英美文学史练习题及复习资料3.doc

3. The Romantic periodDefinition of literary terms1. Romanticism. Romanticism is a term applied to literary and artistic movements of the late 18th and early 19th century. It can be seen as a rejection of the precepts of order, calm, harmony, balance, idealization, and rationality that typified classicism in general and late 18th-century neoclassicism in particular. It was also to some extent a reaction against the Enlightenment and against 18th-century rationalism and physical materialism in general. Inspired in part by the libertarian ideals of the French Revolution, the romantics believed in a return to nature and in the innate goodness of humans, as expressed by Jean Jacques Rousseau. They emphasized the individual, the subjective, the irrational, the imaginative, the personal, the spontaneous, the emotional, the visionary, and the transcendental. They also showed interest in the medieval, exotic, primitive, and nationalistic. Critics date English literary romanticism from the publication of William Wordsworth and S.T. Coleridges Lyrical Ballads in 1798 to the death of Sir Walter Scott and the passage of the first reform bill in the Parliament in 1832. 2. Byronic hero. “Byronic hero” is a stereotyped character created by Byron. This kind of hero is usually a proud, mysterious rebel figure of noble origin. With immense superiority in his passions and powers, he would carry on his shoulders the burden of righting all the wrongs in a corrupt society. He would rise single-handedly against any kind of tyrannical rules either in government, in region, or in moral principles with unconquerable wills and inexhaustible energies. The conflict is usually one of rebellious individuals against outworn social systems and conventions. ExercisesA. Multiple-choice questions1. The Romantic Movement expressed a more or less _ attitude toward the existing social and political conditions.A. positive B. negative C. neutral D. indifferent2. It is _ who established the cult of the individual and championed the freedom of the human spirit.A. Jean Jacques RousseauB. Johann Wolfgang von GoetheC. Edmund BurkeD. Thomas Paine3. In Marriage of Heaven and Hell (1790), the word “marriage”, to Blake, means the _.A. subordination of the one to the otherB. co-existence of the conflicting partsC. reconciliation of the contrariesD. fighting of the conflicting parts4. Blake began writing poetry at the age of 12, and his first printed work is _ , which is a collection of youthful verse.A. Songs of ExperienceB. Songs of InnocenceC. Marriage of Heaven and HellD. Poetic Sketches5. In his poem, “The Chimney Sweeper” (from Songs of Experience), Blake depicted the miseries of the child sweepers in order to reveal the _ of Christianity.A. great ideals B. false ideals C. magic power D. true faith6. For William Blake, the father (and any other in whom he saw the image of the father such as God, priest, and king) was usually a figure of _.A. benevolence B. admiration C. love D. oppression7. Adonais is an elegy for _ whose early death from tuberculosis Shelley believed had been hastened by hostile reviews. A. Byron B. Keats C. Tennyson D. Blake8. “You and the girls may go, or you may send them by themselves, which perhaps will be still better, for as you are as handsome as any of them, Mr. Bingley might like you the best of the party.” What figure of speech is used in the underlined part?A. paradox B. simile C. irony D. antithesis9. According to the subjects, Wordsworths short poems can be classified into two groups: poems about _ and poems about _.A. society, universe B. nature, society C. nature, human life D. human life, universe10. In the poem, “She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways”, Wordsworth writes: “A violet by a mossy stone/ Half hidden from the eye!” The figure of speech used in the two lines is _.A. metaphor B. personification C. simile D. metonymy11. The _ are generally regarded as Keatss most important and mature works.A. odes B. lyrics C. epics D. elegy12. Generally speaking, _ was a writer of the 18th century, though she lived mainly in the 19th century.A. Mary Shelley B. George Eliot C. Jane Austen D. Ann Radcliffe13. Shelleys _ and The Cenci, Byrons _, and Coleridges Remorse are generally regarded as the best verse plays in the Romantic period. A. Prometheus Unbound, CainB. Cain, ManfredC. Prometheus Unbound, ManfredD. Waverley, Cain14. Among Coleridges _ group of poems, Frost at Midnight is the most important.A. conversational B. Romantic C. demonic D. lyrical15. After reading the first chapter of Pride and Prejudice, we come to know that Mrs. Bennet is a woman of _.A. simple character and mean understandingB. simple character and good breedingC. intricate character and great talentD. intricate character and great talent16. In the conversation with Mrs. Bennet in Chapter One of Pride and Prejudice, Mr. Bennet uses a _ tone and sarcastic humor.A. solemn B. harsh C. Intimate D. Teasing17. Jane Austen presents most of the problems of the novel, Pride and Prejudice, from the _ viewpoint.A. masculine B. objective C. feminine D. neutral18. After reading the first chapter of Pride and Prejudice. We can find _ in the authors tone, while presenting a seemingly matter-of-fact description of the conversation between Mr. and Mrs. Bennet.A. bitter satire B. mild satire C. strong approval D. strong disapproval19. In his poem, “Ode to the West Wind”, Shelley intends to present his wind as a central _ around which the poem weaves various cycles of death and rebirth - seasonal, vegetational, human and divine.A. concept B. metaphor C. symbol D. metonymy20. “Those ungrateful drones who would/ Drain your sweat- nay, drink your blood? ” The word “drones” in the above two lines written by Shelley is used as a(n) _.A. irony B. synecdoche C. metonymy D. metaphor 21. William Wordsworth, a romantic poet, advocated all the following except _.A. the using of everyday language spoken by the common people.B. the expression of the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings.C. the humble and rustic life as subject matter.D. elegant wordings and inflated figures of speech.22. In the poem “She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways”, the ending lines go like this: “But she is in her grave, and, oh,/ The difference to me!” The word “me” in the quoted lines may probably refer to _.A. the poet B. the reader C. her lover D. her father23. In S.T. Coleridges poem “Kubla Khan”, “A sunny pleasure dome with caves of ice” _.A. refers to the place where Kubla Khans father once lived.B. vividly describes a building of poor quality.C. is the gift given to a beautiful girl called Abyssinian.D. symbolizes the reconciliation of the conscious and the unconscious. 24. “Wherefore, Bees of England, forfeMany a weapon, chain, and scourge,That these stingless drones may spoilThe forced produce of your toil?”In the above stanza quoted from Shelleys “A Song: Men of England”, Shelley employs a(n) _.A. simile B. metaphor C. oxymoron D. synecdoche25. Which of the following is NOT a quality of the west wind described by Shelly in his poem “Ode to the West Wind”?A. Wild B. Tamed C. Swift D. ProudBlank-filling1. The romantic poets demonstrated a strong _reaction_ against the dominant modes of thinking of the 18th-century writers and philosophers. 2. In a sense, we can say that Romanticism designates a literary and philosophical theory that tends to see the _individual_ as the very center of all life and all experience.3. William Wordsworth defines poetry as “the _spontaneous_ overflow of powerful feelings, which originates in emotion recollected in tranquility”.4. William Blake can be regarded as the first important romantic poet, showing a contempt for the rule of reason, opposing the _classical_ tradition of the 18th century, and treasuring the individuals imagination.5. Byron has _enriched_ European poetry with an abundance of ideas, images, artistic forms and innovations.6. By contrasting the freedom of ancient Greece and the enslavement of the present Greece in “The Isles of Greece”, Byron appealed to the Greek people to fight for _liberty_.7. Shelleys poem, “Ode to the West Wind”, is written in the form of _terza rima_.8. “Ode to a Nightingale” expresses the contrast between the happiness of the natural world and the agony of the _human_ world.9. “Ode on a Grecian Urn” shows the contrast between the _permanence_ of art and the transience of human passion.10. In the first part of the novel Pride and Prejudice, Mr. Darcy has _low_ opinion of the Bennet family. Work-author pairing-up1. Sense and Sensibility A. J. Keats2. The Rime of the Ancient Mariner B. G.G. Byron3. Marriage of Heaven and Hell C. W. Wordsworth4. Prometheus Unbound D. S. T. Coleridge5. Biographia Literaria E. J. Austen6. Childe Harolds Pilgrimage F. P. B. Shelley7. Defense of Poetry G. W. Blake8. “Tintern Abbey” H. W. Scott9. Waverley 10. “Ode to a Nightingale”Reading comprehension(For each of the quotations listed below please give the name of the author and the title of the literary work from which it is taken and then briefly interpret it.)1. “It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife. However little known the feelings or review of such a man may be on his first entering a neighborhood, this truth is so well fixed in the minds of the surrounding families, that he is considered as the rightful property of some one or other of their daughters.”Reference: The two sentences are taken from Jane Austens novel, Pride and Prejudice. They are the opening sentences of the novel, in which Jane Austen is making an ironic suggestion that the families in the society she wrote about were always looking for rich husbands to whom they could marry their daughters. The sentence sets the tone for both structurally and verbally. The sentence begins as though the novel were going to be a great philosophical discourse. “It is a truth universally acknowledged” implies that the novel will deal with truths, but the second half of the sentence reveals that the great universal truth is no more than a consideration of a common social situation. Thus there is an ironic difference between the formal manner of the statement and the ultimate meaning of the sentence. The “truth” spoken of is that a man in possession of a fortune must need a wife, whereas in reality the sentence means that a woman without a fortune needs a man with fortune for a husband. We should also realize that the viewpoint of the first sentence is that of a woman. Only a female would make this statement, and Jane Austen is going to present most of the problems of the novel from the feminine viewpoint. 2. “For oft, when on my couch I lieIn vacant or in pensive mood,They flash upon that inward eyeWhich is the bliss of solitude;And then my heart with pleasure fills,And dances with the daffodils.”Reference: These lines are taken from Wordsworths poem “I Wondered Lonely as a Cloud”. This is the 4th stanza of the poem. Nature and man come together explicitly in stanza 4 when the speaker says that his heart dances with the daffodils. A different kind of repetition appears in the movement from the “loneliness” of line one to the “solitude” of line 22. Both words denote an aloneness, but they suggest a radical difference in the solitary persons attitude to his state of being alone. The poem moves from the sadly alienated separation felt by the speaker in the beginning to his joy in recollecting the natural scene, a movement framed by the words “lone” and “solitude”. An analogous movement is suggested within the final stanza by words “vacant” and “fills”. The emptiness of speakers spirit is transformed into a fullness of feeling as he remembers the daffodils. 3. “A violet by a mossy stoneHalf hidden from the eye!- Fair as a star, when only oneIs shining in the sky.”Reference: These lines are taken from Wordsworths “She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways”. By using a metaphor and a simile, the poet compares Lucy with a violet, a wild flower growing by a mossy stone, and a fair star, shining in the sky. The two comparisons are meant to enhance Lucys charm by associating her with such attractive objects as flowers and stars. Lucys natural charm, like that of the violet, was derived from her modesty. She, too, was “half-hidden from the eye”, obscure and unnoticed. Though Lucy was, to the world, as completely obscure as the modest flower in the shadow of the mossy stone, to the eye of her lover she was the only star in his heaven, shining like the planet of love itself. 4. “Place me on Suniums marbled steep,Where nothing , save the waves and I,May hear our mutual murmurs sweep;There, swan-like, let me sing and die:A land of slaves shall neer be mien-Dash down you cup of Samian wine!”Reference: These lines are taken from George Gordon Byrons Don Juan, Part III “The Isles of Greece”. In these lines, by contrasting the freedom enjoyed by the ancient Greeks with the enslavement of the early 19th-century Greeks under Tukish rule, Byron uses such word to call on the Greeks to struggle for their national liberation. Questions1. What is the theme of Don Juan?2. What are the main features of Blakes poetry?3. Compare “The Chimney Sweeper” from Songs of Innocence with “The Chimney Sweeper” from Songs of Experience. 4. How is Shelleys Prometheus Unbound different from the traditional Greek interpretation?9