1、2013 年武汉大学英语专业（英美文学）真题试卷及答案与解析一、名词解释1 “Preface to Lyrical Ballads“2 irony3 over-soul二、问答题4 Short-answer question: give a concise but adequate answer to the following question.Make a brief comment on the following elements of setting in which Pip met Estella in Great Expectations; the ivy growing on
2、the ruins of Satis House, the “silvery mist“ and the moonlight.三、分析题5 Essay question.The period 18201865 marked the development of the “American Renaissance“ as a way of describing those years in terms of literary nationalism. Cite no less than two examples of works and discuss how they try to devel
3、op and represent a national character.2013 年武汉大学英语专业（英美文学）真题试卷答案与解析一、名词解释1 【正确答案】 “Preface to Lyrical Ballads“ is an essay, composed by William Wordsworth, for the second edition of the poetry collection Lyrical Ballads written by Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. One main point of this prefac
4、e is to relate Wordsworths intention to depict the common man, using the common language of man in his poetry. Another goal outlined in the preface is to show how feeling “ gives importance to the action and the situation. “ The third goal of it is to illustrate the way in which poetry is a “ sponta
5、neous overflow of powerful feelings. “2 【正确答案】 In literary terms, irony refers to a technique of indicating, as through character or plot development, an intention or attitude opposite to what is actually or ostensibly stated; or to a manner of organizing a work so as to give full expression to cont
6、radictory or complementary impulses, attitudes, etc. , especially as a means of indicating detachment from a subject, theme or emotion. 3 【正确答案】 According to the New England transcendentalists represented by Emerson and Thoreau, the over-soul is an all-pervading power for goodness, omnipresent and o
7、mnipotent, from which all things came and of which all were a part. It exits in nature and man alike and constitutes the chief element of the universe.二、问答题4 【正确答案】 The ending setting of the novel Great Expectations can be interpreted from two perspectives. First, the ivy is the symbol of life and h
8、ope; the “ silvery mist“ and the moonlight create a beautiful and peaceful environment. This means that the hero and the heroine would live happily ever after, after both of them have gone through so many hardships. On the other hand, however, the “silver mist“ and the moonlight serve as a contrast
9、to the ivy, which suggests of new life for Pip and Estella. Here, the mist continues its symbolic meaning all through the novel. It is menacing and means struggles and uncertainty for the protagonist. Although the abuse of her later husband has softened Estella, she is still the lady raised by Miss
10、Havisham to be cold to men. She and Pip still belong to different classes and there is great doubt for them to truly unite as wife and man.三、分析题5 【正确答案】 “American Renaissance“ is the period in which American writers began to focus on their new country and write about their own people and it is calle
11、d as the beginning of an indigenous national literature. Prose writers such as Emerson and Thoreau, novelists such as Hawthorn and Melville, and poets such as Whitman and Dickinson all endeavored to create and form a kind of literature that is endowed with distinct American characteristics.For examp
12、le, Emersons “The American Scholar“ has been regarded as “Americas Declaration of Intellectual Independence. “ What Emerson was trying to say is that the Americans should write about here and now instead of imitating and importing from other lands. He thus writes, “There are new lands, new men, new
13、thoughts. Let us demand our own works and laws and worship. “ He called on American writers to write about America in a way peculiarly American. All his life, Emerson tried to get across to his countrymen the notion that everything here, common and low as they may be, is worth writing about and that
14、 they are great in their own way.Whitman is one of the great disciples of Emerson and is another extoller of the American country. In his Leaves of Grass, he extols the ideals of equality and democracy and celebrates the dignity, the self-reliant spirit, and the joy of the common man. “Song of Mysel
15、f“ reveals a world of equality, without rank and hierarchy. The poet “walking around, hears America singing. The mother is singing while setting food on the table. The carpenter is singing, planning his boards.“. And the day is singing “What belongs to the day. “ Long catalogs of different people an
16、d different occupations indicate that here the new children of Adam are being restored to the Garden of Eden, developing their potentiality to the fullest extent possible.Hawthorn, however, tried to reveal the Puritan spirit that constitutes as the foundation of the American character. In The Scarle
17、t Letter, the Puritan severity toward sex and matrimony and its tendency to suppress bright color and true feeling are revealed; the Puritan moralism is also emphasized, as seen by the severe punishment on Hester Prynne when she sins and the praise on the moral growth of the woman when sinned agains
18、t; diligence and hard work as well as thrift and frugality are other main characteristics of the Puritans, who are supposed to be the ancestors of the American people. Over the years, Puritanism has developed and changed, yet it remains at the core of the American thinking. Through his works, Hawthorn presents to us the essence of the American character.
