美国文学题库.docx

1、美国文学题库PART TWO: AMERICAN LITERATUREChapter 2 The Realistic PeriodI. Choose the right answer:1. Emily Dickinson was sometimes curious about the feeling of speech of death and in one of her poems she wrote about the_of death, the title of the poem is I heard a Fly buzz when I died. A. moment B. suffer

2、ing C. happiness D. meaningAnswer: A (P518) 2. Theodore Dreiser belonged to the school of literary _which emphasized heredity and environment as important deterministic forces shaping individualized characters who were presented in special and detailed circumstances.A. naturalism B. realism C. deter

3、minism D. humanismAnswer: A (P524) 3. More than five hundred poems that Dickinson wrote are about nature, in which her general _about the relationship between man and nature is well expressed.A. skepticism B. eulogy C. happiness D. denialAnswer: A (P518) 4. This is my letter to the World is a poem e

4、xpressing Emily Dickinsons _about her communication with the outside world.A. happinessB. angerC. Anxiety D. sorrowAnswer: C (P520) 5. Though secluded herself in her own house, Emily Dickinson was never really indifferent of the outside world, as could be seen in her poems such as I like to see it l

5、ap the Miles, which describes a(n) _, an embodiment of modern civilization.A. snake B. animal C. the road D. trainAnswer: D (P521) 6. After The Adventure of Tom Sawyer, Twain gives a literary independence to Toms buddy Huck in a book called_, and the book from which all modern American literature co

6、mes.A. Life on the Mississippi River B. The Gilded Age C. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn D. The Sun Also RisesAnswer: C (P479-480) 7. Winterbourne is used as a _in Henry Jamess Daisy Miller.A. Protagonist B. Narrator of the events C. A character of central consciousness D. PersonaAnswer: C (P499) 8.

7、 Emily Dickinsons verse is most aptly characterized as _.A. exposing the evils of the society B. paving the way for the following generation of free verse poetsC. sharing the same poetic conventions as Walt Whitman D. exhibiting sensitiveness to the symbolic implications of experience, such as love,

8、 death, immortality and etc.Answer: D (P518) 9. The author of The Portrait of a Lady is best at_.A. probing into the unsearched secret part of human lifeB. a truthful delineation of the motives, the impulses, the principles that shape the lives of actual men and women.C. a dramatizing the collisions

9、 between two very different cultural systems on an international sceneD. disclosing the social injustices and evils of a civilized society after the Civil War.Answer: C (P496) 10. The period ranging from 1865 to 1914 has been referred to as _.A. the Age of Realism B. the Age of Modernism C. the Age

10、of Romanticism D. the Age of ColonicalismAnswer: A (P471) 11. Who exerts the simple most important influence on literary naturalism? A. Emerson B. Jack London C. Theodore Dreiser D. DarwinAnswer: D (P475) 12. One of the most familiar themes in American naturalism is the theme of human _.A. bestialit

11、y B. goodness C. compassion D. greedAnswer: A (P476) 13. _is considered by H.L. Mencken as the true father of our national literature.A. Hemingway B. Poe C. Irving D. TwainAnswer: D (P477) 14. Mark Twain wrote most of his literary works with a _language.A. grand B. pompous C. simple D. vernacularAns

12、wer: D (P481) 15. Henry Jamess fame generally rests upon his novels and stories with_.A. international theme B. national theme C. European theme D. Regional themeAnswer: A (P497) 16. In the following writers, who is generally regarded as the forerunner of the 20th century Stream-of-consciousness nov

13、els and the founder of psychological realism_.A. Henry James B. Mark Twain C. Emily Dickenson D. Theodore DreiserAnswer: A (P498) 17. In Henry James Daisy Miller, the author tries to portray the young woman as an embodiment of _.A. the corruption of the newly rich B. the free spirit of the New World

14、 C. the decline of aristocracy D. the force of conventionAnswer: B (P499) 18. Which of the following is NOT a usual subject of poetic expression of Emily Dickinsons?A. War and peace B. Love and marriage C. Life and death D. ReligionAnswer: A (P517) 19. The following titles are all related to the sub

15、ject that escapes from the society and returns to nature except_.A. Dreisers Sister Carrie B. Coppers Leather-Stocking Tales C. Thoreaus Walden D. Mark Twains The Adventures of Huckleberry FinnAnswer: A (P401 / P526)20. The greatest work written by Theodore Dreiser is_.A. Sister Carrie B. An America

16、n Tragedy C. The Financier D. The TitanAnswer: B (P525) 21. Closely related to Emily Dickinsons religious poetry are her poems concerning _.A. Childhood B. Youth and happiness C. Loneliness D. Death and immortalityAnswer: D (518)22. With Howells, James, and Mark Twain active on the literary scene, _

17、became the major trend in American literature in the seventies and eighties of the 19th century.A. sentimentalism B. romanticism C. realism D. naturalismAnswer: C (P474) II. Read the quoted part and answer the questions: 1. It was a close place. I took it up, and held it in my hand. I was a tremblin

18、g, because Id got to decide, forever, betwixt tow things, and I knowed it. I studied a minute, sort of holding my breath, and then says to my self: All right, then, Ill go to hell-and tore it up.It was awful thoughts, and awful words, but they was said. And I let them stay said; and never though no

19、more about reforming.1) Who was the I, which book was the passage taken from? And by whom? 2) Why did he think it was awful thought? Analyze it.3) Analyze the characteristic of the hero.Answer:1) The character is Huckleberry Finn, the passage is taken from Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twai

20、n. (P489) 2) It is the climax of the Hucks inner struggle on the Mississippi, when Huck is conflicting whether or not he should write a letter to tell Miss Watson where Jim is, and he is polarizing/contradicting by the two opposing forces between his heart and his head, between his affection for Jim

21、 and the laws of the society against those who help slaves escape. Hucks final decision -to follow his own good hearted moral impulse rather than conventional village morality. During his thinking Huck thinks of the consequence of helping Jim (the runaway slave), he might go to hell, it was awful th

22、ought, with the eventual victory of his moral conscience over his social awareness, Huck grows. (P480) 3) Huck is an innocent and reluctant rebel, a typical American Boy with a sound heart and deformed conscience. Through the eyes of Huck, the Pre-Civil War American society is fully exposed and we a

23、re deeply impressed by Mark Twains thematic contrasts between innocence and experience, nature and culture, wildness and civilization. (P483) 2. I should think it might be arranged, Winterbourne was thus emboldened to reply. Couldnt you get some one to stay-for the afternoon-with Randolph?Miss Mille

24、r looked at him a moment; and then with all serenity, I wish youd stay with him! she said.Questions:1) Please identify the work and the author.2) Please analyze the character of Daisy Miller in literature.参考答案:1) It is taken from Henry Jamess Daisy Miller. (P513) 2) She is the American Girl in Europ

25、e, a celebrated type who embodies the spirit of the New World. However, innocence, the keynote of her character, turns out to be an admiring but a dangerous quality and her defiance of social taboos in the Old World finally brings her to a disaster in the clash between two different cultures. (P499-

26、500) 3. We passed the School, where Children stroveAt Recess-in the Ring-We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain-We passed the Setting Sun-”Questions: 1) Please identify the poem and the poet;2) What does the School, the Fields of Gazing Grain and the Setting Sun stands for?Answers:1) The lines are fro

27、m Because I could not stop fro Death, Emily Dickinson. (P523) 2) It stands for three stages of life: the School-youth; the Fields of Gazing Grain-mature period; the Setting Sun-end of life. (P523)4. The Eyes around-had wrung them dry-And breaths were gathering firmFor that last Onset-when the KingBe

28、 witnessed-in the Room-Questions:1) What is the meaning of the first line? 2) What does the King refer to? 3) What idea does the poem from which this stanza is taken express?Answers:1) It means the relatives and friends had cried and cried so that there were no tears any more. (P521) 2) The King ref

29、ers to the God of death. (P521) 3) The poem expresses that the author even imagined her own death, the loss of her own body, and the journey of her soul to the unknown. (P518) III. Questions and answers:1. What are the main ideas of Realists of America?Answer:The harsh life and disillusion from the

30、dark memories of the Civil War made the nation dislike the romance, the new generation of writers came up with new inspirations:1) They were interested in the realities of life. It aimed at the interpretation of the actuality of any aspect of life;2) Peoples attention was now directed the interestin

31、g features/things of everyday existence/things -something brutal, sordid/mean, class struggle etc.3) The authors introduced common people such as: industrial workers and farmers, ambitious businessmen, vagrants, prostitutes/street girls, and unheroic soldiers in fiction;4) American writers displayed native trends in portrayal of the landscape ad social surface realistically;5) They formed perfect vernacular style in language;6) Some authors explored and exploited/used the literar