湖州师范学院外国语学院2008-在线浏览

湖州师范学院外国语学院2008-在线浏览 湖州师范学院外国语学院2008— 2009学年第 二 学期 《美国文学》期末考试试卷(A卷)暨评分标准 I. Write the names of the authors. (10%) ? Walt Whitman ? Edgar Allen Poe ? Wallace Stevens ? Franklin Norris ? Stephen Crane ? William Faulkner ? Sinclair Lewis ? John Steinbeck ? Langston Hughes ? Tennessee Williams II. Fill in the following blanks with appropriate information.(10%) ? New England ? Regionalism or Local color writing ? semi-autobiographical ? anti-realism Imagist? ? Santiago ? multiple narrations or points of view 1930? ? Harlem Renaissance ? Eugene O’Neill III. Choose only one answer form the four choices as the most appropriate answer. (20%) 1,5. A D C B B 6,10. D B E B A IV. Identify the author and the title of the work from which each of the following excerpts is taken. And then answer the question after each excerpt. (20%) Passage 1 the author: Walt Whitman (1%) the title of the work : Songs of Myself (1%) Question: What is the poet celebrating? (2%) 1 , The poet is celebrating individualism and nationalism, singing of all those people who form the American nationality. 2 Passage 2 the author: Eugene O’Neill (1%) the title of the work :Desire Under the Elms (1%) Question: What do you think is Abbie’s real intention of showing affection to Eben? , To seduce Eben, with the intention to be pregnant with a son that could inherit the farm. (2%) Passage 3 the author: Emily Dickinson (1%) the title of the work: “Because I could not stop for death” (1%) Question: What is the implication of this final stanza? (2%) , Death leads us to immortality. Passage 4 the author: F. Scott Fitzgerald (1%) the title of the work : The Great Gatsby (1%) Question: What is the author' s attitude toward such persons as Tom and Daisy? , The author criticized them as selfish, hypocritical persons. (2%) Passage 5 the author: Edgar Allan Poe (1%) the title of the work: “To Helen” (1%) Question: Comment on the beauty of this poem. (2%) , The beauty of form. (diction，rhyme and rhythm，rhetorical devices..) , The beauty of content. 3 V. Answer the following questions briefly.(20%) 1. Mark Twain, “The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County”:(1)What realistic elements can you find in this story? (5%) ? Background: Gold Rush (2%) ? California was a world of men, isolated, homesick, and eager for entertainment. (1%) ? Gambling was one of the easiest and most popular ways to amuse themselves. (1%) ? The Easterners had a reputation for being civilized, cultured, and advanced; whereas the Westerners were considered to be less-educated, less-refined and easy to be deceived. (1%) (2)What role does language play in the story? (5%) Informal language vs. formal language: (2%) ? ? To highlight the educational background of the characters (1%) ? To help create a realistic picture of how the characters speak (1%) ? To make the narration more vivid (1%) 2. What is the Lost Generation? (10%) 1) The Lost Generation is a term used to describe a group of American intellectuals, poets, artists and writers fled to France in the post WWI years to reject the values of American materialism and to seek the bohemian lifestyle in Paris. (2%) 2) Full of youthful idealism, these individuals sought the meaning of life, drank excessively, had love affairs and created some of the finest American literature to date. (2%) 3) American poet Gertrude Stein actually coined the expression "lost generation." Speaking to Ernest Hemingway, she said, "you are all a lost generation." The term stuck and the mystique surrounding these individuals continues to fascinate us. (2%) 4) There were many literary artists involved in the groups known as the Lost Generation. The three best known are F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway and John Dos Passos. Others usually included among the list are: Sherwood Anderson, Kay Boyle, Hart Crane, Ford Maddox Ford and Zelda Fitzgerald. (2%) 5) The Lost Generation writers all gained prominence in 20th century literature. Their innovations challenged assumptions about writing and expression, and paved the way for subsequent generations of writers. (2%) VI. Answer ONE of the following questions.(20%) 1. Analyze An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser. 4 2. Analyze William Faulkner’s The Sound and the Fury. The score is given to the theme (7), content (6) and writing style (7) of the work chosen. 5