I. Multiple Choices. (40%)
1. The Romantic Period in American literature started from the publication of Washington Irving’s ______ and ended with Whitman’s Leaves of Grass.
A. The Sketch Book B. Tales of a Traveller C. A History of New York D. The Scarlet Letter
2. In the middle of 19th century, America witnessed a cultural flowering which is called “_____”。 A. the English Renaissance B. the Second Renaissance
C. the American Renaissance D. the Salem Renaissance
3. As a philosophical and literary movement, the main issues involved in the debate of Transcendentalism are generally concerning ______.
A. nature, man and the universe
B. the relationship between man and woman
C. the development of Romanticism in American literature D. the cold, rigid rationalism of Unitarianism 4. In the history of American literature， ______ is usually agreed to be the summit of the American Romanticism. A. the Harlem Renaissance B. England Transcendentalism C. New England Transcendentalism D. New Transcendentalism
5. About the novel The Scarlet Letter，which of the following statements is not right？ A. It’s very hard to say that it is a love story or a story of sin.
B. It’s a highly symbolic story and the author is a master of symbolism.
C. It’s mainly about the moral，emotional and psychological effects of the sin upon the main characters and the people in general.
D. In it the letter A takes the same symbolic meaning throughout the novel. 6. The great sea adventure story Moby-Dick is usually considered______.
A. a symbolic voyage of the mind in quest of the truth and knowledge of the universe B. an adventurous exploration into man’s relationship with nature C. a simple whaling tale or sea adventure
D. a symbolic voyage of the mind in quest of the artistic truth and beauty
7. In his poems， Walt Whitman is innovative in the terms of the form of his poetry，which is called “______.” A. free verse B. blank verse C. alliteration D. end rhyming
8. After the Civil War America was transformed from ______ to ______.
A. an agrarian community … an industrialized and commercialized society B. an agrarian community … a society of freedom and equality
C. a poor and backward society … an industrialized and commercialized society D. an industrialized and commercialized society … a highly developed society 9. Which of the following is said of the American naturalism？
A. They preferred to have their own region and people at the forefront of the stories. B. Their characteristic setting is usually an isolated town.
C. Humans should be united because they had to adapt themselves to changing harsh environment. D. Their characters were conceived more or less complex combinations of inherited attributes， their habits conditioned by social and economic forces.
10. Which of the following is not right about Mark Twain’s style of language？ A. His sentence structures are long, ungrammatical and difficult to read. B. His words are colloquial, concrete and direct in effect.
C. His humor is remarkable and characterized by puns, straight-faced exaggeration，repetition and anti-climax. D. His style of language had exerted rather deep influence on the contemporary writers.
11. The impact of Darwin’s evolutionary theory on the American thought and the influence of the 19th century French literature on the American men of letters gave rise to another school of realism：American ______. A. Romanticism B. Transcendentalism
C. Realism D. Naturalism
12. Which of the following is not written by Henry James？ A. The Portrait of A Lady and The Europeans B. The Wings of the Dove and The Ambassadors C. What Maisie Knows and The Bostonians D. The Genius and The Gilded Age
13. More than five hundred poems Dickinson wrote are about nature, in which her general Skepticism about the relationship between ______ is well-expressed. A. man and man B. men and women C. man and nature D. men and God
14. Which of the following is right about Emily Dickinson’s poems about nature？
A. In them, she expressed her general affirmation about the relationship between man and nature. B. Some of them showed her disbelief that there existed a mythical bond between man and nature. C. Her poems reflected her feeling that nature is restorative to human beings.
D. Many of them showed her feeling of nature’s inscrutability and indifference to the life and interests of human beings.
15. As a great innovator in American literature，Walt Whitman wrote his poetry in an unconventional style which is now called free verse，that is ______. A. lyrical poetry with chanting refrains
B. poetry without a fixed beat or regular rhyme scheme
C. poetry without rhymes at the end of the lines but with a fixed beat D. poetry in an irregular metric form and expressing noble feelings
16. By the end of the 19th century, the American realists sought to ______and therefore rejected the portrayal of idealized characters and events in their writings.
A. describe the wide range of American experience B. show animal nature of human beings
C. present the subtleties of human personality D. both A and C
17. In the first part of the 20th century，apart from Darwinism，there were two thinkers -______， whose ideas had the greatest impact on the period.
A. the German Karl Marx and the Austrian Sigmund Freud
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B. the German Karl Marx and the American Sigmund Freud C. the Swiss Carl Jung and the American William James D. the Austrian Karl Marx and the German Sigmund Freud
18. Which of the following can be said about Eugene O’Neill plays？
A. Most of his plays are concerned about the root，the truth of human desires and human frustrations. B. His tragic view of life is reflected in many of his works.
C. His plays are concerned about the relationship between man and nature as well as man and woman. D. both A and B.
19. Most of O’Neill’s plays are concerned about the following except______. A. success and failure in man’s literary career
B. life and death, illusion and disillusion, dream and reality
C. alienation and communication, self and society, desire and frustration D. the basic issues of human existence and predicament
20. Which of the following can be said about a typical modern literary work？ A. It is a record of sequence and coherence of the history and the world.
B. It is a juxtaposition of the past and present, of the history and the memory. C. It is a book of integrity drawn from diverse areas of experience.
D. Its perspective is shifted from the internal to the external, from the private to the public. 21. As to the great American poet Ezra Pound, which of the following is not right？
A. His language is usually oblique yet marvelously compressed and his poetry is dense with personal, literary, and historical allusions.
B. His artistic talents are on full display in the history of the Imagist Movement.
C. From his analysis of the Chinese ideogram Pound learned to anchor his poetic language in concrete, perceptual reality, and to organize images into larger patterns through juxtaposition.
D. For he was politically controversial and notorious for what he did in the wartime， his literary achievement and influence are somewhat reduced.
22. In his poetry, Robert Frost made the colloquial ______ speech into a poetic expression. A. England B. New England C. Plymouth D. Boston
23. Which of the following statements is right about Robert Frost’s poetry？
A. He combined traditional verse forms with the difficult and highly ornamental language. B. He combined traditional verse forms with the pastoral language of the Southern area.
C. He combined traditional verse forms with a simple spoken language-the speech of New England farmers. D. He combined traditional verse forms with the experimental.
24. Which of the following statements can be said about the works of Scott Fitzgerald, a spokesman of the “Roaring 20s”？
A. Many of them portrayed the hollowness of the American worship of riches and the unending American dream of fulfillment.
B. They are symbolic of the psychological journey of the modern man and his helplessness in the modern world.
C. They show the primitive struggle of individuals in the context of irresistible natural forces.
D. They penetrate into the problems of the human heart in conflict with itself. 25. As Fitzgerald’s writing style is concerned, which of the following is right？
A. The author dropped off the device of having events observed by a “central consciousness”.
B. His intervening passages of narration leaves the tedious process of transition to the author’s imagination. C. The scenic method is employed, each of which consists of one or more dramatic scenes. D. His diction and metaphors are partially original and details accurate. 26. Which of the following is right about the hero of The Great Gatsby?( ) A. The contradictions and disillusionment of the American dream is presented in him. B. The cynicism among American veteran soldier is reflected partially in him. C. The hypocrisy and materialism of small town life resulted in his tragedy.
D. The moral confusion and social decay of the South after the Civil War resulted in his tragedy.
27. ________ of the 1920s was characterized by frivolity and carelessness and brought vividly to life in The Great Gatsby. ( ) A. The Lost Generation B. The American Renaissance C. The Jazz Age
D. The Harlem Renaissance
28. John Steinbeck is a novelist of the 1930s. His The Grapes of Wrath is a record of the life of the dispossessed and the wretched farmers during. ( ) A. the Great Depression B. the Glorious Revolution C. the Second World War D. both A and C
29. Which of the following can be said about the general situation of Hemingway’s novels?( ) A. Human life is full of chaos while man can overcome it in the long run.
B. Human life is full of tension and tattles while man is always pursuing a place of peace and happiness. C. Life is a losing battle, but it is a struggle man can dominate in such a way that loss becomes dignity. D. Human life can be symbolic of man’s spiritual world though it is full of failures.
30. Which of the following can be said of the experimental features of William Faulkner’s narrative techniques are.( )
A. the dislocation of narrative time and the use of stream-of-consciousness techniques B. parallel constructions and multiple use of natural symbols
C. no chronological order of his narration and selective employment of the Southern dialect D. all of the above
31. Whitman’s poems are characterized by all the following features EXCEPT.( ) A. a free and natural rhythmic pattern
B. a simple and conversational language
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C. a strict poetic form D. an easy flow of feelings rending of the moment of ______.( ) A. death C. love
B. immortality D. nature
32. Another fact that made ______ unique is his magic power with language, his use of vernacular. His words are colloquial, concrete and direct in effect, and his sentence structures are simple, even ungrammatical, which is typical of the spoken language.( ) 40. ______ fictional world is the best embodiment of the spirit of Jazz Age, in which he shows a particular interest A. Mark Twain B. Washington Irving C. Henry James
D. Theodore Dreiser
33. Mark Twain’s pen name is .( ) A. Samuel Langhorne Clemens B. Langhorne Clemens Samuel C. Langhorne Samuel Clemens
D. Samuel Clemens Langhorne 34. About Naturalism, which of the following statements is NOT correct?( )
A. They portrayed misery and poverty of the “underdogs”, who were demonstrably victims of society and nature. B. Naturalists chose their subjects from the lower ranks of society. C. American Naturalism is a reaction against Realism.
D. One of the most familiar themes in American Naturalism is the theme of human “bestiality,” especially an explanation of sexual desire.
35. Which of the following is a typical feature of Henry James’s writing style?( ) A. exquisite and elaborate language B. minute detailed description C. Lengthy psychological analysis D. all of them
36. Which of the following statements about Mark Twain is NOT true?( ) A. He is a humorist. B. He is a realist. C. He is a local colorist.
D. He is a psychologist
37. Which of the following statements is NOT a typical feature of Emily Dickinson’s poetry?( ) A. Her poems have no titles, hence are always quoted by their first lines. B. Dickinson’s poetry is unique and conventional in its own way. C. In her poetry there is a particular stress pattern. D. Her poems tend to be very impersonal and meditative.
38. Henry James’ fame generally rests upon his novels and stories with the ______ theme.( ) A. Deep South B. local color C. international
D. national
39. In the poem “I heard a Fly buzz—when I died—” Emily Dickinson gives a tense description of the greatest
in the upper-class society, especially the upper-class young people.( ) A. Eugene O’ Neill’s B. Scott Fitzgerald’s C. Ernest Hemingway’s D. William Faulkner’s
II. Choose the relevant match from column B for each item in column A. (10%)
Group 1
Column A Column B
1. Nathaniel Hawthorne A. White Jacket 2. Herman Melville B. The Sketch Book 3. Washington Irving C. The Scarlet Letter 4. Ernest Hemingway D. A Farewell to Arms 5. F. Scott Fitzgerald E. This Side of Paradise Group 2
Column A Column B
6.Ahab A. The Great Gatsby 7. George Hurstwood B. A Farewell to Arms 8. Yank C. Moby Dick 9. Tom Buchanan D. Sister Carrie 10. Henry E. The Hairy Ape
III. Explain the following terms.（15%）（本大题共3小题，每小题5分，共15分）1. American realism 2. Mark Twain 3. Leaves of Grass
IV. Interpreting the following texts. （20%）（本大题共2小题，共15分）
Text 1
In a Station of the Metro
The apparition of these faces in the crowd；
Petals on a wet, black bough.
Questions:
1. Who is the author? (2’)
2. Please analyze this poem. (5’)
Text 2
Hurstwood put his hand, red from cold, down in his pockets. Tears came into his eyes.
- 3 - That’s right,” he
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美国文学作业9
