简明英国文学史 简答题 重点

1. Analyse the themes and artistic features of Beowulf.

themes : The main theme of Beowulf is heroism. This involves far more than physical courage. It also means that the warrior must fulfill his obligations to the group of which he is a key member.

artistic features : The most noticeable artistic feature is alliteration. Alliteration is the repetition of initial sounds, usually consonants, or consonant clusters. Alliteration is used off and on in modern poetry but it is an important device in Anglo-Saxon poetry. Another peculiar feature characteristic is the frequent use of kennings, to poetically present the meaning of one single word through a compound simile of two elements. Finally, the general mood and spirit of Anglo-Saxon epic poetry is both solemn and animated.

2. Comment on Chaucer’s achievements and contributions with examples from his works.

Chaucer learned from both French and Latin poetry and then worked out a unique style for the English poetry. The realism and humanistic concerns demonstrated in his works looked forward to the coming English Renaissance. Because he uses the English of the London dialect to compose poetry, it becomes a literary language, which is a language rich and expressive enough to use for literary purposes. We call the English used and developed by Chaucer and his contemporaries Middle English, which was the foundation of modern English. His masterpiece and representative work is The Canterbury Tales.

3. Say something about Neoclassicism and its representation in English literature.

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