英国文学习题

英国文学习题与练习

Week 2

Early and Medieval English Literature

Reference Questions:

1.

Who were the earliest settlers of Britton/England? What do you know about them

(home, language, belief, life style)?

2.

What are the 3 conquests? What effects they had upon the nation?

3.

Ideologically what is the most significant change in people’s spiritual life?

4.

How was the nation developed politically or what changes were there in the form

of the social structure?

5.

In terms of literature, what influence had the French upon England?

6.

How

many

languages

were

spoken

during

the

French

reign?

How

do

you

understand modern English as a language?

7.

What was the essence of Christian doctrine preached at the time? Was there any

ignoble reason behind it?

8.

Why was the Middle Ages known as the Dark Ages?

9.

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

10.

What are the 3 periods/stages of Chaucer’s literary career?

11.

In

what

way

do

we

call

Chaucer’s

Canterbury

Tales

the

first

work

of

English

literature?

Text study

:

Chaucer’s Canter

bury Tales

(6-7)

1.

What is image of the nun?

2.

Is she favorably and admirably or satirically portrayed? How?

3.

What figures of speech are used?

Week 3

Renaissance (1)

Reference questions:

1.

What is Renaissance? How and why did it come about?

2.

What is the development of drama? What were the original forms and content and

practice of drama?

3.

Why did drama flourish in Elizabethan age? Who are the major playwrights of the

time?

4.

Who is Marlowe? What contributions did he make to English drama?

5.

Who

is

Shakespeare?

What

famous

and

great

plays

(history,

comedy,

tragedy)?

What features?

6.

What did Ben Jonson write about? What representative work?

7.

Prepare the excerpt from

Hamlet

(31-32). What is it mainly about? What humanist

idea can you find in the soliloquy?

8.

What was the most important translation of the time?

Week 4

Renaissance (2)

Reference questions on Shakespeare and

Hamlet:

1.

Why is Shakespeare an eternal subject of study? Where lies his greatness?

2.

What are the themes of Hamlet?

3.

What is the significance of Hamlet as a character?

4.

What is blank verse?

5.

What is soliloquy?

Text study

Hamlet’s soliloquy “To be or not to be”

(31-32)

1.

What is the main idea of Hamlet’s soliloquy? Summarize in one or two sentences

the main idea of the soliloquy?

2.

How does the soliloquy reflect the spirit of the time or the idea of humanism?

3.

How do you analyze Hamlet’s argument in terms of structure?

Week 5

Renaissance (3)

Questions for Renaissance poetry and prose:

1.

Who

was

thought

to

be

the

greatest

English

poet

since

Chaucer?

What

is

his

representative work? What are the features of this poem?

2.

What new forms (rhyme

—

blank verse, stanza-- sonnet) of poetry were introduced

into England? By whom?

3.

Who were the famous sonneteers of the time?

4.

How do you tell an Italian (Petrarchan) sonnet from an English (a Shakespearean)

one?

5.

How many sonnets did Shakespeare write? What are the major subjects?

6.

Who

were

the

two

major

prose

writers?

What

is

Utopia

?

Where

do

you

think

More possibly got the idea or was it all his own invention? How do you interpret

the title of the book?

7.

What

contribution

did

Bacon

make

to

the

English

system

of

thinking

and

learning?

8.

What’s the purpose of his

Essays

?

9.

Based on your reading of his work, give your personal impression of/comment on

his

Essays

?

10.

The English Renaissance period is known for its translations. What are the most

important translations of this age?

Text study

Questions on Sonnet 18 by Shakespeare

(58):

1.

What is the English sonnet form? Study the metrical and rhyme scheme as well

as the structure?

2.

What’

s the main idea? Is it really about love? What is peculiar of this love poem?

3.

What figures of speech are used?

Questions on “Of Studies” by F. Bacon

(52-53):

1.

How do you define the style?

2.

Study

the

essay

by

comparing

the

English

version

with

the

translation

of

Mr

Wang. How do you like the Chinese version?

3.

Paraphrase and comment on sentences 1-6, 10-12.

Week 6

Revolution and Restoration

Reference questions:

1. What was the most important social event during the mid-17

th

century?

2. What were the two most popular forms of lyric?

3. Why is Milton the greatest poet of the period? What is the significance of

Paradise

Lost

?

Text study:

Paradise Lost by John Milton

(67-68)

1.

What is the historical background of the work?

2.

As a transitional writer, how does Milton combine his humanistic ideas with his

Puritan ideas?

3.

What is the image and the significance of Satan in the two extracts?

4.

What philosophy can we get from the text?

Week 7

18

th

century Enlightenment(1)

Questions:

1.

What was the most important intellectual event of the time?

2.

The 18

th

century is called an age of the bourgeoisie. Why? And what effect it had

on literature of the century?

3.

Why did English novel appear in this century?