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英语语言文学专业
文学部分（50分）
1. assonance
2. transcendentalism
3. medieval romances in England
4. foot
5. humanism
Questions 1 to 6 are based on the following poem by Emily Dickinson.
Because I could not stop for Death—
He kindly stopped for me—
The Carriage held but just Ourselves—
And Immortality.
We slowly drove—He knew no haste,
And I had put away
My labor, and my leisure too,
For his Civility—
We passed the School, where Children strove At Recess—in the Ring—
We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain—
We passed the Setting Sun—
Or rather, He passed Us—
The Dews drew quivering and chill—
For only Gossamer, my Gown—
My tippet—only tulle
We paused before a House that seemed
A Swelling of the Ground—
The Roof was scarcely visible—
The Cornice—in a Ground
Since then—’tis centuries—and yet Feels shorter than the Day
I first surmised the horse heads
Were toward Eternity.
1. Why did Death stop for me?
2. Why couldn’t I stop for Death?
3. What did the Death’s carriage hold?
4. What the three things did the speaker and Death pass?
5. What is the “House” in the ground in Stanza 5? Why do the centuries seem shorter than the Day?
6. What is the theme of the poem?
Questions 7 to 10 are based on the letter written by Samuel Johnson to the Earl of Chesterfie.
February 7, 1755
My Lord:
I have been lately informed by the proprietor of the World, that two papers, in which my Dictionary is recommended to the public, were written by your Lordship. To be so distinguished is an honor which,being very little accustomed to favors from the great, I know not well how to receive, or in what terms to acknowledge.
When, upon some slight encouragement, I first visited your Lordship, I was overpowered, like the rest of mankind, by the enchantment of your address; and could not forbear to wish that I might boast myself le vainqueurdu vainqueurde laterre ; that I might obtain that regard for which I saw the world contending; but I found my attendance so little encouraged that neither pride nor modesty would suffer me to continue it. When I had once addressed your Lordship in public, I had exhausted all the art of pleasing which a retired and uncourtly scholar can possess. I had done all that I could; and no man is well pleased to have his all neglected, be it ever so little.
Seven years, my Lord, have now passed since I waited in your outward rooms, or was repulsed from your door, during which time I have been pushing on my work through difficulties of which it is useless to complain, and have brought it, at last, to the verge of publication without one act of assistance,one word of encouragement, or one smile of favor. Such treatment I did not expect, for I never had a patron before.
The shepherd in Virgil grew at last acquainted with love, and found him a native of the rocks.
Is not a patron, my Lord, one who looks with unconcern on a man struggling for life in the water,and, when he has reached ground, encumbers him with help? The notice which you have been pleased to take of my labors, had it been early, had been kind; but it has been delayed till I am indifferent, and cannot enjoy it; till I am solitary, and cannot impart it; till I am known, and do not want it. I hope it is no very cynicalasperity not to confess obligations where no benefit has been received, or to be unwilling that the public should consider me as owing that to a patron, which Providence has enabled me to do for myself.
Having carried on my work thus far with so little obligation to any favorer of learning, I shall not be disappointed though I should conclude it, if less be possible, with less; for I have been long wakened from that dream of hope, in which I once boasted myself with so much exultation, my Lord.
Your Lordship’s most humble,
most obedient servant,
Sam. Johnson
7. Why did Johnson first visit Lord Chesterfield? What was Johnson’s impression of Lo Chesterfield and how was he treated?
8. How does Johnson define a patron
9. In the letter, Johnson wrote “The shepherd in Virgil grew at last acquainted with love, and found him a naive of the rocks.” What does the sentence mean?
10. How does Johnson feel about the notice Lord Chesterfield had taken of his work after he had finished his Dictionary? What is the real purpose of Johnson’s letter
1. assonance
Assonance is a figure of repetition in which different words with the same or similar vowel sounds occuring successively in words with different consonants; two or more words with similar vowel sounds sandwiched between different consonants.
2. transcendentalism
Transcendentalism was a group of new ideas in literature, religion, culture, and philosophy that emerged in New England in the early-to-middle 19th century. It spoke for cultural rejuvenation and against the materialism of American society. It placed emphasis on spirit, regarding it as the most important thing in the universe. It also stressed the importance of the individual, seeing nature as symbolic of the spirit of God. Its doctrines found their greatest literary advocates in Ralph Emerson and Henry Thoreau. Emerson’s Nature has been called the “Manifesto of American Transcendentalism.”Thoreau embarked on a two-year experiment of transcendentalism doctrines around the shore of Walden and then wrote the experience in his famous Walden.
3. medieval romances in England
Romance is a style of heroic prose and verse narrative that was popular in the aristocratic circles of High Medieval. Originally, the term referred to a medieval tale dealing with the loves and adventures of kings, queens, knights, and including unlikely or supernatural happenings. The most famous medieval romances in England are those of Arthur, such as Sir Gawainand the Green Knight and Marlory’s Le Morte D’ Arthur.
4. foot
The foot is the basic metrical unit that generates a line of verse in most Western traditions of poetry.The unit is composed of syllables, the number of which is limited, with a few variations, by the sound pattern the fool represents. The most common feet in English are the iamb, trochee, dactyl, and anapest.
5. humanism
Humanism is a term generally applied to the predominant social philosophy and intellectual and literary currents of the period from 1400 to 1650. The return to favor of the pagan classics stimulated the philosophy of secularism, the appreciation of worldly pleasures, and above all intensified the assertion of personal independence and individual expression.
1. Why did Death stop for me?
Death appears personified in this poem as a courtly beau who gently insists that the speaker put aside both “labor” and “leisure.” He arrives in his carriage, having stopped for her because she could not have stopped for him.
2. Why couldn’t I stop for Death?
The poem suggests that Death is not meant to be an end—human existence will go on for Eternity.Death gives way to Immortality, and thus, even if she had wanted to, the speaker could not have stopped for Death. The grave is merely a brief pause on the journey toward Eternity.
3. What did the Death’s carriage hold?
Death’s carriage held Death, the speaker and Immortality.
4. What the three things did the speaker and Death pass?
They passed a school, fields of gazing grain, and the setting sun. The school represents he youth,the fields is her maturity of adulthood; and the setting sun is her old age.
5. What is the “House” in the ground in stanza 5? Why do the centuries seem shorter than the Day?
(1) The house is a grave or a crypt.
(2) The experience of Death is a moment that is longer than several centuries. In this process of Death, she gets to know herself as well as the world better. Therefore, this process is a lasting and unforgettable one. On the other hand, once she is in her eternal resting place and becomes immortal,time will become meaningless.
6. What is the theme of the poem?
Mortality is probably the major theme in this poem. It’s all about the speaker’s attitude toward her death and what the actual day of her death is like. Dickinson paints a picture of the day that doesn’t seem too far from the ordinary. The speaker isn’t scared of death at all, and seems to accept it. She thinks that death is a way toward Eternity.
7. Why did Johnson first visit Lord Chesterfield? What was Johnson’s impression of Lord Chesterfield and how was he treated?
(1)Johnson visited Lord Chesterfield in the hope of getting some help for his work. Because it was the tradition of that time that writer should find a patron to support his work.
(2)Johnson thought Lord Chesterfield might be a lover of literature himself, because he could overpower the world with his enchanting address. But the fact was that Johnson was treated with total indifference and ignorance.
8. How does Johnson define a patron
Johnson compares the patron to a man who coldly looks on someone drowning in the river without making any effort to save him, but hurries over to help when the drowning man has struggled ashore by himself. To state explicitly, the patron is a mean, heartless and hypocritical man. Johnson indignantly reminds Lord Chesterfield of his former negligence of the appeal for help and implies that a literary patron is the one who does nothing to help the writers during their creation; but when their work is completed, he will, as Lord Chesterfield has done with Johnson’s dictionary, come forward to praise it and recommend it to the public, hoping that the author will dedicate the work to him and acknowledge his patronage.
9. In the letter, Johnson wrote “The shepherd in Virgil grew at last acquainted with love, and found him a native of the rocks.” What does the sentence mean?
By allusion to the shepherd’s story in Virgil’s works, Johnson expresses his confidence and pride in his ability to handle the situation and to bring the dictionary to the final completion after his long strenuous effort to carry on the work without any help from the Lord.
10. How does Johnson feel about the notice Lord Chesterfield had taken of his work after he had finished his Dictionary? What is the real purpose of Johnson’s letter
(1)As Johnson has relied solely on himself in this gigantic task, when he got the notice of Lord Chesterfield, he disdained his false compliment, and he did not want the public to think that he had received the help from a patron. He condemned the fame-fishing act of Chesterfiel.
(2)Though the letter was written in a very refined and polite language, the author’s bitterness, sarcasm,anger and defiance of the authority is obvious. This letter is an announcement to demonstrate a great courage to defy the power of the Lord and his strong confidence in him as a self-reliant man of letters.