美国文学复习资料-隋.doc

1.
I heard the merry grasshopper then sing，
The black—clad cricket bear a second part：
They kept one tune and played on the same string．
Seeming to glory in their little art．
Small creatures abject thus their voices raise，
And in their kind resound their Maker’s praise，
Whilst I，as mute，can warble forth no higher lays?

Questions：
1）This is the ninth of the “Contemplations’’ written by an early American woman writer．What is her name?
2）Which literary period does the poet belong to?
3) Make a brief comment on this short poem．

1) Anne Bradstreet.
2) Colonial Period.
3) These stanzas, written by Anne Bradstreet, taken from her best known and most attractive poem, Contemplations, was written late in her life, at her home in Andover. The poem is properly described as “a genuine expression of poetic feeling in the presence of nature.” This short poem offers the reader an insight into the mentality of the early Puritan pioneering in a new world. When she, the poet, heard the grasshopper and the cricket sing, she thought of this as their praising their creator and searched her own soul accordingly. It is evident that she saw something metaphysical inhering in the physical, a mode of perception which was singularly Puritan.
the rhyming scheme, the tone, the theme

2.
When in the course of human events，it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another，and to assume among the powers of the earth，the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them，a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation．We hold these truths to be self—evident，that all men are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights，that among these are Life，Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness? That to secure these rights，Governments are instituted among Men，deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed；That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends，it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it．

1）Which work is this passage taken from?
2）What truths are self-evident? What is the purpose of government．and when should a government be replaced?

3.
To a Waterfowl
by William Cullen Bryant
Whither, 'midst falling dew,
While glow the heavens with the last steps of day,
Far, through their rosy depths, dost thou pursue
Thy solitary way?

Vainly the fowler's eye
Might mark thy distant flight to do thee wrong,
As, darkly painted on the crimson sky,
Thy figure floats along.

Seek'st thou the plashy brink
Of weedy lake, or marge of river wide,
Or where the rocking billows rise and sink
On the chafed ocean side?

There is a Power whose care
Teaches thy way along that pathless coast,--
The desert and illimitable air,--
Lone wandering, but not lost.

All day thy wings have fann'd
At that far height, the cold thin atmosphere:
Yet stoop not, weary, to the welcome land,
Though the dark night is near.

And soon that toil shall end,
Soon shalt thou find a summer home, and rest,
And scream among thy fellows; reeds shall bend
Soon o'er thy sheltered nest.

Thou'rt gone, the abyss of heaven
Hath swallowed up thy form; yet, on my heart
Deeply hath sunk the lesson thou hast given,
And shall not soon depart.

He, who, from zone to zone,
Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight,
In the long way that I must tread alone,
Will lead my steps aright.

1) Can we interpret the poem in any other way? For example, can the “Power of care” and the “He” in the poem mean anything else?
2) What can we learn from the waterfowl’s flight?

l Bryant's poem begins with a waterfowl in flight and a hunter below. The bird's instinct allows it to fly to safety. In spite of the danger, hardships and temptations on the way, the bird continues its flight to its destination. As the speaker watches the bird, he ponders the mysteries of migration. Bryant parallels the bird's instinct to a "Power." Even though humans have no real instinct to guide them to safety, there is a "Power" or God that will guide them to safety.
l In the last paragraph of the poem Bryant seems to be comparing our life with God to that of a Waterfowl. He says: "He who from zone to zone, Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight, In the long way that I must tread alone, Will lead my steps aright."
l He is saying that throughout our life wherever we go God is going to be with us guiding us down the right path. And in times when we think we must go alone, he too will be with us then. He never leaves us long enough for us to fall, just long enough for us to learn from what we do.

4. Lost Generation
This term has been used again and again to describe the people of the postwar years. It describes the Americans who remained in Paris as a colony of “expatriates” or exiles, the writers like Hemingway who lived in semi-poverty and also the Americans who returned to their native land with an intense awareness of living in an unfamiliar changing world.
After World War Ⅰ, the young disappointed American writers, such as Hemingway, Pound, Cummings, Fitzgerald, were welcomed by an American woman writer named Gertrude Stein, who had lived in Paris since 1903. She called them “the Lost Generation”, because they had cut themselves off from their past in America in order to create a completely new type of writing. They wandered pointlessly and restlessly, enjoying things like fishing, swimming, bullfight and beauties of nature, but they were aware all the while that the world is crazy and meaningless and futile. Their whole life is undercut and defeated.

5.
When in the course of human events，it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another，and to assume among the powers of the earth，the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them，a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation．We hold these truths to be self-evident，that all men are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights，that among these are Life，Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness? That to secure these rights，Governments are instituted among Men，deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed；That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends，it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it．

1）Which work is this passage taken from?
2）What truths are self-evident? What is the purpose of government．and when should a government be replaced?

1) The Declaration of Independence
2) The truths are self-evident that all men are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights，that among these are Life，Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.
The purpose of the government is to secure these rights. whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends，it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it．

6.
I went to the woods because 1 wished to live deliberately，to front only the essential facts of life，and see if I could not learn what it had to teach，and not，when I came to die，discover that I had not lived．I did not wish to live what was not life，living is SO dear；nor did 1 wish to practise resignation，unless it was quite necessary．1 wanted to live deep and suck out all the marrow of life，to live SO sturdily and Spartan—like as to put to rout all that was not life，to cut a broad swath and shave close，to drive life into a comer，and reduce it to its lowest terms，and，if it proved to be mean，why then to get the whole and genuine meanness of it，and publish its meanness to the world；or if it were sublime，to know it by experience，and be able to give a true account of it in my next excursion．For most men，it appears to me，are in a strange uncertainty about it，whether it is of the devil or of Good.

Questions：

1）This passage is taken from a famous work entitled ．

2）The author of the work is ．

3）List by yourself at least five reasons that the author gives for going to live in the woods．

7.
Hester Prynne’s term of confinement was now at an end．Her prison—door was thrown open，and she came forth into the sunshine which，falling on all alike，seemed，to her sick and morbid heart，as if meant for no other purpose than to reveal the scarlet letter on her breast．Perhaps there was a more real torture in her first unattended footsteps from the threshold of the prison，than even in the procession and spectacle that have been described，where she was made the common infamy，at which all mankind was summoned to point its finger．Then，she was supported by an unnatural tension of the nerves，and by all the combative energy of her character，which enabled her to convert the scene into a kind of lurid triumph．

Questions：

1）Which novel is this selection taken from?

2）What is the name of the novelist?

3）What are the symbolic meanings of the scarlet letter on Hester’s breast?
Interpretation of the Letter “A”
v After Hester's competence and usefulness to the community become evident, some think the letter stands for "able."
v When an A appears in the sky at Governor John Winthrop's death, they think it stands for "angel."
v Since historical Puritans convicted of adultery were made to wear the letters AD on their sleeves, critics have noted that these are Dimmesdale's initials and concluded that the A also represents Arthur.
v Readers may well conclude that the A can mean almost anything, even America, where we still struggle to reinscribe the labels that others put on us.

8．
“I celebrate myself，and sing myself．

And what I assume you shall assume，

For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you．”

Comprehension：

Who wrote these lines? What is the poet celebrating?
In this poem Whitman sets forth two principal beliefs: the theory of universality, which is illustrated by lengthy catalogues of people and things, and the belief in the singularity and equality of all things in value. The longest and most personal poem of Whitman, it serves an inspiring introduction to the main ideas and style that he developed in the subsequent editions of Leaves of Grass. The excerpt is the first section of the poem.

“自我”是全诗的中心形象。围绕这一主题，诗中的小巧意象、小故事、城乡写生画、格言警句、坦率的自白以及富有诗意的遐想等多种成分便被揉成一个有机整体。诗中歌颂的自我(myself)既是诗人又大于诗人，具有美国民族特征和民主理想，包括新大陆的开拓者--- 铁匠、木匠、屠夫、伙计、纤夫、筑路工和诗人等土生土长的“新人”的群像，乐观向上，心胸开阔。

9.
In a Station of the Metro
v The apparition of these faces in the crowd;
Petals on a wet, black bough.
v 这首短仅两行的小诗作于20世纪初，是最早的意象派诗歌之一。
v 诗的上下两行，分别呈现了两组互相对应的意象。
v 一是地铁车站的人群中，幽灵般显现的面孔；
v 二是湿漉漉的枝条上的许多花瓣。
v 这两行诗句之间，不是一般意义上的比喻关系，而是两组意象之间的相互叠加的关系。这里
v "人群中这些面孔"是现实意象，"人群"是"面孔"的背景；
v "黑色枝条上的许多花瓣"是想象意象，"枝条"成为"花瓣"的背景。
v 前一个意象是现实的，后一个意象是虚无的，创造的。前后两句是比喻关系，后一句前可以加"像""犹如"一类的词语。第二句是来诠释第一句的，即把人群暗喻为湿漉漉的枝条，把这些面孔喻为花瓣。
v 在地铁车站的密密麻麻的人群中，诗人站立其间，过往的行人迎面而来，匆匆忙忙从身边走过，整个气氛阴森潮湿，令人窒息。几张女人和孩子苍白美丽的面孔时隐时现，打破了这种冷清沉闷，给人一种愉快的感觉，从而感受到一些活力。两个并置的意象映入大脑，构成俗陋与优美，潮闷与清新对比强烈的画幅。
v 既表现了都市人繁忙庸碌的生活，给人以一种挤压感，描绘出现代人内心的焦虑不安、紧张动荡、繁忙而又单调的生活现实，同时又展示了心灵对自然美的依恋与向往。
Imagism was a movement in early 20th-century Anglo-American poetry that favored precision of imagery and clear, sharp language. The Imagists rejected the sentiment and discursiveness typical of much Romantic and Victorian poetry. Pound’s method of juxtaposing concrete instances to express an abstraction is very successful. In this short poem, the petals and the bough are imaginary concrete images. They are used to illustrate real and abstract images of the faces and crowds in the metro station. By this vivid comparison, the pressure and dullness of the real life are brought to the readers’ eyes and it also indicates the poet’s desire to seek relief from the natural world.

10.
v Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,　　　　　　　　 林中两路分
And sorry I could not travel both.　　　　　　　　　 可惜难兼行
And be one traveler, long I stood　　　　　　　　　  游子久伫立
And looked down one as far as I could　　　　　　　  极目望一径
To where it bent in the undergrowth;　　　　　　　　　蜿蜒复曲折
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 隐于丛林中
v Then took the other, as just as fair,　　　　　　　　 我选另一途
And having perhaps the better claim,　　　　　　　 合理亦公正
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;　　　　　　  草密人迹罕
Though as for that, the passing there 　　　　　　　  正待人通行
Had worn them really about the same　　　　　　　　足迹踏过处
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　两路皆相同
v And both that morning equally lay　　　　　　　　　 两路林中伸
In leaves no step had trodden black.　　　　　　　　 落叶无人踪
Oh! I kept the first for another day!　　　　　　　　 我选一路走
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,　　　　　　　  深知路无穷
I doubted if I should ever come back.　　　　　　　  我疑从今后
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 能否转回程
v I shall be telling this with a sigh　　　　　　　　　  数十年之后
Somewhere ages and ages hence;　　　　　　　　　  谈起常叹息
Tow roads diverged in a wood, and I –　　　　　　　 林中两路分
I took the one less traveled by,　　　　　　　　　　  一路人迹稀
And that has made all the difference.　　　　　　　　 我独选此路
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 境遇乃相异
v Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,                  黄色的树林里分出两条路，
And sorry I could not travel both                           可惜我不能同时去涉足，
And be one traveler, long I stood                             我在那路口久久伫立，
And looked down one as far as I could                    我向着一条路极目望去，
To where it bent in the undergrowth;                       直到它消失在丛林深处。
v Then took the other, as just as fair,                          但我却选了另外一条路，
And having perhaps the better claim                        它荒草萋萋，十分幽寂，
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;                   显得更诱人、更美丽，
Though as for that, the passing there                         虽然在这两条小路上，
Had worn them really about the same,                     都很少留下旅人的足迹，
v And both that morning equally lay                       虽然那天清晨落叶满地，
In leaves no step had trodden black.                    两条路都未经脚印污染。
Oh, I marked the first for another day!              呵，留下一条路等改日再见！
Yet knowing how way leads on to way                 但我知道路径延绵无尽头，
I doubted if I should ever come back.                   恐怕我难以再回返。
v I shall be telling this with a sigh                            也许多少年后在某个地方，
Somewhere ages and ages hence:                        我将轻声叹息把往事回顾，
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I,                     一片树林里分出两条路，
I took the one less traveled by,                           而我选了人迹更少的一条，
And that has made all the difference.                  从此决定了我一生的道路。

According to the lines selected from Robert Frost’s poem The Road Not Taken, what are the two choices the poet is faced with and what is his choice? Why?
There are two roads before the poet: one is frequently taken by travelers, the other is seldom traveled and