第6章 英国文学

I. Explain the following in English

1. Old English Literature

Key: (1)It roughly refers to the literary works produced from the 8th century to 1100.

(2)Its roots lie deep in the tales of Denmark and other Scandinavian countries.

(3)The chief work includes Beowulf and The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.

2. The Canterbury Tales

Key: (1)It is the masterwork of the English poet Geoffrey Chaucer.

(2)It is the most important work in Middle English Literature.

(3)It is a collection of stories told with superb poetic craft.

(4)It gives a cross-section of medieval life.

3. William Shakespeare

Key: (1)He was an English dramatist and poet in the Elizabethan age.

(2)He is generally regarded as the greatest playwright in English literature.

(3)His plays fall into three categories:tragedy, such as Hamlet;comedy, such as As You Like It;and chronicle plays,such as Henry V.

4. John Milton

Key: (1)He was an English poet in the 17th century.

(2)He is generally regarded as a literary giant in English literature.

(3)His masterpieces include: Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes.

5. Alexander Pope

Key: Early crippled by poor health, was a man of great creative energy. His volume of work is huge. As poet, critic, and all-round man of letters he rivaled the earlier Dryden.19 Two of his essays in verse stand out-the Essay on Criticism(1711)and the philosophical poem An Essay on Man(1733-34).The Rape of the Lock(1712-14)is a special kind of poem called mock-heroic. In other words, it makes fun of the poems that deal with heroes' brave deeds.

6. Romantic literature of the 19th century

Key: (1)It refers to a movement in literature during the first third of the 19th century.

(2)The central figures of this movement are Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron, Keats and Shelley.

(3)Their writings are characterized by rich imagination and strong feeling.

7. Victorian literature

Key: (1)It refers roughly to the literature produced during the reign of Queen Victoria.

(2)The romantic spirit ceased to be a leading influence.

(3)Historical and philosophical writing continued to flourish along with poetry and fiction.

(4)Satire and protest against evils in society became strong elements.

(5)The later years of the period saw modern kinds of realistic writing and some authors who showed a new, deeper understanding of character.

Ⅱ. Fill in the blanks

1. The study of English literature usually begins with _____. The time of the story is placed around _____ century.

Key: Beowulf;8th

2. The roots of English literature lie deep in the tales of Denmark and other Scandinavian countries because for many years _____.

Key: their Viking raiders swept into Britain

3. A foundation stone of English history is _____, which tells of historical events from _____ to _____.

Key: The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle;the Roman invasion of Britain in 54 B.C.;the middle of the 12th century

4. The trio of English poetry giants refer to _____, _____ and _____.

Key: Chaucer, Shakespeare, and Milton

5. In the 16th century, the most famous writer was _____, who wrote a book called _____ telling of a journey to an imaginary island with an ideal society.

Key: Thomas More; Utopia

6. Name three of Shakespeare's tragedies: _____, _____ and _____; Name three of Shakespeare's comedies _____,_____ and _____; Name three of Shakespeare's chronicle plays: _____, _____ and _____.

Key: Romeo and Juliet(1595),Hamlet(1602),Othello(1604);The Taming of the Shrew(1596),A Midsummer Night's Dream(1596),As You Like It(1599),Richard III(1595),Richard II(1595),Henry IV parts I and II(1597-98)

7. The most informal and casual of Bacon's works that is read most often is _____.

Key: the Essays

8. Three masterpieces written by Milton after his retirement were _____, _____ and _____.

Key: Paradise Lost,Paradise Regained,Samson Agonistes

9. The most famous work by John Bunyan was called _____.

Key: Pilgrim's Progress

10. Gulliver's Travels was written by _____.

Key: Jonathan Swift

11. Samuel Johnson was most famous for _____.

Key: London

12. Scotland produced a much-loved poet in the 18th century _____, who remains the beloved folk.

Key: Robert Burns

13. Daniel Defoe was most well-known for _____.

Key: Robinson Crusoe

14. _____ and _____ were the two writers who proclaimed the Declaration of Independence of romantic poetry. Three poets who brought the romantic movement to its height were _____, _____ and _____.

Key: Wordsworth, Coleridge; Byron, Keats, Shelley.

15. The author of Pride and Prejudice was _____; Jane Eyre was written by _____ and Wuthering Heights by _____.

Key: Charlotte Bronte, Emily Bront

16. Treasure Island and The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hydee were written by _____; Alice's adventures in Wonderland was done by _____; the author of Vanity Fair was _____; Charles Dickens wrote _____ and _____among many other novels; Silas Marner was written by _____. The Importance of Being Earnest was written by_____; Two of Thomas Hardy's representative works were _____ and _____.

Key: Robert Louis Stevenson;Charles Lutwidge Dodgson;William Makepeace Thackeray;Oliver Twist,Nicholas Nickleby;Oscar Wilde;The Return of the Native,Tess of the D'Urbervilles

17. The use of stream of consciousness was first started by _____, whose masterpiece was _____.

Key: James Joyce,Ulysses

18. _____ is regarded as the most important playwright after Shakespeare.

Key: Shaw Bernard

III. Tick the correct answer in each of the following:

1. Which of the following is not true?

A. Beowulf is a hero who helps a Danish king kill a sea monster.

B. Beowulf later becomes a king of his own land, Sweden.

C. Beowulf stands for Christian virtues.

D. Beowulf is said to be descended from Cain, the oldest son of Adam and Eve.

【答案】D

2. Which of the following is a tragedy written by Shakespeare?

A. Antony and Cleopatra.

B. The Tempest.

C. Twelfth Night.

D. A Midsummer Night's Dream.

【答案】A

3. The King James Bible _____.

A. was written by King James I

B. was translated by King James I

C. was translated under the order of James I

D. was directed by James I

【答案】C

4. Which of the following was not written by John Milton?

A. The New Atlantis.

B. Lycidas

C. Paradise Lost.

D. Areopagitica.

【答案】A

5. Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels_____.

A. was a novel of hard thrusting satire against the weaknesses of human beings

B. was a book of the author's experiences of travels

C. was a children's book with no political significance

D. was a book about the author's religious life

【答案】A

6. Johnson and James Boswell were twin stars in the 18th century because _____.

A. they were good friends

B. they wrote books together

C. Boswell was a writer in his own right and he was as famous as Johnson

D. Boswell wrote Johnson's biography and became a major literary figure in his own right

【答案】D

7. Which of the following writers wrote with the power of reason rather than with imagination and feeling?

A. Thomas Hardy.

B. Alexander Pope.

C. Wordsworth.

D. Charles Dickens.

【答案】B

8. Which of the following belonged to romanticism?

A. John Keats.

B. Samuel Johnson.

C. George Eliot.

D. E. M. Forster.

【答案】A

9. Which of the following was a realistic writer?

A. Jonathan Swift.

B. Daniel Defoe.

C. Percy Bysshe Shelley.

D. Thomas Hardy.

【答案】D

10. During the early years of the 20th century new ideas in writing were mixed with the old, to follow the changing time. Which of the following did not represent the changes?

A. James Joyce.

B. William B. Yeats.

C. D. H. Lawrence.

D. Thomas Hardy.

【答案】B

IV. Answer the questions in English:

1. Why is Geoffrey Chaucer so important in English literature?

Key: Chaucer is a storyteller of genius. Like Shakespeare after him, he drew his stories from many sources. To all the stories he brought fresh vision. In event and in character, then, they became Chaucer's own, expressed with superb poetic craft.The Canterbury Tales abound-in lusty humor but touch many other moods and styles. His people-the knight, nuns, priests, landowner, scholar, miller, housewife, civil and church officials, farmer, estate supervisor, and many others- give a cross-section of medieval life. Chaucer's wealth of detail unfolds the robust life of an age.

2. Why was the 18th century literature different from that of the previous centuries?

Key: Intellectual activity sets the 18th century apart. It was an age of wit, when great thinkers and writers argued. It was an age of skepticism, when thinking men questioned all facts and beliefs. Conversationalists and letter writers flourished in literary circles and gathered in London clubs. The first important dictionary of the language was produced. The theater was lively, with a great number of satirical comedies. Satire, making fun of people and things, expressed the spirit of the time. Prominent on the stage, satire also found a powerful medium in a form that came to full growth in this century-the novel.

3. What are some of the major characteristics of the 20th century?

Key: The 20th century has marked the end of the British Empire, which was replaced by the Commonwealth of Nations. Yet English civilization and culture continue to have a strong influence on the rest of the world. The heritage of English literature forms an outstanding part of that culture.

Many traits of Victorian literature carried over until World War I began, in 1914. But during the early years of the 20th century new ideas in writing were mixed with the old, to follow the changing times. Certain major figures represent these changes, both in poetry and prose.

4. Use James Joyce and D. H. Lawrence to show some of the characteristics of modernist writers.

Key: Modernist writers attempted to move from the bonds of realist literature and introduce concepts such as disjointed timelines. It goes beyond the limitations of the Realist novel with its concern for larger factors such as social or historical change; this is largely demonstrated in “stream of consciousness” writing.