英美文学史补充材料

世界历史/v?ct=301989888&word=%CA%C0%BD%E7%C0%FA%CA%B7&db=0&ty=0&pn=10 0&fbl=1024Alliteration （"Susie sells seashells by the seashore."）is a poem that has the same initial consonant used in two or more sounds that occur close together. i.e.:Sometimes, while I slip and slideI wonder soundlesslyWhy I smile, despite my sniveling and sniffingAt the serene sight of snowflakes falling.乔叟的名篇《坎特伯雷集》《贞洁妇女的传说》《公爵夫人的书》《百鸟聚会》《声誉之宫》《骑士讲的故事》《玫瑰传奇》(Prioress’ characteristic) affectation, artificiality, imitation, insincerity, pose, pretence, pretension, putting on airs, sham, showing off, simulation(simulated innocence), attitudinizing, vanity, arrogance, display, narcissism, ostentation, ostentation, vaingloryLiterary positionChaucer’s contribution to English poetry lie in the fact that he introduced the rhymed couplet of iambic pentameter （to be called later the “heroic couplet”） to English poetry， instead of the old Anglo-Saxon alliterative verse。

The last poet of the Middle Ages and the first of a new age.Though drawing influence from French, Italy and Latin models, he is the first great poet who wrote in the current English language, establishing English as the literary language of the country. The spoken English of the time consisted of several dialects, and Chaucer did much in Making the dialect of London the foundation for modern English speech.ShakespeareVarious ages have found various things in Shakespeare. The 18th c. saw in him “just observation of general nature”(Johnson) or true-to- life. The Romantics admired his freedom from literary convention, the sweep and grandeur of historical conflict, his parabolic insight into the extremes of the human predicament. The later 19th c. (e.g. Bradley) admired the delicate and complicated psychological insight of his characterization. All ages have admired his command of language, and our own age has presented a picture of Shakespeare as a conscious symphonic artist, producing in his greatest plays an elaborate structure in which theme answers theme and in which the whole,like music, is its own meaning, which any paraphrase denatures. He is presented by modern critics as deeply concer ned with the moral basis of life. “Nature”, “right”, “order”, “truth”, the key concepts, are as it were both created and tested in the conflicts, which form the play.On Hamlet’s Soliloquy* Hamlet’s thoughts were philosophical rather than practical;* His concerns were on the nature of things rather than any specific plans for actions; * His feelings were of a deep sorrow over the injustice and vanity, which brought pains into human life.“Of Studies”is made-up of only one paragraph, but its message is conveyed with sweeping effect and overwhelming power, which lie in the unity of the message and the consistence of forceful argumentations.The text focuses on one controlling idea ---- “studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability.” And closely around the focus are five major issues:1. the proper or improper ways of studies;2. different men have different ideas about studies;3. ways of reading;4.different human characters coined by studying various subjects;5. the request of human defects through effective studies.The text employs many devices of connectivity, including grammatical devices, lexical cohesion, logical connection, pragmatic and semantic implication, and even prosodic associations. Of all the ellipsis, parallel construction and antithesis.The lexical cohesion of the text is achieved mainly through reiteration and collocation. Reiteration means the adoption of near-synonyms, super ordinates, hyponyms, and general words, as in the sentences “Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallows, and some few to be chewed and digested”; these features strike the reader, to some extent, more than collocation in the text.Devices of other types add much to the coherence of the text, which is achieved not by the use of separate devices of connectivity, not only at the levels of the text and the paragraph, but also at the level of many rhetorically forceful sentences. （罗选民p18）"Sometimes the quarrel between two princes is to decide which of them shall dispossess a third of his dominions, where neither of them pretend to any right. Sometimes one prince quarrels with another for fear the other should quarrel with him. Sometimes a war is entered upon, because the enemy is too strong; and sometimes, because he is too weak. Sometimes our neighbours want the things which we have, or have the things which we want, and we both fight, till they take ours, or give us theirs. It is a very justifiable causeof a war, to invade a country after the people have been wasted by famine, destroyed by pestilence, or embroiled by factions among themselves. It is justifiable to enter into war against our nearest ally, when one of his towns lies convenient for us, or a territory of land, that would render our dominions round and complete. If a prince sends forces into a nation, where the people are poor and ignorant, he may lawfully put half of them to death, and make slaves of the rest, in order to civilize and reduce them from their barbarous way of living. It is a very kingly, honourable, and frequent practice, when one prince desires the assistance of another, to secure him against an invasion, that the assistant, when he has driven out the invader, should seize on the dominions himself, and kill, imprison, or banish, the prince he came to relieve. Alliance by blood, or marriage, is a frequent cause of war between princes; and the nearer the kindred is, the greater their disposition to quarrel; poor nations are hungry, and rich nations are proud; and pride and hunger will ever be at variance. For these reasons, the trade of a soldier is held the most honourable of all others; because a soldier is a Yahoo hired to kill, in cold blood, as many of his own species, who have never offended him, as possibly he can.Fielding’s prose styleFielding is a master of style. His style is easy, unlaboured and familiar, but extremely vivid and vigorous. His sentences are always distinguished by logic and rhythm.Satire abounds everywhere in fielding’s works. There are two kinds of satire. One is the humorous satire, which is meant to be instructive and corrective. Here ridicule and laughter seem the best way to get rid of the follies of the general public. There is a grim satire, which is used to lash the cardinal evils of the corrupt ruling classes. This severe, scathing and relentless satire is best exemplified in “Jonathan Wild the Great”.There are three ways in telling the story of a novel. 1) It may be told in a series of letters as the method of Richardson. 2) The story may be put in the mouth of the principal character as the method used by Defoe and Swift. 3)The story may be told directly by the author as Fielding does, which enables the author to develop his narrative in the fullest, freest, clearest and most straightforward manner, and also affords him opportunities of giving, at suitable places, personal explanations.The Tyger, appearing also in The Song of experience,is one of Blake’s better-known poems. The apparently simple questions of curiosity and puzzlement, raised one after another but left unanswered, produce the effect of an odd mixture of the simple and the childlike with the serious and the thoughtful, that characterizes most of Blake’s earlier lyrics. There is also a touch of symbolism and mysticism here that prevails over the poet’s later Prophetic Books.This poem contains six quatrains in rhyming couplets.William WordsworthMy Heart Leaps upMy Heart Leaps up when I beholdA rainbow in the sky:So was it when my life began.So is it now I am a man.]So be it when I shall grow oldOr let me die!The child is the father of the man.And I could wish my days to beBound each to each by natural piety.希腊战歌十八世纪末希腊革命志士所作，意在唤醒希腊人民，驱除异族统治者土耳其暴君。