美国文学史期末考试复习题

美国文学史期末考试复习题(使用书本为童明的《美国文学史修订版》)

一、 名词解释 （交代背景、内容/特点、代表人物/作品）

1. American Realism: In American literature, the Civil War brought the Romantic

Period to an end. The Age of Realism came into existence. It came as a reaction against the lie of romanticism and sentimentalism. Realism turned from an emphasis on the strange toward a faithful rendering of the ordinary, a slice of life as it is really lived. It expresses the concern for commonplace and the low, and it offers an objective rather than an idealistic view of human nature and human experience. (the representative writers and its features should be also added.)

2. Black Humor :

1）In the 1960s, in literature, drama, and film, black humor refers to grotesque or morbid humor used to express the absurdity, insensitivity, paradox, and cruelty of the modern world.

2）Black humor often uses low comedy farce and low comedy to make clear that individuals are helpless victims of fate and character. 3）Joseph Heller’s Catch-22 is an example of this school

3. Henry James’s international theme: 书p159 4. Beat Generation：

1) American poets, 1950s-1960s, a rebellion ,counterculture, romantic, drugs and uninhibited sex.

2)Best and most influential poem: “Howl” :denounces the life-denying effects of American culture.

5. American Puritanism：it comes from the American puritans, who were the first

immigrants moved to American continent in the 17th century. Original sin, predestination and salvation were the basic ideas of American Puritanism. And, hard-working, piousness，thrift and sobriety were praised.书p17

6. Transcendentalism: is a philosophic and literary movement that flourished in New England, particular at Concord, as a reaction against Rationalism and Calvinism. Mainly it stressed intuitive understanding of God, without the help of the church, and advocated independence of the mind. The representative writers are Emerson and

Thoreau.

7. Themes of Henry James’s writing: 书p158

8. The Lost Generation: it refers to a group of young intellectuals who came back from war， were injured both physically and mentally. They lived by indulging themselves in the Bohemian way of life. Their American dream was disillusioned. The best representative of the lost generation was Ernest Hemingway.

二、回答问题

1. What are the characteristics of American romanticism？

（书本p68. 3点 + P69.5点）

2. How is the Darwinian belief in naturalism opposed to the Christian creationist view?

书p166

What is the determinist view of existence that informs naturalism? What are the implications of this view on ethics?

3. What are the philosophical foundations and characteristics of American naturalism? 书p166

4. What are the important points for Hawthorne’s style?

5. What is the predominant mood in Poe’s poetry? Discuss with two poems as examples.

6. What are the parameters of American Realism? 书P145

7. How is Thoreau revolt manifested both in his social actions and his writing? 书p99

What is the nature of his revolt?

书p100( and nature in Civil Disobedience should be added)

8. The age of American realism is divided into two more periods. What are the periods called? What are the characteristics and who are the representatives of each period?