自考英美文學選讀復習資料.doc

精選1.I glanced back once. A wafer of a moon was shining over Gatsbys house, making the night fine as before, and surviving the laughter and the sound of his still glowing garden. A sudden emptiness seemed to flow now from the windows and the great doors, endowing with complete isolation the figure of the host, who stood on the porch, his hand up in a formal gesture of farewell. A.Identify the author and the title of the novel from which this passage is taken. F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great GatsbyB.The passage describes the end of an event. What is it? It is a description of the end of a big partyC.What implied meaning can you get from reading this passage? The passage hints at the meaninglessness, spiritual emptiness and vanity of such a life of pleasure-seeking. There is a tragic sense that the “party” will be over. 2. My tongue, every atom of my blood, formd from this soil, this air, Born here of parents born here from parents the same, and their parents the same, I, now thirty-seven years old in perfect health begin, Hoping to cease not till death. A.Identify the poet and the title of the poem. Whitman, Song of MyselfB.What do soil and air represent in the first line? America, his country, his native land C.What does the poet try to say in the above four lines? I was born and nurtured by this land and shall from now on devote my whole life to the country.3. “I celebrate myself, and sing myself,And what I assume you shall assume,For every atom belonging to me as good belongs to you.I loafe and invite my soul,I lean and loafe at my ease observing a spear of summer grass.”(From Walt Whitmans “Song of Myself”)A. Who does“myself”refer to ? The poet himself and the American people.B. How do you understand the line“I loafe and invite my soul?” The line indicates a separation of the body and the soul.C. What does“a spear of summer grass”symbolize? The phrase indicates Whitmans optimism and experience.4. And the native hue of resolution/Is sicklied oer with the pale cast of thought. (Shakespeare, Humlet) A. What does the native hue of resolution mean? determination (determinedness, action, activity, .) B. What does the pale cast of thought stand for? consideration (indecision, inactivity, hesitation, .) C. What idea do the two lines express? Too much thinking (consideration,.) made (makes) activity (action) impossible. 5. Wild Spirit, which art moving everywhere; /Destroyer and Preserver; hear, O hear! A. Identify the poem and the poet. Shelleys Ode to the West WindB. What is the Wild Spirit? The West Wind; breath of Autumns beingC. What does the Wild Spirit destroy and preserve? It destroys things that are dead, it preserves new life.6. When the minister spoke from the pulpit, with power and fervid eloquence, and, with his hands on the open bible, of the sacred truths of our religion, and of saint-like lives and triumphant deaths, and of future bliss or misery unutterable, then did Goodman Brown turn pale, dreading, lest the roof should thunder down upon the gray blasphemer and his hearers. A. Identify the title of the short story from which this part is taken. Hawthornes Young Goodman Brown B. What had happened in the story before this church scene? Brown had attended a witches party where he saw many prominent people of the village, the minister included. C. Why was Goodman Brown afraid the roof might thunder down? Brown was shocked by the minister, secretly a member of the evil club, who could talk about sacred truths of the religion openly and unashamedly. He thought God would punish such hypocrites down on them.7. (A lot of common objects have been enumerated before, and here are the last two lines of There Was a Child Went Forth :) The horizons edge, the flying sea-crow, the fragrance of salt marsh and shore mud. These became part of that child who went forth every day, and who now goes, and will always go forth every day. A. Who is the author of this poem? What is the title of the poem?Whitman. There was a Child Went Forth B. What does the Child stand for in the poem? The young growing America. C. In one or two sentences, interpret the implied meaning of the two lines. The poet uses his childhood experience of growing up and learning about the world around him to imply that young America will grow and develop like that.D. How do you understand “These became part of the child”?It is interesting to reexamine the sequence of the items list in this poem which “became part of the child”. They reflect the natural process of a boys growth. At first, his world was limited within the barnyard. Later, he sought into fields and streets. Then, he became interested in something more mysterioushis fellow human beings. Finally, he was on the symbolic threshold of the outside world, the sea. He had grown into a young man from a boy.8.“And when I am formulated, sprawling on a pin, When I am pinned and wriggling on the wall. Then how should begin To spit out all the butt-ends of my days and ways.” A.Identify the poem and the poet. T.S. Eliots The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock. B.What does the phrase “butt-ends” mean? The ends of cigarettes, meaning trivial things here. C.What idea does the quoted passage express? Here, Prufrocks inability to do anything against the society he is in is made him strikingly clear by using a sharp comparison. Prufrock imagines himself as a kind of insect pinned on the wall and struggling in vain to get free. This image vividly shows Prufrocks current predicament.9.“I shall be telling this with a sigh Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference.” A.Idenfity the poem and the poet. Robert Lee Frosts The Road Not Taken. B.What does the phrase “ages and ages hence” mean? Many many years later. C.What idea does the quoted passage express? The speaker is telling his experience of making the choice of the roads. But he is conscious of the fact that his choice will have made all the difference in his life. He seems to be giving a suggestion to the reader “make good choice of your life”. D. What additional meaning do the two roads have? Life is here compared to a journey. The two roads stand for the choice one has to make at a critical moment in his life. E. What dilemma is the speaker facing? Since where the road leads to is uncertain, one has to wait to see the result of the choice until ones life is coming to an end. Then it will be too late. The speaker acknowledges the limits of life, yet he indulges himself in the notion that we could be really different from what we have become, because life is unpredictable.10. “A violet by a mossy stone Half hidden from the eye! Fair as a star, when only one Is shining in the sky.”A. Identify the author and the title of the poem from which this stanza is taken.William Wordsworth, “She Dwelt Among the Untrodden Ways”B. Pick out the metaphor used in this stanza.The flower (violet) is used as a metaphor.C. What quality does the author intend to show by using the metaphor?By comparing a country girl (Lucy) to a violet, the author intends to show her quality of beauty and her virtues which are often neglected by the common people just like a wild flower blooming by an untrodden road.11. “We passed The School, where Children stroveAt Recessin the RingWe passed The Fields of Gazing GrainWe passed The Setting Sun”A. Who is the author and the poem Emily Dickinson “Because I could not stop for Death”B. What do the underlined parts symbolize?It stands for three stage of life: “the school” -youth, “the Fields of Gazing Grain”mature period, “the setting sun”end of lifeC. Where were “we” heading toward?“We” are riding in a carriage, heading towards Eternity.D. What figure of speech is used in the poem? SymbolismE. What are Dickinsons unique writing features in relation to the quoted lines? Dashes are used as a musical device to create cadence and capital letters as a means of emphasis.12. “Never did sun more beautifully steep In his first splendor, valley, rock, or hill;Neer saw I, never felt, a calm so deep!The river glideth at his own sweet will:Dear God! The very houses seem asleep;And all that mighty heart is lying still!”(William Wordsworths sonnet: “Composed upon Westminster Bridge” September 3, 1802)Questions:A. What does the word “glideth” in the fourth line mean? The word “glideth” means “flows”B. What kind of figure of speech is used by wordsworth to describe the “river”? Wordsworth uses personification to describe the “river”.C. What idea does the fourth line express? The 4th line expresses the idea that the river is flowing happily as a living things, which implies the beauty of the nature.D. What does this sonnet describe? It describes a vivid picture of a beautiful morning in London.E. What does the word “mighty heart” refer to? LondonF. The sonnet follows strictly the Italian form. What is the feature of the Italian form of sonnet? It follows strictly the Italian form, with a clear division between the octave and the sestet, the rhyme scheme is abbaabba, cdcdcd.13. “The river glideth at his own sweet will： Dear God! the very houses seem asleep； And all that mighty heart is lying still!” (from William Wordsworths “Composed upon Westminster Bridge”)A. What figure of speech is used in the quoted lines?Italian formB. What does “that mighty heart refer to? LondonC. What does the poem describe?It describes a vivid picture of a beautiful morning in London14. “With Blueuncertain stumbling BuzzBetween the lightand meAnd then the Windows failedand thenI could not see to see”A. Identify the poem and the poet. I heard a Fly buzz-when I died by Emily Dickinson.B. What do “Windows” symbolically stand for? Eyes, for they are considered as the window of human soul. .C. What idea does the quoted passage express? The last thing the dying person saw and heard was the flying and its buzz. When the eyes failed, the human soul was closed and the person died. (The speaker could not see any of the afterlife or God or angels she expected to see.)15. “Is dying hard, Daddy?No, I think its pretty easy, Nick, It all depends.”A. Identify the work and the author. Earnest Hemingway, Indian CampB. What was Nick preoccupied with when he asked the question? Nick was preoccupied with the pain and the violence of death./life and deathC. Why did the father add “It all depends” after he answered his sons question? By adding “It all depends” the father meant that death means differently to different people. To such weak persons like the husband of the Indian woman its a pretty easy, while strong-willed person will not easily commit suicide. 16.“Faith! Faith!cried the husband. Look up to Heaven, and resist the Wicked One.”A.Identify the work and the author.Hawthorne, Young Goodman BrownB.What idea does the quoted sentence express?Goodman Brown here is obviously addressing the image of his wife, urging her to resist the devil. At the same time he is exhorting himself to have faith, to look heavenward, to withstand the infernal eloquence of the Wicked one.17.“Not on thy sole, but on thy soul, harsh Jew,Thou makst thy knife keen; but no metal can,No, not the hangmans axe, bear half the keennessOf thy sharp envy.”A. Identify the author and the title of the play from which this part is taken. William Shakespeare, The Merchant of Venice.B. What figure of speech is used in this quoted passage? PunC. What idea does the passage express?18.“The woods are lovely, dark and deep,But I have promises to keep,And miles to go before I sleep,And miles to go before I sleep.”A. Identify the poem and the poet. Robert Lee Frost, Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening B. What does the word“sleep”mean? dieC. What idea do the four lines express? When facing the still and lovely forest, the speaker cannot stay, because of his obligation and responsibilities.19. “Not lose possession of that fair thou owst:Nor shall Death brag thou wanderst in his shade,When in eternal lines to time thou growst; So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.”A. Identify the author and the title of the poem. Shakespeares Sonnet 18B. What does the word “this” in the last line refer to? “This” refers to the poem.C. What idea do the quoted lines express?When you are in my eternal poetry, you are even with time. A nice summers day is usually transient, but the beauty in poetry can last forever.20“Shall I compare thee to a summers day?Thou art more lovely and more temperate:Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,And summers lease hath all too short a date:”AIdentify the poet and the poem from which the quoted lines are taken. Shakespeares Sonnet 18BName the figure of speech employed in the poem. PersonificationCWhat is the theme of the poem? A nice summers day is usually transient, but the beauty in poetry can last for ever.21. “only Miss Emilys house was left, lifting its stubborn and coquettish decay above the cotton wagons and the gasoline pumpsan eyesore among eyesores.”A. Identify the author and the work. William Faulkners A Rose for Emily.B. What is the meaning of “an eyesore among eyesores”? The meaning of “an eyesore among eyesores” is the most unpleasant thing to look at.C.What does this quoted passage indicate?The house is a perfect mirror image of the owner who is stubborn and coquettish and deliberately detaches herself from the communal life in this small town.22. “To be, or not to bethat is the question;Whether tis nobler in the mind to sufferThe slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,And by opposing end them?”A. Identify the author and the title of the passage from which this part is taken. William Shakespeare, Hamlet B. Explain the meaning of “To be, or not to be” To live on in this world or to die, to suffer or to take action.C. How you understand the last lines? To take up arms against troubles that sweep upon us like a sea.23“For oft, when on my couch I lieIn vacant or in pensive mood,they flash upon that inward eye” AIdentify the author and the title. William Wordsworth, I wandered Lonely as a Cloud BWhat does the phrase “inward eye” mean? Human soul CWrite out the main idea of the passage in plain English. The poet expressed his love for the daffodils.24“There was music from my neighbors house through the summer nights. In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars. At high tide in the afternoon I watched his guests diving from the tower of his raft, or taking the sun on the hot sand of his beach while his two motorboats slit the waters of the Sound, drawing aquaplanes over cataracts of foam. On weekends his RollsRoyce became an omnibus, bearing parties to and from the city between nine in the morning and long past midnight, while his station wagon scampered like a brisk yellow bug to meet all trains. And on Mondays eight servants, including an extra gardener, toiled all day with mops and scrubbingbrushes and hammers and gardenshears, repairing the ravages of the night before.”AIdentify the author and the title of the novel from which this passage is taken. F. Scott Fitzgerald, The Great GatsbyBWhat can you imply by read