美国文学 选择题 诗歌分析题 有答案(3)

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2) Because his wife’s shrewish (泼妇一样的) treatment, Rip had to escape from his home to the little inn in the village. When it failed to give him some restful air, he had to go hunting in the high mountain, where Rip met a stranger, and the man asked Rip to carry keg for him. Then Rip reached the place in the valley, where many strangers were playing nine-pins. Later Rip got drunk after drinking the liquor, which made him sleep for 20 years.

3) Rip woke up as an old man, entering the village learned that his wife had died, he got the freedom of his own,; and the American had been dependent from the control of Britain, he had changed from a subject of the King (George III) into a citizen of the independent new U.S.....

2. " I celebrated myself, and sing myself,

And what I assume you shall assume,

For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you"

Questions:

1) Please identify the author and the title of the poem that had used when published. 2) What is the theme of this poem?

参考答案:1) In the 1856, the title was "Poem of Walt Whitman, an American", then it became "Walt Whitman" in 1860, until 1881, it finally became "Song of Myself". The author is Walt Whitman. (P456--457)2) In this poem Whitman sets forth two principle beliefs:

A. The theory of universality (普遍性), which is illustrated by lengthy catalogues of people and things;

B. The belief in the singularity (个别性) and equality(平等性) of all beings in value. (P457)

3. "Standing on the bare ground, ----my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space, -----all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eye-ball. I am nothing. I see all."

Questions:

1) Please identify the author and the title of the work.2) Please briefly interpret this passage.3). What rhetorical device of "transparent eye-ball".4) Emerson said he want to become a transparent eye-ball, what king idea did he want to express?

参考答案:1) This selection is from "Nature" by Emerson. (P427)

2) In the essay Emerson clearly expresses the main principles of his Transcendentalist pursuit and his love for nature. Emerson develops his concept of "Over-Soul" Or "Universal Mind". Last but not the leas, it affirms the divinity of the human beings. (P423)

3) It used the device of metaphor. (P423) 4) He wanted to tell us: Nature can purify (净化) our quality and let us get comfort. (P243)

III. Questions and answers:

1. The Romantic Period was called "The American Renaissance". Discuss the background of the Romantic Period, and compare it with the Romanticism of Britain.

Answer:

1) The two Romanticism both stress the imaginative and emotional qualities of literature;

2) They all pay attention to psychic states of the characters and exalt the individual and common man;

3) American Romanticism revealed unique characteristics: (difference)

<1> American authors describe their native land,, especially the spirit of the pioneering into the west, the desire for an escape from society and a return to nature;

<2> American writers use local dialect in language;

<3> Puritanism has great influence over American Romantics; 3 美国文学 单选题 诗歌分析题

<4> Calvinism of original sin is obvious in their works;

<5> Transcendentalism is very important theory in American Romanticism;