英美文学自考历年真题总结打印版

1、2000年4月48.William Faulkner, a Nobel Priza winner, has an important position in American literature. Name two of his Major novels. Do you know anything about"Yoknapatawpha County?" What is unique of Faulkner's fiction, historically and geographically?A.下列作品中任何两本：Soldiers'Pay, Sartor

2、is, The Sound and the Fury, As I Lay Dying, Light in August, Absalom, Absalom!, The Hamlet, The Town, The Mansion, and Intruder in the Dust. B.Yoknapatawpha County is an imagined place based on Faulkner's own hometown, a place that he took for the setting of 15 of his 19 novels and many short st

3、ories. This small region in the American South becomes in Faulkner's fiction an allegory or a parable of the Old South. C.His literary representation of the Old South; and his theme of the deterioration, loss and moral decay of the Old South when it was falling apart.50.What makes Mark Twain'

4、;s The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn more than a child's adventure story? Briefly discuss the question from THREE of the following aspects: the setting, the language, the character（s）, the theme and the style.A.Setting: In the novel Mark Twain recreates a small-town world of America and present

5、s the local color. B.Language: He uses simple, direct language faithful to the colloquial speech, the vernacular language of the local people. C.Character（s）: The author recreates two rebels and fugitives running away from civilization, especially Huckleberry Finn, an innocent boy who refuses to acc

6、ept the conventional village morality. D.Theme: The novel is a criticism of social injustice, hypocrisy, conservativeness and narrow-mindedness of the American small town society. E.Style: The novel employs a humorous style of narration and is also highly symbolic with the central symbol.2001年4月45.&

7、quot;My boy! said the old gentleman, leaning over the desk. Oliver started at the sound. He might be excused for doing so, for the words were kindly said, and strange sounds frighten one. He trembled violently, and burst into tears." (Charles Dickens, Oliver Twist) Explain why the boy Oliver Tw

8、ist started first, then trembled violently and burst into tears when the words were "kindly" said.The boy started at the words because kind words were not expected; it is (was, must be) the first time in all his life that the boy Oliver Twist had ever been "kindly" greeted; stran

9、ge sounds may predict another suffering/misfortune/torture/.) (At least one example from the text is expected to back up the above statement)47. Why are naturalists inevitably pessimistic in their view? Please discuss the above question in relation to the basic principles of literary naturalism. Ans

10、wers: A. They accept the negative implication of Darwins theory of evolution, and believe that society is a "jungle" where survival struggles go on. B. They believe that mans instinct, the environment and other social and economic forces play an overwhelming role and mans fate is "det

11、ermined" by such forces beyond his control.48."Even then he stood there, hidden wholly in that kindness which is night, while the uprising fumes filled the room. When the odor reached his nostrils, he quit his attitude and fumbled for the bed. Whats the use? he said, weakly, as he stretche

12、d himself to rest." They above is quoted from Thoedore Dreisers Sister Carrie. Briefly tell the situation that leads to the suicide and interpret Hurstwoods final words -"Whats the use?" Answers: A. Sister Carrie has made a great success. As her fame arises, she deserts her former lov

13、er Hurstwood. In a cold winter, Hurstwood makes a last attempt to seek help from Carrie, but has failed, so I desperation, he decides to kill himself by turning on the gas. B. By making that comment, Hurstwood seems to have realized that it is useless to continue to fight against fate. His fate is n

14、ot controlled by his own efforts but by some social forces too strong for him to resist, so he decides to give up.49.Daniel Defoes novel Robinson Crusoe was a great success partly because the protagonist was a real middle-class hero. Discuss Crusoe, the protagonist of the novel, as an embodiment of

15、the rising middle class virtues in the mid-eighteenth century England. A. Social background: The Eighteenth Century England witnessed the growing importance of the bourgeois or middle class. a. The Industrial Revolution b. The expansion of international markets; c. Values/virtues/moral standards/.di

16、fferent from those of the feudal aristocratic class -courageous, full of energy, hard working, practical, resourceful, self-reliant, etc; thus d. Literature should give/provide a realistic presentation of the life of the common people; it should meet the demand/interest of the middle class people. B

17、. Robinson Crusoe embodies the virtue of the middle class people. a. Crusoe as an adventurous/courageous man full of energy and courage: (example from the text): b. Crusoe as a practical man: (example from the text); c. Crusoe as a resourceful/self-reliant man: (example from the text); d. Crusoe as

18、a patient/persistent man: (example from the text); e. And others. 50.Mark Twain presented the 19th century America in his own unique way. Discuss Twains art of fiction: the setting, the language, and the characters, etc., based on his novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. A. Mark Twain uses the

19、Mississippi alley as his fictional kingdom, writing about the landscape and people, the customs and the dialects of one particular region, and is therefore known as a local colorist. B. He creates life-like characters, especially the unconventional Huckleberry Finn, who runs away from civilization a

20、nd stands opposite to conventional village morality. C. He uses a simple, direct vernacular language, totally different from any precious literary language. It is the kind of colloquial belonging to the lower class, the living local American English. D. He has created a special humor to satirize and

21、 the decayed convention.2002年4月46.Inspiration for the romantic approach initially came from two great shapers of thought.Who are the two?And what ideas they expressed inspire the romantic writers? A.The French philosopher,Jean Jacques Rousseau and the German writer Johna Wolfgan von Goethe. B.It is

22、Rousseau who established the cult of the individual and championed the freedom of the human spirit;his famous announcement was “I felt before I thought.”Goethe and his compatriots extolled the romantic spirit. 47.The white whale,Moby Dick,is the most important symbol in Melville's novel.What sym

23、bolic meaning can you draw from it? A.To Ahab,the whale is either an evil creature itself or the agent of an evil force that controls the universe,or perhaps both. B.To Ishmale,the whale is an astonishing force,an immense power,which defies rational explanation due to a sense of mystery it carries.

24、It is beautiful,but malignant at the same time. It also represents the tremendous organic vitality of the universe,for it has a life force that surges onward irresistibly, impervious to the desires or wills of men. C.As to the reader, the whale can be viewed as a symbol of the physical limits that l

25、ife imposes upon man. It may also be regarded as a symbol of nature, or an instrument of God's vengeance upon evil man. In general,the multiplicity and ambivalence of the symbolic meaning of the whale is such that it becomes a source of intense speculation, an object or profound curiosity for th

26、e reader. 49.How is Romanticism different from Neoclassicism? Provide brief evidence from the literary works you know best. A.Neoclassicists upheld that artistic ideals should be order,logic,restrained emoticon and accuracy,and that literature,should be judged in terms of its service to humanity,and

27、 thus,literary expressions should be of proportion,unity,harmony and grace.Pope's An Essay on Criticism advocates grace,wit (usually though satire/humour),and simplicity in language(and the poem itself is a demonstration of those ideals,too);Fielding's Tom Jones helped establish the form of

28、novel;Gray's “Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard' displays elegance in style,unified structure,serious tone and moral instructions. B.Romanticists tended to see the individual as the very center of all experience,including art,and thus,literary work should be “spontaneous overflow of stro

29、ng feelings,”and no matter how fragmentary those experiences were (Wordsworth's “I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud,” or “The Solitary Reaper,) or Coleridge's “Keble Khan”),the value of the work lied in the accuracy of presenting those unique feelings and particular attitudes. C.In a word, Neoclas

30、sicism emphasized rationality and form but Romanticism attached great importance to the individual's mind (emotion, imagination, temporary experience) 50.Summerize the story of Mark twain's The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn in about 100 words,and comment on the theme of the novel. A.Mark Tw

31、ain's novel The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn is a Sequa to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.The Story takes place along the Mississippi River before the Civil War in the United States, around 1850. Along the river, floats a small raft, with two people on it; One is an ignorant,uneducated black sla

32、ve named Jim and the other is little uneducated outcast white boy about the age of thirteen, called Huckleberry Finn or Huck Finn. The novel relates the story of the escape of Jim from slavery and ,more important, how Huck Finn, floating along with Jim and helping him as best he could, changes his m

33、ind ,his prejudice, about Black people, and comes to accept Jim as a man and as a close friends as well. During their journey, they experience a series of adventures:coming across two frauds, the “Duke” and the “King”,witnessing the lynching and murder of a harmless drunkard, being lost in a fog and

34、 finally Tom's coming to rescue. B. The theme of the novel may be best summed in a word “freedom”: Huck wants to escape from the bond of civilization and Jim wants to escape from the yoke of slavery. Mark Twain uses the raft's journey down the Mississippi River to express his thematic contra

35、sts between innocence and experience, nature and culture, wilderness and civilization. 2002年7月45.What are the major themes of modernist literature?46.Whats the theme of The Waste Land?47.How do you philosophically define Transcendentalism?50.Give a brief discussion of Whitmans style and language.200

36、3年4月45.In Chapter 15 of Wuthering Heights, Heath cliff said to Catherine: “Why did you betray your own, Cathy?. You loved methen what right have you to leave me?. I have not broken your heartyou have broken itand in breaking it, you have broken mine.”Taking the whole novel into consideration, do you

37、 think Heathcliffs above accusation of Catherines betrayal can be justified? If you think so, what reasons does Catherine have to betray Heathcliff and their love?A. Heathcliff' s accusation can be justified.B. The reasons of her betrayal may be :1 ) The fancy she felt for Linton, that is, she w

38、as attracted by Linton' s pleasant personality, his rich knowledge, and his elegant manners.2) Her vainglory made her desire a kind of upper-class life and social status.3) She was afraid that she might suffer poverty and be degraded if she had got married to Heathcliff.4) She fancied if she got

39、 married to Linton, she might have the means to help Heathcliff in getting a good education and becoming a gentleman so that they could be united withoutbeing degraded.47. The following passage is taken from The Merchant of Venice. Read it carefully and find the dramatic it contains. Use it as an ex

40、ample to illustrate what dramatic irony is. “Bassanio: Antonio, I am married to a wife Which is as dear to me as life itself; But life itself, my wife, and all world, Are not with me esteemd above thy life; I would lose all, ay, sacrifice them all Here to this devil, to deliver you. Portia: Your wif

41、e would give you little thanks for that, If she were by to hear you make the offer.”A. When the audience is aware of a discrepancy between a character' S perceptionof his or her own situation and the true nature of that situation, that is dramatic irony.B. In the given example, Portia, Bassanio&

42、#39; s newly-married wife, disguised herself as the lawyer to take charge of the case. Portia herself and the audience know all this, but Bassanio is ignorant of it. So when Bassanio offers in front of his disguised wife to sacrifice her in order to deliver Antonio, he makes himself behave in a ridi

43、culous way in the eyes of the audience. Thus an effect of dramatic irony is achieved.48. What is the most famous theme in Henry Jamess fiction? And what is his favourite approach in characterization, which makes him different from Mark and W. D. Howells as realists? Give two titles of his works in w

44、hich this theme and this approach are employed.Henry James' s most famous theme is what is generally called "the international theme". His novels or short stories of the theme are always set against a larger international background,usually between Europe and America. They center aroun

45、d the conflict of the two cultures,represented by an innocent American and a sophisticated European. James is regarded as the founder of psychological realism for his psychoanalytical approach to his Characters. Daisy Miller, The Portrait of A Lady, The American, The Ambassadors are his representati

46、ve worksof this kind.50.Retell in a few sentences the story of the last chapter (Ch, 135) “The ChaseThird Day” of Melvilles novel Moby-Dick. Discuss the meaning of the ending of the story.The story of Moby-Dick is simple, telling the battle between Ahab, captain of the whaling ship Pequod and the mo

47、nstrous white whale Moby Dick. Ahab is obsessed by his determination to revenge himself upon the fierce, cunning whale, because it has crippled him. After many days of search and pursuit, the white whale is finally sighted. Chapter 135 is a description of the third day' s chase. Three boats have

48、 been lowered in chase of the whale, but two of them are later destroyed by the whale. Although the whale is harpooned at last, the ship is sunk and all the people aboard are drowned except Ishmale, the narrator of the story who happens to be rescued by another whale ship. Moby-Dick is not merely a

49、whaling tale or sea adventure. It is a tragic epic. The voyage the Pequod has made is a symbolic voyage of the mind in quest of the truth and knowledge of the universe, a spiritual exploration into man' s deep reality and psychology. The battle between Ahab and the white whale symbolizes the str

50、uggle between man and nature, man and fate, good and evil.2003年7月45Why has Fielding been regarded as “Father of the English novel?”47.What is literary naturalism?49.Whats the artistic tendency of D.H.Lawrence?50.Give a brief discussion of Henry James literary achievement.2004年4月45. It is said that B

51、. Shaws play, Mrs. Warrens Profession, has a strong realistic theme, which fully reflects the dramatists Fabianist idea. Try to summarize this theme briefly. The play deals with the themes of prostiution as a big bussiness in the bourgeois society . The play launches possibly the sharpest and the bi

52、tterest attack ever made by Shaw upon the very foundation of the "civilized" capitalist world. The play hits the very heart of capitalism as a social system according to which economic exploitation is not only considered the legitimate thing adopted everywhere but is pursued shamelessly by

53、 "dignified"members of the society through the lowest and the dirtiest means.46. Emily Bronte used a very complicated narrative technique in writing her novel Wuthering Heights. Try to tell Brontes way of narration briefly. There are complicated narrative levels in Wuthering Heights The ma

54、in narrative is told by Nely ,Catherine's old nurse. to Mr. Lockwood,a temporary tenant at Grange. The latter gives an account of what he see at Wuthering Heights.In the main narrative by Nelly inserts the sub-narrative told through Isabella's letters a Nelly.While the central intrest is mai

55、ntained,the sequence of its development is constantly disordered by flashbacks,This marks the story all the more enticing and genuine.47. “In your rocking-chair, by your window dreaming, shall you long, alone. In your rocking-chair, by your window, shall you dream such happiness as you may never fee

56、l.” The two sentences are taken from Theodore Dreisers novel, Sister Carrie. What idea can you draw from the “rocking-chair”? From the "rocking-chair" we can draw that Carrie was dreaming of the bright future. Although she was often disillusioned ,she was not at all in despair.48. The lite

57、rary school of naturalism was quite popular in the late 19th century. What are the major characteristics of naturalism? Naturalism is one school of realism where the author's tone in writing becomes less serious and less sympathetic but more ironic and more pesimistic. The American naturalism ac

58、cepted the more negative implication of Darwin's evolutionary theory and used it to account for the behavior of theose characters in literary works who conceived as more or less complex combinations of inherited attributes,their habits conditioned by social and economic forces. They chose their

59、subjects from the lower ranks of society,and portrayed misery and poverty of the 'underdogs' who were deomostrably victims of society and nature. One of the most familiarcially as an explanation of sexual desire, Articically naturalistic writings are usually unpolished in language,lacking in academic skills and unwieldy in structure. Philosophically,the naturalists believe that the realand true is always partially hidden form the eyes of the individual,or beyond his control.50. “My faith is gone!” cried he (Goodma