美国文学史考试之Thoreau
Henry David Thoreau(1817-1862)
•In fact, he is a man of one book, and that book is Walden.
•When his books were returned to him unsold, he remarked with wry humor:
I have now a library of nearly nine hundred volumes, over seven hundred of which I wrote myself. Is it not well that the author should behold the fruits of his labor?
Thoreau virtually unknown to the rest of the United states in his own time, but his
reputation has been rising steadily through the twenty century.
In 1960’s the young students fighting to end the United State’s war against Vietnam organized their great draft-resistance movement in the name of Civil Disobedience.his belief passive resistance in.
He believed that that government is best which governs least, that they are the lovers of
law and order who observe the law when government breaks it.”
Aspects of Thoreau
Thoreau became a man a wild man, a faun; he became Emerson’s of letters, but he was also man, a Harvard man.
Thoreau was a natural ascetic. He ate little flesh meat, but subsisted almost entirely on
vegetable food; he drank nothing but water; he never married.
His works
1.“Civil Disobedience”<非暴力反抗>
2.Walden / Life in the Woods<瓦尔登湖/ 林中生活>
Walden
1. It is a great Transcendentalist work.
2. It is a faithful record of his reflections.
3. He saw nature as a genuine restorative healthy influence on man’s spiritual well-being.
4. It is a book on self-culture and human perfectibility.
5.Regeneration became one of its major thematic concerns. The whole book is within the frame of a single year, and progresses through summer and autumn to winter, and finally to a climax in the renascence of spring.
6 It exhibits his calm trust in the future and his ardent belief in a new generation of men. The book concludes on a clear note of optimism and hope.
Compared with Emerson who was a great thinker, Thoreau was a great experimentalist who put Emerson's Transcendental doctrines into practice in the actual life.
Walden is a book about solitude, tranquility, and wisdom. Only one who carries a heart of hush can take in the holy wisdom sparkling between the words, and can experience, with the writer of it, the spiritual happiness which divine Nature brings us.
Comments on Thoreau
1）He was by no means an escapist or a recluse, but was intensely involved in the life of his day.
2) He spoke ahead of his time. His influence goes beyond America. His statue was placed in the “Hall of Fame”in New York in 1969.
爱默生论梭罗:他君子不器；他从未娶妻；他孑然一生；他从不上教堂；他从不去投票；他拒绝向政府纳税；他不吃肉，不喝酒，从不沾染烟草；尽管他是自然家，却不用圈套，也不用枪支。
……真正的美国人，非梭罗莫属。
《瓦尔登湖》简介:
《瓦尔登湖》与《圣经》诸书一同被美国国会图书馆评为“塑造读者的25本书”。
在当代美国，它是读者最多的散文经典。
美国著名作家哈丁曾说，《瓦尔登湖》内容丰厚、意义深远，它是简单生活的权威指南，是对大自然的真情描述，是向金钱社会的讨伐檄文，是传世久远的文学名著，是一部圣书。
正因为此，它也影响了托尔斯泰、圣雄甘地等人，从而影响了一些国家和民族的历史。
(完整word版)美国文学史术语翻译 作家作品(word文档良心出品)
A religious doctrine that advocates hard work, self-discipline, thrift, and sobriety, regards labour as one’s divine task, without the enjoyment of the fruit of the labour. The purpose is to purify the corrupted church as had been established by Jesus Chris himself.John cotton and William rogerRomanticismIs intellectual movement originating in Germany at the end of 18th century that gained strength in Western Europe after the Industrial Revolution, in the reaction to the social and political norms of the Age of Enlightenment, its scientific rationalization of nature. The romantic values revolved around the full spectrum of the human emotional side embracing its instincts and rejecting the conventions of the Age of Reason.Romanticism的特点：frequently shared certain general characteristics, moral enthusiasm, faith in the value of individualism and intuitive perception, and a presumption that he natural world was a source of corruption.Transcendentalismas a moral philosophy, transcendentalism was neither logical nor systematized. It exalted feeling over reason, individual expression over the restraints of law and custom.2) they spoke for cultural rejuvenation and against the materialism of American society. 3）they believe in the transcendence of "over soul", an all-pervading power for goodness from which all things come and of which all things are a part.Emerson 第一个提出idealism代表人物：Emerson，believed that man was a part of absolute good。
美国文学史复习资料(名词解释)
1. American Puritanism: a domination factor in American life. AmericanPuritanism was one of the most enduring shaping influences in American thoughts and literature.2. Transcendentalism: time 1836. Features: 1.the transcendentalistsplaced emphasis on spirit, or over soul, as the most important thing in the universe 2. The transcendentalists stressed the importance of the individual. 3. The transcendentalists offered a fresh perception of nature as symbolic of the spirit of God. The representatives are Emerson and Thoreau.3. Free Verse: like traditional verse, it is printed in short lines instead ofthe continuity of prose, but it has no meter and either lack rhyme or uses it occasionally. A representative is Whitman’s Leave of Grass. 4. Realism: time: 2nd and half of 19th century. Features: verisimilitude ofdetails derived from observation. Representatives are Howells, James, Mark Twain5. Local Colorism: It is a branch of Realism; it refers to detailedrepresentation, in fiction of the setting, dialect, customs, dress and ways of thinking which are distinctive of a particular region. The representative of Local Colorism is Mark Twain.6. American Naturalism: time: 1890s. Features: 1. naturalists wroteabout the helplessness of man, his insignificance in a cold world, and his lack of dignity in face of the crushing forces of environment and heredity.2. They reported truthfully and objectively with passion for scientific accuracy and an overwhelming accumulation of factual detail.3. The representatives are Crane, Dreiser.7. Imagism: six principles: momentary, one dominant image, hardpersonal word, direct treatment, concise, free verse. The representatives are Pound.8. Lost generations: it refers to a group of American writers of thedecade following WWI, disillusioned by their War experience or by materialization of American culture, holds a pessimistic new of life.The representatives are Fitzgerald and Hemingway.9. Flashback: interpolating narratives or scenes which represent eventsthat happened before the story began. For example: Miller used flashback in Death of Salesman.10. Black Humor: the tragic absurdity of the human condition is oftenseen in their novels. As a cosmic joke. The response they intend to provoke in the reader to the blackness of modern life is a laughter that is, laughing in face of a tragic situation. The representative work of black humor is Heller’s Catch-22.11. Harlem Renaissance: a period of remarkable creativity in literatureand other arts by African Americans, from the end of WWI in 1917 through the 1920s. The representative is Hughes.12. Irving: 1.He is was the first American writer of imagination literature to gain international fame. 2 The short story as a genre in American literature probably began with Irving’s The Sketch Book.3.The Sketch Book also marked the beginning of American romanticism.13. Hawthorne: feature: 1, symbol2, deep analysis of psychology3, gloomy and depressive tone4. evil sides of the world5, super natural element14. The Scarlet Letter (Hawthorne): 1, Character: Hester Prynne, Arthur Dimmesdable, Roger Chillingworth. 2. Theme: criticizing Puritan suppression/ sin and atonement.15. Emily Dickinson: feature: 1.short and concise2. approximate rhyme and meter3. ungrammatical elements 4. original images5. many poems about death15. Moby Dick (Melville): character: Ishmael (survivor), Ahab (captain) 12.Allan Poe: 1. the poetic principle ①the poem, he says, should be short, at one sitting ②Its chief aim is beauty ③melancholy is the most legitimate of all the poetic tone. ④the death of a beautiful woman is, unquestionably the most poetical topic in the world.⑤stress rhyme, defines true poetry as “the rhythmical creation of beauty. 2. Work: to Helen, The Fall of the House of Usher.13. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (Mark Twain): 1. His usually use French, mostly Anglo-Saxon on origin, and his words are short, concrete and direct in effect.2. Most of his sentence structures are simple or compound.3. he use”took”repeatedly.4. There have ungrammatical elements in his work. One of his significant contributions to American literature lies in fact that he made colloquial speech an accepted.14. Frost: the features of his work1.he usually use traditional form 2. His language is plain3. He likes to use symbolism4. Most his poems describe nature of famers’ life.15. Fitzgerald: the Great Gatsby: 1.characters: Nick Carraway, Daisy Buchanam, Tom Buchanam, Myrtle Wilson, George Wilson, Jay Gatsby, 2. Theme: criticizing materialized society, disillusionment of American dream.16. Miller: Death of Salesman: 1.Charaters: Willy &Linda&Biff&Happy Loman, Chalery and Bernard. 2. Theme: a criticizing metalized society/ understanding between parents and children.17. Salinger: The Catch in the①. Setting: 1950s New York2. Plot: Holden Caulfied 1st day: expelled. 2nd day: Sally (shallow). Carl (hypocritical).2nd night: Sneak home—Phoebe, Mr.Antolini. 3rd day: go to the west.②.character: Holden---rebellious, innocent, sincerely③. Style: This novel use colloquial and vulgar worlds. There also has exaggeration in this work ④: theme: growing pain.18: Cath-22: Yossarian, Milo, And Snowden.19. Lolita :( Nabokov): character: Humbert Humbert, Dolores Haze (Lolita), Clare Qulity .。
美国文学史及选读练习题
美国文学史及选读练习题I. Choose the relevant match from Column II for each item in Column I.Section A I II( ) 1. Walt Whitman A. The Scarlet Letter( ) 2. Herman Melville B. The Sketch Book( ) 3. Washington Irving C. Typee( ) 4. O Henry D. Leaves of Grass( ) 5. Nathaniel Hawthorne E. The Gift of the MagiSection B I II( ) 1. Hester Prynne A. The Portrait of A Lady( ) 2. George Hurstwood B. Uncle Tom’s Cabin( ) 3. Isabel Archer C. Moby Dick( ) 4. Ahab D. Sister Carrie( ) 5. Eva Clare E. The Scarlet LetterSection C I II( ) 1. Benjamin Franklin A. Martin Eden( ) 2. Thomas Paine B. Leather-Stocking Tales( ) 3. James Fenimore Cooper C. Rights of Man( ) 4. Mark Twain D. Poor Richars’s Almanac( ) 5. Jack London E. The Adventures of Huckleberry FinnII. Complete each of the following statements with a proper word or a phrase according to the textbook. (10%)1In Washington Irving’s work appeared the first modern Short stories and the first great American juvenile literature.2The first important American novelist was .3To a Waterfowl is perhaps the peak of ______’s work, it regarded as “the most perfect brief poem in the language ” .4 A superb book entitled ______ came out of Henry David Thoreau’s two-year life experience near asmall lake.5William Sidney Porter，whose pen name was ______，was the author of The Cop and the Anthem．6Hard work, thrift, piety and sobriety were the values that dominated much of the early American writing.7American Romanticism ended with the Walt Whiteman’s.8was called “the father of the American detective stories”.9was responsible for bring Transcendentalism to New England.10Theodore Dreiser’s first novel is.11The ship ______ carried about one hundred Pilgrims and took 66 days to beat its way across the Atlantic. In December of 1620, it put the Pilgrims ashore at Plymouth, Massachusetts.12______was the first American to achieve an international literary reputation after the Revolutionary War．13American Romanticism started with the publication of Washington Irving’s ______ .14The ship ______ carried about one hundred Pilgrims and took 66 days to beat its way across the Atlantic. In December of 1620, it put the Pilgrims ashore at Plymouth, Massachusetts.15Benjamin Franklin’s best writing is found in his masterpiece .16On January 10,1776, Thomas Paine’s famous pamphlet appeared.17Hard work, thrift, piety and sobriety were the values that dominated much of the early American writing.18The most outstanding poet in America of 18th century was .19was the first American lyric poet.20was responsible for bring Transcendentalism to New England.III: Each of the following statements below is followed by four alternative answers. Choose the ONE that would best complete the statement.1. American literature produced only one female poet during the 19th century. This was _______.A. Anne BradstreetB. Jane AustenC. Emily DickinsonD. Harriet Beecher2. Who was considered as the “Poet of American Revolution”A. Michael WigglesworthB. Edward TaylorC. Anne BradstreetD. Philip Freneau3. ______ was the only good American author before the Revolutionary War. One of his fellow Americans said, “His shadow lies heavier than any other man’s on this young nation.”A. John SmithB. Benjamin FranklinC. Thomas Jefferson Paine4. Romantics put emphasis on the following EXCEPT ______.A. common senseB. imaginationC. intuitionD. individualism5. Melville’s novel ______ is a tremendous chronicle of a whaling voyage in pursuit of a seemingly supernatural white whale.A. TypeeB. OmooC. White JacketD. Moby Dick6. As a philosophical and literary movement, ______ flourished in New England from the 1830s to the Civil War.A. ModernismB. RationalismC. SentimentalismD. Transcendentalism7. The theme of original sin is fully reflected in _________.A. The Scarlet LetterB. Sister CarrieC. The Great GatsbyD. The Old Man and Sea8. Realism was a reaction against______ or a move away from the bias towards romance and self-creating fictions, and paved the way to Modernism.A. RationalismB. RomanticismC. NeoclassicismD. Enlightenment9. ____________ was the most leading spirit of the Transcendental Club.A. ThoreauB. EmersonC. HawthorneD. Whitman10. Choose the work NOT written by Mark Twain.A. The Adventures of Tom SawyerB. Innocents AbroadC. Life on the MississippiD. The Rise of Silas Lapham11. Which is regarded as the “Declaration of Intellectual Independence”A. The American ScholarB. English TraitsC. The Conduct of LifeD. Representative Men12. Transcendentalist doctrines found their greatest literary advocates in and Thoreau.A. JeffersonB. EmersonC. FreneauD. Oversoul13. Which of the following doesn’t belong to Dreiser’s “Trilogy of Desire”A. The FinancierB. The TitanC. The StoicD. An American Tragedy14. written by Henry James brought him first international fame.A. The Golden BowlB. The AmericanC. The Tragic MuseD. Daisy Miller15.Walden is written by .A. EmersonB. ThoreauC. PoeD. Hawthorne16. The Cop and the Anthem is written by .A. O. HenryB. Henry JamesC. Jack LondonD. Mark Twain17. is famous for psychological realism.A. Mark TwainB. William Dean HowellsC. Henry JamesD. Walt Whitman18. Which is generally regarded as the Bible of New England TranscendentalismA. NatureB. WaldenC. On BeautyD. Self-Reliance19. Who was the ONLY good American author before the Revolutionary War.A. John SmithB. Benjamin FranklinC. Thomas PaineD. Thomas Jefferson20. As a literary and philosophical movement, flourished in New England from the 1830s to the Civil War.A. modernismB. rationalismC. sentimentalismD. transcendentalism21. ____ is NOT written by Ralph Waldo Emerson.A. The American ScholarB. Self-RelianceC. The Divinity School AddressD. Civil Disobedience22.Emily Dickinson wrote many of her poems on various aspects of life. Which of the following is NOT a usual subject of her poetic expressionA. ReligionB. Life and deathC. Love and marriageD. War and peace23. In 1862, President Lincoln exclaimed: “So you are the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war!” The book refers to ____.A. The Adventures of Huckleberry FinnB. BelovedB. Pride and Prejudice D. Uncle Tom’s Cabin24. In Leaves of Grass, _____ is all that concerned Whitman.A. individualismB. freedomC. democracyD. all the above25. During the period after the Civil War, the American society entered in what Mark Twain referred to as____.A. the Golden AgeB. the Modern AgeC. the Gilded AgeD. the Puritan Age26. American literature produced only one female poet during the 19th century. This was _______.A. Anne BradstreetB. Jane AustenC. Emily DickinsonD. Harriet Beecher27. Who was considered as the “Poet of American Revolution”A. Michael WigglesworthB. Edward TaylorC. Anne BradstreetD. Philip Freneau28. ______ was the only good American author before the Revolutionary War. One of his fellow Americans said, “His shadow lies heavier than any other man’s on this young nation.”A. John SmithB. Benjamin FranklinC. Thomas Jefferson Paine29. Romantics put emphasis on the following EXCEPT ______.A. common senseB. imaginationC. intuitionD. individualism30. Melville’s novel ______ is a tremendous chronicle of a whaling voyage in pursuit of a seemingly supernatural white whale.A. TypeeB. OmooC. White JacketD. Moby Dick31. As a philosophical and literary movement, ______ flourished in New England from the 1830s to the Civil War.A. ModernismB. RationalismC. SentimentalismD. Transcendentalism32. The theme of original sin is fully reflected in _________.A. The Scarlet LetterB. Sister CarrieC. The Great GatsbyD. The Old Man and Sea33. Realism was a reaction against______ or a move away from the bias towards romance andself-creating fictions, and paved the way to Modernism.A. RationalismB. RomanticismC. NeoclassicismD. Enlightenment34. ____________ was the most leading spirit of the Transcendental Club.A. ThoreauB. EmersonC. HawthorneD. Whitman35. Choose the work NOT written by Mark Twain.A. The Adventures of Tom SawyerB. Innocents AbroadC. Life on the MississippiD. The Rise of Silas Lapham36. Which is regarded as the “Declaration of Intellectual Independence”A. The American ScholarB. English TraitsC. The Conduct of LifeD. Representative Men37. Transcendentalist doctrines found their greatest literary advocates in and Thoreau.A. JeffersonB. EmersonC. FreneauD. Oversoul38. Which of the following doesn’t belong to Dreiser’s “Trilogy of Desire”A. The FinancierB. The TitanC. The StoicD. An American Tragedy39. written by Henry James brought him first international fame.A. The Golden BowlB. The AmericanC. The Tragic MuseD. Daisy Miller40.Walden is written by .A. EmersonB. ThoreauC. PoeD. Hawthorne41. The Cop and the Anthem is written by .A. O. HenryB. Henry JamesC. Jack LondonD. Mark Twain42. is famous for psychological realism.A. Mark TwainB. William Dean HowellsC. Henry JamesD. Walt Whitman43. Which is generally regarded as the Bible of New England TranscendentalismA. NatureB. WaldenC. On BeautyD. Self-Reliance44. Who was the ONLY good American author before the Revolutionary War.A. John SmithB. Benjamin FranklinC. Thomas PaineD. Thomas Jefferson45. As a literary and philosophical movement, flourished in New England from the 1830s to the Civil War.A. modernismB. rationalismC. sentimentalismD. transcendentalism46. ____ is NOT written by Ralph Waldo Emerson.A. The American ScholarB. Self-RelianceC. The Divinity School AddressD. Civil Disobedience47.Emily Dickinson wrote many of her poems on various aspects of life. Which of the following is NOT a usual subject of her poetic expressionA. ReligionB. Life and deathC. Love and marriageD. War and peace48. In 1862, President Lincoln exclaimed: “So you are the little woman who wrote the book that started this great war!” The book refers t o ____.A. The Adventures of Huckleberry FinnB. BelovedB. Pride and Prejudice D. Uncle Tom’s Cabin49. In Leaves of Grass, _____ is all that concerned Whitman.A. individualismB. freedomC. democracyD. all the above50. During the period after the Civil War, the American society entered in what Mark Twain referred to as____.A. the Golden AgeB. the Modern AgeC. the Gilded AgeD. the Puritan AgeIV: Define the literary terms listed below.1Transcendentalism2Free Verse3 Local ColorV: Answer the following questions briefly based on your understanding of the texts studied.To go into solitude, a man needs to retire as much from his chamber as from society. I am not solitary whilst I read and write, though nobody is with me. But if a man would be alone, let him look at the stars. The rays that come from those heavenly worlds, will separate between him and what he touches. One might think the atmosphere was made transparent with this design, to give man, in the heavenly bodies, the perpetual presence of the sublime. Seen in the streets of cities, how great they are! If the stars should appear one night in a thousand years, how would men believe and adore; and preserve for many generations the remembrance of the city of God which had been shown! But every night come out these envoys of beauty, and light the universe with their admonishing smile.Questions:a. This paragraph is taken from a famous essay. What is the name of the essayb. Who is the authorc. What does the author say would happen if the stars appeared one night in a thousand yearsd. Give a specific term to cover the author’s belief。
美国文学史及选读的名词解释(全) (2)
Colonial Period:1.American Puritanismit comes from the American puritans, who were the first immigrants moved to American continent in the 17th century. Original sin, predestination（预言）and salvation（拯救）were the basic ideas of American Puritanism. And, hard-working, piousness（虔诚,尽职），thrift and sobriety（清醒）were praised.Romanticism Period:2.Romanticism: the literature term was first applied to the writers of the18th century in Europe who broke away from the formal rules of classical writing. When it was used in American literature it referred to the writers of the middle of the 19th century who stimulated（刺激）the sentimental emotions of their readers. They wrote of the mysterious of life, love, birth and death. The Romantic writers expressed themselves freely and without restraint. They wrote all kinds of materials, poetry, essays, plays, fictions, history, works of travel, and biography.3.Gothic tradition (哥特传统): Gothic novel or Gothic romance is a storyof terror and suspense, usually set in a gloomy old castle or monastery. In an extended sense, many novels do not have a medievalized setting, but which share a comparably sinister, grotesque, or claustrophobic atmosphere have been classed as Gothic. It contributed to the new emotional climate of Romanticism.4.Transcendentalism (先验说,超越论): is a philosophic and literarymovement that flourished in New England, particular at Concord, as a reaction against Rationalism and Calvinism (理性主义and喀尔文主义). Mainly it stressed intuitive understanding of God, without the help of the church, and advocated independence of the mind. The representative writers are Emerson and Thoreau.5.Stream of consciousness（意识流）：It is one of the modern literarytechniques. 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。
美国文学史及选读名词解释
美国文学史及选读名词解释本文出自网络，作者不详1. Transcendentalism19th-century movement of writers and philosophers in New England who were loosely bound together by adherence to an idealistic system of thought based on a belief in the essential unity of all creation, the innate goodness of man, and the supremacy of insight over logic and experience for the revelation of the deepest truths. In their religious quest, the Transcendentalists rejected the conventions of 18th-century thought; and what began in a dissatisfaction with Unitarianism developed into a repudiation of the whole established order.2. Langston HughesAmerican poet and writer emphasized on lower-class black life. He established himself as a major force of the Harlem Renaissance. In 1926, in the Nation, he provided the movement with a manifesto when he skillfully argued the need for both race pride and artistic independence in his most memorable essay, 'The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain." In many ways Hughes always remained loyal to the principles he had laid down for the younger black writers in 1926. His art was firmly rooted in race pride and race feeling even as he cherished his freedom as an artist. He was both nationalist and cosmopolitan. As a radical democrat, he believed that art should be accessible to as many people as possible. He could sometimes be bitter, but his art is generally suffused by a keen sense of the ideal and by a profound love of humanity, especially black Americans.3. Henry David ThoreauAmerican essayist, poet, and practical philosopher, renowned for having lived the doctrines of Transcendentalism as recorded in his masterwork, Walden (1854), and for having been a vigorous advocate of civil liberties, as evidenced in the essay “Civil Disobedience” (1849).In his writings Thoreau was concerned primarily with the possibilities for human culture provided by the American natural environment. He adapted ideas garnered from the then-current Romantic literatures in order to extend American libertarianism and individualism beyond the political and religious spheres to those of social and personal life. He demanded for all men the freedom to follow unique lifestyles, to make poems of their lives and living itself an art. In a restless, expanding society dedicated to practical action, he demonstrated the uses and values of leisure, contemplation, and a harmonious appreciation of and coexistence with nature. Thoreau established the tradition of nature writing later developed by the Americans4. the Harlem RenaissanceThe Harlem Renaissance, a flowering of literature (and to a lesser extent other arts) in New York City during the 1920s and 1930s, has long been considered by many to be the high point in African American writing. It probably had its foundation in the works of W.E. B. Du Bois who believed that an educated Black elite should lead Blacks to liberation. He further believed that his people could not achieve social equality by emulating white ideals; that equality could be achieved only by teaching Black racial pride with an emphasis on an African cultural heritage. Although the Renaissance was not a school, nor did the writers associated with it share a common purpose, nevertheless they had a common bond: they dealt with Black life from a Black perspective. Among the major writers who are usually viewed as part of the Harlem Renaissance are Claude McKay, Countee Cullen, Langston Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Rudolph Fisher, James Weldon Johnson, and Jean Toomer.5. Mark Twainpseudonym of Samuel Langhorne Clemens American humorist, writer, and lecturer who won a worldwide audience for his stories of youthful adventures, especially The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876), Life on the Mississippi (1883), and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884). Writing in American colloquialism and subjects with humors and satires, Mark Twain shed great influence upon later writers such as Sherwood Anderson, Earnest Hemingway and Faulkner.6. Walt WhitmanAmerican poet, journalist, and essayist whose verse collection Leaves of Grass is a landmark in the history of American literature. Whitman's greatest theme is a symbolic identification of the regenerative power of nature with the deathless divinity of the soul. His poems are filled with a religious faith in the processes of life, particularly those of fertility, sex, and the “unflagging pregnancy” of nature: sprouting grass, mating birds, phallic vegetation, the maternal ocean, and planets in formation. The poetic “I” of Leaves of Grass transcends time and space, binding the past with the present and intuiting the future, illustrating Whitman's belief that poetry is a form of knowledge, the supreme wisdom of mankind.7. the Lost GenerationIn general, the post-World War I generation, but specifically a group of U.S. writers who came of age during the war and established their literary reputations in the 1920s. The term stems from a remark made by Gertrude Stein to Ernest Hemingway, “You are all a lost generation.” Hemingway used it as an epigraph to The Sun Also Rises (1926). The generation was “lost” in the sense that its inherited values were no longer relevant in the postwar world and because of its spiritual alienation from a U.S. that, basking under President Harding's “back to normalcy” policy, seemed to its members to be hopelessly provinc ial, materialistic, and emotionally barren. The term embraces Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald, John Dos Passos, e.e. cummings and many other writers who made Paris the centre of their literary activities in the '20s. They were never a literary school. In the 1930s, as these writers turned in different directions, their works lost the distinctive stamp of the postwar period. The last representative works of the era were Fitzgerald's Tender Is the Night (1934).8. Ralph Waldo Emerson:American lecturer, poet, and essayist, the leading exponent of New England Transcendentalism. Nature, “The American Scholar,” and Address—had rallied together a group that came to be called the Transcendentalists, of which he was popularly acknowledged the spokesman. Emerson helped initiate Transcendentalism by publishing his Nature. Emerson felt that there was no place for free will in the chains of mechanical cause and effect that rationalist philosophers conceived the world as being made up of. This world could be known only through the senses rather than through thought and intuition; it determined men physically and psychologically; and yet it made them victims of circumstance, beingswhose superfluous mental powers were incapable of truly ascertaining reality. Emerson asserts the human ability to transcend the materialistic world of sense experience and facts and become conscious of theall-pervading spirit of the universe and the potentialities of human freedom. Emerson's doctrine of self-sufficiency and self-reliance naturally springs from his view that the individual need only look into his own heart for the spiritual guidance that has hitherto been the province of the established churches. The individual must then have the courage to be himself and to trust the inner force within him as he lives his life according to his intuitively derived precepts.9. Edgar Allen PoePoe's work owes much to the concern of Romanticism with the occult and the satanic. It owes much also to his own feverish dreams, to which he applied a rare faculty of shaping plausible fabrics out of impalpable materials. With an air of objectivity and spontaneity, his productions are closely dependent on his own powers of imagination and an elaborate technique. His keen and sound judgment as appraiser of contemporary literature, his idealism and musical gift as a poet, his dramatic art as a storyteller, considerably appreciated in his lifetime, secured him a prominent place among universally known men of letters. The outstanding fact in Poe's character is a strange duality. Much of Poe's best work is concerned with terror and sadness. His yearning for the ideal was both of the heart and of the imagination. His sensitiveness to the beauty and sweetness of women inspired his most touching lyrics He is regarded as the father of detective stories.10. Black Humoralso called Black Comedy, writing that juxtaposes morbid or ghastly elements with comical ones. The term did not come into common use until the 1960s. Then it was applied to the works of the novelists Nathanael West, Vladimir Nabokov, and Joseph Heller. The latter's Catch-22 (1961) is a notable example, in which Captain Yossarian battles the horrors of air warfare over the Mediterranean during World War II with hilarious irrationalities matching the stupidities of the military system. The term black comedy has been applied to playwrights in the Theatre of the Absurd.11. Benjamin FranklinAmerican printer and publisher, author, inventor and scientist, and diplomat. Franklin, next to George Washington possibly the most famous 18th-century American. He established the Poor Richard of his almanacs as an oracle on how to get ahead in the world, and become widely known in European scientific circles for his reports of electrical experiments and theories and wrote his Autobiography which is a great contribution to the American literature.12. Ernest HemingwayAmerican novelist and short-story writer, awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954. He was noted both for the intense masculinity of his writing and for his adventurous and widely publicized life. His succinct and lucid prose style exerted a powerful influence on American and British fiction in the 20th century. The main characters of The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms, and For Whom the Bell Tolls are young men whose strength and self-confidence nevertheless coexist with a sensitivity that leaves them deeply scarred by their wartime experiences. War was for Hemingway a potent symbol of the world, which he viewed as complex, filled with moral ambiguities, and offering almost unavoidable pain, hurt, and destruction. To survive in such a world, and perhaps emerge victorious, one must conduct oneself with honour, courage, endurance, and dignity, a set of principles known as “the Hemingway code.”13. Sherwood Andersonauthor who strongly influenced American writing between World Wars I and II, particularly the technique of the short story. His writing had an impact on such notable writers as Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner, both of whom owe the first publication of their books to his efforts. His prose style, based on everyday speech was markedly influential on the early Hemingway. His best work is generally thought to be in his short stories, collected in Winesburg, Ohio, The Triumph of the Egg (1921), Horses and Men (1923), and Death in the Woods (1933).。
美国文学史习题
I.Multiple choice. Please choose the best answer among the four items. (10 x 1’= 10’)1.In American literature, the 18th century was the age of Enlightenment. ____ was the dominant.A. humanismB. rationalismC. romanticismD. evolution2.The short story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” is taken from Irving’s work named ____.A. The Leatherstocking TalesB. The Sketch BookC. The AutobiographyD. The History of New York3.Which of the following is not the characteristic of American Romanticism?A. RationalismB. inner selfC. personal feelingsD. individualism4.The short story “Rip Van Winkle” reveals the __ attitude of its author.A. optimisticB. pessimisticC. conservativeD. ironic5.Stylistically, Henry James’ fiction is characterized by ___.A. short, clear sentencesB. abundance of local imagesC. ordinary American speechD. highly refined language6.Transcendentalist doctrines found their greatest literary advocates in ___ and Thoreau.A. JeffersonB. EmersonC. FreneauD. Mark Twain7.Which is regarded as the “Declaration of Intellectual Independence”?A. The American ScholarB. English TraitsC. OversoulD. Self-reliance8.____ is considered Mark Twain’s greatest achievement.A. The Gilded AgeB. Innocent AbroadC. The Adventures of Tom SawyerD. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn9.___ is not among those greatest figures in “Lost Generation”.A. Ezra PoundB. Robert FrostC. Walt WhitmanD. Hemingway10.Naturalism is evolved from realism when the author’s tone in writing becomes less serious and lesssympathetic but more ironic and more ___.A. rationalB. humorousC. optimisticD. pessimisticII.Multiple choice. Please choose the best answer among the four items. (10 x 1’= 10’)11.______ is the father of American Literature.A. Benjamin FranklinB. Philip FreneauC. PaineD. Washington Irving12._____ is a fantasy tale about a man who somehow stepped outside the main stream of life.A. “Rip Van Winkle”B. “The Pioneers”C. “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow”D. “The Fall of the House of Usher”13._____ was the most leading spirit of the Transcendental Club.A. ThoreauB. EmersonC. HawthorneD. Whitman14.Which of following is NOT a typical feature of Mark Twain’s language?A. vernacularB. colloquialC. elegantD. humorous15.From Thoreau’s jail experience, came his famous essay, _____ which states his belief that no man shouldviolate his conscience at the command of a government.A. WaldenB. NatureC. Civil DisobedienceD. Common Sense16.Whi ch is regarded as the “Declaration of Intellectual Independence”?A. The American ScholarB. English TraitsC. OversoulD. Self-reliance17.Most of the poems in Whitman’s Leaves of Grass sing of the “en-mass” and the ____ as well.A. natureB. self-relianceC. selfD. life18.What did Fitzgerald call the 1920s?A. The Roaring 20sB. The Gay 20sC. The Jazz AgeD. The Lost Generation19.Naturalism is evolved from realism when the author’s tone in writing becomes less serious and lesssympathetic but more ironic and more ____.A. rationalB. humorousC. optimisticD. pessimistic20.For Melville, as well as for the reader and ____, the narrator, Moby Dick is still a mystery, an ultimatemystery of the universe.A. AhabB. StubbC. IshmaelD. StarbuckII. Identify Works as Described Below (1’×15 =15’):1.The novel has a sole black protagonist who tells his own story but whose name in unknown to us.a.Native Sonb.Uncle Tom’s Cabinc.Invisible Mand. Go Tell It on the Mountains2.The main conflict of the play is the protagonist’s false value of fine appearance and popularity with peopleand the cruel reality of the society in which money is everything.a.A Street Car Named Desireb. The Hairy Apec.Long Day’s Journey into Nightd. Death ofSalesman3.It is an autobiographical play and Edmund in the play is based on the playwright himself.a. Long Day’s Journey into Nightb. Henderson the Rain Kingc. The Hairy Aped. The Glass Menageries4.The novel tells of how a black man kills a white woman by accident and how the society is responsible forthe murder.a.Native Sonb.Uncle Tom’s Cabinc.Invisible Mand. Go Tell It on the Mountains5._________ is one of the best works in American literature about the Second World War.a.A Farewell to Armsb.The Catcher in the Ryec.The Red Badge of Couraged. The Naked andthe Dead6. The novel by Hemingway is the best of its kind about World War I.a.A Farewell to Armsb.The Sun Also Risesc.The Old Man and the Sead. The Naked and the Dead7.The novel is about how a family of farmers cannot survive in Oklahoma and travel to California to seek aliving and how they suffer hunger in California.a.T he Grapes of Wrathb. U.S. A.c.Babbittd. The Adventures of Augie March8.It is a trilogy including The 42nd Parallel, 1919, and The Big Money, with such techniques as biographies,newsreels and camera eye.9.It is a novel which uses the stream of consciousness technique and whose title is taken from Shakespeare’sMacbeth.a. Absolom, Absolom!b. The Sound and the Furyc.A Farewell to Armsd. The Great Gatsby10. It is a naturalistic work about how a country girl is seduced and how she becomes a famous actress and howher lover falls into a beggar and finally commits suicide.a.An American Tragedyb. Sister Carriec. McTeagued.Maggie, A Girl of the Streets11. The novel is set on the Mississippi with the protagonist telling us the story in the local dialect. It is arepresentative work of local colorism.a.Sister Carrieb.The Adventures of Tom Sawyerc. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finnd.The Portrait of a Lady12.The novel is a psychological study of a soldier (Henry Fleming)’s reactions in the Civil War.a.An American Tragedyb. Sister Carriec.The Red Badge of Couraged. McTeague13. The poem is written in free verse in 52 cantos with the theme of the universality and equality in value of allpeople and all things.a.Cantosb. The Ravenc. Song of Myselfd.Chicago14. The novel is about how a group of people on a whaling ship kill a great whale but themselves are killed bythe whale, with the conflict between man and his fate.a.The Octopusb. Moby-Dickc. The Rise of Silas Laphamd. Leaves of Grass15. It is a philosophical essay in 8 chapters plus an introduction mainly concerned with the four uses of nature.a. Waldenb. Naturec. The Scarlet Letterd. The American ScholarI.Choose the Best Answer for Each of the Following (1’×15=15’):1.An English ship brought 102 people from Plymouth, England on September 16, 1620 and arrived in thepresent Provincetown harbor on November 21 in the same year. This ship was named ____________.a. The Pilgrimsb. Mayflowerc. Americad. Titanic2._________ is father of American drama and in his dramatic career he wrote 49 plays.a. Tennessee Williamsb. Eugene O’Neillc. Arthur Millerd. Elmer Rice3._________ was the first American writer to write entirely American literature.a. Anne Bradstreetb. Washington Irvingc. Mark Twaind. Ernest Hemingway4. _______ was the leader of American transcendentalism.a. Benjamin Franklinb. Washington Irvingc. Ralph Waldo Emersond. Henry David Thoreau5._______was the greatest woman poet in American literature and she wrote about 1,700 short lyric poems inher life time.a. Pearl S. Buckb.Harriet Bicher Stowec. Emily Dickensond. Walter Whitman6._________ is father of the detective story and of psychoanalytic criticism.a. Washington Irvingb. Ralph Waldo Emersonc. Walt Whitmand. Edgar Allan Poe7.William Dean Howells is concerned with the middle class life; ______ writes about the upper class society, and Mark Twain deals with the lower class reality.a. Stephen Craneb. Frank Norrisc. Theodore Dreiserd. Henry James8. Which of the following is a naturalistic writer?a. William Dean Howellsb. Mark Twainc. Ernest Hemingwayd.Theodore Dreiser9. His writings are characterized by simple, colloquial language and deep thoughts. He is______.a. Ernest Hemingwayb. William Faulknerc. F. Scott Fitzgeraldd. Mark Twain10. He wrote 18 novels all set in Jefferson Town, Yoknapatwapha County in the deep south. He is ______.a. William Faulknerb. John Steinbeckc. Ernest Hemingwayd. Mark Twain11. ________is Jewish in origin and in many of his novels the American Jews are major characters.a. Sinclair Lewisb. Saul Bellowc. Norman Mailerd. Jerome David Salinger12._________ is often regarded as the greatest American woman poet and she wrote over 1,700 short lyric poems in her life time.a. Anne Bradstreetb. Robert Frostc. H.D.d. Emily Dickinson13.________ is father of American drama and won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1936.a. John Steinbeckb. William Faulknerc. Eugene O’Neilld. Arthur Miller14. He was the first black American to write a book about black life with great impact on the consciousness ofthe nation and his masterpiece is one of the three classics about black Americans. Who is he?a.Richard Wrightb. Harriet Beecher Stowec. Langston Hughesd. Ralph Ellison15. Hemingway wrote about American compatriots in Europe whereas ________ wrote about the Jazz age, lifein American society.a.William Carlos Williamsb. William Faulknerc. John Steinbeckd. F. Scott FitzgeraldI.Choose the Best Answer for Each of the Following (1×15 %):2.The American Civil War broke out in 1861 between the Northern states and the South states, which areknown respectively as the ______and the______.a. N, Sb. Revolutionaries, Reactionariesc. Union, Confederacyd. Slavery, Anti-Slavery2._____________was praised by the British as the “Tenth Muse in America”.a.Anne Bradstreetb. Edward Taylorc. Thomas Pained. Philip Freneau3.Mark Twain was a representative of ________ in American literature.a. transcendentalismb. naturalismc. local colorismd. imagism4. _______ was the leader of American transcendentalism.a. Benjamin Franklinb. Washington Irvingc. Ralph Waldo Emersond. Henry David Thoreau5.The greatest American poet and the first writer of free verse is ____________.a. Washington Irvingb.Ezra Poundc. Walt Whitmand. Emily Dickinson6._________ is father of the detective story and of psychoanalytic criticism.a. Washington Irvingb. Ralph Waldo Emersonc. Walt Whitmand. Edgar Allan Poe7.Henry James is concerned with the upper class life; ______ writes about the middle class society, and Mark Twain deals with the lower class reality.a. Stephen Craneb. Frank Norrisc. Theodore Dreiserd. William Dean Howells8. Which of the following is a naturalistic writer?a. William Dean Howellsb. Mark Twainc. Ernest Hemingwayd.Theodore Dreiser9. ________’s writings are characterized by simple, colloquial language and deep thoughts.a. Ernest Hemingwayb. William Faulknerc. F. Scott Fitzgeraldd. Mark Twain10. ______ wrote 18 novels all set in Jefferson Town, Yoknapatwapha County in the deep south. .a. William Faulknerb. John Steinbeckc. Ernest Hemingwayd. Mark Twain11. ________is Jewish in origin and in many of his novels the American Jews are major characters.a. Sinclair Lewisb. Saul Bellowc. Norman Mailerd. Jerome David Salinger12._________ is often regarded as the greatest American woman poet and she wrote over 1,700 short lyric poems in her life time.a. Anne Bradstreetb. Robert Frostc. H.D.d. Emily Dickinson13.________ is father of American drama and won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1936.a. John Steinbeckb. William Faulknerc. Eugene O’Neilld. Arthur Miller14. _______ was the first black American to write a book about black life with great impact on theconsciousness of the nation and his masterpiece is one of the three classics about black Americans.b.Richard Wright b. Harriet Beecher Stowec. Langston Hughesd. Ralph Ellison15. ________ first used the “Jazz age” as the title of a collection of short storiesa. F. Scott Fitzgeraldb. William Faulknerc. John Steinbeckd. Ernest HemingwayII. Identify Works as Described Below (1×15 %):6.The play is about a stoker whose identity as a human being is not recognized by his fellow human beingsand who tries to find affinity with a monkey in the zoo and is finally killed by the animal.a. The Hairy Apeb. Henderson the Rain Kingc. Long Day’s Journey into Nightd. The Glass Menageries7.The protagonist in this play is a crippled girl named Amanda.a.A Street Car Named Desireb. The Hairy Apec.Long Day’s Journey into Nightd.The Glass Menageries8.The hero of this novel tells about his own story to us but his name is unknown.a.Native Sonb.Uncle Tom’s Cabinc.Invisible Mand. Go Tell It on the Mountains4. It is an autobiographical play and Edmund in the play is based on the playwright himself.a. Long Day’s Journey into Nightb. Henderson the Rain Kingc. The Hairy Aped. The Glass Menageries5.The novel tells of how a black man kills a white woman by accident and how he is finally arrested and triedand sentenced to death.a.Native Sonb.Uncle Tom’s Cabinc.Invisible Mand. Go Tell It on the Mountains6._________ is one of the best works in American literature about the Second World War.a.A Farewell to Armsb.The Catcher in the Ryec.The Red Badge of Couraged. The Naked and the Dead6. The novel by Hemingway is the best of its kind about World War I.a.A Farewell to Armsb.The Sun Also Risesc.The Old Man and the Sead. The Naked and the Dead10.The novel is about how a family of farmers cannot survive in Oklahoma and travel to California to seek aliving and how they suffer hunger in California.b.The Grapes of Wrath b. U.S. A.c.Babbittd. The Adventures of Augie March11.It is a trilogy including The 42nd Parallel, 1919, and The Big Money, with such techniques as biographies,newsreels and camera eye.12.It is a novel which uses the stream of consciousness technique and whose title is taken from Shakespeare’sMacbeth.a. Absolom, Absolom!b. The Sound and the Furyc.A Farewell to Armsd. The Great Gatsby10. It is a naturalistic work about how a country girl is seduced and elopes with Hurstwood and how shebecomes a famous actress and how her lover falls into beggary and finally commits suicide.a.An American Tragedyb. Sister Carriec. McTeagued.Maggie, A Girl of the Streets11. It is a novel with 135 chapters plus an epilog; in it a group of people on a whaling ship kill a great whale butthey themselves are killed by the whale in the end, except Ishmael the narrator who survives by adhering toa coffin.b.Sister Carrie b.The Adventures of Tom Sawyerc. Moby Dickd. The Portrait of a Lady12.The novel is a psychological study of a soldier (Henry Fleming)’s reactions in the Civil War, in whichwound is called the red badge which symbolizes courage.a.An American Tragedyb. Sister Carriec.The Red Badge of Couraged. McTeague13. The poem is written in free verse in 52 cantos with the theme of the universality and equality in value of allpeople and all things.a.Cantosb. The Ravenc. Song of Myselfd.Chicago14. The novel is about how a man falls economically and socially but who rises morally because he gives up theopportunity to sell his factory to an English Syndicate, which would otherwise mean a ruin to that syndicate.a.The Octopusb. The Rise of Silas Laphamc. Moby-Dickd. Leaves of Grass15. It is a speech delivered at Harvard University. It is often hailed as the “declaration of intellectualindependence” in America.a. The American Scholarb. Naturec. The Scarlet Letterd. WaldenII. Match the following (1×20%)A. Match Works with Their Authors1.Hugh Selwyn Mauberly2.Walden3. Autobiography4. The Scarlet Letter5.Leaves of Grass6.The Raven7. The Rise of Silas Lapham8. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer9. Long Day’s Journey into Night10. The Old Man and the Seaa.Mark Twain b . Ernest Hemingwayc. Eugene O’Neilld. William Dean Howellse. Edgar Allan Poef. Walt Whitmang. Nathaniel Hawthorne h. Benjamin Franklini.Henry David Thoreau j. Ezra Poundk.Thomas Jefferson l. T.S. EliotB. Match the Characters with the works in which they appear.1.Hester Prynne2.Mrs. Touchett3.Frederick Henry4.Benjy Compson5.the Joads6.General Edward Cummings7.Holden Caulfield 7.Bigger Thomas8.Yank 9.Happya.The Portrait of a Ladyb. The Scarlet Letterc. The Hairy Aped. A Farewell to Armse.The Sound and the Furyf. The Grapes of Wrathg. The Naked and the Dead h. The Catcher in the Ryei. Native Son j. Death of a Salesmank.Invisible Man l.Catch-22III. Match the following (1’×20=20’)A. Match works with their authors1.Nature2.Rip Van Winkle3. Nature4. The Scarlet Letter5.Leaves of Grass6.The Raven7. The Rise of Silas Lapham8. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn9. Cantos10. The Old Man and the Seaa.Ezra Poundb. Ernest Hemingwayc. Mark Twaind. William Dean Howellse. Edgar Allan Poef. Walt Whitmang. Nathaniel Hawthorne h. Ralph Waldo Emersoni.Washington Irving j. Waldo EmersonB. Match characters with the works in which they appear.2.Captain Ahab and Starbuck 2.Isabel Archer3.Frederic Henry and Catherine4.Benjy Compson5.the Joads6.General Edward Cummings7.Holden Caulfield 8.Bigger Thomas9.The Tyrones 10.Willy Lomana.The Portrait of a Ladyb. Moby-Dickc. Death of a Salesmand. A Farewell to Armse.The Sound and the Furyf. The Grapes of Wrathg. The Naked and the Dead h. The Catcher in the Ryei. Native Son j. Long Day’s Journey into Nightk.Absalom, Absalom l. The Old Man and the SeaV. Essay Questions (30%; c hoose only ONE of the following three topics and write a short essay of at least 300 words. Note: [1]Your essay should have at least 3 paragraphs; you are not simply to make a list of facts.[2] You may give a title to your essay, but you are required to indicate which of the 3 topics it belongs to. [3]You are not to write on a topic of your own.1.To the best of your knowledge, analyze and make comments on Emerson’s Naturement on any American poet you like.3.Analyze and/or comment on any one of the American novels or plays you have read.V. Essay Questions (30%; c hoose only ONE of the following three topics and write a short essay of at least 300 words. Note: [1]Your essay should have at least 3 paragraphs; you are not simply to make a list of facts.[2] You may give a title to your essay, but you are required to indicate which of the 3 topics it belongs to. [3]You are not to write on a topic of your own.)4.Make comments on an American novel we have discussed in this course.ment on an American poet.6.Describe how your knowledge of American literature is improved after taking this course..IV. Please answer the following questions briefly. (2 x 10’ = 20’)1.Why do people think Franklin is the embodiment of American dream?2.What is “Lost Generation”?V. Discussion. (1 x 20’ = 20’)State your own interpretations of Hemingway’s iceberg theory of writing?IV. Please answer the following questions briefly. (2 x 10’ = 20’)3.What is Hawthorne’s style? Explain the style with examples.4.At the end of the 19th century, there were three fighters for Realism. Who are they? What are theirdifferences?________True or False. (10 x 2’= 20’)1. American literature is the oldest of all national literature.2. Thomas Jefferson was the only American to sign the 4 documents that created the US.3. All his literary life, Hawthorne seemed to be haunted by his sense of sin and evil.4. Most of the poems in Leaves of Grass are about human psychology.5. Hurstwood is a character in Dreiser’s An American Tragedy.6. Faulkner’s region was the Deep North, with its bitter history of slavery, civil war and destruction.7. Placed in historical perspective, Howells is found lacking in qualities and depth. But anyhow he is aliterary figure worthy of notice.8. Faulkner’s works have been termed the Yoknapatawpha Saga, “one connected story”.9. As a moral philosophy, transcendentalism was neither logical nor systematical.10. Emily Dickinson expresses her deep love in t he poem “Annabel Lee”.II. Decide whether the statements are True or False. (10 x 2’= 20’)1. Early in the 17th century, the English settlements in Virginia and began the main stream of whatwe recognize as the American national history.2. American Romantic writers avoided writing about nature, medieval legends and with supernatural elements.3. As a moral philosophy, transcendentalism was neither logical nor systematical.4. “Young Goodman Brown” wants to prove everyone possesses kindness in heart.5. Henry James was a realist in the same way as one views the realism of Twain or Howells.6. The American realists sought to describe the wide range of American experience and to presentthe subtleties of human personality.7. Frost’s concern with nature reflected his deep moral uncertainties.8. Faulkner’s works have been termed the Yoknapatawpha Saga, “one connected story”.9. Roger Chillingworth is a character in Dreiser’s An American Tragedy.10. After the Civil War, the Frontier was closing. Disillusionment and frustration were widely felt.What had been expected to be a “Golden Age” turned to be a “Gilded” one.。
美国文学史期末考试复习资料
美国⽂学史期末考试复习资料Multiple choice. Please choose the best answer among the four items. (10 x 1’= 10’)1.In American literature, the 18th century was the age of Enlightenment. ______ was the dominant.2.The short story “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” is taken from Irving’s work named______.3.Which of the following is not the characteristic of American Romanticism?4.The short story “Rip Van Winkle” reveals the ____ attitude of its author.5.Stylistically, Henry James’ fiction is characterized by _____.6.Transcendentalist doctrines found their greatest literary advocates in _____ and Thoreau.7.Which is regarded as the “Declaration of Intellectual Independence”?8.____ is considered Mark Twain’s greatest achievement.9._____ is not among those greatest figures in “Lost Generation”.10.Naturalism is evolved from realism when the author’s tone in writing b ecomes less serious and less sympathetic but more ironic and more ____.1-5，BBACD 6-10 BADCDI.Multiple choice. Please choose the best answer among the four items. (10 x 1’=10’)11.______ is the father of American Literature.life.13._____ was the most leading spirit of the Transcendental Club.14.Which of following is NOT a typical feature of Mark Twain’s language?15.From Thoreau’s jail experience, came his famous essay, _____ which states his belief that no man should violate his conscience at the command of a government.A. WaldenB. NatureC. Civil DisobedienceD. Common Sense16.Which is regarded as the “Declaration of Intellectual Independence”?17.Most of the poems in Whitman’s Leaves of Grass sing of the “en-mass” and the ____ as well.18.What did Fitzgerald call the 1920s?19.Naturalism is evolved from realism when the author’s tone in writing becomes less serious and less sympathetic but more ironic and more ____.20.For Melville, as well as for the reader and ____, the narrator, Moby Dick is still a mystery, an ultimate mystery of the universe.1-5 D A B C C 6-10 A C C D CII. Identify Works as Described Below (1’×15 =15’):1.The novel has a sole black protagonist who tells his own story but whose name in unknown to us.a.Native Sonb.Uncle Tom’s Cabinc.Invisible Mand. Go Tell It on theMountains2.The main conflict of the play is the protagonist’s false value of fine appearance and popularity with people and the cruel reality of the society in which money is everything.a.A Street Car Named Desireb. The Hairy Apec.Long Day’s Journey into Nightd. Death of Salesman3.It is an autobiographical play and Edmund in the play is based on the playwright himself.a. Long Day’s Journey into Nightb. Henderson the Rain Kingc. The Hairy Aped. The Glass Menageries4.The novel tells of how a black man kills a white woman by accident and how the society is responsible for the murder.a.Native Sonb.Uncle Tom’s Cabinc.Invisible Mand. Go Tell It on theMountains5._________ is one of the best works in American literature about the Second World War.a.A Farewell to Armsb.The Catcher in the Ryec.The Red Badge of Couraged. The Naked and the Dead6. The novel by Hemingway is the best of its kind about World War I.a.A Farewell to Armsb.The Sun Also Risesc.The Old Man and the Sead. The Naked and the Dead7.The novel is about how a family of farmers cannot survive in Oklahoma and travel to California to seek a living and how they suffer hunger in California.a.The Grapes of Wrathb. U.S. A.c.Babbittd. The Adventures of Augie March8.It is a trilogy including The 42nd Parallel, 1919, and The Big Money, with such techniques as biographies, newsreels and camera eye.a.Babbittb. Light in Augustc. U.S.A.d. The Grapes of Wrath9.It is a novel which uses the stream of consciousness technique and whose title is taken from Shakespeare’s Macbeth.a. Absolom, Absolom!b. The Sound and the Furyc.A Farewell to Armsd. The Great Gatsby10. It is a naturalistic work about how a country girl is seduced and how she becomes a famous actress and how her lover falls into a beggar and finally commits suicide.a.An American Tragedyb. Sister Carriec. McTeagued.Maggie, A Girl of the Streets11. The novel is set on the Mississippi with the protagonist telling us the story in the local dialect. It is a representative work of local colorism.a.Sister Carrieb.The Adventures of Tom Sawyerc. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finnd.The Portrait of a Lady12.The novel is a psychological study of a soldier (Henry Fleming)’s reactions in the Civil War.a.An American Tragedyb. Sister Carriec.The Red Badge of Couraged. McTeague13. The poem is written in free verse in 52 cantos with the theme of the universality and equality in value of all people and all things.a.Cantosb. The Ravenc. Song of Myselfd.Chicago14. The novel is about how a group of people on a whaling ship kill a great whale butthemselves are killed by the whale, with the conflict between man and his fate.a.The Octopusb. Moby-Dickc. The Rise of Silas Laphamd. Leaves of Grass15. It is a philosophical essay in 8 chapters plus an introduction mainly concerned with thefour uses of nature.a. Waldenb. Naturec. The Scarlet Letterd. The American Scholar1-5.cdaad 6-10.aacbb /doc/2ac563ad77a20029bd64783e0912a21614797f92.html cbbI.Choose the Best Answer for Each of the Following (1’×15=15’):1.An English ship brought 102 people from Plymouth, England on September 16, 1620 andarrived in the present Provincetown harbor on November 21 in the same year. This ship was named ____________.a. The Pilgrimsb. Mayflowerc. Americad. Titanic2._________ is father of American drama and in his dramatic career he wrote 49 plays.a. Tennessee Williamsb. Eugene O’Neillc. Arthur Millerd. Elmer Rice3._________ was the first American writer to write entirely American literature.a. Anne Bradstreetb. Washington Irvingc. Mark Twaind. Ernest Hemingway4. _______ was the leader of American transcendentalism.a. Benjamin Franklinb. Washington Irvingc. Ralph Waldo Emersond. Henry David Thoreau5._______was the greatest woman poet in American literature and she wrote about 1,700 shortlyric poems in her life time.a. Pearl S. Buckb.Harriet Bicher Stowec. Emily Dickensond. Walter Whitman6._________ is father of the detective story and of psychoanalytic criticism.a. Washington Irvingb. Ralph Waldo Emersonc. Walt Whitmand. Edgar Allan Poe7.William Dean Howells is concerned with the middle class life; ______ writes about the upper class society, and Mark Twain deals with the lower class reality.a. Stephen Craneb. Frank Norrisc. Theodore Dreiserd. Henry James8. Which of the following is a naturalistic writer?a. William Dean Howellsb. Mark Twainc. Ernest Hemingwayd.Theodore Dreiser9. His writings are characterized by simple, colloquial language and deep thoughts. He is______.a. Ernest Hemingwayb. William Faulknerc. F. Scott Fitzgeraldd. Mark Twain10. He wrote 18 novels all set in Jefferson Town, Yoknapatwapha County in the deep south.He is ______.a. William Faulknerb. John Steinbeckc. Ernest Hemingwayd. Mark Twain11. ________is Jewish in origin and in many of his novels the American Jews are majora. Sinclair Lewisb. Saul Bellowc. Norman Mailerd. Jerome David Salinger12._________ is often regarded as the greatest American woman poet and she wrote over 1,700 short lyric poems in her life time.a. Anne Bradstreetb. Robert Frostc. H.D.d. Emily Dickinson13.________ is father of American drama and won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1936.a. John Steinbeckb. William Faulknerc. Euge ne O’Neilld. Arthur Miller14. He was the first black American to write a book about black life with great impact on theconsciousness of the nation and his masterpiece is one of the three classics about black Americans. Who is he?a.Richard Wrightb. Harriet Beecher Stowec. Langston Hughesd. Ralph Ellison15. Hemingway wrote about American compatriots in Europe whereas ________ wrote aboutthe Jazz age, life in American society.a.William Carlos Williamsb. William Faulknerc. John Steinbeckd. F. Scott Fitzgerald 1-5 bbccc 6-10.dddaa 11-15.bdcadI.Choose the Best Answer for Each of the Following (1×15 %):2.The American Civil War broke out in 1861 between the Northern states and the Southstates, which are known respectively as the ______and the______.a. N, Sb. Revolutionaries, Reactionariesc. Union, Confederacyd. Slavery, Anti-Slavery2._____________was praised by the British as the “Tenth Muse in America”.b. Edward Taylorc. Thomas Pained. Philip Freneau3.Mark Twain was a representative of ________ in American literature.a. transcendentalismb. naturalismc. local colorismd. imagism4. _______ was the leader of American transcendentalism.a. Benjamin Franklinb. Washington Irvingc. Ralph Waldo Emersond. Henry David Thoreau5.The greatest American poet and the first writer of free verse is ____________.a. Washington Irvingb.Ezra Poundc. Walt Whitmand. Emily Dickinson6._________ is father of the detective story and of psychoanalytic criticism.a. Washington Irvingb. Ralph Waldo Emersonc. Walt Whitmand. Edgar Allan Poe7.Henry James is concerned with the upper class life; ______ writes about the middle class society, and Mark Twain deals with the lower class reality.a. Stephen Craneb. Frank Norrisc. Theodore Dreiserd. William Dean Howells8. Which of the following is a naturalistic writer?a. William Dean Howellsb. Mark Twainc. Ernest Hemingwayd.Theodore Dreiser9. ________’s writings are characterized by simple, colloquial language and deep thoughts.b. William Faulknerc. F. Scott Fitzgeraldd. Mark Twain10. ______ wrote 18 novels all set in Jefferson Town, Yoknapatwapha County in the deepsouth. .a. William Faulknerb. John Steinbeckc. Ernest Hemingwayd. Mark Twain11. ________is Jewish in origin and in many of his novels the American Jews are majorcharacters.a. Sinclair Lewisb. Saul Bellowc. Norman Mailerd. Jerome David Salinger12._________ is often regarded as the greatest American woman poet and she wrote over 1,700 short lyric poems in her life time.a. Anne Bradstreetb. Robert Frostc. H.D.d. Emily Dickinson13.________ is father of American drama and won the Nobel Prize for literature in 1936.a. John Steinbeckb. William Faulknerc. Eugene O’Neilld. Arthur Miller14. _______ was the first black American to write a book about black life with great impact onthe consciousness of the nation and his masterpiece is one of the three classics about black Americans.b.Richard Wright b. Harriet Beecher Stowec. Langston Hughesd. Ralph Ellison15. ________ first used the “Jazz age” as the title of a collection of short storiesa. F. Scott Fitzgeraldb. William Faulknerc. John Steinbeck1-5.caccc 6-10.dddaa 11-15.bdcbaII. Identify Works as Described Below (1×15 %):6.The play is about a stoker whose identity as a human being is not recognized by his fellow human beings and who tries to find affinity with a monkey in the zoo and is finally killed by the animal.a. The Hairy Apeb. Henderson the Rain Kingc. Long Day’s Journey into Nightd. The Glass Menageries7.The protagonist in this play is a crippled girl named Amanda.a.A Street Car Named Desireb. The Hairy Apec.Long Day’s Journey into Nightd.The Glass Menageries8.The hero of this novel tells about his own story to us but his name is unknown.a.Native Sonb.Uncle Tom’s Cabinc.Invisible Mand. Go Tell It on the Mountains4. It is an autobiographical play and Edmund in the play is based on the playwright himself.a. Long Day’s Journey into Nightb. Henderson the Rain Kingc. The Hairy Aped. The Glass Menageries5.The novel tells of how a black man kills a white woman by accident and how he is finally arrested and tried and sentenced to death.a.Native Sonb.Uncle Tom’s Cabinc.Invisible Mand. Go Tell It on theMountains6._________ is one of the best works in American literature about the Second World War.a.A Farewell to Armsb.The Catcher in the Ryec.The Red Badge of Couraged. The Naked and the Dead6. The novel by Hemingway is the best of its kind about World War I.a.A Farewell to Armsb.The Sun Also Risesc.The Old Man and the Sead. The Naked and the Dead10.The novel is about how a family of farmers cannot survive in Oklahoma and travel toCalifornia to seek a living and how they suffer hunger in California.b.T he Grapes of Wrath b. U.S. A.c.Babbittd. The Adventures of Augie March11.It is a trilogy including The 42nd Parallel, 1919, and The Big Money, with suchtechniques as biographies, newsreels and camera eye.b.B abbitt b. Light in Augustc. U.S.A.d. The Grapes of Wrath12.It is a novel which uses the stream of consciousness technique and whose title is takenfrom Shakespeare’s Macbeth.a. Absolom, Absolom!b. The Sound and the Furyc.A Farewell to Armsd. The Great Gatsby10. It is a naturalistic work about how a country girl is seduced and elopes with Hurstwoodand how she becomes a famous actress and how her lover falls into beggary and finally commits suicide.a.An American Tragedyb. Sister Carriec. McTeagued.Maggie, A Girl of the Streets11. It is a novel with 135 chapters plus an epilog; in it a group of people on a whaling ship killa great whale but they themselves are killed by the whale in the end, except Ishmael thenarrator who survives by adhering to a coffin.b.Sister Carrie b.The Adventures of Tom Sawyerc. Moby Dickd. The Portrait of a Lady12.The novel is a psychological study of a soldier (Henry Fleming)’s reactions in the Civil War,in which wound is called the red badge which symbolizes courage.a.An American Tragedyb. Sister Carriec.The Red Badge of Couraged. McTeague13. The poem is written in free verse in 52 cantos with the theme of the universality andequality in value of all people and all things.a.Cantosb. The Ravenc. Song of Myselfd.Chicago14. The novel is about how a man falls economically and socially but who rises morallybecause he gives up the opportunity to sell his factory to an English Syndicate, which would otherwise mean a ruin to that syndicate.a.The Octopusb. The Rise of Silas Laphamc. Moby-Dickd. Leaves of Grass15. It is a speech delivered at Harvard University. It is often hailed as the “declaration ofintellectual independence” in America.a. The American Scholarb. Naturec. The Scarlet Letterd. Walden1-5.adcad 6-10.aacbb /doc/2ac563ad77a20029bd64783e0912a21614797f92.html cbaII. Match the following (1×20%)A. Match Works with Their Authors1.Hugh Selwyn Mauberly2.Walden3. Autobiography4. The Scarlet Letter5.Leaves of Grass6.The Raven7. The Rise of Silas Lapham8. The Adventures of Tom Sawyer9. Long Day’s Journey into Night10. The Old Man and the Seaa.Mark Twain b . Ernest Hemingwayc. Eugene O’Neilld. William Dean Howellse. Edgar Allan Poef. Walt Whitmang. Nathaniel Hawthorne h. Benjamin Franklini.Henry David Thoreau j. Ezra Poundk.Thomas Jefferson l. T.S. EliotB. Match the Characters with the works in which they appear.1.Hester Prynne2.Mrs. Touchett3.Frederick Henry4.Benjy Compson5.the Joads6.General Edward Cummings7.Holden Caulfield 7.Bigger Thomas8.Yank 9.Happya.The Portrait of a Ladyb. The Scarlet Letterc. The Hairy Aped. A Farewell to Armse.The Sound and the Furyf. The Grapes of Wrathg. The Naked and the Deadh. The Catcher in the Ryei. Native Sonj. Death of a Salesmank.Invisible Manl.Catch-22A. Match Works with Their Authors1-5.jihgf 6-10.edccbB. Match the Characters with the works in which they appear. 1-5.badef 6-10.ghicj III. Match the following (1’×20=20’)A. Match works with their authors1.Nature2.Rip Van Winkle3. Nature4. The Scarlet Letter5.Leaves of Grass6.The Raven7. The Rise of Silas Lapham8. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn9. Cantos10. The Old Man and the Seaa.Ezra Poundb. Ernest Hemingwayc. Mark Twaind. William Dean Howellse. Edgar Allan Poef. Walt Whitmang. Nathaniel Hawthorne h. Ralph Waldo Emersoni.Washington Irving j. Waldo Emersonk.T.S. Eliot l. Robert FrostB. Match characters with the works in which they appear.2.Captain Ahab and Starbuck 2.Isabel Archer3.Frederic Henry and Catherine4.Benjy Compson5.the Joads6.General Edward Cummings7.Holden Caulfield 8.Bigger Thomas9.The Tyrones 10.Willy Lomana.The Portrait of a Ladyb. Moby-Dickc. Death of a Salesmand. A Farewell to Armse.The Sound and the Furyf. The Grapes of Wrathg. The Naked and the Dead h. The Catcher in the Rye i. Native Son j. Long Day’s Journey into Nightk.Absalom, Absalom l. The Old Man and the SeaA. Match Works with Their Authors1-5.jihgf 6-10.edcabB. Match the Characters with the works in which they appear.1-5.badef 6-10.edcabV. Essay Questions (30%; c hoose only ONE of the following three topics and write a short essay of at least 200 words. Note: [1]Your essay should have at least 2 paragraphs; you are not simply to make a list of facts.[2] You may give a title to your essay, but you are required to indicate which of the 3 topics it belongs to. [3]You are not to write on a topic of your own.1.To the best of your knowledge, analyze and make comments on Emerson’s Nature/doc/2ac563ad77a20029bd64783e0912a21614797f92.html ment on any American poet you like.3.Analyze and/or comment on any one of the American novels or plays you have read.V. Essay Questions (30%; c hoose only ONE of the following three topics and write a shortessay of at least 200 words. Note: [1]Your essay should have at least 2 paragraphs; you arenot simply to make a list of facts.[2] You may give a title to your essay, but you are requiredto indicate which of the 3 topics it belongs to. [3]You are not to write on a topic of yourown.)4.Make comments on an American novel we have discussed in this course./doc/2ac563ad77a20029bd64783e0912a21614797f92.html ment on an American poet.6.Describe how your knowledge of American literature is improved after taking thiscourse..IV. Please answer the following questions briefly. (2 x 10’ = 20’)1.Why do people think Franklin is the embodiment of American dream?2.What is “Lost Generation”?V. Discussion. (1 x 20’ = 20’)State your own interpretations of Hemingway’s iceberg theory of writing?IV. Please answer the following questions briefly. (2 x 10’ = 20’)3.Wha t is Hawthorne’s style? Explain the style with examples.4.At the end of the 19th century, there were three fighters for Realism. Who are they?What are their differences?________True or False. (10 x 2’= 20’)1. American literature is the oldest of all national literature.2. Thomas Jefferson was the only American to sign the 4 documents that created the US.3. All his literary life, Hawthorne seemed to be haunted by his sense of sin and evil.4. Most of the poems in Leaves of Grass are about human psychology.5. Hurstwood is a character in Dreiser’s An American Tragedy.6. Faulkner’s region was the Deep North, with its bitter history of slavery, civil war and destruction.7. Placed in historical perspective, Howells is found lacking in qualities and depth. But anyhow he is a literaryfigure worthy of notice.8. Faulkner’s works have been termed the Yoknapatawpha Saga, “one connected story”.9. As a moral philosophy, transcendentalism was neither logical nor systematical.10. Emily Dickinson expr esses her deep love in the poem “Annabel Lee”.1-5 F F T F F 6-10 F F T F FII. Decide whether the statements are True or False. (10 x 2’= 20’)1. Early in the 17th century, the English settlements in Virginia and began the main stream of what we recognizeas the American national history.2. American Romantic writers avoided writing about nature, medieval legends and with supernatural elements.3. As a moral philosophy, transcendentalism was neither logical nor systematical.4. “Young Goodman Brown” wants to prove everyone possesses kindness in heart.5. Henry James was a realist in the same way as one views the realism of Twain or Howells.6. The American realists sought to describe the wide range of American experience and to present the subtletiesof human personality.7. Frost’s concern with nature reflected his deep moral uncertainties.8. Faulkner’s works have been termed the Yoknapatawpha Saga, “one connected story”.9. Roger Chillingworth is a character in Dreiser’s An American Tragedy.10. After the Civil War, the Frontier was closing. Disillusionment and frustration were widely felt. What had been expected to be a “Golden Age” turned to be a “Gilded” one.1-5 T F T F T 6-10 F T T F TIII. Please explain the follo wing terms. (5 x 6’ = 30’)1. Puritanism2. Free verse3. International novel: 4．Romanticism 5. Naturalism 6. American Realism 7.American Naturalism Modernism Imagism1.Puritanism: Puritanism is the practices and beliefs of the Puritans.2.Free verse: It is poetry that has an irregular rhythm and line length and that attempts toavoid any predetermined verse structure; instead, it uses the cadences of natural speech.3.International novel: IN brings together persons of various nationalities who representcertain characteristics of their own countries.4.Naturalism: It views human beings as animals in the natural world responding toenvironmental forces and internal stresses and drives, over none of which they havecontrol and none of which they fully understand. The literary naturalists have a majordifference from the realists. They look at a different spot to find real life.III. Please explain the following terms. (5 x 6’ = 30’)1. Puritanism2. international novel3. the lost generation4. free verse5.American transcendentalism Hemingway heroes1.Puritanism: Puritanism is the practices and beliefs of the Puritans.2.international novel: IN brings together persons of various nationalities who represent certain characteristics of their own countries.3.the lost generation: reveals the huge destruction of the wars to the young generation. It describes the Americans who remained in Paris as a colony of “expatriates”. They were lost in disillusionment.4.free verse: It is poetry that has an irregular rhythm and line length and that attempts to avoid any predetermined verse structure; instead, it uses the cadences of natural speech.5.transcendentalism: It stressed the power of intuition, believing that people could learn things both from the outside world by means of the five senses and from the inner world by intuition. It took nature as symbolic of spirit or God. All things in nature were symbols of the spiritual, of God’s presence. It emphasized the significance of the individual and believed that the individual was the most important element in society and that the ideal kind of individual was self-reliant and unselfish. Transcendentalists envisioned religion as an emotional communication between an individual soul and the universal “Oversoul”.。
美国文学史习题
Multiple choice. Please choose the best answer among the four items. (10 x 1 ' = 10 ') In American literature, the 18 th century was the age of Enlightenment. _______ wasthe dominant.A. huma nismB. rati on alismC. roma nticismD. evoluti onThe short story “ The Lege nd of Sleepy Hollow” is take n from Irvi ng n amed .A. The Leatherstocki ng TalesB. The Sketch BookC. The AutobiographyD. The History of New York Which of the followi ng is not the characteristic of America n Roma nticismA. Rati on alismB. inner selfC. pers onal feeli ngsD. in dividualism The short story“ Rip Van Winkle ”reveals the __ attitude of its author. A. optimistic B. pessimistic C. con servative D. ironicStylistically, Henry James' ficti on is characterized by . A. short, clear senten cesB. abu ndance of local imagesC. ord inary America n speechD. highly refined lan guageTran sce nden talist doctri nes found their greatest literary advocates in __ a ndThoreau. A. Jeffers on B. Emers on Which is regarded as the“ Declarati C. Fren eau D. Mark Twainon of In tellectual In depe ndence A. The America n Scholar B. En glish TraitsC. OversoulD. Self-relia nee is considered Mark Twain' s greatest achievement. A. The Gilded Age B. Innocent AbroadC. The Adve ntures of Tom SawyerD. Adve ntures of Huckleberry Fi nn is not among those greatest figures in “ Lost GenerationA. Ezra Pou ndB. Robert FrostNaturalism is evolved from realism whe n the a less serious and less sympathetic but more iroC. Walt WhitmanD. Hemi ngway uthor' sttasnniesvriting nic and more . A. rati onal B. humorous Multiple choice. Please choose the best a (10 x 1 ' = 10 ')is the father of America n Literature. C. optimistic D. pessimistic n swer among the four items.A. Benjamin Fra nklinB. Philip Fren eauC. Pai neD. Wash ington Irvi ngis a fan tasy tale about a man who somehow stepped outside the mai n stream of life.1.1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11.11. 12. 13.s workA. “ Rip Van Winkle ”B. “ The Pion eers ”C. "The Lege nd of Sleepy Hollow ”D. " The Fall of the House of Usher was the most lead ing spirit of the Tran sce nden tal Club.A. ThoreauB. EmersonC. Hawthor neD. Whitman14.Which of followi ng is NOT a typical feature of Mark Twa in ' s Ian guageA. ver nacularB. colloquialC. elega ntD. humorous15.From Thoreau ' s jail experienee, came his famous essay, ________________ which states hisbelief that no man should violate his con scie nee at the comma nd of a gover nment.A. Walde nB. NatureC. Civil Disobedie neeD. Com monSense16.Which is re garded as the “ Declaration of Intellectual IndependenceA. The America n ScholarB. En glish TraitsC. OversoulD. Self-relia nee17.Most of the poems in Whitman ' s Leaves of Grass sing of -heass” and the en__________ as well.A. n atureB. self-relia neeC. selfD. life18. What did Fitzgerald call the 1920sA. The Roar ing 20sB. The Gay 20sC. The Jazz AgeD. The Lost Ge nerati on19.Naturalism is evolved from realism when the author ' s tone in writing becomesless serious and less sympathetic but more ironic and more ___________ .A. rati onalB. humorousC. optimisticD. pessimistic20.For Melville, as well as for the reader and __________ , the narrator, Moby Dick is stilla mystery, an ultimate mystery of the uni verse.A. AhabB. StubbC. IshmaelD. StarbuckII.Identify Works as Described Below (1'x15 =15 '):1.The novel has a sole black protagonist who tells his own story but whose name in unknown to us.a.Native Sonb.U ncle Tom 's Cab inc.I nvisible Mand. Go Tell It on theMountains2.The main conflict of the play is the protagonist 's false value of fine appearaneeand popularity with people and the cruel reality of the society in which money is everyth ing.a.A Street Car Named Desireb. The Hairy Apec.L ong Day's Jour ney intoNight d. Death of Salesma n3.It is an autobiographical play and Edmund in the play is based on the playwright himself.a. Long Day's Jour ney into Nightb. Hen ders on the Rain Kingc. The Hairy Aped. The Glass Men ageries4.The novel tells of how a black man kills a white woman by accident and how the society is responsible forthe murder.a.Native Sonb.Uncle Tom 's Cabinc.Invisible Mand. Go Tell It on theMountains5.__________ is one of the best works in American literature about the SecondWorld War.a.A Farewell to Armsb.The Catcher in the Ryec.The Red Badge ofCourage d. The Naked and the Dead6.The novel by Hemingway is the best of its kind about World War I.a.A Farewell to Armsb.The Sun Also Risesc.The Old Man and the Sead. The Naked and the Dead7.The novel is about how a family of farmers cannot survive in Oklahoma and travel to California to seek a living and how they suffer hunger in California. a.The Grapes of Wrath b. U.S. A.c.Babbittd. The Adventures of Augie March8.It is a trilogy including The 42nd Parallel , 1919, and The Big Money , with such techniques as biographies,newsreels and camera eye.9.It is a novel which uses the stream of consciousness technique and whose title is taken from Shakespeare's Macbeth .a. Absolom, Absolom!b. The Sound and the Furyc.A Farewell to Armsd. The Great Gatsby10.It is a naturalistic work about how a country girl is seduced and how she becomes a famous actress andhow her lover falls into a beggar and finally commits suicide.a.An American Tragedyb. Sister Carriec. McTeagued.Maggie, A Girl of the Streets11.The novel is set on the Mississippi with the protagonist telling us the story in the local dialect. It is arepresentative work of local colorism.a. Sister Carrieb.The Adventures of Tom Sawyerc. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finnd.The Portrait of a Lady12.The novel is a psychological study of a soldier (Henry Fleming) 's reactions in the Civil War.a.An American Tragedyb. Sister Carriec.The Red Badge of Couraged. McTeague13.The poem is written in free verse in 52 cantos with the theme of the universality and equality in value ofall people and all things.a.Cantosb. The Ravenc. Song of Myselfd.Chicago14.The novel is about how a group of people on a whaling ship kill a great whale but themselves are killedby the whale, with the conflict between man and his fate.a.The Octopusb. Moby-Dickc. The Rise of Silas Laphamd. Leaves of Grass15.It is a philosophical essay in 8 chapters plus an introduction mainly concerned with the four uses ofnature.a. Waldenb. Naturec. The Scarlet Letterd. The American ScholarI.Choose the Best Answer for Each of the Following (1'X15=15'):1.An English ship brought 102 people from Plymouth, England on September 16,1620 and arrived in the present Provincetown harbor on November 21 in the same year. This ship wasnamed ________________________________________ .a. The Pilgrimsb. Mayflowerc. Americad. Titanic2.__________ is father of American drama and in his dramatic career he wrote 49plays.a. Tennessee Williamsb. Eugene O'Neillc. Arthur Millerd. Elmer Rice3.__________ was the first American writer to write entirely American literature.a. Anne Bradstreetb. Washington Irvingc. Mark Twaind. Ernest Hemingway4._______ was the leader of American transcendentalism.a. Benjamin Franklinb. Washington Irvingc. Ralph Waldo Emersond. Henry David Thoreau5._______ was the greatest woman poet in American literature and she wrote about1,700 short lyric poems in her life time.a. Pearl S. Buckb.Harriet Bicher Stowec. Emily Dickensond. Walter Whitman6.__________ is father of the detective story and of psychoanalytic criticism.a. Washington Irvingb. Ralph Waldo Emersonc. Walt Whitmand. Edgar Allan Poe7.William Dean Howells is concerned with the middle class life; ___________________ w ritesabout the upper class society, and Mark Twain deals with the lower class reality.a. Stephen Craneb. Frank Norrisc. Theodore Dreiserd. Henry James8.Which of the following is a naturalistic writera. William Dean Howellsb. Mark Twainc. Ernest Hemingwayd.Theodore Dreiser9.His writings are characterized by simple, colloquial language and deep thoughts.He is _________ .a. Ernest Hemingwayb. William Faulknerc. F. Scott Fitzgeraldd. Mark Twain10.He wrote 18 novels all set in Jefferson Town, Yoknapatwapha County in the deep south. He is .a.William Faulknerb. John Steinbeckc. Ernest Hemingwayd. Mark Twain11. _________ i s Jewish in origin and in many of his novels the American Jews aremajor characters.a. Sinclair Lewisb. Saul Bellowc. Norman Mailerd. Jerome David Salinger12. _________ is often regarded as the greatest American woman poet and she wroteover 1,700 short lyric poems in her life time.a. Anne Bradstreetb. Robert Frostc. H.D.d. Emily Dickinson13. _________ is father of American drama and won the Nobel Prize for literature in1936.a. John Steinbeckb. William Faulknerc. Eugene O 'Neilld. ArthurMiller14.He was the first black American to write a book about black life with great impact on the consciousnessof the nation and his masterpiece is one of the three classics about black Americans. Who is hea. Richard Wrightb. Harriet Beecher Stowec. Langston Hughesd. Ralph Ellison15.Hemingway wrote about American compatriots in Europe whereas _____________wrote about the Jazz age, life in American society.a.William Carlos Williamsb. William Faulknerc. John Steinbeckd. F. Scott Fitzgerald1.Choose the Best An swer for Each of the Followi ng (1 X15 %):2.The American Civil War broke out in 1861 between the Northern states and theSouth states, which are known respectively as the _________________ and the ________ .a. N, Sb. Revolutionaries, Reactionariesc. Union, Confederacyd. Slavery, Anti-Slavery2.________________ was praised by the British as the “Tenth Muse in America ”.a. Anne Bradstreetb. Edward Taylorc. Thomas Pained. Philip Freneau3.Mark Twain was a representative of ____________ in American literature.a. transcendentalismb. naturalismc. local colorismd. imagism4.________ was the leader of American transcendentalism.a. Benjamin Franklinb. Washington Irvingc. Ralph Waldo Emersond. Henry David Thoreau5.The greatest American poet and the first writer of free verse is ____________________ .a. Washington Irvingb.Ezra Poundc. Walt Whitmand. Emily Dickinson6. _________ is father of the detective story and of psychoanalytic criticism.a. Washington Irvingb. Ralph Waldo Emersonc. Walt Whitmand. Edgar Allan Poe7. __________________________________________________________ H enry James is concerned with the upper class life; _________________________________________________________ writes about the middle class society, and Mark Twain deals with the lower class reality.a. Stephen Craneb. Frank Norrisc. Theodore Dreiserd. William Dean Howells8.Which of the following is a naturalistic writera. William Dean Howellsb. Mark Twainc. Ernest Hemingwayd.Theodore Dreiser9.________ 's writings are characterized by simple, colloquial language and deepthoughts.a. Ernest Hemingwayb. William Faulknerc. F. Scott Fitzgeraldd.Mark Twain10. ______ wrote 18 novels all set in Jefferson Town, Yoknapatwapha County inthe deep south. .a. William Faulknerb. John Steinbeckc. Ernest Hemingwayd. Mark Twain11. ________ is Jewish in origin and in many of his novels the American Jews aremajor characters.a. Sinclair Lewisb. Saul Bellowc. Norman Mailerd. Jerome DavidSalinger12. __________ is often regarded as the greatest American woman poet and she wroteover 1,700 short lyric poems in her life time.a. Anne Bradstreetb. Robert Frostc. H.D.d. Emily Dickinson13. ________ is father of American drama and won the Nobel Prize for literature in1936.a. John Steinbeckb. William Faulknerc. Eugene O'Neilld. Arthur Miller14. _______ was the first black American to write a book about black life with greatimpact on the consciousness of the nation and his masterpiece is one of the three classics about black Americans.b.Richard Wright b. Harriet Beecher Stowengston Hughesd. Ralph Ellison15. _________ first used the “Jazz age”as the title of a collection of short storiesa. F. Scott Fitzgeraldb. William Faulknerc. John Steinbeckd. ErnestHemingwayII.Ide ntify Works as Described Below (1 X15 %):6.The play is about a stoker whose identity as a human being is not recognized by his fellow human beingsand who tries to find affinity with a monkey in the zoo and is finally killed by the animal.a. The Hairy Apeb. Henderson the Rain Kingc.Long Day's Journey into Nightd. The Glass Menageries7.The protagonist in this play is a crippled girl named Amanda.a.A Street Car Named Desireb. The Hairy Apec.Long Day's Journey into Nightd.The Glass Menageries8.The hero of this novel tells about his own story to us but his name is unknown.a.Native Sonb.Uncle Tom 's Cabinc.Invisible Mand. Go Tell It onthe Mountains4.It is an autobiographical play and Edmund in the play is based on the playwright himself.a. Long Day 's Journey into Nightb. Henderson the Rain Kingc.The Hairy Aped. The Glass Menageries5.The novel tells of how a black man kills a white woman by accident and how he is finally arrested and triedand sentenced to death.a.Native Sonb.Uncle Tom's Cabinc.Invisible Mand. Go Tell It on theMountains6._____________ is one of the best works in American literature about the SecondWorld War.a.A Farewell to Armsb.The Catcher in the Ryec.The Red Badge of Couraged.The Naked and the Dead6.The novel by Hemingway is the best of its kind about World War I.a. A Farewell to Armsb.The Sun Also Risesc.The Old Man and the Sead. The Naked and the Dead10.The novel is about how a family of farmers cannot survive in Oklahoma and travel to California to seek aliving and how they suffer hunger in California.b.The Grapes of Wrath b. U.S. A.c.Babbittd. The Adventures of Augie March11.It is a trilogy including The 42nd Parallel , 1919, and The Big Money, with such techniques as biographies,newsreels and camera eye.12.It is a novel which uses the stream of consciousness technique and whose title is taken fromShakespeare's Macbeth.a. Absolom, Absolom!b. The Sound and the Furyc.A Farewell to Armsd. The Great Gatsby10.It is a naturalistic work about how a country girl is seduced and elopes with Hurstwood and how shebecomes a famous actress and how her lover falls into beggary and finally commits suicide.a.An American Tragedyb. Sister Carriec. McTeagued.Maggie, A Girl of the Streets11.It is a novel with 135 chapters plus an epilog; in it a group of people on a whaling ship kill a great whalebut they themselves are killed by the whale in the end, except Ishmael the narrator who survives by adhering to a coffin.b.Sister Carrie b.The Adventures of Tom Sawyerc.Moby Dickd. The Portrait of a Lady12.The novel is a psychological study of a soldier (Henry Fleming) 's reactions in the Civil War, in which wound is called the red badge which symbolizes courage. a.An American Tragedy b.Sister Carrie c.The Red Badge of Courage d. McTeague13.The poem is written in free verse in 52 cantos with the theme of the universality and equality in value ofall people and all things.a.Cantosb. The Ravenc. Song of Myselfd.Chicago14.The novel is about how a man falls economically and socially but who rises morally because he gives upthe opportunity to sell his factory to an English Syndicate, which would otherwise mean a ruin to that syndicate.a.The Octopusb. The Rise of Silas Laphamc. Moby-Dickd. Leaves of Grass15.It is a speech delivered at Harvard University. It is often hailed as the “declaration of intellectualindependence ”in America.a. The American Scholarb. Naturec. The Scarlet Letterd. WaldenII. Match the followi ng (1 >20%)A. Match Works with Their Authors1.Hugh Selwyn Mauberly2.Walden3.Autobiography4.The Scarlet Letter5.Leaves of Grass6.The Raven7.The Rise of Silas Lapham8.The Adventures of Tom Sawyer9.Long Day 's Journey into Night10.The Old Man and the Seaa.Mark Twainc. Eugene O 'Neille. Edgar Allan Poeg. Nathaniel Hawthornei. Henry David Thoreauk.Thomas Jefferson b . Ernest Hemingway d. William Dean Howells f. Walt Whitman h. Benjamin Franklin j. Ezra Pound l. T.S. EliotB. Match the Characters with the works in which they appear.2. Mrs. Touchett4.Benjy Compson6.General Edward Cummings7. Bigger Thomas9.Happyb. The Scarlet Letterd. A Farewell to Armsf. The Grapes of Wrathh. The Catcher in the Rye j.Death of a Salesmanl. C atch-22III. Match the follow ing(1'>20=20') A. Match works with their authors1. Nature2. Rip Van Winkle3. Nature4. The Scarlet Letter5. Leaves of Grass6.The Raven7. The Rise of Silas Lapham8. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn9. Cantos 10. The Old Man and the Seaa.Ezra Poundc. Mark Twaine. Edgar Allan Poeg. Nathaniel Hawthornei. Washington Irving b. Ernest Hemingway d. William Dean Howells f. Walt Whitman h. Ralph Waldo Emerson j. Waldo EmersonB. Match characters with the works in which they appear.2. Captain Ahab and Starbuck 2.Isabel Archer 1. Hester Prynne3.Frederick Henry 5.the Joads 7.Holden Caulfield 8.Yank a.The Portrait of a Lady c. The Hairy Ape e.The Sound and the Fury g. The Naked and the Dead i. Native Son k.Invisible Man3.Frederic Henry and Catherine4.Benjy Compson5.the Joads7.Holden Caulfield 6.Ge neral Edward Cummi ngs 8.Bigger Thomas9.The Tyronesa.The Portrait of a Lady c. Death of a Salesma n 10.Willy Lomanb. Moby-Dickd. A Farewell to Armse.The Sou nd and the Fury g. The Naked and the Dead i. Native Sonk.Absalom, AbsalomV. Essay Questions (30%; cf. The Grapes of Wrathh. The Catcher in the Ryej. Long Day 's Jour ney into Nightl. The Old Man and the Seahoose only ONE of the following three topics andwrite a short essay of at least 300 words. Note: [1]Your essay should have at least 3 paragraphs; you are not simply to make a list of facts.[2] You may give a title to your essay, but you are required to in dicate which of the 3 topics it bel ongs to. [3]You are not to write on a topic of your own.1.To the best of your knowledge, analyze and make comments on Emerson ' Naturement on any American poet you like.3.Analyze and/or comment on any one of the American novels or plays you have read.V. Essay Questions (30%; choose only ONE of the following three topics and write a short essay of at least 300 words. Note: [1]Your essay should have at least3 paragraphs; you are not simply to make a list of facts.[2] You may give a title to your essay, but you arerequired to in dicate which of the 3 topics it bel ongs to.[3]You are not to write on a topic of your own.)4.Make comments on an American novel we have discussed in this course.ment on an American poet.6.Describe how your knowledge of American literature is improved after taking this course..IV.Please answer the following questions briefly. (2 x 10 ' = 20 '1.Why do people think Franklin is the embodiment of American dream2.What is "Lost Generation ”V.Discussion. (1 x 20 ' = 20 'State your own in terpretati ons of Hemi ngway iceberg thBosy of writ ingIV. Please answer the following questions briefly. (2 x 10 ' = 20 '3.What is Hawthorne ' s style Explain the style with examples .4.At the end of the 19 th cen tury, there were three fighters for ________________________Realism . Who are they What are their differencesTrue or False. (10 x 2 ' = 20 ')1. American literature is the oldest of all national literature.2.Thomas Jefferson was the only American to sign the 4 documents that created the US.3.All his literary life, Hawthorne seemed to be haunted by his sense of sin and evil.4.Most of the poems in Leaves of Grass are about human psychology.5. Hurstwood is a character in Dreiser ' s An American Tragedy .6. Faulkner ' s region was the Deep North, with its bitter history of slavery, civil war and destruction.7.Placed in historical perspective, Howells is found lacking in qualities and depth. But anyhow he is a literary figure worthy of notice.8.Faulkner ' s works have been termed the Yoknapatawpha Saga, “ one connected story9.As a moral philosophy, transcendentalism was neither logical nor systematical.10.Emily Dickinson expresses her deep love in the poem “ Annabel Lee ”.II.Decide whether the statements are True or False. (10 x 2 ' = 20 ')1. Early in the 17th century, the English settlements in Virginia and began the main stream of what we recognize as the American national history.2.American Romantic writers avoided writing about nature, medieval legends and with supernatural elements.3.As a moral philosophy, transcendentalism was neither logical nor systematical.4.“ Young Goodman Brown” wants to prove everyone possesses kindness in heart.5.Henry James was a realist in the same way as one views the realism of Twain or Howells.6.The American realists sought to describe the wide range of American experienceand to present the subtleties of human personality.7.Frost 's concern with nature reflected his deep moral uncertainties.8.Faulkner 's works have been termed the Yoknapatawpha Saga, “one connected story ”.9.Roger Chillingworth is a character in Dreiser 's An American Tragedy .10.After the Civil War, the Frontier was closing. Disillusionment and frustration were widely felt. What had been expected to be a “ Golden Age ” turned to be a “ Gilded ” one.。
美国文学史期末考试复习资料
一、作者-作品1.Eugene O’Neill 尤金·奥尼尔Desire under the Elms榆树下的欲望2.Washington Irving华盛顿.欧文The Sketch Book见闻札记The Legend of Sleepy Hollow睡谷的传说3.Nathaniel Hawthorne霍桑The Scarlet Letter红字4.Herman Melville麦尔维尔Moby Dick白鲸5.Edgar Allan Poe艾伦.坡The Raven乌鸦6.Walt Whitman惠特曼Leaves of Grass草叶集7. Harriet Beecher Stowe 哈丽雅特.比彻.斯托Uncle Tom’s Cabin汤姆叔叔的小屋8. Henry James 亨利.詹姆斯in the Portrait of a Lady一位女士的肖像9.Mark Twain 马克.吐温TheAdventures ofHuckleberry Finn哈克贝里.费恩历险The Gilded Age镀金时代10. O. Henry 欧.亨利The Gift of the Magi麦琪的礼物11. Stephen Crane：史蒂芬.克莱恩The Red Badge of Courage红色英勇勋章12.Theodore Dreiser 西奥多.德莱塞Sister Carrie嘉莉妹妹13.Jack London 杰克.伦敦The Call of the Wild野性的呼唤14. John Steinbeck 约翰.斯坦贝克The Grapes of Wrath愤怒的葡萄15.F. Scott Fitzgerald弗斯.菲茨杰拉德The Great Gatsby了不起的盖茨比16.Ernest Hemingway 海明威The Sun Also Rises太阳照样升起17.Katherine Anne Porter 凯瑟琳.安.波特Flowing Judas and other Stories犹大之花18. Ezra Pound 埃兹拉.庞德 Imagism 意象派The Cantos 诗章19.William Carlos Williams: 威廉.威廉姆斯The Red Wheelbarrow红色手推车20. Joseph Heller约瑟夫海勒：Catch-22 第22条军规21.Thomas Stearns Eliot爱略特The Waste Land荒原22.Zora Neal Hurston 佐拉.赫斯顿Their eyes were watching God 他们眼望上苍二、名词解释1.Transcendentalism超验主义:(1)As a philosophical and literary movement, American Transcendentalis m (also known as “ American Renaissance”) flourshed in New England fr om the 1830s to the Civil War. It is the high tide of American romanticism and its doctrines found their greatest literary advocates in Emerson and Thoreau. Transcendentalists spoke for the cultural rejuvenation and agai nst the materialism of American society.(2)The major features of Transcendentalism:① The Transcendentalists placed emphasis on spirit, or the Oversoul, as the most important thing in the universe. 思想超灵宇宙② The Transcendentalists stressed the importance of the individual. To t hem, the individual is the most important element of Society. 个体+社会③ The Transcendentalists offered a fresh perception of nature as symbol ic of the Spirit or God. Nature was not purely matter. It was alive, filled w ith God’s overwhelming presence. 自然+上帝代表人物：Emerson, Thoreau2.The Gilded Age镀金时代：an age of excess and extremes, of decline and progress, of poverty and dazzling wealth, of gloom and buoyant hope. Although Americans continued to read the works of Irving, Cooper, Hawthorne, and Poe, the great age of American romanticism had ended. By the 1870s the New England Renaissance had waned. 无节制、走极端，倒退和进步、贫困和富有并存，既令人沮丧又让人有希望的时代。
美国文学史期末考试资料
殖民时期的美国: Colonial America 17c早——18c末1. 从英国探险者和殖民者在新大陆的作品开始，描述他们在新大陆真实而精力充沛的冒险。
2. 另一类为清教作品Philip Freneau 菲利普·费瑞诺：第一位美国抒情诗人兼记者“Father of American Poetry”(美国诗歌之父)Puritanism: 清教主义American Puritanism influences on American literature:1. Idealism and optimism 理想主义和乐观主义2. Symbolism 象征主义3. Simplicity. 简洁1.Edwards爱德华兹：the first modern American can the country’s last medieval man.“the current of Transcendentalism, originating in the piety of the Puritans, vecoming a philosophy in Jonathan Ed wards, passing through Emerson.”超验论由清教徒的虔诚演变而来在乔纳森·爱德华兹的哲理得到发展继而传给爱默生4、典型的清教徒： John Cotton & Roger William他们的不同：John Cotton was much more concerned with authority than with democracy; William begins the history of religious toleration in America.5、William的宗教观点：Toleration did not stem from a lack of religious convictions. Instead, it sprang from the idea that simply to be virtuous in conduct and devout in belief did not give anyone the right to force belief on others. He also felt that no political order or church system could identify itself directly with God. 行为上的德，信仰上的诚，并没有给任何人强迫别人该如何行事的权利。