《美国文学史选读》复习思考题答案

1、美国文学史选读复习思考题答案I. Write out the authors names of the following works. (15Benjamin Franklin T. S. EliotJames Cooper Walt WhitmanJames Baldwell Ernest HemingwayJoseph Heller John SteinbeckWilliam Faulkner Mark TwainWashingtonIrving Ernest HemingwayRobert Frost Toni MorrisonRalph Ellison Eugene ONeillJo

2、hn Steinbeck Allan PoeF. Scott Fitzgerald Tennessee Williams WashingtonIrving Robert FrostNathaniel Hawthorne Herman MelvilleEugene ONeill Mark TwainWilliam Faulkner Robert FrostArthur Miller James CooperH. D. Thoreau Henry JamesWhitman Jack LondonJack London ONeillII. Define the following literary

3、terms. (20Beat generation:The term was coined by Jack Kerouac in 1948 to refer to a group of disillusioned writers following World War Two. Later, this literary and cultural movement continued into the 1960s. The Beat Generation must not be confused with the Lost Generation of writers. Spokesmen and

4、 representatives of the Beat Generation were Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and others. They revolted against an America that was materialistic, belligerent andfrustrating. Social, intellectual and sexual freedom was advocated. Traditional culture and normal social behavior were attacked and violated.

5、 Many of them were drug addicts wearing long hair and dirty clothes. They were fond of slangs and jazz. Masterpieces created by writers of this group include Kerouacs On the Road and Ginsbergs Howl and Other Poems, which were regarded as pocket Bibles of that generation. Other prominent Beats includ

6、e William S. Burroughs, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Gregory Corso, Michael McClure, and Neal Cassady. The Beat Generation, had greatly influenced the countercultural movements of the 1960s and the adolescents and adults in other countries. In England, the “angry young men” made an echo and imitated the A

7、merican “beatnik.”Protagonist: the principal character in a play or story。 the central character who serves as a focus for the works t hemes and incidents and as the principal rationale for its development。 and one who is opposed to the antagonist. In the beginning of ancient Greek drama, there were

8、 only a chorus and one actorthe leader of the chorus. Thespis invented the first actor. Then Aeschylus and Sophocles added the second and third actors to the tragedy respectively. The three actors were names Protagonist, Deuteragonist and Tritagonist. In discussions of modern literature, the protago

9、nist is sometimes referred to as the hero or anti-hero.Biography:an account of a persons life written by somebody else, or biographical writing as a form of literature.Novel: Generally speaking, it is an imaginative prose narrative of extended length dealing with fictional characters and events. The

10、 constituent elements of a novel include plot, character, conflict, and setting. But there can be exceptions. Some novels are short. Some novels are not fictional. Some novels are in verse. And some novels do not even tell a story. There have been many debates over the appropriate length of a novel.

11、 No established length for a novel has been agreed upon. It is generally held, however, that a full-length novel is longer than a novella or short novel, and a short novel is longer than a shot story. A novel should be long enough so as to appear in print in an independent volume. The great length o

12、f a novel makes it possible for the characters and themes in it to be developed more fully and subtly.Antihero: a main character in a story, novel, play or film who behaves in a completely different way from what people expect a hero to do. A non-hero is without the qualities and features of a tradi

13、tional or old-fashioned hero. He is doomed to fail. Antiheroes of early days were Don Quixote,Macbeth, Rip Van Winkle, and Tristram Shandy. Examples of antiheroes in modern literature include Leopold Bloom, Jim Dixon, Jimmy Porter, Herzog, and Yassarian.Free verse:a form of poetry without rhyme, met

14、er, regular line length, and regular stanzaic structure. It depends on nat ural speech for rhythm. Robert Frost compared it to “playing tennis with the net down.” Though much simpler and less restrictive than conventional poetry and blank verse, free verse does no mean “formlessness.” T. S. Eliot on

15、ce said that “no verse is free for the man who wants to do a good job.” Though its origin is unknown, it was attempted by such early poets as Surrey, Milton, Blake, and Macpherson. It was Whitman who did the greatest contribution to the development and popularity of free verse. Whitman favored the s

16、implicity and freedom of expression. According to him, “The art of art, the glory of expression and the sunshine of light of letters is simplicity. Noting is better than simplicity.”Drama: a form of literature written for actors to perform. A drama is divided into acts. An act can be subdivided into

17、 scenes. The constituent elements of a drama include dialogue, plot, characters, setting, stage direction, and others. A drama can be as long as three parts called trilogy, or as short as one act only. Greek drama originated in religious ceremonial in honor of Dionysus. Medieval drama developed out

18、of rites celebrating the life events of Jesus Christ. Dramatists of great importance in literary history include Sophocles, Shakespeare, Ibsen, and Shaw. In America, the firs important dramatist was Eugene ONeill who wrote the first serious plays. Before ONeill, America had theatre. Starting from ON

19、eill, it began to have drama.Jazz age: Jazz is a form of dance music that is derived from early Afro-American folk music, ragtime, and Negro blues. It is marked with exciting rhythm, pronounced syncopation, and constant improvisation. The musical instruments used are mainly drums, trumpets, and saxo

20、phones. Major composers of Jazz music include Irvin Berlin and W. C. Handy. The term Jazz Age was specifically employed by Fitzgerald to denote the 1920s, which was characterized by the loss of traditional moral standards, indulgence in romantic yearnings, and great social excitement. According to M

21、alcolm Cowley, the Jazz Age was “a legend of glitter, of recklessness, and of talent in such profusion that it was sown broadcast like wild oats.” F. Scott Fitzgeralds Tales of the Jazz Age, like Mark Twains The Gilded Age, was an epoch-making work.Autobiography: a story a writer writes about his or

22、 her own life experiences. It is narrated from the first-person point of view. The term was probably first used by Southey. But the first importantautobiography was Confessions written by Augustine of Hippo. Other examples inc lude Franklins Autobiography, Adamss The Education of Henry Adams, John S

23、tuart Mills Autobiography, Carlyles Reminiscences, Henry David Thoreaus Walden, and so on. Sometimes, an autobiography can be fictionalized. An example of this kind is Rousseaus Confessions. Some novels and long poems are used for autobiography. Joyces A Portrait of the Artistas a Young Man, Whitman

24、s “Song of Myself” and Wordsworths The Prelude fall in this category. Dickenss David Copperfield, Lawrences Sons and Lovers and ONeills LongDays Journey intoNight have strong autobiographical elements in them.Blank verse: poetry that does not rhyme but has iambic pentameter lines. Though not origina

25、ted in England or America, it has been the most important and most widely used English verse form. Blank verse is popular because it is closest to the rhythm of daily English speech. Thus most English poems which are dramatic, reflective or narrative are in the form of blank verse. This verse was pr

26、obably first used in England by Surrey who translated Aeneid, by Sackville and Norton who composed Gorboduc. It was developed and perfected by Marlowe, Shakespeare and Milton. In the 18th century, most poets favored heroic couplets. But Young and Thomson were able to write in the tradition of blank

27、verse. The 19th century saw a renewed interest in this poetic form. Masters of blank verse included Wordsworth, Coleridge and Bryant. The fact that blank verse is still practiced by writers like T.S. Eliot, Yeats, Frost and Stevens shows how influential and favorable it really is.Black humor:a term

28、frequently used in modern literary criticism. It is sometimes called black comedy or tragic farce. It is humor or laughter resulting from great pain, despair, horror and the absurdity of human existence. Black humor is a common quality of modern anti-novels and anti-dramas. Examples are Franz Kafkas

29、 stories like “Metamorphosis”, “The Castle” and “The Trial”, Joseph Hellers novel Catch-22and Albees The Zoo Story.Other writers who did much contribution to the popularity of black humor were Beckett, Camus, Ionesco, Vonnegut, Pynchon and so on.Head rhyme: the use in verse or prose of several words

30、 close together which all begin with the same letter. It is done for special musical effect comparable to the effects of end rhyme. In most cases, alliteration is the repetition of identical initial consonant sounds. Examples are Popes “Forfools rush in where angels fear to tread,” Poes “The weary,

31、wayworn wanderer bore,” and Coleridges “Five miles meandering with a mazy motion.” Alliteration of initial vowels is quite limited in number. An example of vowel alliteration is “It is impossible to enjoy idling thoroughly unless one has plenty of work to do.”Surprise Ending:Also called “O. Henry en

32、ding,” it is a completely unexpected turn or revelation of events at the conclusion of a story or play. An example is “The Necklace” by Guy de Maupassant. Another instance is O. Henrys story “The Gift of the Magi.”III. Give brief answers to the following questions. (151.Who is the father of American

33、 literature? (Consult your book2.Who is the father of American poetry? (Consult your book3.What is Poes theory concerning poetry? (Consult your book4.What is Poes theory concerning the short story? (Consult your book5.What are the major characteristics of Twains writing style? (Consult your book6.Wh

34、at are the major characteristics of Irvings writing style? (Consult your book7.What is “black humor? (Consult your book8.What is the Harlem Renaissance? (Consult your book9.What is the New England Renaissance? (Consult your book10.What are the major characteristics of colonial American literature? (

35、See your book11.What is the Lost Generation? (Consult your book12.What are Benjamin Franklins contributions to American culture? (See your book13.Why is colonial American literature neither American nor literary? (See your book14.What is the Jazz Age? (Consult your book15.What is American transcende

36、ntalism? (Consult your book16.What is imagism? (Consult your book17.What is O. Henry Ending? (Consult your book18.What is free verse? (Consult your bookIV. Read the following poem and try to understand and explain it.(20FogTHE FOG comesOn little cat feet.It sits lookingOver harbor and cityOn silent haunchesAnd then moves on(An imagist poem by Car