英美文学作品选读-lecture 9-Frost & Sandburg
Lec-12 R.Frost
College of Foreign Languages, CTGU
HISTORY AND ANTHOLOGY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE
. Life and Major Works
Robert Frost, a regional poet, was born in San Francisco. He was named after the defeated general, Robert E. Lee. He developed a particular love for the Latin classics in the high school. High education? A Boy’s Will(1913), published in England, brought him to the attention of the influential critics.
College of Foreign Languages, CTGU
HISTORY AND ANTHOLOGY OF AMERICAN LITERATURE
2. Man’s Relations to each other 3. A Regional Poet / a Poet with Regional Color Though born in San Francisco, Frost regard New England as his true native land. Most of his works use it for a background.
Selected Reading
Comment
College of Foreign Languages, CTGU
Lecture_9(20世纪英国文学)
20th Century British LiteratureLecture 9Modernist Poetry1. 20th Century British Poetry: An Outline1.1 Georgian PoetryA. Tradition formed by Thomas Hardy and A. E. HousmanThomas Hardy: canon of English poetry; philosophical poetTwo features—uniformity of his poems (impossible to trace any kind of development, any growth or decline in power, any change in subject-matter, technique or even the emotional tone from the beginning to the end of his poetic career); Variety (various genres of poems like lyrics, love-songs, ballads, sonnets, and blank verse on various themes; verse-forms, rhythms, and rhyme-scheme varying from poem to poem and from genre to genre).Influence on W.H.Auden and Philip Larkin and others in threefold fashion:delicacy of his observations of the natural world; capability to state straight into the duplicities of human passion; philosophical scope of his mind.Ideas: --Nature is never inert: we remain part of nature and it part of us.--He refused the comforts of religious belief.--He is obsessed with the instability and transience of all humanemotions and human life—and thus pessimism.1. 20th Century British Poetry: An OutlineA. E. Housman (1859-1936): classical poet and scholar—narrow, profound, isolated, brooding (meditative), and on occasion ferocious.Both of them are conservative in artistic form buttry to innovate in content.B. War Poets:Robert BlookWelfred IrvingSegfred SasoonConservative in form while dealing with theevents and the war of their time, and thusdemonstrating kind of modernity.C. Rise of Modernist Poetry1- French Symbolists (1870s-1890s):Arthur Rimbaud, Stephane Mallame, etc.(1) By writing against realism and naturalism as well as theobjectivity and technical conservatism, they aimed for a poetry ofsuggestion rather than of direct statement, evoking subjectivemoods through the use of private symbols while avoiding thedescription of the external reality or the expression of opinion.(2) They were interested in musical properties of languageand believed that sound had mystical affinities with other senses(eg. synaesthesia).(3) Influential innovations include free verse and the prose poem.2- Imagists (1912-17) : Ezra Pound, T. E. Hulme, H.D., Amy Lowell, etc—•They rejected most 19th century poetry as cloudy verbiage (meaningless language);•They aimed at a clarity and exactness in a short lyric poem, and emphasized concision and directness; •They preferred looser cadences to traditional regular rhythms.e.g. Ezra Pound’s “In a Station of the Metro”The apparition of these in the crowd;Petals on a wet, black bough.1.2 Modernist Age (1920s)T. S. Eliot as the leading figure--modern poetry is experimental;--challenging and rebellious against conventions in both form and content;--an intellectual sophistication that the Victorian poetry lacked was introduced into the poetry from metaphysical poetry. (nature and emotions replaced with intellectuality)--Poet’s role changed from Wordsworth’s emphasis on direct involvement with the author’s feelings in poetic composition to a particular medium in which impressions and experiences are arranged in special ways. Thus meaning becomes symbolic and open to various interpretation.1. 3. Auden’s Generation (1930s)1.3.1 Major figures: W. H. Auden (1907-1973), Stephen Spender, C. Day Lewis, MacNeice.They accepted their creating ideas from Thomas Hardy instead of T. S. Eliot.1.3.2 Themes: Before 1939--1) Ideology: reflecting the political upheaval of the 1930s; sympathetic to the leftist movement and interested in Marxism; anti-fascism; critical against the bourgeois society and focusing on the breakdown of English capitalist society. 2) psychological problems. After 1939—his poetry became more personal and religious.1.3.3. Form: They accepted conventional form with occasional innovations in rhythm and rhyme.1.4 Apocalyptical Poetry(Also New Romanticism, late 1930s and early 1940s)1.4.1 Major figures: Henry Trist, J. F. Hendley, G.S. Frizer, W. S. Graham, Dylan Thomas (1914-1953) They shared little in artistry but shared similar attitude to poetry: romantic, self-expressing; experimental in poetic form and trying to following poetic conventions, esp. romanticism.3.4 Apocalyptical Poetry(Also New Romanticism, late 1930s and early 1940s)1.4.2 Dylan Thomas: received two traditions: romanticism and modernism, so both romanticist and a mystical symbolist.Romanticism leads to his sharp imagery and natural beauty; Modernism, esp. symbolism, leads to his mystical touch and elements of surrealism and personal fantasy.Linguistic genius: good at using poetic diction and imagery. This allows him to be good at expressing his personal feelings in fresh warm and exuberant language.1.5 The Movement Poetry (1950s)A revival of realism in poetry, named after a comment upon a book of poetry New Lines (1956).1.5.1 Major Figures: Kingsley Amis, Elizabeth Jennings, Tom Gunn, and Philip Larkin--Refusing modern poetry and opposed to romanticism while advocating reason, irony and conventional poetic form;--characterized by irony, understatement, and a witty and mocking tone, which were employed to dissolve the serious themes or strong and emotional rhetoric vein of Apocalyptical poetry and modernist poetry.--traced British Poetry to Chaucer, Wordsworth and Hardy instead of Eliot and Pound.1.5.2 Philip Larkin (1922-1985)--the most influential after Auden;--addressing everyday British life in plain, straightforward language and often in traditional forms;--avoiding sentimentality and high-sounding words, but adopting a cool and restricted attitude to the subjects described in his poetry;--Good at turning ordinary things into poetry and reveal some simple truth people usually fail to see in daily life.2. William Butler Yeats (1865-1939)2.1 Literary Career：(1) 1st period (1800s-1900):--following romantic tradition of Spenser, Shelly and Blake; also influenced by the Pre-Raphaelite style;--writing poems of “impersonal beauty” and creating an dream-like effect;--themes: spiritual live and frustratons and uncertainty about the world;--seeking to transform Irish folk-lore into poetry.e. g. “The Lake Isle of Innisfree”—a strong and urgent desire for peace in original and fresh language, evocative images and musical properties.2nd Period (1900-1920):--t rying to “carry the normal, passionate, reasoning self” into his poetry;--showing his concern for the fate of his people and the future of the world, but never pessimistic for he believed that history was circular and death brought birth.e.g. “The Second Coming”3rd Period (1920-1939): a mature poet--learning to reconcile the conflict between life and art, the real and the ideal to develop a unity between the two.--emphasizing the harmonious coexistence of the eternal opposites of objectivity and subjectivity, art and life, and soul and body.--mythology, symbolism and philosophy much used.Eg. “Sailing to Byzantium” (1927): In this poem, Yeats faced pld age with a courage that comes out of intellectual wisdom: “An aged man is but a paltry thing,…” bu t aging is also a sign of maturity, where spiritual freedom grows from.3. T. S. Eliot (1888-1965)“an Anglo Catholic in religion, a classicist in literature and royalist in politics”3.1 Ideology: After initial disillusionment with world politics after the WWI, he turned to religion as a possible solution to the spiritual crisis of modern man.3.2 His essays are influential: 1) favored Donne over Milton; 2) Replaced Tennyson with Hopkins in the 19th century canon; 3) helped to establish the influential New Criticism movement (close analysis of the text itself instead of the background information about the text or the author).3.3 Poetic Views:•Poetry is not “the expression of personality, but an escape from personality”—Impersonal theory opposite to Wor dsworth’s advocacy about good poetry.2) Poetry should bear the historical sense of literature, or take a historical stand.3) He opposed the separation of feelings from intellectuality.4) Objective correlative (客观对应物)：a group of objects, a situation or a series of events can be used as a formula to express particular feelings, which should also be evocative.5) Art is to impose the readers a trustworthy order so as to lead them to a harmonious and steady state. L iterary criticism is to promote the understanding of literary works. The poet’s greatest social responsibility is to defend his native language.。
英美文学欣赏最新版教学课件美国文学Unit 8 Robert Frost
An Appreciation of American Literature
Unit 8 Robert Frost
英美文学欣赏（第四版）
作者简介
罗伯特 ·弗罗斯特（Robert Frost， 1874—1963），美国二十世 纪最负盛名的伟大诗人。
英美文学欣赏（第四版）
他生于旧金山，在美国西部度过了他的 童年，11 岁 时 丧 父， 全 家 搬 至 新 英 格 兰 的 新 罕 布 什 尔（New Hampshire） 的祖父家。弗罗斯特从小喜爱读诗、写诗， 中学时代就显露诗才。1982 年中学毕业后， 他进入达 特茅斯学院（Dartmouth College），但 7 周后退学。1897 年进入哈 佛大学，两年后因病辍学。其后以教书和 务农为生。1912 年，弗罗斯特举家迁至英 国伦敦，专事诗歌创作，很快出版第一部
英美文学欣赏（第四版）
➢ Questions
1. What does the “road” symbolize in the poem? 2. Were you once in a position of choosing between two roads? How
important is it for a person to choose a proper road in life? Give your reasons.
Or highway where the slow wheel pours the sand.
我不该被抑制了，而在某一天 我该悄悄溜走，溜进那茫茫林间， 任何时候都不怕看见空地广袤， 或是缓缓车轮洒下沙粒的大道。
英美文学欣赏（第四版）
I do not see why I should e’er turn back, Or those should not set forth upon my track To overtake me, who should miss me here And long to know if still I held them dear.
美国文学Robert Frost课件
The Books of Poetry
New Hampshire 《新罕布什尔》 Collected Poems 《诗歌精选》 A Further Range 《又一片牧场》 A Witness Tree 《见证树》
Literary style
Frost‟s poems show deep appreciation of natural world and sensibility about the human aspirations. All the images (woods, stars, houses) he uses reflect the poet‟s love for nature and life, his sad experience in life and the influence religion exerted upon western people‟s daily life.
In 1912, at the age of 38, Frost decided to try to make a new start. He sold the farm and used the proceeds to take his family to England, where he became acquainted with the F.S. Flint, Edward Thomas, and Ezra Pound, who called Frost‟s poems “modern georgics(田园诗)". Fortunately he had his first two volumes of verse, A Boy‟s Will 《孩子的意愿》 (for which he
12 美国文学ROBERT FROSTppt课件
To where it bent in the undergrowth; 直到它消失在丛林深处
1. diverge[ daɪˈvɜ:dʒ ] vi. 分开，叉开; =separate, go in different directions
2. undergrowth [ ˈʌndəgrəʊθ ] n. 矮树丛，灌木丛 =bush
relationships to himself, to his fellow-man, to world, and to his God.
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The Modern Period in American Literature Strictly speaking, the modern period of Americah the WWI,
Massachusetts • Attended high school in Mass, entered Dartmouth College, but remained
less than one semester. • In 1895, he got married. In order to support the family, he did odd jobs:
American Literature Robert Frost (p.134)
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Main content 1. Robert Frost 2. His poem “ The Road not Taken”
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About Robert Frost Poet and playwright
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His Life • Born in San Francisco in 1874 and died in Boston in1963 • At 11 years old, his father died and his mother took him to
英美文学选读 习题9
AWilliam Faulkner
BJack London
CHerman Melville
DNathaniel Hawthorne
答：
答案：A
【题型：论述】【分数：10分】得分：0分
[6]"A Modest Proposal" is a satire written by Swift and it is generally taken as a perfect model of satire. Gulliver's Travels is Swift's masterpiece. Based on them, discuss why Swift is a master satirist.
【题型：简答】【分数：4分】得分：0分
[8]The white whale, Moby Dick is endowed with symbolic meaning. What do you think it symbolizes?
答：
答案：To Ahab, the whale is an evil creature or the agent of an evil force that controls the universe.
Questions:
A. From which work is this quotation taken?
B. Which character is speaking?
C. What does this work expose?
答：
答案：Bernard Shaw, Mrs. Warren's Profession, Vivie, economic exploitation, women and society
英美文学选读(美国文学部分)
《英美文学选读》（美国文学部分）American LiteratureChapter one : The romantic periodI. Emerson’s transcendentalism and his attitude toward nature:1.Transcendentalism—it is a philosophic and literary movement that flourish in New England, as a reaction against rationalism and Calvinism. It stressed intuitive understanding of god without the help of the church, and advocated independence of the mind.2. Emerson’s transcendentalism:The over-soul—it is an all-pervading power goodness, from which all things come and of which all are a part. It is a supreme reality of mind, a spiritual unity of all beings and a religion. It is a communication between an individual soul and the universal over-soul. And he strongly believe in the divinity and infinity of man as an individual, so man can totally rely on himself.3.His toward nature:Emerson loves nature. His nature is the garment of the over-soul, symbolic and moral bound. Nature is not something purely of the matter, but alive with God’s presence. It ex ercise a healthy and restorative influence on human beings. Children can see nature better than adult.II. Hawthorne’s Puritanism and his black vision of man:1. Puritanism—it is the religious belief of the Puristans, who had intended to purify and simplify the religious ritual of the church of England.2. his black vision of man—by the Calvinistic concept of original sin, he believed that human being are evil natured and sinful, and this sin is ever present in human heart and will pass one generation to another.3. Young Goodman Brown—it shows that everyone has some evil secrets. The innocent and na?ve Brown is confronted with the vision of human evil in one terrible night, and then he becomes distrustful and doubtful. Brown stands for everyone ,who is born pure and has no contact with the real world ,and the prominent people of the village and church. They cover their secrets during daily lives, and under some circumstances such as the witch’s Sabbath, they become what they are. Even his closed wife, Faith, is no exception. So Brown is aged in that night.III. The symbolism of Melville’s Mobby-Dick1.The voyage to catch the white whale is the one of the mind in quest of the truth and knowledge of universe.2. To Ahab, the whale is an evil creature or the agent of an evil force that control the universe. As to readers, the whale is a symbol of physical limits, or a symbol of nature. It also can stand for the ultimate mystery of the universe and the wall behind which unknown malicious things are hiding.IV. Whitman and his Leaves of Grass :1. Theme: sing of the “en-mass” and the self / pursuit of love, happiness, and ***ual love / sometimes about politics (Drum taps)2. Whitman’s originality first in his use of the poetic form free verse (i.e. poetry without a fixed beat or regular rhyme scheme),by means of which he becomes conversational and casual.3.He uses the first person pronoun “I” to stress individualism, and oral language to acquire sympathy from the common reader.Chapter two : The realistic periodI. The character analysis and social meaning of Huck Finn in Adventure of Huckleberry Finn by Mark TwainHuck is a typical American boy with “a sound heart and a deformed conscience”. He appears to be vulgar in language and in manner, but he is honest and decent in essence. His remarkable raft’s journey down on the Mississippi river can be regarded as his process of education and his way to grow up. At first, he stands by slavery, for he clings to the idea that if he lets go the slave, he will be damned to go to hell. And when the “King” sells Jim for money, Huck decides to inform Jim’s master. After he thinks of the past good time when Jim and he are on the raft where Jim shows great care and deep affection for him, he decide to rescue Jim. AndHuck still thinks he is wrong while he is doing the right thing.Huck is the son of nature and a symbol for freedom and earthly pragmatism. Through the eye of Huck, the innocent and reluctant rebel, we see the pre-Civil War American society fully exposed. Twain contrasts the life on the river and the life on the banks, the innocence and the experience, the nature and the culture, the wilderness and the civilization.II. Daisy Miller by Henry James1. Theme: The novel is a story about American innocence defeated by the stiff, traditional values of Europe. James condemns the American failure to adopt expressive manners intelligently and point out the false believing that a good heart is readily visible to all. The death of Daisy results from the misunderstanding between people with different cultural backgrounds.2. The character analysis of Daisy: She represents typical American girl, who is uninformed and without the mature guidance. Ignorance and parental indulgence combine to foster he assertive self-confidence and fierce willfulness. She behaves in the same daring naive way in Europe as she does at home. When someone is against her, she becomes more contrary. She knows that she means no harm and is amazed that anyone should think she does. She does not compromise to the European manners.3. The character analysis of Winterbourne: He is a Europeanized American, who has live too long in foreign parts. He is very experience and has a problem understanding Daisy. He endeavors to put her in sort of formula, i.e. to classify her.III. Sister Carrie by Theodore Dreiser:1. Theme: The author invented the success of Carrie and the downfall of Hurstwood out of an inevitable and natural judgment, because the fittest can survive in a competitive, amoral society according to the social Darwinism.2. The character analysis of Carrie: She follows the right direction to a pursuit of the American dream, and the circumstances and her desire for a better life direct to the successful goal. But she is not contented, because with wealth and fame, she still finds herself lonely. She is a product of the society, a realization of the theory of the survival of the fittest.3. The character analysis of Hurstwood: He is a negative evidence of the theory of the survival of the fittest. Because he is still conventional and can not throw away the social morals, he is not fitted to live in New York.Chapter Three: The Modern PeriodI. Ezra Pound and his theory of Imagism1. The principles: a. direct treatment of the thing; b. to use absolutely noword that does not contribute to the presentation; c. to compose in the sequence of the musical; d. to use the language of common speech and the exact word; e. to create new rhythms; f. absolutely freedom in the choice of subject.2. Imagism is to present an intellectual and emotional complex in an instant of time. An imagistic poem must present the object exactly the way the thing is seen. And the reader can form the image of the object through the process of reading the abstract and concrete words.II. Frost and his poetry on nature:Frost is deeply interested in nature and in men’s relationship to nature. Nature appears as an explicator and a mediator for man and serve as the center of reference of his behavior. Peace and order can be found in Frost’s poetical natural world. With surface simplicity of his poems, the thematic concerns are always presented in rich symbols. Therefore his work resists easy interpretation.III. F. Scott Fitzgerald and his The Great Gatsby1. Theme: Gatsby is American Everyman. His extraordinary energy and wealth make him pursue the dream. His death in the end points at the truth about the withering of the American Dream. The spiritual and moral sterility that has resulted from the withered American Dream is fullyrevealed in the article. However, although he is defeated, the dream has gave Gatsby a dignity and a set of qualities. His hope and belief in the promise of future makes him the embodiment of the values of the incorruptible American Dream .2. The character analysis of Gatsby: Gatsby is great, because he is dignified and ennobled by his dream and his mythic vision of life. He has the desire to repeat the past, the desire for money, and the desire for incarnation of unutterable vision on this material earth. For Gatsby, Daisy is the soul of his dreams. He believe he can regain Daisy and romantically rebels of time. Although he has the wealth that can match with the leisured class, he does not have their manners. His tragedy lies in his possession of a naive sense and chivalry.IV. Ernest Hemingway’s artistic features:1. The Hemingway code heroes and grace under pressure:They have seen the cold world ,and for one cause, they boldly and courageously face the reality. They has an indestructible spirit for his optimistic view of life. Whatever is the result is, the are ready to live with grace under pressure. No matter how tragic the ending is, they will never be defeated. Finally, they will be prevail because of their indestructible spirit and courage.2. The iceberg technique:Hemingway believe that a good writer does not need to reveal every detail of a character or action. The one-eighth the is presented will suggest all other meaningful dimensions of the story. Thus, Hemingway’s language is symbolic and suggestive.V. The character analysis of Emily in A Rose for Emily:Emily is a symbol of old values, standing for tradition, duty and past glory. But she is also a victim to all those she cares and embrace. The source of Emily’s strange ness is from her born pride and self-esteem, the domineering behavior of her father and the betrayal of her lover. Barricaded in her house, she has frozen the past to protect her dreams. Her life is tragic because the defiance of the community, her refusal to accept the change and her extreme pride have pushed her to abnormality and insanity.。
lecture 9 robert frost
One and a half men: a half teacher; a half farmer; and a half poet.
Style: 1. Rejected the revolutionary poetic principles of his contemporaries, used traditional forms such as the blank verse, plain language of rural New Englanders, and a graceful style. 2. Used symbols from everyday country life to express his deep ideas. 3. As a whole, Frost’s art is an act of clarification, which, without simplifying the truth, renders it in some degree accessible to everyone. 4. A steady tone of wry humor
Questions: Q1: What do the roads symbolize? Q2: Why can’t the speaker go back and try the other road? Q3: How do you understand the word “sigh”? Q4: Why is the poem entitled “The Road Not Taken”? Q5: Do you think the message in the poem is also meaningful in your life experience?
《英美文学选读》习题与答案
《英美文学选读》（课程代码：00604）I.The following passage is an extract from Letter to Lord Chesterfield by Samuel Johnson, the leading figure of British neoclassicists. In 1747, when Samuel Johnson, began his Dictionary of the English language, Lord Chesterfield had at first indicated that he could be his patron, but when Johnson came to him for concrete help, Lord Chesterfield neglected him to the point of ignoring him; Johnson was insulted and furious. In 1775 when the Dictionary was published and acclaimed, Chesterfield openly recommended, hoping to get some credit for it as Johnson’s patron. Samuel Johnson wrote as reply his famous Letter to Lord Chesterfield in which he vented his feeling of hurt pride. Read it carefully, paying special attention to the rhetorical devices used, and answer the question. (20 points)①Is not patron, my lord, one who looked with unconcernupon man struggling for a life in the water, and when he hadreached to the safety of ground, encumbered him with help?②The notice you have taken of my Labour, had it beenearly, had been kind, but it had been delayed till I amindifferent, and can’t enjoy it; till I am solitary, and can’timpart it; till I am known, and do not want it. ③I hope thatit is no very asperity not to confess obligation where nobenefit have been received, or to be unwilling that thePublic should consider me as owing that to a patron, whichProvidence had enabled me to do for myself.Question:⑴what syntactic devices the author used in sentence ? And whatare their stylistic functions? (10 points)⑵point out the figure of speech used in sentences①and ③. (10 points)II. The following critical paper is about George Bernard Shaw’s famous drama “Pygmalion”. Read it carefully and answer the questions set on it. (20 points) 1 What we discover in Pygmalion is that phonetics and correct pronunciation are systems of markers superficial in themselves but endowed with tremendous social significance. Eliza's education in the ways that the English upper classes act and speak provides an opportunity for the playwright to explore the very foundations of social equality and inequality. Higgins himself observes that pronunciation is the deepest gulf that separates class from class and soul from soul. Playwright and character differ, however, in that instead of criticizing the existence of this gulf, Higgins accepts it as natural and uses his skills to help those who can afford his services (or are taken in as experiments, like Liza) to bridge it.2“At Mrs. Higgins's ““At Home reception,” Liza is fundamentally the same person she was in Act I, although she differs in what we learnto appreciate as superficialities of social disguise (according to Mugglestone): details of speech and cleanliness. Act III of Pygmalion highlights the importance of Liza's double transformation, by showing her suspended between the play's beginning and its conclusion. In modern society, however, as Shaw illustrates, it is precisely these superficial details which tend to be endowed with most significance. Certainly the Eynsford Hills view such details as significant, as Liza's entrance produces for them what Shaw's stage directions call “an impression of ... remarkable distinction and beauty.”3 Ironically, however, Liza's true transformation is yet to occur. She experiences a much more fundamental change in her consciousness when she realizes that Higgins has more or less abandoned her at the conclusion of his experiment.At first, Liza experiences a sense of anxiety over not belonging anywhere: she can hardly returnto flower peddling, yet she lacks the financial means to makeher new, outward identity a social reality. “What am I fit for?”She demands of Higgins. “What have you left me fit for? Wheream I to go? What am I to do? What's to become of me?” Berst wrote that while Pickering is generous, Eliza is shoved intothe wings by Higgins. The dream has been fulfilled, midnighthas tolled for Cinderella, and morning reality is at hand. Lizamust break away from Higgins when he shows himself incapableof recognizing her needs. This response of Higgins is well withinhis character as it has been portrayed in the play. Indeed, fromhis first exposure to Liza, Higgins denied Liza any social oreven individual worth. Calling Liza a squashed cabbage leaf, Higgins states that a woman who utters such depressing anddisgusting sounds has no right to be anywhere no right to live. Question 1: Explain what is Liza’s Double Transformation?(10 points)Question 2: What makes Liza feel she is in an embarrassing situation when she is transformed into a lady in speechand appearance? (10 points)III.The following critical essay is about Thomas Hardy’s most well-known tragic novel “Tess of d’Urbervilles”. Peruse it and then answer the questions set on it (30 points)The social background of Tess of d’Urbervilles was in a time of difficult social upheaval, when England was making its slow, painful transition from an old-fashioned, agricultural nation to amodern, industrial one. Businessmen and entrepreneurs, or “new money,” joined the ranks of the social elite, as some families of the ancient aristocracy, or “old money,” faded into obscurit y. Tess’s family in Tess of the d’Urbervilles illustrates this change, as Tess’s parents, the Durbeyfields, lose themselves in the fantasy of belonging to an ancient and aristocratic family, the d’Urbervilles.Hardy’s novel strongly suggests that such a f amily history is not only meaningless but also utterly undesirable. Hardy’s views on the subject were appalling to conservative and status-conscious British readers and Tess of the d’Urberville s was met in England with widespread controversy. Beyond her social symbolism, Tess represents fallen humanity in a religious sense, as the frequent biblical allusions in the novel remind us. Just as Tess’s clan was once glorious and powerful but is now sadly diminished, so too did the early glory of the first humans, Adam and Eve, fade with their expulsion from Eden, making humans sad shadows of what they once were. Tess thus represents what is known in Christian theology as original sin, the degraded state in which all humans live, even when—like Tess herself after killing Prince or succumbing to Alec—they are not wholly or directly responsible for the sins for which they are punished. This torment represents the most universal side of Tess: she is the myth of the human who suffers for crimes that are not her own and lives a life more degraded than she deserves.Angel represents a rebellious striving toward a personal vision of goodness A freethinking son born into the family of a provincial parson and determined to set himself up as a farmer instead of going to Cambridge like his conformist brothers,. He is a secularist who yearns to work for the “honor and glory of man,” as he tells his father in Chapter XVIII, rather than for the honor and glory of God in a more distant world. A typical young nineteenth-century progressive, Angel sees human society as a thing to be remolded and improved, and he fervently believes in the nobility of man. He rejects the values handed to him, and sets off in search of his own. His love for Tess, a mere milkmaid and his social inferior, is one expression of his disdain for tradition. This independent spirit contributes to his aura of charisma and general attractiveness that makes him the love object of all the milkmaids with whom he works at Talbothays. As his name—in French, close to “Bright Angel”—suggests, Angel is not quite of this world, but floats above it in a transcendent sphere of his own. The narrator says that Angel shines rather than burns and that he is closer to the intellectually aloof poet Shelley than to the fleshly and passionate poet Byron.His love for Tess may be abstract, as we guess when he calls her “Daughter of Nature” or “Demeter.” Tess may be more an archetype or ideal to him than a flesh and blood woman with a complicated life. Angel’s ideals of human purity are too elevated to be applied to actual people: Mrs. Durbeyfield’s easygoing moral beliefs are much more easily accommodated to real lives such as Tess’s. Angel awakens to the actual complexities of real-world morality after hisfailure in Brazil, and only then he realizes he has been unfair to Tess. His moral system is readjusted as he is brought down to Earth. Ironically, it is not the angel who guides the human in this novel, but the human who instructs the angel, although at the cost of her own life.Question 1: Why Tess is said to be a paragon of “fallen humanity”?(15 points)Question 2: Why Tess converted the idealist Angle into a realist Angle in terms of her own tragedy? (15 points)IV.The following paragraphs are taken from chapter VIII ofbook IV in Gulliver’s Travels. This section pictures an ideal rational existence, the Houyhnhnms kingdom whose life is governed by sense and moderation of which philosopherssince Plato have long dreamed. Read them and answer thefollowing questions. (30 points)1Courtship, love, presents, jointures, settlements haveno place in their thoughts, or terms whereby to expressthem in their language. The young couple meet,and are joined, merely because it is the determinationof their parents and friends; it is what they see doneevery day, and they look upon it as one of the necessaryactions of a reasonable being.2 But the violation of marriage, or any other unchastity,was never heard of; and the married pair pass their liveswith the same friendship and mutual benevolence, thatthey bear to all others of the same species who come intheir way, without jealousy, fondness, quarrelling, ordiscontent. When the matron Houyhnhnms have produced one of each sex, they no longer accompany with their consorts, except they lose one of their issue by some casualty, which very seldom happens; but in such a case they meet again; or when the like accident befalls a person whose wife is past bearing, some other couple bestow on him one of their own colts, and then go together again until the mother is pregnant. This caution is necessary, to prevent the country from being overburdened with numbers. But the race of inferior Houyhnhnms, bred up to be servants, is not so strictly limited upon this article: these are allowed to produce three of each sex, to be domestics in the noble families3 Every fourth year, at the vernal equinox, there is arepresentative council of the whole nation, which meets in a plain about twenty miles from our house, and continues about five or six days. Here they inquire into the state and condition of the several districts; whether they abound or be deficient in hay or oats, or cows, or Yahoos; and wherever there is any want (which is but seldom) it is immediately supplied by unanimous consent and contribution. Here likewise the regulation of children is settled: as for instance, ifa Houyhnhnm has two males, he changes one of them withanother that has two females; and when a child has been lost by any casualty, where the mother is past breeding, it is determined what family in the district shall breed another to supply the loss.Question1.The satire in this work is seen entirely in a discrepancybetween Swift and the Gulliver, the typical rational scientist in the age of enlightenment? Comment on it. (15points)Question2. In what ways does the author satirize the rationalism ofHouyhnhnms society, for example, the rational idea onmarriage, and the family-planning? (15 points)《英美文学选读》试卷参考答案I. 【20分】Answer:The author used repetition and parallelism to make this satirical prose daintier and more repugnant in tone. This piece of prose is typical of neoclassical prose which set great store by elegance of the language which was achieved by way of rhetorical richness. 【10分】The author used sarcasm in these two sentences to openly deny Lord Chesterfield’s patronage and attack his insolent and blatant behavior. The sarcasm made in a circumlocutious way renders this satirical prose more taunting and bitter. 【10分】II【20分】Question 1: What is Liza’s Double Transformation?Act III of Pygmalion highlights the importance of Liza's double transformation, by showing her suspended between the play's beginning and its conclusion. “At Mrs. Higgins's ““At Home reception,” Liza is fundamentally the same person she was in Act I, although she differs in what we learn to appreciate as superficialities of social disguise (according to Mugglestone): details of speech and cleanliness. In modern society, however, as Shaw illustrates, it is precisely these superficial details which tend to be endowed with most significance. Certainly the Eynsford Hills view such details as significant, as Liza's entrance produces for them what Shaw's stage directions call “animpression of ... remarkable distinction and beauty.” Ironically, however, Liza's true transformation is yet to occur. She experiences a much more fundamental change in her consciousness when she realizes that Higgins has more or less abandoned her at the conclusion of his experiment. 【10分】Question 2:What is Liza’s Predicament?Liza experiences a sense of anxiety over not belonging anywhere: she can hardly return to flower peddling, yet she lacks the financial means to make her new, outward identity a social reality. “What am I fit for?” She demands of Higgins. “What have you left me fit for? Where am I to go? What am I to do? What's to become of me?” While Pickering is generous, Eliza is shoved into the wings by Higgins. The dream has been fulfilled, midnight has tolled for Cinderella, and morning reality is at hand. Liza must break away from Higgins when he shows himself incapable of recognizing her needs. This response of Higgins is well within his character as it has been portrayed in the play. Indeed, from his first exposure to Liza, Higgins denied Liza any social or even individual worth. Calling Liza a squashed cabbage leaf, Higgins states that a woman who utters such depressing and disgusting sounds has no right to be anywhere no right to live. 【10分】III.【30分】Question 1: Why Tess is said to be a paragon of fallen humanity?Tess represents fallen humanity in a religious sense, as the frequent biblical allusions in the novel remind us. Just as Tess’s clan was once glorious and powerful but is now sadly diminished, so too did the early glory of the first humans, Adam and Eve, fade with their expulsion from Eden, making humans sad shadows of what they once were. Tess thus represents what is known in Christian theology as original sin, the degraded state in which all humans live, even when—like Tess herself after killing Prince or succumbing to Alec—they are not wholly or directly responsible for the sins for which they are punished. This torment represents the most universal side of Tess: she is the myth of the human who suffers for crimes that are not her own and lives a life more degraded than she deserves. 【15分】Question 2: Discuss why Tess changes the idealist Angle into a realist Angle in a tragic way?Angel is closer to the intellectually aloof poet Shelley than to the fleshly and passionate poet Byron. His love for Tess may be abstract, as we guess when he calls her “Daughter of Nature” or “Demeter.” Tess may be more an archetype or ideal to him than a flesh and blood woman with a complicated life. Angel’sideals of human purity are too elevated to be applied to actual people: Mrs. Durbeyfield’s eas ygoing moral beliefs are much more easily accommodated to real lives such as Tess’s. Angel awakens to the actual complexities of real-world morality after his failure in Brazil, and only then he realizes he has been unfair to Tess. His moral system is readjusted as he is brought down to Earth. Ironically, it is not the angel who guides the human in this novel, but the human who instructs the angel, although at the cost of her own life. 【15分】IV【30分】Question1. This work is called a satire which is seen entirely in a discrepancy between Swift and the Gulliver, the typical rational scientist in the age of enlightenment? Comment on it. 【15分】There are echoes of Plato’s Republic in the Houyhnhnms’rejection of light entertainment and vain displays of luxury, their appeal to reason rather than any holy writings as the criterion for proper action, and their communal approach to family planning.The Gulliver’s Travels is a book of subtle satire. The satire comes mainly from the discrepancy between Gulliver who is fitted out as the archetypal man of the enlightenment movement, susceptible to rationalism of 18th century. Swift on the other hand is very critical of his time, especially its rational thinking. Whereas Gulliver takes Houyhnhnm society as ideal utopia one, the author finds its rationality totally intolerable.Question2.In what ways does the author satirize the rational Houyhnhnms society, for example, the rational ideal on marriage, and the family-planning? 【15分】Paragons of virtue and rationality, the horses are also dull, simple, and lifeless. Their language is impoverished, their mating loveless, and their understanding of the complex play of social forces naïve. What is missing in the horses is exactly that which makes human life rich: the complicated interplay of selfishness, altruism, love, hate, and all other emotions. In other words, the Houyhnhnms’ society is perfect for Houyhnhnms, but it is hopeless for humans. Houyhnhnm society is, in stark contrast to the societies of the first three voyages, devoid of all that is human.But we may be less ready than Gulliver to take the Houyhnhnms as ideals of human existence. They have no names in the narrative nor any need for names, since they are virtually interchangeable, with little individual identity. Their lives seem harmonious and happy, although quite lacking in vigor, challenge, and excitement. Indeed, this apparent ease may be why Swift chooses to makethem horses rather than human types like every other group in the novel. He may be hinting, to those more insightful than Gulliver, that the Houyhnhnms should not be considered human ideals at all. In any case, they symbolize a standard of rational existence to be either espoused or rejected by both Gulliver and us.。
《英美文学选读》模拟试题(4)答案
《英美文学选读》模拟试题(四)一、Multiple Choice1.Romance, which uses narrative verse or prose to tell stories of _______ adventures or other heroic deeds, is a popular literary form in the medieval period.A. ChristianB. knightlyC. GreekD. primitive2.The tragedy of Dr. Faustus, the protagonist in Christopher Marlowe’s The Tragic History of Dr. Faustus, is the very face that _______.A. man is confined to timeB. he tried to join Africa to SpainC. he became a man without soul after he sold itD. he conjured up Helen, the lady who was the very course of the Trojan War Marlowe’s Dr. Faustus The Passionate Sheperd to His Love3.Which of the following historical events does not directly help to stimulate the rising of the Renaissance Movements?A. The rediscovery of ancient Greek and Roman culture.B. The new discoveries in geography and astrology.C. The Glorious revolution.D. The religious reformation and the economic expansion.4.Literature of Neoclassicism is different from that of Romanticism in that _______.A .the former celebrates reason, rationality, order and instruction while the latter sees literature as an expression of an individual’s feelings and experiencesB. the former is heavily religious but the latter secularC. the former is an intellectual movement the purpose of which is to arouse the middle class for political rights while the latter is concerned with the personal cultivation.D. the former advocates the "return to nature" whereas the latter turns to the ancient Greek and Roman writers for its models5.“And we will sit upon the rocks,/Seeing the shepherds feed their flocks,/By shallow rivers to whose falls/Melodious birds sing madrigals.” The above lines are probably taken from _______.A.Spensers The Faerie QueeneB.John Donnes “The Sun Rising”C.Shakespeares “Sonnet 18”D.Marlowes “The Passionate Shepherd to His Love”6.You may have meet the term "Yahoo" on internet, but you may also have met it in English literature .It is found in _______.A. John Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s ProgressB. Samuel Johnson’s The Vanity of Human WishesC. Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s TravelsD. Henry Fielding’s tom Jones7.The ture subject of John Donnes poem,“The Sun Rising,” is to _______.A.attack the sun as an unruly servantB.give compliments to the mistress and her power of beautyC.criticize the suns intrusion into the lovers private lifeD. lecture the sun on where true royalty and riches lie.8."Surface", "Sneerwell", "Backbite", and "Candour" are most likely the names of the characters in _______.A. Shaw’s Mrs Warren’s ProfessionB. Sheridan’s The School for ScandalC. Shakespeare’s Love’s Labour’s LostD. Christopher Marlowe’s Dr.Faustus9.The Houyhnhnms depicted by Jonathan Swift in Gullivers Travels are _______.A.horses that are endowed with reasonB.pigmies that are endowed with admirable qualitiesC.giants that are superior in wisdomD.hairy,wild, low and despicable creatures, who resemble human beings not only in appearance but also in some other ways.10.What does Wordsworth’s poem "The Solitary Reaper" tell us about Romanticist?A. To romanticists, poetry is an expression of an individual’s feelings and experiences no matter how fragmentary and momentary these feelings and experiences are.B. Romanticist take delight only in sound effect, the theme of a work is not their concern.C. Romanticist are not patient people; they would leave before the revelation of the theme.D. Poetry should present the apparent and tangible.11.The phrase 搕o urge people to abide by Christian doctrines and to seek salvation through constant struggles with their own weaknesses and all kinds of social evils?may well sum up the implied meaning of _______.A. Gullivers TravelsB. The Rape of the LockC. Robinson CrusoeD. The pilgrims Progress12. Prometheus Unbound is Shelley’s greatest achievement. Prometheus, according to the Greek mythology, was chained by Zeus on Mount Caucasus and suffered the vulture’s feeding on his liver for _______.A. planning a revolt to dethrone GodB. misinterpreting God’s decree to reconcile man and natureC. prophesying the arrival of spring in a winter seasonD. stealing the fire from heaven and giving it to man13.Which of the following is taken from John Keats’ “Ode on a Grecian Urn”?A.“I fall upon the thorns of life! I bleed!”B.“They are both gone up to the church to pary.”C.“Earth has not anything to show more fair.”D.“Beauty is truth, truth beauty”.14."My Last Duchess" is a poem that best exemplifier Robert Browning’s _______.A. sensitive ear for the sounds of the English languageB. excellent choice of wordsC. mastering of the metrical devicesD. use of the dramatic monologue15.“Ode o na Grecian Urn”shows the contrast between the _______ of art and the _______ of human passion.A.glory …uglinessB.permanence…transienceC.transience…sordidnessD.glory…permanence16.Tess of the D’Urbervilles, one of Thomas Hardy’s best known novels, portrays man as _______.A. being hereditarily either good or badB. being self-sufficientC. having no control over his own fateD. still retaining his own faith in a world of confusion17.The typical feature of Robet Brownings poetry is the _______.A.bitter satirerger-than-life caricaturetinized dictionD.dramatic monologue18.The term tone in literature means _______.A. sound effect such as rhyme and metrical deviceB. the pitch of a word used to determine its meaning in the given contextC. the manner of expression to indicate the speaker’s attitude towards the subjectD. a shade of colour to reflect the change of the light19._______ is the first important governess novel in the English literary history.A.Jane EyreB.EmmaC.Wuthering HeightsD.Middlemarch20.In which of the following poems by William Butler Yeats did you find the allusion to Helen and the TrojanWar?A. "Sailing to Byzantium"B. " Leda and the Swan"C. "The Lake Isle if Innisfree".D. " Sown by the Sally Garden"21._______ is considered to be the best-known English dramatist since Shakespeare, and his representative works are plays inspired by social criticism.A.Richard SheridanB.Oliver GoldsmithC.Oscar WildeD.Bernard Shaw22.James Joyce is the author of all the following novels except _______.A. DublinersB. Jude the Obscure --HardyC. A Portrait of the Artist as a Young ManD. Ulysses内容简介托马斯·哈代（1840-1928），英国小说大师，著名诗人。
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2. Symbolism
• ―Woods‖ – The poem is set in the woods because we get an image of a quiet, deserted place where the speaker is left alone to decide. There are no road signs or people to stop and ask for directions. Similarly, there are no signs in life designed to help people choose their path. • ―The road‖ – life’s journey
4. The theme
• In reality, this is a meditative poem symbolically written. It concerns the important decisions which one must take in the course of life.
Language
This poem is written in classic five-line stanzas, with the rhyme scheme a-b-a-a-b and a rhythmic pattern of basic iambic tetrameter. This rhyme scheme reflects the speaker’s efforts to shape his life into a pleasing and coherent form.
那以后岁月流逝，日久天长 有一天长叹一声，我要诉讲： Stanza 4: The speaker, recalling this happening years later, responds with a sigh—the choice he made earlier has brought 林中两条岔路彷徨 him a completely different experience. 我选择了行人更少的一条路 人生从此e follows the one which is not frequently travelled by. Symbolically, he choose to follow an unusual, solitary life.
• The words "sorry" and "sigh" make the tone of poem somewhat gloomy. And there is a visible amount of skepticism, for he can never be sure about the destinations of the two roads. And the word ―difference‖ adds to its uncertainty.
Introduction
• A much quoted poem of Frost
• from Mountain Interval (1916)
• Related with his British friend,
Edward Thomas, a ―war poet‖
killed in 1917 during WWⅠ
◆ Gained fame in England (1912-1915) 《少年的心愿》1913 《波士顿之北》1914 (work of fame) ◆ Settled in a New Hampshire farm 《山间洼地》1916 《未走过的路》 《新罕布什尔》1923 (普利策奖) 《雪夜林边驻留》 《西流溪》1928 《诗集总汇》1930 (普利策奖) 《又一重山脉》1936 (普利策奖) 《见证树》1942 (普利策奖) 《绒毛绣线菊》1947 《在林间空地》1962
那天早晨落叶铺满道上 Stanza 3: 落叶尚无脚踩的痕伤 He was still longing for the first road, hoping that someday he would go back and try it. But he knew clearly 啊，且将第一条留待他日寻访 that ways would lead on to ways. He would not have such an opportunity. 明知道路尽穷处又是路 重访此地怕是痴想
3. Metaphor
The poem revolves around the metaphor comparing the decisions we make on the journey of life to a fork in the road. Just as we must decide which road to take when traveling in order to arrive at a location, we must make decisions in life that will greatly impact our destination. The speaker is a ―traveler‖ on the road of life who wishes that he could go both directions and avoid making a decision.
I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: two roads diverged in a wood, and I -I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.
我再把另一条探望 一样美丽，一样坦荡 Stanza 2: He made a decision finally. He took the road 但或许更令人向往 which was ―grassy and wanted wear‖. 虽然两条路都曾有人过往 但这条芳草萋萋，更少人踏荒
And both that morning equally lay In leaves no step had trodden black Oh, I kept the first for another day! Yet knowing how way leads on to way, I doubted if I should ever come back.
Then took the other, as just as fair And having perhaps the better claim, Because it was grassy and wanted wear; Though as for that, the passing there Had worn them really about the same,
The Road Not Taken
By Robert Frost
Introduction
• The five greatest poets of American modernism (1910-1950): • Robert Frost • Ezra Pound • T. S. Eliot • Wallace Stevens • William Carlos Williams
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood, And sorry I could not travel both And be one traveler, long I stood And looked down one as far as I could To where it bent in the undergrowth;
• Since the two roads are ―as just as fair‖, and are worn ―really about the same‖, the poet might be imply that ultimately life would come a full circle and different roads actually make no difference at all. And there can be sensed a kind of complaint that life is too confining to leave man such a leeway (余地) for options.
森林叶黄，林中岔路各奔一方 Stanza 1: 我一人独行，无限惆怅 One day, the speaker as a traveler met with a choice of roads at the entrance of a forest. Although he wanted so much to 不能把两条路同时造访 try both roads, he had to choose one only. Therefore he hesitated for a long time. 良久伫立，我朝第一条路眺望 路转处惟见林森草长
And be / one trav el / er long / I stood
(iamb)
a
a b
And looked / down one / as far / as I could
(抑抑扬格)
To where / it bent / in the un / der growth
(iamb) (iamb) (抑抑扬格) (iamb)
1. Subject-matter
• This poem is about a traveler, who walks in the woods in autumn, hesitating for a long time and wondering which road to take since both are pretty. After much mental debate, the traveler picks the road ―less traveled by‖.