英美文学欣赏考题整理及答案

part one： english poetry1. william shakespearesonnet 18?why does the poet compare thee to a summers day? and who couldthee be?because summer s day and thee both represent beauty . thee could be beauty, love.?what picture have you got of english summer, and could you explain why?warm,beautiful,sunshine.becausesummeris the bestseasonof a year ,the most beautiful season. it is like our may.?how does the poet answer the question he puts forth in the first line?thee is more beautiful than summer.?what makes the poet think that“thou ”can be more fair than summer and immortal?because humanism is more eternal than summer and immortal.?what figures of speech are used in this poem?simile, metaphor, personification, oxymoron and so on .?what is the theme of the poem?love conquers all, beauty lives on.2. thomas nashespring?read the poem carefully, pay attention to those image- bearing words,andseehowmanyimagesthepoetcreatedin thepoemandwhat精品资料sense impressions you can get from those images.there is“blooms each thing, maids dance in a ring, the pretty birds do sing, the palm and may make country houses gay, lambs frisk and play,the shepherds pipe all day, and we hear aye birds tune this merry lay, the fields breathe sweet, the daisies kiss our feet, young lovers meet,old wives a-sunning sit, in every street these tunes bur ears do greet!”the“young lovers meet, old wives a-sunning sit，”impressions me most because of the harmony of the peoples relationship.?can you point out and explain the sound and their musical effect in the poem?in the poem,each sectionhas four lines,each line has ten syllables ( five tone step ) . in order to give the reader a spring breeze , streams , flowers, winding, songxin textureof soundandlightflavor,naixi greater uses english word s , z , f , v , r , l , and consonants means.in naixis poem, the use of phonological is also very harmonious, verysmooth , very mellow. section i of the poetry has three pairs ing , sectionii of the poemhasthree pairs ei andthe thirdquarter has three pairs i : .3. john donnea valediction: forbidding mourning?what is a“valediction ”any way? is the speaker in the poem about to die? why does the speaker forbid mourning?no, it is about the loversseparation. as the poem metaphors, the poetbelieved he and his wifes love is sacred, he didnt hope they cry when separationcomes,lettheirlovebestainedbytheordinaryand mundane.?2. explain the metaphors in the poem.in the first verse, the poet used virtuous men s death metaphor for lovers separation, in the third verse he used “moving of the earth ”and “trepidation of the spheres ”metaphor for lovers separation and the result of separation, in the last three verse he used stiff twincompasses two legs metaphor for poet himself and his wife. all these metaphors show poet opinion that he will separate from his wife inpeace, their love is a scared love, when they away from each other, they will not be hurt by the pain of the separation. he and his wife willnot really separate. they care about each other and listen to the otherone s heart, their trust and loyalty makes their love perfect like the circle made by a twin compasses.4. william blakethe tiger?what is the symbolic meaning of the tiger?thesymbolofthetigerisunclearwhatitexactlysymbolizes,but scholarshavehypothesizedthatthetigercouldbeinspiration,the divine, artistic creation, history, the sublime, or vision itself.the list is almost infinite. the point is, the tiger is important, and blakes poembarely limits the possibilities. here are two major symbolisms:the tiger is the embodiment of gods power in creation. the tiger shows the force of french revolution.?what paradox can you find in the poem?did he who made the lamb make thee? it challenges the one-track religious views of the 18s century. the view only concluded that god create the lame, he is so kind a father. but it didnt know god also create the tough tiger. he can also be very serious. the god is someone whocan t be truly understood by human beings.5. robert burnsa red, red rose?how dose the narrator in the love song express his love?in stanza1, the narrator presentstwo similes,thefirst comparing his love to a rose and the second comparing his love to a melody.in stanza 2, the narrator addresses the young lady as bonnie. in the lastlineofthestanza,hepresentshyperbole,afigureofspeechthat exaggerates.in stanza 3, the man promises eternal love for her.in stanza 4, the poet vows to love her however far he may go.?why is this poem so touching to the readers?because this poem professes the poets true love for his beloved girl, and uses the mentioned above to touch the readers.6. william wordsw orthi wandered lonely as a cloud?what does the poet see?he sees some daffodils.?what is the poet s mood before he sees the daffodils?vacant and pensive.?what is the poet s mood after he sees the daffodils?he is very pleasant.?how does the magical change occur?those daffodils show a fantastic picture to the poet, and the poet has been deeply affected by the scene, and his mood changes.?what is the theme of the poem? or what does the poet want to tell you?it shows the beauty of nature, and the natures beauty uplifts the human spirit, and the harmony between human and nature.7. robert browningmy last duchess?1. in this poem, who and on what occasion is speaking to whom?the duke is the speaker of the poem, and tells us he is entertaining an emissarywhohascometonegotiatetheduke smarriage(hehas recently been widowed) to the daughter of another powerful family.?what sort of person is the dukes last duchess?she is kind, easy-going, innocent and lively.?and what became of her in the end?she became very upset and worrying. the duchess died under suspicious circumstances on april 21, 1561, just two years after he married her. she may have been poisoned.?2. what sort of person is the duke?heisoutrageouslyarrogant,narrow-minded,selfish,hypocritical, cold-blooded, crucial, greedy and treacherous.8. walt whitmano captain! my captain!?q:walt whitman s poem “o captain! my captain!”is written in the form of an allegory. what is the overall connotative meaning in the poem?a: ship s implied meaning is america; my captainimplied meaning is abraham lincoln who leaded america to triumph in american civil warthen;ourfearfultrip simpliedmeaningisamericancivilwarafter which lincoln was assassinated. in this poem author spoken highly of lincoln contribution and expressed his sorrow for lincolndeath.9. emily dickinson(1)success is counted sweetest (67)?accordingto thepoem,whocanunderstandsuccessmost?do youagree or not with the poets view that“success is counted sweetest by those who ne er succeed ”?the person who best understands the meaning of success is the person who fails?whatsortof feelingsdoesthe poetshowtowardthe victorandthedefeated?the poet shows her awareness of the complicated truths of human desire. success can be comprehended by someone who need it; the defeated, dying man understand victory more clearly than the victoriousarmy does.(2)because i could not stop for death (712)?how many people are there in the carriage? and where are they going right now?there are three in the carriage, the poet, death, and immortality.?where did they pass? what can these places remind us of?they passed the school, the fields of gazing grain, the setting sun. it reminds us of childhood, maturity and old age, the children are evident symbols of the beginning of things, the grain rip of the adulthood, and thesun setting of the rest of the days.?what is the poet s attitude toward death and life implied in the poem?the poet s attitude is that death is nothing to be forced since it is natural part of the endless cycle of nature, its only the beginning ;to die is to go on anotherjourney,althoughdeathtakesoneawayfromthe earthyworld ;there is still something to look forward to when one dies, death means eternity.10. robert froststopping by woods on a snowy evening?why did the speaker stop?literally he was fascinated by the beautiful night scene and stoped his horse to watch the woods fill up with the snow,it was also a little break for the long travel. but in fact,its symbolism,the woods stands for thenature,thevillagestandsfor the humanworld,horsefor the animalworld. the poem represents a moment of relaxation from the burdensome journey of life, an almost aesthetic enjoyment and appreciation of natural beauty which is wholesome and restorative against the chaotic existence of modern man.?why did he later decide to go?as the last sentence said but i have promises to keep,and miles to go before i sleep.hishorseshakethe bell to ask if theyshouldgo,whichis actuallyasymbol of vitality, urges him to go. he lives in the real life, and he has his own obligation promise to keep,he hasnt achieve it, so he must go on his trip,leave the beautiful scene.though the scene is so amazing,he has to have the real life. though the real life is so hard,he must back to it,and reach his goal. one leaves no regrets after he dies, as long as one has reached his goal.?what is your understanding of“promises to keep ”?“the promise ”could be an obligation or a goal. one cannot die before fulfilling one s dream. the poet uses“sleep ”to represent death, just as we usually do. people have their own dream or goal,its also the duty forus to finish, we live for ourselves and we make life wonderful by keeping on reaching our goal,no regrets leaves as long as we have reached our goals.11. ezra poundin a station of the metropart two: english fiction12. jonathan swiftgulliver s travelsin this chapter, swift describes the smallness of the lilliputians. whatdoesthis“smallness ”implyin theauthor s satireofthearistocratic bourgeois society of the time?key: the lilliput scene depicted in the first volume of the novel is a microcosm of the british empire. the perennial endless struggle between uk tories and whigs and external war are essentially just politicians intrigue in the section has nothing to do with the national economy and the peoples livelihood. the “smallness ”imply thatwhatis the causeof thecivilstrife andwar betweenlilliputandtheneighbouring empire of blefuscu? what is the target of the author s satire?(1) key: the parties are divided as high-heeled party and low-heeled party according to the height of the heel. the relationship between parties is irreconcilable; neighboring countries not only want to conquer and enslavethe other, but also argue about trifles such as which head we should knock when we will eat eggs .(2) key: the author uses irony and innuendo tactics to reflect the british social contradictionsamongfirsthalfofthe18thcentury,tocriticizethebritish parliamentary politics and reactionary religious forces, to expose the corruptionand evil of the ruling clique, and to criticize the hazards of a war of aggressionand colonialism.13jane austenpride and prejudice1. do you agree with the statement“it is truth universally acknowledged that a singleman in possessionof a good fortunemustbe in wantof a wife ”? what is the relationship between money and marriage?key: (1)i agree with this statement.in my view, a bachelor who has lots of moneyis supposedto havea wifeto companyhim.the amountof money demonstrates the ability of a person. the beauties and the wits should come together.(2) first, the relationship between marriage and money is very close; we can say that the money is the basis of marriage. this is just from the materialconditions of life. however, the amount of money cant measure the quality ofmarriage. a determinant of marriage is the couples feelings, and if the lack of the feelings, life is not a happy marriage even though has more money.2. what do you think of mrs. bennet? how can you characterize her?key: (1)mrs. bennet - a foolish, noisy woman whose only goal in life is to seeher daughtersmarried.becauseof her low breedingandoften unbecoming behavior, mrs. bennet often repels the very suitors whom she tries to attract for her daughters.(2) mrs. bennet is a miraculously tiresome character, who is noisy and foolish. and mrs. bennet is totally obedient and submissive in her marriage.mrs.bennetisa self-centeredwomanwiththeattitudethatwhatisgoodenough for her is good enough for her children.14. emily bronte wuthering heights1. what is the main plot of the whole novel? what causes the tragic ending of the love between heathcliff and catherine? would it have been possible, under the circumstances, for the victimized lovers to find a way out?key: novel s theme is vengeance. katherines character flaws is the rootcauses of the tragedy, heathcliff to lost love human distortion conducted a series of revenge activities, the capitalist society for the generation of tragedy provides fertile soil.if heathcliff get marry with katherine, theyll behappiness.2. is heathcliff s revenge upon the earnshaw and linton families justifiable?what is the authors attitude toward heathcliff, judging from the final futility of the revenge?key: for the vengeance of the people is right .but its wrong in law.its love, but heathcliff s love is crazy.15. kate chopinthe story of an hour?what kind of character is louise mallard?key: mrs. mallard is a sympathetic character with strength and insight.?what are the themes of this short story?key: its mainly about the awakening of feminine awareness and the fruitless struggle of women for freedom in a man-centered world. it is about marriage bondages and celibacy freedom.?what do“heart trouble ”and “the open window ”symbolize?key: (1) heart trouble symbolizes(2) the open window symbolizes16. earnest hemingwayhills like white elephants?1. whatis a “white elephant”accordingto thedictionarydefinition?what does a“white elephant ”symbolize in the story?(1) key:a: a property requiringmuch care and expenseand yieldinglittle profitb : an object no longer of value to its owner but of value to others c : something of little or no value(2) key: the woman is pregnant, and the white elephant is a hint of the body of the women. the fact that the two. this matter becomes a heavy burden for the two people.?2. list the evidence that tells what kind of operation jig is confronting.how risky is it physically and emotionally?(1) evidence:1. its really an awfully simple operation, jig, the man said. its not really an operation at all.2. i know you wouldnt mind it, jig. its really not anything. its just to let the air in.3. they just let the air in and then its all perfectly natural.4. i know we will. yon dont have to be afraid. ive known lots of people that have done it.5. but i know its perfectly simple.(2) key:1. do affect her health, result that the body is badly weakened and be reduced immunity in the aspect of physical.?3. has jig made up her mind to do the operation?key: thequestionaboutwhetherto do an abortion,thearticlecomesastop suddenly at the end. so we cant make sure whether jig has made upher mind to do the operation.?4. if the operation is something already decided on, then what upsetsjig? what is the real conflict between the couple?key: (1)she worries that she could not get happiness as before with theman. she upsets that he would leave her for ever.(2) the real conflict between the couple is that whether the man likesthe women from the deep heart and their attitudes towards life.?5. what kind of girl is jig? how is their relation like? does the americanlove jig?2. do be frustrated, empty and depressed mood which leads to that she can not be quiet in the aspect of emotion.key: (1) she is restless and confused and longing for the deeper love from the man.(2) there could be many situations: first, a married man compels his lover to have a abortion; second, as a bachelor, he worries the baby would make his life be complex and so on.(3) because of the various situations, we could not make an accurate conclusionthatthemanlovesjig.however,onsomedegreethe man loves the woman by analyzing the conversation between them.?6. what is hemingways style?key: hemingway s style is laconic. the characteristic is reflected in that when writing, he is very clear what kind of content could pit one against ten.itisbothanimmediatesituationandalsocontainingotherdeeper meanings, which can be informed in the way of exploring something by the readers.17. william faulknera rose for emily?1. what is the meaning of the title?key: a rose is a funeralflower. it s author s tribute to emily, and also to south, emily is the symbol. and it has an ironic meaning to this story.?2. what kind of woman is miss emily?key: she is embodiment of south, the old and traditional, also obstinate, resists to change anything ,a determined ， di