1、11. epic 史诗An epic is a long oral narrative poem that operates on a grand scale and deals with legendary or historical events of national or universal significance .Most epics deal with the exploits of a single individual and also interlace the main narrative with myths, legends, folk tales and past
2、 events; there is a composite effect, the entire culture of a country cohering in the overall experience of the poem . Epic poems are not merely entertaining stories of legendary or historical heroes; they summarize and express the nature or ideals of an entire nation at a significant or crucial per
3、iod of its history.2. caesura 停顿a break or pause in a line of poetry, dictated by the natural rhythm of the language and sometimes enforced by punctuation. In Old English verse, such as Beowulf, the caesura was used rather monotonously to indicate the half line.3. alliteration 头韵the repetition of th
4、e same sound or sounds at the beginning of two or more words that are close to each other. It is a feature of Beowulf and other Old English poems.4. alliterative verse 头韵诗poetry written in alliteration. Nearly all Old English verse, including Beowulf, is heavily alliterative, and the pattern is fair
5、ly standard with either two or three stressed syllables in each line alliterating.5. kenning 隐喻语a metaphor usually composed of two words and used for description and association. Beowulf is full of kennings, such as “helmet bearer” for “warrior” and “swan road” for “sea”.6. protagonist 主角the princip
6、al character of a drama or fiction. Hamlet is the protagonist of William Shakespeares drama Hamlet.7. antagonist 反角In drama or fiction the antagonist opposes the hero or protagonist. In Hamlet Claudius is antagonist to Hamlet.8. romance 传奇a type of literature that was popular in the Middle Ages, usu
7、ally containing adventures and reflecting the spirit of chivalry. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight was a great verse romance, but its author remains unknown.9. bob and wheel 诗节末尾的短行与叠唱a rhyming section of five lines that concludes a stanza in Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The “bob” is a very short
8、 line, sometimes of only two syllables, followed by the “wheel”, longer lines with three stresses and internal thyme.10. poets corner 诗人角a part of Westminster Abbey, London, which contains the tombs or monuments of some famous English poets, such as Geoffrey Chaucer and John Milton.11. heroic couple
9、t 英雄双韵体Two successive lines of rhymed poetry in iambic pentameter. Geoffrey Chaucers masterpiece The Canterbury Tale was written in heroic couplet. 2Named from its use by Dryden and others in the heroic drama of the late 17th century, the heroic couplet had been established much earlier by Chaucer a
10、s a major English verse-form for narrative and other kinds of non-dramatic portry: it dominated English poetry of the 18th century, notably in the couplets of Pope, before declining in importance in the early 19th century.12. ballad meter 民谣体traditionally a four-line stanza containing alternating fo
11、ur-stress and three-stress lines, usually with a refrain and the rhyme scheme of abcb. Robert Burns “A Red, Red Rose” is a great love ballad.13. refrain 叠句，副歌a phrase, line or lines repeated at intervals during a poem and especially at the end of a stanza. It is very often found in English ballads,
12、such as Robert Burns “A Red, Red Rose”.14. English Renaissance 英国文艺复兴the literary flowering of England in the late 16th century and early 17th century, with humanism as its keynote. William Shakespeares Hamlet is considered the summit of this renaissance. Renaissance(文艺复兴) The word “renaissance” mea
13、ns rebirth or revival. It is commonly applied to the movement or period in western civilization , which marks the transition from the medieval to the modern world . It sprang up first in Italy in the 14th century and gradually spread all over Europe, the date differing for different countries. The R
14、enaissance indicates a revival of classical (Greek and Roman) arts and sciences after the dark ages of medieval obscurantism. The study and propagation of classical learning and art was carried on by the progressive thinkers of the humanists. They held their chief interest not in ecclesiastical know
15、ledge, but in man, his environment and doings and his brave fight for the emancipation of man from the tyranny of the church and religious dogmas. Because in the ancient Greek and Roman mythology were found the ideas of universal love, respect to human beings and approval of mans power, ability and
16、knowledge. And at the same time worldly enjoyment on the earth was affirmed. In short, man became the center of the world instead of God as upheld in the Middle Ages. The Renaissance Movement is a great revolution carried out in the fourteenth to the mid-seventeenth century Europe. It broke the chai
17、n and bondage of feudal and theological ties and brought human wisdom and capacity into full play.15. Elizabethan literature 伊丽莎白时代的文学literature written in the Elizabethan Age (1558-1603). William Shakespeares Romeo and Juliet was a masterpiece of this period.16. sonnet 十四行诗a fixed form consisting o
18、f fourteen lines of 5-foot iambic verse. It first flourished in Italy in the 14th century. William Shakespeare was a great English sonnet writer famous for his 154 sonnets.17. iambic pentameter 五步抑扬格the basic line in English verse, with five feet in a line, usually an unaccented 3syllable followed b
19、y an accented syllable. It was probably introduced by Geoffrey Chaucer and certainly established by him in The Canterbury Tales.18. meter 格律the pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in verse. In English verse a line may have a fixed number of syllables and yet have a varying number of stresse
20、s; the commonest meter is iambic. William Shakespeares sonnets are written in iambic.19. foot 音步a group of syllables forming a metrical unit. We measure feet in terms of syllable variation: long and short syllables, stressed and unstressed. The commonest foot in English verse is iamb; the commonest
21、line is five-foot line, called pentameter. William Shakespeares “Sonnet 18” contains fourteen iambic pentameter lines.20. rhyme scheme 押韵格式the pattern of end-thymes in a stanza or poem, generally described by using letters of the alphabet to denote the recurrence of rhyming lines. For example, heroi
22、c couplets are “aabbcc” and so on.21. quatrain 四行诗节a stanza of four lines, rhymed or unrhymed. It is the commonest of all stanzaic forms in English poetry. Robert Burns “A Red, Red Rose” has four quatrains.22. image 意象a concrete representation of an object or sensory experience. Typically, such a re
23、presentation helps evoke the feelings associated with the object or experience itself. Many images are conveyed by figurative language. An image may be visual, olfactory, tactile, auditory, gustatory, abstract and kinaesthetic. The rose in Robert Burns poem “A Red, Red Rose” is a beautiful image.23.
24、 poetic license 诗的破格the liberty allowed to the poet to wrest the language according to his needs in the use of figurative speech, archaism, rhyme, strange syntax, etc. An example is the last sentence of “A Red, Red Rose” by Robert Burns “Tho it were ten thousand mile!”24. verse drama 诗剧drama written
25、 in the form of verse. It was most widely used in the Elizabethan Age. William Shakespeares dramas are all verse dramas, Hamlet being the most famous.25. blank verse 无韵诗，素体诗unrhymed iambic pentameter, the most widely used of English verse forms and usually used in English dramatic and epic poetry. W
26、illiam Shakespeares play Hamlet is written in blank verse.26. Globe Theatre 环球剧场One of the most famous of all theatres, it was built in 1599, with three stories. The roof was thatched, with the centre open to the sky. Many of William Shakespeares plays were performed in it. It was destroyed by fire
27、in 1613, rebuilt the next year and finally demolished in 1644. Again it was rebuilt in 1997.27. essay 散文4a composition, usually in prose, which may be of only a few hundred words or of book length and which discusses, formally or informally, a topic or a variety of topics. It is one of the most flex
28、ible and adaptable of all literary forms. Francis Bacon is a great essayist; his “Of Studies” is a model of good essay.28. English Romanticism 英国浪漫主义a literary movement that aimed at free expression of the writers ideas and feelings and flourished in the early 19th century England. A great represent
29、ative of this movement is Percy Bysshe Shelley, the author of “Ode to the West Wind”.29. lake poets 湖畔诗人are a group of English poets who all lived in the Lake District of England at the turn of the nineteenth century. They are considered part of the Romantic Movement. The three main figures of what
30、has become known as the Lakes School are William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, and Robert Southey. 30. poet laureate 桂冠诗人A poet honored for his artistic achievement or selected as most representative of his country or era; in England, a court official appointed by the sovereign, whose origina
31、l duties included the composition of odes in honor of the sovereigns birthday and in celebration of state occasions of importance. William Wordsworth became poet laureate in 1843.31. Humanism(人文主义) Broadly, this term suggests any attitude which tends to exalt the human element or stress the importan
32、ce of human interests, as opposed to the supernatural , divine elements -or as opposed to the grosser, animal elements.In a more specific sense, humanism suggests a devotion to those studies supposed to promote human culture most effectively-in particular, those dealing with the life,thought, langua
33、ge, and literature of ancient Greece and Rome. It proclaimed that man is the most important noble creature in the world; the goal of life is to enjoy oneself in this present world instead of afterlife. According to the humanists ; both man and world are hindered by external checks from infinite impr
34、ovement. Man could mould the world according to his desires, and attain happiness by removing all external checks by the exercise of reason. In literary history the most important use of the term is to designate the revival of classical culture which accompanied the Renaissance. 32. Ode(颂歌) Long, of
35、ten elaborate formal lyric poem of varying line lengths dealing with a subject matter and treating it reverently. It aims at glorifying an individual, commemorating an event, or describing nature intellectually rather than emotionally. Conventionally, many odes are written or dedicated to a specifie
36、 subject. For instance,Ode to the West Wind is about the winds that bring change of season in England. Ode to the Nightingale is about the nightingale that lures the poet temporarily away from his great misery. The earliest English odes include the Epithalamion and the Prothalamion,or marriage hymns
37、 by poet Edmund Spenser.33. Romanticism(浪漫主义 ) The term refers to the literary and artistic movements of the late 18th and early 19th century. Romanticism rejected the earlier philosophy of the Enlightenment, which stressed that logic and reason were the best response humans had in the face of cruel
38、ty, stupidity, superstition, and barbarism. Instead ,the Romantics asserted that reliance upon emotion and natural passions provided a valid 5and powerful means of knowing and a reliable guide to ethics and living.The Romantic movement typically asserts the unique nature of the individual, the privi
39、leged status of imagination and fancy, the value of spontaneity over “artifice” and “convention”, the human need for emotional outlets, the rejection of civilized corruption, and a desire to return to natural primitivism and escape the spiritual destruction of urban life Their writings are often set
40、 in rural, or Gothic settings and they show an obsessive concern with “innocent” characters-children, young lovers, and animals. The major Romantic poets included William Blake, William Wordsworth, John Keats , Percy Bysshe Shelley, and Lord Gordon Byron. 34. Aestheticism( 美学主义) The basic theory of
41、the Aesthetic movement-“art for arts sake”-was set forth by a French poet, Theophile Gautier. The first Englishman who wrote about the theory of aestheticism was Walter Pater, the most important critical writer of the late 19th century. The chief representative of the movement in England was Oscar W
42、ilde,with his Picture of Dorian Gray. Aestheticism places art above life, and holds that life should imitate art, not art imitate life. According to the aesthetes, all artistic creation is absolutely subjective as opposed to objective. Art should be free from any influence of egoism. Only when art i
43、s for arts sake,can it be immortal They believed that art should be unconcerned with controversial issues, such as politics and morality, and that it should be restricted to contributing beauty in a highly polished style. This was one of the reactions against the materialism and commercialism of the
44、 Victorian industrial era, as well as a reaction against the Victorian convention of art for moralitys sake, or art for moneys sake. 35. Stream of Consciousness(意识流) (psychol organized by William James) individual conscious experience regarded as continuously moving forward in time in an uneven flow
45、. In creative writing the interior monologue makes use of this to reveal character and comment on life.（由威廉詹姆士创立的心理学）个人的内心体验以不平衡的方式不断流动着。创作中，内心独白技巧利用这种意识的流动揭示人物心理，点评生活。 36. Critical Realism (批判现实主义) Critical realism is one of the literary genres that flourished mainly in the 19th century. It reveals
46、 the corrupting influence of the rule of cash upon human nature. Here lies the essentially democratic and humanistic character of critical realism. The English critical realists of the 19th century not only gave a satirical portrayal of the bourgeoisie and all the ruling classes, but also showed pro
47、found sympathy for the common people. In their best works, they used humor and satire to contrast the greed and hypocrisy of the upper classes with the honesty and good-heartedness of the obscure “simple people” of the lower classes. Humorous scenes set off the actions of the positive characters, an
48、d the humor is often tinged with a lyricism which serves to stress the fine qualities of such characters. At the same time,bitter satire and grotesque is used to expose the seamy side of the bourgeois society. The critical realists, however, did not find a way to eradicate the 6social evils they kne
49、w so well. They did not realize the necessity of changing the bourgeois society through conscious human effort. Their works do not point toward revolution but rather evolution or reformism. They often start with a powerful exposure of the ugliness of the bourgeois world in their works, but their novels usually have happy endings or an impotent compromise at the end. Here are the strength and weakness of critical realism. 37. Gothic(哥特式 ) As a word Gothic on the one hand means “of or in a style of building common in Western Europe between the 12th
