名词解释:
Imagism: It’s a poetic movement of England and the U.S. flourished from 1909 to 1917.The movement insists on the creation of images in poetry by “the direct treatment of the thing” and the economy of wording. The leaders of this movement were Ezra Pound and Amy Lowell.
Beat generation: The term was coined by Jack Kerouac in 1948 to refer to a group of disillusioned writers following World War Two. Later, this literary and cultural movement continued into the 1960s. The Beat Generation must not be confud with the Lost Generation of writers. Spokesmen and reprentatives of the Beat Generation were Jack Kerouac, Allen Ginsberg and others. They revolted against an America that was materialistic, belligerent and frustrating. Social, intellectual and xual freedom was advocated. Traditional culture and normal social behavior were attacked and violated. Many of them were drug addicts wearing long hair and dirty clothes. They were fond of slangs and jazz. Masterpieces created by writers of this group include Kerouac’s On the Road and
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Ginsberg’s Howl and Other Poems, which were regarded as pocket Bibles of that generation. Other prominent Beats include William S. Burroughs, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Gregory Corso, Michael McClure, and Neal Cassady. The Beat Generation, had greatly influenced the countercultural movements of the 1960s and the adolescents and adults in other countries. In England, the “angry young men” made an echo and imitated the American “beatnik.”
二、1. Ralph Waldo Emerson:
Nature: it is generally regarded as the Bible of New England Transcendentalism.
The American Scholar: it has been regarded as “America’s Declaration of Intellectual Independence”.
2. Henry David Thoreau: Walden
姜胜允3. Nathaniel Hawthorne:
The Scarlet Letter:
主题20寸显示器:Hawthorne focus his attention on the moral, emotional, and psychological effects or conquences of the sin on the people in general and tho main characters in particular, so as to show us the tension between society and individuals. To Hawthorne, everybody is potentially a sinner, and great moral courage is therefore indispensable for the improvement of human nature.
4. Herman Melville: Moby Dick
A. 作品分析:
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(1)拉布拉多小狗Moby Dick reprents the sum total of Melville’s bleak view of the world in which he lived. It is at once godless and purpoless. The loss of faith and the n of futility and meaningless which characterize modern life of the West were expresd in Melville’s work so well that the twentieth century has found it both fascinating and great.平方怎么计算
(2) One of the major themes of this novel is alienation, which exists in the life of Melville on different levels, between man and man, man and society, and man and nature. Melvill
e also criticizes New England Transcendentalism of its emphasis on individualism and Oversoul. Another theme of this novel is “rejection and quest.”
(3) The novel is highly symbolic. The voyage itlf is a metaphor for “arch and discovery, the arch for the ultimate truth of experience.” Moby Dick is the most conspicuous symbol in the book and it is capable of many interpretations. It is a symbol of evil to some, one of goodness to others, and both to still others. Its whiteness is a paradoxical color, signifying as it does death and corruption as well as purity, innocence, and youth. It reprents the final mystery of the univer which man will do well to desist from pursuing.
(4) Melville manages to achieve the effect of ambiguity through employing the technique of multiple views of his narratives. He tends to write periodic ntences. His rich rhythmical pro and his poetic power have been profuly commented upon and praid.
B. what does the white whale in Moby Dick symbolize? Why do you think so?
For Captain Ahab, the white whale reprents evil. After the loss of his leg in his encounter with the white whale, Ahab begins to hate Moby Dick and tries his best to kill the whale. It ems that he embodies all of the evil he once consigned to the white whale. For other members on the whaling ship, the white whale symbolizes the unknown, mysterious natural force of the univer. For the readers, the white whale is capable of many interpretations, for it is “paradoxically benign and malevolent, nourishing and destructive,” “massive, brutal, monolithic, but at the same time protean, erotically beautiful, infinitely variable.”
C. Major themes: obssion, religion, and idealism versus pragmatism, revenge, racism, sanity, hierarchical relationships, and politics.
D. the Pequod is the microcosm of human society and the voyage becomes a arch for truth. Moby Dick is a mystery, an ultimate mystery of the univer, and the voyage of the mind will forever remain a arch, not a discovery, of the truth.
The whole story turns out to be a symbolic voyage of the mind quest of the truth and k
nowledge of the univer, a spiritual exploration into man’s deep reality and psychology.
5. Walt Whitman: Leaves of Grass. It has been praid as “Democratic Bible”, and as American Epic.
主题:歃(1)he shows concern for the whole hard-working people and the burgeoning life of cities. (2) realization of the individual value. (3) pursuit of love and happiness. (4) Before and during the Civil War, Whitman expresd much mourning for the sufferings of the young lives in the battlefield and showed a determination to carry on the fighting dauntlessly until the final victory.