美国文学思考题.docx

1、美国文学思考题Basic Literary KnowledgeI. Literary Terms 1. Short story: A fictional prose tale of no specified length, but too short to be published as a volume on its own. A short story will normally concentrate on a single event with only one or two characters, more economically than a novels sustained e

2、xploration of social background. The short story flourished in the magazines of the 19th and early 20th centuries, especially in the USA. 2. Plot: Plot is the first and most obvious quality of a story. Plot is what happens in a story. Unlike life, which is random and unpredictable, the story will us

3、ually be shaped by a chain of events, one leading inevitably to another in a line of rising action to a moment of crisisthe climax. 3. Nonfiction: It refers to any prose narrative that tells about things as they actually happen or that presents factual information about something. Autobiography and

4、biography are among the major forms of nonfiction. The purpose of this kind writing is to give a presumably accurate accounting of a persons life. Essays are also common forms of nonfiction. Other kinds of nonfiction include the stories, editorials, and letters to the editor found in newspapers, as

5、well as diaries, journals and travel literature. 4. Imagery: It is the representation in poetry of sensory experiences. It is a device by which poets appeal to our senses. Although we usually think with words, many of our thoughts come to us as pictures or imagined sensations in our minds. Such imag

6、ined pictures or sensations are called images. 5. Character: Characters are the persons presented in a dramatic or narrative work. In order to have a full understanding of a characters moral, dispositional and emotional qualities, the readers need to interpret what they say and what they do. 6. Surr

7、ealism: It is a literary and art movement influenced by Freudianism, dedicated to expressing the imagination as revealed in dreams, free of the conscious control of reason and convention. In literature, surrealism was confined almost exclusively to France, and was based on the associations and impli

8、cations of words. Surrealism was a major intellectual force between the wars. 7. Theatre of absurdity: It is a term used to identify a body of plays written primarily in France from the mid-1940s through the 1950s. the plays usually employ illogical situations, unconventional dialogues, and minimal

9、plots to express the apparent absurdity of human existence. The leading figures of the movement are Irish-born playwright Samuel Beckett and the French playwright Eugen Ionesco. 8. Deconstruction: it is the method of analyzing literature that seeks to uncover multiple layers of meaning, including th

10、e authors intentions and other meanings that are based on how the same language, images, or ideas have been used before. The leading figure is the French philosopher Jacques Derrida.II. Fill in the blanks.1. American achievements in the short story have demanded international respect and admiration

11、for more than a century and a half. The first successful American short stories came from Washington Irving in the early 19th century.2. Edgar Allan Poe is generally thought of as the true beginner of the short stories because he was the first writer who formulated a poetics of the short stories.3.

12、In the 20th century, there have been many who have won fame abroad as well as in the US for their short stories: Sherwood Anderson, Hemingway Faulkner, Anna Porter, and dozens of others.4. As you read from writer to writer, from Washington Irvings Rip Van Winkle to OConnners A Good Man is Hard to Fi

13、nd, you will see the coming of a short story age, growing from an entertaining tale into a story which probes deep into human souls.5. Modern literary fiction has been dominated by two forms: the short story and the novel.6. Washington Irving, the Father of American Literature, developed the short s

14、tory as a genre in American literature.7. Allan Poe is usually acknowledged as the originator of detective stories. He is also credited with developing many of the standard features of detective fiction.III. Multiple choice1. Edgar Allan Poe wrote poems which are marvels of beauty and craftsmanship,

15、 such as _.A. I Hear America Singing B. The RavenC. To a waterfowl D. The fall of the House of Usher2. The common thread throughout American literature has been the emphasis on the_.A. revolutionism B. reasonC. individualism D. rationalism3. In American literature, the 18th century was the Age of th

16、e Enlightenment, _ was the dominant spirit.A. humanism B. rationalismC. revolution D. evolution4. Who was considered the “Poet of American Revolution”?A. Michael Wigglesworth B. Edward TaylorC. Anne Bradstreet D. Philip Freneau5. Thomas Jeffersons attitude, that is, a firm belief in progress, and th

17、e pursuit of happiness, is typical of the period we now call_.A. Age of Evolution B. Age of ReasonC. Age of Romanticism D. Age of Regionalism6. Mark Twain created, in _, a masterpiece of American realism that is also one of the great books of world literature.A. Huckleberry Finn B. Tom SawyerC. The

18、Man That Corrupted Hadleybury D. The Gilded Age7. The pessimism and deterministic ideas of naturalism pervaded the works of such American writers as_.A. Mark Twain B. Scott FitzgeraldC. Walt Whitman D. Stephen Crane8. Although realism and naturalism were products of the 19th century, their final tri

19、umph came in the 20th century, with the popular and critical successes of such writers as Edwin Arlington, William Cather, Robert Frost, William Faulkner and_.A. Edgar Allan Poe B. Sherwood AndersonC. Washington Irving D. Ralph Ellison9. American literature produced only one female poet during the 1

20、9th century. She was_.A. Anne Bradstreet B. Jane AustenC. Emily Dickinson D. Harried Beecher10. With Howells, James and Mark Twain active on the scene, _ became the major trend in the seventies and eighties of the 19th century.A. sentimentalism B. romanticismC. realism D. naturalism11. Choose from t

21、he following writers a staunch advocate of the 19th century American realism.A. Mark Twain B. Washington IrvingC. Stephen Crane D. Jack London12. Which writer has naturalist tendency?A. Frank Norris B. William Dean HowellsC. Theodore Dreiser D. Both A and C13. Early in the 20th century, _ published

22、works that would change the nature of American poetry.A. Ezra Pound B. T.S. EliotC. Robert Frost D. Both A and B14. The Imagist writers followed three principles. They respectively are direct treatment, economy of expression and _.A. local color B. ironyC. clear rhythm D. blank verse15. _, one of th

23、e essays in The Sacred Wood, is the earliest statement of T.S. Eliots aesthetics, which provided a useful instrument for modern criticism.A. Sweeny Agonistes B. Tradition and Individual TalentC. A Primer of Modern Heresy D. Gerention16. T.S Eliot used a form, that is, the orchestration of related th

24、emes in successive movements, in such works as _.A. The Waste Land B. A Rose for EmilyC. The Scarlet Letter D. The Egg17. T.S. Eliots first major poem (1917)_, has been called the first masterpieces of modernism in English.A. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock B. The Waste LandC. Four Quartets D. P

25、relude18. The three poets Ezra Pound, T.S. Eliot and _ opened the way to modern poetry.A. O. Henry B. Henry David ThoreauC. E.E. Cummings D. Robert Frost19. In 1954, _ was awarded the Nobel prize for literature fro his “mastery of the art of modern narration”.A. T.S Eliot B. Earnest HemingwayC. John

26、 Steinbeck D. William Faulkner20. William Faulkner is one of the most important southern writers in the United States. _, As I Lay Dying, Light in August, and Absalom, Absalom! are works that ambitious critics tend to admire.A. The Sound and the Fury B. The Invisible ManC. A Good Man is Hard to Find

27、 D. The Wrath of the GrapesIV. Questions and answers.1. How do you understand Mark twains use of local color in his writing?Mark Twains narratives are distinguished for his use of local color. This may be defined as the careful attention to details of the physical scene and to those mannerisms in sp

28、eech, dress, or behavior peculiar to a geographical locality. He insisted that the job of the native novelists was to depict each of the countrys regions and people accurately. Only in this way could the peculiarity of American experience, the polyglot tongues of its people, and the vastness of the

29、continent be captured. He mainly exploited the possibilities of the local color in the Mississippi region.2. Discuss the concept of wasteland in relation to the works of those writers in the 20th century American literature.The Waste Land is a poem written by T.S. Eliot on the theme of the sterility

30、 and chaos of th3 contemporary world. This most widely known expression of the despair in the postwar era has appeared over and over again in the works of those writers in the 2oth century American literature. Faulkner exemplified T.S. Eliots concept of modern society as a wasteland is a dramatic wa

31、y, he condemned the mechanized, industrialized society that has dehumanized man by forcing him to cultivate false values and decrease those essential human values such as courage, fortitude, honesty and goodness. Fitzgerald sought to portray a spiritual wasteland of the jazz age. Beneath the masks o

32、f relaxation and joviality, there was only sterility, meaningless and futility amid the grandeur and extravagance, there was a hint of decadence and moral decay. Hemingway, the leading spokesman of the Lost Generation, though disillusioned in the postwar period, strove to bring about mans “grace under pressure”. He tried to bring out the idea than man can be physically destroyed but never defeated spiritually.3. Analyze Walt Whitmans