英语专业英美文学文学汇总

Literature terms

1Epic : a long narrative poem telling about the deeds

of a great hero and reflecting the values of the society from which it originated. Many epics were drawn from an oral tradition and were transmitted by song and recitation before they were written down.（史诗）2Romance:It was a long composition, sometimes in verse, sometimes in prose, describing the life and adventures of a noble hero.（传奇文学）

3Heroic Couplet: the rhymed couplet of iambic pentameter. (英雄双韵

体)

4Iambic Pentameter: is the most common English

meter, in which each foot contains an unaccented

syllable and an accented syllable. (五音步抑扬格)

meter 格律foot音步

5ballad:is a story told in song, usually in 4-line stanzas, with the second and fourth lines rhymed.（歌谣）

6Sonnet: It is a lyric poem of 14 lines, usually in iambic pentameter, restricted to a definite rhyme scheme.（十四行诗）

7Blank verse: is a type of poetry, distinguished by having a regular meter, but no rhyme.（无韵诗）

8Soliloquy: an utterance or discourse by a person who is talking to himself/ herself or is disregardful of or oblivious to any hearers present (often used as a device in a drama to disclose a character’s innermost thoughts); 2. the

act of talking while or as if alone(独白)

9Classicism: Aesthetic attitudes and principles manifested in the art, architecture, and literature of ancient Greece and Rome and characterized by emphasis on form, simplicity, proportion, and restraint. Classicism was popular in Europe in the 18th century.（古典主义）

10Neo-classicism: neo-classicism imitated the characteristics of Roman writers, including Horace, Virgil, Cicero, etc., in the days of Augustus. They tried to make English literature conform to rules and principles established by the great Roman and Greek classical writers. In writing plays, they used rhyme and couplet instead of blank verse, observed the

trinity --- the unity of time, place and action.（新古典主义）

11An epistolary novel is a novel written as a series of documents. The usual form is letters, although diary entries, newspaper clippings and other

documents are sometimes used.（书信体小说）

12Sentimentalism is one of the important trends in English literature of the middle and later decades of the 18th century. It justly criticized the cruelty of the capitalist relations and the gross social injustices brought about by the bourgeois

revolutions. It embraces a pessimistic outlook and blames reason and the Industrial Revolution, marked by a sincere sympathy for the

poverty-stricken ,expropriated peasants.(感伤主义)

Romanticism: Romanticism is a literary trend. It prevails in England during the period 1798-1832. romanticists expressed the ideology and sentiment of those classes and social strata who were discontent with and opposed to the development of capitalism. They split into two groups

because of the different attitudes toward the capitalist society.（浪漫主义）

Ode is a lyric poem of some length that honors an individual, a thing, a trait dealing with a lofty theme in a dignified manner. The form dates back to classical times and is originally intended to be sung at festivals or in plays.

Brief Outline of British Literature：works

1. Early and Medieval English Literature

1) The Anglo-Saxon Period (449-1066)

National epic:The Song of Beowulf

2) The Anglo-Norman Period (1066-1350)

Arthurian Romance: Sir Gawain and

Green Knight

3) Geoffrey Chaucer1340-1400：Messenger of Humanism

The first important realistic writer

“Father” of English poetry

The Canterbury Tales the wife of Bath（巴斯夫人）,

the Knight（骑士）,

the Pardoner（卖赎罪卷者）,

the Nun’s Priest（尼姑的教士）,