英国文学史考试内容.doc

3. Beowulf is the oldest poem in the English language, and also the oldest surviving epic in the English language. 4. Chaucer composed a long narrative poem named Troilus and Gressie based on Boccaccio?s poem Filostrato. 6. The Canterbury Tales contains the general prologue and 24 hours, two of which left unfinished. 7. Chaucer employed the heroic couplet in writing his greatest work The Canterbury Tales. 8. __Romance___ is the most prevailing literary form in the Middle Age. 1. What are the Chaucer抯 contributions to English literature? ① Chaucer, for the first time in English literature, presents to the readers a comprehensive realistic picture of the English society of his time and describes a series of vivid characters from all walks of life in The Canterbury Tales. ② Chaucer introduces from France the rhymed stanzas of various types to English poetry to replace the old English alliterative verse. He is the first to use the rhymed couplets of iambic pentameter, which is to be called the heroic couplet. ③ Chaucer affirms men’s and women’s right to pursue earthly happiness and opposed asceticism ( avoiding physical pleasures and comforts). He praises man’s energy, intellect, quick wit and love of life and he exposes and satirizes the social vices, including the corruption of the Church. ④ Chaucer is the first great poet who wrote in the current English. His production of so much excellent poetry is an important factor in establishing English as the literary language of the country. Chaucer uses London dialect in his writings and the contributes to making it the foundation for modern English speech. 2. What are the essential features of romance in the medieval English literature? The romance was the prevailing form of literature in the Middle Ages. It was a long composition, sometimes in verse, sometimes in prose, describing the life and adventures of a noble hero, Its essential features are: ①. it lacks general resemblance to truth or reality. ② It exaggera