安徽专升本2011年安徽科技学院英语专业课英国文学辅导班的资料.ppt

English Literature 2010.4 Contents of English literature Part I Ancient Literature The two origins of European culture: “二希”（希腊、希伯来）, they are interactive as well as contradictory in the long history 1. Greco-Roman Element 2. Judeo-Christian Element A. Greek and Roman Origin “Man” or “human” is the core of Greek and Roman culture Ancient Greek literature sang highly to individualism and affirmed the secular life B. Judeo-Christian Origin Hebrew culture values the soul instead of the flesh, the group vs the individual and the next life vs the secular life. C. Old English Literature Beowulf It is an Anglo-Saxon national epic, in alliterative verse. Part II. Medieval Literature Blank verse: unrhymed iambic pentameter Free verse: rhythmical lines varying in length, adhering to no fixed metrical pattern, usu. unrhymed. Rhythm: it is communicated by the arrangement of stressed and unstressed syllables. Rhyme: the repetition of the stressed vowel sound and all succeeding sounds Part II. Medieval Literature Geoffrey Chaucer Question 1: Chaucer’s position in English literature 1) Messenger of humanism: He affirmed man’s right to pursue earthly happiness and opposed Asceticism, praised man’s energy, quick wit and love of life. 2) The first realistic writer: Compared with romance’s religious poetry and Langland’s dream vision, Chaucer, presented a comprehensive realistic picture of the English society and created a whole gallery of vivid characters from all works of life. Part II. Medieval Literature Question 1: Chaucer’s position in English literature 3) “Father ” of English poetry and novel: Chaucer introduced from France the rhymed stanzas to replace the Old English alliterative verse. Heroic couplet and octosyllabic couplet were employed in many of his poems. Part II. Medieval Literature Question 1: Chaucer’s position in English literature 4) Master of the English language Chaucer was the fi