英美文学复习资料 nr-

4. A Clean, Well-Lighted Place

What does the word “insomnia” imply? Ernest Hemingway A Clean, Well-Lighted Place

“insomnia”, a physical disease or mental problem, may be a spiritual wound caused by despair, anxiety, alienation and nihilism.

In the course of exploring the deeper meaning of life, Hemingway brings the human neurotic nature into readers’ attention. The hereditary nature of neurosis of Hemingway’s heroes contributes proof to the conviction of naturalists that man is generally a threatened species. It implies that the older waiter unconsciously does not want to confront the chaotic world and shuts him away from reality by sleeping during daytime, or indulging in reverie.

第三部分 阅读理解

1. 1. “Sonnet 18” by William Shakespeare Sh?ll I| cǒmpáre| th?e tó| ? súm|m?r?s dáy? Thǒu árt| mǒre lóve|ly ánd| mǒre tém|p?ráte. Róugh wínds| dó sháke| th? dár|lǐng búds| ǒf Máy, And súm|m?r?s léase| h?th áll| tǒo shórt| ? dáte. Sǒmetímes| tǒo hót| th? éye| ǒf héav|?n shínes, And óf|ten ís| his góld| cǒmpléx|ǐon dímm?d; And éve|ry fair| frǒm fáir| sǒmetíme| d?clínes, By chánce,| ǒr ná|t?re?s cháng|ǐng cóurse,| ?ntrímm?d; B?t thy| ?tér|nál súm|m?r sháll| nǒt fáde, Nǒr lóse| pǒssés|sǐon óf| thát fáir| thǒu ów?st;

Nǒr sháll| D?ath brág| thǒu wán|d?r?st ín| hǐs sháde, Wh?n ín| ?tér|nál línes| tǒ tíme| thǒu grów?st; Sǒ lóng| ás mén| cán bréathe,| ǒr éyes| cán sée, Sǒ lóng| lǐves thís,| ánd thís| gǐves lífe| tǒ thée.

What is the rhyme and meter of the poem? Meter: iambic pentameter

The rhyme scheme: ABAB CDCD EFEF GG.

What does the poem reveal?

In the poem, the poet shows his profound meditation on the destructive power of time and the eternal beauty brought forth by poetry to the one he loves and then expounds that all nice and beautiful things in the world will disappear, but the beauty in poetry can last forever. Thus the poem reveals Shakespeare?s faith in the permanence of poetry, the lasting power of human art and the creative power of human beings.

2. What is the effectiveness of the use of stream of consciousness technique in the story Eveline

3. “Meeting at Night” “Parting at Morning”

Theme: Love is absorbing and desirable and makes lovers intent, eager and energetic to meet each other.

Love is not the lasting place and a man need to face the actual daily life of worries and hard work.

Between romance and reality there is a vast expanse. 4. “The Glass Mountain” By Donald Barthelme What modernist devices are used in the story? (1) Repetition (2) Catalogues (3) Collage (4) Parody (5) Displacement (6) Subversion (7) Juxtaposition

5. What is the difference between realism and modernism?

Realism emphasizes objectivity, straightforward and matter-of-fact, and adopts a critical tone. Modernism takes the irrational philosophy and the theory of psychoanalysis as its theoretical base. The major themes of the modernist literature are the distorted, alienated and ill relationship between man and nature, man and society, man and man, and man and himself.

四．大题

1.为什么Robert Frost的诗歌被认为是欺骗性的简单？

Robert Frost’s poetry is considered to be deceptively simple, because of the plain language and the common materials. As in this poem, the language is simple, clear and colloquial, and the

materials depicted in the poem are everyday incidents, common situations and rural imagery. All these contribute to easy understanding of the poem. But those plain language and common materials are condensed with meaning and wider significance, and contain great lyrical beauty and potent symbolism. Frost implied philosophy of human life in the lines, such as how to deal with choice in our life. Thus there is profound philosophy under the plain lines, which make it simple at the surface. So his poetry is considered to be deceptively simple.

2. Give a comparison between Mrs. Mallard and Mrs. Sommers from feminist perspective by talking about their family background, troubles, awakening, desire for freedom, pursuit for the self, tragic end and etc.

Although both are questing for self and fulfillment of desire, there are many differences between Mrs. Mallard and Mrs. Sommers.

The first difference lies in their family backgrounds. Mrs. Mallard has a relatively good family

background. She doesn’t have to care for material, and she belongs to the middle class or above. To the contrary, Mrs. Sommers’ live is hard and poor and she has to make the most of every penny. She has to care for the bread for the children. Before her marriage, her life seems to be better.

Next difference is the troubles they faced. Mrs. Mallard’s pursuit of self and freedom is bound by her husband, or rather, by confinement of social norm. But Mrs. Sommers faces the conflict of her responsibility to her children as opposed to her own fulfillment.

Their first awakenings are also different. Mrs. Mallard first has a sensuous awakening to the sounds, scents, color that fills the air, such as “the sparrows’ twittering”, “the delicious breath of rain” and beautiful color in the sky. But Mrs. Sommers firstly awakens to the soothing sense when she touches the stocks.

The pursuits of freedom are different. Mrs. Mallard’s idea of freedom is that a person has the right to decide what to think and what to do. She pursues self-assertion. But Mrs. Sommers is pursuing the freedom of self-fulfillment.

The last difference is that their tragic ends are different. Mrs. Mallard dies at last, while Mrs. Sommers has to go back the life as before. All these demonstrate that there lies self-oblivion or self-destruction if only the individual changes and not the world.