主题：英美文学串讲

28. Which of the following statement best illustrates the theme of Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18?

A.The speaker eulogizes the power of Nature.
B.The speaker satirizes human vanity.
C.The speaker praises the power of artistic creation.
D.The speaker meditates on man’s salvation.
Answer: C (P37)

II. Read the quoted part and answer the questions:
1.“For herein Fortune shows herself more kind
Than is her custom. It is still her use
To let the wretched man outlive his wealth,
To view with hollow eye and wrinkled brow
An age of poverty; from which ling’ring penance
Of such misery doth she cut me off”

1.Identify the title of the works and author.
2.Explain “from which…cut me off”.
3.What happened to him, which caused the words?

参考答案:
The lines are from “The Merchant of Venice”,
William Shakespeare. (P48)

2) This sentence means she, ’Lady Fortune(命运女神)’, is more kind to him because she is taking away both his wealth and life.

3) The speaker is Antonio, it’s said that his ship have all been lost, and he is penniless, and will have to pay the pound of flesh. (Because Shylock has made a strange bond that requires Antonio to pay him a pound of flesh if he can’t repay him the money that he borrowed for his friend in due time.) (P38)

2.“Read not to contract and confuse, not to believe and take for granted, nor to find talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider”
1)Identify the work and author.
2)What idea does the passage express?

参考答案：
1) The sentence comes from “Of Studies” written by ’Francis Bacon’. (P61)

2) The Sentence talks about the proper way to read: When you read, don’t be puzzled by the content of the book; don’t take it for granted; don’t quote too much from the book; before accepting its idea, you’d better think about its shortcomings and consider it from all sides.

3.“ Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow’st;
Nor shall death brag thou wander’st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow’st:
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

1) Where does the poem comes from? Who wrote it?
What does “eternal lines” mean?
Interpret it briefly.

参考答案：
1) The poem is “ Shall I Compare thee to a Summer’s Day”, by Shakespeare. (P38)

2) Eternal lines means the lines of the poem and other sonnets. (P38)

3) It means: you will not lose your beauty, and death will not threaten you with darkness, either. As long as man can live in the world, they will see your beauty in my lines of my poem, which has given you eternal life. (Or A nice summer’s day is usually transient, but the beauty in poetry can last for ever. (P37)

4.“… All is no lost: the unconquerable will,
And study of revenge, immortal hate,
And courage never to submit or yield:
And what is else not to be overcome?……
Irreconcilable to our grand Foe”

1) Please identify the poem and the poet.
2) Interpret“all is not lost”.
3) What does the whole passage mean?

参考答案：
1) It is taken from John Milton’s “Paradise Lost”.(P74)

2) “all is not lost” is the word from Satan----Satan and other angels rebel against God, but they are driven from Heaven into hell. In the fire of the hell, Satan is determined to fight back, just like what he says: not all is lost, the unconquerable will, the deep hatred, and the courage to fight till death still remain. (P71)

3) This passage shows Satan’s will not to submit (服从), and the desire to long for freedom; to beg God for mercy and worship his power is more shameful and disgraceful than the downfall.(P71)

5.“If he be not apt to beat over matters, let him study the lawyer’s cases. So every defect of the mind may have a special receipt.”
Questions:
3)What does “beat over matters” mean?
4)What does “receipt’ refer to?
5)From which essay does the above sentences come, what is the essay mainly about?

参考答案：
1)It means: make through examinations of things. (P63)
2)“Receipt” refers to cure, prescription. (P63)
3)The sentences are from “Of Studies” (Francis Bacon). It is the most popular of bacon’s essays. It analyzes what studies chiefly serve for, the different ways adopted by different people to pursue studies, and how studies exert influence over human character. (P60—61)

6.“What, is great Mephistophilis to passionate
For being deprived of the joys of heaven?
Learn thou of Faustus manly fortitude
And scorn those joys thou never shalt possess.
……
Say he will spare him Four and twenty years
Letting him live in all voluptuousness
Having thee ever to attend on me…

Questions:
1)Identify the passage and author;
2)“Say he surrenders up to him his soul”, who will surrender his soul? What for?
3)Who are thee? What will he do?

参考答案：
1) The passage comes from “Dr.Faustus” written by Christopher Marlowe. (P25—26)

2) Dr.Faustus will surrender his soul to devil. Because he was a great scholar who has a strong desire to ’get knowledge’ in vain, finally he ’made a bond’ to sell his soul to Devil in return for 24 years of life in which he may get anything he desires. (P22)

3) The “thee”, refers to “Mephistophilis”, the Devil’s servant.
He helped Dr.Faustus to do anything he wants. (P22)

7.“Busy old fool, unruly sun,
Why does thou thus,
Through windows and through curtains call on us?”

Questions:
6)Identify the work and author.
7)What idea does the passage express?

参考答案:
1)The passage comes from “The Sun Rising”, written by ’John Donne’. (P66)

2) The speaker questions the sun’s authority and speaks condescendingly, placing the sun in the status of a subordinate. In the lover’s kingdom, the sun has no right to dictate the time of day or the passing of seasons. His presence in their bedchamber is an intrusion on their privacy.



III. Questions and answers:
1.How do you know about Renaissance? Give a summery about English literature in the period?
(No more than 150 words)
参考答案:
1.The Renaissance refers to the period between 14th----mid-17th century. It first started in Italy.

2.The Renaissance means rebirth or revival----the discovery of ancient Roman and Greek culture.

3.In essence, The Renaissance is a historical period in which the European humanist thinkers and scholars tried to get rid of the old feudalist ideas in medieval Europe, to introduce new ideas that expressed the interests of the rising bourgeoisie/middle class, and to recover the purity of the early church from the corruption of Roman Catholic church.

4.Humanism is the essence of Renaissance -----Man is the measure of all things. The humanism exalted/praised human nature and emphasized the dignity of human beings and the present life. They thought man had the right to enjoy the beauty of life and had the ability to perfect himself and made wonders, which got ready for the appearance of the great Elizabethan writers in Britain. Poetry and drama were the most outstanding literary forms.

5.Shakespeare, Marlowe and Francis Bacon etc. were the remarkable representatives of the English Renaissance.
(可参考课本P7---12)

2. Please give a brief analysis of Hamlet’s “To be or not to be” soliloquy (独白).

参考答案:
“To be or not to be” is ’a philosophical exploration of life and death’. The soliloquy condemned the hypocrisy and treachery and general corruption of the world, and revealed the character of Hamlet---so ’speculative, questioning, contemplative and melancholy./gloomy’. It was not because he was not able to take action to revenge, but because of his ’hesitative/hesitant character’, when the chance for action came, it seemed defeat.

It can be interpreted as: Hamlet bears the heavy burden of the duty to revenge his father’s death, he is forced to live in the suspense of facts and fiction, language and action. He considers that it would be better to ’commit suicide’, but being scared of what might happen to him in the afterlife. So he put off the thing because of the sin. He considers the plan carefully only to find reason for not carrying it out. The soliloquy conveys ’the sense of world-weariness (厌世)’ . (P33-34)

3. What common features do the characters share in Marlow’s works? (No more than 150 words)

参考答案:
The creation of The Renaissance hero is one of Marlow’s contributions.
1)Such a hero is always individualistic and full of ambition, facing bravely the challenge from god and men. They had human dignity and capacity, trying to get heaven/highest ideas on the earth by their own efforts.

2)For example: Tamburlaine is a character written by Marlowe. By depicting a great hero with high ambition and sheer brutal forc4e in conquering, Marlowe voiced the supreme desire of man for infinite/ limitless power and authority. In Dr.Faustus, Marlowe celebrated the human passion for knowledge, power and happiness.

3) Tamburlaine and Dr.Faustus are typical in owning such Renaissance spirit, Tamburlaine, being a cruel conquer, found happiness in conquering other kingdom. Only death could defeat him. While Dr.Faustus, a more introspective and philosophical figure, had high spirit for knowledge but he had sin for having despair in God and trust in Devil. (P20—22)

4. What are the main themes of Shakespeare’s plays?

参考答案：
Shakespeare’s plays are divided into 3 types: comedies, tragedies and historical plays.
1) His historical plays are with the theme-----national unity under a might and just sovereign/ruler is necessary.

2)In his romantic comedies, he takes an optimistic attitude toward love friendship and youth.

3)In his tragedies, Shakespeare always portrays some noble heroes, who faces the injustice of life and is caught in a difficult situation and whose fate is closely connected with the fate of his nation. Each hero has his weakness of nature. We also see the conflict between the individual and the evil force in the society. And his major characters are always individuals representing certain types.

5. Please comment on the character of Satan in “Paradise Lost.”

参考答案：
Satan is a rebellious (叛逆的) figure against God in literature, defeated, he and his rebel angels were cast into hell. However, Satan refused to accept his failure, swearing that “all was not lost” and that he would revenge for his downfall. The freedom of the will is the keystone of Satan’s character, which was the important spirit of the rising middle class. While he tempted Adam and Eve, which proved his evilness.

6. What are the characteristics of the Humanism?

参考答案：
1)’Humanism’ is the essence of Renaissance.

2)Humanists see that human beings were glorious creatures capable of individual development in the direction of perfection, and that the world they inhabited was theirs not to despise (轻视) but to ’question, explore, and enjoy’.

3)They also believe that man did not only have the right to enjoy the beauty of this life, but had the ability to perfect himself and to perform wonders (创造奇迹). (P8)

Chapter 2 The Neoclassical Period

I. Choose the right answer:

1. ____brings Henry Fielding the name of the "Prose Homer".
A.The Pilgrim’s Progress
B.Tom Jones
C.Robison Crusoe
D.Colonel Jack
Answer: B (P122)

2. Alexander Pope worked painstakingly on his poems
and finally brought to its last perfection ______Dryden
had successfully used in his plays.
A.the heroic couplet
B.the free verse
C.the blank verse
D.the Spenserian stanza
Answer: A (P92)

3. Of all the 18th century novelists ___was the first to set out,
both in theory and practice, to write specially a "comic epic in prose."
A.Henry Fielding
B.Daniel Defoe
C.Jonathan Swift
D.John Bunyan
Answer: A (P120)

4. ____is the most successful religious allegory in the English language.
A.Genesis A
B.The Holy War
C.The Pilgrims progress
D.Exodus
Answer: C (P85)

5. In which of the following works can you find the proper names
"Lilliput", "Brobdingnag", "Houyhnhnm" and "Yahoo"?
A.The Pilgrim’s Progress
B.The Faririe Queene
C.Gulliver’s travels
D.The School of Scandel
Answer: C (P108)

6. "As shades more sweetly recommend the light,
So modest plainness sets off sprightly wit;
For works may have more wit than does’em good
As bodies perish through excess of blood."
In the above lines, Pope tries to sat that_______.
A.more wit will make better poetry
B.plainness is more important than wit in poetry
C.too much wit will destroy good poetry
D.plainness will make wit dull
Answer: C (P93-94)

7. The Rape of the Lock by Alexander Pope is written in the form
of a mock______, which describes the triviality of high society
in a grand style.
A.epic
B.elegy
C.sonnet
D.ode
Answer: A (P92)

8. Which of the following is NOT a typical feature of
Samuel Johnson’s language style?
A.His sentences are long and well structured.
B.His sentences are interwoven with parallel words.
C.He tends to use informal and colloquial words.
D.His sentences are complicated, but his thoughts are clearly expressed.
Answer: C (P132)

9. "The boast of heraldry, the pomp of power,
And all that beauty, all that wealth e’er gave,
Awaits alike the inevitable hour.
In the above quoted passage, Thomas Gray intends to say
that great family, power, beauty and wealth___________.
A.will never make people lead to the same destination----paths of glory.
B.will inevitably make people realize their glorious dreams
C.are the very best things to lead people to their glories
D.will never prevent people from reaching their final destination---grave.
Answer: D (P154)

10. ____has been regarded by some as "Father of the English novel"
for his contribution to the establishment of the form of the modern novel.
A.John Bunyan
B.Henry Fielding
C.Daniel Defoe
D.Johnathan Swift
Answer: B (P121)

11. ____was very much concerned with the theme of the vanity
of human wishes and tried to awaken men to this folly
and hoped to cure them of it through his writing.
A.Samuel Johnson
B.Jonathan Swift
C.Richard Brinsley Sheridan
D.Thomas Gray
Answer: A (P132)

12. ____was the only important dramatist of the 18th century,
in his plays, morality is the constant theme.
A.Alexander Pope
B.Richard Brinsley Sheridan
C.Samuel Johnson
D.George Bernard Shaw
Answer: B (P136)

13. As the representative of the Enlightenment, Pope was one
of the first to introduce___to England.
A.Rationalism
B.Criticism
C.Romanticism
D.Realism
Answer: A (P91)

14. The Rivals and ____are generally regarded as important links
between the masterpiece of Shakespeare and those of Bernard Shaw.
A.The School for Scandal
B.The Duenna
C.Widower’s Houses
D.The Doctor’s Dilemma
Answer: A (P137)

15. ____is a sharp satire on the moral degeneracy(道德沦丧) of the
aristocratic-bourgeois society in the 18th century England.
A.The Rivals
B.Gulliver’s Travels
C.Toms Jones
D.The School for Scandal
Answer: D (P138)

16. The poem "Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard" by Thomas Gray
is regarded as the most representative work of _____.
A.The Metaphysical School
B.The Graveyard School
C.The Gothic School
D.The Romantic School
Answer: B (P152)

17. _______, written in heroic couplet by Pope, is considered
manifesto of English Neoclassicism.
A.An Essay of Dramatic Poetry
B.An Essay on Criticism
C.The Advancing of learning
D.An Essay on Freedom
Answer: B (P93)

18. ______is a typical feature of Swift’s writings.
A.Elegant style
B.Causal narration
C.Bitter satire
D.Complicated sentence structure
Answer: C (P107)

19. In the following writings by Henry Fielding,
which brings him the name of the "Prose Homer"?
A.The Coffee---House Politician.
B.The Tragedy of Tragedies.
C.The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling.
D.The History of Amelia.
Answer: C (P120)

20. "Hold! See whether it is or not before you go to the
door----I have a particular message for you if it should be my brother."
The two sentences are found in ________.
A.The School for Scandal
B.The Rivals
C.The Critic
D.The Scheming Lieutenant
Answer: A (P139)