“To be, or not to be —— that is the question;

Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,

Or to take arms against a sea of troubles,

And by opposing end them?”

Questions:

A.Who is the writer of this work? What’s the title of the work?

B.What does the phrase “to take arms against a sea of troubles ” mean?

C.How do you understand the quotation “To be, or not to be -that is the question”?

A Rose for Emily is one of Faulkner’s short stories. Discuss the character of Emily Grierson and how this character is depicted.

What is the most famous theme in Henry James’s fiction? And what is his favourate approach in characterization, which makes him different from Mark Twain and W. D. Howlles as realists? Give two titles of his works of his first period in which this theme and this approach are employed.

“Young Goodman Brown”is one of Hawthorne’s most profound tales.

What is the allegorical meaning of Brown, the protagonist? What does Hawthorne set out to prove in this tale? How does Melville comment on Hawthorne’s manner of concerning with guilt and evil?

Please elaborate Wordsworth’s theory of poetry, taking examples from the poems you have learned to support your ideas.

Thomas Hardy is often regarded as a transitional writer. Some critics believe that he is emotionally traditional and intellectually advanced. How do you understand this idea?

What are the features of George Bernard Shaw’s characterization in his plays?

“ We passed the School, where Children strove

At Recess- in the Ring-

We passed the Fields of Gazing Grain -

We Passed the Setting Sun- ”

( From Emily Dickinson’s poem Because I could not stop for Death)

Questions:

A.What does the phrase “Fields of Gazing Grain” symbolize?

B.What figure of speech is used in the poem?

C.What are Dickinson’s unique writing features?

“Beside a pumice isle in Baiae’s bay,

And saw in sleep old palaces and towers 

Quivering within the wave’s intenser day,

All overgrown with azure moss and flowers

So sweet, the sense faints picturing them!

Thou For whose path the Atlantic’s level powers”

(From Shelley’s“ Ode to the West Wind”)

Questions:

A.In what form. is the poem written?

B.What does the quotation“ the sense faints picturing them” mean?

C.What idea does Shelley express in this poem?

(A lot of common objects have been enumerated in the previous lines, and here are the last two lines of the poem. )

“The horizon’s edge, the flying sea - crow, the fragrance of salt marsh and shore mud.

These became part of that child who went forth every day, and who now goes, and will always go forth every day. ”

Questions:

A.Who is the author of this poem? What is the title of the poem?

B.What does the child stand for in the poem?

C.How do you understand “ These became part of the child” ?

“The Birthmark” drives home symbolically Hawthorne’s point that ______ is man’s birthmark, something he is born with.