{精品}英美文学选读 复习资料 重点知识点

一、名词解释1. Meter:Meter is the measured arrangement of words in the poetry, the rhythmic pattern of a stanza, determined by the kind and number of lines. It’s the beat of the poem and meter is an organized way to arrange unstressed and stressed syllables. The length of lines is described by the number of repeated meters in the line.1 meter,2 dimeter,3 trimeter,4 tetrameter,5 pentameter,6 hexameter,7 heptameter,8 octameter2. Stressed pattern:The most common stressed pattern in English is the iamb, which consists of 2 syllables and the 2nd one of which is accented. Another common stressed pattern is trochee (also 2 syllables, but with the 1st accented).Iamb: unstressed/ stressedTrochee: stressed/ unstressedAnapest: unstressed/ unstressed/ stressedDactyl: stressed/ unstressed/ unstressed• A line with three iambic feet is known as iambic trimester.• A line with six dactylic feet is known as dactylic hexamete r.•Shakespeare is famous for his use of the iambic pentameter.3. Rhyme:Rhyme is when the endings of the words sound the same.4. Rhyme Scheme:Rhyme Scheme is the pattern of rhyming word at the end of each line.Not all poetry has rhyme scheme. Poems of more than one stanza often repeat the same rhyme scheme in each stanza.5. AlliterationAlliteration is the repetition of the same sounds or the same kinds of sound at the beginning of words or in stressed syllables. Modern alliteration is predominantly consonantal.6. Assonance: 谐音，类韵Assonance is the relatively close succession of the same or similar vowel sounds, but with different consonants and it’s a kind of vowel rhyme.7. Consonance:尾韵Consonance is the relatively close succession of the same end consonants with different vowel sounds and it’s a kind of consonant rhyme.8. Repetition:Repetition is the repeating of a sound, word, or phrase for emphasis.10. Meaning devices:Diction is the writer’s choice of words. The words that a writer chooses to use may carry both denotative and connotative meanings. Denotative is the explicit definition as listed in a dictionary, while connotative is the association or set of associations that a word usually brings to mind.11. Figurative language:Figurative language is any language that goes beyond the literal meaning of words in order to furnish new effects or f resh insights into an idea or a subject.Whenever you describe sth.by comparing it with sth. else, you’re using figurative language.•Simile:A simile is a figure of speech in which two essentially unlike things are compared,often in a phrase introd uces by “like” or “as”.•Metaphor:A metaphor is a figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made betweentwo unlike things that actually have sth. important in common.•Symbol:Symbol is an image that comes to stand for sth. (often an idea) beyond itself. •Pun:A pun occurs when a word is used in such a way as to have more than one meaning and in this way. It’s a kind of instant metaphor.•Imagery:Imagery is an appeal to the senses. The poet describes sth. to help you see, hear, smell, taste or touch the topic of the poem. It’s similar to descriptive writing only in poetry form.•Personification:Personification is a figure of speech, which gives the qualities of a person to an animal, an object or an idea. It’s a comparison, which the author uses to show sth.in an entirely new light, to communicate a certain feeling or attitude towards it and to control the way a reader perceives it.•Paradox:Paradox is a statement that on the surface seems to contradict itself and doesn’t make sense, but that at another level expresses a truth.12. English Romanticism<1>. It prevailed in English during the period of 1798—1832. The publication of Lyrical Ballads in 1798 marked its beginning and the death of Water Scott in 1832 marked its ending.<2>. Highlights of English RomanticismImagination is the supreme faculty of the mindIdealization of Nature: that Nature never did betray the heart that loved herIndividualism: man is an individual in a solitary state; the exploration and evaluation of the inner self.13. Point of view:Point of view is the vantage point from which a story is told.<1>. The First Person Point of View:A character from the story is telling the story; uses pronouns “he”, “she”, “they”.In the first-person point of view, the narrator is a character in the story; knows and can tell only what he or she thinks and feels; may be reliable and trustworthy or may be an unreliable narrator.<2>. Types of Third-Person Point of View:Third-person limited: the narrator knows the thoughts and feelings on only ONEcharacter in a story.Third-person omniscient: the narrator knows the thoughts and feeling of ALL the characters in a story.•Third-Person-Limited Point of View:In Third-person-limited point of view, the narrator plays no part in the story; he knows and can tell what a single character is thinking and feeling.•Omniscient point of view:In the omniscient point of view, the all-knowing narrator plays no part in the story;knows and can tell what any character is thinking and feeling; knows what is happening in all of the story’s settings.14. SettingSetting generally provides the time and place of a story;Setting can also include the mood of the time period, situation and event;Setting can be the social, political, environmental or emotional climate;Setting can also include the emotional state of a character.15. CharacterThe term character refers to a person or an animal in a story, play or other literary work. Characterization is the way a writer reveals the personality of a character.•The protagonist is the main character in a story and the story often revolves around this character.•The antagonist is the force that or character who opposes the protagonist. •Minor characters are present, generally named and have a role that in some way was highlights the protagonist.16. ThemeTheme is the general idea or insight about life that a work of literature reveals.Theme is a main idea or strong message tied to life.Theme threads itself through a story, chapter or scene to make a point about life, society or human nature.Theme is typically implied rather than explicit. The reader has to think about it.Generally, there’s one major theme in a piece of literature. Add itional themes can often be found in a piece of literature.17. Parts of a plotPlot is the sequence of events that happen in a story. Plot provides a story with structure, like a map of a story.•Exposition: introduction; This usually occurs at the beginning of a short story.Here the characters are introduced. We also learn about the setting of the story.Most importantly, we are introduced to the main conflict (problem).•Rising action: events that occur as result of central conflictThis part of the story begins to develop the conflicts. A building of interest or suspense occurs and leads to the climax. Complication arises.•Climax: highest point of interest or suspense of a storyThis is the turning point of the story. Usually the main character comes face witha conflict. The main character will change in some way and this is themostintense moment.•Falling action: tension eases; events show the results of how the main character begins to resolve the conflict.It’s the action that follows the climax a nd ultimately leads to the resolution. •Resolution: the conclusion; all loose ends are tied up; the conflict is solved Either the character defeats the problem, learns to live with the problem or the problem defeats the character.18. ConflictConflict is a problem that must be solved; it’s an issue between the protagonist and antagonist forces. It forms the basis of the plot and conflict can be external or internal. External conflict: exists when a character struggles against some outside force such as another character, group, society, nature, fate or a nonhuman obstacle.E.g. <1>. Man vs. Man is the conflict of one person against another person.<2>. Man vs. Nature is the conflict a person encounters with the forces of nature, and shows how insignificant one person can be when compared to the cosmic scheme of things<3>. Man vs. Society is the conflict of a person/ people and the views of society. Prejudice/Racism is a good example.Internal conflict exits within the mind of a character who is torn between different courses of action. E.g. Man vs. Himself is internal conflict. It’s those conflicts an individual has with his conscience.19. Special Techniques used in a Story<1>. Suspense: excitement, tension, curiosity<2>. Foreshadowing: hint or clue about what will happen in story<3>. Flashback: interrupts the normal sequence of events to tell about something that happened in the past<4>. Symbolism: use of specific objects or images to represent ideas<5>. Personification: when you make a thing, idea or animal do something only humans do<6>. Surprise Ending: conclusion that reader does not expect二、文学作品节选承上启下a connecting link between the preceding and the following1. A Rose for Emily --- William FaulknerThe narration shifts in time frequently and gives out bits of information about the main character Miss Emily in such a way that the reader has to piece them together by himself.Para.1 It tells us who is the main character and who is telling the story. The author chooses “we”, the people of the town, as the collective narrator. “We” represents the gossip of the town, they are observers of the events. But this collective narrator does not know everything. None of “us” have benn inside Miss Emily’s house until her death.•So inevitably there are gaps in the narration that are bound to cause confusion on the part of the readers or the listener of the story. Thatleaves a lot of room for reader participation.Para. 2 This paragraph provides details about the setting of the story --- the place and the time. From the descriptions of the appearance of Miss Emily’s house we learn something about her family and her character, and from the visible changes on the streets over the years we get to know something about the historical and social changes that were taking place then.Part 2.In this part time is shifted back to thirty years before the visit of the deputation. Three things took place during this period of time. There was a bad smell coming from Miss Emily’s house. Two years before that her father dies, and Emily behaved rather strangely by refusing to let the townspeople bury him. A short time after that she had a sweetheart, whom the townspeople believed deserted her.2. A Tale of Two Cities --- Charles Dickensantithesis对照/对仗，anaphora首语重复法，repetition, juxtaposition并列，oxymoron 矛盾3.Romeo and Juliet --- William Shakespeare4.Persuasion --- Jane Austen三、诗歌欣赏1. A Red Red Rose --- Robert Burns①A Red Red Rose is a ballad that written by Robert Burns.②It consists of 4 quatrains (four-line stanzas), in iambic tetrameter in first andthird lines, and iambic trimetersecond and fourth lines. The rhyme scheme isabcb.③The poem focuses on the theme of love. A man professes his true love for hisbeloved girl.④In the first stanzathe author describes her pretty appearance and praise he finedisposition. And he addresses the young lady as bonnie in second stanzas. Hepledges his eternal and faithful love in the next 3 stanzas from 3 dimensions:Depth, length and distance.The man vows to love her however far he may go.⑤There are four main figurative languages used in the poetry.In the first place, the author compares his beloved girl to a red rose which has recently blossomed in June by using simile. And he compares her to melodywhich is the beauty lives on abstraction. Those make the poetry vivid and live.In the second place, he uses hyperbole in the sentence “Till a’ the seas gang dry” to show that all is possible.Furthermore, the author repeat the sentence “Till a’ the seas gang dry” to show the permanent love. The repetition not only emphasizes his love but alsoaddsome musicality to the poetry.In addition, the author uses symbol to expresses his faithful love. Rosesymbolizes passionate love, and rock symbolizes staunch love, sands symbolizeseternal love, seas symbolizes deep love.2.I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud --- William Wordsworth①I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud is a lyric poem written byWilliam Wordsworth.②This poem presents the deep feelings and emotions of the poet rather thantelling a story or presenting a witty observation.③It consists of 4 six-line stanzas, in iambic tetrameter and an ABABCC rhymescheme.④Figurative language:Using personification, the author compares the cloud to a lonely human.By using simile, there is the c omparison of the speaker’s solitariness to that of acloud.Alliteration: lonely as a cloud(line 1)⑤Diction&Tone：Diction can be assumed as indifferent or melancholy in the firsttwo lines. The speaker is comparing himself to a cloud that floats carelessly andyet feels distant or separated from the world beneath himBy the third line“when all at once I saw a crowd” the poem shifts into ablithe/joyful attitude, an interest towards the gorgeous scene which he describesand keeps throughout the poem.-Fluttering/dancing/shine/twinkle/sprightly/dance/glee/gay/jocund/wealth/bliss/ pleasure fills⑥Analysis ：In the first stanzas, Wordsworth describes the scene when we wanders “as lonely as a cloud”.He compares himself to a single cloud that is floating over the valleys and the hills.The speaker feels distant and seperated from the world below. The poet says thathe is like a cloud. That’s a simile.Then he sees a “crowd” of golden daffodils which are under the trees and beside alake and are “fluttering and dancing in the breeze”. He uses calm and soft words.In the second stanza, the speaker makes a connection with the daffodils and the stars. This stanza is still full of imagery. He compares the daffodils to the shiningstars that sparkle in the Milky Way as the number of daffodils are near the riverseem to be thousands in number.In the third stanza, he again compares the waves of the lake to the waves of daffodils. He decides that even though the lake is “sparkling”, the daffodils win because they have more “glee.” He felt so happy and expressed his feeling as gay in such a jocund company. He looked at the scene for a long time ,but while he was there, he couldn’t understand what he had gained from his experience. The repetition of “gaze” tells us that he kept looking at the flowers for a long time.In the last stanza, he describes how that scene affected him because whenever he is at home and on his own “in the bliss of solitude,” he remembers the flowers that fills him with pleasure and his heart “dances with the daffodils”. Again the use of words like “bliss” show his happiness each time the memory of tho se flowers and the way theydanced that day comes back to him.⑦This is a beautiful but simple poem about the beauty of nature and how inspiring it can be. This poem was written so that you can visualize and image how it would look in your perspective. In most of this poem, he gave the flowers a human quality, like dancing. There are rhyming words at the end of every alternate line of the poem giving it both continuity and a sense of rhythm.3.Break, Break, Break --- Alfred Tennyson①Break, Break, Break isa lyric poem thatwritten by Alfred Tennyson.②The poem contains four quatrains with combined iambic and anapestic. Mostlines have three feet and some four. The rhyme scheme is abcb.③This poem expresses Tennyson’s grief after his friend died, the preciousness ofyouth and indifference of nature. Namely, the world continues to be busy andbeautiful, but the happy moments of one’s life never stay.④Hallam died of a stroke in 1833 when he was only 22. Nature, of course, doesnot stop to mourn the loss of anyone. Cold and indifferent, it carries on, thewaves of the ocean breaking against rocks along the seashore without pausingeven for a moment. The rest of the world carries on as well: the fisherman's boyhappily playing with his sister, the sailor merrily singing, the ship busily plyingthe waters of commerce. Downcast, isolated by his grief, the narrator yearns totouch the hand of his friend once more, to hear the sound of his voice. But, no,Hallam is gone forever; his "tender grace" will never again return.⑤The author use repetition in the title and the first line to emphasizes that theocean waves are going to keep breaking.Apostrophe (Lines 1 and 2): The narrator addresses the sea.Personification and metaphor also occur in Lines 1 and 2, forthe poet regards the sea as a human being.Alliteration (Line 8): boat on the bay(Lines 9-12): Stanza 3 uses this figure of speech as follows:And the stately ships go onTo their haven under the hill;But O for the touch of a vanished hand,And the sound of a voice that is still!Alliteration (Line 15): day that is deadRepetend: Line 13 repeats Line 1; Line 7 repeats the first twowords of Line 5.Paradox: Touch of a vanished hand (Line 11), sound of a voicethat is still (Line 12).4.Because I Could Not Stop for Death --- Emily Dickinson①Because I Could Not Stop for Death is written by Emily Dickinson.②It consists of 6 four-line stanzas, in iambic tetrameter and iambic trimeter. Therhyme is not strict.③The poem focuses on the theme of death and immortality. The author’s puzzlingover death leading to ly, the arrival of death is not unpleasant.Death means eternity.④The author use simple and plain word to describe the world of living, and moresolemn and serious words to describe death and immortality.⑤In the first stanza is an angel of death, in the image of a kind person comes in acarriage for the sake of immortality and the poet. This stanza reveals Emily’s calm acceptable of death. Death is seen as kind and polite. The journey to her grave begins when death comes calling.In the second stanza, the drive symbolizes her physical leaving life. He drives her slowly, which could be an expression of his consideration for her. Having relinquished her labor and leisure for the ride, she gives death her respect a full attention.In the third stanza, using metaphor, Dickinson speaks about the different stages of her life. School and children at recess symbolizes her childhood. Gazing grain symbolizes her adulthood. The setting sun represents her final years and decent into death. And the atmosphere surrounding the ride begin to change when we see the setting sun.In fourth stanza, it is a shift that makes her getting closer to the death.In fifth stanza, she saw a house with small size, scarcely visible cornice in the ground, which was actually house of the death. The word “house” is used as a euphemism for a grave to indicate how comfortable she feels about death.In the last stanza, she finally realized that she had been dead and also she had already got eternity. The word “eternity” is the echo of the word “immortality ”in first stanza.⑥Tone: In the first place, the tone is light and pleasant, and then turns to serious.In final, it is meditative.5.Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening --- Robert Frost①Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening iswritten by Robert Frost②It consists of 4 four-line stanzas, in iambic tetrameter andanAABA-BBCB-CCDC-DDDDrhyme scheme.③As a traveler, the poet is fascinated by the beautiful scene in the woods. He stopsto enjoy it, but his mind urges him to go on, because there is still a long way ahead of him, an unfinished duty waiting for him. This poem stresses a central conflict between man's enjoyment of natural beauty and his responsibility in society.④The first stanza tells us that the man is stopping in front of the woods owned byanother person in the village--the village and the owner can both represent human society. Only the man is watching the woods being filled up with snow.The woods and snow can both hint at natural occurrences.The second stanza says the location is far from civilization (farmhouse), light (darkest evening) and warmth (frozen lake) that even the horse would think the man is queer to stop there.In the third stanza, there is the climax of the whole poem. The man is woken up by his horse and steps out of fantasy but he finds himself in acontradiction between reality and fantasy.The last stanza reveals the woods’ attractiontowards the man as it is “lovely, dark and deep”. It also shows the man’s determination to break away from suchaesthetic temptation because he has to take on worldly burdens andresponsibilities (“promises”).⑥There are four main figurative languages used in the poetry.In the first place, the author uses personification in the sentences “My little horse must think it queer” and “to ask if there is some mistake”.In the second place, there is the alliteration in words “sound”and “sleep”, ”dark” and “deep”Furthermore, the author repeat the sentence “and miles to go before I sleep”. The superficial meaning is that there is still a long distance before thespeaker. But there is an implied meaning is that there are still numerousresponsibilities before the speaker’s life comes to an end. The repetition alsoadds some musicality to the poetry.In addition, the author uses images in many lines. For example, the woods symbolizes the mystery of nature; the temptations in our life. The snowsymbolizes something of purity. Village & He (the owner of thewoods)—Human world & societyPromises--The unavoidable responsibilities & obligationsMiles--Long distance; the heavy duty of lifeSleep--Rest during night; the end of life (death)I am on my way--The journey of life四、散文1.Letter to Lord Chesterfield --- Samuel JohnsonFebruary 7th, 1755My Lord,I have been lately informed, by the proprietor经营者ofthe World,that two Papers两篇文章, in which my Dictionary is recommended to the Public, were written by your Lordship阁下. To be so distinguished, is an honour受到如此破格的垂青，是一份荣耀, which, being very little accustomed to favors from the Great很不习惯来自大人物的褒奖, I know not well how to receive, or in what terms to acknowledge用什么话来表达感激之情.When, upon some slight encouragement, I first visited your Lordship, I was overpowered深受感动, like the rest of Mankind其他人, by the enchantment of your address您富有魅力的言辞; and could not forbear to wish 奢望that I might boast夸口说myself Le vainqueur du vainqueur de la terre世界征服者的征服者, that I might obtain that regard 受到重视for which I saw the world contending争先，奋斗的; but I found my attendance拜访so little encouraged, that neither pride nor modesty谦逊would suffer me to continue it使我能够继续忍受下去. When I had once addressed your Lordship in public 当众向大人致意, I had exhausted all the art of pleasing which a retired and uncourtly scholar can possess我用尽了一个性情懒散，不善逢迎的书生所持有的所有手段以博取您欢心. I had done all that I could; and no Man is well pleased 高兴的to have his all neglected他的一切努力被忽视, be it ever so little无论多么微不足道.Seven years, My Lord, have now past已经过去七年了, since I waited in your outward Rooms, or was repulsed from your Door被拒之于门外; during which time I have been pushing on my work through difficulties在困难中推进我的工作, of which it is useless to complain, and have brought it, at last, to the verge of Publication快要出版了, without one Act of assistance, one word of encouragement, or one smile of favor. 没有的到一点帮助，没有得到一句鼓励，没有看到一个笑脸支持Such treatment I did not expect, for I never had a Patron before我不曾指望能有这样的待遇，因为我此前从未有权贵提携.The Shepherd in Virgil grew at last acquainted with Love, and found him a Native of the Rocks.维吉尔笔下的牧童最后终于和爱神相识，这才发现所谓爱神只不过是岩穴土人而已。