美国文学史及作品选读习题集(1).doc

(完整word)美国文学史及作品选读习题集(1)
1 Basic Literary Knowledge

Ⅰ. Fill in the blanks
1。 The _____is the most commonly used foot in English poetry， in which an unstressed syllable comes first, followed by a ______syllable.
2. Rhyme is the _____of sounds in two or more words or phrases that usually appear close to each other in a poem。 For example: we/thee, man/can， and gold/hold。
3。 A _____is a sign that suggests more than its literal meaning.
4。 The two-line stanza form is called the _____, the best-known being the _____which is written in iambic pentameter with an end rhyme.
5。 The _____foot, which is the reverse of the iambic foot, also consists of one stressed and one unstressed syllables， but with the stressed one coming first.
6。 An anapestic foot is made up of two _____and one stressed syllables， with the two unstressed in front.
7. American achievements in the short story have demanded international respect and admiration for more from ______in the early 19th century.
8。 ______is generally thought of as the true beginner of the short stories because he was the first writer who formulated a poetics of the short stories。
9. There were two other American writers who had made significant contributions to the literary form of short story： ______, with his stories of early life in California， started a vogue of local color stories and made the short story seem completely at home in the US, and Henry James， brought to the form a careful writing that made his stories models.
10。 In the 20th century， there have been many who have won fame abroad as well as in the US for their stories： ______， _______， _______, ________, and dozens of others.
11. As you read from writer to writer, from ______’s Rip Van Winkle to ______’s A Good Man is Hard to Find， you will see the coming of a short story age， growing from an entertaining tale into a store which probes deep into human souls.
12. Modern literary fiction has been dominated by two forms： _______
13。 Washing Irving, the father of American literature, developed the _____as a genre in American literature。
14. ______is usually acknowledged as the originator of detective stories. He is also credited with developing many of the standard features of detective fiction。 His detective M August Dupin of Murders in the Rue Morgue and The Purloined Letter is the forerunner of a long line of fictional detectives who are eccentric and brilliant.
15。 ______is the repetition of similar vowel sounds situated in a sentence, a verse line or series of words.
16。 A dactylic foot is made up of one ______ and two _______syllables， with the stressed in front.
17. The _____is a structured division of a poem， consisting of a series of verse lines which usually comprise a recurring pattern of meter and rhyme. In traditional English poetry, there are various forms containing two， there， four， five, six， seven， eight or nine lines。
18. Consonance is the repetition of _____but with different preceding vowels e.g。 heart/light, flag/plug. Unlike alliteration and assonance, consonance can serve as end rhythm.
Ⅱ. Multiple Choices
1。 Edgar Allan Poe wrote poems which are marvels of beauty and craftsmanship such as ________.
A。 I Hear America Singing B。 The Raven
C. To a Waterfowl D. The Fall of the House of Usher
2。 Which writer is not a poet？
A。 Michael Wigglesworth B。 Anne Bradstreet
C. Edward Taylor D。 Thomas Hooker
。3. The common thread throughout American literature has been the emphasis on the _______
A. Revolutionism B。 Reason
C。 Individualism D. Rationalism
4. In American literature， the 18th century was the age of Enlightenment, ______was the dominant spirit。
A。 Humanism B. Rationalism
C。 Revolution D. Evolution
5. Who was considered as the “poet of American revolution”？
A. Michael Wigglesworth B. Edward Taylor
C。 Anne Bradstreet D。 Philip Freneau
6. Thomas Jefferson’s attitude， that is, a firm belief in progress， and the pursuit of happiness， is typical of the period we now call _______.
A。 Age of Evolution B。 Age of Reason
C. Age of Romanticism D。 Age of Regionalism
7。 Howells defined realism as “nothing more and nothing less than the truthful treatment of material"， and he best exemplified his theories in three novels： The Modern Instance, The Rise of Silas Laphan， and ______。
A. White Fang B. The last of the Mohicans
C。 A Hazard of New Fortunes D. The Prince and the Pauper
8．Mark twain created, in ______, a masterpiece of American realism that is also one of the great books of world literature.
A。 Huckleberry Finn B. Tom Sawyer
C。 The Man That Corrupted Hadleybury D。 The Gilded Age
9。 The pessimism and deterministic ideas of naturalism pervaded the works of such American writers as ______.
A. Mark Twain B。 Francis Scott Fitzgerald
C。 Wait Whitman D。 Stephen Crane
10. Although realism and naturalism were products of the 19th century， their final triumph came in the 20th century, with the popular and critical successes of such writers as Edwin Arlington， Willa Cather， Robert Frost， William Faulkner， and _____
A. Edgar Allan Poe B. Sherwood Anderson
C。 Washington Irving D。 Ralph Ellison
11。 American literature produced only one female poet during the 19th century。 She was ______.
A。 Anne Bradstreet B. Jane Austen
C。 Emily Dickenson D。 Harriet Beecher
12。 Choose the well-known short stories written by William Sidney Porter。
A。 The Gift of the Magi B。 Self—Reliance
C。 The Red Badge of Courage D. The Minister’s Black Veil
13. In 1900， Jack London published his first collection of short stories, named _____
A. The Son of the Wolf B。 The Sea Wolf
C. The Law of Life D. White Fang
14。 With Howells, James， and Mark Twain active on the scene, _______become the major trend in the seventies and eighties of the 19th century.
A。 sentimentalism B。 romanticism
C。 realism D。 naturalism
15。 Choose from the following writers a staunch advocate of 19th century American realism.
A。 Mark Twain B。 Washington Irving
C。 Stephen Crane D. Jack London
16. Which writer has naturalist tendency?
A。 Frank Norris B。 William Dean Howells
C. Theodore Dreiser D。 Both A and B
17. Early in the 20th century， ______published works that would change the nature of American poetry.
A。 Ezra Pound B. T. S. Eliot
C。 Robert Frost D. Both A and B
18。 The American “Thirties” lasted from the Crash, though the ensuing Great Depression， until the outbreak of the Second World WAR 1939。 THIS WAS a period of “_______”
A. Poverty B。 Bleakness
C。 Important social movements D。A new social consciousness
19. The imagist writers followed three principles。 They respectively are direct treatment, economy of expression and _______。
A。 local color B。 irony
C. clear rhythm D. blank verse
20. “The apparition of these faces in the crowd； Petals on a wet， black bough。" This is the shortest written by ______.
A。 T. S。 Eliot B. Robert Frost
C. Ezra Pound D。 E 。E。 Cummings
21. Richard Cory and Miniver Cheevy are good examples of Arlington Robinson's_______ attitude。
A。 romantic B。 fantastic
C。 realism D. materialistic
22. Frost is famous for his lyric poems. Which of the following lyric poems was not written by Frost？
A. Birches
B. Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening
C。 After Apple—Picking
D。 The Road Not Taken
E. Richard Cory
23. As a poet， Sandburg was associated with the Imagists and wrote well=known Imagist poems such as _______.
A. Fog B。 Lost
C。 Monotone D. The Harbor
E. all of the above
24。 Sandburg had also taken interest in folk songs which he tried to collect and sing during his travels. These folk songs appeared eventually in print in his well-known _______.
A。 Good Morning， America B. The People， Yes
C。 In Rechless Ecstasy D。 The American Songbag
25. ______, one of the essays in The Sacred Wood， is the earliest statement of T. S. Eliot’s aesthetics， which provided a useful instrument for modern criticism。
A. Sweeny Agonistes
B. Tradition and the Individual Talent
C. A Primer of Modern Heresy
D. Gerontion
26。 T. S. Eliot’s used a form, that is， the orchestration of related themes in successive movements， in such works as ________。
A。 The Waste Land B。 A Rose for Emily
C。 The Scarlet Letter D。 The Egg
27. Eliot's first major poem （1917) _______ has been called the first masterpiece of modernism in English.
A。 The Love Song of J。 Alfred Prufrock B。 The Waste Land
C。 Four Quartets D。 Preludes
28. Choose the collections of short stories written by Fitzgerald.
A. Flappers and Philosophers B. Tales of the Jazz Age
C。 All the Sad Yong Men D。 All of the above
29。 The three poets Ezra Pound, T. S. Eliot and ______opened the way to Modern poetry.
A。 O。 Henry B。 Henry David Thoreau
C。 E。 E。 Cummings D. Robert Frost
30. In Paris， Hemingway, along with _______， accomplished a revolution in literary style and language。
A. Gertrude Stein B. Ezra Pound
C。 T。 S。 Eliot D. James Joyce
31. In 1954， _______ was awarded the Nobel Prize for literature for his “mastery of the art of modern narration”.
A。 T。 S. Eliot B. Earnest Hemingway
C。 John Steinbeck D。 William Faulkner
32. William Faulkner is one of the most important southern writer in the United States。 ______, As I Lay Dying, Light in August, and Absalom, Absalom are works that ambitious critics tend to admire。
A。 The Sound and the Fury B。 The Invisible Man
C。 A Good Man Is Hard to Find D。 The Wrath of the Grapes
33。 Most of the important 20th American poets were related with Imagist movement， including _______.
A. Ezra Pound
B. Wallace Stevens
C。 E。 E。 Cummings
D。 Carl Sandburg
E。 all of the above
Ⅲ. Identification
Passage 1
These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will， in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country； but he that stands it now， deserves the love and thanks of man and woman。 Tyranny, like hell， is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us， that the harder the conflict， the more glorious the triumph。 What we obtain too cheap， we esteem too lightly； it is dearness only that gives every thing its value. Heaven knows how to put a proper price upon its goods; and it would be strange indeed if so celestial an article as FREEDOM should not be highly rated。 Britain， with an army to enforce her tyranny, has declared that she has a right （not only to TAX) but" to BIND us in ALL CASES WHATSOEVER，" and if being bound in that manner, is not slavery, then is there not such a thing as slavery upon earth。 Even the expression is impious； for so unlimited a power can belong only to God.
Questions：
1. Which book is this passage taken from？
2. Who is the author of the book？
Passage 2
But you would have uttered more
Had you known of nature’s power;
From the world when you retreat,
And a leaf's your winding sheet，
Long before your spirit fled,
Who can tell but nature said，
Live again, my Caty—did!
Live， and chatter Caty—did.
Questions：
3。 Who is the writer of these verses?
4. What is the title of this lyrical poem?
5。 What is Caty—did?
Passage 3
I celebrate myself, and sing myself，
And what I assume you shall assume,
For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you。
I loafe and invite my soul，
I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass。
My tongue， every atom of my blood, form’d from this soil, this air,
Born here of parents born here from parents the same, and their parents the same,
I, now thirty-seven years old in perfect health begin,
Hoping to cease not till death.
Creeds and schools in abeyance，
Retiring back a while sufficed at what they are, but never forgotten,
I harbor for good or bad， I permit to speak at every hazard，
Nature without check with original energy.
Questions:
6。 This is the first two stanzas in the first section of a long poem entitled______。
7. The name of the poet is _____.
8. What is the verse structure?
Passage 4
Because I could not stop for death，
He kindly stopped for me;
The carriage held but just ourselves
And immortality。

We slowly drove, he knew no haste,
And I had put away
My labor and my leisure too,
For his civility。

We passed the school where children played,
Their lessons scarcely done;
We passed the fields of gazing grain,
We passed the setting sun。

We paused before a house that seemed
A swelling of the ground；
The roof was scarcely visible,
The cornice but a mound.

Since then ’t is centuries； but each
Feels shorter than the day
I first surmised the horses’ heads
Were toward eternity.
Questions:
9。 Who is the writer of the lines？
10。 In which category would you place this poem?
A。 narrative B。 dramatic C。 lyric
11。 The poet is noted for her uses of _____to achieve special effects.
A。 perfect rhyme B. exact rhyme C。 slant rhyme
Passage 5
When a girl leaves her home at eighteen, she does one of two things。 Either she falls into saving hands and becomes better worse。 Of an intermediate balance， under the circumstances, there is no possibility。 The city has its cunning wiles, no less than the infinitely smaller and more human tempter。 There are large forces which allure with all the soulfulness of expression possible in the most cultured human。
The gleam of a thousand lights is often as effective as the persuasive light in a wooing and fascinating eye。 Half the undoing of the unsophisticated and natural mind is accomplished by forces wholly superhuman。 A blare of sound， a roar of life， vast array of human hives, appeal to the astonished senses in equivocal terms。 Without a counselor at hand to whisper cautious interpretations, what falsehoods may not these things breathe into the unguarded ear! Unrecognized for what they are， their beauty， like music， too often relaxes， then weakens， then perverts the simpler human