名词解释 ENGLISH LITERATURE--DEFINITION OF TERMS

1．Ballad（民谣）: 1)Ballad is a story in poetic form to be sung or recited. 2) Ballads were passed down from generation to generation. 3) Robin Hood is a famous ballad singing the goods of Robin Hood. Coleridge’s The Rime of the Ancient Mariner is a 19th century English ballad.

2．Critical Realism(批判现实主义)1)The Critical Realism of the 19th century flourished in the forties and in the beginning of fifties.2)The realists first and foremost set themselves the task of criticizing capitalist society from a democratic viewpoint and delineated the crying contradictions of bourgeois reality. But they did not find a way to eradicate social evils.3) Charles Dickens is the most important critical realist.

3．Enlightenment: With the advent of the 18th century, in England, as in other European countries, there sprang into life a public movement known as the Enlightenment. The Enlightenment on the whole, was an expression of struggle of the then progressive class of bourgeois against feudalism. The social inequality, stagnation, prejudices and other survivals of feudalism. They attempted to place all branches of science at the service of mankind by connecting them with the actual deeds and requirements of the people.

启蒙主义：启蒙主义是在18世纪在英国发生的。总体上，启蒙主义是当时的资产阶级对封建主义，社会的不平等、死寂、偏见和其他的封建残余的一种反对。通过将科学的各个分支与人民的日常生活和需要联系起来，启蒙主义者们努力将他们变成为人民大众服务的工具

4．Stream of consciousness: “Stream-of-Consciousness” or “interior monologue”, is one of the modern literary techniques. It is the style of writing that attempts to imitate the natural flow of a character’s thoughts, feelings, reflections, memories, and mental images as the character experiences them. It was first used in 1922 by the Irish novelist James Joyce. Those novels broke through the bounds of time and space, and depicted vividly and skillfully the unconscious activity of the mind fast changing and flowing incessantly, particularly the hesitant, misted, distracted and illusory psychology people had when they faced reality. The modern American writer William Faulkner successfully advanced this technique. In his stories, action and plots were less important than the reactions and inner musings of the narrators. Time sequences were often dislocated. The reader feels himself to be a participant in the stories, rather than an observer. A high degree of emotion can be achieved by this technique.

意识流：“意识流”或“内心独白”是现代写作技巧之一。它是像是人物亲身经历的那样来模仿人物思想、感觉、回忆、和头脑中意象来写作的一种手法。爱尔兰作家詹姆斯•乔伊斯于1922年首次使用这种方法。意识流小说打破了时间和空间的限制，生动地描写人物不断变化的潜意识活动，尤其是当人们面对现实时的犹豫和充满困惑、幻觉和心不在焉的那种心理。美国作家福克纳对这种技巧做了进一步的发展，在他的故事中，行为和情节相比叙述者的反应和内心活动已经不那么重要了，时间顺序被打破，读者仿佛置身于故事中而不仅仅是一个观察者。

5．Epic:A long narrative poem telling about the deeds of a great hero and reflecting the values of the society from which it originated.Beowulf is the greatest national epic of the Anglo-Saxons. John Milton wrote three great epics: Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes.

6．Sonnet(十四行诗)

Definition: A sonnet is a lyric poem consisting of a single stanza of fourteen iambic pentameter lines, restricted to a definite rhyme scheme.

7．English Romanticism:

Romanticismwas an artistic,literary and intellectual movement that originated in the second half of the 18th century in Europe,and gained strength in reaction to the Industrial Revolution. In part,it was a revolt against aristocratic social and political norms of the Age of Enlightenment and a reaction against the scientific rationalization of nature.It was embodied most strongly in the visual arts,music,and literature,but had a major impact on historiography,education and natural history.

浪漫主义是一种艺术，文学和文化运动，起源于第十八世纪下半叶在欧洲，并获得了力量 对工业革命的反应。在某种程度上，这是一个反对启蒙和对自然的科学合理化反应时代的贵族社会和政治规范的反抗 它在视觉艺术、音乐和文学中表现得最为强烈，但对史学、教育和自然史产生了重大影响。

8．Romance罗曼史/骑士文学: 1)Romance is a popular literary form in the medieval England. 2) It sings knightly adventures or other heroic deeds. 3) Chivalry (such as bravery, honor, generosity, loyalty and kindness to the weak and poor) is the spirit of romance.

9．Renaissance means “rebirth”. It meant the reintroduction into  Western Europe of the full cultural heritage of Greece and Rome. The essence of the Renaissance is Humanism. The real mainstream of the English  Renaissance is the Elizabethan drama.

10．Neo-classicism新古典主义It is an English tendency in the Enlightenment period when the classical works of ancient Greek and Roman writers and those of the contemporary French ones were worshipped. The neoclassicists believe that the artistic ideals should be order, logic,restrained emotion and accuracy and the literature should be judged in terms of its service to humanity.

11．Metaphysical poetry玄学派诗歌: The poetry of John Donne and other 17th century poets who wrote in a similar style. Metaphysical poetry is characterized by verbal wit and excess, ingenious structure, irregular meter, colloquial language, elaborate imagery, and a drawing together of dissimilar ideas. The imagery is drawn from actual life.

玄学诗：约翰•多恩的诗或17世纪其他诗人写的相同风格的诗。玄学诗多使用巧智，结构精巧，韵律多变，语言口语化，意象奇特，把不同的事物进行并置。

12．Dramatic monologue

Dramatic monologue is a piece of spoken verse that offers insight into the feelings of the speaker. A form practiced be Robert Browning. 

戏剧独白是一种通过剧中一角色的话语以揭示剧中的中心人物的性格特点的诗体，简言之戏剧独白就是以人之口吻以戏剧性的表现形式阐述微妙的人物关系从而凸显诗中各个人物的性格特点。 

Feature of dramatic monologue 

1. A single person, who is patently not the poet, utters the speech that makes up the whole of the poem, in a specific situation at a critical moment. 

2. This person addresses and interacts with one or more other people. 

3. The main principle controlling the poet’s choice and formulation of what the lyric speaker says is to reveal to the reader, in a way that enhances its interest, the speaker’s temperament and character.

13．Heroic Couplet(英雄双韵体)

Heroic couplet refers to the rhymed couplet in iambic pentameter

Heroic couplets are lines of iambic pentameter that rhyme in pairs (aa, bb, cc).

The Heroic Couplet: 1) It means a pair of lines of a type once common in English poetry, in other words, it means iambic pentameter rhymed in two lines. 2) The rhyme is masculine. 3) Use of the heroic couplet was first pioneered by Geoffrey Chaucer.

14．University Wits(大学才子)

University Wits refer to a group of scholars during the Elizabethan Age who graduated from either oxford or Cambridge. They came to London with the ambition to become professional writers. Some of them later became famous poets and playwrights. They were called” University Wits”

15．Beowulf(贝奥武甫)

1>Beowulf, a typical example of old English poetry, is regarded as the greatest national epic of the Anglo-Saxons.

2> the epic describes the exploits of a Scandinavian hero, Beowulf, in fighting against the monster Grendel, his revengeful bother, and a fire-breathing dragon in his declining years. While fight against the dragon, Beowulf was mortally wounded, however, he killed the dragon at the cost of his life, Beowulf is shown not only as a glorious hero but also as a protector of the people.

16．Paradise Lost 

is an epic poem in blank verse by the 17th-century English poet John Milton. It is considered by critics to be Milton's major work, and it helped solidify his reputation as one of the greatest English poets of his time.The poem concerns the Biblical story of the Fall of Man: the temptation of Adam and Eve by the fallen angel Satanand their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. Milton's purpose, stated in Book I, is to "justify the ways of God to men".

17．Utopia

Moore wrote the book’s name.Described in a island called utopia, political and social system is very perfect, because of the abolition of private property, the public ownership, not evil, everyone is engaged in the work, and have plenty of time to rest, entertainment, or for scientific research.Due to represent fantasy realm.莫尔所写的书名。书中描写在一个叫乌托邦的小岛上，政治、社会制度十分完美，由于废除了私有财产，实行公有制，没有罪恶，人人从事劳动，又有充裕的时间休息、娱乐或进行科学研究。因以代表不着边际的空想境界。

Utopiaintended for "no place" or "good place".Extension of ideal, can't be done a good thing, the Chinese translation can also be interpreted as "black" is not, "is" on, "state" is a country, the unification of the meaning of "utopia" three word is "dream country"

乌托邦（Utopia）本意为“没有的地方”或者“好地方”。延伸为还有理想，不可能完成的好事情，其中文翻译也可以理解为“乌”是没有，“托”是寄托，“邦”是国家，“乌托邦”三个字合起来的意思即为“空想的国家”

18．Macbeth 麦克白

full title The Tragedy of Macbeth, is a tragedy by William Shakespeare; It dramatises the damaging physical and psychological effects of political ambition on those who seek power for its own sake. Of all the plays that Shakespeare wrote during the reign of James I, who was patron of Shakespeare's acting company, Macbeth most clearly reflects the playwright's relationship with his sovereign.and is his shortest tragedy.

Macbeth was a marshal of King Dunken of Scotland, one day,he met 3 witches ,they told him some crazy words, and his wife Mrs Macbeth roused him againsted King Dunken,and became a king himself.Macbeth obey,and did it. Then ,son of Dunken wanted to revenge,he lead the army from England and destroyed his enemy's country,and put Macbeth's head chop off . And the most beautiful Mrs Macbeth killed herself to stop the shame.

19．Othello 奥赛罗

(The Tragedy of Othello, the Moor of Venice) is a tragedy by William Shakespeare, believed to have been written in 1603. It is based on the story Un Capitano Moro ("A Moorish Captain") by Cinthio, a disciple of Boccaccio. The story revolves around four central characters: Othello, a Moorish general in the Venetian army; his beloved wife, Desdemona; his loyal lieutenant, Cassio; and his trusted but ultimately unfaithful ensign, Iago. Given its varied and enduring themes of racism, love, jealousy, betrayal, revenge and repentance, Othello is still often performed in professional and community theater alike, and has been the source for numerous operatic, film, and literary adaptations.

20．King Lear

is a tragedy written by William Shakespeare. It depicts the gradual descent into madness of the title character, after he disposes of his kingdom giving bequests to two of his three daughters based on their flattery of him, bringing tragic consequences for all. Derived from the legend of Leir of Britain, a mythological pre-Roman Celtic king, the play has been widely adapted for the stage and motion pictures, with the title role coveted by many of the world's most accomplished actors.

赏析

贝奥武夫:the national epic of the Anglo-Saxons  

Epic: long narrative poems that record the adventures or heroic deeds of a hero 

enacted in vast landscapes. The style of epic is grand and elevated. (主题严肃，语言庄重) 

e.g. Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey 

Artistic features: 

1. Using alliteration(押头韵)（该文最大修辞特点，每行第一个词辅

音韵） 

Definition of alliteration: a rhetorical device, meaning some words in a sentence begin with the same consonant sound（辅音）  

2. Using metaphor（暗喻，隐喻） and understatement  

Definition of understatement: expressing something in a controlled way Understatement is a typical way for Englishmen to express their ideas