英美文学期末问答题核心内容.doc

Rip Van Winkles1. Compare the different situations in the village for Rip Van Winkle before and after his 20-year sleep. Before: peaceful, phlegm (冷静) drowsy tranquility, quiet little inn After: populous, large, their dress altered; hustling; busy; bustling disputatious; 2. Do you think Rips wife is also a well-developed figure? How does this figure impress you? Yes, Rips wife is diligent, hard-working, shrew, responsible, but she loves his families and full of responsibilities.Scarlet LetterA. Natural symbols present things for the idea people commonly associate with them. i. Eg, a star for hope, night for death, rain often for fertility or the renewal of life.B. Conventional symbols present thing for the meanings people within a particular group have agreed to give them. C. Literary symbols sometimes build upon natural or conventional symbols, adding meanings appropriate primarily with the work at hand, but sometimes they also create meanings within a work for things that have no natural or conventional meaning outside it. Eg, a Christian cross for the association it evokes in people familiar with the religion.1. What symbols have you found in the selection? Explain. A：sin, adultery(通奸)；Adam; apostle; ambivalence(矛盾心理， 矛盾情绪); Abba (father); Arthur (Dimmesdale); Hester: Adultery; Anguish; Agony; Alone; Alienation（疏远）; Able; Aid; Angle2. Who empowers Dimmesdale to stand on the scaffold? God/Strong guilty/love3. Why does Dimmesdale want to reveal? His sin was forgiven. He wanted to be sowed, selwared, live innocent and without sin. He wanted to get rid of the womans husband. He wanted to be forgiven by god.4. Why does Chillingworth try desperately to stop Dimmesdale from confessing his sins on the scaffold? He wants to torture Dimmesdale again and kill him slowly. Compare with Dimmesdale, Chillingworth is more sinful.Song of Myself1. What does “I” and “You” stand for? “I”which serves as narrator, who should not be limited to or confused with the person of the historical. You: Reader.2. Explain the symbolic meaning of “a spear of summer grass”. “Grass” is a symbol of hope and youth, “spear” is a symbol of male energy, and “summer” is the hot season. All the three images put together form an energetic and hopeful picture, which indicates Whitman s optimism and experience.3. What does “Creeds and schools in abeyance” refer to? A state of being temporarily set aside the religion.The Adventure of Huckleberry Finn1. Read the first paragraph carefully, especially the last sentence and detect its language features. A. Full of mistakes. B. The last sentence is so long with wrong grammatical structure.2. How does Huck, a boy with rebellious spirit, come to be a real hero in the readers mind? All of Huck s heroic virtues come from his good heart and his sense of humanity. A. He loves freedom. When he is adopted by a widow, in fact, he doesnt like the well-behaved life and he prefers the free and easy life. B. He is a smart boy who devises an illusion which is about his drown death, as his father is a drunk who always beats him. Finally, he manages to escape from his father with his intelligence. C. He is an upright and friendly boy who helps Jim, a Black slave, to escape for freedom. He changes his social prejudice and discrimination to believe that Jim is not only a man, but also a good man. D. He is an honest and brave boy who meets two frauds called the King, and the Duke, but still keeps an honest heart in difficulties. E. He is keen on the individualism. After he saved Jim, he refuses to be adopted again but to choose an individual life.3. Elaborate on Mark Twains use of language in the story. A. In his story, his words are colloquial, concrete and direct in effect, and his sentence structure are simple, even ungrammatical, which is typical of the spoken language with a series of “thens” and semi-colons serving as connectives. B . He makes full use of comic jargon and dialect. Furthermore he intentionally deviates from classical literary tradition and creates genuine. American style-easy, informal, and unaffected.4. Why do we say it is a realist novel? A.This novel touches on all kinds of people who are from different ranks along the Mississippi River.Huck, his father, Jim(from the lower class) the swindlers( the Duke and the Dauphin), Colonel Sherburn(from the upper class) and the drunkard Boggs, all these characters has prototypes in real life.The fact of the wilderness juxtaposed with civilization, the people along the River half wild and half civilized, many of whom are coarse, vulgar, and brutal.Such as the Blacks being sold in the market places like animals. B.It touches on various social problems which include slavery, education, religion and hatred between families. C.The truthfulness of details.Such as Hucks father who is a drunk abused Huck and wants to get Hucks money.Such as the Black slave, Jim who aspires freedom and equality very much and becomes free with the help of Huck in the adventure.Such as the two frauds, claim themselves as the noble man but actually are swindlers fraud Huck and sale Jim.Indian Camp1. Why did Nicks father apologize to him after the husband was found dead? A. Because Nick is a sensitive little boy, Nicks father fears that the husband death would be a trauma to him. B. But the trauma really happened.2. Why did the husband kill himself? A. The miserable experience of his wife giving birth, makes the husband fell more painful. B. The doctors attitude towards his wife is so indifferent and cold. For example, when his wife cried out, the doctor said he hasnt any anaesthetic and doesnt hear them because they are not important. These words indicate the poor living condition of Indians and life is so difficult for them. C. The process, his wife is going to have a baby, is seen by