【答案】英国文学史名词解释

1、The Anglo-Saxon PeriodI.1._ can be termed Englands national epic and its hero Beowulfone of thenational heroes of the English people.2.The literature of Anglo-Saxon period falls naturally into two divisions, -_ and _.The former represents the poetry which the Anglo-Saxons probably brought with them

2、in the form of _, -the crude material out of which literature was slowly developed on English soil; the latter represents the _ developed under teaching of the monks. 3.The Song of Beowulf reflects events which took place on the _ approximately at thebeginning of the 6th century, when the forefather

3、s of the _lived in the southern part of the _.4.The old English poetry can be divided into two groups: the _poetry and the_ poetry. (secular, religious5._ is the oldest poem in the English language, and also the oldest surviving epic inthe English language. (BeowulfII.1._ is the first important reli

4、gious poet in English literature.A. John DonneB. George HerbertC. CaedmonD. Milton2.In Anglo-Saxon period, Beowulf represented the _ poetry.A. paganB. religiousC. romanticD. sentimentalIII. Define the literary terms1.EpicIt is, originally, an oral narrative poem, majestic both in theme and style. Ep

5、ics deal with legendary or historical events of national or universal significance, involving action of broad sweep and grandeur. Most epics deal with the exploits of a single individual. The characteristics of the hero of an epic are national rather than individual. Typically, an epic includes seve

6、ral features: the introduction of supernatural forces that shape the action; conflict in the form of battles or other physical combat; and stylistic conventions such as a n invocation to the Muse, a formal statement of the theme, long lists of the protagonist involved, and set speeches couched in el

7、evated language. Examples include the ancient Greek epics by Homer, Iliad and Odyssey, The Faerie Queene by Edmund Spenser and The Paradise Lost by John Milton.2.AlliterationA repeated initial consonant to successive words.The Anglo-Norman PeriodI.1. In the year _, at the battle of _, the Normans he

8、aded by William, Duke of Normandy, defeated the Anglo-Saxons.2. The literature which Normans brought to England is remarkable for its bright, romantic tales of _ and _, in marked contrast with the _ and _ of Anglo-Saxon poetry.3. The literature of the Anglo Norman period was of three classes: the ma

9、tter of _; matter of _; matter of _.4. after the _ Conquest, feudal system was established in English society. (Norman5. The most prevalent kind of literature in feudal England was _. It was a long composition, sometimes in verse, sometimes in prose, describing the life and adventure of a noble hero

10、. (romanceGeoffrey ChaucerI.1. Geoffrey Chaucer, the “_”and one of the greatest narrative poets of England, was born in London in or about the year 1340.2. Being specially fond of the great _ writer Boccaccio, Chaucer composes a long narrative poem_, based upon Boccaccios poem _.3. Chaucer greatly c

11、ontributed to the founding of the English literary language, the basis of which was formed by the _ dialect, so profusely used by the poet.4. Chaucers masterpiece is _, one of the most famous works in all literature.5. The Prologue is a splendid masterpiece of _ portrayal, the first of its kind in t

12、he history of English literature.6. In his greatest work, The Canterbury Tales,Chaucer created a strikingly brilliant and picturesque panorama of his _ and his _.7. Chaucers work is permeated with buoyant free-thinking, so characteristic of the age of _ whose immediate forerunner Chaucer thus become

13、s.II. Define the literary terms1.RomanceIt is a literary genre popular in the Middle Ages, dealing, in verse or prose, with legendary, supernatural, or amorous subjects and characters. The term was applied to tales specifically concerned with knights, chivalry, and courtly love. Popular subjects for

14、 romances included the Macedonian King Alexander the Great, King Arthur of Britain and the knights of the Round Table, and Emperor Charlemagne.2.BalladIt is a lyric poem generally of three eight-line stanzas with a concluding stanza of four lines called an envoy. With some variations, the lines of a

15、 ballad are iambic or anapestic tetrameter rhyming ababbcbc; the envoy, which forms a personal dedication to some person of importance or to a personification. The ballad became popular in England in the late 14th century .RenaissanceI.Complete the following statements with a proper word or aphrase

16、according to the textbook.1.The 16th century in England was a period of the breaking up of _relations and the establishing of the foundations of _.2.The 16th century was a time when, according to Thomas More, “_”.3.The term _ originally indicated a revival of classic Greek and Roman arts andsciences

17、 after the dark ages of obscurantism. (Renaissance4._ broke off with the Pope, dissolved all the monasteries and abbeys inthe country, confiscated their lands and proclaimed himself head of _.5.The old English aristocracy having exterminated in the course of _, anew nobility, totally dependent on th

18、e kings power, came to the fore.6.At the beginning of the 16th century the outstanding humanist _ wrotehis Utopia in which he gave a profound and truthful picture of the peoples sufferings and put forward his ideal of a future happy society.7.Edmund Spenser was the author of the greatest epic poem o

19、f the time, _.8.The greatest of the pioneers of English drama was _ who reformed thatgenre in England and perfected the language and verse of dramatic works.9.William Shakespeare was born on the 23rd of April, _, in _,Warwickshire.10._ speaks the famous “To be, or not to be”11.Shakespeares sonnets f

20、all into two series: The first 126 sonnets are addressed toa young man, and the rest (except the last two ones are addressed to _.(dark lady12.The four great tragedies in Shakespeares mature period are _, _,_ and _. (Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, Macbeth13.Pope describe _ as “the wisest, brightest, me

21、anest of mankind”.14.Of Bacons literary works, the most important are the _.II.Define the literary terms listed below.1.Renaissance:Renaissance, meaning “rebirth” or “revival”, marks a transition from the medieval to the modern world. Generally, it refers to the period between the 14th and mid-17th

22、centuries. It first started in Italy, with the flowering of painting, sculpture, architecture, and literature. From Italy the movement spread to the rest of Europe. It is a movement stimulated by a series of historical events, such as the rediscovery of ancient Roman and Greek culture, the new disco

23、veries in geography and astrology, the religious reformation and the economic expansion.Humanism is the essence of the Renaissance. The Renaissance humanist thinkers found that human beings were glorious creatures capable of individual development in the direction of perfection, and that the world t

24、hey inhabited was theirs not to despise but to question, explore, and enjoy. To them, nothing was impossible to accomplish. Thus, by emphasizing the dignity of human beings and the importance of the present life, they voiced their beliefs that man did not only have the right to enjoy the beauty of t

25、his life, but had the ability to perfect himself and perform wonders. 2.SonnetIt is a lyrical poem of fourteen lines that follows a strict rhyme scheme. Traditionally, when writing sonnets, English poets usually employ iambic pentameter.One of the best-known sonnet writers is Shakespeare, who wrote

26、154 of them. A Shakespearean sonnet consists of 14 lines, and each line is written in iambic pentameter. The rhyme scheme in a Shakespearean sonnet is ABAB CDCD EFEF GG, in which the last two lines are a rhymed couplet.3.Allegory: a tale in verse or prose in which characters, or settings representab

27、stract ideas or moral qualities. An allegory is a story with two meanings : a literal meaning and a symbolic meaning4.Humanism: Humanism is the essence of the Renaissance. It emphasizes thedignity of human beings and the importance of the present life. Humanists voiced their beliefs that man was the

28、 center of the universe and man did not only have the right to enjoy the beauty of the present life, but had the ability to perfect himself and perform wondersIII.Literary Comprehension and AnalysisShall I compare thee to a summer's day?Thou art more lovely and more temperate:Rough winds do shak

29、e the darling buds of May,And summer's lease hath all too short a date:Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,And often is his gold complexion dimmed,And every fair from fair sometime declines,By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed:But thy eternal summer shall not fade,Nor lose

30、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.Questions:1.By means of what comparison does the author achieve this

31、movementfrom tangible to intangible? Trace his logic to show his movement2.What does “this” refer to in the last line? What is the speakers purposein writing his “eternal lines”and what conditions are necessary for hispurpose to be carried out?1.The author first compares the youth with a summer day,

32、 but thensays that the youth is more gentle than a summer day. He explainsthat the summer can be imperfect with the destructive wind and thehot sun, which will be dimmed by overcast and clouds. Then heannounces that the youth will possess eternal beauty and perfection,thus achieves his movement from

33、 the tangible natural objects to theintangible youth.2.“This” refers to the poem written by the author. He wants to dedicatethis poem to the person described in the poem. The condition is thatas long as humans live and breathe on earth with eyes that can see,this is how long these verses will live.

34、And these verses celebrate theyouth and continually renew the youths life.IV.Answer the following questions briefly.1.Can you say something about Shakespeares characterization?Shakespeare is particularly good at character portrayal. During his long dramatic career, he has created a variety of lifeli

35、ke characters. The major characters in his plays are not simply type ones representing certain group or class of people, but are individuals with strong and distinct personalities. To achieve this, Shakespeare makes frequent use of comparisons and contrasts by portraying the characters in pairs or s

36、etting them against one another. He also individualizes his characters by emphasizing each ones dominant and unique qualities, such as the melancholy of Hamlet, the wickedness of Claudius, the honesty of Othello, the ambition of Macbeth, and the beauty and wit of Portia. In addition, Shakespeare had

37、 made profound psycho-analytical studies of his characters by revealing the intricate inner workings of their minds through the full use of soliloquies, from which we can see the breadth and depth of the characters thoughtful feelings.2.What is the central theme of The Merchant of Venice?The central

38、 theme of the play is the triumph of love (between Portia and Bassanio and friendship (between Antonio and Bassanio over insatiable greed and brutality (as represented by Shylock. And the play exalts the ingenious heroine Portia and the two great friends who she eventually saves from the barbarous c

39、lutches of the villain (Shylock. A completely happy ending is brought about when the villain is punished, the merchants ships all come about home and the three pairs of lovers live happily ever after. Such a conclusion was natural for the playwright as well as for his Elizabethan audience, when anti

40、-semitic sentiments was prevailing in London. Yet even in such an environment, in Shylocks vociferous complaints of his sufferings resulting from racial discrimination and religious persecution, we can hear quite unmistakably Shakespeares own voice speaking on the Jews behalf, and with great vehemen

41、ce sympathizing with the oppressed Shylock while condemning racial persecution in general. That Shakespeare should sometimes condemn Shylock and sometimes sympathize with him has led to much confusion for Shakespearean scholars and critics and the general reading public, and hence the play has been

42、regarded as not a pure comedy but a tragic-comedy.3.What do the four heroes in Shakespeares great tragedies have in common?All of them face the injustice of human life and are caught in a difficult situation and their fate is closely connected with the fate of the whole nation. Each herohas his weak

43、ness of nature: Hamlet, the melancholic scholar-prince, faces the dilemma between action and mind; the old King Lear who is unwilling to totally give up his power makes himself suffer from treachery and infidelity; Macbeths lust for power stirs up his ambition and leads him to incessant crimes; and

44、Othello was a brave man, but outside the battlefield he had insecurities.4.The Renaissance period of British Literature.The English Renaissance was a cultural and artistic movement in England dating from the early 16th century to the 17th century. It is associated with the pan-European Renaissance t

45、hat many cultural historians were believed originated in northern Italy in the 14th century.The essence of the Renaissance is humanism, which sprang from the endeavor to restore a medieval reverence for the ancient authors. It is frequently taken as the beginning of the Renaissance on its conscious,

46、 intellectual side, for the Greek and Roman civilization was based on such a conception that man is the measure of all things.This era in English cultural history is sometimes referred to as “the Age of Shakespeare” or “the Elizabethan Era”. Playwrights, such as Christopher Marlowe and William Shake

47、speare, composes theatrical representations of the English. Poets such as Edmund Spenser and John Milton produces works that demonstrates an increased interest in understanding English Christian beliefs, such as the allegorical representation of the Tudor Dynasty in The Faerie Queene and the retelli

48、ng of mankinds fall from paradise in Paradise Lost. Nearing the end of the Tudor Dynasty, philosophers like Sir Thomas More and Sir Francis Bacon published their own ideas about humanity and the aspects of perfect society, pushing the limits of metacognition at that time.The 17th century ExerciseI.C

49、omplete the following statements with a proper word or a phraseaccording to the textbook.1.The 17th century was a period when absolute monarchy impeded the furtherdevelopment of _ in England and the bourgeoisie could no longer bear the sway of _.2.There are religious division and confusion and a lon

50、g bitter struggle between thepeoples Parliament and the Throne-_fighting against the _ who helped the king.3.In 1653, Oliver Cromwell imposed a military dictatorship on the country; after hisdeath monarchy was again restored. It was called the period of the _.4.in _, the Glorious Revolution took pla

51、ce.5.The Glorious Revolution meant three things: the supremacy of _,the beginning of _, and the final triumph of the principle of _.6.The puritans believed in _ of life.7.Restoration created a literature of its own, that was often _ and_, but on the whole _ and _. The most popular genre was that of

52、_ whose chief aim was to entertain the licentious aristocrats.8.The first thing to strike the reader is Donnes extraordinary frankness andpenetrating _. The next is the _ which marks certain of the lighter poems and which represents a conscious reaction from the extreme _ of woman encouraged by the

53、Petrarchan tradition.9.The poems of John Donne belong to two categories: the youthful love lyrics, andthe latter_. (sacred verses10.Milton opposed the _ and gave all his energies to the writing of_ dedicated to the peoples liberties.11.Paradise Lost tells how _ rebelled against God and how Adam and

54、Eve weredriven out of _.12.Paradise Lost presents the authors views in an _ form.13.Paradise Lost consists of _ books. It is based on the _ legend ofthe imaginary progenitors of the human race-_ and _.14.John Miltons Paradise Lost ends with the departure of _ from theGarden of Eden. (Adam and Eve15.

55、Paradise Lost is a long epic divided into 12 books, the stories of which are takenfrom _. (The Old Testament16.Milton gave us the only _ since Beowulf, and Bunyan gave us the onlygreat _.17.Bunyans most important work is _, written in the old-fashioned, medievalform of _ and _.18._ is the most succe

56、ssful religious allegory in the English language. (ThePilgrims Progress19.The Pilgrims Progress begins with a man called _ setting out with a bookin his hand a great load on his back from the city of _.20._is famous for his metaphysical conceit, that is, a comparison betweenthe two strikingly resembling objects. (John Donne21.Samson Agoniste was written by _. (John Milton22.“If thou beest hebut oh how fallen! How unchanged /From him!who in the