考研英美文学名词解释

1、2012 卷北二外：1. Byronic heroByronic hero is a character-type found in Byrons celebrated narrative poem Childe Harolds Pilgrimage, his verse drama Manfred, and other works. He is a boldly defiant but bitterly self-tormenting outcast, proudly contemptuous of social norms but suffering for some unnamed si

2、n.2. West humorWest humor is the type of humor in the tall tales. West humor is not only of witty remark mocking at small things or of farcial elements making people laugh, but a kind of artistic style used to criticize the social injustic. West humor is best represented in Mark Twains short stories

3、, such as Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County.南开大学：1. the five-act structure of Shakespeares playsMost of his plays are in the format of 5 acts. Act 1 is the exposition, in which the dramatis personae are presented, and time and place are established. We learn about the antecedents of the sto

4、ry. Act 2 is the complications in which the course of action becomes mre complicated, the “tying of knots” takes place. Act 3 is the climax of action in which the development of conflict reaches its high point. Act 4 reversals where the consequences of Act 3 play out, momentum slows, and tension is

5、heighted by false hopes or fears. Act 5 is the catastrophe in which the conflict is resolved, whether through a catastrophe, the downfall of the hero, or through his victory and transfiguration. The format of five-act play is familiar from Shakespeares plays, and is grounded in the concepts of unity

6、 in Aristotles Poetics.2. denotation and connotationDenotation and connotation are two principal methods of describing the meanings of words. Denotation of a word is the thing in the real world the word is linked to, and it is the precise, literal definition of a word. Connotation of a word refers t

7、o the emotional meaning or associated meaning that a word may carry.3. gothic novelsGothic novel is a genre or mode of literature that combines elements of both horror and romance. Its origin is attributed to English author Horace Walpole, and his novel The Castle of Otranto. The gothic novels alway

8、s include the following elements: the setting in a castle, an atmosphere of mystery and suspense, an ancient prophecy, omens, portents, supernatural or otherwise inexplicable events, high, even overwrought emotion, women in distress or threatened by a powerful, impulsive, tyrannical male, and the me

9、tonymy of gloom and horror. The gothic novels have influenced the novel, the short story, poetry and even film making up to the present day.4. Ralph Waldo Emerson and his worksEmerson was an American essayist, lecturer, and poet, who led the Transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century. He is

10、acclaimed as one of the major writers of the mid-19th century, one of the most stimulating American minds. His writing falls into two types: essays and poetry, and his fame comes mainly from his essays. Among his best are Nature, The American Scholar and Self-Reliance. Nature has been called “the ma

11、nifesto of American transcendentalism”; The American Scholar has been regarded as “Americas Declaration of Intellectual Independence”.厦门大学：1. allegoryAllegory is a story with second distinct meaning partially hidden behind its literal meaning. The principal technique of allegory is personification,

12、whereby abstract qualities are given human shape. An allegory may be conceived as a metaphor that is extended into a structured system, as it involves a continuous parallel between two levels of meaning in a story.2. avant-garde-先锋派3. balladBallad is a folk song or orally transmitted poem telling in

13、 a direct and dramatic manner. Some ballad stories usually derived from a tragic incident in local history or legend. These stories are told simply, impersonally, and often with vivid dialogues. Appearing in many parts of Europe in the late Middle Age, ballads flourished particularly strongly in Sco

14、tland from the 15th century onward.4. Black mountain poetsThe Black mountain poets, sometimes called projectivist poets, were a group of mid- 20th century American avant-garde or postmodern poets centered on Black Mountain College. Turning away from the poetic tradition espoused by T.S.Eliot, these

15、poets emulated the free style of William Carlos Williams. Charles Olsons essay Projective Verse became their manifesto. Olson emphasized the creative process, in which the poets energy is transferred through the poem to the reader. Inherent in this new poetry was the reliance upon decidedly American

16、 conversational language.5. Bloomsbury GroupIt is a loose coterie of writers linked by friendship to the homes of Vanessa Stephen and his sister Virginia in Bloomsbury from 1906 to the late 1930s. It had no doctrine or aim, despite a shared admiration for the moral philosophy of G.EMoore, but the gr

17、oup had some importance as a centre of modernizing liberal opinion in the 1920s.6. Eco-criticismIt is the study of literature and environment from an interdisciplinary point of view, where all sciences come together to analyze the environment, and brainstorm possible solutions for the correction of

18、the contemporary environmental situation. Eco-criticism borrows methodologies and theorectically informs approaches liberally from other fields of literary, social and scientific study.A) Pecola Breedlove-from The Bluest EyeB) Frederic Henry-from A Farewell to Arms meets the beautiful Catherine Bark

19、leyC) Emma WoodhouseD) Pip-from Great ExpectationE) Yoaasrian-from Catch-22He is the protagonist of the novel. He is a captain in the Air Force and a lead bombardier in his squadron, but he hates the war. His powerful desire to live has led him to the conclusion that millions of people are trying to

20、 kill him. This insistence on self-preservation creates a conflict for him. Even though he is determined to save his own life at all costs, he nonetheless cares for the other members of his squadron and is traumatized by their deaths.F) Quentin Compson-from The Sound and the FuryHe is the oldest one

21、 in the Compsons. He feels an inordinate burden of responsibility to live up to the familys past greatness and prestige. He is a very intelligent and sensitive young man, but is paralyzed by his obsession with Caddy and his preoccupation with a very traditional Southern code of conduct and morality.

22、 When he found his own family members have disregarded the Southern code, he was driven to despondency and eventually suicided.A) The first half of the 18th century is called the Age of Pope, why?1) It is under the influence of the Enlightenment, the guiding principle of which is ration, natural rig

23、ht and equality. So the Neo-classicism not only reflects principles and concerns of the literature of ancient Greece and Rome, but also emphasizes the simple form, restrained emotion and balanced, orderly rationality.2) Popes poems fully express the essential features of English Neo-classicism, such

24、 as the control of emotion, worship of reason and adherence to the styles and aesthetic principles of ancient Greek and Roman classical art. His philosophical essays, his keen satiric and moral sensibility and his mastering of the heroic couplet make him outshoot his age and win him the position of

25、one of the greatest poets and satirists. Above all, Pope and his works best exemplify the Neo-classicism, so the first half of the 18th century is called the Age of Pope.B) Sinclair Lewis is the first American writer who got the Nobel Prize for Literature. Tell the reason.1) Lewis is well-known for

26、his masterpiece Main Street, which is a bitter criticism ofthe dullness, hypocrisy, prejudice and oppression of life in a Milddle Western village. I believe he deserves the honor for the following reasons:Lewis works hard to capture characteristic details. The pretensions of a small-townsociety, the

27、 thinness of the characters in his novel are portrayed in such a great detail that they produce photographic verisimilitude. 逼真He is the master of satire. In this novel, Lewis displays his ability to reveal theludicrousness 滑稽 of a character or the absurdity of a situation, and touched them up in ex

28、aggeration, thus turning them into effective satire.When Lewis is satirizing the smug provincial complacency, he not only emphasizeson the comic and ridiculous, but also wants to reform the America he pictured by skillfully arousing his readers sympathies for the non-conformists in a conformist soci

29、ety.北京航空航天大学：1. SymbolSymbol, in literary use, is a specially evocative kind of image, that is, a word or phrase referring to a concrete object, scene, or action which also has some further significance associated with it. The white whale in Melvilles Moby Dick is a symbol.2. TradegyTradegy is a ser

30、ious play or by extension a novel that represents the disastrous downfall of a central character. Shakespeares King Lear and Macbeth are tragedies.3. AmbiguityAmbiguiy is the openness to different interpretations, or an instance in which some use of language may be understood in diverse ways. The si

31、mplest kind of ambiguity is achieved by the use of pun.4. ParadoxParadox is a statement or experience so surprisingly self-contradictory as to provoke us into seeking another sense or context in which it would be true. Shakespeares “the truest poetry is the most feigning” is a notable literary examp

32、le of paradox.1. Hamlet seems to be delaying his revenge, why?Hamlet delayed in killing Claudius when he saw Claudius praying as he passed by the Kings chamber. If he killed Claudius when he was praying for his guilt, then he would help Claudius to enter the heaven. I think he delays because of his

33、social and political ideal. Because Hamlet engages himself in a personal revenge and at the same time attempts to set the right “time” that is “out of joint”. He is an idealist and what he wants is not a secret revenge but an open punishment to the killer.2. How do you understand the Englightenment

34、Spirit?The Englightenment is the movement of intellectual liberation that developed in Western Europe from the late 17th century to the late 18th century. It central idea is the need for human reason to clear away ancient superstition, prejudice, dogma and injustic. I think the Enlightenment spirit

35、encourages rational inquiry, humanitatian tolerance and the idea of universal human right. This spirit is found in the poems of Alexander Pope, such as Essays of Criticism and Essays on Man that upholds the principles of rationality, morality, balance, unity and order. It is also found in Henry Fiel

36、dings The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling, which gives a realistic presentation of life of the common people with flaws.国际关系学院1. tragic flaw of a characterTaking Shakespeares tragedy Othello as an example, the flaw of Othello, such as jealousy, credulity and difference, lead to the tragic killing

37、of this play. Othello is the plays protagonist, although he is not a native of Venice but rather a Moor, he is the highly respected general of Venice. His marrying with Desdemona is spite of the disapproval of her father is a beginning of the tragedy, but the fraility of Othellos character is the ma

38、in cause. First, Othello lacks self-confidence as he always considers himself as an outsider and not polished enough, we can see this from saying “I am black, and have not those soft parts of conservation that chamberers 出入闺房者 have, and maybe a little old.” This weakness is taken by Iago, who makes

39、mischief and tells Othello that Cassio had affairs with Desdemona. Though Othello is warned against jealous “O, beware, my lord, of jealousy; It is the green-eyd monster, which doth mock the meat it feeds on”, he is quite credulous and overwhelmed by jealousy, and finally he killed his wife tragical

40、ly. So we can see that Othellos tragic suffering mainly stems from the frailties in his character.2. What the omniscient point of view is with reference to one novelOmniscience point of view refers to the narrator of the fiction who has a full knowledge of the story, the motives and unspoken thought

41、s of the characters. The omniscient narrator is also capable of describing events happening stimultaneously in different places. In Jane Austens Pride and Prejudice, although the narration typically stays with Elizabeth, it occassionally offers us information that Elizabeth isnt aware of something,

42、such as Charolttes pursuit of Mr. Collins. This third omniscient point of view leads a cold dimension to the novel, which helps the readers to find neutrally the wrong judgments and flaws of both the protagonists, thus the readers can better understand how the protagonists overcome their pride and p

43、rejudice and achieve their happy marriage.3, Describe the characteristics of “the Lost Generation” with references to writers and literary works.It was applied to th disillusioned intellectuals and aesthetes of the years following the First World War, who rebelled against former ideals and values, b

44、ut replaced themonly by despair and a cynical hedonism. The simple language and the tendency of spoken language are the characters of the lost generation. The simple style is pushed to the extreme in Hemingway works, such as his A Farewell to Arms and The Old Man and the Sea. The lost generation cut

45、 themselves from the old values and lost in disillusionment and existential voids. The hollowness and hedonism in Fitzgeralds fiction The Great Gatsby best exemplify this characteristic. The lost generation writers all gained prominence in 20th century literature. Their innovations challenged assump

46、tions about writing and expression.武汉大学 20121. The American frontier and wildness plays a significant symbolic role in American literary imagination. Though the defintion of “the frontier” has developed over time to include not only the “vast and howling wilderness” of the Puritans, but also the far reaches of cyber space, the essential notion of unexplored territory-of fresh starts and wide open spaces-has always occupied a central place in the American cultural and literary imagination.James Cooper depicted the wor