selectedreading.docx

1、selectedreading一.The Canterbury Tales1. Heroic couplet: A heroic couplet is a traditional form for English poetry, commonly used for epic and narrative poetry; it refers to poems constructed from a sequence of rhyming pairs of iambic pentameter lines. Geoffrey Chaucer was the first to make extensive

2、 use of it. The heroic couplet became the principal metre used in drama about the mid-17th century, and the form was perfected by John Dryden and Alexander Pope in the late 17th and early 18th centuries. 2. Pilgrimage: In the Middle Ages the Church encouraged people to make pilgrimages to special ho

3、ly places called shrines. A pilgrimage is essentially a journey to a holy place, typically a shrine, and the purposes of going on a pilgrimage are many and varied. It was believed that if you prayed at these shrines you might be forgiven for your sins and have more chance of going to heaven. Others

4、went to shrines hoping to be cured from an illness they were suffering from. The most popular shrine in England was the tomb of Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral. 3. The General Prologue: What is the setting of the story? Who is the “holy blisful martyr and why is he of interest to the pilgrims?

5、 How many pilgrims are there? Who is the narrator? Where do they stay and where are they heading for? When the narrator has “time and space”, what is he going to do? In what order does the narrator introduce the pilgrims? What is the character of the Knight? The narrator opens the General Prologue w

6、ith a description of the return of spring. He describes the April rains, the burgeoning flowers and leaves, and the chirping birds. Around this time of year, the narrator says, people begin to feel the desire to go on a pilgrimage. Many devout English pilgrims set off to visit shrines in distant hol

7、y lands, but even more choose to travel to Canterbury to visit the relics of Saint Thomas Becket in Canterbury Cathedral, where they thank the martyr for having helped them when they were in need. The narrator tells us that as he prepared to go on such a pilgrimage, staying at a tavern in Southwark

8、called the Tabard Inn, a great company of twenty-nine travelers entered. The travelers were a diverse group who, like the narrator, were on their way to Canterbury. They happily agreed to let him join them. That night, the group slept at the Tabard, and woke up early the next morning to set off on t

9、heir journey. Before continuing the tale, the narrator declares his intent to list and describe each of the members of the group. Pilgrims traveled to visit the remains of Saint Thomas Becket, archbishop of Canterbury, who was murdered in 1170 by knights of King Henry II. Soon after his death, he be

10、came the most popular saint in England. In line 20, the narrator abandons his unfocused, all-knowing point of view, identifying himself as an actual person for the first time by inserting the first person“I”as he relates how he met the group of pilgrims while staying at the Tabard Inn. He emphasizes

11、 that this group, which he encountered by accident, was itself formed quite by chance. He then shifts into the first-person plural, referring to the pilgrims as “we” beginning in line 29, asserting his status as a member of the group. The narrator ends the introductory portion of his prologue by not

12、ing that he has “tyme and space” to tell his narrative according to their profession and degree. 二. Hamlet1. Story a. Where does the story happen? b. Who are the major characters? c. How does Hamlet know the murder? d. What actions does he take? e. Whom does he kill when he was talking with his moth

13、er? f. Who goes mad and is drowned in a stream? g. How many people were killed in the duel? 1. its: it is2. the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune: the fatal attacks of cruel destiny3. by opposing end them: end them by opposing4. No more: no more suffering5. that flesh is heir to: the human bod

14、y must suffer from6. consummation；a completion of ones life7. perchance: possibly8. ay: yes9. rub: obstacle10. mortal coil: trouble of mortal life 11.respect: regard, consideration12. that makes calamity of so long life：that makes the longevity of a man a great misfortune 13. the whips and scorns of

15、 time: the miserable things of this world14. contumely: insult 15. spurn: insults16. patient merit of th unworthy takes: the people of praiseworthy take (the insults ) from the unworthy.17. Might his quietus make: might make an end of his life, might free himself from all the troubles of life. Quiet

16、us: final settlement of all accounts17. Bare bodkin: mere dagger18. fardels: burdens 19. grunt: groan20. The undiscovered country: the unknown place where we go after death21. conscience: consciousness, meditation22. The native hue of resolution: the natural color of resolution, a color red as blood

17、23. sicklied oer: cover with a sickly color24. The pale cast: the pale look25. thought: anxiety, melancholy26. with this regard: because of this27. pitch: (or pith in another version) importance, height28. lose the name of action: lose the honor that derived from action, to be frustrated哈姆雷特： 生存还是毁灭

18、，这是一个值得考虑的问题；默然忍受命运的暴虐的毒箭，或是挺身反抗人世的无涯的苦难，通过斗争把它们扫清，这两种行为，哪一种更高贵？死了；睡着了；什么都完了；要是在这一种睡眠之中，我们心头的创痛，以及其他无数血肉之躯所不能避免的打击，都可以从此消失，那正是我们求之不得的结局。 死了；睡着了；睡着了也许还会做梦；嗯，阻碍就在这儿：因为当我们摆脱了这一具朽腐的皮囊以后，在那死的睡眠里，究竟将要做些什么梦，那不能不使我们踌躇顾虑。人们甘心久困于患难之中，也就是为了这个缘故；谁愿意忍受人世的鞭挞和讥嘲、压迫者的凌辱、傲慢者的冷眼、被轻蔑的爱情的惨痛、法律的迁延、官吏的横暴和费尽辛勤所换来的小人的鄙视，要是

19、他只要用一柄小小的刀子，就可以清算他自己的一生？ 谁愿意负着这样的重担，在烦劳的生命的压迫下呻吟流汗，倘不是因为惧怕不可知的死后，惧怕那从来不曾有一个旅人回来过的神秘之国，是它迷惑了我们的意志，使我们宁愿忍受目前的磨折，不敢向我们所不知道的痛苦飞去？这样，重重的顾虑使我们全变成了懦夫，决心的赤热的光彩，被审慎的思维盖上了一层灰色，伟大的事业在这一种考虑之下，也会逆流而退，失去了行动的意义。 3. The character of Hamlet Hamlet is a humanist, a man who is free from medieval prejudices and superst

20、itions. He has an unbounded love for the world instead of the heaven. Starting from his humanist love of man, he turns to those around his with the same eagerness. He loves good and hates evil. He cares for nothing but human worth and shows a contempt for rank and wealth. His intellectual genius is

21、outstanding. He is a close observer of men and manners. He easily sees through people. So, Hamlet is a man of genius, highly accomplished and educated, a man of far-reaching perception and sparkling wit. He is a scholar, soldier and statesman. 4. The melancholy of Hamlet The keynote of Hamlets chara

22、cter is melancholy. But his melancholy is not the negative, hair-splitting and fruitless kind. (More analysis on page 87-88) So, Hamlet is a hero of the Renaissance. His learning, wisdom, noble nature, limitation and tragedy are all representative of the humanists at the turn of the 16th and the 17t

23、h centuries. 三. Sonnet 18 1. thou: you thee: you thine: yours thy: your2. art: are3. lease: a space of time, or term for which a contract is made4. hath: has5. date: a period of time6. the eye of heaven: the sun7. (every) fair: beautiful thing or person (美人)8. fair: beauty (美貌)9. By chance or nature

24、s changing course: either by fortune or by the course of natures changes10. untrimd: stripped of its beauty11. thou owst: you own12. When in eternal lines to time thou growst: when you are in this immortal poetry, you become a part of time13. this: this sonnet我怎样能把你比做夏天？你比它更可爱也更温和：五月的娇蕾有暴风震颠，夏季的寿命很短

25、就度过。What is (are) the theme (themes) of Sonnet 18?Immortality (Eternity) and beauty 四. Of Studies1. retiring: retirement， 隐居2. discourse: 谈论3. too much at large: 不着边际4. they teach not their own use: they do not teach the way to use them.5. He had need have: he would require to have; ought to have.6.

26、 never so little: no matter how little7. receipt = recipe五. The Flea1. mark: see, look at2. That which thou deniest me: the blood which you refused to give me 3. Pampered and two: having been fed to the full4. Oh stay spare: oh stop, spare the three lives in this flea. 5. Though met: though your par

27、ents and you are reluctant, we are mixed, grudge: be not willing to6. Use make you apt to kill me: habit makes you want to kill me (because I have taken your honour) use: habit7. Findst noe: finds neither you nor me are weaker because of the killing, meaning that the killing of the flea has done no

28、harm to neither of us.8. When to me: when you agree to my proposals of love9. Just so from there: The honour which you will lose is not any bigger than your loss of life at the death of the flea. 1. Do you find the ideas in the poem strange and grotesque?2. Do you think this poem serious?3. In the p

29、oem, the womans honour is compared to the drop of blood the flea has sucked from her. What is the purpose of this comparison?六. Paradise Losta. Paradise Lost is Miltons masterpiece. It is a long epic in 12 books, written in blank verse. The stories were taken from the Old Testament. b. Theme: a revo

30、lt against Gods authority Characterization: God: a selfish despot Adam and Eves craving for knowledge embodies Miltons belief in the powers of man. Note on the theme: Milton wrote in Paradise Lost that his ambition was to justify Gods ways to man. But many of the critics say that in doing so, Milton

31、 unconsciously moved towards making Satan the hero of Paradise Lost. This takes back the theme from the poem, on which Milton started to write. c. The Image of Satan The real hero of the poem Note: The excerpt on 109 are lines 105-116 in the poem. 1. field: battlefield, it refers to “battle” here2.

32、all is not lost: not all is lost 不是一切都失败了3. That glory: 指上帝战胜撒旦获得彻底顺利的光荣。整句意为：上帝永远不可能从我这里取得 彻底顺利的光荣（因为我还要报仇）。或：这样的荣耀无论震怒还是武力都休想从我身上获取。4. Whoso late/ doubted his empire: “who” 指“上帝”，因为不久前撒旦率天神与上帝战，震撼了上帝的宝座，迫使上帝对他的统治不能不有所疑虑。empire: 指“权威，统治”5. ignominythis downfall: downfall指撒旦反对上帝，失败后被迫堕入地狱， ignominy: humiliation,为了符合五音步抑扬格，此词末位元音y省去.beneath= worse than Translation