自考英美文学选读00604考前串讲(7)

英美文学考前串讲（7）American LiteratureChapter 1 The Romantic PeriodI. Choose the right answer:1. Of all the following issues, _is definitely NOT the focus of the Romantic writers in the American literary history. A. Puritan moralityB. Human bestialityC. Noble savagesD. Divinity of manAnswer: B (P401) 2. Henry David Thoreaus work, _, has always been regarded as a masterpiece of the New England Transcendental Movement.A. WaldenB. The PioneersC. NatureD. Song of Myself Answer: A (P402) 3. Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind is a famous quote from_s writings.A. Walt WhitmanB. Henry David ThoreauC. Herman MelvilleD. Ralph Waldo EmersonAnswer: D (P402) 4. Leaves of Grass commands great attention because of its uniquely poetic embodiment of_, which are written in the founding documents of both the Revolutionary War and the American Civil War.A. the democratic idealsB. the romantic idealsC. the self-reliance spiritsD. the religious idealsAnswer: A (P447) 5. According to Whitman, the genuine participation of a poet in a common cultural effort was to behave as a supreme_.A. democratB. individualistC. romanticistD. leaderAnswer: B (P448) 6. The period before the American Civil War is generally referred to as _.A. The Naturalist PeriodB. The Modern PeriodC. The Romantic PeriodD. The Realistic PeriodAnswer: C (P399)7. In the following works, which sign the beginning of the American literature?A. The Sketch BookB. Leaves of GrassC. Leather Stocking TalesD. Adventures of Huckleberry FinnB (P399) 8. _is the author of the work The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.A. Washington IrvingB. James JoyceC. Walt WhitmanD. William Butler YeatsAnswer: A (P404)9. Washington Irvings Rip Van Winkle is famous for_.A. Rips escape into a mysteriousB. The storys German legendary source materialC. Rips seeking for happinessD. Rips 20-years sleepAnswer: D (P406) 10. Which of the following statement is not true about Washington Irving?A. Washington Irving is regarded as Father of the American short stories.B. Irvings relationship with the Old World in terms of his literary imagination can hardly be ignored considering his success both abroad and at home.C. Irvings taste was essentially progressive or radical.D. Washington Irving has always been regarded as a writer who perfected the best classic style that American literature ever produced.Answer: C (P403-406) 11. The Publication of _established Emerson as the most eloquent spokesman of New England Transcendentalism.A. NatureB. Self-RelianceC. The American ScholarD. The Over-SoulAnswer: A (P420) 12. The phrase a transparent eye-ball compares philosophical mentation of Emersons. It appears in_.A. The American ScholarB. NatureC. The over SoulD. Essays: Second SeriesAnswer: B (P423) 13. In 1837, Ralph Waldo Emerson made a speech entitled _at Harvard, which was hailed by Oliver Wendell Holmeasas :Our Intellectual Declaration of Independence.A. Self-RelianceB. Divinity School AddressC. The American ScholarD. NatureAnswer: C (P423) 14. _is the most ambivalent (有争议的) writers in the American literary history.A. Nathaniel HawthorneB. Walt WhitmanC. Ralph Waldo EmersonD. Mark TwainAnswer: A (P429) 15. There is evil in every human heart, which may remain latent, perhaps, through the whole life; but circumstances may rouse it to activity, which author of the following authors does the mention belong to_.A. Washington IrvingB. Ralph Waldo EmersonC. Nathaniel HawthorneD. Walt WhitmanAnswer: C (P431) 16. In Hawthornes novels and short stories, intellectuals usually appear as_.A. saviorsB. villainsC. commentatorsD. observersAnswer: B (P432) 17. All of the following are works by Nathaniel Hawthorne except_.A. The House of the Seven GablesB. White JacketC. The Marble FaunD. The Blithedale RomanceAnswer: B (P431) 18. Walt Whitman is radically innovative in the form of his poetry. What he prefers for his new subject is_.A. free verseB. blank verseC. lyric poemD. heroic coupletAnswer: A (P450) 19. Which of the following features cannot characterize poems by Walt Whitman?A. Lyrical and well-structuredB. Free-flowingC. Simple and rather crudeD. Conversational and casualAnswer: A (P450-451) 20. The horizons edge, the flying sea-crow, the fragrance of salt marsh and shore mud. These became part of that child who went forth every day, and who now goes, and will always go forth every day. The two lines are taken from_.A. There Was a Child Went Forth by Walt WhitmanB. In a Station of the Metro by Ezra PoundC. Cavalry Crossing a Ford by Walt WhitmanD. Ulysses by Joyce Answer: A (P454) 21. Moby Dick is regarded as the first American_.A. Prose epicB. Comic epicC. Dramatic fictionD. Poetic fictionAnswer: A (P460) 22. The giant Moby Dick may symbolize all EXCEPT_.A. mystery of the universeB. sin of the whaleC. power of the great NatureD. evil of the worldAnswer: B (P461) 23. Which of the following comments on the writings by Herman Melville is not true?A. Bartleby, the Scrivener is a short story.B. Benito Cereno is a novella.C. The Confidence-Man has something to do with the sea and sailors.D. Moby-Dick is regarded as the first American prose epic.Answer: C (P459-460) 24. The Transcendentalists believe that, first, nature is ennobling, and second, the individual is_, therefore, self-reliant.A. insignificantB. vicious by natureC. divineD. forward-lookingAnswer: C (P402) II. Read the quoted part and answer the questions:1. Time grew worse and worse with Rip Van Winkle as years of matrimony rolled on: a tart temper mellows with age, and a sharp tongue is the only edge tool that grows keener by constant use. For a long while he used to perpetual club of the sages, philosophers, and other idle personages of the village. Questions: 1) Please identify the author and the title of the work.2) Whats the meaning of this passage?参考答案:1) This is an excerpt from Rip Van Winkle by Washington Irving. (P408) 2) With his wifes dominance at home, the situation became harder and harder for Rip Van Winkle. His wifes temper became worse and she scolded him for more often. He had to stay in the club with idle people. (P407) 附:Question: Please describe the changes Rip Van Winkle experienced.Answer: 1) Rip Van Winkle was the hero in Irvings works. He was a good-natured man, a henpecked (惧内的，妻管严的) husband.2) Because his wifes shrewish (泼妇一样的) treatment, Rip had to escape from his home to the little inn in the village. When it failed to give him some restful air, he had to go hunting in the high mountain, where Rip met a stranger, and the man asked Rip to carry keg for him. Then Rip reached the place in the valley, where many strangers were playing nine-pins. Later Rip got drunk after drinking the liquor, which made him sleep for 20 years.3) Rip woke up as an old man, entering the village learned that his wife had died, he got the freedom of his own,; and the American had been dependent from the control of Britain, he had changed from a subject of the King (George III) into a citizen of the independent new U.S.2. I celebrated myself, and sing myself,And what I assume you shall assume,For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to youQuestions: 1) Please identify the author and the title of the poem that had used when published. 2) What is the theme of this poem?参考答案:1) In the 1856, the title was Poem of Walt Whitman, an American, then it became Walt Whitman in 1860, until 1881, it finally became Song of Myself. The author is Walt Whitman. (P456-457)2) In this poem Whitman sets forth two principle beliefs: A. The theory of universality (普遍性), which is illustrated by lengthy catalogues of people and things;B. The belief in the singularity (个别性) and equality(平等性) of all beings in value. (P457) 3. Standing on the bare ground, -my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space, -all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eye-ball. I am nothing. I see all. Questions: 1) Please identify the author and the title of the work.2) Please briefly interpret this passage.3). What rhetorical device of transparent eye-ball.4) Emerson said he want to become a transparent eye-ball, what king idea did he want to express?参考答案:1) This selection is from Nature by Emerson. (P427) 2) In the essay Emerson clearly expresses the main principles of his Transcendentalist pursuit and his love for nature. Emerson develops his concept of Over-Soul Or Universal Mind. Last but not the leas, it affirms the divinity of the human beings. (P423) 3) It used the device of metaphor. (P423) 4) He wanted to tell us: Nature can purify (净化) our quality and let us get comfort. (P243) III. Questions and answers:1. The Romantic Period was called The American Renaissance. Discuss the background of the Romantic Period, and compare it with the Romanticism of Britain.Answer:1) The two Romanticism both stress the imaginative and emotional qualities of literature;2) They all pay attention to psychic states of the characters and exalt the individual and common man;3) American Romanticism revealed unique characteristics: (difference) American authors describe their native land, especially the spirit of the pioneering into the west, the desire for an escape from society and a return to nature; American writers use local dialect in language; Puritanism has great influence over American Romantics; Calvinism of original sin is obvious in their works; Transcendentalism is very important theory in American Romanticism; The important setting in American Romanticism are: the early puritan settlement; the confrontation with the Indians; the frontiersmens life; the wild west; imagination. (P399402)2. Analyze the themes and characteristic of Hawthorne. Answer: Hawthorne was a man with inquiring imagination, meditative mind and dark vision to life.His themes in writing are: 1) Man was born with evil and sin, one source of them is over-reaching intellect, whose image was always villain; (Chllingworth e.g.)2) Hawthorne was influenced greatly by Puritanism, while he criticized it bitterly;3) He believed Calvinistic ideas, thinking man was depraved and corrupted; they should obey God for saving the spirits;4) He concerned the moral life of man and human history;5) He was keen on the description of mans development of psychology. (P432433)3. Explain the theory of Transcendentalism, then list its important author and works.Answer:Transcendentalism is a very important theory in American Romanticism, its main ideas are:1) Man has the capacity of knowing truth intuitively, or the ability of getting knowledge transcending the senses;2) Nature is ennobling and individual is divine, therefore, man should be self-reliant.3) Man is divine/holy and perfectible and man can trust himself to decide what is right and act accordingly; (but to Hawthorne and Melville man is a sinner);4) Universe is over-soul -a symbol of the spirit, God or the universe, there is an emotional communication between an individual soul and the universal over-soul -unity of Nature.5) The important authors are: Emerson (The American Scholar) and Thoreau. 6) Nature, Emersons works, is called the unofficial manifesto for the club. (P421P422)4. Hawthorne was a master in using symbol and allegory; cite some example to analyze it.Answer:1) Allegorically, Young Goodman Brown becomes an Everyman called Brown, who will be aged in one night by an evil adventure, and the evilness makes everyone a fallen idol in the world.2) In the angle of Symbol: Brown look up to the Heaven and resist the wicked one symbols Brown has the force to resist the evilness of the Nature and he still has the faith to God; but he is alone in the forest symbols the society is the place full of sins and evilness, Browns strength is not enough at all; then after returning, he lives a dismal and gloomy life symbols he has been crushed down by the social evilness and lost his belief in goodness and piety. (P434435)5. Washington Irving was called Father of the American short stories and the American Goldsmith. What characteristics did he have?Answer:1) He was nostalgic author, and he always juxtaposing the Old and the New world;2) He remained a conservative an