搜档网
当前位置:搜档网 › Glossary of Literary Terms 文学术语词汇表

Glossary of Literary Terms 文学术语词汇表

Glossary of Literary Terms 文学术语词汇表
Glossary of Literary Terms 文学术语词汇表

Glossary of Literary Terms 文学术语词汇表

The definitions given below are not meant to be exhaustive. Indeed, whole books have been written to explain some of these terms, such as archetype , hero, realism, and symbolism. These notes are meant to provide basic definitions of frequently used literary terms; I hope these definitions will establish common ground for book discussions. Most of the examples given are works reviewed on this Web site.

-A-

allegory

"In literature, an extended metaphor in which characters, objects, incidents, and descriptions carry one or more sets of fully developed meanings in addition to the apparent and literal ones. John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress , for example, is apparently about a man named Christian who leaves his home and journeys to the Heavenly City. However, it is clear that Christian stands for any Christian man and that the incidents of his journey represent the temptations and trials that beset any Christian man throughout his life on earth" (Source

: Benet's, 26).

alternative history

alternate term: alternate history

“A species of fiction - also called allohistory - in which much depends on some major reversal of known geography or history” ( Source

: Harmon & Holman, 15).

Examples: novels in which Germany won World War II.

antagonist

See protagonist .

anticlimax

"An arrangement of details such that the lesser appears at the point where

something greater is expected" (Source

: Harmon & Holman, 246). The term may also refer to a resolution that does not deserve all the build-up it has received.

Also see: climax .

antihero

"A protagonist who lacks traditional heroic virtues and noble qualities and is sometimes inept, cowardly, stupid, or dishonest, yet sensitive" (Source : Benet's, 40).

"A protagonist of a modern play or novel who has the converse of most of the traditional attributes of the hero. This hero is graceless, inept, sometimes stupid, sometimes dishonest" (Source

: Harmon & Holman, 30). Example: Parker in the novels by Richard Stark

.

Also see: hero , protagonist

.

archetype

"Generally, a prototype or original pattern or a paradigm or abstract idea of a class of things that represents the typical and essential elements shared by all varieties of that class. In literature, myth, folklore, and religion, the term can be applied to images, themes, symbols, ideas, characters, and situations that appeal to our unconscious racial memory. T.S. Eliot explains this memory as civilized man's 'pre-logical mentality'…Archetypes can be primitive and universal and consist of general themes like birth, death, coming of age, love, guilt, redemption, conflict between free will and destiny, rivalry between members of the family, fertility rites; of characters like the hero rebel, the wanderer, the devil, the buffoon; and of creatures like the lion, serpent, or eagle" (Source : Benet's, 46).

Top

-B-

bathos

"A figure of speech which descends from the sublime to the ridiculous in an attempt to create a grandiose or pathetic effect. The term describes an unintentional anticlimax" (Source

: Benet's, 83).

Bildungsroman

“A type of novel, common in German literature, which treats the personal development of a single individual, usually in youth” (Source

: Benet’s, 109).

black humor

alternate terms: black comedy, dark humor, dark comedy

"A substantial aspect of …much modern fiction. The term describes sardonically humorous effects derived from mordant wit and morbid or grotesque situations that deal with anxiety, suffering, or death" (Source : Benet's, 112).

Example: The Ax by Donald E. Westlake.

“bookends”

A narrative structure that sandwiches a large central section (which usually makes up the bulk of the work) between two smaller sections that introduce and conclude the work. The two smaller sections thus stand on both sides of the main narrative, like a set of bookends propping up a row of books on a shelf. Authors may choose this type of structure for two reasons:

1. to provide another perspective on the action. The narrator of the two bookend sections is often different from the narrator of the main section. This technique therefore offers another person’s perception of the events and their significance, or another character’s comments about the main narrator. Sometimes the narrator of the bookend sections offers information that the main narrator does not or could not know but that the reader needs to understand the full significance of the story.

2. to indicate the passage of time. Many authors use this narrative structure to present a main narrative that occurred in the past; the bookend sections then provide a current comment on the main story, for example a person describing a diary written by an ancestor found in an old trunk.

Sometimes the bookend structure serves both of these purposes. For example, an adult may provide a current commentary on a main narrative written from his point of view as a child.

Examples: The Unburied by Charles Palliser, A Place of Execution

by Val McDermid, Strange Fits of Passion by Anita Shreve, The Turn of the Screw by Henry James

Top

-C-

caper

"The subgenre in which the narrative interest is centered on a person or a group of people attempting to steal something, break in somewhere, or otherwise interfere with a seemingly impregnable stronghold has become known as a caper. There are comic capers and serious capers. Donald E. Westlake writes the former under his own name in his novels about John Dortmunder; he writes the latter as Richard Stark in Parker novels" (Source : DeAndrea, 401). caricature

See characterization . characterization

alternate term: character development

"The creation of imaginary persons so that they seem lifelike. "There are three fundamental methods of characterization : (1) the explicit presentation by the author of the character through direct exposition, either in an introductory block or more often piecemeal throughout the work, illustrated by action; (2) the presentation of the character in action, with little or no explicit comment by the author, in the expectation that the reader can deduce the attributes of the actor from the actions; and (3) the representation from within a character, without comment by the author, of the impact of actions and emotions on the character's inner self.

"Regardless of the method by which a character is presented, the author may concentrate on a dominant trait to the exclusion of other aspects of personality, or the author may attempt to present a fully rounded creation.

If the presentation of a single dominant trait is carried to an extreme, not a believable character but a caricature will result…On the other hand, the author may present so convincing a congeries of personality traits that a complex rather than a simple character emerges; such a character is three-dimensional or, in E.M. Forster's term, 'round'…"Furthermore, a character may be either static or dynamic. A static character is one who changes little if at all. Things happen to such a character without things happening within …A dynamic character, on the other hand, is one who is modified by actions and experiences, and one objective of the work in which the character appears is to reveal the consequences of these actions" ( Source

: Harmon & Holman, 89).

climax

"A rhetorical term for a rising order of importance in the ideas expressed…In large compositions-the essay, the short story, the drama, or the novel-the climax is the point of highest interest, whereat the reader makes the greatest emotional response. In dramatic structure climax designates the turning point in the action, the crisis at which the rising action reverses and becomes the falling action" ( Source

: Harmon & Holman, 99).

Also see: anticlimax .

coherence

"A principle demanding that the parts of any composition be so arranged that the meaning of the whole may be immediately clear and intelligible. Words, phrases, clauses within the sentence; and sentences, paragraphs, and chapters in larger pieces of writing are the units that, by their progressive and logical arrangement, make for coherence or, contrariwise, by illogical arrangement, result in incoherence. Literature has no need, however, of unilateral coherence in all its particulars. Occasional incoherence-or even unsuitable coherence-may perfectly register uncertainty, anxiety, terror, confusion, illness, or other common states" ( Source : Harmon & Holman, 102). conflict

"The struggle that grows out of the interplay of two opposing forces. Conflict provides interest, suspense, and tension. At least one of the

opposing forces is customarily a person. This person, usually the protagonist, may be involved in conflicts of four different kinds: (1) a struggle against nature…(2) a struggle against another person, usually the antagonist…(3) a struggle against society…or (4) a struggle for mastery by two elements within the person…Seldom do we find a simple, single conflict, but rather a complex one partaking of two or even all of the preceding elements… Conflict implies not only the struggle of a protagonist against someone or something, but also the existence of some motivation for the conflict or some goal to be achieved thereby. Conflict is the raw material out of which plot is constructed" ( Source

: Harmon & Holman, 115-116). Also see: plot .

cozy

alternate term: English drawing-room mystery

This type of mystery characteristically involves a group of people brought together, usually in a large house, for a specific purpose. When one member of the group turns up dead, all the others immediately are suspects and become suspicious of each other. The detective, frequently an amateur sleuth, deduces the murderer's identity through shrewd observation of the participants. The story often ends with all participants gathered in the drawing room; the sleuth examines in turn each one's motives for the murder, saving the guilty party for last.

In a cozy, the unpleasant business of the murder usually occurs "off stage." Someone discovers a corpse, but readers are spared the details of how the killing and death occur.

"This term describes the underlying attitude behind a certain type of mystery story. Although it is frequently treated as the opposite of hard-boiled, that impression is inaccurate. The proper antonym of cozy is noir . A cozy supposes a benign universe: These murders we have before us are unsettling, but once we figure out who the killer is, we can get back to living our decent and pleasant lives" (Source : DeAndrea, 401).

Top

-D-

dénouement

"Literally, 'unknotting.' The final unraveling of a plot; the solution of a mystery; an explanation or outcome. Dénouement implies an ingenious untying of the knot of an intrigue, involving not only a satisfactory outcome of the main situation but an explanation of all the secrets and misunderstandings connected with the plot complication" ( Source

: Harmon & Holman, 146).

Top

-E-

Edgar Awards

"…the Edgar Allan Poe Awards, named for the inventor of the detective story, are given by the Mystery Writers of America (MWA) to honor outstanding achievements in mystery writing" ( Source

: DeAndrea, 395).

epistolary novel

“A novel told as a series of letters written by one or more of the characters. [. . .] One of the earliest types of the novel, it offered readers an immediate entry into the world of the characters through the inherently social medium of correspondence. [. . .] Contemporary use is rare, perhaps related to the waning of letter-writing as a social phenomenon” (Source : NYPL, 642).

Examples: ’Alices Tulips by Sandra Dallas is an example of a traditional epistolary novel, in which all the letters are written by the same person. Fan

Mail by Ronald Munson illustrates a contemporary twist on the genre by employing several forms of written communication: memos, faxes, telephone messages, e-mail, reports, newspaper clippings.

existentialism

"A 20th-century movement in philosophy…All existentialists are concerned with ontology, the study of being. The point of departure is human consciousness and mental processes. In contrast to most previous philosophical systems, which maintain that an a priori essence precedes

or transcends the individual existence of people or of objects, the existentialists conclude that existence precedes essence. The significance of this for human beings is that the concept that one has an essential self is shown to be an illusion. A man's self is nothing except what he has become; at any given moment, it is the sum of the life he has shaped until then. The 'nothing' he begins with is thus the source of man's freedom, for at each moment it is man's will that can choose how to act or not to act. However, each such decision affects the future doubly: a man is or should be responsible for the consequences of his actions; and each action necessarily excludes the other potential actions for that moment, and their consequences, and thus at least partially limits the potentialities for future actions.

"By what standards, then, should a person make decisions? The mind cannot discern any meaning for this existence in the universe; when a person abandons his illusions, he finds himself horrified by the absurdity of the human condition…a person must create a human morality in the absence of any known predetermined absolute values" ( Source

: Benet's, 334-335).

exposition

"…the introductory material that creates the tone, gives the setting, introduces the characters, and supplies other facts necessary to understanding" a work of literature ( Source

: Harmon & Holman, 204).

Top

-F-

flashback

"A device by which a work presents material that occurred prior to the opening scene of the work. Various methods may be used, among them recollections of characters, narration by the characters, dream sequences, and reveries" ( Source : Harmon & Holman, 215).

foreshadowing

“The presentation of material in a work in such a way that later events are prepared for. [. . .] the purpose of foreshadowing is to prepare the

reader or viewer for action to come” (Source

: Harmon & Holmon, 219).

Top

-G-

genre

“Used to designate the types or categories into which literary works are grouped according to form, technique, or, sometimes, subject matter. The French term means “kind,”“genus,” or “type.” The traditional genres include tragedy, comedy, epic, lyric, and pastoral. Today a division of literature into genres would also include novel, short story, essay, television play, and motion picture scenario. [. . .] Critics today frequently regard genre distinctions as useful descriptive devices but rather arbitrary ones. Genre boundaries have been much subject to flux and blur in recent times, and it is almost the rule that a successful work will combine genres in some original way” (Source

: Harmon & Holmon, 231).

The related term genre fiction refers to several types of popular fiction such as thrillers, westerns, mysteries, romance novels, and science fiction. Each type has its own set of standard characteristics that most novels of the type exhibit. Genre fiction is often used pejoratively to mean something like “mere genre fiction,” which refers to a formulaic novel that rigidly follows the conventions of its type and exhibits little creativity.

gothic

alternate terms: gothic novel, gothic narrative

A type of fiction that arose in the 18th century. “It was characterized by horror, violence, supernatural effects, and medieval elements, usually set against a background of gothic architecture, especially a gloomy and isolated castle” ( Source : Benet’s, 417). In addition to the gloomy, isolated castle, other common gothic trappings include insanity (often in the form of a mad relative kept locked in a room in the castle), ghosts and spirits, and dramatic

thunder-and-lightning storms.

See also: Southern gothic

Examples: Rebecca by Daphne duMaurier epitomizes the gothic novel. Other works by duMaurier, including Jamaica Inn, also include gothic elements. Top

-H-

Hammett Prize

This prize is awarded annually by the North American Branch of the International Association of Crime Writers for the best work, either fiction or nonfiction, of literary excellence in crime writing.

hard-boiled

"A type of 20th-century American crime story, which combined the style of realism with a subject of increasing interest: urban crime. Hard-boiled fiction gained a reputation for laconic, witty, and sometimes realistically crude dialogue; the graphic and objective depiction of violence; and the introduction of seedy, corrupt, and sordid settings" (Source : Benet's, 446). Example: The Last Good Kiss by James Crumley.

hero or heroine

"The central character (masculine or feminine) in a work. The character who is the focus of interest" (Source

: Harmon & Holman, 246).

A hero traditionally has positive qualities such as high ethical standards, commitment to duty, perseverance, and courage. An antihero possesses negative qualities such as cowardice and dishonesty. Protagonist is a neutral term denoting simply the main character of a work.

Top

-I-

irony

"In rhetoric, a deliberate dissembling for effect or to intensify meaning. In the most general sense, two categories of irony can be identified: verbal irony, in which it is plain that the speaker means the opposite of what he says, and circumstantial, or situational, irony, in which there is a discrepancy between what might reasonably be expected and what

actually occurs-between the appearance of a situation and its reality. One of the most common forms of verbal irony is the use of praise when a slur is intended…Tragic irony results from a perception of the intensity of human striving and the indifference of the universe…In dramatic irony, a speaker may utter words that have a hidden meaning intelligible to the audience but of which he himself is unaware…" ( Source : Benet's, 510).

Top

-M-

magical realism

alternate term: magic realism

"A worldwide twentieth-century tendency in the graphic and literary arts, especially painting and prose fiction. The frame or surface of the work may be conventionally realistic, but contrasting elements-such as the supernatural, myth, dream, fantasy-invade the realism and change the whole basis of the art" ( Source : Harmon & Holman, 304).

A term introduced by the Cuban novelist Alejo Carpentier, who "saw in magic realism the capacity to enrich our idea of what is 'real' by incorporating all dimensions of the imagination, particularly as expressed in magic, myth, and religion" ( Source : Benet's, 635).

Example: Snow in August by Pete Hamill.

melodrama

"A work, usually a play, based on a romantic plot and developed sensationally, with little regard for motivation and with an excessive appeal to the emotions of the audience. The object is to keep the audience thrilled by the arousal anyhow of strong feelings of pity, horror, or joy. Poetic justice is superficially secured, the characters (either very good or very bad) being rewarded or punished according to their deeds. Though typically a melodrama has a happy ending, tragedies that use much of the same technique are sometimes referred to as melodramatic" (Source

: Harmon & Holman, 312).

motif (motive)

"In literature, recurrent images, words, objects, phrases, or actions that tend to unify the work are called motives" (Source

: Harmon & Holman, 330).

Top

-N-

narration

"…its purpose is to recount events…There are two forms: simple narrative , which recites events chronologically, as in a newspaper account; and narrative with plot, which is less often chronological and more often arranged according to a principle determined by the nature of the plot and the type of story intended" (Source

: Harmon & Holman, 336).

Also see: plot .

narrative structure

See narration .

narrator

"Anyone who recounts a narrative. In fiction the term is used for the ostensible author or teller of a story. In fiction presented in the first person, the 'I' who tells the story is the narrator; the narrator may be in any of various relations to the events described, ranging from being their center (the protagonist) through various degrees of importance (minor characters) to being merely a witness. In fiction told from an omniscient point of view, the author acts self-consciously as narrator, recounting the story and freely commenting on it. A narrator is always present, at least by implication, in any work, even a story in which a self-effacing author relates events with apparent objectivity. A narrator may be reliable or unreliable. If the narrator is reliable, the reader accepts without serious question the statements of fact and judgment. If the narrator is unreliable, the reader questions or seeks to qualify the statements of fact and judgment" (Source

: Harmon & Holman, 337).

Also see: point of view .

New Criticism

“A movement in 20th-century American literary criticism […]. The New Critics were united in their emphasis on dealing with the text directly; they insisted that a work of art be considered as an autonomous whole, without regard to biographical, cultural, or social speculations”(Source : Benet's, 726).

New Criticism arose from the writings of T.S. Eliot and Ezra Pound. Chief among the New Critics were John Crowe Ransom, whose 1941 book The New Criticism gave the movement its name; Allen Tate, R.P. Blackmur; Cleanth Brooks; Robert Penn Warren; Kenneth Burke; and Yvor Winter.

noir

"The term was coined by postwar French film critics as film noir (black film) to describe the sort of movie characterized by dark photography and a despairing, doom-laden sense of life. Scholars of the mystery story found it convenient to use the term for work that shared the same attitude…Typical themes in noir work include obsessive love (or hate, or both), amnesia, illness, betrayal, and man-as-the-plaything of fate" ( Source : DeAndrea, 403).

novel of manners

A novel dominated by social customs, manners, conventions, and habits of a definite social class. In the true novel of manners the mores of a specific group, described in detail and with great accuracy, become powerful controls over characters. The novel of manners is often, although by no means always, satiric” (Source

: Harmon & Holmon, 354). Examples: the novels of Jane Austen and Edith Wharton

Top

-P-

parody

"In literature, a comic or satirical imitation of a piece of writing, exaggerating its style and content, and playing especially on any weakness in structure or meaning of the original" (Source

: Benet's, 778).

pathetic fallacy

“. . . the tendency to credit nature with human emotions. In a larger

sense the pathetic fallacy is any false emotionalism resulting in a too impassioned description of nature. It is the carrying over to inanimate objects of the moods and passions of a human being” (Source

: Harmon & Holman, 379).

pathos

"The quality in art or literature that evokes sympathy, tenderness, or sorrow in the viewer or reader" (Source

: Benet's, 783).

"…in common usage it describes an acquiescent or relatively helpless suffering or the sorrow occasioned by unmerited grief, as opposed to the stoic grandeur and awful justice of the tragic hero" (Source

: Harmon & Holman, 380).

plot

"The minimal definition of plot is 'pattern.' Only slightly less simple is 'pattern of events.' Plot is an intellectual formulation about the relations among the incidents and is, therefore, a guiding principle for the author and an ordering control for the reader.

"Because the plot consists of characters performing actions in incidents that comprise a 'single, whole, and complete' action, this relation involves conflict between opposing forces…Without conflict, plot hardly exists…These forces may be physical (or external), or they may be spiritual (or internal); but they must in any case afford an opposition. The struggle between the forces, moreover, comes to a head in one incident-the crisis-that forms the turning point and usually marks the moment of greatest suspense" ( Source

: Harmon & Holman, 394).

Also see: conflict .

point of view

"The vantage point from which an author presents a story. If the author serves as a seemingly all-knowing maker, the point of view is called omniscient. At the other extreme, a character in the story-major, minor, or marginal-may tell the story as he or she experienced it. Such a character is usually called a first-person narrator; if the character does not comprehend the implications of what is told, the character is called a na?ve narrator. The author may tell the story in the third person and

yet present it as it is seen and understood by a single character, restricting information to what that character sees, hears, feels, and thinks; such a point of view is said to be limited…If the author never speaks in his or her own person and does not obviously intrude, the author is said to be self-effacing. In extended works, authors frequently employ several methods" ( Source : Harmon & Holman, 400).

Also see: narrator .

“pomo”

Postmodernism

postmodernism

“Despite persistent disagreement regarding its definition, the term

‘postmodernism’ was accepted by the mid-1970s as a comprehensive sociocultural paradigm…Reacting against the traditional master narratives that projected an orderly and coherent universe, the postmodern writers have chosen narrative openness over closure, fiction over truth, and fragmentation over unity and coherence” (Source: Benet’

s Reader’s Encyclopedia of American Literature, ed. George Perkins, Barbara Perkins, and Phillip Leiningter [NY: HarperCollins, 1991], 874). The following information is from Postmodern American Fiction: A Norton Anthology, ed. Paula Geyh, Fred G. Leebron, Andrew Levy (NY: Norton, 1998): Cultural and literary postmodernism, which began in the 1960s, is “a tentative grouping of ideas, stylistic traits, and thematic preoccupations that set the last four decades apart from earlier eras”(x). “In postmodern fiction, World War II, the Holocaust, Hiroshima, and the atom bomb appear often as metaphors for …[a] failure of reason, as historical markers to explore how we manage to live with… absolute contradiction, or simply as spectral presences that remind us that nuclear arsenals still exist, and that our lives remain charged and threatened by visions of apocalypse” (xi).

Characteristics of postmodern fiction:

·“an assault upon traditional definitions of narrative…particularly those that created coherence or closure” (xii)

· the theme of the suburbanization of America, the decline of the city, and apocalyptic visions of the devastated city (xiv)

·“fascination about how the public life of the nation intersects with the private lives of its citizens” (xviii)

·“questioning of any belief system that claims universality or transcendence” (xx)

· the rise of the nonfiction novel, which “extends the experiments of the New Journalism and further undermines the distinctions between journalism and literature, fact and fiction” (xxv)

· the creation of “ruptures, gaps, and ironies that continually remind the reader that an author is present” (1); this characteristic is particularly evident in the postmodern tendency to blend memoir and fiction to show “how individuals use fictional constructions to make order of real-life events” (126)

James Wood, writing about modern British literature in The Oxford Guide to Contemporary Writing (John Sturrock, ed.; Oxford UP, 1996), describes America as “the locus of Post-Modernity and its discontents-vulgar films, trashed cities, the congestions of cliché and other degradations of language, the clotting of the soul with cultural debris, the submersion of the individual” (137).

https://www.sodocs.net/doc/153506589.html,’s contemporary literature guide Amy Strong has this to say about reading postmodern literature: “reading postmodern fiction can be an exhilarating and, at times, utterly baffling experience. Postmodern texts consciously disorient the reader, shaking off the soft blanket of chronological, straightforward storytelling in favor of a harsher, more forbidding narrative style. The reader is led through multiple shifts in consciousness, chronology, and geography, often without a chapter break [. . .].”

(From “ Analyzing Postmodern Texts

,”

https://www.sodocs.net/doc/153506589.html,/library/weekly/aa031201a.htm )

Example: L.A. Confidential by James Ellroy.

prequel

"A sequel that is set at an earlier time than the work it follows" ( Source : Harmon & Holman, 407). Examples: Dead Man's Walk by Larry

McMurtry is a prequel to Lonesome Dove; Justice

by Larry Watson is the prequel to Montana 1948 .

propaganda novel

alternate term: program novel

"A novel dealing with a special social, political, economic, or moral issue or problem and possibly advocating a doctrinaire solution. If the propagandistic purpose dominates the work so as to dwarf or eclipse all other elements, such as plot and character, then the novel belongs to the realm of the didactic and probably cannot be understood or appreciated for its own sake as a work of art. It may be good propaganda and bad literature at the same time" ( Source

: Harmon & Holman, 412). Examples: The Chamber and The Street Lawyer

by John Grisham.

protagonist

"Originating in early Greek drama, the term was applied to the first actor and leader of the chorus. The antagonist was the second most important character and the other contender in the agon, the dispute or debate that formed part of a Greek tragedy. Protagonist is now used generally to denote the main character of a play or story and is sometimes used interchangeably with hero" ( Source : Benet's, 834). See also: antihero , hero

.

"purple patch"

"A piece of notably fine writing. Now and then authors in a strongly emotional passage will give free play to most of the stylistic tricks in their bag. They will write prose intensely colorful and more than usually rhythmic. When there is an unusual piling up of these devices in such a way as to suggest a self-conscious literary effort, the section is spoken

of as a purple patch-a colorful passage standing out from the writing around it…Although sometimes used in a nonevaluative, descriptive sense, the term is more often employed derogatorily" (Source

: Harmon & Holman, 421).

Top

-R-

reader-response criticism

“This kind of criticism suggests that a piece of writing scarcely exists except as a text designed to be read; indeed, scarcely exists until somebody reads it. The reader-response approach does not so much analyze a reader’s responding apparatus as scrutinize those features of the text that shape and guide a reader’s reading.” This form of criticism postulates the “concept of a hypothetical reader different from any real reader-a hypothetical construct of norms and expectations that can be derived or projected or extrapolated from the work and that may even be said to inhere in the work. This hypothetical reader becomes, in effect, a part of the fiction itself.” ( Source

: Harmon & Holman, 427).

See Notes on The Reader, the Text, the Poem: The Transactional Theory of the Literary Work by Louise M. Rosenblatt

.

realism

"…literature that attempts to depict life in an entirely objective manner. In English, realism may be said to have…become a definite literary trend in the 19th century. In America, realism became an important movement in the 1880s…" (Source : Benet's, 858).

red herring

“An action, theme, or piece of information meant to lead a character or the reader astray. Mysteries often employ red herrings to complicate the plot and draw the reader’s attention away from the real solution, thus prolonging the pleasure of reading. The term derives from hunters’ use of the smoked fish to distract their dogs” (Source

: NYPL, 671).

roman à clef

“Literally, a novel with a key, or secret meaning. Such a work of fiction contains one or more characters and situations based upon actual persons and their lives” (Source : Benet’s, 882).

romance

“The term romance has had special meanings as a kind of fiction since the early years of the novel … In common usage, it refers to works with extravagant characters, remote and exotic places, highly exciting and heroic events, passionate love, or mysterious or supernatural experiences. In another and more sophisticated sense, romance refers to works relatively free of the more restrictive aspects of realistic verisimilitude … In America particularly, the romance has proved to be a serious, flexible, and successful medium for the exploration of philosophical ideas and attitudes, ranging through such differeing works as Hawthorne’s The Scarlet Letter, Melville’s Moby-Dick , Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, Faulkner’s Absalom, Absalom! , and Warren’s World Enough and Time ” ( Source : Harmon & Holman, 450).

Top

-S-

satire

A work of literature that aims to "expose human or institutional vices and in which a corrective is either implied or directly proposed" ( Source : Benet's, 914).

"A work or manner that blends a censorious attitude with humor and wit for improving human institutions or humanity. Satirists attempt through laughter not so much to tear down as to inspire a remodeling" ( Source : Harmon & Holman, 461). Example: Moo by Jane Smiley is a satire on academic life. sentimentality

"The effort to induce an emotional response disproportionate to the situation, and thus to substitute heightened and generally unthinking feeling for normal ethical and intellectual judgment" (Source

: Harmon & Holman, 475).

setting

"The background against which action takes place. The elements making up a setting are: (1) the geographical location, its topography, scenery, and such physical arrangements as the location of the windows and doors

in a room; (2) the occupations and daily manner of living of the characters;

(3) the time or period in which the action takes place, for example, epoch in history or season of the year; (4) the general environment of the characters, for example, religious, mental, moral, social, and emotional conditions" ( Source :Harmon & Holman, 477).

Southern gothic

“A lurid or macabre writing style native to the American South. Since the middle of the 20th century, Southern writers have interpreted and illuminated the history and culture of the region through the conventions of the Gothic narrative (or Gothic novel), which at its best provides insight into the horrors institutionalized in societies and social conventions. Foremost among these authors are William Faulkner, Flannery O’Connor, Tennessee Williams, and Carson McCullers” (Source

: NYPL, 678).

See also: gothic

Examples: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee and A Density of Souls by Christopher Rice.

speculative fiction

A general term for types of fiction that deal with alternate realities (for example, science fiction, fantasy, and occult or horror fiction). stream of consciousness

"A narrative technique developed toward the end of the 19th century, employed to evoke the psychic life of a character and depict subjective as well as objective reality…As a literary term, "stream of consciousness" generally refers to the presentation of a character's thoughts, feelings, reactions, etc., on an approximated preverbal level and with little or no direct comment or explanation by the author…In general, the term "stream of consciousness" is used as the description of mental life at the borderline of conscious thought and is characterized by the devices of association, reiteration of word- or symbol-motifs, apparent incoherence, and the reduction or elimination of normal syntax and punctuation to simulate the free flow of the character's mental processes…aspects of stream-of-consciousness techniques are evident in

工程水文学第四章知识题含答案解析

* *第四章习题 【思考题】 1、选择题水文现象是一种自然现象,它具有[D_] 。 a、不可能性; b、偶然性; c、必然性; d、既具有必然性,也具有偶然性。水文统计的任务是研究和分析水文 随机现象的[C] 。 a、必然变化特性; b、自然变化特性; c、统计变化特性; d、可能变化特性。 2 、是非题由随机现象的一部分试验资料去研究总体现象的数字特征和规律的学科 称为概率论? (x) 偶然现象是指事物在发展、变化中可能出现也可能不出现的现象?(V) 3 、简答题什么是偶然现象?有何特点? 何谓水文统计?它在工程水文中一般解决什么问题?

1、选择题 一棵骰子投掷一次,出现4点或5点的概率为[A]。 1 丄1 1 a、」; b、^ ; c、」; d、 一棵骰子投掷8次,2点出现3次,其概率为[C]。 I 1 孑丄 a、-' ; b、■-' ; c、?-'; d、'■ 2、是非题 在每次试验中一定会出现的事件叫做随机事件?(X)随机事件的概率介于0与1之间?(V) 3、简答题 概率和频率有什么区别和联系? 两个事件之间存在什么关系?相应出现的概率为多少?

1、选择题 —阶原点矩就是[A]。 a、算术平均数; b、均方差 c、变差系数; d、偏态系数 偏态系数Cs > 0 ,说明随机变量x[B]。 a、出现大于均值的机会比出现小于均值的机会多; b、出现大于均值的机会比出现小于均值的机会少; c、出现大于均值的机会和出现小于均值的机会相等; d、出现小于均值的机会为0。 水文现象中,大洪水出现机会比中、小洪水出现机会小,其频率密度曲线为[C]。 a、负偏; b、对称; c、正偏; d、双曲函数曲线。 2、是非题 x、y两个系列的均值相同,它们的均方差分别为c x、c y,已知c x >c y,说明x系列较y系列的离散程度大。 【答案】Y 统计参数Cs是表示系列离散程度的一个物理量。 [答案]N 3、简答题 分布函数与密度函数有什么区别和联系? 不及制累积概率与超过制累积概率有什么区别和联系?

水文学整理重点

绪论 水文学:研究地球上水的科学就是水文学(Hydrology)。具体来说,水文学是研究地球上水的性质、分布、循环、运动和变化规律,以及与地理环境、人类社会之间相互关系的科学。各种不同的水体是水文学的主要研究对象; 水文循环是水文学的核心内容; 人类活动的水文效应是现代水文学研究的重要内容。 水文学体系 基础学科:研究的水体对象划分:(河流水文学、湖泊水文学、沼泽水文学、冰川水文学、地下水文学等) 应用学科:工程水文学、农业水文学、土壤水文学、森林水文学、城市水文学 水文现象的主要特点: (1)水文循环永无止境 (2)水文现象的周期性和随机性 (3)水文现象区域上的相似性和差异性 第一章 水文循环过程包括蒸发、降水、径流3个阶段和水分蒸发、水汽输送、凝结降水、水分下渗、径流5个环节。 水文循环概念:是指地球上各种形态的水,在太阳辐射和地心引力等作用下,以蒸发﹑水汽输送、凝结降水、下渗和径流等方式进行周而复始的运动过程。 水循环类型: 海陆间水循环:是指从海洋表面蒸发的水汽,被气流带到大陆上空,在适当的条件下,以降水的形式降落到地面后,其中一部分蒸发到空中,另一部分经过地表和地下径流又流到海洋,这种海陆间的水循环又称大循环。 海洋小循环:海上内循环,就是海面上的水份蒸发成水汽,进入大气后在海洋上空凝结,形成降水,又降到海面的过程。 陆地小循环:是指陆面水分的一部分或者全部通过陆面、水面蒸发和植物蒸腾形成水汽,在高空冷凝形成降水,仍落到陆地上,从而完成的水的循环过程。(可以再分为大陆外流区小 循环和内流区小循环)

水文循环的作用与效应:表层结构、气候、地表形态、生态、水资源和水能资源。 土壤蒸发:土壤蒸发是发生在土壤孔隙中的水的蒸发现象,它与水面蒸发相比较,不仅蒸发面的性质不同,更重要的是供水条件的差异。 土壤蒸发是土壤失去水分的干化过程,据土壤供水条件差别及蒸发率的变化,分三个阶段:(1)定常蒸发率阶段 (2)蒸发率下降阶段 (3)蒸发率微弱阶段 形象因素:土壤孔隙性、地下水位、温度梯度等 水汽输送(我国水汽输送4个通道) 降水四要素:降水(总)量、降水历时与降水时间、降水强度、降水面积。 降水的影响因素:主要有地理位置、大气环流、天气系统、下垫面条件等 下垫面条件的影响: 地形:坡向与降水(迎风坡多雨)、高度与降水(地形的抬升增雨并非无限制的,当气流被抬升到一定的高度后,雨量达最大值。此后雨量就不再随地表高程的增加而继续增大,甚至反而减小。) 下渗 下渗动力:地表水沿岩土空隙下渗是在重力、分子力和毛管力综合作用下形成的。根据下渗过程作用力组合变化及运动特征可分成三个阶段: ①渗润阶段 ②渗漏阶段 ③渗透阶段 径流 据径流过程及途径不同,可将径流分为三种,即地面径流、地下径流及壤中流。 流域对降水的再分配作用表现 径流成分分配:它主要是在水分垂直运行中,通过下垫面而发生的,将降水分配成为不同的径流成分。有拦截、填洼、下渗 径流时程分配:它是通过水分侧向运行而体现出来的。形成出口断面的流量过程。

英美文学名词解释总结.doc

英美文学名词解释总结 Romance:Anyimaginationliteraturethatissetinanidealizedworldandth atdealswithaheroicadventuresandbattlesbetweengoodcharactersandvi llainsormonsters.传奇故事:指以理想化的世界为背景并且描写主人公的英雄冒险事迹和善与恶的斗争的想象文学作品。 Alliteration:Therepetitionoftheinitialconsonantsoundsinpoetry.头韵:诗歌中单词开头读音的重复。 Couplet:Itisapairofrhymingverselines,usuallyofthesamelength;oneoft hemostwidelyusedverse-sinEuropeanpoetry.Chaucerestablishedtheus eofcoupletsinEnglish,notablyintheCanterburyTales,usingrhymingiam bicpentameterslaterknownasheroiccoupletsBlankverse:Versewritteni nunrhymediambicpentameter.素体诗:用五音步抑扬格写的无韵诗。 Conceit:Akindofmetaphorthatmakesacomparisonbetweentwostartlin glydifferentthings.Aconceitmaybeabriefmetaphor,butitusuallyprovid estheframeworkforanentirepoem.Anespeciallyunusualandintellectual kindofconceitisthemetaphysicalconceit.新奇的比喻:将两种截然不同的食物进行对比的一种隐喻。 它虽被视为是一种隐喻,但是它往往构建了整首诗的框架,

英美文学术语(英文版)_literary_terms

英国文学 Alliteration:押头韵repetition of the initial sounds(不一定是首字母) Allegory:寓言a story with two meanings, a literal meaning and a symbolic meaning. Allusion:典故a reference in a literary work to person, place etc. often to well-known characters or events. Archetype:原型 Irony:反讽intended meaning is the opposite of what is stated Black humor:黑色幽默 Metaphor: 暗喻 Ballad: 民谣about the folk loge Epic:史诗in poetry, refers to a long work dealing with the actions of gods and heroes. Romance: 罗曼史/骑士文学is a popular literary form in the medieval England./Chivalry Euphuism: 夸饰文体This kind of style consists of two distinct elements. The first is abundant use of balanced sentences, alliterations and other artificial prosodic means. The second element is the use of odd similes and comparisons. Spenserian stanza: It refers to a stanza of nine lines, with the first eight lines in iambic pentameter and the last line in iambic hexameter. 斯宾塞诗节新诗体,每一节有9排,前8排是抑扬格五步格诗,第9排是抑扬格六步格诗。The Faerie Queene Conceit:奇特的比喻is a far-fetched simile or metaphor, occurs when the speaker compares two highly dissimilar things. 不像的事物 Sonnet: 十四行诗a lyric consisting of 14 lines, usually in iambic pentameter, restricted to a definite rhyme scheme. Blank verse: 无韵体诗written in unrhymed iambic pentameter. Elegy 挽歌 The Heroic Couplet:英雄对偶句 Lyric:抒情诗is a short poem that expresses the poet’s thoughts and emotion or illustrates some life principle. often concerns love. A red, red Rose. Byronic Hero: refers to a proud, mysterious rebel figure of noble origin. Stream of Consciousness:意识流the author tells the story through the freely flowing thoughts and associations of one of the characters. James Joyce and Virginia Woolf are two major advocates of this technique. Renaissance:文艺复兴14-15th, originated in Italy, encouraged the reformation of the Church and humanism. Humanism: 人文主义it is the essence of the Renaissance. It emphasizes the dignity of human beings and the importance of the present life. Metaphysical poetry:玄学派诗歌it is commonly used to name the work of the 17th-century writers who wrote under the influence of John Donne. With the rebellious spirit, they tried to break away from the conventional fashion of the Elizabethan love poetry. The diction is simple. John Donne, George Herbert. The Enlightenment Movement:启蒙运动18th century flourished in France. Enlighten the whole world with the light of modern philosophical and artistic ideas. reason, rationality, equality and science and universal education. John Dryden, Alexander Pope. Neoclassicism:新古典主义17-18th centuries of classical standards of standards of order, balance, and harmony in literature. Alexander Pope, Samuel Johnson. Sentimentalism:感伤主义18世纪60-80年代,came into being as a result of a bitter discontent on the part of certain enlighteners i n social reality. use of pathetic effects and attempts to arouse feeling by “pathetic” indulgence. The Graveyard School: 墓畔派whose poems are mostly devote to sentimental lamentations or meditation on

英美文学术语

1. Allusion (典故)is a reference without explicit identification, to a literary or historical person, place, or event, or to another literary work or passage. Most literary allusions are intended to be recognized by the generally educated readers of the aut hor’s time, but some are aimed at a special group. 2. Atmosphere(氛围): the prevailing mood or feeling of a literary work. Atmosphere is often developed, at least in part, through descriptions of setting. Such descriptions help to create an emotional climate to establish the reader’s expectations and attitudes. 3. Climax:as a rhetorical device it means an ascending sequence of importance. As a literary term, it can also refer to the point of greatest intensity, interest, or suspense in a story’s turning poi nt. The action leading to the climax and the simultaneous increase of tension in the plot are known as the rising action. All action after the climax is referred to as the falling action, or resolution. The term crisis is sometimes used interchangeably with climax. 4. Anticlimax(突降):it denotes a writer’s deliberate drop from the serious and elevated to the trivial and lowly, in order to achieve a comic or satiric effect. It is a rhetorical device in English. 5. Characters(人物)are the persons represented in a dramatic or narrative work, who are interpreted by the reader as being endowed with particular moral, intellectual, and emotional qualities by inferences from the dialogues, actions and motivations. E. M. Forster divides characters into two types: flat character, which is presented without much individualizing detail; and round character, which is complex in temperament and motivation and is represented with subtle particularity. 6. Comedy:(喜剧)in general, a literary work that ends happily with a healthy, amicable armistice between the protagonist and society. 7. Farce (闹剧)is a type of comedy designed to provoke the audience to simple and hearty laughter. To do so it commonly employs highly exaggerated types of characters and puts them into improbable and ludicrous situations. of other meters. 8. Hyperbole(夸张):this figure of speech called hyperbole is bold overstatement, or the extravagant exaggeration of fact or of possibility. It may be used either for serious or ironic or comic effect. 9. Understatement(轻描淡写):this figure of speech deliberately represents something as very much less in magnitude or importance than it really is, or is ordinarily considered to be. The effect is usual ly ironic. 10. Irony(反讽):This term derives from a character in a Greek comedy. In most of the modern cr itical uses of the term “irony”, there remains the root sense of dissembling or hiding what is actually the case; not, however, in order to deceive, but to achieve rhetorical or artistic effects. 11. Theme(主题):The term is usually applied to a general concept or doctrine, whether implicit or asserted, which an imaginative work is designed to incorporate and make persuasive to the reader. 12. Multiple Point of View (多重视角):It is one of the literary techniques William Faulkner used, which shows within the same story how the characters reacted differently to the same person or the same situation. The use of this technique gave the story a circular form wherein one event was the center, with various points of view radiating from it. The multiple points of view technique makes the reader recognize the difficulty of arriving at a true judgment. 13. Flashback(闪回):interpolating narratives or scenes which represent events that happened before the time at which the work opened; for example, it is used in Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman. 14. Plot(情节):The plot in a dramatic or narrative work is constituted by its events and actions, as these are rendered and ordered toward achieving particular artistic and emotional effects.

《工程水文学》考试大纲及知识点整理

2012年水文学及水资源专业硕士研究生入学复试 《工程水文学》考试大纲 一、理解地球上的水量平衡原理。 在水文循环过程中,对任意区域、任一时段进入水量与输出水量之差额必等于其蓄水量的变 化量,这 根据水量平衡原理,可列出水量平衡方程。对某一区域,有 I?O=?S 式中:I、O——给定时段内输入、输出该区域的总水量; ?S——时段内区域蓄水量的变化量,可正可负。 二、水文现象有哪些基本规律和相应的研究方法? 上可分为成因规律和统计规律两类,相应地,水文计算方法则分为成因分析法和数理统计法。也有将水文规律分为三类的,即成因规律、统计规律和地区综合规律,相应地,水文计算方法则分为成因分析法、数理统计法和地区综合法。 三、试述水文学的定义。工程水文学与水文学有何联系?主要包括哪两方面的内容? 研究自然界各种水体的存在、循环和分布,物理与化学特性,以及水体对环境的影响和作用,包括对生物特别是对人类的影响。 水文学的一个重要分支,为工程规划设计、施工建设、运行管理提供水文依据的一门科学。 工程水文学是水文学的一个重要分支,随着水利水电工程建设的大规模开展,为满足工程规划设计、施工和运行管理的迫切需要,水文工作者针对提出的问题,进行大量的、深入的试验研究,使水文学发展到工程水文学阶段。 水文计算、水利计算、水文预报(水文分析与计算及水文预报)。 四、何谓年径流?它的表示方法和度量单位是什么? 一年期间通过河流某一断面或流域出口断面的总水量。 径流可以用年径流总量W(m3)、年平均流量Q(m3/s)、年径流深R (mm)及年径流模数M(mm/s·km2)等表示。

五、水文循环的重要环节有哪些?水文循环的内因和外因是什么? 蒸发、水汽输送、降水和径流。 2. 水循:水具有固、液、气三态互相转化的物理特性。 3. 水循:太阳辐射和地球的重力作用。 六、简述水文测站的类型并说明水文测站布设的基本内容。 :基本站和专用站。 2. 布设 建站包括选择测验河段和布设观测断面。 水文测站一般应布设基线、水准点和各种断面,即基本水尺断面、流速仪测流断面、浮标测流断面及比降断面。 (1)基本水尺断面上设立基本水尺,用来进行经常地水位观测。 (2)测流断面应与基本水尺断面重合,且与断面平均流向垂直。若不能重合时,已不能相距过远。 (3)浮标测流断面有上、中、下三个断面,一般中断面应与测流仪测流断面重合。上、下断面之间的间距不宜太短,其距离应为断面最大流速的50~80倍。 (4)比降断面设立比降水尺,用来观测河流的水面比降和分析河床的糙率。 七、什么是流域?流域的分水线是什么?简述流域的类型。 地面水和地下水的区域称为流域,也就是分水线包围的区域。 邻流域的分界线,称为分水线。 分水线有地面、地下之分。 八、径流的形成过程如何?影响径流的主要因素是哪三个? 是指降水所形成的,沿着流域地面和地下向河川、湖泊、水库、洼地等流动的水流。 流域内,自降雨开始到水流汇集到流域出口断面的整个物理过程,称为径流形成过程。径流形成过程是一个相当复杂的过程,为了便于分析,一般把它概括为产流过程和汇流过程两个阶段。

英美文学专有名词术语解释

Literary Terms(文学术语解释) *Legend(传说): A song or narrative handed down from the past, legend differs from myths on the basis of the elements of historical truth they contain. *Epic(史诗): 1)Epic, in poetry, refers to a long work dealing with the actions of gods and heroes. 2)Beowulf is the greatest national epic of the Anglo-Saxons. John Milton wrote three great epics: Paradise Lost, Paradise Regained and Samson Agonistes. *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. *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. *The Heroic Couplet(英雄对偶句):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. *Humanism(人文主义):1)Humanism is the essence of the Renaissance. It emphasizes the dignity of human beings and the importance of the present life. 2)Humanists voiced their beliefs that man was the center of the universe and man did not only have the right to enjoy the beauty of the present life, but had the ability to prefect himself and to perform wonders. *Renaissance(文艺复兴):1)It refers to the transitional period from the medieval to the modern world. It first started in Italy in the 14th century. 2)The Renaissance means rebirth or revival. 3)It was stimulated by a series of historical events, such as the rediscovery of ancient Roman and Greek classics, the new discoveries in geography and astrology, the religious reformation and the economic expansion. 4)Humanism is the essence of Renaissance. 5)The English Renaissance didn’t begin until the reign of Henry Ⅷ. It was reg arded as England’s Golden Age, especially in literature. 6)The real mainstream of the English Renaissance is the Elizabethan drama. 7)This period produced such literary giants as Shakespeare, Spenser, Marlowe, Bacon, Donne and Milton, etc. *University Wits(大学才子): 1)It refers to a group of scholars during the Elizabethan age who graduate from either Oxford or Cambridge. They came to London with the ambition to become professional writers. Some of them later become famous poets and playwrights. 2)Thomas Greene, John Lily and Christopher Marlowe were among them. 3)They paved the way, to some degree, for the coming of Shakespeare. *Blank verse(无韵体):1)It is verse written in unrhymed iambic pentameter. 2)It is the verse form used in some of the greatest English poetry, including that of William Shakespeare and John Milton. *Spenserian Stanza(斯宾塞诗节):1)It is the creation of Edmund Spenser. 2)It refers to a stanza of nine lines, with the first eight lines in iambic pentameter and the last line in iambic hexameter(六音步),r hyming ababbcbcc. 3)Spenser’s The Faerie Queene was written in this kind of stanza. *Sonnet(十四行诗)1)It is the one of the most conventional and influential forms of poetry in English.2)A sonnet is a lyric consisting of 14 lines, usually in iambic pentameter, restricted to a definite rhyme scheme.3)Shakespeare’s sonnets are well-known. *Soliloquy(独白)1)Soliloquy, in drama, means a moment when a character is alone and speaks his or her thoughts aloud. 2)In the line “To be, or not to be, that is the question”, which begins the famous soliloquy from Act3, Scene1 of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. In this soliloquy Hamlet questions whether or not life is worth living and speaks of the reasons why he does not end his life. *Metaphysical Poets(玄学派诗人):They refer to a group of religious poets in the first half of the 17th century whose works were characterized by their wit, imaginative picturing, compressions, often cryptic expression, play of paradoxes and juxtapositions of metaphor. *Enlightenment Movement(启蒙运动)1)It was a progressive intellectual movement which flourished in France and swept through Western Europe in the 18th century.2)The movement was a furtherance of the Renaissance from 14th century to the mid-17th century.3)Its purpose was to enlighten the whole world with the light of modern philosophical and artistic ideas.4)It celebrated reason or nationality, equality and science. It advocated universal education. Literature at the time became a very popular means of public education.5)Famous among the great enlighteners in England were those great writers like John Dryden, Pope, Johnson, Swift, Defoe, Fielding, Sheridan, etc. Neoclassicism(新古典主义)1)In the field of literature, the 18th century Enlightenment Movement brought about a revival of interest in the old classical works. This tendency is known as neoclassicism.2)The neoclassicists hold that forms of literature were to be modeled after the classical works of the ancient Greek and Roman writers such as Homer and Virgil and those of the contemporary French ones.3)They believed that the artistic ideas should be order, logic, restrained emotion and accuracy, and that literature should be judged in terms of its service to humanity *Sentimentalism(感伤主义文学)1)It is a pejorative term to describe false or superficial emotion, assumed feeling, self-regarding postures of grief and pain.2)In literature it denotes overmuch use of pathetic effects and attempts to arouse feeling by pathetic indulgence.3)The Vicar of Wakefield by Oliver Goldsmith is a case in point. *The Graveyard School(墓地派诗歌)1)It refers to a school of poets of the 18th century whose poems are mostly devoted to a sentimental lamentation or meditation on life, past and present, with death and graveyard as theams.2)Thomas Gray is considered to be the leading figure of this school and his Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard is its most representative work. *Epistolary novel(书信体小说)1)It consists of the letters the characters write to each other. The usual form is the letter, but diary entries, newspaper clippings and other documents are sometimes used.2)The epistolary novel’s reliance on subjective poi nts of view makes it the forerunner of the modern psychological novel.3)Samuel Richardson’s Pamela is typical of this kind. *Gothic Romance(哥特传奇)1)A type of novel that flourished in the late 18th and early 19th century in England.2)Gothic romances are mysteries, often involving the supernatural and heavily tinged with horror, and they are usually against dark backgrounds of medieval ruins and haunted castles. *Picaresque novel(流浪汉小说)1)It is a popular sub-genre of prose fiction which is usually satirical and depicts in realistic and often humorous detail the adventures of a roguish hero of low social class who lives by his or her wits in a corrupt society. 2)As indicated by its name, this style of novel originated in Spain, flourished in Europe in the 17th and 18th centuries, and continues to influence modern literature. *English Romanticism(英国浪漫主义文学)1)The English Romantic period is an age of poetry. Poets started a rebellion against the neoclassical literature, which was later regarded as the poetic revolution. They saw poetry as a healing energy; they believed that poetry could purify both individual souls and the society.2)The Lyrical Ballads by Wordsworth and Coleridge in 1798 acts as a manifesto for the English Romanticism.3)The Romantics not only eulogize the faculty of imagination, but also stress the concept of spontaneity and inspiration, regarding them as something crucial for true poetry.4)The natural world comes to the forefront of the poetic imagination. Nature is not only the major source of poetic imagery, but also provides the dominant subject matter. *Ode(颂歌)1)Ode is a dignified and elaborately lyric poem of some length, praising and glorifying an individual, commemorating an event, or describing nature intellectually rather than emotionally.2)John Keats wrote great odes. His Ode on a Grecian Urn is a case in point. *Lake Poets(湖畔派诗人)They refer to such romantic poets as William Wordsworth, Samuel Coleridge and Robert Southey who lived in the Lake District. They came to be known as the Lake School or “Lakers”. *Byronic hero(拜伦式英雄): It refers to a proud, mysterious rebel figure of noble origin. With immense superiority in his passions and powers, this Byronic hero would carry on his shoulders the burden of righting all the wrongs in a corrupt society, and would rise single-handedly against any kind of tyrannical rules either in government, in religion, or in moral principles with

相关主题