英国文学选读要点.doc

英国文学选读学习要点（1）- 文学常识 标签： 英国文学选读 要点 文学常识 分类： 英国文学选读课程 2008-10-21 23:29文学常识部分： 1. Poetry is the most compressed form of literature.2. Poetry is composed of carefully chosen words expressing great depth of meaning. 3. Poetry uses specific devices such as connotation, sound, and rhythm to express the appropriate combination of meaning and emotion. 4. Lyrical poetry presents the deep feelings and emotions of the poet as opposed to poetry that tells a story or presents a witty observation.5. Shakespeare writes his sonnets in the popular English form of three quatrains and a couplet. 6. Soliloquy in drama a speech, often of some length, in which a character, alone on the stage, expresses his thoughts and feelings. 7. Plot is known as the “series of related events”. 8. There are five parts to a plot: introduction, rising action, climax, falling action, resolution9. Climax is the turning point of the story. 10. Conflict describes the struggle between two characters or forces.11. The purpose of the short storys title is to inform readers of story content, to indicate main idea, to create curiosity12. Symbol is an object or idea that has its own meaning and represents something else as well.13. Theme is the main idea or authors opinion about life expressed in a piece of literature.14. One character is clearly central to the story with all major events having some importance to this character - he/she is the protagonist. The opposer of the main character is called the antagonist.15. Characterization is the techniques writers use to create and develop characters.16. Point of View is the relationship between the narrator and the story (who is telling the story).17. A writer tells his story from a different point of view - narration. There are 3 points of view when telling a story: First person: The narrator I; Omniscient: All-knowing narrator; Limited Omniscient: (third person)18. Setting is the time and place of the story.英国文学选读要点（2） - 诗人及其作品解读 标签： 英国文学选读 要点 诗人及 作品 解读 分类： 英国文学选读课程 2008-10-21 23:361. Introduction of William Shakespeare Significancel the greatest English poet and dramatistl certainly the most important playwright of the English Renaissance l Likely the most influential writer in all of English literature Theme of Sonnet 18His sonnet 18 expresses that beautiful things can rely on the force of literature to reach eternity.Analysis of the poeml The first two quatrains focus on the fair lords beauty: the poet attempts to compare it to a summers day, but shows that there can be no such comparison, since the fair lords timeless beauty far surpasses that of the fleeting, inconstant season. l Summer - summer as a metaphor for youth, or perhaps beauty, or perhaps the beauty of youth.l What does “eternal lines” mean in the last but one stanza? l Whats the rhyme of Shakespearean Sonnet? Questions 1 in page 14：The speaker opens the poem with a question addressed to the beloved: Shall I compare thee to a summers day? The next eleven lines are devoted to such a comparison. l In line 2, the speaker stipulates what mainly differentiates the young man from the summers day: he is more lovely and more temperate. l The poet describes summer as a season of extremes and disappointments. Summers days tend toward extremes: they are shaken by rough winds; In them, the sun (the eye of heaven) often shines too hot, or too dim. And summer is fleeting: its date is too short, and it leads to the withering of autumn, as every fair from fair sometime declines. l The final quatrain of the sonnet tells how the beloved differs from the summer in that respect: his beauty will last forever (Thy eternal summer shall not fade.) and never die. l In the couplet, the speaker explains how the beloveds beauty will accomplish this feat, and not perish because it is preserved in the poem, which will last forever; it will live as long as men can breathe or eyes can see.2. Geoffrey Chaucer （1340 - 1400）Significance| “the father of English poetry” (by John Dryden) | the founder of modern English | the founder of English realistic literature: the greatest literate before Shakespeare | He was the first to be buried in Westminster Abby, for his great contribution to the making of English and literature. Chaucers writing style|His poetry is full of vigor and swiftness.|He enriched the poetic forms for the English poetry.|He is the first people who made the London vernacular the language of his work thus make it the foundation for modern speech and establishing English as the literary language of the country.General Introduction to The Canterbury TalesSignificance| It was the last of Geoffrey Chaucers works | The Canterbury Tales is Chaucers Masterpiece and one of the monumental works in English literature.| It is one of the landmarks of English literature, perhaps the greatest work produced in Middle English | It gives us a true to life picture of his time. The work stands as a historical and sociological introduction to the life and times of the late Middle Ages An Analysis of the opening linesAs April comes, the narrator begins a pilgrimage to Canterbury from the Tabard Inn at Southwerk. Twenty-nine people make the pilgrimage toward Canterbury and the narrator describes them in turn.| These are the opening lines with which the narrator begins the General Prologue of The Canterbury Tales. The imagery in this opening passage is of springs renewal and rebirth. | After the long sleep of winter, people begin to stir, feeling the need to “goon on pilgrimages,” or to travel to a site where one worships a saints relics as a means of spiritual cleansing and renewal. An analysis of the Knight|The Knight represents the ideal of a medieval Christian man-at-arms. The Knight is first to be described in the General Prologue because socially, the Knight is by far the most prestigious person on the pilgrimage. He is the highest on the social scale, being closest to belonging to the highest estate, the aristocracy. Four main qualities of the Knight. |The first is the Knights love of ideals“chivalrie” (prowess), “trouthe” (fidelity), “honour” (reputation), “fredom” (generosity), and “curteisie” (refinement) (General Prologue, 4546). |The second is the Knights impressive military career. The Knight has fought in the Crusades, wars in which Europeans traveled by sea to non-Christian lands and attempted to convert whole cultures by the force of their swords. |The third quality the narrator remembers about the Knight is his meek, gentle, manner. |And the fourth is his “array,” or dress. The Knight wears a tunic made of coarse cloth, and his coat of mail is rust-stained, because he has recently returned from an expedition. 3. Introduction of John Donne（1572 - 1631）Significancel Founder of Metaphysical Schooll Donne was the leading exponent of a style of poetry called metaphysical poetry, which flourished in the late sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. l The most striking feature of Donnes Poetry is his frequent use of conceit.l The main themes of the metaphysical poets are love, death and religion.Oh stay, three lives in one flea spare,l spare three lives in one fleal you, I, and the fleal Holy trinity: Holy father, Holy son, and Holy spirit When we almost, nay more than maryed are. This flea is you and I, and this Our marriage bed, and marriage temple is; churchThough parents grudge, and you, ware met, And cloysterd in these living walls of Jet.l live the flea Though use make thee apt to kill me, Let not to this, selfe murder added bee, l Let self-murder not be added to thisAnd sacrilege, three sinnes in killing three.l Donnes first metaphor: three lives in one fleal second metaphor: compares the flea to a “marriage bed and marriage temple”Themes of Holy Sonnet 10 His Holy Sonnet 10 reveals his belief in life after death. Death is momentarily while happiness after death is eternal.l One short sleep past, we wake eternally, And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die. 1. What does sleep mean? Death.2. How do you understand we live eternally? Life and death are two periods. Death is the expansion of life. Shortly after our death, our soul will enter heaven and live happily forever.4. Introduction of Robert Burns（1759-1796）Significancel Scottish poet and writer of traditional Scottish folk songsl He is the national poet of Scotland. Robert Burns is representative of Scotland. He has become almost a national symbol of all things Scottish.l the greatest poet Scotland in the late 18th century has ever produced;l a remarkable lyricist on the theme of love and friendship; l a patriotic poet calling for national independence, liberty, equality and fraternity for all the people in the world ; l a peasant poet sharing his peoples feelings and drawing material form the folk legends and songs; l He was the peoples poet. He came from the people and wrote for the people.l “A Red, Red Rose” is written as a ballad with four stanzas of four lines, or quatrains eachThemes of A Red, Red Rose Theme - this is a poem of love and reassurance. Burns is leaving his love and intends to reassure her of his fidelity and love for her in his absence.5.Introduction of William Wordsworth(1770-1850) Significancel He is the third greatest poet and the greatest lyric poet in English literature. l He is the leading figure of the English Romantic poetry, and he is regareded as a “worshipper of nature”.l He was one of “lake poets”l He is a poet in memory of the past and was called prophets of nature I Wandered Lonely as a CloudForml The four six-line stanzas of this poem follow a quatrain-couplet rhyme scheme: ABABCC.l Each line is metered in iambic tetrameter. Characteristics The poem is a master piece on natureSignificance This poem typically depicts the serene beauty of nature and shows the poets respect for nature as well.ExercisesFor oft, when on my couch I lie In vacant or in pensive mood,They flash upon that inward eye Which is the bliss of solitude;And then my heart with pleasure fills,And dance with the daffodils.(1) What is the bliss of the solitude? The Daffodils the poem saw.(2) Interpret the passage.It is a bliss/happiness to recollect the beauty of nature in his mind when he is solitude/lonely.(3) Why did the poet write the poem, what did he want to express? The poem depicts/deals with the flowers that he came across along waterside, by which he expresses the quiet, sympathy, loving feeling to nature just like his words poetry is from emotion recollected in tranquility. I wandered lonely as a cloudThat floats on high oer vales and hills,When all at once I saw a crowd,A host, of golden daffodils;Beside the lake, beneath the trees,Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.Questions:(1) Interpret briefly the meaning of this stanza.Like a cloud flying over valleys and mountains, I was traveling. Suddenly to my surprise, I saw a grove of daffodils at the side of a lake. How beautiful they were, fluttering and dancing in the wind. (2) Which literary trend does this poem belong to?Romantic period5. Introduction of Percy Shelly（17921822）Genre of the PoemThe ode is a lyric poem of some length, dealing with a lofty theme in a dignified manner and originally intended to be sung. Form of the poemEach of the seven parts of Ode to the West Wind contains five stanzas-four three-line stanzas and a two-line couplet, all metered in iambic pentameter. The rhyme scheme in each part follows a pattern known as terza rima, Thus each of the seven parts of Ode to the West Wind follows this scheme: ABA BCB CDC DED EE.Summary Ode to the West Wind is one of Shelleys best known lyrics. The poet describes vividly the activities of the west wind on the earth, in the sky and on the sea, and then expresses his envy for the boundless freedom of the west wind, and his wish to be free like the wind and to scatter his words among mankind.Exercises| O wild West Wind, thou breath of Autumns being, Thou, from whose unseen presence the leaves dead Are driven, like ghosts from an enchanter fleeing, alliteration personificationQuestions: |What kind of wind does west wind refer to? Autumn wind.|What do these lines describe? The destructive power of the west wind that drives away all the old and rotten things.|Wild spirit, which art moving everywhere;Destroyer and Preserver; hear, O hear!“(1)What does the wild spirit refer to? wild spirit refers to west wind/autumn wind. (2)Why called it Destroyer and Preserver at the same time? Because west wind buries the dead leaves, the symbol of old rotten society, and also the things, thoughts, or ideas that are dead or obsolete. Meanwhile it prepares for a new spring, and preserves new life or seeds that will come to life in the spring, the symbol of a new world.(3)Identify the poet and the poem.Ode to the west wind of Percy Shelley. (terza rima) As thus with thee in prayer in my sore need.Oh! Lift me as a wave, a leaf, a cloud!I fall upon the thorns of life! I bleed!A heavy weight of hours has chained and bowedOne too like thee: tameless, and swift and proud.“A heavy weight of hours|It refers to burdens and pressures of life|moral and cultural conventions picked up by individuals in life|lessons learned from life experience| sufferings and misfortunes in life.(1)Explain I fall upon the thorns of life, I bleed“ The sentence call Shelleys desire that he couldnt best being fettered to/limited by the humdrum/too ordinary reality of everyday!(2)Can you comprehend the deep emotion contained in the poem? Whats that? In the poem, the west wind has become the poet himself, he wants to be free, proud and uncontrollable like the wild west wind, to destruct and construct with the strong power like the west wind. (3)The poet was called the the heart of all hearts, he trumpeted the radical prophecy of hope and rebirth. Please write out his classic words. If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind? If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?| This is of course a rhetorical question because spring does come after winter. |The question has a deeper meaning and does not only mean the change of seasons, but is a reference to death and rebirth as well. |It illustrates Shelleys critical attitude to the ugly society and can best express Shelleys optimistic belief in the bright future of mankind in face of the cold winter, that is the cold society, and the harsh social reality.It may mean that after the struggles and problems in life, there would always be a solution.6. Introduction of John Keats (1795-1821)Significancel The most talented of the English romantic poetsl He wrote best odes in English literaturel The last of the great Romantics l The most attractive Romantic figure because of his personal life and his poetry l A poet of great beauty l A close friend of ShelleysType of Work Type of poem: lyric poem Type of lyric poem: odeExercise 1:Thou still unravishd bride of quietness, Thou foster-child of silence and slow time,Sylvan historian, who canst thus expressA flowery tale more sweetly than our rhyme:(1)Who is the poet? The name?(2)Explain the sentence.(3)What was the theme of the poem?Answer:(1)This is the ode on a Grecian Um, which was written by the poet-John Keats. (2)The sentence means: though time has passed, the urn, the works of the art still remains, and it tells a pastoral/lyrical tale to us, and the description of the urn is much more beautiful than the words of any human. (3)The theme is: Human life is transient, but the art is immortal. Exercise 2:O Attic shape! Fair attitude! With brede As doth eternity: cold pastoral!(1)How do you understand cold pastoral (2)What device is used in the poem?(3)Explain the implication of the poem. At the end of the poem, the poet gave a famous saying, and it is also the theme of the poem, what is that?Answer:(1)Cold pastoral means the lyrical scene on the Grecian urn lacks life and warmth. (2)Contrast.(3)The poet wanted to show the permanence of the art and the transience of human passion presenting his ambivalence/opposing feelings about time and nature of beauty. The saying is Beauty is truth, truth beauty7. Introduction of Alfred TennysonSignificanceHe was the most prolific poet in the 19th-century English literature.He is the most representative Victorian poet.His wonderful works show all the qualities of Englands great poets.Poet LaureateAnalysis of the poemThe Eagle: A FragmentIn the first stanza the eagle sits perched up on some high mountain crag in some deserted area, and in the second stanza he suddenly swoops down in flight. Notice the contrast between the two stanzas: in the first the eagle is sitting still, and in the second one he is in flight.Break，Break，BreakBreak, Break, Break is a lyric poem that Alfred Tennyson (1809-1892) was believed to have completed in 1834. It centers on Tennysons grief over the death of his best friend, Arthur Hallam, a fellow poet.The fisherm