英国文学名词解释及课后答案

名词解释Renaissance: The Renaissance indicates a revival of classical (Greek and Roman) arts and sciences in Europe beginning in the 14th century and extending to the 17th century, marking the transition from the medieval to the modern world.Sonnet: A fourteen-line lyric poem, usually written in rhymed iambic pentameter andmostofteninoneofthetworhymeschemes:theItalian(orPetrarchan)orShakespearean(orEnglish).A sonnet is a 14-line poem with a specific rhyme scheme and meter .It has two main forms :the shakespearean sonnet and the Italian sonnet.Shakespeare Sonnet: a lyric with three quatrains and one couplet, rhyming ababcdcdefefgg, consisting of 14 lines, usually in iambic pentameter restricted to a definition rhyme scheme.A Shakespearean sonnet consists of fourteen lines written in iambic pentameter, in which a pattern of an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed syllable is repeated five times. The rhyme scheme in a Shakespearean sonnet is a-b-a-b, c-d-c-d, e-f-e-f, g-g; the last two lines are a rhyming couplet.Enlightenment: the movement was a furtherance of the Renaissance of the 15th and 16th centries, a progressive intellectual movement, reason (rationality), equality & science (the 18th century)The Age of Enlightenment (also called the Age of Reason) refers to the 18th_ century England.The Enlightenment was a progressive intellectual movement.It celebrated reason (rationality), equality, science and human beings ability to perfect themselves and their society and it aimed to enlighten the whole world with the light of modern ,philosophical and artistic ideas.Romanticism: it flourished in literature, philosophy, music, and art in Western culture during most if the nineteenth century, beginning as a revolt against classicism. In it, emotion over reason, spontaneous emotion, a change from the outer world of social civilization to the inner world of the human spirit, poetry should be free from all rules, imagination, nature, commonplace.Dramatic monologue: A kind of narrative poem in which one character speaks to one or more listeners whose replies are not given in poem. The occasion is a crucial one in the speakers life, and the dramatic monologue reveals the speakers personality as well as the incident that is the subject of the poem.Aestheticism: The basic theory of the aesthetic movement- art for arts sake. The theorist of aestheticism was Walter Pater. The chief representative of the movement in England was Oscar Wilde, .Aestheticism places art above life. Stream of consciousness: The style of writing that attempts to imitate the natural flow of a characters thoughts, feelings, reflections, memories and mental images as the character experiences them. (psychol organized by William James) individual conscious experience regarded as continuously moving forward in time in an uneven flow. In creative writing the interior monologue makes use of this to reveal character and comment on life.（由威廉詹姆士创立的心理学）个人的内心体验以不平衡的方式不断流动着。创作中，内心独白技巧利用这种意识的流动揭示人物心理，点评生活。 is a narrative device used in literature to depict the multitudinous thoughts and feelings which pass through the mind.Epiphany: a sudden spiritual manifestation in which “whatness” of a common object or gesture appears radiant to the observerA suddenrevelationoftruthaboutlifeinspiredbyaseeminglytrivialincidentRealism: The attempt in literature and art to represent life as it really is, without sentimentalising or idealising it. Realistic writing often depicts the everyday life and speech of ordinary people.What, after all, makes people lose their determination to take action? Please explain in relation to the so-called hesitation of Hamlet. It is because of his conscience and over-considerations. He wants to revenge, but doesnt know how. He wants to kill his uncle, but finds it too risky. He lives in despair and wants to commit suicide. However, he knows if he dies, nobody will comfort his fathers ghost. He is in face of great dilemma. They dont know the result after their taking the action. Such as Hamlet, he doesnt know what would happen if he kills his uncle or kills himself . So Hamlet was hesitated.From this excerpt, what do you find admirable in Robinson Crusoe?He is considerate, clever, rational, practical, hardworking, cautious, persevering, creative, observant, patient, civilized, optimistic, strong-minded, careful, capable, self-reliant, energetic, courageous, amiable (kind-hearted).Do you agree with the statement “it is a truth universally acknowledged that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife”? Whats the relationship between money and marriage?I think the truth is the opposite: A single woman, especially the one not in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a (wealthy) husband. We see in Jane Austens society, eighteenth and nineteenth century, marriage is the status all the women strive to achieve, while money plays a important role in marriage. Marriage was considered to be the only way, for women in particular, to live a comfortable life, free of financial worries. In what way is the West Wind both a destroyer and a preserver?It is a destroyer of the old, decaying and valueless things, blowing over the land, drives away the dead leaves. It is the preserver as it brings life to the dead atmosphere, it spreads the seeds and they lie two inches beneath the ground and eventually sprout into seedlings. As “the trumpet of prophecy”, what does the west wind predict in physical reality? How do you understand it symbolically?The speaker begs the wind to use him as an instrument, inhabit him, distribute his ideas, or prophesy through his mouth. He hopes the wind can even help him to send his ideas all over the world, and his ideas might inspire others. The sad music that the wind will play on him will become a prophecy. If winter comes, spring will come and the revolution will see hope.Magwitch “the convict” takes the risk of being “hanged” when he comes back to London to see Pip. How do you evaluate this meeting?This meeting is of great importance for both Magwitch and Pip. For Magwitch, through this meeting he can see with his own eyes the gentleman whom he works hard for life to create out of the poor boy helps him out of trouble. And this meeting also provides a chance for Pip to discover the truth that it is the convict who has worked hard to make him a gentleman. What can you learn about the character of Pip through his conversations with the unexpected visitor?Pip is arrogant, snobbish and looks down upon the lower class. He also has a sense of sympathy. Later, he changes. After he knew the truth, he felt regretful. He is a round character .Whats the significance of Tess resting on altar in the heathen temple? 1. She is a sacrifice of social prejudice. 2. In the authors eye, she is just as pure and sacred as sacrifice on an altar. 3. Shes not accepted by the society and has been despised by the hypocritical morality. At that time shes considered as a heathen. 4. Tess considers the altar to be a comfortable place for her to stay because its just like home, and she is ready to sacrifice herself there. Comment on this sentence: Justice was done, and the President of the Immortals had ended his sport with Tess. In what sense is Tess story tragic? (1)Tess is a typical victim of the society. Poverty of the family, inhumanity, injustice and hypocrisy of the society decide her tragedy. Alec and Angle , though apparent rivals, join their forces in bringing about her final destruction. Hers is a personal tragedy; it can also be a social one.(2)The tragic fate of Tess and her family was not that of an individual family, but it was symbolic of the disintegration of the English peasantry- a process which had reached its final and tragic stage at the end of 19th centuryWhat is the significance of the title of the story?1. Araby is “a splendid bazaar” where Mangans sister recommends the boy to go. Thereafter the boys imagination seizes upon the name Araby and invests its syllables with “an Eastern enchantment” in which his “soul luxuriates”2. Araby becomes a place where his soul can find the mystical beauty lacking in his own mundane Church.3. The boy feels a summons that has symbolic over-tones of a holy crusade. But when he arrives,