Exercises on British Literature

Exercises on British and American Literature I.

Fill in each blank with one masterpiece of the following writers:

1. Geoffrey Chaucer _______________ 2. Jane Austen __________________ 3. John Bunyan _______________ 4. Jonathan Swift ________________ 5. Daniel Defoe _________________ 6. John Milton __________________ 7. Henry Fielding __________________ 8. Thomas More _________________ 9 Charlotte Bronte ___________________ 10. Emily Bronte _____________________ 11. William Golding ____________________ 12. Dorris Lessing _____________________ 13. Oliver Goldsmith ____________________ 14. Philip Sidney’s Criticism for Poetry ________________ 15. Ben Jonson ______________________ 16. Robert Burns’s famous farewell ballad__________________ 17. Samuel Johnson __________________ 18. James Joyce ______________________ 19. D. H. Lawrence ______________________ 20. T. S. Eliot _________________________

II. Choose one or more than one suitable answers to each statement. 1.

Renaissance Period was an age of ____ . a. prose and novel b. poetry and drama c. essays and journals d. ballads and songs

2.

_____ was the first to introduce the sonnet into English literature. a. Thomas Wyatt b. William Shakespeare c. Phillip Sidney d. Thomas Campion

3.

The epoch of Renaissance witnessed a particular development of English Drama. It was _______ who made blank verse the principal vehicle of expression in drama. a. Christopher Marlowe b. Thomas Loge c. Edmund Spenser d. Thomas More

4.

At the beginning the 16th century the outstanding humanist_____ wrote his Utopia in which he gave a profound and truthful picture of the people’s suffering and put forward his ideal of a future happy society. a. Christopher Marlowe b. Thomas More c. Phillip Sidney d. Edmund Spencer

5.

English absolute monarchy was once again adopted in the reign of ________after the Queen Elizabeth. a. Edward VI b. James I c. Charles I Queen Ann

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6.

Choose the “University Wits ” from the following writers. a. John Lyly b. Robert Greene c. Christopher Marlowe d. Shakespeare

7.

“Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” This line is taken from one of Shakespeare’s____________. a. Sonnet 18 b. the tragedy King Lear c. a long poem Venus and Adonis d. the comedy As You Like It

8.

From the following choose the one______ that is not by Francis Bacon. a. The Advancement of Learning b. The New Instrument c. Of Studies d. The rape of the Lock

9.

Elizabethan poetry is remarkable. England then became “a nest of singing birds”. The famous poet of that period was_______. a. Edmund Spenser b. Thomas Kyd c. Earl of Surry d. Thomas More

10.

Which play is not a comedy? a. The Jew of Malta b. Every One in His Humor c. A Midsummer Night’s Dream d. Much Ado about Nothing

11.

The Tragic History of Doctor Faustus is one of ______ ‘s best plays. a. Shakespeare b. Thomas Kyd c. Ben Jonson d. Christopher Marlowe

12.

The name “the father of English poetry” was given to the greatest poet born in London about 1340 and the one who did much in making the dialect of London (Midland dialect the language of the court, the learned and the well-to do) the foundation for modern English language. a. Shakespeare b. Spenser c. Philip Sidney d. Chaucer

13. The basic note of Chaucer’s style is_______. a. the fusion of humor and genial satire b. the fusion of irony with sarcasm c. the fusion of humor with epigrams d. the fusion of humor with irony 14. _____was the first buried in the Poet’s Corner of Westminster Abby. a. Southy b. Francis Bacon c. Shakespeare d. Chaucer 15. The second period of Chaucer’s literary career includes mainly the three longer poems written prior to The Canterbury Tales. Choose the one from the following. a. The legend of Good Woman b. The Book of the Duches c. The Rape of Lucrece d. The Romaunt of the Rose 16. The prevailing form of Medieval English literature is the _______. a. plays b. romance c. essays d. masques 17 The Vicar of Wakefield is a ______. a. literary biography b. an essay c. realistic novel d. sentimental novel 18. Songs of Innocence is a_______. a. sequence of lyrics b. epic c. set of allegories d. set of ballads 19.Macbeth by Shakespeare is a ______. a. tragedy b. comedy

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c. tragicomedy

d. historical play

20. Robinson Crusoe is a _________. a. Historical novel b. satirical novel c. realistic novel d. allegorical novel 21. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is a _____. a. travel book b. romance in verse c. romance in prose d. narrative poem 22. Beowulf is the most important and the first epic in the Old English ever written. It was written in _______. a. sonnets b. ballads c. alliteration d. heroic couplet 23. Paradise Lost is a (n)________. a. lyrical poem b. hymn c. epic d. narrative poem 24. Pamela is a___________. a. historical novel b. romance b. novel of naturalism d. novel of epistles and psychology 25. Gulliver’s Travels is a ________. a. sentimental novel b. novel of satire and allegory c. Gothic novel d. novel of stream of consciousness 26. I Wandered lonely as a Cloud is a ________. a. lyrical poem b. lyrical prose c. romance in prose d. sonnet 27. The School of Scandal is a ______. a. tragedy b. comedy of manners c. novel d. romance 28. The Merry Wives of Windsor is a ______. a. comedy b. tragedy c. historical play d. morality play 29. A Red, Red Rose is a______. a. lyric b. satirical poem c. epic d ode 30. The title of “Poet’s poet” is given to the writer of the following work __ _____. a. Death Be Not Proud b. Venus and Adonis c. Romeo and Juliet d. The Faerie Queen 31. The Merchant of Venice belongs to Shakespearian plays of_______. a. comedy b. sequence of sonnets c. tragedy d. historical play 32. Chaucer was the first important poet of a royal court to write in______ after the Norman conquest. a. French b. Latin c. English d. Celt 33. “He was not of an age, but for all the time”. “He” here refers to _____.

34. 35.

36. 37.

a. Shakespeare b. Chaucer c. John Milton d. Ben Jonson The father of the school of Metaphysical poets is _______. a. Thomas More b. Spenser c. John Donne d. Wyatt The most important prose writer of Elizabethan Age was _______, who was also the founder of the English materialistic philosophy. a. Thomas More b. Spenser c. John Donne d. Francis Bacon The culmination of all Renaissance translation is ________. a. King James Bible b. New Instrument c. Of Study d. The Reason of Church Government Donne’s poetry is full of metaphors, original images, wit and______, except ingenuity, dexterous use of colloquial speech, considerable flexibility of rhythm and meter, complex 3

themes and caustic humor. a. conceits b. Petrarchen images c. rhetorics d. brevity 38. The Cavaliers mostly dealt in short songs on the flitting joys of the day, but underneath their light-heartedness lies some foreboding of _____ to enjoy the present day. This is typical of pessimism and cynicism. a. philosophical thought b. impending doom c. intellectual idea d. expecting happiness. 39. Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes were the poems written by _______. a. Milton b. William Shakespeare c. Ben Jonson d. Marlowe 40. In Paradise Lost the author eulogizes the spirit of ______ that is though lost, but the ______cannot be conquered, and the pursuit of revenge, immortal hate towards god will never be overcome. a. pessimism, knowledge b. optimism, ideal c. rebellion, will d. cynicism, concept 41. Blank verse was first used by ______ as the principle instrument of English drama. a. the Earl of Surry b. Christopher Marlowe c. Samuel Johnson d. Shakespeare 42. The Medieval Drama includes all the following except _________. a. miracle plays b. morality plays c. tragedies d. interludes 43.The theme of the sonnet Death Be Not Proud is that ________. a. death is predestined

b. death is the most dreadful thing

c. death you are nothing to be feared d. death is gentle towards me 44. Sir Gawain and the Green Night is usually considered the summit in__________ in romance. a. Matters of Britain b. Matters of France c. Matters of Italy d. Matters of Greece 45. “To be, or not to be: that is the question: Whether ‘tis nobler in the mind to suffer The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune Or to take arms against a sea of trouble, And by opposing end them...” are the famous lines in Hamlet which expresses the Hamlet’s ______ character. a.. resolute

b. resolute and hesitant

c. stubbon d. indecisive and hesitant 46. In the 17th century, especially during the period of military dictatorship there appeared some changes in literature. Some new genres replaced the old ones. Among the old ones, _______ was (were) the most prominent one. a. essays b. sonnets c. novels d. drama 47. In the poem, “Beowulf” “repairs in haste” means _______. a. escape b. come c. go d. stay 48. Protestants refers to all the religious sects except ________. a. Church of England b. Puritanism c. Calvinism d. Catholicism 49. Though Beowulf was introduced by Angles, the events and _____ are Scandinavian. 4

a. belief b. characters c. idea d. God 50. In 1066, ___ led the Norman army to invade and defeat England. a. William the conqueror b. Julius Caesar c. Alfred the Great d. Claudius 51. In the 14th century, the most important writer is ______. a. Langland b.Wyclif c. Gower d. Chaucer 52. The prevailing form of Medieval English literature is the ______. a. epic b. mystery play c. romance d. sonnet 53. The story of “_______” is written in the culmination of the Arthurian romances. a. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight b. Beowulf c. Piers the Plowman d. The Canterbury Tales 54. In 1649, ______ was beheaded. English became a commonwealth. a. James I b. James II c. Charles I d. Charles II 55. The Revolution of 1688 meant three of the following things:_______,_______,________. a. the supremacy of Parliament b. the beginning of modern England c. the triumph of the principle of political liberty d. the Restoration of monarchy 56. Who of the following were the important metaphysical poets? a. John Donne b. George Herbert c. John Milton d. Richard Lovelace 57. Milton wrote a number of pamphlets defending the English People. Choose them from the following. a. Defense of the English People b. Second Defense of the English People c. L’ Allegro d. II Penseroso 58. The Glorious Revolution in 1688 marked the beginning of a (n)_________. a. absolute monarchy b, constitutional monarchy c. military dictatorship d. democratic system 59. Paradise Lost is ________. a. Marvells masterpiece b. a great epic in 12 books c. written in blank verse d. about Satan’s revolt against God’s authority 60. Milton is __________. a) a. a great revolutionary poet of the 17th century b) b. an outstanding political pamphleteer c) c. a great stylist d) d. a great master of blank verse 61. Of many contemporaries and successors of Shakespeare, the most important and well known was ______who became the Poet Laureate in 1616. a. John Dryden b. Samuel Johnson c. Ben Jonson d. Robert Southy 62. John Milton was_______. a. blind in his later life b. a Cavalier poet c. the author of Samson Agoniestes d. a metaphysical poet 63. Which were not written by John Milton ? a. Song to Celia b. II Penseroso c. Lycidas d. As You Like it 64. In his blindness, Milton wrote his most important poetic works , such as ______. a. Paradise Lost b. Samson Agonistes c. The L’Allegro d. Song to Celia 65. The main literary form of seventeenth century was poetry. Among the poets, _______was the greatest. a. Milton b. Bunyan c. the Metaphysical poets d. the Cavalier poets 66. Choose the poets who belong to the Cavalier group. a. Sir John Suckling b. Richard Lovelace

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67.

68.

69.

70.

71. 72. 73.

74. 75.

76.

77.

78. 79.

80. 81.

c. Thomas Carew d. George Herbert ________ was a progressive intellectual movement throughout western Europe in the 18 th century. a. The Renaissance b. The Enlightenment c. The Religious Reformation d. The Chartist Movement Most of the English writers in the 18 th century were Enlighteners. They fell into two groups, one is_______, and the other is_________. a) a. the moderate group, the radical group b) b. the lake poets, the younger generation c) c. the Metaphysical poets, the cavalier poets d) d. the lake poets; the sentimentalists The 18th century was an age of prose. A group of excellent prose writers, such as ____, were produced. a. Addison b. Steele c. Smallet d. Fielding In the 18th century, satire was much used in writing, and English literature of this age produced some excellent satirists, such as ______. a. Pope b. Swift c. Defoe d. Blake The main literary stream of the 18th century was ______. a. naturalism b. romanticism c. neo-classicism d. sentimentalism In the 18th century English literature, the representative writers of neo-classicism is _____. a. Pope b. Swift c. Defoe d. Milton In the 18th century English literature, the representative poets of pre-romanticism were________. a. Alexander Pope b. William Blake c. Robert Burns d. Jonathan Swift In the 18th century English literature, the representative writers of realism were _______. a. Richardson b. Fielding c. Smollett d. Goldsmith The 18th century witnessed that in England there appeared two political parties, ________, which were satirized by Swift in his Gulliver’s Travels. a) a. the Wigs and the Tories b) b. the Senate and the House of Representatives c) c. the Upper House and Lower House d) d. the House of Lords and the House of Commons ________found its representative writers in the field of poetry, such as Young and Gray, but it manifested itself in the novels of Sterne and Goldsmith. a. Pre-romanticism b. Romanticism c. Sentimentalism d. Naturalism During the reign of reason the Enlightenment meant education of people to free them from all the unreasonable fetters, which include_______. a. theology b. theocracy c. conventional ideology d. all of the above In the early 18th century English writers of the neo-classic school were_______. a. Pope b. Addition c. Steele d. Goldsmith “___________”, written in heroic couplet by Pope, was a manifesto of English neoclassicism as Pope put forward his aesthetic theories in it. a. An Essay of Dramatic Poesy b. An Essay on Criticism c. The Advance of Learning d. An Essay on Criticism Which are Pope’s works? a. An Essay on Criticism b. An Essay on Man c. The Rape of the Lock d. The Rape of Lucrece _______was Pope’s poem which satirized the idle and artificial life of the aristocracy. a. The Rape of the Lock b. The Rape of Lucrece

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c. The School for Scandal d. Every Man in His Humor 82. In the middle decades of the 18th century, _____ became the leader of the neo-classic school in English poetry and prose. a. Pope b. Samuel Johnson c. Robert Burns d. William Blake 83. Which two periodicals were Steele and Addison’s chief contribution to English literature. a. “The Tatler” and “The Spectator” b. “The Rambler” and “The Spectator” c. “The Tatler” and “The Review” d. “The Spectator” and “The Review” 84. _______compiled “The Dictionary of the English language” which became the foundation of all the subsequent English Dictionaries. a. Ben Jonson b. Samuel Johnson c. Alexander Pope d. John Dryden 85. Choose Samuel Johnson’s works from the following. a. Lives of the Poets b. The Dictionary of the English Language c. Every Man in His Humor d. An Essay on Criticism 86. Choose the representative poets of pre-romanticism in the 18 th century and the forerunners of romanticism. a. Thomas Gray b. Edward Young c. William Blake d. Robert Burns 87. Sentimentalism in the 18th century English literature found its fine expression in poetry and novels. Which poems or novels belong to sentimentalism? a. Night Thoughts b. Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard c. A sentimental Journey d. A Tale of Tub 88. In the last twenty years of the 18 th century, England produced two great romantic poets. They are _____. a. Johnson and Blake b. Gray and Young c. Pope and Goldsmith d. Blake and Burns 89. The two great realistic novelists of the 18th century are ______. a. Defoe b. Swift c. Fielding d. Smollett 90. Henry Fielding was a versatile man. He was_______. a. a novelist b. a dramatist c. an essayist d. a political pamphleteer 91. Choose the long novels written by Henry fielding. a.Joseph Andrews b.The Life of Mr. Jonathan Wild the Great c.The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling d.Pamela 92. ________ is a satirical novel, in which the author Fielding exposes the English aristocratic society and mocks at its political system. a. A Modest Proposal b. Gulliver’s Travels c. Volpone d. Jonathan Wild the Great 93.

In the field of prose fiction of the 18 th century, sentimentalism had its fine expression. Choose sentimental novelists from the following. a. Jonathan Swift b. Daniel Defoe c. Samuel Richardson d. Oliver Goldsmith

94. Oliver Goldsmith was a versatile writer. Today he is chiefly remembered for his four main works. Which are they? a. The Vicar of Wakefield b. The Deserted Village c. She Stoops to Conquer d. The Citizen Of The World e. Clarissa 95. Among the following which are Sheridan’s comedies? a. The Rivals b. The School of Scandal c. She Stoops to Conquer d. Volpone 96. Who was the greatest dramatist in the 18th century? a. Goldsmith b. Sheridan

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c. Sterne d. Fielding 97. Which play is regarded as the best English comedy since Shakespeare? a. She Stoops to Conquer b. The Rivals c. The School for Scandal d. The Conscious Lovers 98. Chaucer was the first important poet of royal court to write in ______ after the Norman Conquest. a. French b. Latin c. English d. Greek 99. Shylock is a character in the play _______. a) a. Tamburlain written by Marlowe b) b. Othello written by Shakespeare c) c. The Jew of Malta written by Marlowe d) d. The Merchant of Venice by Shakespeare 100. “To err, is human, to forgive, divine” and “ A little learning is a dangerous thing.” are taken from the poems written by ______. a. John Milton b. Francis Bacon c. William Shakespeare d. Alexander Pope 101. John Dryden was an English _______. a. poet and dramatist b. novelist and poet c. dramatist and essayist d. pamphleteer and poet 102. In English Poetry the phrase ‘the deep’ is often referred to _______. a. the hell b. the heart c. the sea d. the grave 103. At the turn of the 18th and 19th century, ______ appeared as a new literary trend in England. a. Renaissance b. Reformation c. Romanticism d. Sentimentalism 104. Of Truth was written by a British essayist_______. a. William Shakespeare b. George Bernad Shaw c. Francis Bacon d. John Donne 105. “Gold? Yellow, glittering, precious gold! Thus much of this will make black white, fool fair, wrong right, base noble, old young, coward valiant…” These lines are taken from ________ by Shakespeare. a. Volpone b. As you like it c. The School for Scandal d. Timon of Athens 106. “ Conceit” is a term applied in particular to the school represented by_______. a. Herrick b. Ben Jonson c. Pope d. John Donne 107. The general spirit of Shakespeare’s first period comedies is _______. a) a. youthfulness with melancholy b) b. pessimism with youthfulness c) c. optimism with youthfulness d) d. optimism with melancholy 108. _____ is one of Shakespeare’s famous four tragedies. a. Romeo and Juliet b. Julius Caesar c. Anthony and Claopatra d. Othello 109. The Merchant of Venice belongs to Shakespeare’s plays of ______in which Shakespeare highly praises the wits and wisdom of the heroin______ . a. Sophia b. Portia c. Ophilia d. Olivia 110. One of the following plays takes its subject matter from Chinese history. a. Henry VI b. Everyone in His Humor c. The Rivals d. Tamburlain 111. One of the following writers is not known as a sonnet poet is _______. a. Wyatt b. Shakespeare c. Greene d. Spencer

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112. More is known as a writer, statesman and _______. a. humanist b. merchant c. socialist d. soldier 113. All the following writers created the sonnet sequence except______. a. Shakespeare b. Thomas More c. Spenser c. Sidney 114. Apology for Poetry is a_______. a. sonnet b. literary criticism c. novel d. play 115. Of the following, the one that employs the form of romance is _______. a. Euphues b. Amoretti c. Of Studies d. Venus and Adonis 116. The “Mighty line” in Marlowe’s play means________. a. blank verse b. sonnet c. couplet d. free verse 117. The one who first made blank verse the principal instrument of English drama is ______. a. Surry b. Marlowe c. Shakespeare d. Ben Jonson 118. The recurrent theme of Marlowe’s plays is the praise of ______. a. capitalism b. church c. feudalism d. individualism 119. All the heroes of Marlowe’s plays end with ______. a. happiness b. triumph c. tragedy d. insult 120. The literary genre which best represents the literary achievement in Renaissance is _____. a. novel b. drama c. poetry d. romance 121. Thomas More’s masterpiece Utopia was written in _______. a. French b. English c. Latin d. Greek 122. The themes of Faerie Queene can be expressed as followings except______. a. nationalism b. Catholicism c. Puritanism d. humanism 123. Spenser’s poetry is famous for music and ______. a. metaphors b. simile c. images d. euphemism 124. Dr. Faustus sells his soul to the devil because________. a) a. he is forced by Mephitophilis b) b. he wants to gain more money c) c. he wants to live an extravagant life d) d. he hopes to know more about the world 125. Shakespeare worked as a playwright, an actor and a ______. a. poet b. critic c. novelist d. essayist 126. Iago is a character in the play_______. a. Hamlet b. Macbeth c. King Lear d. Othello 127. In his history plays Shakespeare describes all the following except_______. a) a. the horrors of the war b) b. the duty of an efficient ruler c) c. the rising peasants d) d. the importance of legitimate succession to the thrones 128. The filial ingratitude is the theme of _______. a. The Tempest b. Anthony and Cleopatra c. King Lear d. Othello 129. Hamlet is a man of genius, highly accomplished, educated and ______. a. hesitant b. foolish c. pessimism d. greedy

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130. In Shakespeare’s sonnet sequence he highly praises human beings, the value of humans themselves, and the ______. Here God seems not to have any importance in human beings’ life, and not have any controlling power over human beings’ fates. a. friendship b. value c. indignity d. fraternity 131. “Humor “ according to Jonson means_______. a. fun b. pun c. thought d. temperament 132. Chaucer’s main contribution to the English literature lies in the followings except _______. a) a. introducing the rhymed stanzas from French poetry b) b. establishing English as the literary language c) c. writing the first English blank verse d) d. making the London dialect the foundation for the modern speech 133. Most of the ballads were written down in the _______. a. 15th century b. 16th century th c. 17 century d. 18th century 134. The common theme of the ballads can be summed up as followings except______. a. class struggle b. lovers against their feudal families c. border wars d. religious service 135. All the following qualities can be contributed to Robin Hood except ____. a. bravery b. irreverence and hate for the king c. love for the poor d. orthodox 136. The story of Utopia was assumed to tell by _____. a. the author b. an actor c. a courtier d. a sailor 137. The poet who wrote the first sonnet sequence in English literature also wrote _____. a. The Shepherds’ calendar b. Apology for Poetry c. Hamlet d. Alchemist 138. The soldier, the poet, the critic, the courtier, all the titles can be applied to one of the following writers. a. Spenser b. Marlowe c. Sidney d. Ben Jonson 139. Spenser is famous for his _______. a. musical rhythm b. colorful images c. symbols d. all of the above 140. Test of courage, faith and loyalty is the theme of a _____. a. romance b. novel c. play d. ballad 141. The English Romantic Movement began in the 1798 when “Lyrical Ballads” was published, and ended in1832 when ______. a. Jane Austain died b. Scott died c. Wordsworth died d. Shelley 142. Quotation and the author are correctly paired in all the followings except______. a. a. “I might boast myself La Vainqueur”----- Johnson b. b. “A little learning is a dangerous thing.” ------ Pope c. c. A Truthful artist’s duty was to produce human nature”------ Wordsworth d. d. Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day?” --------- Shakespeare. 143. Virtue Rewarded in the novel by Richardson means___________. a. a. Shopia was married to Mr. B finally. b. b. Pamela was kicked out of Mr. B’s place. c. c. Shopia was married to Tom Jones at last. d. d. Pamela was married to Tom Jones. 144. The Spectator was started in the ______century. a. early 18th b. late 19th th c. the late 18 d. early 19th 145. The figure of speech used in the article A modest Proposal is called _____. a. satire b. paradox

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c. irony

d. pun

146. At the end of the History of Tom Jones, a Foundling,________. a. Blifil was hanged b. Tom was put in jail again c. Shopia divorced with Tom d. None of the above 147. Richardson was noted as a storyteller, letter-writer and a ______ as well. a. critic b. moralizer c. poet d. playwright 148. The couplet, originally French, was made full use by ______. a. Pope b. Donne c. Chaucer d. Johnson 149. All of the followings were from Ireland except________. a. Sheridan b. Goldsmith c. Swift d. Blake 150. The pair not correct associated is _______. a. Blake----engraver b. Goldsmith______poet and novelist c. Fielding ____playwright d. Richardson _____poet 151.The Sentimental School includes all of the following writers except_______. a. Thomas Cowper b. Thomas Gray c. Richardson d. Swift 152. Milton was nicknamed “the lady of the Christ” because he was ______. a. a lady b. as serious as a lady c. as hansom as a lady d. as gentle as a lady 153.The subject of Samson Agonistes is taken from ______. a. The Old Testaments b. the New Testament c. Greek Mythology d. Roman Mythology 154. Satan is a character in _______. a. Paradise Lost b. Paradise Regained c. Samson Agonistes d. One of the above 155. The one who attempts Eve to eat an apple from the forbidden tree is _____. a. God b. Satan c. Lucifer d. Raphael 156. Bunyan lived a______ life. a. happy b. miserable c. moderate d. extravagant 157. It is in the “Vanity Fair” that Christian and ______ are trapped. a. Hopeful b. Pliable c. Christian’s wife d. Faithful 158. Bunyan’s style is marked by dignity and ______. a. oratedness b. complicatedness c. archaism d. simplicity 159. The book carried by Christian is supposed to be ______. a. a dictionary b. a travel book c. the Bible d. The Pilgrim’s progress 160. One of the following writers is usually considered a comedian. This one is _______. a. Ben Jonson b. John Donne c. Herrick d. Alexander Pope 161. Whenever we talked about the English periodicals, the famous two persons collaborating “The Tatler” and “The Spectator” are_______. a. Deofoe and Steele b. Steele and Addison c. Fielding and Deofoe d. Addison and Swift 162. “The three” units is a literary principle used by the neo-classics in their works of _______. a. drama b. poetry c. essay d. novel 163 Satire, epigram and didactic instructions are the main features of the author who wrote______. a. Lives of Poets b. The Vicar of Wakefield

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c. A Modest Proposal d. The Rape of the Lock 164. The one who achieved great success in the literature of satire in the 18th century is _____. a. Dryden b. Richardson c. Swift d. Addison 165. The first place visited by Gulliver in Gulliver’s Travel is ______. a. The kingdom of horses b. Flying island c. Brobdingnag d. Lilliput 166. Gulliver’s attitude toward the horse can be described as______. a. criticizing b. disliking c. praising d. all of the above 167. The General Prologue is not only to present ______but also tries to reveal the author’s intention in bringing together a great variety of people and narrative materials to unite the diversity of the tales by allotting them to a diversity of tellers engaged in a common endeavor, to set the tone for the story-telling. a. b. c. d.

a vivid collection of character sketches a vivid picture of the society then a vivid film of medieval society a vivid statues of the heroes in the Tales

168. The Canterbury Tales consists of three parts: they are: _______, 24 tales, two of witch left unfinished, and separated prologues to each tale with links, comments, quarrels, etc. in between. a. The General Prologue b. Forward c. Preface d. The Nun’s Tale 169. The story told by the Wife of Bath in The Canterbury Tales illustrates the view that women must ______men and that only the wife’s ________ can lead to peace and happiness in marriage. a. rule / domination b. fight / domination c. conquer /submission d. unite /submission 170. The Wife of Bath created by Chaucer stands for an outspoken champion of her gender against the traditional _______of the church and the feudal ideology. a. antifeminism b. patriarchalism c. concept d. ideal 171. Ballads appeared during the periods from14th to 18 th century in the history are usually the literature of _______. a. common people b. upper class c. courtiers d. middle class 172. The significance of The Canterbury Tales lies in that the author gives a true-to-life picture of the society of Chaucer’s day. Taking the stand of the rising bourgeoisie, he affirms men and opposes the dogma of ______preached by the Church. As a forerunner of humanism, Chaucer also praises man’s energy, intellect, quick wit and love of life. His tales expose and satirize the evils of his time. They attack the degeneration of the noble, the heartlessness of the judge, the______ of the church and so on. a. life in future /corruption b. agnosticism / corruption c. deism / corruption d. asceticism/ corruption 173. During the medieval time, there were several types of drama, among which the ______ denotes only dramas based on Saint’s lives. a. miracle play b. morality play c. mystery play d.interlude 174. Morality plays were dramatized _______of the life of man, his temptation and sinning, his quest for salvation and his confrontation with death. a. elegy b. dream c. ambition d. allegories 175. The hero in morality plays usually represents Mankind or _______. a. Devil b. God c. valiant d. everyone 176. In the Faerie Queene, Spenser signifies glory in abstract, and the Queen Elizabeth______ in particular. 12

a. Glory b. fame c. honesty d. virtue 177. Spenser not only wrote in Spenserian sonnet, he also invented Spensrian stanza, a nine-line stanza used by him in Faerie Queene, the rhyme scheme of which is ________. a. abab ababa b. ababbcbcc c. abcb cdcdc d. aabb ccddd 178. Spenser is usually considered “poets’ poet”, because of his superb technical skill, perfect melodies, rare senses of beauty. However, in his poetry there still remain two defects: _______. a. power and unity b. power and steadiness c. steadiness and unity d. unity and melody 179. The Tragic History of Dr. Faustus is based on a _____. a. German legend b. Greek legend c. Roman Legend d. Celtic Legend 180. The hero of Dr. Fustus is a young ______. a. scholar b. doctor c. philosopher d. magician 181. The significance of Marlowe’s plays lies in the playwright’s presenting of, in various ways, the spirit of ________. a. feudal lords b. the rising bourgeoisie c. the intellectuals d. common people 182. The hero of the play Tamburlaine is a shepherd who finally became a _____and the brilliant keynote in his character is ambition for _______. a. king /power b. sultan/power c. shepherd /power d. khan /power 183. The hero in Jew of Malta is a very ____ person, and all his purpose in life is to gain ______. a. greedy / wealth b. greedy /power c. greedy/ knowledge d. greedy/ ambition

III Define the following literary terms: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21. 22. 23. 24. 25. 26. 27.

Blank verse Epic Mmetaphysical school of poetry Cavalier poets Alliteration Realistic novels Augustan Age Sentimentalism Humanism Puritan Age Anglican Church Allegory Alexanderine Ballad Mystery play Carpe Dime Tradition Characterization Oxford Reformers Comedy Conceit Couplet Elegy Epigram Essay Iambic Pentameter Irony Lyric

28. 29. 30. 31. 32. 33. 34. 35. 36. 37. 38. 39. 40. 41. 42. 43. 44. 45. 46. 47. 48. 49. 50. 51. 52. 53. 54.

Miracle Play Mock Epic Morality Play Narrative Poem Neo-classicism Octave Ode Pastoral Point of view Refrain Romance Romanticism Satire Sonnet Spenserian Stanza Renaissance Enlightenment Run-on Line Comedy of Manner Mock-Heroic/ Mock-epic The Augustan Poets Assonance Caesura Closed couplet Connotation Consonance Deism

55. Denotation 56. Dialogue 57. Dramatic Irony 58. Dramatic Monologue 59. Empiricism 60. End Rhyme 61. Enjambment 62. Epic Simile 63. Fable 64. Feminine Ending 65. Feminine Rhyme 66. Foot 67. Free Verse 68. Genre 69. Humour 70. Image 71. Internal Rhyme 72. Metonymy 73. Mimesis 74. Muse 75. Novel 76. Onomatopoeia 77. Oxymoron 78. Paradox 79. Parody 80. Persona 81. Personification 82. Platonism 13

83. 84. 85. 86. 87. 88. 89.

Quatrain Rationalism Rhyme Satire Spondee Stanza Sublime

90. 91. 92. 93. 94. 95. 96.

Symbol Synecdoche Tragedy Tragic Irony Wit and Humor Zeugma Literary Club

97. Pre-Romanticism 98. Gothic novel 99. . Denouement 100 Climax 101. Crisis

IV Read the following passages and answer the attached questions:

Passage 1 1.Let us go then, you and I, When the evening is spread out against the sky Like a patient etherized upon a table; Let us go through certain half-deserted streets, The muttering retreats Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells; Streets that follow like a tedious argument Of insidious intent To lead you to an overwhelming question…… 1)This stanza is selected from a very famous English poem. What is its title and author? 2)It is said that the "you and I" can be taken in two ways, what are the two ways do you think? Passage 2 To die, to sleep No more and by a sleep to say we end The heartache, and the thousand natural shocks That flesh is heir to, ’tis a consummation Devotedly to be wished. To die, to sleep To sleep-perchance to dream: ay there’s the rub, For in that sleep of death what dream may come? When we have shuffled off this mortal coil, Must give us a pause. There’s the respect That makes calamity of so long life. For who would bear the whips and scorns of time, The oppressor’s wrong, the proud man’s contumely The pangs of despised love, the law’s delay, The insolence of office, and the spurns, The patient merit of th’ unworthy takes QUESTION: 1. These lines are taken from a famous play named________. 2. The author of the play is____________. 3. In the play these lines are uttered by ____________. 4. About the utterance what does the speech show? Passage 3 Shall I compare thee to a summer's day? 14

Thou art more lovely and more temperate. Rough winds do shake 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 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. This is one of Shakespeare’s best known______. a. sonnets b, ballads c, songs 2. It runs in iambic pentameter rhymed in_________. 3. The fourteen lines include three stanzas according to their content with the last two lines as ______which complete the sense of the whole poem. a. prelude b. couplet c. epigraph Passage 4 Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read, but not curiously; and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention. Some boos also may be read by deputy, and extracts made of them by others; but that would be only in the less important arguments, and the meaner sort of books; else distilled books are, like common distilled waters, flashy things. Questions: 1. This passage is taken from a famous essay written by______. 2. What is the title of this passage? 3. What’s the theme of the article? Passage 5 The youngster was in clothed in scarlet red, In scarlet fine and gay; And he did frisk it over the plain, And chanted a roundelay. As Robin Hood next morning stood, Amongst the leaves so gay; There did he espy the same young man, Come drooping along the way. The scarlet he wore the day before, It was clean cast away; And at every step he fetched a sigh, Alack and well-a-day!” Questions: 15

1. The above stanzas are taken from _________. 2. The youngster referred in the poem is ______. 3. This poem is typical a poem of _______. Passage 6 Death, be not proud, thou some have called thee Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so: For those whom thou think’st thou dost overthrow Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me. From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be, Much pleasure; then from thee much must flow, And soonest our best men with thee do go, Rest of their bones, and soul’s delivery. Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men, And dost with poison, war and sickness dwell, And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well And better by thy stroke; why swell’st thou then? One short sleep past, we wake eternally And death shall be no more; Death; thou shall die. Questions: 1. This poem is a _________. 2. 2. Is the rhyme scheme the same with a Shakespearean sonnet? 3. 3. Who is poet of the poem? Passage 7 What though the field be lost? All is not lost: the unconquerable will, And study of revenge, immortal hate, And courage never to submit or yield: And what is else not to be overcome? That glory never shall his wrath or might Extort from me. To bow and sue for grace With suppliant knee, and deify his power Who, from the terror of this arm, so late Doubted his empire-that were low indeed; That were an ignominy and shame beneath This downfall; since, by fate, the strength of gods And this empyreal substance, cannot fail; Questions: 1. 1. These lines are written in __________. 2. 2. In the second line ‘the unconquerable will’ refers to the will of _____. a. Zeus b. Satan c. God d. Adam 3. 3. These lines are taken from a very famous ________ entitled ________. 4. 4. Who is the author of this poem? 5. 5. What’s the central theme of these lines? 6. 6. What do you think of the writing features of the passage? Passage 8 16

Almost five thousand years ago, .there were pilgrims walking to the celestial City, as these two honest persons are; and Beelzebub, Apollyon, and Legion, with their companions, perceiving, by the path that the pilgrims made, that their way to the city lay through this town of Vanity, they contrived here to set up a fair; a fair wherein should be sold all sorts of vanity, and that it should last all the year long. Therefore at this fair are all such merchandise sold, as houses, lands, trades, places, honors, preferment, titles, countries, kingdoms, lusts, pleasures and delights of all sorts, as whores, bawds, wives, husbands, children, masters, servants, lives, blood, bodies, souls, silver, gold, peals, precious stones, and what not. Questions: This passage is taken from the famous book _______ written by _________. 2. The setting here described is about the best-known episode ________ in the book. 4. 4. how do you understand the passage? Passage 9: I lay down on the grass, which was very short and soft, where I slept sounder than ever I remember to have done in my life, and as I reckoned, above nine hours; for when I awaked, it was just daylight. I attempted to rise, but was not able to stir: for as I happened to lie on my back, I found my arms and legs were strongly fastened on each side to the ground; and my hair, which was long and thick, tied down in the same manner. .I likewise felt several slender figures across my body, from my armpits to my thighs. I could only look upwards; the sun began to grow hot, and the light offended my eyes. I heard a confused noise about me, but in the posture I lay, could see nothing except the sky. In a little time, I felt something alive moving on my left leg, which advancing gently forward over my breast, came almost up to my chin; when bending my eyes downwards as much as I could, I perceived it to be a human creature not six inches high, with a bow and arrow in his hands, and a quiver at his back. Questions: 1. 1. this passage is taken from a well-known book written by______. 2. 2. The ‘I’ in the passage was dropped in a strange country, the name of which is _______. 3. 3. The title of the book is__________. 4. 4. The ‘I’ in the passage is ______________. 5. 5. what is the writing features of the passage? Passage 10 I profess, in the sincerity of my heart, that I have not the least personal interest in endeavoring to promote this necessary work, having no other motive than the public good of my country, by advancing our trade, propose to get a single penny; the youngest being nine years old, and my wife past childbearing. Questions: 1. This passage is taken from a well-known essay entitled___________________________. 2. 2. The author of the article is ______________________. 3. 3. What is the most striking features of the article? What do you think of the last sentence? Passage 11 My friend Roger, being a good churchman, has beautified the inside of his church with several texts of his own choosing; he has likewise given a handsome pulpit cloth, and railed in the communion table at his own expense. He has often told me that, at 17

his coming to his estate, he found his parishioners very irregular; and that in order to make them kneel and join in the responses, he gave every one of them a hassock and a Common Prayer book, and at the same time employed an itinerant singing masters, who goes about the country for that purpose, to instruct them rightly in the tunes of the Psalms, and indeed outdo most of the country churches that have ever heard. Questions: 1. 1. This passage is taken from a periodical named______. 2. 2. The Title of the passage is ___________________. 3. 3. The ‘I” in the passage is supposed to be _____________. a. Mr. Spectator b. Addison c. Steel 4. 4. What kind of person is Sir Roger? 5. 5. What is the writing features of the passage? Passage 12 As soon as the followers were departed, the lawyer, who had, it seems, a pistols in the seat of the coach, informed the company, that if it had been daylight, and he could have come at his pistols, he would not have submitted to the robbery; he likewise set forth that he had often met highwaymen when he traveled on horseback, but none ever durst attack him; concluding that, if he had not been more afraid for the lady than for himself, he should not have now parted with his money so easily. Questions: 1. 2.

From this passage what do you know about the lawyer? Briefly talk about the writing style of it.

Passage 13 There also was a Nun, a Prioress; Simple her way of smiling was and coy, Here greatest oath was only by St Loy And she was known as Madam Eglantyne. And well she sang a service, with a fine Intoning through her nose, as was m ost seemly, And she spoke daintily in French, extremely, After the school of Stratford-atte-Bowe; French in the Paris style she did not know. Questions: 1. This passage is taken from __________of the Canterbury Tales by __________. 2. Here the poet seems to ___________ the Nun, because of the Nun’s behavior Being _______ of church’s request.. Passage 14 Moving of the earth brings harm and fears, Men reckon what it did and meant, But trepidation of spheres, Though greater far, is innocent. Dull sublunary lover’s love (Whose soul is sense) cannot admit 18

Absence, because it doth remove Those things which elemented. But we a love so much refined, That our selves know not what it is, Inner-assured of the mind, Careless, eyes, lips, and hands to miss. Our two souls therefore, which are one, Though I must go. Endure not yet, A breach, but an expansion, Like gold to airy thinness beat. If they be two, they are two so As if stiff twin compasses are two. Thy soul the fixed foot, makes no show, To move, but doth, if th’ other do. And though it in the center sits, Yet when the other far doth roam, It leans, and hearkens after it, And grow erect, as that comes home. Such wilt thou be to me, who must Like th’ other foot, obliquely run; Thy firmness makes my circle just, And makes me end, where I began. Questions: 1. In this poem, the poet describes two kinds of love, one is ___________, the other is_________. 2. While describing the two kinds of love, the poet seems to campare their love to ________________,______________,____________________. 3. Images especially the one about stiff twin compasses are typical___________, here we call it as______________. Passage 15 …. But at my back I have always hear Times winged chariot hurrying near; And yonder all before us lie Deserts of vast eternity. Thy beauty shall no more be found, Nor in the marble vault shall sound My echoing song; then worms shall try That long preserved virginity, And your quaint honor turn to dust, And into ashes all my lust. The grave’s a fine and private place, But none, I think, do there embrace.

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Questions: 1.

At the beginning of the stanza, the tone the poet used is __________, the poet seems to use the image of ________ to urge his love to accept his love, but after this, the poet immediately changed this to________and _________with sarcasm, so as to let his love to realize they should enjoy their love now and then. Otherwise, nothing will remain, but death. 2. In the poem, there are some phrases, such as deserts of vast eternity; marble vault; my echoing song, here they are all _________, and meaning represented by them are “death”, “tomb” and so on. Passage 16 Gather ye rosebuds while you may, Old Time is still a-flying; And this same flower that smiles today Tomorrow will be dying. The glorious lamp of heaven, the sun, The higher he’s a-getting, The sooner will his race be run, And nearer he’s to setting, Questions: 1. This poem is typical poem of_____________________, because in the poem the speaker is somewhat pessimistic about the future, so he advocates to ______ the present to one’s heart’s content. 2. The rosebuds in the poem symbolizes _________, and the course of a day here also is a metaphor which symbolizes________________. Passage 17 When in disgrace with fortune and men’s eyes, I all alone beweep my outcast state, And trouble deaf heaven with my bootless cries, And look upon myself and curse my fate, Wishing me like him, like him with friends possess’d Desiring this man’s art, and that man’s scope, With what I most enjoy contented least; Yet in these thoughts myself almost despising, Haply I think on thee; and then my state, Like to the lark at break of day arising From sullen earth, sings hymns at heaven’s gate: For thy sweet love rememb’red such wealth brings That then I scorn to change my state with kings. Questions: 1. The poem is written in the poetic form of _________. 2. In this poem Shakespeare highly speaks of ________, which is more precious that nothing could be exchanged with it. Passage 18 20

Messenger. Occasions drew me early to this city: And, as the gates I entered with sunrise, The morning trumpets festival proclaimed Through each high street. Little I had dispatched, When all abroad was rumored that this day Samson should be brought forth, to show the people Proof of his mighty strength in feats and games. I sorrowed at his captive state, but minded Not to be absent at that spectacle. The building was a spacious theatre, Half round on two main pillars vaulted high, With seats where all the lords, and each degree Of sort, might sit in order to behold; The other side was open, where the throng On banks and scaffolds under sky might stand: I among these aloof obscurely stood. Questions: 1. The speaker in the poem is__________, and the person has to show the proof of his mighty strength in feats and games is __________, a classical hero taken by ________ from ____________of ______________.. Passage 19 How the chimney-sweeper’s cry Every black’ning church appalls; And the hapless soldier’s sigh Runs down palace walls. But most thro’ mid-night streets I hear How the youthful harlots curse Blasts the new-born infant’s tear, And blights with plagues the marriage hearse. Questions: 1. What is title of the poem? 2. Where is this poem taken from_________. 3. Who is the writer of this poem. 4. The theme of this poem is _____________________________. Passage 20 Since the siege and the assault was ceased at Troy, The walls breached and burnt down to brands and ashes, The knight that had knotted the nest to deceit Was impeached for his perfidy, proven most true, It was high-born Aeneas and his haughty race That since prevailed over provinces, and proudly reigned Over well-nigh all the wealth of the West Isles. Great Romulus to Rome repairs in haste; With boast and with bravery builds he that city And names it with his own name, that it now bears.

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Questions: 1. The title of the poem is_________. 2. This poem is said to be the summit in the matter of __________ Passage 21 Now fades the glimmering landscape on the sight, And all the air a solemn stillness holds, Save where the beetle wheels droning flight, And drowsy tinklings lull the distant folds. Save that from under ivy-mantled tower The moping owl does to the moon complain Of such, as wandering near her secret bower, Molest her ancient solitary reign. Questions: 1. Those two stanzas are taken from-__________by _______. 2. The poem is written in the metrical meter of _______pentameter. 3. The sequence time of the poem is from __________ to ___________, together with the country scene especially the cemetery in the churchyard to foil the sadness and melancholy. 4. 4. This poem can be regarded as the typical poem of __________, or maybe you can call it a poem of ________. Passage 22 Tyger! Tyger! Burning bright! In the forests of the night, What immortal hand or eye Could frame thy fearful symmetry? In what distant deeps or skies Burnt the fire thine eyes? On what wings dare he aspires What the hand dare seize the fire? Questions: 1. The above lines are taken from_________ by _________. 2． The theme of the poem is __________________________.

Passage 23 Till a’ the sea gang dry, my dear, And the rocks melt wi’ the sun And I will luve thee stilll, my dear, While the sands o' life shall run.

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IV.

And fare thee weel, my only Luve, And fare the weel, a while! And I will come again, my Luve, Tho' it ware ten thousand mile! Questions: 1. These two stanzas are taken from ________ written by_________. 2. These two stanzas express the speaker’s ________ to come back to his love, no matter how far, or hard the journey is. Passage 24 A little black thing among the snow Crying “weep, weep, weep,” in notes of woe! “Where are your father and mother? Say?” “They are both gone up to the church to pray.” “Because I was happy upon the hearth, And smil’d among the winter’s snow; They think they have done me no injury, And are gone to praise God and His Priest and King, Who make up a heaven of our misery.” Questions: 1. What is the little black thing refers to_________? What’s the title of the poem? 2. What do you know from the line “ …and are gone to praise God and his Priest and King?” Who make up a heaven of our misery.” 3. Comment on the little speaker’s narrative.

V Give brief answers to the following questions:

1. What are the major themes of D.H Lawrence’s novels? 2. Briefly comment on the characteristics of Hamlet’s personality. 3. Analyze the main idea and artistic features of Paradise Lost. 4. Analyze the image of Robinson Crusoe. 5. Give a brief analysis of Portia, a character in The Merchant of Venice. 6. Talk about the common features of Romanticism. 7. What’s the theme of A Modest Proposal by Swift? 8. Talk about the features of A Modest Proposal by Swift.. 9. Briefly talk about the three literary careers of Shakespeare and their features. 10. Briefly talk about the image of Satan in Paradise Lost. 11. Talk about the essential features of romance in the Medieval British literature. 12. What is Chaucer’s contribution to English language? 13. Talk about the social significance of The Canterbury Tales. 14. Talk about Thomas More’s Utopia. 15. When were Shakespeare’s major tragedies written? What did he write about in his tragedies? 16. In which period did Shakespeare write his major comedies? What are they about? 17. What do Shakespeare’s historical plays about? 18. What features do Shakespeare’s plays possess? 19. Tell the main idea of The Merchant of Venice. 20. Make comments on the heroines in Shakespeare’s comedies. 23

21. To some extent, we can say, Samson is Milton, Why? 22. Comment on Steel’s and Addition’s contribution to English literature. 23. What do you think of the novel Pamela? 24. What are High heels and Low heels? 25. Dryden’s contribution to English literature. 26. The theme of Samson Agonistes. 27. Talk about the theme of Elegy Written in the Country Churchyard. 28. Talk about the significance of contrast between Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience, 29. Talk about the features of Blake’s poetry. 30. Image of Tom Jones and Blifil 31. What part of society was Virginia Woolf mainly concerned with?

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 Discussion Questions for Discussion in American Literature in General 1 Emily Dickinson seems to be looking at the world for the first and last time. 2 Walt Whitman and Emily Dickinson wrote as if no one had written before. 3 Twain was a boy, and an old man, but never was he a man. 4 Nothing happens in Henry James’ novels(Mark Twain). 5 Henry James is an acquired taste. 6 What is Jamesian style? 7 What are the two formulas of O Henry’s short stories? 8 Is Robert Frost a modern poet or a traditional poet? Why? 9 Compare Whitman and Dickinson: similarities and differences. 10 In What sense does The Autobiography by Benjamin Franklin form a sharp contrast to The Great Gatsby by Fitzgerald? 11 What are Poe’s theories of poetry and of short stories respectively? 12 What are the most striking features of Poe’s poetry? 13 What is the most striking similarity between Hawthorne and Melville? 14 What is Hawthorne’s view of human nature? 15 In what sense is Hawthorne opposite to Emerson? 16 What is Emerson’s view of nature? 17 What are the main ideas of American Transcendentalism? 18 What ideas did Thoreau share with Emerson? What ideas did Thoreau have which Emerson did not have? 19 What is the significance of Walden by Thoreau? 20 What is the main idea of American Scholar? 21 What may be the themes of Moby Dick? 22 Common on Hester the protagonist in The Scarlet Letter. 23 Compare O Henry with Chekhov the Russian writer: similarities and differences. 24 Compare Twain with Henry James: their different types of realism, different style, different subject.. 25 Comment on the themes and artistic features of Eugene O’Neill 26 What may be the themes of Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller? 27 Make an analysis of Willy Lowman in the above play. 28 What are the features of Jewish literature as reflected in Saul Bellow’s writings? 29 What are the features of confessional poetry as shown in Sylvia Plath’s poems? 30 Comment on the theme(s) of Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison. 31 What are the features of William Faulkner’s novels. 32 Comment on Sherwood Anderson’s characters. 33 Comment on the tragedy of Gatsby. 34 What is Hemingway’s iceberg theory? What is his style? 35 Comment on the black humor of Catch-22.

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Questions for The Fall of the House of Usher by Poe 1 How does Poe suggest that the setting is isolated ,decaying and extremely gloomy? 2 How is the narrator characterized and what is his function in relation to the reader? 3 How are the heart-lute images of the epigraph echoed in the story? 4 What kinds of doubling or counterparts can be found in the story? 5 What are the parallels in physical appearance between Roderick and the house? 6 How is the character of Roderick used as a gothic symbol of physical and psychological isolation? 7 How does the tarn possess symbolic meaning? 8 How does Roderick’s abstract painting serve both foreshadowing and symbolic functions? 9 What contrasts involved in the ballad “The Haunted Palace” also appear in the story itself? 10 What part does suspense play in the total effect of the story? 11 In what larger sense can the story be understood?

Questions for The Raven by Poe 1 What is the general mood of the poem? How is this mood created and strengthened? 2 What are metrical features of the poem? 3 What are the sound devices used in the poem? How do these devices contribute to the creation of the general atmosphere? 4 What might be the function(s )of the raven in the poem, and its symbolic meaning ? 5 What might be the theme of the poem? What do you think the poet intends to convey in this poem?

Questions for William Faulkner, “A Rose for Emily” 1. What is the point of view of the story? 2. What does the title of the story suggest about the townspeople’s feelings toward Miss Emily? Why do they feel this way about her? (Or: What does she represent to them?) Is there anything ironic about their feelings? 3. Describe and discuss the symbolism of Miss Emily’s house. 4. What is the role of “the smell” incident in the story. What other problems has Miss Emily caused the local authorities? 5. How do the townspeople know what they know about Miss Emily’s life? What is the source of their information? 6. Consider the mixed quality of the townspeople’s reactions to Miss Emily’s 26

“failures.” 7. What is the significance of Miss Emily’s actions after the death of her father? 8. What role does Homer Barron play in the story? Is there anything ironic about a match between him and Miss Emily? 9. Look closely at the second paragraph in section five. What does this paragraph suggest about the nature of people’s memories of the past? 10. What is the horrible revelation about Miss Emily that the story ends with? How is this related to the overall meaning of the story?

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Answers to British and American Literature Exercises I.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. 11. 12. 13. 14. 15. 16. 17. 18. 19. 20. 21.

Fill in each blank with one masterpiece of the following writers: Canterbury Tales Pride and Prejudice Pilgrim’s Progress Gulliver’s Travels Robinson Crusoe Paradise Lost Tom Jones, a Foundling Utopia Jane Eyre Wuthering Hights Lord of the Flies The Golden Note Book Vicar of Wakefield Apology for Poetry Everyone in His Humor To His Coy Mistress Auld Lang Syne The Great Lives of Poets Ulysses The Rainbow The Waste Land

II Answers to the multiplechoices 1. b 2. a 3. a 4. b 5. b 6. a. b.c 7. a 8. d 9. a 10. a. 11. d. 12. d 13. a 14. d 15 a 16. b. 17. d 18. a 19. a 20.a 21. b 22. c 23. c 24. d 25.b 26. a 27. b 28. a 29. a 30. d 31. a 32. c 33. a 34. c 35. d 36. a 37. a 38. b 39. a 40. c 41. b 42. c 43.c 44. a 45. d 46. b, d 47. c 48. d 49. b 50. a 51. d 52. c 53. a 54. c 55. a, b, c 56. a, b 57 a, b 58. b 59. c, d 60. a, b, c, d 61. c 62. a, c 63. a, d 64. a, b 65. a 66. a, b, c 67. b 68. a 69. a, b 70. a, b 71. c 72. a, b 73. b, c 74. a, b, 75. a 76. c 77. a, c 78. a,b,c 79. b 80. a, b, c 81. a 82. b 83. a 84. b. 85. a, b 86. c, d 87. a, b , c 88 d 89. a, c 90. a, b, d 91. a, b, c 92. d 93. d 94. a, b ,c,d 95. a, b, c 96. b 97.c 98. c 99. d 100. d 101. a,c 102. c 103 c 104. c 105.d 106. d 107. c 108. d 109. b 110.d 111.c 112. a l13.b 114. b 115. a. 116.a 117. b 118. d 119. c 120. b

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121. c 126.d 131. d 136. d 141. b 146.d 151.d 156.b 161.b 166. c 171. a 176.d 181.b

122. b 127. c 132. c 137. d 142. c 147. b 152. c 157. d 162. a 167.a 172. d 177. b 182. d

123. c 128. a,c 133. d 138.c 143. b 148. a 153. a 158.d 163. d 168. a 173. c 178. a 183. a

124 d 129. a 134. d 139. d 144. a 149. d 154. a 159.c 164. c 169.a 174.d 179. a

125. a 130. a 135.b,d 140. a 145. c 150. d 155.b 160. d 165. a 170. b 175. d 180. a

III. Definition of Literary Terms: 1 Blank verse

Unrhymed iambic pentameter. See also Meter. In the 1540s Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, seems to have originated it in English as the equivalent of Virgil's unrhymed dactylic hexameter. In Gorboduc (1561), Thomas Sackville and Thomas Norton introduced blank verse into the drama, whence it soared with Marlowe and Shakespeare in the 1590s. Milton forged it anew for the epic in Paradise Lost (1667). 2. Epic A long narrative poem, typically a recounting of history or legend or of the deeds of a national hero and of reflecting the values of the society from which it originated. Many epics were drawn from an oral tradition and were transmitted by song and recitation before they were written down. Later on this literary genre was written down by the poets, such as Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained. Two of the greatest epics are Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey. While in British literary history, the national epic is Beowulf. During the Renaissance, critical theory emphasized two assumptions: 3. Metaphysical Poetry The poetry of John Donne and other seventeenth-century poets who wrote in a similar style. Metaphysical poetry is characterized by verbal wit and excess, ingenious structure, irregular meter, colloquial language, elaborate imagery, and a drawing together of dissimilar ideas. 4. Cavalier Poets Cavalier poets were often courtiers who stood on the side of the king, and called themselves “sons” of Ben Jonson. The Cavalier poets wrote light poetry, polished and elegant, amorous and gay, but often superficial. They mostly dealt in short songs on the flitting joys of the day, but underneath their light-heartedness lays some foreboding of impending doom. This spirit of pessimism and cynicism is typical of the aristocratic class in decline. 5. Alliteration The repetition of the beginning accented syllables near to each other with the same consonantal sound, as in many idiomatic phrases: “safe and sound”; “thick and thin”; “right as rain”. Alliteration is thus the opposite of rhyme, by which the similar sounds occur at the ends of the syllables. 29

6. Realism A term used in literature and art to present life as it really is without sentimentalizing or idealizing it. Realistic writing often depicts the everyday life and speech of ordinary people. This has led, sometimes to an emphasis on sordid details. 7. Augustan Age A period in history of a literature when it reaches its highest standards in certain early identified qualities: refinement, clarity, elegance, and balance of judgments. This coincided in Roman literature with the reign of the Emperor Augustus ( 27 BC-AD 14). Generally speaking, Augustan age can be extended back to Dryden and forward to include the work of Pope and Samuel Johnson; in fact, to include all those English writers who shared the literary ideas of the reign of Anne. This period of English culture was indeed one in which there was an especially high admiration for the classical Augustan age, the age of Virgil, Horace, and Ovid, and for the standards of criticism prescribed by Horace in his Art of Poetry. ( Ars Poetica)

8. Sentimentalism Sentimentalism originated in the 18th century, and was a direct reaction against the cold, hard commercialism and rationalism that had dominated people’s life since the last decades of the 17 th century. Besides, it seemed to have appeared hand in hand with the rise of realistic English novel. Sentimentalism often relates to sentimentality and sensibility in some literary works such as Richardson’s Pamela; Goldsmith’s The Vicar of Wakefield; Sterne’s A Sentimental Journey through France and Italy. In Poetry, we have Thomas Gray’s “An Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard”, Goldsmith’s “The Deserted Village”, and Cowper’s “Task”, not mention the various odes of sensibility which flourished in the later half of the century. 9. Humanism Humanism refers to the main literary trend and is the keynote of English Renaissance. Humanists took interest in human life and human activities and gave expression to the new feeling of admiration for human beauty, human achievement. 10. Puritanism The term is used in a narrow sense of religious practice and attitudes, and in a broad sense of an ethical outlook, which is much less easy to define. First in its strict sense, “Puritan” was applied to those Protestant reformers who rejected Queen Elizabeth’s religious settlement of 1560. This settlement sought a middle way between Roman Catholicism and the extreme spirit of reform of Geneva. The Puritans, influenced by Geneva, Zurich, and other continental centers, objected to the retention of bishops and to any appearance of what they regarded as superstition in church worship--the wearing of vestments by the priests, and any kind of religious image. Apart from their united opposition to Roman Catholicism and their insistence on simplicity in religious forms, Puritans disagreed among themselves on questions of doctrine and church organization. Puritans were very strong in the first half of 17th century and reached its peak of power after the Civil War of 1642-6, a war, which was ostensibly religious, although it was also political. Secondly the broad sense of a whole way of life, Puritanism has always represented strict obedience to the dictates of conscience and strong emphasis on the virtue of self-denial.

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The word “Puritan” is often thought to imply hostility to arts, but this is not necessarily true. 11. The Anglican Church or Church of England The Church of England became independent in 1534, when Henry VIII caused Parliament to pass the Act of supremacy, which declared him to be the “supreme Head of the English Church and Clergy. This action was political rather than religious; Henry was conservative in his religious beliefs, and reaffirmed the traditional Catholic doctrines by his Act of the Six Articles (1539)

12. Allegory A story suggests another story. The first part of this word comes from the Greek allos, "other." An allegory is present in literature whenever it is clear that the author is saying, "By this I also mean that." In practice, allegory appears when a progression of events or images suggests a translation of them into conceptual language. Allegory is thus a technique of aligning imaginative constructs, mythological or poetic, with conceptual or moral models. During the Romantic era a distinction arose between allegory and symbol. With Coleridge, symbol took precedence: "an allegory is but a translation of abstract notions into picture-language," but "a symbol always partakes of the reality which it makes intelligible." 13. Alexandrine A twelve-syllable line of verse, possibly owes its name to French medieval poems about Alexander the Great. It is common in French poetry but unusual in English, where the commonest line length is of ten syllables. The famous use of which is in the last line of the Spenserian stanza, invented in his Faerie Queene. 14. Ballad A narrative poem in short stanzas, with or without music. The term derives by way of French ballade from Latin ballare, "to dance," and once meant a simple song of any kind, lyric or narrative, especially one to accompany a dance. As ballads evolved, most lost their association with dance, although they kept their strong rhythms. Modern usage distinguishes three major kinds: the anonymous traditional ballad (popular ballad or folk ballad), transmitted orally; the broadside ballad, printed and sold on single sheets; and the literary ballad (or art ballad), a sophisticated imitation of the traditional ballad. 15. Mystery play The Mystery plays of the Middle Ages were based on the bible and were particularly concerned with the stories of man’s creation, Fall and Redemption. They antedate Miracle Plays. Mystery Plays developed out of the Liturgy of the church and in particular out of the Quem Quaeritis trope of Easter Day. The earlier dramatizations were presented on the greater festivals of the church: Christmas, Easter,, Pentecost and Corpus Christi. At first they were in Latin and performed by the clergy in the church. There then came an increasing admixture of the vernacular, and lay folk also performed in them. This gradual secularization of the religions drama was accompanied by a corresponding physical move. The drama moved out of the church through the west door. Thus, what had been sacred 31

drama became, literally, profane. From the church yard to the market place was the next logical step. 16. Carpe Diem Tradition A tradition dates back to classical Greek and certain poetry, particularly popular among English Cavalier poets. Carpe diem means literally “seize the day”, that is “live for today”. The carpe diem theme is epitomized in a line from Robert Herrick’s “To the virgins, to Make Much of Time”; and “ Gather ye rosebuds, while you may.” 17. Characterization The personality a character displays; also, the means by which a writer reveals that personality. Generally, a writer develops a character in one or more of the following ways: (1) through the character’s actions; (2) through the character’s thoughts and speeches; (3) through a physical description of the character; (4) through the opinions others have about the character; (5) through a direct statement about the character telling what the writer thinks of him or her. 18. Oxford Reformer Oxford reformers refer to a group of professors, graduates and students of Oxford University, with Thomas More as their representatives. They traveled to Italy or France to come into contact with the spirit of the Renaissance humanism and accepted the new philosophy and culture that were rising there, and they began to spread the ideas of the Renaissance in England after they returned. They made Oxford University as a center of the classical studies. Their new world outlook prepared the way for the appearance of a new literature in the second half of the 16th century. 19. Comedy One of the typical literary structures originates as a form of drama and later extends into prose fiction and other genres as well. Comedy, as Susanne Langer says, is the image of Fortune; tragedy, the image of Fate. Each sorts out for attention the different facts of life. Comedy sorts its pleasures. It pleases our egos and endows our dreams, stirring at once two opposing impulses, our vindictive lust for superiority and our wishful drive for success and happiness ever after. The dark impulse stirs the pleasure of laughter; the light, the pleasure of wish fulfillment. 20. Conceit Any fanciful, ingenious expression or idea, especially one in the form of an extended metaphor. 21. Couplet A pair of rhymed metrical lines, usually in iambic tetrameter or pentameter. Sometimes the two lines are of different length. 22. Elegy Greek for "lament": a poem on death or on a serious loss; characteristically a sustained meditation expressing sorrow and, frequently, an explicit or implied consolation 23.Epigram

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A short, witty, pointed statement often in the form of a poem. Here is an example from Alexander Pope’s Essay on Criticism: Be not the first by whom the new are tried, Nor yet the last to lay the old aside. 24. Essay A literary composition on a single subject; usually short, in prose, and non-exhaustive. The word derives from French essai "an attempt," first used in the modern sense by Michel de Montaigne, whose Essais (1580-1588) are classics of the genre. Francis Bacon's Essays (1597) brought the term and form to English. 25. Iambic Pentameter A poetic line consisting of five verse feet, which each foot an iamb__ that is, an unstressed syllable followed by a stressed one. Iambic pentameter is the most common verse line in English poetry. 26. mockery In general, irony is the perception of a clash between appearance and reality, between seems and is, or between ought and is. The myriad shadings of irony seem to fall into three categories: (1) Verbal irony-saying something contrary to what it means; the appearance is what the words say, the reality is their contrary meaning. (2) Dramatic irony-saying or doing something while unaware of its ironic contrast with the whole truth; named for its frequency in drama, dramatic irony is a verbal irony with the speaker's awareness erased. (3) Situational irony-events turning to the opposite of what is expected or what should be. The ironic situation turns the speaker's unknowing words ironic. Situational irony is the essence of both comedy and tragedy: the young lovers run into the worst possible luck, until everything clears up happily; the most noble spirits go to their death, while the featherheads survive. 27. Lyric A poem, brief and discontinuous, emphasizes sound and pictorial imagery rather than narrative or dramatic movement. 28. Miracle Play A popular religious drama of medieval England. Miracle plays were based on stories of the saints or on sacred history. 29. Mock epic A comic literary form that treats a trivial subject in the grand, heroic style of the epic. A mock epic is also referred to as a mock-heroic poem. Perhaps the greatest mock epic in English is Alexander Pope’s The Rape of the Lock. 30. Morality Plays A form of religious allegorical drama, dates from 15 th century. Moralities differed from mystery plays in that whereas the latter dramatized known episodes from the Bible or from the lives of the saints, the former dramatized the life of man by personifying the forces of good and evil, such as the seven deadly sins and the corresponding virtues or some representative crisis in his life such as his encounter with the fact of death. 33

31. Narrative Poem A poem that tells a story. This kind of poetry includes epic, ballad and romance in verse. 32. Neo-classicism A revival in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries of classical standards of order, balance and harmony in literature. John Dryden was the first person who started the movement at the end of the 17th century, while Alexander Pope brought it to its culmination. 33. Octave The first unit in an Italian sonnet: eight lines of iambic pentameter, rhyming abbaabba. See also Meter. (2) A stanza in eight lines. 34. Ode A long, stately lyric poem in stanzas of varied metrical pattern, written in a dignified formal style on some lofty or serious subject. Odes are often written for a special occasion, to honor a person or a season or commemorate an event. Two famous odes are Percy Bysshe Shelley’s “ Ode to the West wind” and John Keats’s Ode on a Grecian Urn.” 35. Pastoral From Latin pastor, a shepherd. The first pastoral poet was Theocritus, a Greek of the 3rd century B.C. The pastoral was especially popular in Europe from the 14th through the 18th centuries, with some fine examples still written in England in the 19th century. The pastoral mode is self-reflexive. Typically the poet echoes the conventions of earlier pastorals in order to put "the complex into the simple," as William Empson observed in Some Versions of Pastoral (1935). The poem is not really about shepherds, but about the complex society the poet and readers inhabit. 36. Point of view The vantage point from which a narrative is told. There are two basic points of view: firstperson and third-person. In the first-person point of view, the story is told by one of the characters in his/her own words. The first-person point of view is limited, since the reader is told only what this character knows and observes. Here is an example of first point of view from Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels: The king was struck with horror at the description I had given of those terrible engines, and the proposal I had made. He was amazed how so important and groveling an insect as I (these were his expressions) could entertain such inhuman ideas… In the third-person point of view, the narrator is not a character in the story. The narrator may be an omniscient, or “all-knowing,” observer who can describe and comment on all the characters and actions in the story. Thomas Hardy’s “ The Three Strangers” is written from a third-person omniscient point of view: Shepherdess Fennel fell back upon the intermediate plan of mingling short dances with short periods of talk and singing, so as to hinder any ungovernable rage in either.

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On the other hand, the third-person narrator might tell a story from the point of view of only one character in the story, as Virginia Woolf does in the “The New Dress.” All the action in that story is told by the third-person narrator, from the limited point of view of Mable Warning. 37. Refrain A word, phrase, line, or group of lines repeated regularly in a poem, usually at the end o each stanza. Refrains are often used in ballads and narrative poems to create a songlike rhythm and help build suspense. Refrains can also serve to emphasize a particular idea. A modern example of the use of refrain appears in Dylan Thomas’s “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night.” 38. Romance Any imaginative literature that is set in an idealized world and that deals with heroic adventures and battles between good characters and villains or monsters. Originally, the term referred to a medieval tale dealing with the loves and adventures of kings, queens, knights, and ladies, and including unlikely or supernatural happenings. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is the best of the medieval romances. 39. Romanticism A movement that flourished in literature, philosophy, music, and art in Western culture during most of the nineteenth century, beginning as a revolt against classicism. The romanticist portrays people, scenes and events as they impress him or as he imagines them to be. A Romantic work has one or more of the following characteristics: an emphasis on feeling and imagination; a love of nature; a belief in individual and common man; and interest in the past, the unusual, the unfamiliar, the bizarre or picturesque, a revolt against authority or tradition. It expresses the ideology and sentiment of the classes and strata that were dissatisfied with the development of capitalism. There have been many varieties of romanticism in many different times and places. Some ideas of English Romanticism were expressed by the poets William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and some were showed by Shelley, Byron and Keats. 40. Satire A kind of writing holds up to ridicule or contempt the weaknesses and wrongdoings of individuals, groups, institutions, or humanity in general. The aim of satirists is to set a moral standard for society, and they attempt to persuade the reader to see their point of view through the force of laughter. The most famous satirical work in English literature is Jonathan Swift’s Gulliver’s Travels. 41. Sonnet A fourteen-line lyric poem, usually written in rhymed iambic pentameter. A sonnet generally expressed a scheme, but are generally of two types: the Petrarchan or Italian sonnet and the Elizabethan or Shakespearian or English sonnet. The Italian sonnet is a form that originated in Italy in the thirteenth century. The Italian sonnet has two parts, an octave (eight lines) and a sestet (six lines). Its rhyme scheme is usually abbaabba, cde cde. The two parts of the Italian sonnet play off each other in a variety of ways. Sometimes the octave raises a question that the sestet answers. Sometimes the sestet opposes what the octave says, or extends it. The Italian sonnet is often called the Petrarchan sonnet, because the Italian poet Francesco Petrarch used it so extensively. He dedicated more than three hundred sonnets to a woman named Laura.

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Petrarch inspired the vogue of sonnet writing in Elizabethan England. It became conventional for English poets to address sonnets to a beautiful but cruel mistress whose eyes were stars, whose lips were cherries, and whose cheeks roses. Shakespeare’s “Sonnet 130” has been called anti-Petrarchan because he inverts the conventions, describing his mistress in realistic terms. The Shakespearian sonnet consists of three quatrains and a concluding couplet, with the rhyme scheme abab cdcd efef gg. A less important sonnet form is Spenserian sonnet. Its rhyme scheme is ababbcbccdcdee. 42. Spenserian stanza A nine-line stanza with the following rhyme scheme: ababbcbcc. The first eight lines are written in iambic pentameter. The ninth line is written in iambic hexameter and is called an Alexandrine. The Spenserian was invented by Edmund Spenser for his epic poem the Faerie Queene. The Spenserian was also used by Robert Burns, John Keats, and Shelley. 43. Renaissance It is a cultural movement of the rising bourgeoisie. The key word for it is humanism, which emphasizes the belief in human beings, his environment and doings and his brave fight for the emancipation of man from the tyranny of the church and religious dogmas. It originally indicates a revival of classical arts and learning after the dark ages of medieval obscurantism. Its aim is to get rid of those old feudalist ideas in medieval time and introduce new ideas that express the interests of the rising bourgeoisie. Shakespeare, Spenser, and Marlowe are all famous literary figures in this period. 44. Enlightenment Enlightenment is a progressive intellectual movement, which swept over England and other lands in Western Europe in the 18 th century. Enlightenment freed and reformed the thinking of man. Enlighteners strove to clear away the feudal remnants and replace them by bourgeois ideologue. 45. Run-on Line A line of poetry whose sense does not stop at the end, with punctuation, but runs on to the next line. 46. Comedy of manners Its concern is to bring the moral and social behavior of its characters to the test of comic laughter. The male hero lives not for military glory but for pleasure and the conquests that he can achieve in his amorous campaigns. The object of his very practical game of sexual intrigue is a beautiful, witty, pleasure loving, and emancipated lady, every bit his equal in the strategies of love. The two are distinguished not for virtue but for the true wit and well-bred grace with which they conduct the often complicated intrigue that makes up the plot. 47. Mock-Heroic/Mock Epic A poem in Epic form and manner ludicrously elevating some trivial subject to epic grandeur, juxtaposing high/grand style and low/trivial subject, to make fun of somebody or something.

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48. The Augustan Poets A special feature of eighteenth-century poetic language is its emphasis on visualizing or personifying. Critics of the time all argued that poets showed their genius best by imagining or seeing what they wrote about (not by facility with words or forms or abstract ideas); and readers were skilled at making pictures from very small hints. 49. Assonance Repetition of middle vowel sounds: fight, hive; pane, make. Assonance, most effective on stressed syllables, is often found within a line of poetry; less frequently it substitutes for end rhyme. 50.Caesura A pause in a metrical line, indicated by punctuation, momentarily suspending the beat (from Latin "a cutting off"). Caesuras are masculine at the end of a foot, and feminine in mid-foot. 51. Closed Couplet The heroic couplet, especially when the thought and grammar are complete in the two iambic pentameter lines. 52. Connotation The ideas, attitudes, or emotions associated with a word in the mind of speaker or listener, writer or reader. It is contrasted with the denotation, the thing the word stands for, the dictionary definition, an objective concept without emotional coloring. 53. Consonance (1) Repetition of inner or end consonant sounds, as, for example, the r and s sounds from Gerard Manley Hopkins's God's Grandeur: "broods with warm breast." (2) In a broader sense, a generally pleasing combination of sounds or ideas; things that sound well together. 54. Deism A rational philosophy of religion, beginning with the theories of Lord Herbert of Cherbury, the "Father of Deism," in his De Veritate (1624). Deists generally held that God, the supreme Artisan, created a perfect clock of a universe, withdrew, and left it running, not to return to intervene in its natural works or the life of humankind; that the Bible is a moral guide, but neither historically accurate nor divinely authentic; and that reason guides human beings to virtuous conduct. 55. Denotation The thing that a word stands for, the dictionary definition, an objective concept without emotional coloring. It is contrasted with the connotation, ideas, attitudes, or emotions associated with the word in the mind of user or hearer. 56.Dialogue

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Conversation between two or more persons, as represented in prose fiction, drama, or essays, as opposed to monologue, the speech of one person. Good dialogue characterizes each speaker by idiom and attitude as it advances the dramatic conflict. The dialogue as a form of speculative exposition, or dialectical argument, is often less careful to distinguish the diction and character of the speakers. 57. Dramatic Irony A character in drama or fiction unknowingly says or does something in ironic contrast to what the audience or reader knows or will learn. 58. Dramatic Monologue A monologue in verse. A speaker addresses a silent listener, revealing, in dramatic irony, things about himself or herself of which the speaker is unaware. 59.Empricism Empiricism is basic to the scientific method and to literary naturalism. It is opposed to rationalism, which discovers truth through reason alone, without regard to experience. 60. End Rhyme Rhyme at the end of a line of verse (the usual placement), as distinguished from initial rhyme, at the beginning, or internal rhyme, within the line. 61. Enjambment Run-on lines in which grammatical sense runs from one line of poetry to the next without pause or punctuation. The opposite of an end-stopped line. 62. Epic Simile Sometimes called a Homeric simile: an extended simile, comparing one thing with another by lengthy description of the second, often beginning with "as when" and concluding with "so" or "such." 63. Fable

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(1) A short, allegorical story in verse or prose, frequently of animals, told to illustrate a moral. (2) The story line or plot of a narrative or drama. (3) Loosely, any legendary or fabulous account. 64. Feminine Ending An extra unstressed syllable at the end of a metrical line, usually iambic. 65. Feminine Rhyme A rhyme of both the stressed and the unstressed syllables of one feminine ending with another. 66. Foot The metrical unit; in English, an accented syllable with accompanying light syllable or syllables. 67. Free Verse Poetry free of traditional metrical and stanzaic pattern 68. Genre A term often applied loosely to the larger forms of literary convention, roughly analogous to "species" in biology. The Greeks spoke of three main genres of poetry-lyric, epic, and drama. Within each major genre, there are sub-genres. In written forms dominated by prose, for example, there is a broad distinction between works of fiction (e.g., the novel) and thematic works (e.g., the essay). Within the fictional category, we note a distinction between novel and romance, and other forms such as satire and confession. The object of making these distinctions in literary tradition is not simply to classify but to judge authors in terms of the conventions they themselves chose. 69. Humor A humor is a theory used by Ben Jonson in his play writing. A humor, according to the physiology and the psychology of the time, was one of the liquid constituents of the body, each of which had its peculiar emotional propensity. Every character in Jonson’s comedies personifies a definite humor, so his characters are like caricatures. 7o. Image 39

A concrete picture, either literally descriptive, as in "Red roses covered the white wall," or figurative, as in "She is a rose," each carrying a sensual and emotive connotation. A figurative image may be an analogy, metaphor, simile, personification, or the like. Impressionism, a literary style conveying subjective impressions rather than objective reality, taking its name from the movement in French painting in the mid-19th century, notably in the works of Manet, Monet, and Renoir. The Imagists represented impressionism in poetry; in fiction, writers like Virginia Woolf and James Joyce. 71. Internal Rhyme Rhyme within a line, rather than at the beginning (initial rhyme) or end (end rhyme); also, rhyme matching sounds in the middle of a line with sounds at the end. 72. Metonymy "Substitute naming." A figure of speech in which an associated idea stands in for the actual item: "The pen is mightier than the sword" for "Literature and propaganda accomplish more and survive longer than warfare," or "The White House announced" for "The President announced." See also synecdoche. 73. Mimesis A term meaning "imitation." It has been central to literary criticism since Aristotle's Poetics. The ordinary meaning of imitation as creating a resemblance to something else is clearly involved in Aristotle's definition of dramatic plot as mimesis praxes, the imitation of an action. But there are many things that a work of literature may imitate, and hence many contexts of imitation. Works of literature may imitate other works of literature: this is the aspect of literature that comes into such conceptions as convention and genre. In a larger sense, every work of literature imitates, or finds its identity in, the entire "world of words," in Wallace Stevens's phrase, the sense of the whole of reality as potentially literary, as finding its end in a book, as StŽphane MallarmŽ says. 74. Muse The inspirer of poetry, on whom the poet calls for assistance. In Greek mythology the Muses were the nine daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne ("Memory") presiding over the arts and sciences. 75. Novel The extended prose fiction that arose in the 18th century to become a major literary expression of the modern world. The term comes from the Italian novella, the short "new" tale of intrigue and moral comeuppance most eminently disseminated by Boccaccio's Decameron (1348-1353). The terms novel and romance, from the French roman, competed interchangeably for most of the 18th century. 76. Onomatopoeia The use of words formed or sounding like what they signify-buzz, crack, smack, whinnyespecially in an extensive capturing of sense by sound. 77. Oxymoron

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A pointed stupidity: oxy, "sharp," plus moron. One of the great ironic figures of speechfor example, "a fearful joy," or Milton's "darkness visible." 78. Paradox An apparently untrue or self-contradictory statement or circumstance that proves true upon reflection or when examined in another light. 79. Parody Originally, "a song sung beside" another. From this idea of juxtaposition arose the two basic elements of parody, comedy and criticism. As comedy, parody exaggerates or distorts the prominent features of style or content in a work. As criticism, it mimics the work, borrowing words or phrases or characteristic turns of thought in order to highlight weaknesses of conception or expression. 80. Persona A mask (in Latin); in poetry and fiction, the projected speaker or narrator of the work-that is, a mask for the actual author. 81. Personification The technique of treating abstractions, things, or animals as persons. A kind of metaphor, personification turns abstract ideas, like love, into a physical beauty named Venus, or conversely, makes dumb animals speak and act like humans. 82. Platonism Any reflection of Plato's philosophy, particularly the belief in the eternal reality of ideal forms, of which the diversities of the physical world are but transitory shadows. 83. Quatrain A stanza of four lines, rhymed or unrhymed. With its many variations, it is the most common stanzaic form in English. 84. Rationalism The theory that reason, rather than revelation or authority, provides knowledge, truth, the choice of good over evil, and an adequate understanding of God and the universe. 85. Rhyme (sometimes Rime, an older spelling) The effect created by matching sounds at the ends of words. The functions of rhyme are essentially four: pleasurable, mnemonic, structural, and rhetorical. Like meter and figurative language, rhyme provides a pleasure derived from fulfillment of a basic human desire to see similarity in dissimilarity, likeness with a difference. 86. Satire Poking corrective ridicule at persons, types, actions, follies, mores, and beliefs 87. Spondee 41

A metrical foot of two long, or stressed, syllables: --. 88. Stanza A term derived from an Italian word for "room" or "stopping place" and used, loosely, to designate any grouping of lines in a separate unit in a poem: a verse paragraph. More strictly, a stanza is a grouping of a prescribed number of lines in a given meter, usually with a particular rhyme scheme, repeated as a unit of structure. Poems in stanzas provide an instance of the aesthetic pleasure in repetition with a difference that also underlies the metrical and rhyming elements of poetry. 89. Sublime In literature, a quality attributed to lofty or noble ideas, grand or elevated expression, or (the ideal of sublimity) an inspiring combination of thought and language. In nature or art, it is a quality, as in a landscape or in a painting, which inspire awe or reverence. 90. Symbol Something stands for its natural qualities in another context, with human meaning added: an eagle, standing for the soaring imperious dominance of Rome. 91. Synecdoche The understanding of one thing by another-a kind of metaphor in which a part stands for the whole, or the whole for a part: a hired hand meaning "a laborer." 92. Tragedy Fundamentally, a serious fiction involves the downfall of a hero or heroine. It is a literary form, a basic mode of drama. Tragedy often involves the theme of isolation, in which a hero, a character of greater than ordinary human importance, becomes isolated from the community. Then there is the theme of the violation and reestablishment of order, in which the neutralizing of the violent act may take the form of revenge. Finally, a character may embody a passion too great for the cosmic order to tolerate, such as the passion of sexual love. Renaissance tragedy seems to be essentially a mixture of the heroic and the ironic. It tends to center on heroes who, though they cannot be of divine parentage in Christianized Western Europe, are still of titanic importance, with an articulateness and social authority beyond anything in our normal experience. 93. Tragic Irony The essence of tragedy, in which the most noble and most deserving person, because of the very grounds of his or her excellence, dies in defeat. See also Irony. 94. Wit and Humor Wit is intellectual acuity; humor, an amused indulgence of human deficiencies. Wit now denotes the acuity that produces laughter. It originally meant mere understanding, then quickness of understanding, then, beginning in the 17th century, quick perception coupled with creative fancy. Humor (British humor, from the four bodily humors) was simply a disposition, usually eccentric. In the 18th century, humor came to mean a laughable eccentricity and then a kindly amusement at such eccentricity. 95. Zeugma

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The technique of using one word to yoke two or more others for ironic or amusing effect, achieved when at least one of the yoked is a misfit, as in Alexander Pope's "lose her Heart, or Necklace, at a Ball." 96. The Literary Club The Literary Club was founded by Samuel Johnson, a poet, essayist, literary critic and lexicographer, in 1764, in which many famous figures of the time were included. At the gathering of club, Johnson’s conversational gifts were fully exercised and well enjoyed and he gave his law upon literature through his talks. 97. Pre- romanticism In the second half of the 18 th century, a new literary movement came in Europe called Romantic Revival and this literary tendency has been called Pre-Romanticism. The representatives are Robert Burns and William Blake. It was marked by a strong protest against the bondage of classicism, by a recognition of the claims of imagination and emotion, and by a renewed interest in medieval literature. 98. Gothic novel Gothic novel was a new type of fiction prominent in the late 18th century, it was a style of fiction characterized by the use of desolate or remote settings, fantastic mysterious or violent incidents, and grotesque, savage or ghostlike characters. Walpole’s Castle of Otranto, Shelley Mary’ Frankenstein, and Ann Radcliff’s Mysteries of Udolpho, to name a few of them. 99. Climax It may be the event or events following the major climax of a plot, or the unraveling of a plot’s complications at the end of a story or play. 100. Climax 101. Crisis The part of a story or play at which a crisis is reached and resolution achieved.

IV. Answers to the questions attached to the selected passage: ANSWER TO 1 1. T. S Eliot, The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock 2. one way is to interpret “you and me” as the reader or the unknown companion of Prufrock and the speaker Prufrock; another way is to interpret You as the other self of Prufrock, and he is split in to two selves which are talking to each other. ANSWER TO 2 1.“Hamlet” 2.Shakespeare 3.Hamlet 4.“To be or not to be” means to live or end one’s life by self-destruction. Hamlet has already spoken of suicide as a means of escape, and he dwells on it in a later part of this very speech, giving however a different reason for refraining. The notion that in the words “or not to be ” he is 43

speculating on the possibility of “something after death”---whether there is a future life –cannot be entertained for a moment. The whole drift of the speech shows his belief in a future life. Practically the whole speech has become proverbial as an outpouring of utter worldly weariness. ANSWER TO 3 1. A 2. ababcdcdefefgg 3. B ANSWER TO 4 1. Robin Hood and Allin-a-Dale 2. Allin-a-Dale, a young hunter 3. ballad ANSWER TO 5: 1. Francis Bacon 2. Of Studies

ANSWER TO 6: 1.B 2. No 3. John Donne

ANSWER TO 7: 1.

A

2. B 3.

“Paradise Lost”

4. John Milton 5. In this passage, God is depicted as a despot “Who now triumph, and in the excess of joy/sole reigning holds the Tyranny of Heaven;” while in contrast Satan is presented as the real hero, a rebel with “the unconquerable will, And courage never to submit or yield.” The epic turns out to be an eloquent expression of the revolutionary spirit of the English bourgeois revolution, a call to resist tyranny and to continue the fight for freedom. Herein lies the great significance of the passage and the work as well. 6.

Milton is difficult to read, because of his involved style with frequent inversions and very complicated sentence structure. His sentences are often long. Yet, to express his sublimity of thought, he wrote in a style that is unsurpassed in its sonority, eloquence, majesty and grandeur —the “Miltonic” style. He is a great master of the blank verse. His lines are rich in the variations of rhythm and pause.

ANSWER TO 8: 1.

“The Pilgrim’s Progress”

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2. John Bunyan 3.

Christian and his companion Faithful pass through the town of Vanity at the season of the local fair. “Vanity” means “emptiness” or “worthlessness,” and hence the fair is an allegory of worldliness and the corruption of the religious life through the attractions of the world. From earliest times numerous fairs were held for stated periods throughout Britain; to them the most important merchants from all over Europe brought their wares. The serious business of buying and selling was accompanied by all sorts of diversions: eating, drinking, and other fleshly pleasures, as well as spectacles of strange animals, acrobats, and other wonders. This selection gives the bitterest satire, which is invariably directed at the ruling class. In the descriptions of the Vanity Fair, Bunyan not only gives us a symbolic picture of London at the time of the Restoration but of all bourgeois society.

ANSWER TO 9: 1. Swift 2. Lilliput 3. Gulliver’s Travels 4. Lemuel Gulliver 5. The style is characterized by directness, simplicity and vividness. The most grotesque creations are combined with the bitterest satire. ANSWER TO 10: 1. “A Modest Proposal” 2. Jonathan Swift 3. A Modest Proposal is an example of Swift’s favorite satiric devices used with superb effect. Irony (from the deceptive adjective “modest” in the title to the very last sentence) pervades the piece. A rigorous logic deduces ghastly arguments from a shocking premise so quietly assumed that the reader assents before he is aware of what his assent implies. Parody, at which Swift is adept, allows him to glance sardonically at, by then , the familiar figure of the benevolent humanitarian (forerunner of the modern sociologist, social worker, economic planner) concerned to correct a social evil by means of a theoretically conceived plan. The proposer, as naïve as he is apparently logical and kindly, ignores and therefore emphasizes for the reader the enormity of his plan. The whole piece is an elaboration of a rather trite metaphor: “The English are devouring the Irish.” But there is nothing trite about the pamphlet, which expresses in Swift’s most controlled style his pity for the oppressed, ignorant, populous, and hungry Catholic peasants of Ireland, and his anger at the rapacious English absentee landlords, who were bleeding the country white with the silent approbation of Parliament, ministers, and the Crown. ANSWER TO 11: 1. The Spectator 2. Sir Roger at the Church 3. a 4. Sir Roger represents the country gentry. He is a country gentleman of old fashioned manners. He stands for the old-fashioned virtues of simplicity, honesty, and piety. His foibles, which are describes with a gentle humor, make a setting for his virtues, which point an example to the world of fashion. He is created as a character fit in the novel. 5. The periodical literature in “The Spectator” maintained its tone of courtesy and good breeding. Such prose is easy to understand yet capable of variety and beauty. Just as Dr. Johnson described, “His prose is the model of the middle style; on grave subjects not formal, on light occasions not graveling; pure without scrupulosity, and exact without apparent elaboration; always equable, and always easy, without glowing words or printed sentences.” ANSWER TO 12 1. From this passage we can know that the lawyer just like the other fellows on the couch is also a coward, who is also a selfish person but pretend to be very considerate of others, especially women, which totally reveals his hypocrisy and elaboration 45

2. The language is characterized by clarity and suppleness. His style is easy, unlabored and familiar, but very vivid and vigorous. His sentences are always distinguished, logic and rhythm, full of mild satire and humor. ANSWER TO 13 1. 1. Prologue, Chaucer 2. 2. satirize, falls short ANSWER TO 14 1. holy love, secular love 2. trepidation of the spheres, holy love, gold to airy thinness beat, and a pair of two stiff twin compasses. 3. . metaphysical conceit, extended metaphor. ANSWER TO 15: 1. 2.

serious, time, playful, absurd metaphors

ANSWER TO 16 1. Cavalier poets, enjoy 2. youth, a full-life span of a man ANSWER TO 17: 1. sonnet 2. friendship ANSWER TO 18: 1. the supposed messenger, Samson, Milton, The book of Judges, The Old Testament ANSWER TO 19: 1. “London” 2. Songs of Innocence 3. William Blake 4. The poem provides a comprehensive picture of the many miseries, physical and spiritual, in London. ANSWER TO 20: 1. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight 2. Britain ANSWER TO 21: 1. Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard, Thomas Gray 2. quatrains, iambic 3. dusk, darkness 4. sentimentalism, graveyard school ANSWER TO 22 1. The Songs of Experience, William Blake 2. This poem contains six quatrains in rhyming couplets, an d it is also Blake’s most potent musings on the nature of God or whatever creative force or deity by the using of the symbol of Tiger, in the poem, that not only symbolizes the vitality, power, but mystery and awesomeness as well. ANSWER TO 23: 1. A Red, Red Rose, Robert Burns 2.determination

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ANSWER TO 24 1. It refers to the poor little boy who has been made black because of their sweeping. Chimneys.The title of the poem is “The Chimney-Sweeper” 2. It was the “God and Priest and king” who together build a Heaven of misery for the weak and the poor. 3. The language of this short lyric, though, very simple, yet somewhat ironical satirical which reveals his understanding and knowledge of the source of the misery and sufferings of the poor and the weak.

V . Brief answers to the literary questions: 1. The major theme of Lawrence’s novels is human relationships in the modern world where the natural harmony between men and women, men and men has been destroyed by industry and modern civilizatio. 2. Hamlet is the typical of humanists under the pen of Shakespeare, who is characteristic of the perfection and perseverance in personality embodied in the Renaissance superman. As Ophelia tells us that he had been the ideal Renaissance prince___ a soldier, scholar, courtier, “the glass of fashion and the mold of form.” But since his father died and his mother hastily remarried, there is transition in his character. He was in the state of depression, melancholy and delay of revenging. Why? Because he realizes, as a humanist, what his real duty lies in. So he pretended to be mad, melancholy, depressed and slow in action. By large, he is very sensitive, resourceful and has his own ideas, and the essence of his revenging his father is not for himself or for the bloody family feuds and hatred but lies in punishing the social corruptions, the wrongs, praising the good, and setting it right. As humanist himself he is all alone, detaching himself from the mass, which is the major reason why he failed himself. 3 a.Theme of Paradise Lost Paradise Lost is Milton’s masterpiece. Its story is taken from the Bible, about “the fall of man: that is, how Adam and Eve are tempted by Satan to disobey God by eating the forbidden fruit from the Tree of Knowledge, and how they are punished by God and driven out of Paradise. In Milton’s words, the purpose of writing the epic is to “justify the ways of God to men”, but apparently with Satan as his mouthpiece, Milton is uttering his intense hatred of tyranny in the capacity of the revolutionary. By depicting Satan and his followers as well as their fiery utterance and brave actions, Milton is showing a Puritan’s revolt against the dictator and against the established doctrines of the Catholic and the Anglican Church. b. Artistic features: Milton is not only a revolutionary, but also a glorious pioneer to introduce blank verse into non-dramatic poetry. The chief characteristic of the poem is the long, involved and sometimes seemingly interminable sentence structure, so that a passage frequently goes on and on through ten or twenty or even more lines of verse, and the meaning of the whole thing is suspended and not completed, while clause after clause are added to enrich the complexity of thought or to increase the effect of the description, till the end of the sentence comes with the periods, and only then does the reader grasp the full significance of the utterance. The method is usually extremely effective and makes the verse sound, sometimes oratorical and sometimes elaborately logical or picturesque, and this richness of the style has frequently been called “Miltonic”.

4.

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Robinson Crusoe is one of the protagonists drawn most successfully in English novels. Through the characterization of Robinson Crusoe, Deofoe depicts him as a hero struggling against nature, and human fate with his indomitable will and hand, and eulogizes creative labor, physical and mental, an allusion to glorification of the bourgeois creativity when it was a rising and more energetic class in the initial stage of its historical development. From an individual laborer to a master and colonizer, Crusoe seems to have gone through various stages of human civilization.

5. Portia is the most ideal and brilliant woman character ever created by Shakespeare. She is the daughter of Renaissance who loves deeply and genuinely only for her lover’s god quality and for love’s sake. She is beautiful, prudent, cultured, courteous, courageous, determined and very clever. She is brave enough to save her husband’s friend from the evil plot of the most cunning and wicked Jew Shylock with the wise interpretation of the bond, which would otherwise kill Antonio. She embodies all the elements of humanist, that is, love for this world and happiness existing in human life. She gets happiness from true love and true friendship and is ready to defend them with her wit. To a great extent, she is even clever and more capable than all the males in the play. And more important, she is very independent. After hearing Antonio’s misfortune, she rises to the emergency instead of crying for men’s help. She knows her ability and does better than all the men in the play. In addition, she is very optimistic. She keeps optimistic even in the face of the most powerful enemy, because she is very confident of her intellect and ability. Through this heroin, Shakespeare expresses his belief in humanism and his confidence of the victory of the rising bourgeoisie.

6. The most characteristic features of the works of the romanticism are: (1) their own aspiration and ideals are in sharp contrast to the common, sordid daily life under capitalism; (2) their writing are filled with strong-willed heroes or even titanic images, formidable events and tragic situations, powerful conflicting passions and exotic pictures. Sometimes they restored to symbolic methods, with active romanticists, symbolic pictures represent a vague idea of some future society, while with some of the lake poets, these pictures often take on mystic color. (4) The romantics paid great attention to the spiritual and emotional life of man. Personified nature plays an important role in the pages of their works

7. This proposal is a most devastating piece of sarcasm that fiery indignation can give birth to a most powerful blow on the English government’ s policy of exploitation and oppression in Ireland. In the article, the reader can also strongly sense the author’s great sympathy for the poor and Catholic Irish people.

8. His irony is deadly, his satire is marked by an outward gravity and apparent earnestness, which makes his satire all the more powerful. There is also no visible sign of anger, no raising the voice, but the tone is very cold, restrained and ironic.

9. Shakespeare’s dramatic career lasted about 22 years from 1590 to 1612. As to the division of this career, we can put them into the four periods: 1) the experimental period (1590-1594); 2)

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the period of comedy (1595-1600); 3) the period of tragedies (1601-1609); 4) the period of dramatic romances (1609—1612). The first period is a period of early experimentation, which is marked by youthfulness and rich imagination, by extravagance of language, and by the frequent use of rhymed couplets with blank verse. During this period, Shakespeare looked upon the world as a just one. Good always overcame evil in the long run, and justice would eventually win its cause in the end. Love, faith, work, and duty were the four elements that in all ages made the world right. The main plays written in this period are: Love’ s Labor’s Lost, Two Gentlemen in Verona, Richard III, and his early long poems Venus and Adonis and Lucrece. The second period is the period of comedies and Histories, during which Shakespeare was no longer an apprentice to his art. He worked as master in full command of his medium. During this period, his keen insight into human nature, his power of expression, his genius for constructing a play insured a delighted audience for whatever he might choose to present.

10 Satan is created by Milton in the poem as a very brave rebel against authority and tyranny, who loves freedom. Facing god and his powerful army, Satan still perseveres in his fight against God’s reign. He encourages his followers never to subdue. He is a born leader. Just because of him, he, at last, attempts Eve to eat forbidden fruit so as to defeat God’s control over human beings. In this sense every thing about Satan really reflects the characteristics of humanists’ ideals. But in the Bible he is a devil, from which we can see something contradicted in Milton’s deep thought of religion. From the creation of the epic Paradise Lost, the two most essential things to be remembered about him are his Puritanism and republicanism.

11. The romance is a literary genre which prevails during the medieval time. It was a long composition, sometimes in verse, and sometimes in prose, describing the life and adventures of a noble hero, especially a knight. The general features of this composition are: 1.

It lacks general resemblance to truth or reality.

2.

It exaggerates the vices of human nature and idealizes the virtue.

3.

It contains perilous adventures more or less remote from the ordinary life.

4.

It lays emphasis on supreme devotion to a fair lady.

5. The central character of the romance is the knight, a man of noble birth skilled at the use of weapons. He is commonly described as riding forth to seek adventures, taking part in tournaments, or fighting for his lord in battle. He is devoted to the church and the king.

12 . Chaucer is worth being considered as father of poetry, because during his lifetime, he did great contribution to English literature. The rhymed couplet of iambic pentameter later called the “heroic couplet” was actually introduced by him, together with some other rhymed stanzas of various types of poetic forms. He is also the first important poet to write in the current English language. Chaucer did much in making the dialect of London the foundation for modern English language.

13. Chaucer, in his masterpiece The Canterbury Tales, provides the readers a true-to-life picture of 49

the society of his time. Taking the stand of the rising bourgeoisie, he affirms man and opposes the dogma of asceticism preached by the church. As a forerunner of humanism, he praises man’s energy, intellect, quick wit, and love of life. His tales expose and satirize the evils of his time. They attack the degeneration of the noble, the heartlessness of the judge, the corruption of the church and so on.

14. Utopia is More’s masterpiece, written in the form of a convention between More and a returned sailor. The whole book is divided into two books. The first book contains a long discussion on the social conditions of England. In the second book, More describes in detail an ideal society called Utopia. The name “Utopia” comes from two Greek words meaning “no place”. It was used by More to name his ideal society. Book One of Utopia is a picture of contemporary England. The author severely criticizes English society and exposes social evils. He points out that the enclosure of land and the ensuing expulsion of peasants is the source of social evils, and that the whole system of society around him seems to him “nothing but a conspiracy of the rich against the poor”. He condemns the rich and the ruling class for bringing miseries to the poor peasants. Generally speaking, Book One is a forcible exposure of the evil things of English society. Book Two offers us a good picture of an ideal society in some unknown ocean. In this society property is held in common and there is no poverty. All the citizens in Utopia are politically equal. Everybody takes part in labor. The products of the society are distributed according to the needs of the citizens. More emphasizes the importance of labor for every member of the society, and insists upon working six hours a day. After work, the citizens spend their time in studying literature, science and art. All religions in this ideal society are authorized and tolerance is the law. Life there is pleasant. People enjoy cleanliness, comfort and well-being. This work became very popular after its publication. It was translated into English in 1551. It is regarded as one of the earliest work of Utopian socialism.

15. Shakespeare’s main tragedies were written during the period of gloom and depression, which dated from 1600 to 1607. Shakespeare’s great tragedies are associated with a period of gloom and sorrow in his life. During this period, England witnessed a general unrest, and social contradictions became very sharp. What caused the writer’s personal sadness is unknown to us. It is generally attributed to the political misfortune of his friend and patron, Earl of Essex, who was killed by the queen.

16. Shakespeare wrote his comedies in his early period. In these comedies he portrayed the young people who had just freed from the feudal fetters. He sang of their youth, their love and ideal of happiness. The heroes and heroines were sons and daughters of the Renaissance. They trust not in God or king but in themselves. Usually there are two groups of characters in Shakespeare’s comedies. The first group is composed of characters of young men and young women. They live in the world of youth and dreams and laughter, and fight for their happiness. The second group consists of simple and shrewd clowns and other common people. These characters make the play full of humor and laughter. The success of Shakespeare’s comedies owes much to the appearance of clowns. Without them the plays would become dull and humorless. Shakespeare put women characters at a prominent place in his comedies. He showed great 50

respect for the dignity, honesty, wit, courage, determination and resourcefulness of women. The young heroines in the comedies are independent in character and very frank. They are no longer controlled by their parents and husbands. They are of a new type. They are witty, bold, loving, laughing and faithful. They are happy and make others happy. They carry their own hands. In speaking, thinking and feeling they are equal or even superior to men. Shakespeare’s comedies are imbued with bourgeoisie ideas and show progressive significance.

17. Shakespeare’s historical plays are political plays. The principal idea of these plays is the necessity for national unity under one wise sovereign. At his time, this idea was anti-feudal in nature, and it summered up the general opinion of the rising bourgeoisie in Shakespeare’s own day. Shakespeare’s historical plays reflect the historical events of two centuries from Richard II to Henry VIII. They show the horrors of civil war, the necessity for the national unity, the responsibilities of efficient ruler and the importance of legitimate succession to the throne. Like the majority of humanists of his time, Shakespeare believed in a wise and humane king who would love to serve his country. While in the historical plays, Shakespeare’s treatment of real kings is extremely critical, Richard II is condemned for his vanity, political blindness and inability to subdue the feudal lords. Even Henry IV, though glorified for his suppression of the rebellion of feudal lords, is criticized for his participation in the murder of Richard II and his treacherous arrest of the rebels after the truce.

18. Shakespeare is a realist. He is one of the founders of realism in English literature. His plays are mirrors of his time, reflecting the major contradictions of that time. He described the decaying of the feudal society and the rising of the young men and women who just freed themselves from the fetters of feudalism and who were striving for individual emancipation. His comedies lay emphasis on emancipation of women, which played a very important role in anti-feudalism. In his great tragedies, Shakespeare depicted the life and death struggle between the humanists, who represented the newly emerging forces, and the corrupted King and his feudal followers, who represented the dark power of the time. In his plays, Shakespeare also clearly reflected the contradictions between the rich and the poor. He showed his sympathy to the poor and disclosed the greed and cruelty of the upper class. In his plays, Shakespeare also revealed the emergence of the early colonization and racial problem arising with capitalism. He fully reflected the omnipotent power of money in the age of growing capitalism. He was far-sighted into money, capitalist accumulation and its effect. The stories of Shakespeare ‘s plays often took place in other countries or in the past, instead of in England or in his own time. The characters are clothed in foreign dresses, yet their thought, their feelings, and their attitude towards life belong to the age of Shakespeare. In fact, his characters are representatives of the people of his time. Shakespeare’s main characters are depicted in typical situations. They are typical characters. Their fundamental traits are revealed in their conflicts with their surroundings, in their relations with their fellowmen. Shakespeare’s dramatic form fits the content of his plays very well. In order to reproduce the manifold image of life, Shakespeare used a peculiar combination in his drama, combination of majestic and funny, or poetic and prosaic, of tragic and comic.

19.

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The Merchant of Venice depicts the heroin Portia’s wittiness, bravery in an emergence in disguise of a lawyer to defeat that evil plot of the most cunning and wicked Jew Shylock. From this play, Shakespeare reflected the sharp contradiction between Antonio, a rising bourgeoisie, and the old-fashioned money usurer, and praised the friendship, love, good-ness as well as condemned the greedy and cruelty.

20. In Shakespeare’s comedies we find an expression of his ungrudging, equalitarian attitude toward women. The young ladies depicted by Shakespeare are always independent in character, prudent, cultured, witty and take their own way of life. There is Portia in Merchant of Venice, who, in order to save her husband’s friend Antonio, rises in emergence in disguise to be a lawyer to deal that wicked and heartless Jew’s conspiracy to put Antonio to death by cutting off a pound of flesh from his breast. Another one Rosalind, the heroin of As You Like It, is also independent, witty and resourceful. They are happy and make others happy. They carry their destinies with them and in speaking and thinking as well as in feeling are men’s equals or even superiors. In a word, they are the daughters of the Renaissance.

21. The story of Samson Agonistes was taken from the Old Testament. Samson was an athlete of Israelites. He stood as their champion fighting for the freedom of their country. But he was betrayed by his wife and blinded by his enemies, the Philistines. In this poetic drama, Milton seems to tell his own story. Like Samson, he has betrayed by his wife. He has suffered from blindness and been scorned by his enemies, and yet he has struggled heroically against his enemies. Samson’s miserable blind servitude among his enemies, his agonizing longing for sight and freedom, and the last terrible triumph are all allusions to the poet’s own story. So the whole poem strongly suggests Milton’s passionate longing that he, too, could bring destruction upon the enemy at the cost of his own life. Samson is Milton.

22. 1.Their writing in “Tatler” and “Spectator” provide a new code of social morality for the rising bourgeoisie. 2.They give a true picture of the social life of England in the 18th century. In their hands, the English essay has completely established itself as a literary genre. Using it as a form of character sketching and storytelling, they ushered in the dawn of the modern novel.

23. Pamela can be regarded as a new thing when the novel first appeared in the 18 th century. It is written in epistles providing in great detail the activity of the heroin’s psychology. The novel for the first time pictures the life and love of ordinary people, and the aim of writing the novel does not only to entertain but didactic.

24. They are the names of the two parties in the imagined country Lilliput in Gulliver’s Travel, but actually Swift uses them to satirize the two parties’ ___Tories and Whigs__ insignificant controversy of his time. From the book, we know the two parties are struggling for powers, and the great difference between them are the heels they ware, which swift seems to indicates the insignificance of the party struggle.

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25. During his life time, Dryden established the heroic couplet as one of the principal verse forms. He clarified the English prose and made it precise, concise and flexible. By his On Criticism (poem), the manifesto of neo-classicism, and his Essay on Dramatic Poesy and Preface to the Fables raised English literary criticism to a new level and opened a way of the new and persuasive prose style for English prose. He was founder of English neo-classicism.

26. It is a poetic drama by John Milton, who took the story from the “Book of Judges” in the Old Testament of the Bible. Samson was an athlete of Israelies, betrayed by his wife Dalilah. He pulled down the Temple upon the enemies and upon himself in a common ruin. The play reveals the poet as a staunch fighter against tyranny. This poem is written in blank verse. There is much in common between Samson and Milton. Both of them were embittered by marriage, both of them were persecuted by enemies, both suffered from blindness and yet were unconquerable.

27. Elegy Written in a country Churchyard” is Thomas Gray’s masterpiece, which marked the early romantic poetry. It is also considered a classical composition largely because of its diction, its personifications, and its stately commonplaces of human experience. The poem is full of gentle melancholy. The subject of the poem is generalized; it is not about a particular man, but about an average and obscure man. Gray reflects on death, the sorrows of life, and mysteries of human life with a touch of his personal melancholy. The poet compares the common people with the great ones, wondering what the common could have achieved if they had had the chance. Here he reveals his sympathy for the poor and the unknown, but mocks the great ones who despise the poor and bring havoc on them.

28.In songs of Innocence, Blake describes the happy condition of a child who was in a world of light, peace, harmony and love. In songs of Experience, he describes the child was never naïve and innocent, but seems to grow up, and was in the world of neediness, distress and miseries. This contrast marked the great progress in the poet’s outlook. 29.In Blake’s poetry the reader may strongly sense the mixture of simplicity and profoundity, innocence and experience. Sometimes he uses the simplest words to express the profoundest ideas. His poems are full of symbols, and strong Romantic spirit, and revolutionary passion. He is regarded as symbolist and mystic.

30.Tom and Blifil--Tom’s half brother—stand in sharp contrast. Tom is described as an upright, frank, kind-hearted young man, who may sometimes be very rash and commit rather serious errors, particularly in his relations with women, yet who is always readily to help the ones in great neediness and distress, and never once tries to harm any one for his own benefit.On the other hand, Blifil pretends to be extremely moral and selfless, but actually he always thinks up tricks and practices them upon the other people, in order to get what he wants by lying and cheating. It is very clear that Fielding condemns Blifil as the embodiment of the social evils of his day and that he praises Tom who represents the simple folk. Tom and Sophia are rebels of the society. Sophia represents the young women of the day with sufficient courage and independence to defy the bad world. From this novel we can see the novelist’s strong hatred for all the hypocrisy and treachery in the society of his age and his sympathy for the courageous young rebels in their struggle.

31 Woolf was very much concerned with the rights and position of women, especially of intelligent women and women writers. She wrote several essays on the subject, notably in A Room of Her Own. 53