英国文学-名词解释作品要点.doc

名词解释 Romance: a long composition, in verse or in prose, describing the life and adventures of a noble hero, especially for the knight. The most popular theme employed was the legend of King Arthur and the round table knight. Ballad: a story told in song, usually in four-line stanzas, with the second and fourth lines rhymed. Heroic Couplet: a couplet consisting of two rhymed lines of iambic pentameter, and written in an elevated style. Renaissance: a revival or rebirth of the artistic and scientific revival which originated in Italy in the 14th century and gradually spread all over Europe. It has two features: a thirsting curiosity for the classical literature and keen interest in activities of humanity. Sonnet: 14-line lyric poem, usually written in rhymed iambic pentameter. Blank verse: poetry written in unrhymed iambic pentameter. Enlightenment: a revival of interest in the old classical works, logic, order, restrained emotion and accuracy. Neoclassicism: the Enlightenment brought about a revival of interest in Greek and Roman works. This tendency is known as Neoclassicism. Sentimentalism: it was one of the important trends in English literature of the later decades of the 18th century. It concentrated on the free expression of thoughts and emotions, and presented a new view of human nature which prized feeling over thinking, passion over reason. Romanticism: imagination, emotion and freedom are certainly the focal points of romanticism. The particular characteristics of the literature of romanticism include: subjectivity and an emphasis on individualism; freedom from rules; solitary life rather then life in society; the beliefs that imagination is superior to reason; and love of and worship of nature. Lake Poets: the English poets who lived in and drew inspiration from the Lake District at the beginning of the 19th century. Byronic Heroes: a variant of the Romantic heroes as a type of character( enthusiasm, persistence, pursuing freedom), named after