙主义：启蒙主义是在18世纪在英国发生的。总体上，启蒙主义是当时的资产阶级对封建主义，社会的不平等、死寂、偏见和其他的封建残余的一种反对。通过将科学的各个分支与人民的日常生活和需要联系起来，启蒙主义者们努力将他们变成为人民大众服务的工具 4-of-Consciousness” or “interior monologue”, is one of the modern literary techniques. It is the style of writing that attempts to imitate the natural flow of a character’s thoughts, feelings, reflections, memories, and mental images as the character experiences them. It was first used in 1922 by the Irish novelist James Joyce. Those novels broke through the bounds of time and space, and depicted vividly and skillfully the unconscious activity of the mind fast changing and flowing incessantly, particularly the hesitant, misted, distracted and illusory psychology people had when they faced reality. The modern American writer William Faulkner successfully advanced this technique. In his stories, action and plots were less important than the reactions and inner musings of the narrators. Time sequences were often dislocated. The reader feels himself to be a participant in the stories, rather than an observer. A high degree of emotion can be achieved by this technique.

第15章维多利亚时期小说家 1.Choose to discuss one of Dickens’novels. Key:A Tale of Two Cities is a novel telling about individual destinies in a gigantic and turbulent social change like the French Revolution.The two cities referred in the title are Paris and London and the main characters shuttle between the two cities with the former as the center of all conflicts and dangers whereas the latter as the stronghold of safety and the final retreat of the victims of revolution. Unlike his other novels,this one adopts the basic tone of a romantic tale. This novel has always been well received mostly for its thrilling story and the dramatic depiction of characters.It is also good material for films and TV shows. In it we see clearly Dickens’profound sympathy for the exploited and oppressed French peasant class and the persecuted Doctor Manette.Besides the horrible rape and killing and the kidnapping of the innocent doctor to bury his whole life in prison,Dickens’strong accusation of the dissipated and cruel French aristocratic class is also shown in the famous episode of the marquis’carriage dashing through the small town and running over a poor child.Without even stopping,he throws a handful of coins out of the carriage and then orders the carriage to dash ahead,leaving the poor father howling with the dead boy in his arms. Although Dickens’sympathy is with the down-trodden French people,his attitude toward French Revolution is critical.In the novel,he depicts the