社长英国文学期末整理

Questions for Revision:

The Anglo- Saxon Period

Q1: What is the major literary form in this period?

Poetry

Q2: What is epic? What is the national epic in this period?

An Epic is a long narrative poem in elevated style presents characters of high relation to a central

figure of heroic proportions and through their development of episodes important to the history of

a nation or race.

Beowulf

Q3: What are the characteristics of

Beowulf

?

1

、

The

most

striking

feature

in

its

poetic

form

is

the

use

of

alliteration-

repetition

of

initial

consonant

sounds

in

a

line

of

poem.

In

alliterative

verse,

certain

accented

words

in

a

line

begin with the same consonat are generally 4 accents in a line, three of which

show alliteration ,as can be seen from the quotations on P.6-10 in the textbook.

2

、

3

、

The use of repetition and variation

Q4: What are two highlights in the developments of the Anglo-Saxon literature?

1

、

the Northumbrian School

2

、

during the reign of King Alfred

Questions for Revision--

The Middle English Period

Q1: What was the form of literature at the time? What features does it have?

Romance

1

、

Romance

which

uses

narrative

verse

or

prose

to

sing

of

knightly

adventures

or

other

heroic deeds is a popular literary form in the Middle Ages. The importance of romance

itself can be seen as a means of showing medieval aristocratic men and women in relation

to their idealized view of the world.

2

、

Early feudal age

，

as it reflects the spirit of chivalry.

3

、

The English romance mainly deals with three major subjects: Religious, Courtly love, and

Arthurian

3

、

Matter of France: a collection of tales about Chalemagne and his peers headed by Roland

and their wars against the Saracens.

4

、

Matter of Rome: covered everything that had come down from the ancient Romans and

from the Greeks also e.g. Trojan War

5

、

Matter of Britain: the legendary history of Britain. e.g. King Arthur and His Round-Table

Knights, Sir Gawain and the Greenknight

Q2: What is the literary position of Geoferry Chaucer in English Literature?

Father of English poetry

Q3: What about the significance of

The Canterbury Tales

?

1. It gives a comprehensive picture of Chaucer's time.

The

pilgrims

represent

the

whole

range

of

14th

century

society

except

the

very

top

and

the

very bottom. With his own wide experience and close observation of life, his characters are

so vivid and particular that there can be no substitution for the very person described.

2. The dramatic structure of the poem has been highly commended by critics. In

The Canterbury

Tales

, stories are cleverly woven together by links between the stories.

1

Most of the stories are related to the personalities of the personality of each character,

his private life and habits, his mood and social status are revealed in the prologue and in the

story he tells, as well as by his behaviour along the road and his remarks on the way.

3. Chaucer's humour: gentle satire and mild irony

4. Chaucer's contribution to the English language: Chaucer wrote in the London dialect of his day,

which he handled dexterously.

He

was

at

one

moment

serious

and

another

lighthearted

and

full

of

fun

and

sometimes

he

could be very poetical. He proved that the English language is a beautiful language and can be

easily handled to express different moods. In so doing Chaucer greatly increased the prestige

of the English language.

Q4: What are

Chaucer?s contributions

to English literature?

1. Father of English poetry

2. Chaucer, for the first time in English literature, presented to us a comprehensive realistic picture

of the English society of his time and created a whole gallery of vivid characters from all walks of

life in his masterpiece

The Canterbury Tales

.

3. Chaucer develops characterization to a higher artistic level, i.e. characters who are morally and

socially typical but exquisitely individual and realistic in detail.

4.

Chaucer

introduced

from

France

the

rhymed

stanzas

of

various

types

to

English

poetry

to

replace the Old English alliterative verse.

5. Chaucer used for the first time in English the rhymed couplet of iambic pentameter which is to

be called later as the heroic couplet.

6. Chaucer greatly increased the prestige of English as a literary language and extended the range

of its poetic vocabulary and meters.

He is considered as a great master of the English language.

Questions for Revision-- The English Renaissance

Q1:What

is

Renaissance?

What

do

you

know

about

English

Renaissance

and

its

ideal

Humanism?

As

a

cultural

movement,

it

encompassed

a

flowering

of

literature,

science,

art,

religion,

and

politics,

and

a

resurgence

of

learning

based

on

classical

sources,

the

development

of

linear

perspective in painting

, and gradual but widespread educational reform.

Historical Background

(Society, Politics and Economy)

Humanism:

is the idea that man has a potential for culture which distinguishes him from lower

orders of beings, and which he should strive constantly to fulfill.

1.

Rebellious spirit against the Medieval feudal value and blind faith in humbleness,

servitude, and after-life.

2.

Belief in man’s divinity and capability of self p

erfection

3.

Emphasis of the importance of personal worth and enjoyment of the present life

Q2:What are the major writers in this period? What about their representative works ?

Edmund Spenser

The Shephearde

’

s Calender

The Faerie Queene

Christopher Marlowe

Tamburlaine the Great

The tragical History of Doctore Faustus

The Jew of Malta

2