英国文学课后答案.doc

Chap11,give an account of the history of england from the Celtic settlement to the Norman Conquest.1,600 BC ,Celts (tribal)(Britons is a branch of Celts) began to migrate to the British Isles2,55 BC-407 AD,Julius Caesar invaded Britain, defeated Celts, and began nearly four centuries of Roman occupation3,450 AD,The “Saxons”(the Teutonic or Germanic tribes of Angles, Saxons, Jutes) ( originally seafaring people along the coast of Denmark and Germany)came to the British Isles and drove the Celts to Wales, Scotland and Ireland, and settled down themselves and named the central part of the island “England”, became the masters of England and the ancestors of the English people. 4,Late 8-9th century,Viking(the Danes from Scandinavia ) invasions and be defeated by the Wessex King, Alfred the Great (849-c899) 5,1066,Norman Conquest (from Normandy in northern France) : William, Duke of Normandy, defeated Harold (the last Saxon king) and became the King of England. 2, how did Christianity come to England? Name the most important monasteries of this period.It was in the year of 597 that Pope Gregory the Great of the Roman Catholic Church sent St. Augustine to England to convert the Anglo-Saxons. King Ethelbert of the Kent was the first to be converted and he founded in Kent the Canterbury Abbey. In the north, the earlier Christianized Ireland was engaged in sending missionaries to the Angles. The monasteries built by them in North Umbria were the earliest civilizing influences, and the well-known North Umbria School in literary history refers to the learned monks in these monasteries. From Canterbury and North Umbria, Christianity spread throughout the country.3. Analyze the artistic features of Beowulf, using the quoted passage to illustrate your points.he most noticeable artistic feature of Beowulf is alliteration.Another peculiar feature characteristic is the frequent use of kennings, to poetically present the meaning of one single word through a compound simile of two elements.Finally, the general mood and spirit of Anglo-Saxon epic poetry is both solemn and animated,Ch2 1. What was the social and class reality of the Anglo-Norman period?After 1066, the Anglo-Norman period began. The Norman was in origin Scandinavian. They protected their feudal monarchy by a strong power. William the Conqueror divided the land of England among his followers who became barons, which the defeated Anglo-Saxons worked as serfs and peasants for them and were cruelly exploited and oppressed. Besides the king and the lords, one third of the land in the land in the country was owned by the Church. Norman-French was made the official language of the state, while English was ignored. The lowly people kept to English and gradually the invaders were assimilated. the English language survived, and became a richer and more mature language after absorbing a great many French words into its vocabulary. At this time that the English language lost most of its old Anglo-Saxons flexions.2. Tell the three divisions of romances according to subject matter and give an example of the Matter of Britain. Romances can be divided according to their subjects into three groups: Matter of France , Matter of Rome, Matter of Britain. Matter of Britain: e.g. the Arthurian cycle which has its origin in the Celtic legends and consists of adventures of King Arthur and his Round-Table Knights, and Sir Gawain and Lancelot, Merlin the Magician, the quest of the Holy Grail.3. Say as much as you know about Chaucers life and works.Geoffrey Chaucer, a great narrative poet, is thought of as Father of English Poetry. He was born in a well-to-do wine merchants family in London and studied at Oxford and Cambridge. In 1836 he was elected during Member of Parliament. In 1389 he was made Clerk of the Kings Works at Westminster and Windsor. After he died, he was buried in the Westminster Abbey.Chaucers creative career is usually divided into three phases. 1, the phase of French influence, in which he did translations from French authors, e.g. the famous Romance of the Rose,and experimented with rhythm and structure though mostly following the conventional images and ideas. He favored and wrote allegorical visions and satires in the manner of middle Ages. The most significant work of this period is The Book of Duchess.2, the phase of Italian influence, in which he showed an effort to learn from the Italian great poets such as Dante. The House of Fame, The Parliament of Fowls and Troilus and Criseyde are poems of this phase.3.the English phases, or the phase of realism ,in which his masterpiece The Canterbury Tales wad created. 4.Comment on the artistic features of Canterbury tales. 1 Realistic Presentation of Characters and Contemporary life. First of all we must mention Chaucers realistic presentation of characters. The poet tries to give a comprehensive picture of the English society of his time and arranges to present a colorful gallery of pilgrims that covers a great range of social life.2 Chaucers Humor: The Canterbury Tales wins readers with its humor. He is well-skilled in mild and subtle irony to create humorous effects.3 unity Through a Framed Story: the Canterbury Tales is a framed story. 5. Sum up Chaucers achievements and contributions.Chaucer learned from both French and Latin poetry and then worked out a unique style for the English poetry. The realism and humanistic concerns demonstrated in his works looked forward to the coming English Renaissance. Because he use the English of the London dialect to compose poetry, it become a literary language, that is a language rich and expressive enough to use for literary purposes. We call the English used anddeveloped by Chaucer and his contemporaries Middle English, which was the foundation of modern English.Chapter 31) How did England become the most powerful country during the Tudor reign?King Henry of the Tudor House, who reigned from 1509 to 1547 broke from the Roman Catholic Church, dissolved all the monasteries and abbeys in England, confiscated their lands and made himself head of the Church of England. Henry also adopted policies to please the rich merchants, handicraftsmen and manufacturers who formed the newly-born middle classes. The Tudor reign reached its summit during the time of Queen Elizabeth, who adopted moderate policies to achieve a balance both between the rising middle class and the feudal lords and between the Protestants and the Catholics. It was a peaceful time and England becomes a powerful state.2) What does the word renaissance mean and why do we call this historical period the English renaissance period?Renaissance is a fence word, meaning rebirth or revival, and in particular context, it means the revival of arts and sciences of ancient Greece and Rome after the long years of neglect in the medieval time. In England at first a great number of classical works were translated into English in the 15th and 16th centuries and English scholars and men of letters showed a strong interest in ancient Greek and Roman sience. They followed in the wake of the intellectual and literary movement which began in the 14th century in Italy and later spread to France, Spain, Holland and other western European countries.3) Give a brief account of Thomas Mores life and his major work Utopia.Thomas More (14781535), a Parliament member and a judge by profession .he devoted his spare time to writing and wrote the famous book Utopia in Latin, which was published in 1516.In the book More meets a traveler at Antwerp, who has seen a place called Utopia relend of nowhere, where communism is adopted as the social system, education is offered to all people, including women, and religious differences are tolerated. More is remembered for Utopia, which is first real significant expression of the English humanist ideal.4）Name Spensers major literary work and tell what it is about.Edmund Spenser(15521599)The shepheardes calender(1579),spensers first important work,is a pastoral poem of 12 parts,one part for one month of the year,giving descriptions mounthly of the english countryside.The poem is writen in the tradition of Virgils verse dialogues with characters of shepherds and sheperdesses,but the main themes embodie are love,poetry and religion.The faerie queene(1569),Spensers major achievement,however,is unfinished.It is an allegorical romance in verse.According to his plan,there should be 12 books,each telling the adventures of one knight dispatched by the Faerie Queen,Gloria,who represents glory in the general and Queen Elizabeth in particular.5）What are Bacons chief contributions?The Advancement of Learning(1605),his classifies all branches of learning,which had a great influence on the 18thcentury compilers of encyclopedias and the 19thcentury comtians.In his Latin work Novum Organum(1620)Bacon presents his theory of scientific method which teaches how to interpret nature,disscuess natural history including several natural phenomena such as the winds,and gives examples of his new method in use.Bacon is regarded as a forerunner of modern science and scientific learning.6)who was the greatest playwright before SB?Discuss one of his plays.Christopher MarloweTamberlaine,the Great(1587),written in blank verse,is the life story of Timur the Tartar.In part 1,Marlowe shows how Tamburlaine rose to power from a shepherd-robber by defeating the king of Persia.Then he conquered the Turkish Emperor and the Soldan of Egypt.Part 2 tells more of his conquests, which went as far as Babylon.The play ended with tamburlaines death.In Tamburlaine we see the Renaissance pursuit of mans power and authority.He is ruthless toward his enemies,but at the same time is capble of passionate love for the daughter of the Egyptian Soldan.7)what kind of comedy is Ben Jonsons special contribution?And as a playwright how different is Ben Jonson from SB?Jonsons theory of “humours” reduces his characters to types who represent greed,vanity, falsehood. They are flat, onesided and have no development. Unlike him, Shakespeare digs deep into human nature and depiets the complexities of human relations.also, Ben Jonson advocates classic Roman and Greek masters,strictly observes the three unities and disapproves of any mixture of the tragic with the comic,while Shakespearecreates according to his own judgment and the taste of the audience, and is very flexible in his handing of drama rules set by his predecessors.he was not pleased with Shakespeare for some time and criticized him for lacking good education. Their differences were so obvious that later Samuel Johnosn described one as the poet of art and the other as the poet of nature. Chapter 41) how is Shakespeares literary career usually divided and what are the main achievements of each period?Hie literary career is usually divided into 3 periods.In the 1st period(15901600),his career mainly history plays and comedies.Altogether 22 plays were written in this period,of which we should know at least 5 histories Richard 3,Henry 4,Part 1 and 2,Henry 5 and Juliys Caesar four comedies:A mid-summer nights dream.,Much Ado about nothing,As you like it and the twelfth night.one problem play :The Merchant of Venice,and one tragedy:Romeo and Juliet.The 2nd period is the one of great tragedies,namely Hamlet,Othello,Macbeth and King Lear.In the last period,SB wrote 4 dramatic romances of which The Winters tale and The Tempest are better known to the world.2) give an eg of the problem plays by Sp and analyse it as well you can.The Merchant of Venice Shakespeare wrote it as a comedy and the happy ending for the hero Antonio and his friend Bassanio and the triumph of the good over the evil testify the play as such.Portias celever defence at the court saves A from being killed by the malicious bond set by Shylock the Jewish usurer for borrowing his money.That is :if A fails to pay back the sum and interest on a set date,the jew may demand one pound of flesh cut from his breast.A and the newly-wed B and P win the case, whereas Shylock loss all his wealth and is forced to give up his own religion to become a christian.3) Tell the story of Hamlet,and discuss why Hamlet delays in taking revenge.It is a revenge story ,in which Hamlet ,the Prince of Denmark,is called by the ghost of his father to revenge his death on his widow,Hamlets mather. The story is not complicated,but owing to the hesitation of Hamlet in revenge ,several innocent people get killed.Chapter 44) how is Shakespeares literary career usually divided and what are the main achievements of each period?Hie literary career is usually divided into 3 periods.In the 1st period(15901600),his career mainly history plays and comedies.Altogether 22 plays were written in this period,of which we should know at least 5 histories Richard 3,Henry 4,Part 1 and 2,Henry 5 and Juliys Caesar four comedies:A mid-summer nights dream.,Much Ado about nothing,As you like it and the twelfth night.one problem play :The Merchant of Venice,and one tragedy:Romeo and Juliet.The 2nd period is the one of great tragedies,namely Hamlet,Othello,Macbeth and King Lear.In the last period,SB wrote 4 dramatic romances of which The Winters tale and The Tempest are better known to the world.Chapter51、what historical elements caused the English bourgeois revolution and why is it also called the puritan revolution？with the fast growth of business and trade，gradually the bourgeois class no longer needed the protection of the king/queen.the monarchy who still represented the interests of feudal lords stood in the way of further development of capitalism. king Charles I was forced to summon the parliament in 1640,it was called the Long Parliament which leaded the Bourgeois Revolution, accusing the king of tyranny and demanding more freedom of trade and commerce.the civil war broke out in 1642.in 1649,charles I was sentenced to be executed by the High Court of Justice.For most of the bourgeois class were puritans and they got support from the great masses of poor peasants and townspeople?2、make some comments on the epic poem paradise lost？Paradise Lost Genre: epic in blank verse. Based on Genesis story and imitate Homers style.Theme：Fall of man，It claims to be intended to assert eternal Providence and justify the ways of God to man. Actually, the true purpose is to praise the rebellious spirit of Satan against the tyrannical God and expresses the humanist pursuit for happiness, the Renaissance spirit.This demonstrates the contradictions inside him as a Puritan and Revolutionist.Style: Poetic style with long and involved sentences with an oratorical and elaborately logical effect.Latinate, with frequent use of inversion.Allusion to classic works.Analogy：Satan sitting on his throne：ParliamentThe triangular relationship between Satan, Sin and Death: Holy Trinity in HeavenGod: the restored monarchGarden of Eden: Paradise3、in what way does samsons last heroic deed remind us of Miltons last phrase of life？ Samsons failure and imprisonment stand for the fallen Puritan cause, his resolute and brave deed mirrors Miltons fighting spirit, and his victorious death expresses Miltons belief that the revolutionary goals will eventually triumph.Chapter 61,Tell the unique features of the “metaphysical poetry”.(1)Conceits: Donnes famous analogy of parting lovers to a drawing compass affords a prime example. These conceits offer brilliant and multiple insights into the subject of the metaphor and help give rise to the much-praised ambiguity of Donnes lyrics.(2)Wit: Wit lashes through his prose and poetic works; wit kindles his edifices, conceits and subjects; wit also helps build up tensions and movements in his poems.(3)Imagery: Erudite, fanciful and homely, Donnes images reveal the width of intellectual explorations and give his poems a texture so different from the florid and diffuse Elizabethan poetry.(4)Dramatic and conversational style: Most of Donnes poems employ a central speaker who takes effort to argue, to persuade, to analyse or to confess. His voice resembles that of stage characters in the sense that the messages are conveyed in conversations.2. Choose one poem by metaphysical poets and discuss it as well as you can. Take the flea for example, it is a short poem about a young couple making love, the man asked his mistress not to kill a flea.Comment: Donnes comparison is very peculiar, extraordinary and very extravagant. A flea and the love relation of man and woman are absolutely unrelated things. However metaphysical poets are fond of using such unthought-of comparisons. He is particularly good at mixing up the secular and the sacred, even to the extent of profanity, in order to shock the reader and to give some depth to his poem,Chapter 71、 Why is Dryden called “father of English literary criticism”? what are his literary views presented in of dramatic poesies?Dryden shows a certain preference for the English drama and a patriotic enthusiasm in defending the innovative achievements of English playwrights. He has shown foresight and good taste in his evaluation, therefore, he is called “father of English literary criticism” and of dramatic poesie has since been considered an important document in literary criticism of England.At first, Dryden emphasizes the importance of following the Neoclassical model of French dramatists. Soon, Neander shows his partiality toward English drama, praising Shakespeare, Ben Jonson and some other English playwrights.2、 What kind of a writer is john bunyan?John Bunyan was a pious puritan, his father was a tinker, he was a orphaned with little education. He was imprisoned twice for religious matters. He fight