英国文学史作业

英国文学史作业
英国文学史作业

英国文学史及选读作业

Daniel Defoe and Robinson Crusoe

Daniel Defoe is a famous author of 18th century. His masterpiece is adventure story Robinson Crusoe. The story happens in the middle of 17th century, the main character is Robinson, and he wants to be a sailor but his father hopes he can be a lawyer. Finally, Robinson chooses to be a sailor. Unfortunately, he is captured by a Turkish and becomes slavery. After struggle, he flees to Brazil, and he becomes a sugar planter. However, he begins his voyage again in order to make huge profits from Africa. During the voyage, the ship faces the storm all people on the ship are killed except Robinson. Robinson flees to an isolated island, and there are no human beings. Robinson gets all the useful things on the ship and tries to build the boat to leave the island but fails. Therefore, Robinson lives on the island alone and plants crops, feeds animals and does all the things he needs. One day, Robinson finds the cannibals on the island and they are preparing eating the captives. Robinson kills the winner and saves one captive. He names him Friday. Thus, Robinson has the partner on the island firstly. Friday helps Robinson build a new boat to leave the island. Furthermore, they kill savages and save the captives, and one of captives is Friday’s father. Finally, an English ship passes the island, Robinson and Friday save the captain from the munity and they go back to England.

“Crusoe Visits the Wreck” writes the event when Robinson flees to the island. He is lonely but not very horrible. He is calm and tries to observe the environment carefully. He makes a craft and goes to the ship to take the necessities, foods, clothe and ammunition. After thinking carefully, he decides to leave the island by the craft. Robinson is brave, calm and wise. On the island, he does not loose the hope, and tries to find the method to leave the island. “The Footprint”tells the story, one day; Robinson finds the big footprints on the islands. He feels surprised because he fins the traces of human firstly, but at same time, he feels horrible because the footprints are too big. “Crusoe saves Friday from the Cannibals” tells the story that Robinson finds the cannibals and they are planning to eat the captives. Robinson saves one captive and names him Friday, and takes his him as his partner. From this experience, it can show the kindness of Robinson. Robinson saves Friday from the cannibals bravely, and gives him foods, clothe and shelter. Besides, he is friendly to Friday, and considers him as the good friend. To conclude, the author uses the clear and simple language to tell the story, it is easier for readers to understand. Moreover, the author describes the story in detail. In addition, the author just tells the events happens to Robinson and never talks about his personal characters, thus, readers need to conclude by themselves through Robinson’ actions in the story. It is a good work of adventure story and full of imagination.

英国文学史及选读 复习要点总结概要

《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。

英国文学史作品作者

Geoffrey Chaucer: the legend of good women 良妇传说the house of fame 名誉堂 the parliament of fowls 百鸟会Troilus and Cressie 特罗勒斯与克莱西 the Canterbury tales 坎特伯雷故事集 Thomas More Utopia Edmund Spenser the fairy queen William Shakespeare four great tragedies: Hamlet Othello king Lear Macbeth Four great comedies: the merchant of Venice a midsummer night’s dream twelfth night 第十二夜as you like it 皆大欢喜 Francis Bacon the advancement of learning 学术的进展the Novum Organum 求学之新器the De Augmentis 新工具essays 随笔Maxims of the Law 法律准则 Reading on the Stature of Uses 谈使用法则Of Studies 论读书 John Donne the flea 跳蚤 John Milton paradise lost 失乐园 John Bunyan the pilgrim’s progress 天路历程 John Dryden all for love an essay of dramatic poesy Daniel Defoe Robinson Crusoe 鲁宾逊漂流记 Jonathan swift a tale of a tub 木桶的故事the battle of books 书战 a modest proposal 一个小小的建议Gulliver’s travels 格列佛游记 William Blake poetical sketches 诗歌札记songs of innocence 天真之歌 Songs of experience 经验之歌prophecies 预言the lamb the chimney sweeper The marriage of heaven and hell 天堂与地狱的婚姻 Robert burns a red red rose auld Lang Syne 友谊地久天长 William Wordsworth lines composed a few miles above tinterm abbey 丁登寺 The prelude 序曲the excursion 漫游sonnets 十四行诗 I wandered lonely as a cloud composed upon Westminster bridge She dwelt among the untrodden ways 她在人迹罕至的路边 The solitary reaper 孤独的割麦女 Samuel Taylor Coleridge the rime of the ancient mariner 古舟子咏 Christabel 克里斯塔贝尔Kubla khan 忽必烈汗 George Gordon Byron childe Harold’s pilgrimage 恰尔德哈罗德游记Cain 该隐 Don Juan 唐璜she walks in beauty when a man hath no freedom to fight for at home Percy Bysshe Shelley queen Mab 麦布女王the Cenci 钦契Prometheus unbound 解放了的普罗米修斯ode to the west wind in defense of poetry 诗辩 John Keats on first looking into Champman’s homer 初读查普曼译荷马史诗 Endymion 恩底弥翁ode to a nightingale ode to a Grecian um 希腊古瓮颂 Lamia, Isabella, the eve of st. Agnes, and other poems 女妖、伊莎贝尔、圣爱尼节前夜及其他Jane Austen sense and sensibility 理智与情感pride and prejudice 傲慢与偏见persuasion 劝导Emma 艾玛Mansfield park 曼斯菲尔德庄园Northanger abbey 诺桑觉寺 Charles Dickens sketches by boz 博兹札记Pickwick papers 匹克威克外传Oliver twist 奥利弗退斯特Nicholas nickleby 尼古拉斯尼克贝old curiosity shop 老古玩店 Bamaby rudge 巴纳比拉奇American notes 旅美札记martin chuzzlewit 马丁朱兹尔维特A Christmas carol 圣诞颂歌the chimes 钟声the cricked 炉边的蟋蟀dombey and son 董贝父子David Copperfield 大卫科波菲尔bleak house 荒凉山庄hard times 艰难时世Little dorrit 小杜丽 a tale of two cities 双城记great expectations 远大前程

英国文学史及选读__期末试题及答案

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

大三_英国文学史(绝对标准中文版)

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

(完整)最全面英国文学史知识点总结,推荐文档

英国文学史 I. Old English Literature & The Late Medieval Ages 贝奥武夫:the national epic of the Anglo-Saxons Epic: long narrative poems that record the adventures or heroic deeds of a hero enacted in vast landscapes. The style of epic is grand and elevated. Artistic features: 1. Using alliteration Definition of alliteration: a rhetorical device, meaning some words in a sentence begin with the same consonant sound(头韵) Some examples on P5 2. Using metaphor and understatement Definition of understatement: expressing something in a controlled way Understatement is a typical way for Englishmen to express their ideas Geoffery Chaucer 杰弗里·乔叟1340~1400 (首创“双韵体”,英国文学史上首先用伦敦方言写作。约翰·德莱顿(John Dryden)称其为“英国诗歌之父”。代表作《坎特伯雷故事集》。) The father of English poetry. writing style: wisdom, humor, humanity. ①坎特伯雷故事集: first time to use ‘heroic couplet’(双韵体) by middle English ②特罗伊拉斯和克莱希德 ③声誉之宫 Medieval Ages’popular Literary form: Romance(传奇故事)

2014-2015英国文学史及选读期末试题B

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班级_________________学号姓名考试科目英美文学史及作品选读【(1)】B卷闭卷共 5 页 学生答题不得超过此线····································密························封························线································

班级_________________学号姓名考试科目英美文学史及作品选读【(1)】B卷闭卷共 5 页 学生答题不得超过此线····································密························封························线································

(完整word版)吴伟仁--英国文学史及选读--名词解释

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

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.

英国文学史及选读2017期末复习名词解释中英

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.

英国文学史作家及作品(重要表格)

英美文学选读(英国文学部分) Period Life Time Name CN Nane Writings CN Writings Renaissance1500-1660Edmund Spenser 埃德蒙.斯 宾赛 The Faerie Queen仙后 Blank verse University wit Christopher Marlowe 克里斯扥 夫.马洛 Tamburlaine Dr Fauctus The Jew of Malta 帖木耳大帝 弗士德博士的悲剧 马耳他的犹太人 William Shakespeare 威廉.莎士 比亚 The Merchant of Venice Hamlet The Tempest 威尼斯商人 哈姆雷特 暴风雨 叙事诗 十四行诗 Francis Bacon 弗兰西斯. 培根 Essays Of Studies 论说文 论学习 John Donne约翰.邓恩 The Sun Rising Death Be Not Proud John Milton 约翰.弥尔 顿 Lycidas Paradise Lost Paradise Regained Samson Agonistes 利西达斯 失乐园 复乐园 力士参孙 Neoclassical Period 1660-1798John Bunyan约翰.班杨The Pilgrim’s Progress 天路历程Alexander Pope 亚历山大. 蒲伯 An Essay on Criticism论批评 1660-1731Daniel Defoe 丹尼尔.笛 弗 Robinson Crusoe鲁滨逊漂流记Jonathan Swift 乔纳森.斯 威特 Gulliver’s Travels格列佛游记Henry Fielding 亨利.菲尔 丁 The History of The Adventures of Joseph Andrew The History of Jonathan Wild the Great The History of Tom Jons 约瑟夫.安德鲁 伟大的乔纳森.怀尔 德 汤姆.琼斯Samuel Johnson 赛缪尔.约 翰逊 A Dictionary of the English Language To the Right Honorable The Earl of Chesterfield 英语大词典 致切斯特菲尔德勋 爵的信 Richard Brinsley Sheridan 理查德德. 比.谢立丹 The School of Scandal造谣学校Thomas Gray 扥马斯.格 雷 Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard 写在教堂墓地的挽 歌 Romantic1798-1870William Blake 威廉.布莱 克 Songs of Innocence Songs of Experience Marriage of Heaven and Hell 天真之歌 经验之歌 天堂与地狱联姻 先知书 William Wordsworth 威廉.华兹 华斯 Lyrical Ballads Tintern Abbey Prelude 抒情歌谣集 丁登寺旁 序曲 Samuel Taylor Coleridge 塞缪尔.特 勒.科勒律 治 The Rime of The Ancient Mariner Kubla Khan Christalbel Biographia Literaria 老水手之行 忽必烈汉 克丽斯塔贝尔 文学传记 George Gordon Byron 乔治.戈登. 拜伦 Childe Harold Don Juan 洽尔德.哈罗德游记 唐璜 该隐 Percy Bysshe Shelley 铂.比.雪莱 Ode to the West Wind To a Skylark 西风颂 云雀颂

吴伟仁的英国文学史及选读

History and Anthology of English Literature Part One The Anglo-Saxon Period Beowulf Questions: 1.The earliest literature falls into two divisions ___________, and_______________. 2.Christianity brings England not only __________ and___________but also the wealth of a new language. 3.Who is Beowulf? And What is Beowulf? 4.How did Beowulf come into being? 5.Who is Grendel? And what is the result of Grendel?s fight with Beowulf? 6.How did the Jutes hold the funeral for him? Key points of this part: The most important work of old English literature is Beowulf------- the national epic of the English people. It is of Germanic heritage, perhaps the greatest Germanic epic and contains evidently pre-Christian elements existing at first in an oral tradition, the poem was passed from mouth to mouth for generations before it was written down. The manuscript preserved today was written in the Wessex tongue about 1000A.D., consisting altogether of 3183 lines. There are three episodes related to the career of Beowulf: 1.the fight with the monster, Grendel. 2.The fight with Grendel?s mother, a still more frightful she-monster. 3.The moral combat with the fire Dragon. The significance lies in the vivid portrayal of a great national hero, who is brave, courageous, selfless, and ever helpful to his people. There are three important features:: 1.Alliteration (words beginning with the same consonant sound). This is characteristic of all old English verse. 2.Metaphors and understatements. There are many compound words used in the poem to serve as indirect metaphors that are sometimes very picturesque. , e.g. “riging-giver”is used for King; “hearth-companions “for his attendant warriors; “Whale?s road” for the sea; “spear-fighter” for soldier etc. And as understatement we can see: “not troublesome”for welcome; “need not praise”for a right to condemn. This quality is often regarded as characteristic of the English people and their language. 3.Mixture of pagan and Christian elements: the observing of omen, cremation, blood-revenge, and the praise of worldly glory.

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