美国文学 选择题 诗歌分析题 有答案(10)

很有用的 美国文学选读 自考本科资料 试题

1) The American society after the Civil War provided rich soil for the rise and development of Realism, and Civil War affected the social and the value system of the country, America had transformed into an industrialized and commercialised society.

2) The war stimulated the technological development;

3) The booming economy and industry stepped up urbanization;

4) The phenomenon of polarization is serious;

5) People became doubtful about the human nature and the benevolence/grace of God;

6) Gone was the frontier, the spirit of the frontiersman/pioneer, the spirit of freedom and the American dream. (P471---472)

6. Please analyze the characteristics of Emily Dickinson’s poems.

Answer:

1) Dickinson’s poems are usually based on her own experiences, her sorrows and joys. But within her little lyrics Dickinson addresses those issues that concern the whole human beings, which include religion, death, immortality, love, and nature. (theme)

2) Her masterpiece -----"I heard a Fly buzz---when I died", she looked at death from the point of view of both the living and the dying. She even imagined her own death, the loss of her own body, and the journey of her soul to the unknown.

3) The style of Dickinson:

A: A particular stress pattern: dash“-------”

B: Capital letters as a means of emphasis;

C: Language: brief, direct, and plain;

D: Poem: short, always on single image or symbol (e.g. "I like to see it lap the miles"---------describe a train in the personification of the literary device)

E: Her poems tend to be personal and meditative (e.g. “Because I could not stop for Death”).

(P517---519)

7. In the representatives of "Local colorism", the writers shared some things in common and also had some differences, please analyze them.

Answer:

1) 3 prominent writers differed in the understanding of the "truth": Mark Twain and Howells paid attention to the life of the Americans; Henry James emphasized the "inner world";

2) Howells focused on the rising middle class, while Twine dealt with the region and the people at the forefront;

3) The other local colorists concerned with the life of the small, well-defined region or province, the setting is always the isolated small town;

4) They were nostalgic historians, recording the vanishing way of life, and the fading present. (P474---475)

8. Analyze the theory of Theodore Dreiser’naturalism with example.

Answer:

1) His naturalism emphasized heredity and environment as important deterministic forces shaping individualized characters who were presented in special and detailed circumstances. At bottom, life was shown to be ironic, even tragic.

2) The characters in his books are often subject to the control of the natural forces -especially those of 10 美国文学 单选题 诗歌分析题

environment and heredity. For example, the hero Hurstwood’s tragic death showed the theory.

3) The effect of Darwinist idea of "survival of the fittest" was shattering. It is not surprising to find in Dreiser’s