美国文学史期末复习资料

美国文学（本科）试题5I. Complete each of the following statements with proper words or phrases andput your answers on the Answer Sheet. (20%, 1 point for each)1. The first permanent English settlement in North America was established atJamestown, Virginia in 1607 .2. became the first American writer.3. Hard work, thrift, piety and sobriety were the values that dominated much of the early American writing.4. In American literature, the 18th century was an age of and Revolution.5. Franklin’s best writing is found in his masterpiece.6. On January 10, 1776, Thomas Paine’s famous pamphlet appeared.7. The signing of symbolized the birth of an independent American nation.8. The most outstanding poet in America of the 18th century was .9. Washington Irving’s became the first work by an American writer to win international fame.10. is the summit of American Romanticism.11. With the publication of Emerson’s in 1836,American Romanticism reached its summit.12. Hester Prynne is the heroine in Hawthorne’s novel.13.Henry James’ major fictional theme is.14. brought the Romantic period to an end. So the age of Realism came into existence.15. The Poetic style invented by Whitman is now called .16. “Because I could not stop for Death---” is written by.17. The term The Gilded Age is given by to describe the post-civil war years.18. Theodore Dreiser’s first novel is.19. The leader of the literary movement Imagism is .20. is the spokesman for Lost Generation.II. Each of the following statements below is followed by four alternative answersor completions. Choose the one that is the best in each case and put your answers on the Answer Sheet. (30%, 1 point for each)1. The first American writer of local color to achieve wide popularity was .A. Bret HarteB. Mark TwainC. Henry JamesD. William Dean Howells2. Which of the following is the masterpiece of Mark Twain?A. The Gilded AgeB. The Adventures of Tom SawyerC. The Adventures of Huckleberry FinnD. Jumping Frog3. Which writer has no naturalist tendency?A. Mark TwainB. Jack LondonC. Theodore DreiserD. Frank Norris4. Transcendentalist doctrines found their greatest literary advocates in andThoreau.A. JeffersonB. EmersonC. FreneauD. Oversoul5. Which of the following doesn’t belong to Dreiser’s “Trilogy of Desire”?A. The FinancierB. The TitanC. The StoicD. An American Tragedy6. Which is the character who appears in the novel Moby Dick?A. Hester PrynneB. Mr. HooperC. AhabD. Pearl7. written by Henry James brought him first international fame.A. The Golden BowlB. The AmericanC. The Tragic MuseD. Daisy Miller8. “”was a term created by the French novelist, Emile Zola.A. realismB. naturalismC. transcendentalismD. veritism9. Jack London was at his height of his powers when he wrote , which is deeply influenced by Darwinism.A. The Sea WolfB. To Build a FireC. The Call of the WildD. Martin Eden10. The Cop and the Anthem is written by .A. O. HenryB. Henry JamesC. Jack LondonD. Mark Twain11. “Two small people, without dislike or suspicion.” is a line in the poem The River-Merchant’s Wife:A Letter written by .A. T. S. EliotB.Robert FrostC.Ezra PoundD. Carl Sandburg12. The imagist poets followed three principles, they are , direct treatment and economy ofexpression.A. blank verseB. rhythmC. free verseD. common speech13. Of the following American writers, who has NOT been an expatriate in Paris?A. Ernest HemingwayB. Ezra PoundC. F. S. FitzgeraldD. Emily Dickinson14. Who was the foremost novelist of the American Depression of the 1930s?A. Ernest HemingwayB. Ezra PoundC. John SteinbeckD. F. S. Fitzgerald15. The first writings that we call American were the narratives and of the early settlements.A. journalsB. poetryC. dramaD. folklores16. An American Dictionary of the English Language was published in 1828 by .A. Samuel JohnsonB. Noah WebsterC. Daniel WebsterD. Daniel Defoe17. Walden is written by .A. EmersonB. ThoreauC. PoeD. Hawthorne18. is famous for psychological realism.A. Mark TwainB. William Dean HowellsC. Henry JamesD. Walt Whitman19. Which is generally regarded as the Bible of New England Transcendentalism?A. NatureB. WaldenC. On BeautyD. Self-Reliance20. Which is regarded as the “Declaration of Intellectual Independence”?A.The American ScholarB. English TraitsC. The Conduct of LifeD. Nature21. Santiago is the character in Hemingway’s novel.A. In Our TimeB. The Old Man and the SeaC. For Whom the Bell TollsD. The Sun Also Rises22. Which of the following is a much harsher realism?A. local colorismB. naturalismC. romanticismD. imagism23. Who is the arbiter of 19th century literary realism in America?A. Mark TwainB. Bret HarteC. William Dean HowellsD. Henry James24. F. S. Fitzgerald is NOT the author of .A. The Great GatsbyB. Tender is the NightC. A Farewell to the ArmsD. This Side of Paradise25. The pessimism and deterministic ideas of naturalism pervaded the works of such American writersas .A. Mark TwainB. F. S. FitzgeraldC. Walt WhitmanD. Stephen Crane26. Charles Drouet is a character in the novel of______.A. The AmericanB. The Portrait of a LadyC.Sister CarrieD. The Gift of the Magi27. American literature produced only one female poet during the 19th century. She was .A. Anne BradstreetB. Jane AustenC. Emily DickinsonD. Harriet Beecher28. read his poetry at the inauguration of President John F. Kennedy.A. Robert FrostB. T. S. EliotC. Carl SandburgD. Ezra Pound29. With Howells, James and Mark Twain active on the scene, became the major trend in the 70sand 80s of the 19th century.A. sentimentalismB. romanticismC. realismD. naturalism30. “The apparition of these faces in the crowd; Petals on a wet, black bough”. This is the shortestpoem written by .A. T. S. EliotB. Robert FrostC.Ezra PoundD. Wallace StevensIII. Comment on the following poems. Put your answers on the Answer Sheet. (20%, 10 points for each)1.Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Eveningby: Robert FrostWhose woods these are I think I know.His house is in the village though;He will not see me stopping hereTo watch his woods fill up with snow.My little horse must think it queerTo stop without a farmhouse nearBetween the woods and frozen lakeThe darkest evening of the year.He gives his harness bells a shakeTo ask if there is some mistake.The only other sound’s the sweepOf easy wind and downy flake.The woods are lovely, dark and deep.But I have promises to keep,And miles to go before I sleep,And miles to go before I sleep.1. I Heard a Fly Buzz—When I Died—by: Emily DickinsonI heard a Fly buzz — when I died —The Stillness in the RoomWas like the Stillness in the Air —Between the Heaves of Storm —The Eyes around — had wrung them dry —And Breaths were gathering firmFor that last Onset — when the KingBe witnessed — in the Room —I willed my Keepsakes — Signed awayWhat portion of me beAssignable — and then it wasThere interposed a Fly —With Blue — uncertain stumbling Buzz —Between the light — and me —And then the Windows failed — and thenI could not see to see —IV. Give brief answers to the following and write your answers on the Answer Sheet. (30%, 15 points for each)1. Being a period of the great flowering of American literature, the Romantic Period is called “the Amer ican Renaissance”. Briefly discuss what the features of American literature in this period are.2. How does Sister Carrie embody Dreiser’2008-2009学年度第二期《美国文学史及作品选读》（2006级本科）期末考试A卷参考答案命题人：王琪、丁华良、祝小丁I. Complete each of the following statements with proper words or phrases andput your answers on the Answer Sheet. (20%, 1 point for each)1. 16072. John Smith3. Puritan4. Reason5. The Autobiography6. Common Sense7. The Declaration of Independence8. Philip Freneau 9. Sketch Book 10. Transcendentalism11. Nature 12. The Scarlet Letter 13. international theme 14. The civil war15. free verse 16. Emily Dickinson 17. Mark Twain18. Sister Carrie 19. Ezra Pound 20. Ernest HemingwayII. Each of the following statements below is followed by four alternative answers or completions. Choose the one that is the best in each case and put your answers on the Answer Sheet. (30%, 1 point for each)1 --- 5: A C A B D 6 --- 10: C D B C A11 ---15:C B D C A 16 --- 20: B B C A A21 ---25: B B C C D 26 --- 30: C C A C CIII. Comment on the following poems. Put your answers on the Answer Sheet. (20%, 10 points for each)1. "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening" was Frost's favorite of his own poems and Frost in a letter to Louis Untermeyer called it "my best bid for remembrance."This poem illustrates many of the qualities most characteristic of Frost, including the attention to natural detail, the relationship between humans and nature, and the strong theme suggested by individual lines. The speaker in the poem, a traveler by horse on the darkest night of the year, stops to watch a woods filling up with snow. He thinks the owner of the woods is someone who lives in the village and will not see him stopping there. While he is attracted by the beauty of the woods and nature, he is reminded by his little horse and realizes that he has obligations which pull him away from the lure of nature. The speaker describes the beauty and temptation of the woods as “lovely, dark and deep,” but reminds himself that he must not remain there, because he has “promises to keep,” and a long journey ahead of him. He has to complete his obligations and then make his aspirations to be realized. Through the symbolic woods and horse, we also get to know that the speaker has strong self-awareness and self-discipline.In another way, the poem can be analyzed from the perspective of aspiration and realization. Aspiration is something to be worked at. We enjoy the fruit of our realization only when we reach our destination. But from the spiritual point of view, we notice something else that is the transformation of aspiration and realization. Today's aspiration transforms itself into tomorrow's realization. Again, tomorrow's realization is the pathfinder of a higher and deeper goal. There is no end to our realization, and there is no end of our aspiration as long as you are alive. Our journey is eternal, and the road that we are taking on is also eternal. All aspirations become realization till the end of one’s life.The poem is written in iambic tetrameter in the Rubaiyat stanza created by Edward Fitzgerald. Each verse (save the last) follows an a-a-b-a rhyming scheme, with the following verse's a's rhyming with that verse's b, which is a chain rhyme. Overall, the rhyme scheme is AABA-BBCB-CCDC-DDDD.2. The poetess is watching her own death and recording the process. Instead of seeing God and hearing the songs of angels yearned for by Puritans upon death she heard a fly buzz, which is really ironic. Fly: sets off the stillness in the room;blocks off the light (from heaven);suggests a coming decadence→ the speaker loses the opportunity of gaining immortality after deathThe fly plays an import ant role in the speaker’s experience of death. The poem is, in part, about “the conflict between preconception and perception.” The person on his or her deathbed shifts perspective from “the ritual of dying” to “the fact of death.” The fly, by interrupting the dying speaker with its “Blue —uncertain stumbling Buzz —” obliterates his or her false notions of death. The sound of the fly represents “the last conscious link with reality.” The poem lacks any hint of a life after death.IV. Give brief answers to the following and write your answers on the Answer Sheet. (30%, 15 points for each)1.(1) The whole nation had a strong sense of optimism and the mood of “feeling good”, giving birth tothe spectacular outburst of romantic feeling.(2) The English counterpart exerted a stimulating impact on the writers of the young nation.(3) Taking foreign influence in consideration, the great works of American writers still carriedtypically American romantic color.(4) The young nation had brought forth its own p hilosophy. Transcendentalism stresses man’scapacity of knowing truth intuitively, and of attaining knowledge transcending the reach of the senses.2.(1) In this novel, Dreiser expressed his naturalistic pursuit by expounding the purposelessness of lifeand attacking the conventional moral standards.(2) The novel best embodies his naturalistic belief that while men are controlled by heredity, instinctand chance, a few extraordinary and unsophisticated human beings refuse to accept their fate wordlessly and instead strive, unsuccessfully, to find meaning and purpose for their existence.(3) To Sister Carrie, the world is cold and harsh. Alone, helpless, she moves along like a mechanismdriven by desire and catches blindly at any opportunities for a better existence, opportunities first offered by Drouet, and then by Hurstwood. A feather in the wind, she was totally at the mercy of forces she cannot comprehend, still less to say control. The famous picture of Carrie sitting in a rocking chair in her room in the evening, rocking back and forth, is a picture of Carrie’s drifting with the tide. She has no control, no freedom of will.美国文学（本科）试题6I. Complete each of the following statements with proper words or phrases: (20%, 1 point for each)1. I n 1817, the stately poem called “Thanatopsis” introduced the best poet, ______, to appear in America up to that time.2. James Fennimore Cooper launched two kinds of immensely popular stories: the sea adventure and______.3. Ralph Emerson was recognized throughout his life as the leader of ______ movement, yet henever applied the term to himself or to his beliefs and ideas.4. Herman Melville’s novel ______ is a tremendous chronicle of a whaling voyage in pursuit of aseemingly supernatural white whale.5. In the early 19th century, Washington Irving wrote ______ which became the first work by anAmerican writer to win financial success on both sides of the Atlantic.6. In 1845, Henry David Thoreau began a two-year residence at ______ Pond.7. After his death, ______ became the only American to be honored with a bust in the Poet’s Cornerof Westminster Abbey.8. The American Romantic period stretches from the end of the 18th century through the outburst ofthe ______.9. The arbiter of 19th century literary realism in America was ______.10. The poetic style Walt Whitman devised is now called ______, which is poetry without a fixed beator regular rhyme scheme.11. ______ is considered the founder of psychological realism. He believed that reality lies in theimpressions made by life on the spectator.12. ______ is the novel into which Jack London put most of himself.13. O. Henry’s ______ is a very moving story of a young couple who sell their best possessions inorder to get money for a Christmas present for each other.14. ______ was the leader of a new movement in poetry which he called the “Imagist” movement.15. In 1925, F. Scott Fitzgerald completed his best novel ______. It is the story of an idealist who wasdestroyed by the influence of the wealthy, pleasure-seeking people around him.16. Ernest Hemingway’s stature as a writer was confirmed with the publication of his novel ______ in1929. The novel portrayed a farewell both to war and to love.17. ______ was the foremost novelist of the American Depression of the 1930s.18. William Faulkner considered __________ to be “the first truly American writer”.19. As a genre, naturalism emphasized heredity and ______ as important deterministic forces shapingindividualized characters that were presented in special and detailed circumstances.20. A series of sixteen pamphlets by Thomas Paine was entitled ______.II. Each of the following statements below is followed by four alternative answers or completions.Choose the one that is the best in each case: (30%, 1 point for each)1. Moby Dick was dedicated to ____.A. Ralph EmersonB. Nathaniel HawthorneC. Henry ThoreauD. Henry Longfellow2. ____ was Mark Twain’s masterpiece from which, as Hemingway noted, “all modern Americanliterature comes.”A. The Adventures of Tom SawyerB. The Adventures of Huckleberry FinnC. Life on the MississippiD. The Gilded Age3. ____ usually was regarded as the first American writer.A. Emily BradfordB. Ann BradstreetC. Emily DickinsonD. John Smith4. Benjamin Franklin was the epitome of the ____.A. American EnlightenmentB. Sugar ActC. Chartist movementD. Romanticist5. Thomas Jefferson’s attitude, that is, a firm belief in progress, and the pursuit of happiness, istypical of the period we now call ____.A. Age of EvolutionB. Age of ReasonC. Age of RomanticismD. Age of Regionalism6. As a literary and philosophical movement, ____ flourished in New England from the 1830s to theCivil War.A. modernismB. rationalismC. sentimentalismD. transcendentalism7. ____ is NOT written by Ralph Waldo Emerson.A. The American ScholarB. Self-RelianceC. The Divinity School AddressD. Civil Disobedience8. There is a good reason to state that New England Transcendentalism was actually ____ on thePuritan soil.A. RomanticismB. SymbolismC. MysticismD. Rationalism9. American literature produced only one female poet during the 19th century. This was ____.A. Anne BradstreetB. Jane AustenC. Emily DickinsonD. Harriet Beecher10. Which of the following statements about O. Henry is NOT right?A. He wrote about the poor people.B. The ends of his stories are always surprising.C. Many of his stories contain a great deal of slang and colloquial expressions.D. The plots are usually clumsy.11. The main theme of ____’s The Art of Fiction reveals his literary credo that representation of lifeshould be the main object of the novel.A. Henry JamesB. William HowellsC. Mark TwainD. O. Henry12. Which of the following does NOT have a naturalist tendency?A. Stephan CraneB. Frank NorrisC. Jack LondonD. Walt Whitman13. For Melville, as well as for the reader and _____, the narrator, Moby Dick is still a mystery, anultimately mystery of the universe.A. StubbB. IshmaelC. AhabD. Starbuck14. Which of the following is NOT optimistic about human nature?A. Ralph EmersonB. Walt WhitmanC. Nathaniel HawthorneD. Henry Thoreau15. Emily Dickinson wrote many of her poems on various aspects of life. Which of the following isNOT a usual subject of her poetic expression?A. ReligionB. Life and deathC. Love and marriageD. War and peace16. Of the following American writers, _____ had won the Nobel Prize for Literature.A. Mark TwainB. Ernest HemingwayC. Henry JamesD. F. S. Fitzgerald17. In 1862, President Lincoln exclaimed: “So yo u are the little woman who wrote the book that startedthis great war!” The book refers to ____.A. The Adventures of Huckleberry FinnB. BelovedB. Pride and Prejudice D. Uncle Tom’s Cabin18. The works of _____ reveals the misery of the migrant workers because of the AmericanDepression.A. F. S. FitzgeraldB. John SteinbeckC. Ernest HemingwayD. William Howells19. In Leaves of Grass, _____ is all that concerned Whitman.A. individualismB. freedomC. democracyD. all the above20. It is not surprising to find in _____’s fiction a world of jungle, where “kill or to be killed” was thelaw.A. Mark TwainB. Emily DickinsonC. Theodore DreiserD. Henry James21. During the period after the Civil War, the American society entered in what Mark Twain referred toas ____.A. the Golden AgeB. the Modern AgeC. the Gilded AgeD. the Puritan Age22. “The Custom-House” is an introductory note to _____.A. Moby-DickB. The Scarlet LetterC. The Marble FaunD. The Blithedale Romance23. When we say that a poor young man from the West tried to make his fortune in the East but wasdisillusioned in the quest of an idealized dream, we are probably discussing ______’s thematic concern in his fiction writing.A. Henry JamesB. F. Scott FitzgeraldC. Ernest HemingwayD. William Faulkner24. American writers after World War I self-consciously acknowledged that they were (a) “____”,devoid of faith and alienated from the Western civilization.A. Lost GenerationB. Beat GenerationC. Sons of LibertyD. Angry Young Men25. Which one of the following statements is NOT true of William Faulkner?A. He is master of stream-of-consciousness narrative.B. His writing is often complex and difficult to understand.C. He often depicts slum life in New York and Chicago.D. He represents a new group of Southern writers26. The setting of the novel The Scarlet Letter is in ____.A. England during World War IB. Paris during the French RevolutionC. Puritan AmericaD. America after the Revolutionary War27. Which statement is NOT true of the American naturalist?A. They ventured the forbidden subjects such as sex, death, and violence.B. They stressed the possible triumph of human will.C. They wrote in a daring, open, and direct manner.D. They see human beings no more than a physical object.28. ____ is often acclaimed as the literary spokesman of the Jazz Age.A. Ernest HemingwayB. F. Scott FitzgeraldC. William FaulknerD. John Steinbeck29. ____, one of America’s greatest playwrights, won the Nobel Prize in 1936, the first Americanplaywright to receive the honor. Some of his most famous works include The Hairy Ape, Long Day’s Journey into Night.A. Arthur MillerB. Tennessee WilliamsC. Bernard MalamudD. Eugene O’Neill30. Edgar Allan Poe occupies an important position in American literature as a poet and a ____.A. short story writerB. novelistC. dramatistD. translatorIII. Read the poems carefully and answer the questions that follow. Put your answers on the Answer Sheet: (20%, 10 points for each poem)1. Because I could not stop for Death —Because I could not stop for Death —He kindly stopped for me —The Carriage held but just Ourselves —And Immortality.We slowly drove — He knew no hasteAnd I had put awayMy labor and my leisure too,For His Civility —We passed the School, where Children stroveAt Recess — in the Ring —We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain —We passed the Setting Sun —Or rather — He passed Us —The Dews drew quivering and Chill —For only Gossamer, my Gown —My Tippet — only Tulle —We paused before a House that seemedA Swelling of the Ground —The Roof was scarcely visible —The Cornice — in the Ground —Since then —’tis Centuries — and yetFeels shorter than the DayI first surmised the Horses’ HeadsWere toward Eternity —Questions:1.1 Who wrote this poem? (1%)1.2 What is the poet or the speaker in the poem watching and recording? (1%)1.3 What is death compared to in the poem? (1%)1.4 What is depicted in the 3rd stanza? How is it related to the whole poem? (2%) 1.5 What is depicted in the 4th stanza? (1%)1.6 What does the poet or the speaker in the poem think of eternity? (2%)1.7 What is the attitude of the poet or the speaker in the poem towards death? (2%)2. Annabel LeeIt was many and many a year ago,In a kingdom by the sea,That a maiden there lived whom you may knowBy the name of Annabel Lee; -And this maiden she lived with no other thoughtThan to love and be loved by me.I was a child and she was a child,In this kingdom by the sea;But we loved with a love that was more than love -I and my Annabel Lee -With a love that the wingéd seraphs in HeavenCoveted her and me.And this was the reason that, long ago,In this kingdom by the sea,A wind blew out of a cloud, chillingMy beautiful Annabel Lee;So that her high-born kinsmen cameAnd bore her away from me,To shut her up in a sepulcher,In this kingdom by the sea.The angels, not half so happy in Heaven,Went envying her and me -Yes! - that was the reason (as all men know,In this kingdom by the sea)That the wind came out of the cloud by night,Chilling and killing my Annabel Lee.But our love it was stronger by far than the loveOf those who were older than we -Of many far wiser than we -And neither the angels in Heaven above,Nor the demons down under the sea,Can ever dissever my soul from the soulOf the beautiful Annabel Lee: -For the moon never beams, without bringing me dreamsOf the beautiful Annabel Lee;And the stars never rise, but I feel the bright eyesOf the beautiful Annabel Lee: -And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the sideOf my darling - my darling - my life and my bride,In her sepulcher there by the sea -In her tomb by the sounding sea.Questions:2.1 Who wrote this poem? (1%)2.2 What is the theme of the poem? (2%)2.3 What is the mood of the poem? (1%)2.4 How does the poem coincide with Poe’s poetics or theory of poetry writing? (3%)2.5 What makes you think the poem reads like a fairy tale? (3%)IV. Answer the following questions, and put your answers on the Answer Sheet: (30%, 15 points for each)1. What is local color fiction? List at least 5 of the best known writers of local color.2. Instead of having her punished for her life of sin, Dreiser let Caroline Meeber in Sister Carrierbecome successful. Can you tell why?2007—2008学年度第二期《美国文学史及作品选读》考试A卷参考答案命题人：王琪、丁华良I: Complete each of the following statements with proper words or phrases. (20%, 1 point for each)1. Bryant2. frontier saga3. transcendentalist4. Moby Dick5. Sketch Book6. Walden7. Longfellow8. Civil War9. Howells 10. free verse11. Henry James 12. Martin Eden 13. The Gift of Magi14. Pound 15. The Great Gatsby 16. A Farewell to Arms17. Steinbeck 18. Mark Twain19. Environment 20. American CrisisII: Each of the following statements below is followed by four alternative answers or completions. Choose the one that is the best in each case. (30%, 1 point for each)1 --- 5: B B D A B 6 --- 10: D D A C D11 ---15: A D B C D 16 --- 20: B D B D C21 --- 25: C B B A C 26 --- 30: C B B D AIII. Read the poems and answer the questions that follow. (20%)Poem 11.1 Who wrote this poem? (1%)Emily Dickinson.1.2 What is the poet or the speaker in the poem watching and recording? (1%)Apparently the woman tells the story of how she is busily going about her day when a polite gentleman by the name of Death arrives in his carriage to take her out for a ride, but, in reality, the speaker is。