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1、【精品文档】如有侵权，请联系网站删除，仅供学习与交流英国文学问答题（保留）.精品文档.英国文学问答题Page 1- English literature The Renaissance Period1. How to define the period of Old English literature?English literature begins with the Anglo-Saxon settlement in England at about 450 BC and ends at1066 BC, the year of the Norman Conquest of England
2、. Of Old English literature, a few relics arestill preserved. All of them are poems or songs by the Anglo-Saxon scop or gleemen who sang ofthe heroic deeds of old time.2. What does Old English poetry include?Generally speaking, the Old English poetry includes two groups: the religious group: the rel
3、igiousgroup and the secular one. The former is mainly on biblical themes. For example, Genesis A, Genesis B, 创世纪II and Exodus 出埃及记 are poems based on the Old Testament;while the latter shows the harshness of circumstance and the sadness of the human lot. A typicalexample is Englands national epic Be
4、owulf.3. What is the plot and theme of Englands national epic Beowulf?Beowulf, nephew of the king of the Geats, hears that Hrothgar, a Danish king, is in great trouble.The kingdom of the king is harassed by a monster called Grendel. He at once sails there, grappleswith the monster, and wounds it fat
5、ally. Then comes Grendels mother, a she-monster, in revengeof her son. Beowulf follows her to her under-water cave and kills her with a giant sword. Withthese honors won, he returns to his homeland and reigns as its king for 50 years. Then afire-breathing dragon comes out of its den and kills many p
6、eople. Though old now, Beowulf stillkills it single-handedly. But he, too, is fatally wounded and later died.Thematically, this poem shows how the primitive people fight against the forces of the naturalworld under a wise and mighty leader.4 What is Epic?Epic is an extended narrative poem in elevate
7、d or dignified language, like Homers Iliad andOdyssey. It usually celebrates the feats of one or more legendary or traditional heroes. The actionis simple but full of magnificence. Today, some long narrative works, like novels that reveal anage and its people are also called epic.5. What is the Medi
8、eval Period in English Literature? How many parts can it be divided into? The Medieval :Period in English literature starts at 1066, the year of the Norman Conquest,and ends at about the 15th century. The early part of the period, i.e. from 1066 to the mid-14thcentury, is almost a barren one in lite
9、rary creation. While in the latter period, starting from thesecond half of the 14th century, English literature flourishes with the appearance of writers likeGeoffery Chaucer, William Langland, John Gower, and others.6. Compared with Old English Literature, what are the features of Medieval English
10、Literature? In comparison with Old English literature, Medieval English literature deals with a widerrange of subjects. It is uttered by more voices and in a greater diversity of styles, tones and genres. 1- Page 2-And it is deeply influenced by the principles of the medieval Christian doctrine, whi
11、ch areprimarily concerned with the issue of personal salvation. Romance becomes a popular literaryform, indicating the age to be a chivalric rather than heroic one.7. What is the miracle play? The miracle play, the medieval dramatization of a Biblical story (e. g. Cain and Abel) or of asaints life,
12、was chiefly popular from the twelfth through the fifteenth centuries. The term issometimes limited to plays on saints lives. The Biblical plays are then called mystery plays.8. What is morality play? The morality play, a later medieval development, which remained popular well into thesixteenth centu
13、ry, was an allegorical dramatization of the conflict between good and evil,including such characters as Everyman, Gooddeeds, and Avarice.9. Why is Chaucer regarded as the Father of English poetry? Originally, Old English poems are mainly alliterative verses with few variations. Chaucerintroduced fro
14、m France the rhymed stanzas of various types to English poetry to replace it. In TheRomaunt of the Rose, he first introduced to English the octosyllabic couplet. In The legend ofGood Women, he used for the first time in English heroic couplet. And in his masterpiece, TheCanterbury Tales, he employed
15、 heroic couplet with true ease and charm for the first time in thehistory of English literature. Besides this, though he drew influence from French, Italian, and Latin models, he is thefirst great poet who wrote in the current English language. His production of so much excellentpoetry is an importa
16、nt factor in establishing English as the literary language of the country. And hemade the dialect of London the foundation for Modern English speech. Small wonder later daywriter, John Drydon, would call him the Father of English poetry.10. What is Heroic Couplet? Heroic couplet is a rhyming couplet
17、 of iambic pentameter, often containing a complete thought.There is a fairly heavy pause at the end of the first line and a still heavier one at the end of thesecond. Commonly there is a parallel or an antithesis within a line, or between the two lines. It iscalled heroic because in England, especia
18、lly in the eighteenth century, it was much used for heroic(epic) poems.11. What is Chaucers literary achievement? (1) First of all, he presented a comprehensive realistic picture of his age and created awhole gallery of vivid characters in his works, especially in The Canterbury Tales. (2) Heanticip
19、ated a new era, the Renaissance, to come under the influence of men like Petrarch andBaecacio. In his works, the spirit of Renaissance can be already seen. (3) He developed hischaracterization to a higher level by presenting characters with both typical qualities andindividual dispositions, (4) And
20、he greatly contributed to the maturing of English prosody byadopting different rhyming skills. Drydon called him the Father of English Prosody(诗体论。韵律学). 2- Page 3-12 What is popular ballad? How has English ballad developed? Ballard is originally a song intended as the accompaniment to a dance. In th
21、e modern sense,a ballad is just a simple spirited poem in short stanzas in which some popular story is graphicallynarrated The English popular ballad flourished from the 12th century to the 15th century，reflecting the life of the people then And the most remarkable ones are the Robin Hood ballads.Th
22、ese are ballads about an outlawed hero who lives in the forest with his men, robs the rich andhelps the poor. Major collections of these ballads did not begin until the 18th century and the mostcreditable among them are Thomas Percys Relics of Ancient English Poetry, Walter ScottsMinstrels of the Sc
23、ottish Border, etc.13. How would you define the term Renaissance? This term refers to a great bourgeois cultural movement in Europe which began in the 14thcentury and continued to the mid-17th century. It first started from Italy and then spread all overEurope. Originally, the term means rebirth or
24、revival . And the movement seems to be a rebirthor revival of ancient Greek and Roman culture, caused by a series of historical events, such as thenew discoveries in geography and astrology, the religious reformation and the economicexpansion. The Renaissance, therefore, in essence, is a historical
25、period in which the Europeanhumanist thinkers and scholars tried to get rid of those old feudalistic ideas in Medieval Europe, tointroduce new ideas that express the interests of the rising bourgeoisie, and to recover the purity ofthe early church from the corruption of the Roman Catholic church.14.
26、 How to define the term Humanism? Humanism is a system of beliefs upheld by writers and artists of the Renaissance period intheir fighting against medieval asceticism. It states that man is godly, that man is able to find truth,goodness and beauty, and that man is in control of the present life rath
27、er than being controlled byGod. Briefly, humanism puts man at the center of their beliefs and takes man to be the measure ofevery thing while the former asceticism puts God at the center of their beliefs and takes personalsalvation to be the most important thing on the earth for man.15. What are the
28、 main characteristics of Humanist writings? Humanist writings affirm the value of man and repudiate the absolute control of man by God.They call for mans freedom in thinking, praise mans worldly aspirations, and denunciate thefeudalistic control of mans thought. They state that man has a right for e
29、arthly happiness and thatasceticism is against human nature. In them, reason and science are put into a very high placewhile mysticism is thrown away. They are mostly realistic in essence.16. What is the historical and cultural background of the English Renaissance ? Because of the war of Roses with
30、in the country and its weak and unimportant position inworld trade, Renaissance came later in England than in other European countries. But when it didcome, it was to produce some towering figures in the English, and world literary heritage WilliamShakespeare, Edmund Spenser, Sir Thomas More, Franci
31、s Bacon and a number of humanistscholars. The reign of Elizabeth I (15581603) was a period of political and religious stability onthe one hand and economic prosperity on the other. The Church of England was re-established, 3- Page 4-ending the long time religious strifes commence and industry forged
32、 ahead as a result of theenclosure movement at home and the opening of new sea routes in the world. England began toembark on the road to colonization and foreign control that was to take it onto its heyday ofcapitalist development.17. What is blank verse? This term, which was first brought into Eng
33、land by Surrey, is used to name tileunrhymed iambic pentameter line in poetry.18. What is Sonnet? Sonnet is a type of poem consisting of one single fourteen-line stanza. It was perfectedby the Italian poet in the 13th century and introduced into England in the early 16th century. English sonnets, in
34、 terms of structure, largely fall into two classes, the Petrarchian or Italianform and the Shakespearian or English form. The former divides its fourteen lines of iambicpentameters into two parts, one octet and the other sestet; while the latter consists of threequatrains and a final couplet. The th
35、ree quatrains develop the poems subject consistently and thecouplet condenses the emotion into an epigram.19. How is English drama as a literary form developed in the Elizabethan period? The Elizabethan drama is the real mainstream of the English Renaissance. Thoughdrama as a literary form could be
36、dated back to the Middle Ages (5th-15th BC), it is not until theElizabethan age, under the influence of the Renaissance, that drama was developed into asophisticated and mature art form. And great dramatists like Christopher Malowe, WilliamShakespeare, and Ben Jonson appeared on the stage. By imitat
37、ing the romances of Italy and Spain, embracing the mysteries of the Germanlegend, and combining the poetic fancy with the facts of daily life, they made a vivid depiction ofthe sharp conflicts between feudalism and the rising bourgeoisie in a transitional period. Withhumours of the movement, abstrac
38、tions of philosophical speculation, and intense vitality, thisextraordinary drama, with Shakespeare as the master, stands out as a monument of theRenaissance, which is unrivaled for pure creative power by any other product of that epoch.20. Why is Edmund Spenser regarded as “the poets poet? Edmund S
39、penser (1552- 1599) is the author of The Faerie Queene, creator of the Spenserianstanza and one of the greatest figures of the Renaissance period in England. His poetry usuallyenjoys five qualities: (1) a perfect melody; (2) a rare sense of beauty; (3) a splendid imagination;(4) a lofty moral purity
40、 and seriousness and (5) a dedicated idealism. It is just his idealism, hislove of beauty, and his exquisite melody that make him known as the poets poet.21. What is the Spenserian stanza? A Spenserian stanza is one that consists of eight five-foot iambic lines, followed byan iambic line of six feet
41、, rhyming ababbcbcc. It is so named because it was Spenser that first usedthis form in his masterpiece The Faerie Queene.22 What is the structure of The Faerie Queene? 4- Page 5- According to Spenser himself, he intends to present through a historical poem theexample of a perfect gentleman: to fashi
42、on a gentleman ornoble person in virtuous and gentlediscipline. So he speaks of 12 virtues of the private gentleman, and plans 12 books, each one witha different hero distinguished for one of the private virtues. The hero of heroes, King Arthur,possesses all of these virtues. He is to play a role in each of the 12 major adventures, which