美国文学问题作业汇总.docx

美国文学问题作业汇总.docx

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美国文学问题作业汇总

QuestionsonWhitman’spoems

Questionson“SongofMyself”

Recalling:

1.AccordingtoLine1ofSection1,whoisthepoetcelebrating?

Whomdolines2-3alsoincludeinthecelebration?

2.WhatfactsabouthimselfdoesWhitmanrevealinlines6-9ofsection1?

Interpreting

1.DescribetherelationshipWhitmansetsupwiththereaderinthefirstsection.

2.NameasmanycharacteristicsofWhitman’s“self”asyoucan.Whichcharacteristicsseemthemostprominent?

Questionson“Beat!

Beat!

Drums!

”

Recalling

1.Whatpeopledothedrumsandbuglesdisturbineachofstanzas1,2,and3?

2.whatverbsandadjectivesareusedtodescribethesoundsofthedrumsandbugles?

Interpreting

1.Basedonthedescriptionofthedrumsandbuglesandtheeffecttheyhave,whatdotheyseemtorepresent?

Whatdoesthesimileinline2imply?

2.Arethepeopleinstanzas1and2doinganythingoutoftheordinary?

Whyisthissignificant?

3.Whymightthepeopleinstanza3bepraying,beseeching,andsoon?

Whatdothedrumsandbuglesdototheirprayersandpleas?

4.Explainhowrhythmandrepetitionreinforcethemeaningofthepoem.Inparticular,considertheeffectoflines1,8,and15.

Extending

WhatimagesotherthandrumsandbuglesmightWhitmanhaveusedtomakehispoint?

GeneralwritingtopicsonWhitman

1.WhymightWhitmanhavecalledhisvolumeofpoetryLeavesofGrass?

2.Byassociatinghimselfwiththegrass,whatdoesthepoetsuggestabouthimself?

SummarizeWhitman’sattitudetowardnature.

3.WhyisfreeverseparticularlysuitedtoWhitman’sideas?

HowdoyouthinkitrelatestoWhitman’sdemocraticprinciples?

QuestionsonDickinson’spoems

Questionson“IfeltaFuneral,inmyBrain”

Recalling

1.Wheredoesthe“Funeral”takeplace?

Whokeepstreadingtoandfro?

2.Whatkeepsbeating?

Whatdothemournerslift?

3.Accordingtostanza3,whatbeginstotollafterthemournersleave?

4.Whatbreaks,accordingtostanza5?

Whathappensthen?

Interpreting

1.Whatisthe“Service”inline6?

Whatisthe“Box”inline9?

2.Whosefuneralisthespeakerenvisioning?

Whatmightthelasttwostanzasbedescribing?

3.Comparetheimagesbeginninginline12withtheimagesofthefuneralpresentedinlines1-11.Whichgroupofimagesisclearer?

Why?

Questionson“IheardaFlybuzz—whenIdied—”

Recalling

1.Whatdoesthespeakerhearinstanza1?

Whendoesshehearit?

2.Accordingtostanza2,whatarethe“Eyes”and“Breaths”doing?

3.Accordingtostanzas3-4,whatinterposesbetweenthelightandthespeaker?

Whathappensthen?

Interpreting

1.Whatishappeningtothespeaker/whoaretheotherpeopleintheroom?

2.Whatisunusualaboutthedescriptionofthepeopleinlines5-6?

Fromwhosepintofviewaretheybeingdescribed?

3.Whyisthefly’sappearancesomewhatironic?

Whatbasicmessageaboutdeathissuggestedtothepoetbytheappearanceofthefly?

4.Whatslantrhymes—alsocalledoffrhyme,nearrhyme,approximaterhymeandimperfectrhyme—occurin“IheardaFlybuzz—whenIdied”?

Whateffectsdotheyhave?

Howaretheslantrhymesrelatedtothemeaningofeachpoem?

Questionson“BecauseIcouldnotstopforDeath—”

Recalling

1.Accordingtostanza1,whydidDeathstopforthespeaker?

WhatdidDeath’scarriagehold?

2.WhatthreethingsdidthespeakerandDeathpassinstanza3?

Wheredidtheypauseinstanza5?

3.Accordingtostanza6,howmuchtimehaspassedsincethedayofDeath’svisit?

Whatdoesthattimefeelshorterthan?

Interpreting

1.Isthespeakerinthispoemaliveordead?

Whatdayisshedescribing?

2.Whatdolines1-2suggestabouthumanbehavior?

3.Whatmightthethreethingsthespeakerpassedinstanza3represent?

4.Whatisthe“House”inthegroundinstanza5?

Isthisthespeaker’sfinaldestination?

Explain.

5.Whydoesthedaydescribedseemsolongtothespeaker?

GeneralwritingtopicsonDickinson

1.OneofDickinson’sgreatesttalentswasherabilitytofinduniversalmeaningsineverydayevents.Whydoyouthinkallgreatliteraturemustbeabletodothis?

2.ThescholarwhoeditedthedefinitivetextsofDickinson’spoems,ThomasH.Johnson,tellsus:

“EmilyDickinsonlovedwordsardently.Herfeelingaboutthemamountedtovenerationandherselectionofthemwasritualistic.”WhatevidencedoyoufindtosupportJohnson’scontention?

Whatunusualorwell-chosenwordsaddpowertothepoemsyouhaveread?

HowdoesDickinson’suseofeverydaywordshelpmakeherabstractideasmoreconcrete?

Comprehensivequestions

Generalwritingtopics

ComparingWhitmanandDickinson

1.BothWaltWhitmanandEmilyDickinsonwerepoetsofgreatoriginalityandintenseemotion.Yetintemperamentandlifestyletheywerealmostexactlyopposite.WhatdoWhitman’sandDickinson’spoemssuggestaboutthesourcesofpoeticinspiration?

Wheredotheysuggestthetrulyimaginativelifecanbefound?

Whatdoyouthinkmadethepoetryofthesewriterssofreshandoriginal?

ComparingWhitman,DickinsonandTwain

2.Whitman,Dickinson,andTwainallhelpeddevelopAmericanliteratureasasingularexpressionofAmericanlife.HowdothestylesandsubjectsofthesethreewritersdifferfromthoseoftheAmericanauthorswhoprecededthem?

WhatdoyouthinkmakesWhitman,Dickinson,andTwainsodistinctlyAmerican?

WritingtopicsonJackLondon’sMartinEdenandTheodoreDreiser’sSisterCarrie

1.Tosomeextent,boththetitlecharactersareAmericandreammakersandachievers.Pleasecompareandcontrastthemtwofromanyperspectiveyoulike,forexample,success,tragedy,morality,love,themeaningoflife,etc.

2.Tosomeextent,MartinEden,SisterCarrie,RichardCory,GatsbyareAmericandreammakersandachievers.Pleasecompareandcontrastthemtwofromanyperspectiveyoulike,forexample,success,tragedy,morality,love,themeaningoflife,etc.

WritingtopicsonThePortraitofaLady

1.Accordingtothenovel,whatdoyouthinkisJames’sviewoffemaleindependence?

WhatdoyouthinkisJames’sviewofmarriage?

Howaboutyourownunderstandingontherelationshipbetweenfemaleindependenceandmarriage?

Arethetwoissuescontradictoryornot?

2.MakeacontrastivecommentontheendingsofthetwoversionsofThePortraitofaLady—theoriginalnovelandthemovieversion.

QuestionsonEdwinArlingtonRobinson

Questionson“RichardCory”

Recalling

1.Whichlineinthepoemidentifiesthespeaker?

Whichlinestellyouabouttheeconomicconditionofthespeaker?

2.WhatisRichardCory“fromsoletocrown”?

Whateffectdoeshehavewhenhesays“GoodMorning”?

3.What,“infine,”dothepeoplethinkofRichardCory（Stanza3）?

4.Whatisthe“surprise”ending?

Interpreting

1.Howarethe“we”ofthepoemdifferentfromRichardCory?

2.Whatdo“crown”（line3）and“imperially”（line4）indicateaboutthespeaker’simpressionofRichardCory?

3.WhateffectdoesCory’sfinalactionseemtohaveoneveryoneinTilburyTown?

WhatdoesTilburyTown’sreactiontoCory’slifeanddeathsuggestabouthumanunderstanding?

Questionson“MiniverCheevy”

Recalling

1.ForwhatdoesCheevysighandmourninthefirstfivestanzas?

WhatdoesCheevycurseinthesixthstanza?

2.WhatareCheevy’sfeelingsaboutgold,accordingtotheseventhstanza?

3.TowhatdoesCheevyattributehisunhappinessinline31?

Whatdoeshekeepondoing,accordingtothelastlineofthepoem?

Interpreting

1.Whatdolines9-10revealaboutCheevy’scharacter?

Lines17-18?

Lines25-26?

2.Basically,howdoesCheevyseehimself?

Howdoweseehim?

Whatreallycauseshisunhappiness?

GeneralwritingtopicsonRobinson’s“RichardCory”and“MiniverCheevy”

1.CouldRichardCoryandMiniverCheevybefoundonlyinasmallMainetownattheturnofthecentury?

Explainyouranswer.

2.Ironyisacontrastoradifferencebetweenthewaythingsseemandthewaytheyreallyare.Inliteraturetherearethreekindsofirony.

ØVerbalironyoccurswhenwordsthatappeartobesayingonethingarereallysayingsomethingquitedifferent.

ØSituationalironyoccurswhenwhatisexpectedtohappenisnotwhatactuallycomestopass.

ØDramaticironyoccurswheneventsthatmeanonethingtothecharactersmeansomethingquitedifferenttothereader.

Ironyisoftenaccompaniedbyagrimhumor.Thereisanelementofdarkhumor,forexample,inthemistakenideasthatthetownspeoplehaveofRichardCory,whileMiniverCheevyisalmostcomicalinhishypocrisyandself-delusion.

Thinkingaboutironiesin“RichardCory”and“MiniverCheevy”

1）Howistheuseoftheadjective“calm”inthenext-to-lastlineof“RichardCory”anexampleofverbalirony?

2）Explainthesituationalironyin“RichardCory”

3）Tellwhy“MiniverCheevy”isanexampleofdramaticirony.

3.Writeabriefessaycomparingandcontrasting“RichardCory”and“MiniverCheevy”.Beginwithastatementofeachpoem’stheme.Thenshowwhatthecharactershaveincommonandhowtheydiffer.Concludebydiscussingthetoneofeachpoemandthegeneralimpressioneachleaveswiththereader.

QuestionsonEzraPound’spoems

Questionson“InaStationoftheMetro”

Recalling

1.Wheredoesthispoemtakeplace?

2.Whattwoimagesarejuxtaposed,orplacednexttoeachother,inthepoem?

Interpreting

1.Doesthepoetsupplyyouwithanyinformationabouthowyoushouldthinkorfeelaboutthepoem?

Whatdoesthepoemconsistof?

Whatmakesit“poetic”?

2.Whydoesthepoetusethewordapparitionratherthanappearance?

（considertheconnotationsofapparition.）

3.EzraPound’sowncommenton“InaStationoftheMetro”showsthepoetatwork:

ThreeyearsagoinParisIgotoutofa“metro”trainatLaCondorde,andsawsuddenlyabeautifulface,and