美国文学选读复习资料(二)(共13页).doc

精选优质文档-倾情为你奉上【NOVELS & ESSAYS】The Autobiography1. Why did Franklin write his Autobiography? Franklin says that because his son may wish to know about his life, he is taking his one week vacation in the English countryside to record his past. He also says that he has enjoyed his life and would like to repeat it. Franklin begins by stating five reasons for writing his Autobiography. First, since he has always enjoyed anecdotes about his ancestors, he hopes his own life story will interest his son. Second, since he was a poor boy who found fame and fortune, he hopes his story will provide others with a good model to imitate. Third, since he can't relive his life as he would like to do, he will relive it through memories, and by recording the memories, make his life durable. Fourth, his writing will allow him to reminisce without boring any listeners. And fifth, his account will gratify his vanity. 2. What made Franklin decide to leave the brother to whom he had been apprenticed? His brother was passionate, and had often beaten him. The aversion to arbitrary power that has stuck to him through his whole life. After a brush with the law, Franklin left his brother.3. How did he arrive in Philadelphia?First he set out in a boat for Amboy, the boat dropped him off about 50 miles from Burlington. The next day he reached Burlington on foot, and in Burlington he found a boat which was going towards Philadelphia. He arrived there about eight or nine oclock, on the Sunday morning and landed at the Market Street wharf.4. What features do you find in the style of the above selection? It is the pattern of Puritan simplicity, directness, and concision. The narrative is lucid(易懂的), the structure is simple, the imagery is homely(朴素的). Franklin believes that good writing was smooth, clear, and short. It is an amusing to say that Franklin's prose meets his personal criteria. The simplicity of the style is a very dominant characteristic. His objective tone also is an important stylistic characteristic. His apparent willingness to acknowledge his own imperfections, and his understated accounts of his own triumphs, make him appear a man who keeps as sharp an eye on himself as he does on others. The apparent objectivity explains a great deal of the trust and consequent admiration the Autobiography inspires. Another pleasing stylistic characteristic is Franklin's willingness to speculate about the emotions or attitudes causing men to act as they did. Finally, the style of The Autobiography delights as a reflection of the man himself. Franklin's style also fulfills the literary ideals upheld by the eighteenth century: whether long or short, the sentences are compact, the grammatical structures carefully and tightly controlled to make meaning instantly evident, and the vocabulary forceful and direct. While the word is so vague that it covers almost any writing that pleases the reader, most critics end by saying that Franklin's style had grace. 5. The author went through many events and frustrations on his way to Philadelphia. Please summarize some of the events and make comments about them. (1) In his early year, Franklin signed a contract to work for his brother James printer. However, the two brothers didnt get along. Franklin particularly resented James's beatings. Later James was put in jail; it gave Franklin a chance to escape from the unequal contract. James's revenge was to prevent Franklin from getting a job at any other printer in Boston. At this point, Franklin decided to try his luck in New York. There is a growing passion in Franklins mind. He was unpleasant with his unjust fate and strove for a fair one. Especially when he was revenged by his brother, he made up his mind to make fortune on his own at somewhere else, and immediately he set out. The resolution and venture are particularly valued. This also lays foundation for his future success. (2) In New York, Franklin failed in job and was advised to go to Philadelphia. Then Franklin started his way by boat. On the way, a squall tore up sails and drove Franklin's boat off course. He had to sleep in the boat all night, drenching wet, without food to eat or water to drink. However, misfortunes never come alone. Let alone minor frustrations, he had arrived almost penniless in Philadelphia. We could say that he totally started from scratch. It is never easy to achieve success. Fortunately, Franklin didnt give up even having confronted so many frustrations. It is said that failures build success. We can do nothing facing the visitation of Providence, however, a determined spirit is never indispensable to be mentally invincible, just as what Franklin do on his way to success. Theme of Literature and WritingFranklin's a printer by profession, and reading and writing the printed word is what shapes his life. He treats his life like a book, using metaphors of printing and reading like calling his mistakes "errata" (printing errors) to shape his place in the world. Reading is what brings him his greatest pleasure and writing is how he defines himself. The Autobiography of Franklin Franklin reminds us of the importance literature holds in any society. For Franklin, founding a library and a university giving people access to books and to knowledge through those books provides people with something he sees as just as necessary as other basic life needs, like health care or defense.Pilgrim's Progress by John BunyanBunyan's text, written in 1678, is Franklin's favorite book. It's also a famous allegory about how Christians can make it through the hard parts of life in order to get to heaven. (If you'd like to learn more about it or how it works as an allegory, .) It also acts as his benchmark for what a really good book is, a kind of ideal to which Franklin aspires. So, Pilgrim's Progress serves to tell us both what kind of reader Franklin is and what kind of writer he wishes to be. As one of our beloved college professors taught us, we can also think of the Autobiography as a modified Pilgrim's Progress. Franklin has to pass through the Valley of Shadow (Boston), conquer Vanity Fair (his work on virtue), etc., to help establish a new Celestial City in Philadelphia. While Bunyan's Christian just wants to get to his Celestial City, which is really heaven, Franklin wants to help create his. This gets even more interesting when we think about how Franklin is a pious guy who believes in God, but doesn't really hang with organized religion. Perfecting Philadelphia creating a militia, fire department, library, hospital, and university is a way of creating a new kind of heavenly place, one where virtue is celebrated and many religions are practiced, and where the holiest thing you can do, perhaps, is read. (For more on Philadelphia, check out our section on "Setting.")ErrataPerhaps because Franklin's a printer by profession, examples from that trade are sprinkled throughout the Autobiography. The most notable of these is "errata," which is printer-speak for errors. See, before word-processing and computers, people used printing machines that were a lot more like typewriters. If you've ever used a machine like that, you know that you can't erase a mistake once you make one: you're left with a permanent error. Franklin uses this word to talk about the mistakes he makes; whenever he wants to say he screwed up or did something badly, he frames it as one of his "errata." We get the sense that these mistakes have really left marks on him, and that they've left almost tangible impressions on his character. His word usage also calls attention to his dual role as both author of the Autobiography and its subject, since it reminds us of the physical and technical elements of writing and publishing a book, while also underscoring the profession of its main character.Protagonist As the hero/central character of the Autobiography, Franklin has lots in common with the traditional protagonist figure. Some critics even see him as the hero of a bildüngsroman the story of a young person's growth like David Copperfield or Jane Eyre. Considering that we meet Franklin as a young boy in poor circumstances and follow him through his education, as well as conflicts big and small, this makes a lot of sense. Along the way, we watch him make what will become a modern city. We don't see his story come to a complete conclusion, like what a fictional work's protagonist might experience, but the lack of a proper "end" to his journey doesn't take away from the beginning or the middle. Like we say in our "Character Analysis" of Franklin, he really is the center of this book, almost entirely the sum of its parts. Without him, this book has no raison d'être, or reason for being. If that's not a good position for a protagonist to be in, we don't know what is.Guide MentorFranklin's his own guide and mentor, in addition to being this work's protagonist. Consider how Franklin gets to Philadelphia all on his own, makes it in the printing business by hook or by crook, and slowly rises to the top of the civil service game. He's the one who encourages himself to keep reading, learning, and thinking. In effect, he becomes his own teacher, and it's clear he learns a lot from his self-designed educational programs. Sure, Franklin gets help and advice from a few specific folks along the way, but the real constant is his inner self, a voice advocating virtues, principles, and education. He really is a self-made man.Summary In Part 1, Franklin talks about his reasons for writing the Autobiography, saying that since you can't live your life over again, the next best thing is to recapture it by writing it down. He describes his early life in Boston, his love for reading, and his job training. Franklin apprentices as a printer to his brother James, but he hates working for him, and runs away to Philadelphia at age sixteen.The Cask of Amontillado1. How many characters does Poe include in The Cask of Amontillado? What are there names?Montresor, Fortunato and Luchesi. Montresor is a French name meaning "my treasure".2. Does Montresor have something of great value to him which we might consider to be his treasure?His pride and the pride of his French family heritage. Perhaps his devious plot of revenge.3. How did Fortunato cause Montresor to lose face in the story? The third paragraph of the story appears in full below. Read it carefully and try to imagine how Fortunato might have insulted Montresor. "He had a weak pointthis Fortunatoalthough in other regards he was a man to be respected and even feared. He prided himself on his connoisseurship in wine. Few Italians have the true virtuoso spirit. For the most part their enthusiasm is adopted to suit the time and opportunity to practice imposture upon the British and Austrian millionaires. In painting and gemmary Fortunato, like his countrymen, was a quack, but in the matter of old wines he was sincere. In this respect I did not differ from him materially;I was skillful in the Italian vintages myself, and bought largely whenever I could."4. Does Montresor seem to have much respect for Italians? Which lines in the paragraph above reveal his contempt?Montresor does not have much respect for Italians. He feels the French are superior, especially with respect to wine. The following lines reveal this (p135, paragraph 3): "Few Italians have the true virtuoso spirit. For the most part their enthusiasm is adopted to suit the time and opportunity to practice imposture upon the British and Austrian millionaires. In painting and gemmary Fortunato, like his countrymen, was a quack."5. What was Fortunato's insult?Poe does not tell us directly, but only implies it in the third paragraph (p 135, paragraph 3): ".but in the matter of old wines he was sincere. In this respect I did not differ from him materially;I was skillful in the Italian vintages myself, and bought largely whenever I could." Poe reveals a potential source of rivalry or competition between the two: their expertise in wine. Fortunato probably insulted Montresor's knowledge of vintage Italian wines. By insulting Montresor, Fortunato has insulted Montresor's family name and the French race. 6. Why does Montresor entertain Fortunato with wines from his collection? Montresor wants to get Fortunato drunk enough to be able to trap him in his plan of vengeance.7. In what two ways does Montresor imprison Fortunato?He fetters (chains and locks) Fortunato to the wall of the catacombs. He builds a wall to close Fortunato off in a small corner of the catacombs, where Montresor will leave him to die.8. In what ways is The Cask of Amontillado grotesque? First, which of Montresor's actions are abnormal?The whole obsessive plot of vengeance. The fettering and entombment of Fortunato. Montresor's sick sense of humor. 9. Is there anything grotesque about Fortunato?His obsession with alcohol. His drunkenness. His tendency to berate Luchesi (he may have been drunk and may have insulted Montresor in a similar fashion). His manic laughter. 10. What is the pretext Montresor uses to lure Fortunado to his wine cellar? He claims that he has just got a cask of Amontilado and stores it in the wine cellar before he may find a connoisseur to testify to its authenticity.11. What happens to Fortunado in the end? The deceived Fortunado is killed because of his inability of getting out of the catacomb.12. Describe briefly how Poe characterizes Mortresor and Fortunado as contrasts.Poe characterizes Mortresor and Fortunado as seemingly contrasting characters chiefly by presenting their identical habit in wine and their different manners towards each other, but actually he intends to show some similarly defective aspects in their nature. The similarity in their nature is also suggested by their names as synonyms in Italian: Mortresor means “fortune” while Fortunado means “treasure”. Their defective nature is highlighted when the revenger Mortresor, who is fully prepared on psychological and operating levels, throws the hardly prepared but totally deceived wrong-doer Fortunado into the deep and damp catacomb and blocks up its entrance with huge rocks. 13. Who is the narrator? What wrong does he want to redress? It is Montresor. Fortunato has given Montresor thousands of injuries that he has to bear before he has this opportunity of taking revenge.Themes Revenge: Fortunato had committed many offenses against Montresor, the last one an insult, according to Montresor. Deception: To lure Fortunato into the catacombs, Montresor deceives Fortunato, telling him he wants to taste some wine to determine whether it is genuine Amontillado. Pride: Fortunato readily accepts Montresor's invitation to taste wine and determine whether it is genuine Amontillado, for Fortunato believes himself to be a great wine connoisseur. So proud is he