1、1Part Two American LiteratureChapter 1 The Romantic PeriodI.Choose the right answer:1.Of all the following issues,_is definitely NOT the focus of the Romantic writers in the American literary history.A.Puritan morality B.Human bestiality C.Noble savages D.Divinity of manAnswer:B(P401)2.Henry David T
2、horeaus work,_,has always been regarded as a masterpiece of the New England Transcendental Movement.A.Walden B.The Pioneers C.Nature D.Song of Myself Answer:A(P402)3.Nothing is at last sacred but the integrity of your own mind is a famous quote from_s writings.A.Walt Whitman B.Henry David ThoreauC.H
3、erman Melville D.Ralph Waldo EmersonAnswer:D(P402)4.Leaves of Grass commands great attention because of its uniquely poetic embodiment of_,which are written in the founding documents of both the Revolutionary War and the American Civil War.A.the democratic ideals B.the romantic ideals C.the self-rel
4、iance spirits D.the religious idealsAnswer:A(P447)5.According to Whitman,the genuine participation of a poet in a common cultural effort was to behave as a supreme_.A.democrat B.individualist C.romanticist D.leaderAnswer:B(P448)6.The period before the American Civil War is generally referred to as _
5、.A.The Naturalist Period B.The Modern Period C.The Romantic Period D.The Realistic PeriodAnswer:C(P399)7.In the following works,which sign the beginning of the American literature?A.The Sketch Book B.Leaves of Grass C.Leather Stocking Tales D.Adventures of Huckleberry FinnB(P399)8._is the author of
6、the work The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.A.Washington Irving B.James Joyce C.Walt Whitman D.William Butler YeatsAnswer:A(P404)9.Washington Irvings Rip Van Winkle is famous for_.A.Rips escape into a mysterious B.The storys German legendary source materialC.Rips seeking for happiness D.Rips 20-years sleep
7、Answer:D(P406)10.Which of the following statement is not true about Washington Irving?A.Washington Irving is regarded as Father of the American short stories.B.Irvings relationship with the Old World in terms of his literary imagination can hardly be ignored considering his success both abroad and a
8、t home.C.Irvings taste was essentially progressive or radical.D.Washington Irving has always been regarded as a writer who perfected the best classic style that American literature ever produced.2Answer:C(P403-406)11.The Publication of _established Emerson as the most eloquent spokesman of New Engla
9、nd Transcendentalism.A.Nature B.Self-Reliance C.The American Scholar D.The Over-SoulAnswer:A(P420)12.The phrase a transparent eye-ball compares philosophical mentation of Emersons.It appears in_.A.The American Scholar B.Nature C.The over Soul D.Essays:Second SeriesAnswer:B(P423)13.In 1837,Ralph Wald
10、o Emerson made a speech entitled _at Harvard,which was hailed by Oliver Wendell Holmeasas:Our Intellectual Declaration of Independence.A.Self-Reliance B.Divinity School Address C.The American Scholar D.NatureAnswer:C(P423)14._is the most ambivalent(有争议的)writers in the American literary history.A.Nat
11、haniel Hawthorne B.Walt Whitman C.Ralph Waldo Emerson D.Mark TwainAnswer:A(P429)15.There is evil in every human heart,which may remain latent,perhaps,through the whole life;but circumstances may rouse it to activity,which author of the following authors does the mention belong to_.A.Washington Irvin
12、g B.Ralph Waldo Emerson C.Nathaniel Hawthorne D.Walt WhitmanAnswer:C(P431)16.In Hawthornes novels and short stories,intellectuals usually appear as_.A.saviors B.villains C.commentators D.observersAnswer:B(P432)17.All of the following are works by Nathaniel Hawthorne except_.A.The House of the Seven
13、Gables B.White Jacket C.The Marble Faun D.The Blithedale RomanceAnswer:B(P431)18.Walt Whitman is radically innovative in the form of his poetry.What he prefers for his new subject is_.A.free verse B.blank verse C.lyric poem D.heroic coupletAnswer:A(P450)19.Which of the following features cannot char
14、acterize poems by Walt Whitman?A.Lyrical and well-structured B.Free-flowing C.Simple and rather crude D.Conversational and casualAnswer:A(P450-451)20.The horizons edge,the flying sea-crow,the fragrance of salt marsh and shore mud.These became part of that child who went forth every day,and who now g
15、oes,and will always go forth every day.The two lines are taken from_.A.There Was a Child Went Forth by Walt Whitman B.In a Station of the Metro by Ezra PoundC.Cavalry Crossing a Ford by Walt Whitman D.Ulysses by Joyce Answer:A(P454)21.Moby Dick is regarded as the first American_.3A.Prose epic B.Comi
16、c epic C.Dramatic fiction D.Poetic fictionAnswer:A(P460)22.The giant Moby Dick may symbolize all EXCEPT_.A.mystery of the universe B.sin of the whale C.power of the great Nature D.evil of the worldAnswer:B(P461)23.Which of the following comments on the writings by Herman Melville is not true?A.Bartl
17、eby,the Scrivener is a short story.B.Benito Cereno is a novella.C.The Confidence-Man has something to do with the sea and sailors.D.Moby-Dick is regarded as the first American prose epic.Answer:C(P459-460)24.The Transcendentalists believe that,first,nature is ennobling,and second,the individual is_,
18、therefore,self-reliant.A.insignificant B.vicious by nature C.divine D.forward-lookingAnswer:C(P402)II.Read the quoted part and answer the questions:1.Time grew worse and worse with Rip Van Winkle as years of matrimony rolled on:a tart temper mellows with age,and a sharp tongue is the only edge tool
19、that grows keener by constant use.For a long while he used to perpetual club of the sages,philosophers,and other idle personages of the village.Questions:1)Please identify the author and the title of the work.2)Whats the meaning of this passage?参考答案:1)This is an excerpt from Rip Van Winkle by Washin
20、gton Irving.(P408)2)With his wifes dominance at home,the situation became harder and harder for Rip Van Winkle.His wifes temper became worse and she scolded him for more often.He had to stay in the club with idle people.(P407)附:Question:Please describe the changes Rip Van Winkle experienced.Answer:1
21、)Rip Van Winkle was the hero in Irvings works.He was a good-natured man,a henpecked(惧内的,妻管严的)husband.2)Because his wifes shrewish(泼妇一样的)treatment,Rip had to escape from his home to the little inn in the village.When it failed to give him some restful air,he had to go hunting in the high mountain,whe
22、re Rip met a stranger,and the man asked Rip to carry keg for him.Then Rip reached the place in the valley,where many strangers were playing nine-pins.Later Rip got drunk after drinking the liquor,which made him sleep for 20 years.3)Rip woke up as an old man,entering the village learned that his wife
23、 had died,he got the freedom of his own,;and the American had been dependent from the control of Britain,he had changed from a subject of the King(George III)into a citizen of the independent new U.S.2.I celebrated myself,and sing myself,And what I assume you shall assume,For every atom belonging to
24、 me as good belongs to youQuestions:41)Please identify the author and the title of the poem that had used when published.2)What is the theme of this poem?参考答案:1)In the 1856,the title was Poem of Walt Whitman,an American,then it became Walt Whitman in 1860,until 1881,it finally became Song of Myself.
25、The author is Walt Whitman.(P456-457)2)In this poem Whitman sets forth two principle beliefs:A.The theory of universality(普遍性),which is illustrated by lengthy catalogues of people and things;B.The belief in the singularity(个别性)and equality(平等性)of all beings in value.(P457)3.Standing on the bare grou
26、nd,-my head bathed by the blithe air,and uplifted into infinite space,-all mean egotism vanishes.I become a transparent eye-ball.I am nothing.I see all.Questions:1)Please identify the author and the title of the work.2)Please briefly interpret this passage.3).What rhetorical device of transparent ey
27、e-ball.4)Emerson said he want to become a transparent eye-ball,what king idea did he want to express?参考答案:1)This selection is from Nature by Emerson.(P427)2)In the essay Emerson clearly expresses the main principles of his Transcendentalist pursuit and his love for nature.Emerson develops his concep
28、t of Over-Soul Or Universal Mind.Last but not the leas,it affirms the divinity of the human beings.(P423)3)It used the device of metaphor.(P423)4)He wanted to tell us:Nature can purify(净化)our quality and let us get comfort.(P243)III.Questions and answers:1.The Romantic Period was called The American
29、 Renaissance.Discuss the background of the Romantic Period,and compare it with the Romanticism of Britain.Answer:1)The two Romanticism both stress the imaginative and emotional qualities of literature;2)They all pay attention to psychic states of the characters and exalt the individual and common ma
30、n;3)American Romanticism revealed unique characteristics:(difference)American authors describe their native land,especially the spirit of the pioneering into the west,the desire for an escape from society and a return to nature;American writers use local dialect in language;Puritanism has great infl
31、uence over American Romantics;Calvinism of original sin is obvious in their works;Transcendentalism is very important theory in American Romanticism;The important setting in American Romanticism are:the early puritan settlement;the confrontation with the Indians;the frontiersmens life;the wild west;
32、imagination.(P399402)2.Analyze the themes and characteristic of Hawthorne.Answer:Hawthorne was a man with inquiring imagination,meditative mind and dark vision to life.His themes in writing are:1)Man was born with evil and sin,one source of them is over-reaching intellect,whose image was always 5vil
33、lain;(Chllingworth e.g.)2)Hawthorne was influenced greatly by Puritanism,while he criticized it bitterly;3)He believed Calvinistic ideas,thinking man was depraved and corrupted;they should obey God for saving the spirits;4)He concerned the moral life of man and human history;5)He was keen on the des
34、cription of mans development of psychology.(P432433)3.Explain the theory of Transcendentalism,then list its important author and works.Answer:Transcendentalism is a very important theory in American Romanticism,its main ideas are:1)Man has the capacity of knowing truth intuitively,or the ability of
35、getting knowledge transcending the senses;2)Nature is ennobling and individual is divine,therefore,man should be self-reliant.3)Man is divine/holy and perfectible and man can trust himself to decide what is right and act accordingly;(but to Hawthorne and Melville man is a sinner);4)Universe is over-
36、soul-a symbol of the spirit,God or the universe,there is an emotional communication between an individual soul and the universal over-soul-unity of Nature.5)The important authors are:Emerson(The American Scholar)and Thoreau.6)Nature,Emersons works,is called the unofficial manifesto for the club.(P42
37、1P422)4.Hawthorne was a master in using symbol and allegory;cite some example to analyze it.Answer:1)Allegorically,Young Goodman Brown becomes an Everyman called Brown,who will be aged in one night by an evil adventure,and the evilness makes everyone a fallen idol in the world.2)In the angle of Symb
38、ol:Brown look up to the Heaven and resist the wicked one symbols Brown has the force to resist the evilness of the Nature and he still has the faith to God;but he is alone in the forest symbols the society is the place full of sins and evilness,Browns strength is not enough at all;then after returni
39、ng,he lives a dismal and gloomy life symbols he has been crushed down by the social evilness and lost his belief in goodness and piety.(P434435)5.Washington Irving was called Father of the American short stories and the American Goldsmith.What characteristics did he have?Answer:1)He was nostalgic au
40、thor,and he always juxtaposing the Old and the New world;2)He remained a conservative and always exalted a disappearing past,and he prefer the past to present,prefer a dream-like world to a real one;3)His stories were always from legend,especially German legends,showing best classic style.(P405406)6
41、.Sea adventures are Melvilles favorite subject;Moby-Dick is a great novel in the theme,which is also noted for its symbolism,please analyze it in detail.Answer:61)About the sea adventure:it symbols the voyage of the mind in quest of the truth and knowledge of the universe;a spirit exploration into m
42、ans deep reality and psychology;2)About the boat;it symbols the society,and the crew symbol all kinds of people with different social and ethnic ideas;3)About the white whale:To the author,it symbols nature,it is a complex,unfathomable and beautiful;To the captain Ahab,it is evilness,is a wall.So he
43、 will lead all his crew to cut through the wall to dig out all the unknown,mysterious things behind it.To the narrator,Ishmael,it is a mystery.(P460461)7.Walt Whitman is a unique poet.Can you explain what make him unique?Answer:1)His themes are:Democracy;the Revolutionary War and the Civil War;freed
44、om;openness;brotherhood;individualism;the growth of industry and the wealth of the cities;universality.2)His styles are special:free verse;catalogue;simple and even crude language.(P448-551)PART TWO:AMERICAN LITERATUREChapter 2 The Realistic PeriodI.Choose the right answer:1.Emily Dickinson was some
45、times curious about the feeling of speech of death and in one of her poems she wrote about the_of death,the title of the poem is I heard a Fly buzz when I died.A.moment B.suffering C.happiness D.meaningAnswer:A(P518)2.Theodore Dreiser belonged to the school of literary _which emphasized heredity and
46、 environment as important deterministic forces shaping individualized characters who were presented in special and detailed circumstances.A.naturalism B.realism C.determinism D.humanismAnswer:A(P524)3.More than five hundred poems that Dickinson wrote are about nature,in which her general _about the
47、relationship between man and nature is well expressed.A.skepticism B.eulogy C.happiness D.denialAnswer:A(P518)4.This is my letter to the World is a poem expressing Emily Dickinsons _about her communication with the outside world.A.happinessB.angerC.Anxiety D.sorrowAnswer:C(P520)5.Though secluded her
48、self in her own house,Emily Dickinson was never really indifferent of the outside world,as could be seen in her poems such as I like to see it lap the Miles,which describes a(n)_,an embodiment of modern civilization.A.snake B.animal C.the road D.trainAnswer:D(P521)6.After The Adventure of Tom Sawyer
49、,Twain gives a literary independence to Toms buddy Huck in a book called_,and the book from which all modern American literature comes.7A.Life on the Mississippi River B.The Gilded Age C.Adventures of Huckleberry Finn D.The Sun Also RisesAnswer:C(P479-480)7.Winterbourne is used as a _in Henry Jamess
50、 Daisy Miller.A.Protagonist B.Narrator of the events C.A character of central consciousness D.PersonaAnswer:C(P499)8.Emily Dickinsons verse is most aptly characterized as _.A.exposing the evils of the society B.paving the way for the following generation of free verse poetsC.sharing the same poetic