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1、.Questions For American LiteratureWeek 1. Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)1. Is Franklin a man of religious principles? Why does he stopattending public service?2. Explain 13 virtues Franklinchooses for his moral improvement.3. What is Franklins attitudetowardsmoral perfection?4. What are significance

2、of themoralistic self- discipline, according to Franklin?5. What virtues does FranklinWord 文檔.think he has never achieved?6. Comment on the Criticism that some authors made on Franklin, such as Hawthorn, Lawrence. (History p.53-54)Week 2: Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)1.What does “whim ” mean in th

3、e “Self-reliance ”? and why doesEmersoncallconsistency“foolish ”?2.What is an acrostic or Alexandrian stanza character like, according to the Self-relaince?3.Explain “to talk of reliance is a poorWord 文檔ThoreauThe Age.external way of speaking. Speak rather of that which relies, because it works and

4、is. ”and the context that gives rise to this statement in the Self-reliance.4.What are Emerson s comments on Jesus Christ in “The Divinity School Address”? Please compareit with Thomas Paine s inof Reason.Week Three：Henry David (1817-1862)1.What is the analogy between that striped snake lying on the

5、 bottom of the pond and the man in theWord 文檔.early spring? How is a stray goose like the spirit of the fog?2.What is Thoreaus understanding of the beauty of an architecture? And what does he think of the architectural ornaments? In what cases will a “carpenter ” be a “coffin-maker ”?3.Why does Thor

6、eau say “Those things for which the most money is demanded are never the things which the student most wants”? What is your comment on Thoreaus idea of higher education?4.Is Thoreau a quietist or a hermit inWord 文檔.the woods of Walden? Why or why not?Week four: Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804-1864):1.What

7、 did the boy, at nightfall, hear when he was playing with the scattered fragments of marble? And how did he respond?2.What does author compare the kiln with?3.What question struck Ethan Brands mind on that portentousWord 文檔.night 18 years ago? Did he find the answer to it after 18-year-wandering in

8、the world? What is it?4.What kind of person is Ethan Brand in his youth hood? What causes his transformation? What is the end of his life?5.How does the old dog s pursuit of his tail parallel Ethan Brands search for the Unpardonable Sin?6.What is your understanding of the little boy Joe? What virtue

9、s does he stand for?WeekFive:HermanMelvilleWord 文檔.(1819-1891)1.How did Ahab respond when Moby-Dick appear before him in the last day of the chasing Moby-Dick? And how did he respond in the last two days before ? Do you think Ahabs attitudes towards Moby-Dick undergo any changes? Why?2.What are the

10、Fedallah s prophecy about Ahab s death? Does it come true? And how? I3.Who is the only survivor of the Pequod? And how?4.What are the symbolic meanings of Moby-Dick and Captain Ahab?Word 文檔.And also the symbolic meaning of the death of the bird of heaven at the end of the novel?5.How do you understa

11、nd the ending sentence: “and the great shroud of the sea rolled on as it rolled five thousand years ago. ”?Week 6 Walt Whitman （1819-1892 ） 1.What does Whitman s “self”referto? Why is Whitman s “myself” different from the narrow egotism?2.Why does Whitman call his lifes work Leaves of Grass? What do

12、es “a leaf of grass mean to you? ToWhitman?Word 文檔.3.What is the ending of Song of Myself? And how will you respond to Whitman s invitation?Week7EmilyDickinson（ 1830-1886 ）1.Dickinson is well-known for her poetic meditations on dying and death. What is so moving and touching in her death meditations

13、? Do you think the speak fears ofdeath? Discuss your understanding with the help of her poems.2.What images does the poetess introduce in the “Hope ”, andWord 文檔.how do they work as the metaphors of the idea -HOPE?3.How does the triumphinghumanspirit permeate through Dickinson s poetry of human suff

14、ering? Illustrate your ideas with her specific poems.Week 8 Edgar Allan Poe (1809-1849) 1.How many times is the word “nevermore ”repeated? And what inquiries that “I”raised incites the raven to respond to with“Nevermore ?2.Besides “nevermore ”, what is (are) the other word or words that youWord 文檔.find highly repeated? Why?3.How do Poes poems and stories correspond to the literary principals he raised in his “Poetic Principles” and “The Philosophy of Composition ”? Discuss with Poes poems and stories asexample.Word 文檔