自考英美文学选读总复习概要六

　　Robert Lee Frost

　　1.works：The Road Not Taken， Mountain Interval， uncertainty of the speaker‘s choice between safety and unknown（meditative）

　　Stopping by Woods on a snowy Evening-New Hampshire

　　After Apple-Picking， a man‘s best efforts ever satisfy God？

　　2.idea：a momentary stay against confusion， like Wordsworth

　　3.The Road Not Taken： took the one less traveled by and that has made all the difference

　　Eugene I‘Neill

　　1.works： The Hairy Ape

　　characters seek meaning and purpose in their lives through love or religion or revenge. the result is disappointment or despair. use Expressionism

　　2.The Hairy Ape： concerns the problem of modern man‘s position. Yank’s sense of belonging nowhere is a typical of the mood of isolation and alienation in the early twentieth century in the US and the whole world as well.

　　F.Scott Fitzgerald

　　1.both an insider and outsider of the Jazz Age

　　2.The Great Gatsby

　　narrator： Nick Carraway

　　Ernest Hemingway

　　1.Hemingway hero

　　（1）a wounded hero confronts all the difficulties of the situation with his dignity and courage.（In Our Times-Nick Adams）

　　（2）a group of wandering， amusing and aimless people caught in the war.（The Sun Also Rises-The Lost Generation）

　　（3）man suffers both physically and mentally， and is doomed to suffer， refute God‘s kindness to man.（A Farewell to Arms-Frederick Henry）

　　（4）proves life‘s worth and there are causes worth dying for.（For Whom the Bell Tolls-Robert Jordan）

　　（5）show great respect for the struggle of mankind against unconquerable natural forces， though only a partial victory is possible.（The Old Man and the Sea-Santiago）

　　（6）he is with the honesty， the discipline， and the restraint. man always fights a losing battle of life，but never lose dignity. man can be physically destroyed， but never defeated spiritually

　　（7）man of courage， and masculinity and inflexible heroism.（The Undefeated）

　　2.The dignity of movement of an iceberg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water

　　3.colloquialism （Mark Twain）（short， simple， conventional words）

　　4.works： Indian Camp（In Our Times）

　　William Faulkner

　　1.works：The Sound and The Fury； Light in August； Absalom， Absalom！； Go Down， Moses； The Marble Faun； Soldiers‘ Pay； As I Lay Dying； Wild Palms； The Hamlet； Intruder in the Dust（Nobel Prize）； The Bear； Requiem for a Nun； The Fable； The Town； The Mansion

　　2.background： American South， Northern Mississippi， Yoknapatawpha County

　　3.theme：almost all his heroes are tragic

　　（1）they are prisoners of the past or of the society， or of some social and moral taboos， or of their own  personalities

　　（2）society conditions man with its laws and institutions and eliminates man‘s chance of responding naturally to the experiences of his existence

　　（3）man tries to explain the incomprehensible by turning away from reality， but becomes weak， cowardly and confused（Emily-coward）

　　4. nostalgic in The Sound and The Fury

　　5.works‘ features：

　　（1）use of narrative techniques is remarkable， let the characters explain themself， the reader experiences the work of art directly

　　（2）breaks up chronology， juxtaposes the past with the present

　　（3）stream of consciousness

　　（4）inner musings of the narrator

　　（5）good at presenting multiple points of view

　　6.works： A Rose for Emily（Gothic devices）

　　Emily ：the symbols of the Old South， the prisoners of the past. an eccentric spinster. she refuses the inevitable changes and loss with the pass of time