1、美国文学选读 第三版 课后习题答案 陶洁(部分)Unit 1 Benjamin FranklinQuestions1.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 woul
2、d like to repeat it2.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 a
3、rrive in Philadephia?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, in Burlington he found a boat which was going towards Philadelphia, he arrived there about eight or nine oclock, on the Sunday morning and l
4、anded 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(言简意赅). The narrative is lucid(易懂的), the structure is simple, the imagery is homely(朴素的).Unit 2 Edgar Allen Poe1.Who is the narrator? Wha
5、t wrong does he want to redress?Montresor.Fortunato, one of wine experts insulted him, so he wanted to murder him.2.What is the pretext he uses to lure Fortunato to his wine cellar?He baits Fortunato by telling him he has obtained what he believes to be a cask of Amontillado a rare and valuable sher
6、ry wine. Fortunato is anxious to determine whether or not it is truly Amontillado, so he goes to the vault with Montresor.3.What happens to Fortunato in the end?He was walled up alive behind bricks in a wine cellar.4.Describe briefly how Poe characterizes Montresor and Fortunato as contrasts?Poe use
7、s color imagery to characterize them. Montresor face is covered in a black silk mask, In contrast, Fortunato dresses the motley-colored costume of the court fool, who gets literally and tragically fooled by Montresors masked motives. The color schemes here represent the irony of Fortunatos death sen
8、tence. Through the acts, words, and thoughts of Fortunato,we know He is greedy, he was lured into the dark and somber vaults just because a cask of Amontillado. This is also due to his bad habit of bibulosity(酗酒）. He lost himself on hearing the wine. At the same time, he was cheated by his enemy, wh
9、ich reflected his ignorance. When he heard the pretended compliment from Montresor, he became very boastful and arrogant.He was easily confused by the superficial phenomena and failed to watch out for others. He couldnt tolerate that others were stronger than him. For example, Montresor always stimu
10、lated him with Luchresi who was good at connoisseur（鉴赏） in wine. Under the impulse of vanity, he fell into Montresors terrible trap. In fact, he was careless and foolish and didnt find that the danger was approaching him. He looked down upon Montresor and others.He didnt realize his foolishness unti
11、l the death was coming. Talking from the appearance, Monstresor was a well-educated and “kind” businessman. He enjoyed the honor and respect in the city. But in fact, he was an evil and awful person. His inner feelings were so cruel that they even made people tremble. Under his rich appearance was t
12、he dirty soul and despicable character. We couldnt see any glorious virtues in his mind. Instead, his heart was cold and dark. It was the revenge that threw Montresor into the deep evil valley.unit 4 Nathaniel Hawthorne1.Why is the prison the setting of Chapter 1 ? No matter how optimistic the found
13、ers of new colonies may be, they are quick to establish a prison and a cemetery in their “Utopia,” for they know that misbehavior, evil, and death are unavoidable. This belief fits into the larger Puritan doctrine, which puts heavy emphasis on the idea of original sinthe notion that all people are b
14、orn sinners because of the initial transgressions of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. he is therefore using the prison building to represent the crime and the punishment which are aspect of civilized lifeWhat is the implication of the description of the roses?The rosebush symbolizes the ability o
15、f nature to endure and outlast mans activities. The narrator suggests that roses offer a reminder of Natures kindness to the condemned; for his tale, he says, it will provide either a “sweet moral blossom” or else some relief in the face of unrelenting sorrow and gloom.2.Describe the appearance of H
16、ester Prynne and the attitude of the people towards her.The second paragraph on page 30.The crowd in front of the jail is a mixture of men and women, all maintaining severe looks of disapproval. Several of the women begin to discuss Hester Prynne, and they soon vow that Hester would not have receive
17、d such a light sentence for her crime if they had been the judges. One woman, the ugliest of the group, goes so far as to advocate death for Hester. 3.What has happened to Hester? As a young woman, Hester married an elderly scholar, Chillingworth, who sent her ahead to America to live. While waiting
18、 for him, she had an affair with a Puritan minister named Dimmesdale, after which she gave birth to Pearl. The scarlet letter is her punishment for her sin and her secrecy. Why does she make the embroidery of the letter A so elaborate?It seems to declare that she is proud, rather than ashamed, of he
19、r sin. In reality, however, Hester simply accepts the “sin” and its symbol as part of herself, just as she accepts her child. And although she can hardly believe her present “realities,” she takes them as they are rather than resisting them or trying to atone for them.How does this tell us about her
20、 character?Throughout The Scarlet Letter Hester is portrayed as an intelligent, capable. It is the extraordinary circumstances shaping her that make her such an important figure.Unit5 Herman Melville1.What are the stories Ismael tells about Moby Dick?Ishmael compares the legend of Moby Dick to his e
21、xperience of the whale. He notes that sperm whale attacks have increased recently and that superstitious sailors have come to regard these attacks as having an intelligent, even supernatural origin. In particular, wild rumors about Moby Dick circulate among whalemen, suggesting that he can be in mor
22、e than one place at the same time and that he is immortal. Ishmael remarks that even the wildest of rumors usually contains some truth. Whales, for instance, have been known to travel with remarkable speed from the Atlantic to the Pacific; thus, it is possible for a whale to be caught in the Pacific
23、 with the harpoons of a Greenland ship in it.Moby Dick, who has defied capture numerous times, exhibits an “intelligent malignity”（狠毒） in his attacks on men2.Why does Ahab react so violently against the white whale?First, he lost one of his legs because of the white whale.Second,He considers Moby Di
24、ck the embodiment of evil in the world, and he pursues the White Whale，because he believes it his inescapable fate to destroy this evil.Ishmael suggests that Ahab is “crazy”and call him “a raving lunatic.” Do you agree with him? Why or why not?Ishmael describes Ahab as mad in his narration, and it d
25、oes indeed seem mad to try to fight the forces of nature or God. 3. What narrative features can you find in the selected chapter?In the selected charpter, Melville employed the technique of multiple view of his narrative to portray Moby Dick to achieve the effect of ambiguity and let readers judge t
26、he meaning.Unit 6 Henry David Thoreau1.Where indeed did Thoreau live, both at a physical level and at a spiritual level?He lived in a cabin on Walden Pond, which belonged to Emersons property.2.Had Thoreau ever bought a farm? Why did he enjoy the act of buying?No, he hadnt. He avoided purchasing a f
27、arm because it would inevitably tie him down financially and complicate his life. Thoreau didnt see the acquisition of wealth as the goal for human existence, he saw the goal of life to be an exploration of the mind and of the magnificent world around us. He regarded the places as an existence free
28、of obligations and full of leisure.3.Is it significant that Thoreau mentioned the Fourth of July as the day on which he began to stay in the woods? Why?Yes, it is.Because The Fourth of July is known as Independence Day,the birthday ot the United States.Here Thoreau uses the day to express his beginn
29、ing of regeneration at Walden.It also means a symbol of his conquest of being. 4.How could you answer the question Thoreau asked at the end of this selection?Unit 7 19th Century American Poets 1. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow(1) I Shot an Arrow 1. Why did the speaker lose sight of his arrow and song? The arrow flies too swiftly and too far away to be seen by the speaker; whereas the song is naturally invisible. 2. In what circumstances did he find them again? He finds them unexpectedly years later from the trunk of a tree and the heart of a friend.
