英国文学和美国文学的区别

美国文学

美国文学主要分为四个时期：

一 Colonial and Revolutionary Period（殖民时期和早期文学）。

Colonial Settlements & Revolution of Independence：1607-1783殖民时期和独立革命时期 1、John Smith约翰·史密斯：美国文学史上第一个作家the first American writer < A True Relation of Virginia >关于费吉尼亚的真实叙述 美国文学第一本书 2、Jonathan Edwards 乔纳森·爱德华兹：清教徒主义作家（Puritanism）

< Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God> 《愤怒的上帝手中的罪人们》, 论宗教感情, 论意志自由 …

3、Benjamin Franklin本杰明·富兰克林–独立革命时期 作品：

穷查理历书< The Autobiography> 自传 致富之道

4、 Thomas Paine托马斯·潘恩–美国独立之父the father of American revolution 作品：

独立战争宣传册《常识》

1. What is Literature?

?

Literature refers to the practice and profession of writing. It comes from human interest in telling a story, in arranging words in artistic forms, in describing in words some aspects of human experiences. Literature is characterized by beauty of expression and form and by university of intellectual and emotional appeal.

Literature shows us not only what a society is like in a certain age, but also what individuals feel about it, what they hope from it, and how they can change it or escape from it.

I.Literature 文学

i)English Literature英国文学

I .Old and Medieval English literature(450-1066)&(1066-15世纪后期）上古及中世纪英国文学

Background：英伦三岛自古以来遭遇过3次外族入侵，分别为古罗马人、盎格鲁-萨克逊人&诺曼底人。其中后两次在英国文学史上留下了深远影响。中世纪时期(约1066-15世纪后期）即从诺曼底征服起到文艺复兴前夕 ，为英国封建社会时期的文学，盛行文学形式为民间抒情诗(the folk ballad)和骑士抒情诗(the romance)。

I）The Anglo-Saxon Period(450-1066)盎格鲁撒克逊文明兴盛时期（上古时期）文学表现形式主要为诗歌散文。

i代表人物和主要作品：第一部民族史诗(the national epic)《贝奥武甫》Beowulf,体现盎格鲁撒克逊人对英雄君主的拥戴和赞美，歌颂了人类战胜以妖怪为代表的神秘自然力量的伟大功绩。

\Grendel stalking;God's brand was on him.

大踏步地走下沼泽地，上帝在每个人身上都打下了烙印。\II)The

I. Multiple choice.

7. The English Renaissance period was an age of ______. A. poetry and drama C. novel and poetry

B. drama and novel D. romance and poetry

2. Renaissance first started in _______, with the flowering of the fields of painting, sculpture and literature. A. France C. Germany

B. Italy D. Britain

10. _____ is the essence of the Renaissance. A. Poetry C. Humanism

B. Drama D. Reason

11 “To be, or not to be—that is the question” is a line taken from ______. A. Hamlet C. King Lear

B. Othello

D. The Merchant of V

I. Multiple choice.

7. The English Renaissance period was an age of ______. A. poetry and drama C. novel and poetry

B. drama and novel D. romance and poetry

2. Renaissance first started in _______, with the flowering of the fields of painting, sculpture and literature. A. France C. Germany

B. Italy D. Britain

10. _____ is the essence of the Renaissance. A. Poetry C. Humanism

B. Drama D. Reason

11 “To be, or not to be—that is the question” is a line taken from ______. A. Hamlet C. King Lear

B. Othello

D. The Merchant of V

British Literature

I. Multiple Choice.

The Middle Age

1. When we speak of the Old English prose, the first name that comes into our minds is_______, who is the first scholar in English literature and has been regarded as father of English learning. A. William Shakespeare B. Beowulf

C. Julius Caesar D. Venerable Bede

2. The most important work of Alfred the Great is _______, which is regarded as the best monument of the Old English prose.

A. The Song of Beowulf B. The Anglo-Sa

填空 A.

1. Dickens‘ writings from 1836 to 1841 show the characteristic of youthful _______.

2. Dickens‘ writings from 1842 to 1850 show the character of _______. 3. Dickens‘ writings from 1852 to 1870 show the feature of ______.

4. Nicholas Nickleby touches upon a burning question of the time—the education of ____ in private schools.

5. _____ is a great novel of social satire and famous for its criticism of both the British and American bourgeoisie.

6. The theme of Dombey and Son is the pride of wealth, or ―_____‖.

British Writers and Works

The Anglo-Saxon Period

The Venerable Bede 比得673~735

Ecclesiastical History of the English People 英吉利人教会史

Alfred the Great 阿尔弗雷得大帝849~899

The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle 盎格鲁—萨克逊编年史

The Late Medieval Ages

William Langland 威廉·兰格伦1332~1400

Piers the Plowman 农夫比埃斯的梦

Geoffery Chaucer 杰弗里·乔叟1340(?)~1400

The Books of the Duchess悼公爵夫人

Troilus and Criseyde特罗伊拉斯和克莱希德

The Canterbury Tales坎特伯雷故事集

The House of Fame声誉之宫

Sir Thomas Malory托马斯·马洛里爵士1405~1471

Le Morte D’Arthur亚瑟王之死

The Renaissance

Sir Philip Sydney菲利普·锡

英语专业 英美文学考试题

Humanism

Humanism is the essence of the Renaissance. It emphasizes the dignity of human beings and the importance of the present life. Humanists voiced their beliefs that man was the center of the universe and man did not only have the right to enjoy the beauty of the present life, but had the ability to perfect himself and to perform wonders.

Neoclassicism

According to neoclassicism, all forms of literature were to be modeled after the classical works of the ancient Greek and Roman writers. Neoclassicism emphasiz

I wandered lonely as a cloud

Writer: William Wordsworth Genre(体裁)：lyric

Tone: depression and disconsolateness at the very beginning. But as he catches sight of daffodils stretching as far as the eyes can see and finds himself in the midst of nature, his loneliness turns into relaxation and joy. Thus the shift of the poet’s mood from sadness to happiness manifests the theme --- the great influence of nature upon human being.

Rhyme: He employs masculine rhyme in “a, b, a, b, c, c” pattern to receive emphasis as a musical effe