Part II Explanation of literary terms
L Characterization of Hester Prynne (P27)
Author-—Nathaniel Hawthorne——The Scarlet Letter.
The main characters : Hester Ptynne, her husband ChillingwoHh , and the young pastor Dimmesdale The Scarlet Letter- . -Adultery which finally replaced by Angle and Able
Hester Prynne: the main character of The Scarlet Letter. She is a married women hut have an adultery with a pastor and give birth to a baby. Becau of that Hester suffers the public humiliation of having to wear the letter F" on her chest. But she faces the future optimistically, and helps others・ Finally 9she is able to construct her life, and wins a moral success・ She can be described by attractive, appealing, intelligent, capable , Passionate, strong, contemplative, and maternal. Becau , she endures years of shame and scorn, and still cares for the poor and brings them food and clothing.
2.Hesters sin and punishment
When Hestefs husband was away for a long time, she committed adultery by sleeping with Dimmesdale, the town's minister. Her punishment is to wear a scarlet letter A on her bosom for the rest
of her life・She also must stand on a scaffold for 3 hours where the whole town can watch her.
3. a free ver
Free ver - also known as vers libre - is a term describing various styles of poetry that are written without using a strict rhyme scheme, but still recognizable as poetry by virtue of complex patterns of one sort or another that readers will perceive to be part of a coherent whole.
4・“the Modern man” in “One's Self I Sing” (P60)
Author: Walt Whitman -■一Leaves of Grass-…起初12 首
Theme: individuality, personality, independence, lf-identity, integrity, totality, democracy, equality.
Though modern man fights for all his freedoms and for his individuality, the greatest freedom he has is his right to live・
5.The overall metaphor in “O Captain! My Captain!"? (P62)
The "ship”----- the United States of America,
its H fearful trip" --- the troubles of the American Civil War.
The "Captain”-------- Lincoln
The prize is the prervation of the union
6.Success Is Counted Sweetest
Dickinson nds the message that only failures fully understand the meaning of success・ The person best qualified to evaluate the impact of success is the vanquished rather than the victor. She us dramatic irony to imply that cherish what we have now.
renre
7.The symbol of a frog in Emily^s poem “I'm Nobody!"
Frog here is a symbol of somebody ・ Becau frogs make a lot of noi.Just like the public figures who do not even attempt to say anything of importance ・・・ all they do is a tell one9 s name. ” that is? their own name, over and over, in an attempt to make themlves em important. The poem says that frogs, though they can croak and make themlves heard and be noticed, are noticed only by H an admiring bog.” just same as the somebodies who may have many admirers, but they might not be able to make tho personal connections that real friendship offers.
& Nairator of Simon Wheeler
匹兹堡大学Simon Wheeler is a narrator deliberately arranged by Mark Twain to tell the stories. Though he is bald and lazy, and ems simple, he may be cleverer than he looks・ He is certainly very aggressive in
getting the narrator to listen to him.
9.Fire and Ice (P194)
Author: Robert Frost成都郫县卫校
It is written in a single 9-line stanza・ which greatly narrows in the last two lines. The poem's meter is an irregular mix of iambic tetrameter and dimeter, and the rhyme scheme (abaabebeb) also follows no regular pattern・
Symbolism and Imagery
英语万能作文The first symbol and image of fire;
The cond symbol and image of ice;
“ the world " as a symbol for a relationship・
The poem ends with the line “And would suffice M which oversimplifies the meaning that has been created・By using this line, the poet emphasizes the harm of desire and hate in a relationship.
10.The Road Not Taken (pl97)
Author: Robert Frost
The poem is loaded with rhythm, metaphors and greatness・
The poem is a lyric poem with four stanzas of five lines each.
The rhyme scheme is abaab. The rhymes are strict and masculine・
There are four stresd syllables per line, varying on an iambic tetrameter ba
The poem revolves around the metaphor comparing the decisions we make on the journey of life to a fork in the road・
conversationalThe poem is dealing with the division of the human mind・ As a traveler on the road of life, Robert F
rost wants to join two different roads, but he can only choo one of them. He choos the one less traveled, and that makes all the difference・ By this he is telling us that we should try out for new roads and new paths in life.
This is a meditative poem symbolically written .It concerns the important decisions which one must take in the cour of life, when one must give up one desirable thing in order to posss another. Then, whatever the outcome, one must accept the conquences of one's choice for it is not possible to go back and have another chance to choo differently.
In the poem, he followed the one which was not frequently travelled by. Symbolically, he cho to follow
an unusual, solitary life;
Part III Short questions (25 % )
1.What are the motifs causing Montresor to ek revenge on his friend Fortunato?
Fortunato had insulted his family, which Montresor could not tolerate・一对一外教托福
Montresor claims that the insult was so horrible that the only justification and respon to the words is death・
2.How did Montresor tempt Fortunato into the palazzo?
Montresor exploits Fortunato^ interest in wine.so when they meet in the street during carnival, he tempts Fortunato by claiming he has purchad a cask of Amontillado, which is a dry sherry, but he is unsure if its authentic・ Instead of asking Fortunato directly to examine the Amontillado, Montresor says he will ask another becau Fortunato is busy.Fortunato agrees to accompany Montresor home, in the family catacombs, nitre makes Fortunato to cough. Montresor says they will go back, and keep saying there is Luchresi, but Fortunato wants to e the Amontillado, claiming, "I shall not die of a cough/ to which Montresor replies, 'True true.0 he still wants to e the Amontillado, and they
continue deeper into the tombs.
3.What happens to Fortunato in the end?
odaThe first few days, Fortunato was walled up alive behind bricks in the wine cellar. He attempted to shout for help, but no one could hear that・ At last, becau of his inability to get out of the
sycatacomb, the deceived Fortunato died slowly, in the darkness alone・
4.What punishments would the Puritan women have given Hester Prynne if it were left
to them?
They would most like have had her placed in the stocks then branded・ as they mention in the book. The Scartlet Letter. Or they even could of had her executed・
5.What do clover and bee symbolize respectively in the poem “To Make a Praire^?
(p64)
Author:Emily Dickinson
The bee is the male・ The clover is the female・ mcansll just takes a ed or something small, a beginning and something to get it going・
6.What nsation of humor can you get from Mark Twain's short story The Celebrated
Jumping Frog of Calaveras County?
A n of humor .exaggeration and satire・ He ud the artistic style of hyperbole on the basis of the
western traditional humor and made his writing full of allegories that lay behind the hum or. His humour is of witty remarks mocking at small things and making people laugh. Also it is a kind of artistic style ud to criticize the social injustice.(The tale is a about a genteel, educated narrator recounts a story he has heard from an unsophisticated teller, and gives a condhand account of a career gambler who gets taken by a stranger passing through town. It also reflects the existing cultural differences between the western and eastern regions of the United States・
7.What is the language style in Mark Twain's lected short story?
He was the world's most famous humorist. And he is famous for his humor and satire・ He ud the artistic style of hyperbole on the basis of the western traditional humor and made his writing full of allegories that lay behind the hum or.
Local color -------reprented social life through portraits of local places which he knew
tj什么意思best.anddrew from his own rich fund of knowledge of people and places
Colloquial Style or Vernacular——He ud a lot of colloquial idioms and colloquial syntax・
& What's the irony of a A clean, Well-lighted Place”？
Author:Ernest Hemingway
“ Clean” symbolizes “ order, ” “ well-lighted " symbolizes “ light and hope. ” Therefore, this clean, well-lighted place is an insulation surrounded by darkness, filth and disorder, a haven of peace, a refuge for the old man and the older waiter and all the people who arc lonely.
isolated, void, lost and despaired・
However, what is sarcastic is that, in this dark, confusing and void world・even a temporary refuge cannot exist for long・ The younger waiter does not understand the old man. He even laughs at him. He
thinks that the old man is “lonely” and a nasty M、and tries to drive the old man away.
9.What differences can you interpret from the lifestyles of the old man and the two
waiters in Hemingway^ lected short story? (pl81)
1 )The young waiter tends to be lfish・ He is fully confident of his marriage and work, but he does not
know that all the are bad on his youth, which is not reliable since it is temporary・ He lives in nada, of which he is not aware at all. He lives in a state of ignorance, muddling along. We can say that he is physically alive but spiritually dead・
2)The old waiter tends to be sympathetic and less confident. He wants to help other lonely people who
have lost their beliefs, although the only thing he can offer them is a decent place as a refuge from the disorderly, dark, and meaningless world. He is fully aware of the nihilistic life of modern men. therefore, he faces such a meaningless life with courage, endurance, and dignity by eking order, code. and meaning of life in his heart.
3)The old man is racked with despair - at his loneliness, the darkness of his life, his gregation from
the world, and the Nothingness that permeates his existence・
10.Why does the speaker stop by the woods on a snowy evening in Robert Frosfs cond
lected poem?
The poet was deeply attracted by the natural beauty of the scene at that very moment ・
Tlie poem prents one person's momentaiy encounter with natiue・ Perhaps he wishes to lo himlf in their silent mystery, away from the routine and regimen of everyday life-一at least for a while・Maybe the woods remind him of his childhood・ Or perhaps they reprent risk, opportunity一-something dangerous and uncharted to be explored・ It could be, too, that they signify the mysteries of life and the afterlife or that they reprent xual temptation: They are, after alt lovely, dark, and deep・
IL What are the characteristics of the style of Frosfs poetry? (pl93)
1)Frost was a pioneer in the interplay of rhythm and meter and in the poetic u of the vocabulary and
inflections of everyday speech. His poetry is thus both traditional and experimental, regional and universal.
2)Robert Frost is highly regarded for his realistic depictions of rural life and his command of America
n
colloquial speech. His works frequently employ ttings from mral life in New England in the early twentieth century, using them to examine complex social and philosophical themes.
12.How does Pounds u of metaphor unify man and nature in the poem?
In the poem, people and nature literally become one as the faces in the subway become flowers on a tree ・ The analogy between faces and flowers is not just a simile, which would say that one thing is "like" another. Rather, it is metaphor: the poem implies that the faces are petals on a tree・
Part IV Literary interpretation of lected readings (20%)
Page 11, the first three lines
7he Cask of Amontillado
Poe writes this story from the perspective of Montresor who vows revenge against Fortunato in an effort to support his time-honored family motto: H No one assails me with impunity/1 Poe does not intend for the reader to sympathize with Montresor becau he has been wronged by Fortunato, but
rather to judge him・Telling the story from Montrcsofs point of view intensifies the effect of moral shock and horror. Once again, the reader is invited to drop into the inner workings of a sinister mind・ Poe's shows the conflict directly at the beginning of the story. The reader becomes quickly aware of the fact that Montresor is not a reliable narrator, and that he has a tendency to hold grudges and exaggerate terribly, as he refers to the "thousand injuries1* that he has suffered at the hands of Fortunato. M but when he ventured upon insult I vowed revenge/
Page 33, the last paragraph怎么化妆眼睛大
Its comes &om Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter, this paragraph describes Hester^s happiness and excitement when she know that all of the sins has vanished from her baby and her. Her advice is sought by the community and the letter A has changed into Able. Pearl is transformed into a normal child, no longer an elf. Since she confesd her guilty, faced the future optimistically and helps others, then be able to construct her life, wins a moral success to gain moral growth and wined people's understanding and trust,
be a real angle. It's also reflect Hawthorne's point of view that evil educate people and sometimes can make us better. Hester no longer bears the scarlet letter alonc.
Page 62, the last four lines in stanza 1
Page 65, the third stanza
This stanza comes &oin Dickinsois success is counted sweetest. The poem us third-person narration in which the speaker obrves a battle and concludes that only the defeated warrior, hearing the enemy's noisy victory celebration, completely understands success・ And tell us only failures fully understand the meaning of success. The person best qualified to evaluate the impact of success is the vanquished rather than the victor. If you are fight for sth meaningful, don't grue up. no matter what the result is.
The easy success is not so sweet.
Page 66, the cond stanza
This stanza comes from Dickinson，s I'm Nobody・
Page 69, the former four lines in the cond paragraph
It's comes from mark twainTlie Celebrated Jun^mg Frog of Calaveras County. Tlie former four line cri
tics frequently ud like' monotonous narratn^e' 'never smiled, never &o\vmed、gentle-flowing key' shows Twain's u of humor and exaggeration. He us tactics that sound like military maneuvers, such as "blockading” the narrator with a chair so tliat he can t leave. Tliougli Simon Wlieehr is bald and lazy, and ems simple, he may be cleverer tlian he looks. Hes certainly very aggressive in getting the narrator to listen to him・He throws the narrator completely off guard・ He also talks real funny and ungrammatical-like to show that the tale's satirical focus on storytelling and existing cultural differences between the western and eastern regions of the United States.
Page 184, from last 20th to 14th line
Tliis lines come from Hemingway's A Clean, Well-Lighted Place.
the old waiters repetitive u of the term nada'5 suggests his niliilistic tendencies becau he faces loneliness and advancing death like the old man. He is fully aware of the nihilistic life of modern men .Although he was somewhat depresd about this, however, he still decides to face such a meaningless life with courage・ endurance, and dignity by eking order, code, and meaning of life in his heart. And try to tellus even when life gets you down, you should accept it and try to keep it real and face it bravely.
Page 196, the last stanza
Comes from Robert frost's Stoppmg by Wbods on a Snowy Evening. The traveler would like to stay a while and perhaps even enter the woods to absorb their ambience and ponder the mystery of life and nature・However, he has obligations and responsibilities・ Therefore, he decides to move on. The repetition in the last two lines denotes a literal recognition that the speaker must move on and there is much to be done before life ends・ The winter bleakness of the tting establishes a lonely tone and the symbolic weight of this brief moment when the speaker is drawn to what the woods reprent—death, perhaps a temporar>r relea from lifers duties and obligations ・
