自考英美文学选读背诵精华篇.doc

自考英美文学选读背诵精华篇

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Name
Writer's Features
Writings
Writing's Features
English Literature
The Renaissance Period
1. age: 1500-1660
2. background: stimulated by the rediscovery of ancient Roman and Greek classic; England's Golden Age, especially in literature; the Church of England broke away from the Catholic Church
3. features: (1)New poetical forms introduced, e.g. blank verse and sonnet;(2) the English drama based itself on the models of Roman and Greek classics and the precedents from Italy and Spain
(3)the universal tend of humanism in emphasizing man's dignity and his worldly happiness
Edmund Spenser
1. The poet's poet;
2. Perfect melody; a rare sense of beauty; a splendid imagination; a lofty moral purity and seriousness; a dedicated idealism
The Faerie Queen
(The Shepheades Calender Epithalamion)
An allegory; "a historical poem" to present the example of a perfect gentleman; a hero represent one of the 12 virtues; fierce warres and faithful loves
Christopher Marlowe
(Blank verse University wit）
1. perfected blank verse and turned it into the principal medium of English drama
2. created a series of images of the Renaissance hero for English drama
Dr Fauctus
The Passionate Shepherd to His Love
1. symbolic of a humanist in the Renaissance; based on the German legend of a magician aspiring for knowledge and finally meeting his tragic end as a result of selling his soul to the Devil
William Shakespeare
The greatest playwright and the most popular sonnet writer; a creation of characters; skillful plot construction; irony; a good use of a language; skilled in various poetic forms; of three quatrains and a couplet(三节四行诗加一节偶句); national unity under a mighty and just sovereign is a necessity—“The King’s government must be carried on” (在一个强大英明的君主统治下的国家，统一是非常必要的)
(Each hero has his weekness of nature: Hamlet, the melancholic scholar-prince, faces the dilemma between action and mind; Othello’s inner weakness is made use of by the outside evil force; the old king Lear who is unwilling to totally give up his power makes himself suffer from treachery and infidelity; and Macbeth’s lust for power stirs up his ambition and leads him to incessant crimes.)
literature should be a combination of beauty, kindness and truth, and should reflect nature and reality
Sonnets
The Merchant of Venice
Hamlet
(Venus and Adonis; The Rape of Lucrece; romantic tragicomedies ; Romeo and Juliet; Shakespeare's greatest tragedies are : Hamlet, Othello, King Lear, and Macbeth)
1. 154 poems; English form
2. The traditional theme of the play is to praise the friendship between Antonio and Bassanio, to idealize Portia as a heroine of great beauty, wit and loyalty, and to expose the insatiable greed and brutality of the Jew. Many people today tend to regard the play as a satire of the Christians' hypocrisy and their false standards of friendship and love, their cunning ways of pursuing worldliness and their unreasoning prejudice against Jews (Shylock).
3. A man of contemplation rather than action; has the qualities of a “blood-and-thunder” thriller and a philosophical exploration of life and death
Francis Bacon
a well known philosopher scientist and essayist; lays the foundation of modern science; his "Essays" is an important landmark in the development of English prose
brevity\compactness\powerfulness
Of Studies
It analyzes what studies chiefly serve for, the different ways adopted by different people to pursue studies, and how studies exert influence over human charater
John Donne
the leading figure(代表人物) of the "metaphysical school(玄学派); his poems can be divided into two groups: the secular and the religious; sermons; The songs and Sonnets
a seemingly unfocused diversity of experiences and attitudes and a free range of feelings and moods; dynamic rather than static
The Sun Rising
Death, Be Not Proud（Holy Sonnets）
1. dramatizing and illustrating the state of being in love
2. a bold challenge to the proud Death
John Milton
A versatile writer; fight for freedom in all aspects as a Christian humanist
Paradise Lost

Satan, after being defeated in his rebel against God, tempts Adam and Eve to eat the apples from the Forbidden Tree, and causes the Fall of Man
The Neoclassical Period
1. age: 1660-1798
2. background: The English society of the neoclassical period was a turbulent one. Fast development of England as a nation; the Age of Enlightenment or the Age of Reason
3. features: (1)a furtherance of the Renaissance – the Enlightenment Movement, advocated universal education(2)reason, "eternal truth", "eternal justice", "eternal equality" was what human society should seek for; advocated universal education(3)reviving the interest in old classical works (neoclassicism)(4)keep to order, logic, restrained emotion and accuracy(5)had specific rules for almost every genre of literature
John Bunyan
As a stout Puritan, he had made a conscientious study of the Bible and firmly believed in salvation through spiritual struggle
Concrete and living language\carefully observed and vividly presented detail
The Pilgrim’s Progress
(Symbolizes human world, for "All the cometh is vanity"; everything and anything in this world is "vanity", have no value and no meaning; but this town "lay" in the way to the Celestial City, meaning pilgrims had to resist the temptations there when they made their way through)
Is the most successful religious allegory in the English language; its purpose is to urge people to abide by Christian doctrines and seek salvation through constant struggles with their own weakness and all kinds of social evils
Alexander Pope
Strongly advocated neoclassicism, emphasizing that literary works should be judged by classical rules of order, reason, logic, restrained emotion, good taste and decorum
Satiric\concise\smooth\graceful\well-balanced style
On Criticism
a comprehensive study of the theories of literary criticism; a typical didactic one; written in the form of heroic couplets, it's plain in style and it is easy to read.
Daniel Defoe
A very good story-teller; his sentences are sometimes short, crisp and plain, and sometimes long and rambling, which leave on the reader an impression of casual narration
Smooth\easy\colloquial\mostly vernacular
Robinson Crusoe
Adventure on a deserted island; depicts a hero grows from an inexperienced youth onto a shrewd and hardened man; a song of courage, wisdom, struggle against the hostile natural environment
Jonathan Swift
Is almost unsurpassed in the writing of simple, direct, precise prose; “proper words in proper places”
Clear\simple\concrete diction\uncomplicated sentence structure\economy and conciseness of language
Gulliver’s Travels
Four places: Lilliput, Brobdingnag, the flying island; Houyhnhnm
Henry Fielding
First of all the 18th century English novelist to write the "comic epic in prose"; the first to give the modern novel its structure and style; use the third-person narration; “Father of the English Novel ”; “the just copies of human manners”
Easy\unlaboured\familiar\extremely vivid and vigorous\ logic and rhythm
Tom Jones

Samuel Johnson
Very much concerned with the theme of the vanity of human wishes; no matter how complex his sentences are, the thought is always clearly expressed
To the Right Honorable the Earl of Chesterfield
A strong indignation at the Earl's fame-fishing; implying writers independence in economy and writing; open a new era in the development of literature
Richard Brinsley Sheridan
The only important English dramatist of the eighteenth century; in his plays, morality is the constant theme
The School of Scandal
A story about two brothers
Thomas Gray
The leader of the sentimental poetry of the day, especially “the Graveyard School”
Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard
Reflects on death, the sorrow of life, and the mysteries of human life with a touch of his personal melancholy
The Romantic Period
1. age: 1798-1870
2. background: coming along with the French Revolution and the Industrial Revolution
3. features:(1)contrary with the neoclassicism: emphasize that man have in common, focuses on the special qualities of individual mind(2)tend to probe into the inner world of the human spirit rather narrate daily happenings of the human world(3)employ rural scenery, legendary and mythological, stories of ancient times, figures from country and Orientals(4)produce a number of great poets, the Romantic period is an age of poetry(5)the focus of the everyday life of human beings in the Age brought about the flourishing of familiar essays
William Blake
The first important Romantic poet; the spokesman of vevolt; took “This World” as “a World of Imagination and Vision”, declaring that “The Nature of my work is visionary and imaginative”
Plain\direct\lyric beauty\symbolism
The Chimney Sweeper/Songs of Innocence
The Chimney Sweeper/Songs of Experience / The Tyger
1. indicates the conditions of the exploitation of child labor, which make religion a consolation;
2. reveals the true nature of religion which helps bring misery to the poor children
William Wordsworth
A “worshipper of nature”; a poet in memory of the past, to him, life is a cyclical journey, its beginning finally turns out to be its end; Advocate the writing of the common people in ordinary language; the joys and sorrows of the common people are his themes; natural scenery with its beauty and mystery acts also as one of his favorite themes, the poor in rural places; reveal the inner workings of individual’s mind; the seeming simplicity of the poet both in diction and description is immersed in a profound and sympathetic longing for a better world; poetry originates from “emotion recollected in tranquillity”
Lyrical Ballads
Tintern Abbey
I Wandered Lonely as a Cloud
Composed upon Westminster Bridge She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways
The Solitary Reaper

A vivid picture of a beautiful morning I n London; Italian form
Samuel Taylor Coleridge
Can be divided into two groups: the demonic and conversational;
Kubla Khan
Describes the pleasure dome of the Khan;
George Gordon Byron
G.G.Byron’s chief contribution: “Byronic hero”: Such a hero is a proud, mysterious rebel figure of noble origin. Passionate and powerful, he is right all the wrongs in a corrupt society, and he would fight single – handedly against all the misdoings, political, religious and moral. Thus his figure is a rebellious individual against outworn social systems and conventions.
Song for the Luddites
Don Juan （The Isles of Greece）

Percy Bysshe Shelley
Greatest achievement is his four-act poetic drama, Prometheus Unbound
A Song : Men of England
Ode to the West Wind

1. a war cry calling upon all working people of England to rise up against their political oppressors and an address to point out to them the intolerable injustice of economic exploitation
2. The autumn wind, burying the dead year, preparing for a new Spring; “If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?”
expressed eagerness to enjoy the boundless freedom from the reality
John Keats
Sensuous, colorful and rich in imagery; exact and closely knit construction, sensual description
Ode to an Grecian Urn
Show the contrast between the permanence of art and the transience of human passion
Jane Austen
Main literary concern is about human beings in their personal relationships; her characteristic theme is that maturity is achieved through the loss of illusions/Delightful and profound
Pride and Prejudice
Wave vivid pictures of everyday life of simple country society
The Victorian Period
1. age:1836-1901
2. background:
(1)early years: rapid economic development as well as serious social problems(2)the next twenty years: prosperity and relative stability. a national spirit of earnestness, respectability, modesty domesticity(3)the last three decades: the decline of the British empire and the decay of the Victorian values
3. idea:(1)Darwin’s The Origin of Species; The Descent of Man shook the theoretical basis of the traditional faith(2)Utilitarianism: whether it could promote the material happiness(3)socially conscious writers criticized(2)‘s depreciation of cultural values, cold indifference towards human feeling(4)literature: magnitude and diversity, romantically and realistically
4.critical realist writers: criticized the society, concerned about the fate of common people　　　　　　　　　　　
Charles Dickens
1. theme: critical realist writers, criticize: poverty, injustice, hypocrisy, corruptness
2. characteristics:
(1)he is skillful in the dialect and have a large vocabulary
(2)character portrayal
(3)characters are mostly innocent ,helpless, persecuted child characters
(4)a mixture of humor and sympathism (pathos)
(5)bizarre figure, horrible
Oliver Twist
(The Pickwick Paper; David Copperfield; Domeby and Son; A Tale of Two Cities; Bleak House; Little Dorrit; Hard Times; Great Expectations)
the cruelty and hypocrisy of the workhouse system and the dark criminal underworld life
The Bronte Sisters
1.scene: vast, rough, untouched moorland wilderness
2. Charlotte’s works are all about the struggle of an individual consciousness towards self-realization, about some lonely and neglected young women with a fierce longing for love, understanding and a full, happylife. In her mind, man’s life is composed of perpetual battle between sin and virtue, good and evil

Jane Eyre /Charlotte Bronte
Wuthering Heights/Emily Bronte

1.Mr.Rochester and Jane Eyre.
Rochester: a grim-looking, energetic, quick-tempered, but an understanding middle-aged man; has a burning spirit and a longing to love and be loved; struggles for recognition of her basic rights and equality as a woman. It‘s an individual conscious struggle towards self-realization. She gets joy through the sacrifice of herself or her weakness overcome
3. (uses flashbacks)
Nelly: Catherine’s old nurse, narrator, told Mr. Lockwood, a temporary tenant the story
Alfred Tennyson
Poet Laureate(Wordsworth, Southey)
a powerful expression of the poet‘s philosophical and religious thoughts, his doubts about life, soul; has the natural power of linking visual pictures with musical expression, and these two with the feelings
Break Break Break
Crossing The Bar
Ulysses
1. the feeling of sadness are contrasted with the carefree, innocent joys of the children and the unfeeling movement of the ship and sea waves; abcb
2. means leaving this world and entering the next world
3. express Tennyson’s own determination and courage to brave the struggle of life but also reflects the restlessness and aspiration of the age
Robert Browning
perfects "dramatic monologue", keeps readers alert, thoughtful and enlightened
My Last Duchess
Meeting at Night
Parting at Morning
1. in heroic couplets, dramatic monologue
sounds like blank verse

George Eliot
Pseudonym: Mary Ann Evans
founder of "stream of consciousness",