第一部分 章节题库（含名校考研真题）

第1章 早期和中世纪的英国文学

填空题

1. Geoffrey Chaucer's famous work _____ contains 20-odd stories unified by a fictitious pilgrimage.（天津外国语2008研）

【答案】The Canterbury Tales

2. _____ is generally considered to be Chaucer's masterpiece. （国际关系学院2007研）

【答案】The Canterbury Tales

【解析】《坎特伯雷故事集》被公认为是乔叟的代表作。

3. The English great writer Geoffrey Chaucer was born in 1343 and died in 1400. His most important work is _____, a long poem made up of a general introduction and 24 stories. （南开大学2007研）

【答案】The Canterbury Tales

【解析】乔叟的代表作是《坎特伯雷故事集》，是一首由一篇序言和24个故事组成的长诗。

4. The most magnificent prose work of the 15th century is Le Morte D'A r t h u r concerning with_____legend.

【答案】Arthurian

【解析】15世纪左右公认的集大成作品为《亚瑟王之死》，是关于亚瑟王的传奇故事。

5. The only important prose writer in the 15th century is Sir _____.

【答案】Thomas Malory

【解析】十五世纪最著名的散文家是托马斯·马洛礼爵士，他将众多的关于亚瑟王的传奇故事收录为集大成之作《亚瑟王之死》，是英国第一部重要的散文。

6. The fifteenth century has been traditionally described as the barren age in English literature. But it is the spring tide of English _____.

【答案】ballads

【解析】十五世纪英国歌谣开始兴起。

7. _____ is Chaucer's longest complete poem (about 8, 000 lines) and his greatest artistic achievement.

【答案】Troilus and Criseyde

【解析】《特罗勒斯和克丽西德》是乔叟最长的一首完整诗篇，长达8000多行。

8. The Canterbury Tales contains in fact a general prologue and only_____tales,of which two are left unfinished.

【答案】24

【解析】乔叟的代表作《坎特伯雷故事集》计划写120个故事，但最后只完成总序和24个故事，其中两个未完成。

9. Critics tend to divide Chaucer's literary career into three periods: the _____ period, the _____ period and the _____period.

【答案】French, Italian, English

10. Among the Middle English poets,three are the greatest.One is the author of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.The other two are _____ and _____.

【答案】William Langland, Geoffrey Chaucer

11. The Canterbury Tales contains the _____ and 24 tales, two of which left unfinished.

【答案】General Prologue

12. Chaucer employed the _____ couplet in writing his greatest work The Canterbury Tales.

【答案】heroic

13. The framework in The Canterbury Tales is a _____.

【答案】pilgrimage

14. When Chaucer died on the 25th of October 1400, he was the first to be buried in _____.

【答案】Westminster Abbey

15. Besides Chaucer, King James I also wrote in verses of seven lines, so this kind of verse came to be called the _____.

【答案】rhyme royal

16. The _____ is an important stream of the British literature in the 15th century.

【答案】popular ballad

17. The _____ century has traditionally been described as the barren age in English literature.

【答案】15th

18. In the 14th century, the two most important writers are _____ and Langland.

【答案】Geoffrey Chaucer

【解析】乔叟和兰格伦是英国14世纪两位最重要的作家。

19. Today Chaucer is acclaimed not only as “the father of English poetry” but also as “the father of English fiction”. His masterpiece is _____.

【答案】The Canterbury Tales

【解析】乔叟被誉为英国诗歌和英国小说之父，其代表作是《坎特伯雷故事集》。

20. The fifteenth century has been traditionally described as the barren age in English literature. But it is the spring tide of English _____.

【答案】ballads

【解析】十五世纪英国歌谣开始兴起。

21. The _____ provides a framework for the tales in The Canterbury Tales, and it comprises a group of vivid pictures of various medieval figures.

【答案】Prologue

【解析】《坎特伯雷故事集》的序言部分提供整本书的基本框架，生动地刻画了一群各种各样的中世纪人物画卷。

22. The Canterbury Tales is Chaucer's greatest work and the greater part of it was written in _____ couplets.

【答案】heroic

【解析】《坎特伯雷故事集》大部分采用的是英雄双行体。

23. The pilgrims in The Canterbury Tales are on their way to the shrine of St. Thomas a Becket at a place named _____.

【答案】Canterbury

【解析】《坎特伯雷故事集》讲述的是诗人和其他29名朝觐者一起去坎特伯雷朝拜的故事。

24. Chaucer's work _____ gives us a picture of the condition of English life of his day, such as its work and play, its deeds and dreams, its fun and sympathy.

【答案】The Canterbury Tales

【解析】在《坎特伯雷故事集》中，乔叟淋漓尽致地揭露了宗教的腐败，贵族的骄奢以及当时社会的其他丑恶现象，同时也表达了他的人文主义思想。

25. _____ is Chaucer's longest complete poem (about 8, 000 lines) and his greatest artistic achievement.

【答案】Troilus and Criseyde

【解析】《特罗勒斯和克丽西德》是乔叟最长的一首完整诗篇，长达8000多行。

26. In The Canterbury Tales, from the character of _____, we may see a very vivid sketch of a woman of the middle class, and a colorful picture of the domestic life of that class in Chaucer's own day.

【答案】the Wife of Bath

【解析】《坎特伯雷故事集》中，乔叟通过对来自中产阶级的巴斯夫人的生动细腻的描写，展示了当时中产阶级多彩的生活画卷。

27. The only organic whole poem to come out of the Anglo-Saxons period is _____, an example of the mingling of nature myths and heroic legends.（天津外国语2010研）

【答案】Beowulf

【解析】《贝奥武夫》是盎格鲁—撒克逊时期英国文学中伟大的英雄叙事长诗，讲述了斯堪地那维亚的英雄贝奥武夫的英勇事迹。

28. Beowulf is the national epic of the _____.（国际关系学院2007研）

【答案】England

【解析】《贝奥武夫》是英格兰的民族史诗。

29. Beowulf probably existed in its oral form as early as the_____century and its hero and his adventures are placed in_____ and southern Sweden rather than in England. （国际关系学院2010研）

【答案】6th; Denmark

【解析】《贝奥武夫》最早在公元六世纪开始口头传诵，故事发生在丹麦和瑞典南部，诗中并没有提及英国。

30. The _____ period witnessed a transition from tribal society to feudalism.

【答案】Anglo-Saxon

【解析】盎格鲁-撒克逊时期，英国由部族社会步入封建社会。

31. Angles, Saxons and _____ usually known as Anglo-Saxons are the first Englishmen. Language spoken by them is called _____, which is the foundation of English language and literature.

【答案】Jutes; the Old English

【解析】盎格鲁-撒克逊人通常指盎格鲁、撒克逊、朱特人三个部族的人，他们的语言是古英语。

32. The literature of the Anglo-Saxon period falls naturally into two divisions, _____ and Christian.

【答案】pagan

【解析】盎格鲁-撒克逊时期的英国文学主要是世俗诗和宗教诗两类。

33. In the 8th century, Anglo-Saxon prose appeared. The famous prose writers of that period were Venerable Bede and_____.

【答案】Alfred the Great

【解析】阿尔弗雷德大帝和比德是盎格鲁-撒克逊时期的散文家。

34. The Old English poetry can be divided into two groups: the _____ poetry and the _____ poetry.

【答案】secular, religious

35. _____ is the most prevailing literary form in the Middle Ages.

【答案】Romance

36. The history of English literature begins in the _____ century.

【答案】5th

37. _____ is the oldest poem in the English language, and also the oldest surviving epic in the English language.

【答案】Beowulf

【解析】贝尔武夫被保留下来的古老的英语史诗。

38. The early inhabitants on the island now we call England were _____, a tribe of Celts. From the Britons the island got its name of Britain, the land of Britons. The Britons were a _____ people.

【答案】Britons, primitive

【解析】作为凯尔特一个部族的不列颠人是英格兰的早期定居者，不列颠岛也因此而得名。

39. _____ conquered England on October 14, 1066. From then on began the medieval period. （南开大学2008研）

【答案】Duke of Normandy

【解析】公元1066年，诺曼底公爵，或者叫William, the Conqueror（征服者威廉），占领英格兰，从此开始了中世纪时期。

40. In the year 1066, the Normans defeated the Anglo-Saxons at the battle of _____.

【答案】Hastings

【解析】1066年黑斯廷之战，盎格鲁-撒克逊人溃败，诺曼征服开始。

41. After the _____ Conquest, feudal system was established in English society.

【答案】Norman

【解析】诺曼征服后英国封建主义制度建立。

42. In the year 1066, the Normans defeated the Anglo-Saxons at the battle of _____.

【答案】Hastings

【解析】1066年黑斯廷之战盎格鲁-撒克逊人溃败，诺曼征服开始。

43. By the time when England entered into feudal society, the society was divided into two classes: _____ and _____.

【答案】landlords; peasants

【解析】英国进入封建社会后社会分为地主和农民两大阶级。

选择题

1. _____, the “father of English poetry” and one of the greatest narrative poets of England, was born in London about 1340.

A. Geoffrey Chaucer

B. Sir Gawain

C. Francis Bacon

D. John Dryden

【答案】A

【解析】乔叟被誉为“英国诗歌之父”；培根被认为是现代科学的奠基人，他的《培根散文集》被誉为英国散文发展的里程碑．

2. Chaucer died on the 25th October 1400, and was buried in

A. Flanders

B. France

C. Italy

D. Westminster Abbey

【答案】D

【解析】1400年10月25日，乔叟逝世，被安葬于威斯敏斯特大教堂，从此威斯敏斯特大教堂一角为文学大师所留。

3. _____ was the first to be buried in the Poet's Comer of Westminster Abbey.

A. Chaucer

B. Shakespeare

C. Marlowe

D. Spenser

【答案】A

【解析】第一个被安葬于威斯敏斯特大教堂“诗人一角”的是乔叟。斯宾塞安葬于其师乔叟的旁边。

4. Chaucer's earliest work of any length is his _____, a translation of the French Roman de la Rose by Gaillaume de Lorris and Jean de Meung, which was a love allegory enjoying widespread popularity in the 13th and 14th centuries not only in France but throughout Europe.

A. The Romaunt of the Rose

B. A Red, Red Rose

C. Piers the Plowmand.

D. Troilus and Criseyde

【答案】A

5. The second period of Chaucer's literary career includes mainly the three longer poems written prior to The Canterbury Tales. Among the following works which is NOT the correct one?

A. The House of Fame

B. Troilus and Criseyde

C. The Legend of Good Women

D. The Book of the Duchess

【答案】D

【解析】乔叟第二个创作时期的作品具有明显的意大利文学痕迹，他这一时期的作品包括三首长诗《名誉之堂》、《特罗勒斯和克丽西德》和《好妇人的故事》。《公爵夫人之书》是乔叟第一个时期的作品。

6. _____ creative work vividly reflected the changes which had taken root in English culture of the second half of the 14th century.

A. Chaucer's

B. Byron's

C. Shelley's

D. Eliot's

【答案】A

【解析】乔叟的作品栩栩如生地反映了14世纪下半叶英国文化发生的变化。

7. Apart from original poems, Chaucer translated various works of French authors, among who is the famous _____.

A. The Canterbury Tales

B. The Romaunt of the Rose

C. The Parliament of Fowls

D. The House of Fame

【答案】B

【解析】《玫瑰传奇》是乔叟翻译的一首13世纪的法国诗歌；《禽鸟会议》和《名誉之堂》是乔叟第二个时期的作品，具有明显的意大利文学的痕迹；《坎特伯雷故事集》其代表作，是他第三个创作时期的作品。

8. Chaucer composes a long narrative poem named _____ based on Boccaccio's poem Filostrato.

A. The Legend of Good Women

B. Troilus and Criseyde

C. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

D. Beowulf

【答案】B

【解析】薄伽丘的影子在乔叟的作品中随处可见，他的长叙事诗《特罗勒斯和克丽西德》在薄伽丘的Filostrato基础上创作的。

9. Generally speaking, Chaucer's works fall into three main groups corresponding roughly to the three periods of his adult life. Which period is wrong? _____.

A. The period of French influence (1359-1372)

B. the period of Italian influence (1372-1386)

C. the period of English influence (1386-1400)

D. the period of American influence (1371-1382)

【答案】D

【解析】乔叟的三个创作时期分别为：法国时期、意大利时期、英国时期。

10. In 1066, _____, with his Norman army, succeeded in invading and defeating England.

A. William the Conqueror

B. Julius Caesar

C. Alfred the Great

D. Claudius

【答案】A

【解析】1066年征服者威廉率领他的诺曼底军队打败英军成为英伦三岛的统治者。

11. The story of _____ is the culmination of the Arthurian romances.

A. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

B. The story of Beowulf

C. Piers the plowman

D. The Canterbury Tales

【答案】A

【解析】亚瑟王传奇有很多套诗组成，《高文爵士和绿衣骑士》可谓是顶颠之作；《贝尔武夫》是一首史诗，它主要记述了英雄贝尔武夫与格伦德尔，女妖和火龙战斗的英勇事迹；《农夫皮尔斯》是朗格兰的代表作，作者通过一系列的梦境，对14世纪英国的社会状况进行了生动形象的描述：《坎特伯雷故事集》是乔叟的代表作，在此作品中作者把各种各样的人聚集在一起，让处于每个社会阶层的人讲自己最喜欢的故事，以此来描述当时英国社会的生活。

12. After the Norman Conquest, three languages existed in England at that time. The Normans spoke _____.

A. French

B. English

C. Latin

D. Swedish

【答案】A

【解析】诺曼征服后英国出现了三种语言鼎立的局面。国王和日耳曼的宫廷贵族使用法语；拉丁语成为教会和学校的主要语言；平民百姓使用英语。

13. Generally speaking, it is in _____ that the English Literary history starts. （北二外2007研）

A. 6th. C. BC.

B. 5th. C. BC

C. 6th. C. AD.

D. 5th. C. AD

【答案】D

【解析】英国文学始于盎格鲁-撒克逊人定居英国，即公元450年，所以是五世纪。

14. _____ is a pagan poem which portraits a panoramic picture of the tribal society in British Island.（北二外2008研）

A. The Legends of King Arthur

B. Beowulf

C. The Tall Tales

D. The Canterbury Tales

【答案】B

【解析】Beowulf（《贝奥武甫》）是一首长达3000多行的头韵史诗，讲述了一个斯堪的纳维亚的民间传说，是盎格鲁-撒克逊时代最重要的文学作品，由于该诗含有非基督教因素，因而被看作异教徒诗歌。

15. The history of English literature begins in the _____ century. （北二外2009研）

A. 7th

B. 6th

C. 5th

D. 4th

【答案】C

【解析】英国文学始于盎格鲁-撒克逊人定居英国，即公元450年，所以是五世纪。

16. In English poetry, a quatrain is _____.（北二外2008研）

A. a four-line stanza

B. a couplet

C. a fourteen-line stanza

D. a terza rima

【答案】A

【解析】quatrain即四行诗；a couplet是对句；a fourteen-line stanza是十四行诗，也就是sonnet; a terza rima是三韵句。

17. The Anglo-Saxons were Christianized in the _____ century.

A. 5th

B. 6th

C. 7th

D. 8th

【答案】C

【解析】七世纪基督教传入英国。

18. Beowulf is a _____ poem, describing an all-round picture of the tribal society.

A. pagan

B. Christian

C. romantic

D. lyric

【答案】A

19. In Anglo-Saxon period, Beowulf represented the _____ poetry.

A. pagan

B. religious

C. romantic

D. sentimental

【答案】A

【解析】《贝尔武夫》是盎格鲁-撒克逊时期流传下来的世俗诗。

20. English literature began with the _____ settlement in England. Of old English literature, Beowulf, the national epic of the English people, is an example of the mingling of nature myths and heroic legends.

A. Anglo-Saxon

B. Roman

C. Norman

D. Britain

【答案】A

【解析】英国文学始于盎格鲁-撒克逊人，《贝尔武夫》是英国的民族史诗，它是神话和英雄传奇结合的产物。

21. Which tale is described by the following selection? （大连外国语2007研）

A. The Merchant's

B. The Pardoner's

C. The Miller's

D. The Wife of Bath's

Chaucer's story describes three rogues who set out to find Death. An old man directs them to a pile of gold florins over which they quarrel and kill one another, thus indeed finding death. However, the greatest irony of the story involves the pilgrim who recounts it.

【答案】B

【解析】这段文字描绘的是赦罪僧（Pardoner）讲的故事，三个恶汉为争抢金币而互相残杀。

22. Geoffrey Chaucer, regarded as the first famous English poet in the history of English literature, wrote the following except _____.（天津外国语2007研）

A. The Canterbury Tales

B. The House of Fame

C. The Parliament of Fowles

D. Boethius

【答案】D

【解析】选项D的作者是波伊提乌，罗马哲学家，被误判叛国罪处死。他在狱中写成以柏拉图思想为理论依据的名著The Consolation of Philosophy（《哲学的慰藉》）。其余选项都是乔叟的作品。

23. Beowulf,the oldest great long poem ever written in English,is composed in a form of_____.（天津外国语2009研）

A. epics

B. lyrics

C. folk songs

D. sagas

【答案】A

【解析】《贝奥武夫》（或译《贝奥武甫》）是一首英雄史诗，全诗三千多行，是现存古英语文学中最古老的作品。

24. Geoffrey Chaucer planned originally to have each of the pilgrims tell _____ stories on the way to Canterbury and the same number of stories on the way back in his famous The Canterbury Tales.（天津外国语2009研）

A. 1

B. 2

C. 3

D. 4

【答案】B

【解析】《坎特伯雷故事集》中的店主提议众香客在前往坎特伯雷朝圣的路上每人讲两个故事，回来时再讲两个，一共计划讲120个故事，但乔叟后来只写了24个（包括两个未完成的）。

25. Which of the following does NOT belong to“the marriage group”in The Canterbury Tales? （大连外国语2008研）

A. The Wife of Bath's Tale.

B. The Pardoner's Tale.

C. The Oxford Cler k's Tale.

D. The Franklin's Tale.

【答案】B

【解析】在《坎特伯雷故事集》中，巴斯妇、牛津学者与地主的三个故事，构成了一个“婚姻组”。他们的故事讨论中心便是婚姻中，妻子和丈夫哪一个应该处于支配地位。已经五次嫁人，还怀着第六次结婚念头的巴斯妇，认为只有妇女掌权的家庭才能幸福；学者的故事则强调妇女顺从的美德；地主的故事讲的是夫妻相互信任、共度难关。选项B是卖赎罪券的僧人，他讲了一个三个浪子为争夺金子，互相暗算，最后同归于尽的故事，讲完之后，立刻向大家兜售赎罪券和圣骨遗骸（实际是猪骨头冒充的）。

26. Knights of the Round Table are characters serving _____ in legends, which depict chivalry in early literature. （北二外2007研）

A. Sir Lancelot

B. Sir Godwin

C. King Arthur

D. King Henry Ⅷ

【答案】C

【解析】圆桌骑士是中世纪传说中亚瑟王宫廷里最高等的骑士，因聚会的桌子是圆桌而得名。

27. Romance was a type of literature that was very popular in the _____. （四川大学2008研）

A. Renaissance period

B. seventeenth century

C. Middle Ages

D. eighteenth century

【答案】C

【解析】Romance是富有浪漫色彩的恋爱故事或冒险故事，是中世纪在欧洲非常流行的一种文学体裁，著名作品如《亚瑟王之死》、《特里斯坦和伊瑟》等。

28. _____, the “father of English poetry” and one of the greatest narrative poets of England, was born in London about 1340.

A. Geoffrey Chaucer

B. Sir Gawain

C. Francis Bacon

D. John Dryden

【答案】A

【解析】乔叟被誉为“英国诗歌之父”；培根被认为是现代科学的奠基人，他的《培根散文集》被誉为英国散文发展的里程碑。

29. Beowulf describes the exploits of a_____hero,Beowulf,in fighting against the monster Grendel,his revengeful mother, and a fire-breathing dragon.

A. Danish

B. Scandinavian

C. English

D. Norwegian

【答案】B

【解析】《贝奥武夫》讲述的故事发生在北欧斯堪的纳维亚半岛。歌颂了主人公贝奥武夫先后战胜巨怪Grendel, Grendel的母亲以及火蛇的英勇事迹。

30. In the 14th century, the important writers are the following EXCEPT _____

A. William Langland

B. John Cower

C. Thomas Malory

D. Geoffrey Chaucer

【答案】C

31. Chaucer was once influenced by Italian literature. His major work during this period is _____.

A. Troilus and Criseyde

B. The Romaunt of the Rose

C. The Legend of Good Women

D. The Canterbury Tales

【答案】A

32. Chaucer's active career provided him not only with knowledge but also experiences, which accounted for the wide range of his writings. The followings are all his career EXCEPT _____.

A. legislator and ambassador

B. soldier and office-holder

C. businessman and churchman

D. justice and knight

【答案】C

33. Chaucer's narrative poem _____is based on Boccaccio's poem “Filostrato”.

A. The Legend of Good Women

B. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

C. The Book of the Duchess

D. Troilus and Criseyde

【答案】D

34. In English poetry, a four-line stanza is called _____.

A. heroic couplet

B. quatrain

C. Spenserian stanza

D. terza rima

【答案】B

35. The work that presented, for the first time in English literature, a comprehensive realistic picture of the medieval English society and created a whole gallery of vivid characters from all walks of life is most likely _____.

A. William Langland's Piers the Plowman

B. Geoffrey Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales

C. John Gower's Confessio Amantis

D. Sir Gawain and the Green Knight

【答案】B

36. In the 14th century, the most important writer (poet) is _____.

A. Langland

B. Wyclif

C. Gower

D. Chaucer

【答案】D

【解析】乔叟是十四世纪英国最重要的作家。

37. William Langland's _____ is written in the form of a dream vision.

A. Kubla Khan

B. Piers the Plowman

C. The Dream of John Bull

D. Morte d'Arthur

【答案】B

【解析】朗格兰的《农夫皮尔斯》通过一系列的梦境对当时英国社会进行了形象的描述；《忽必烈汗》是柯勒律治的作品。

38. Piers the Plowman describes a series of wonderful dreams the author dreamed, through which, we can see a picture of the life in the _____ England.

A. primitive

B. feudal

C. bourgeois

D. modem

【答案】A

【解析】《农夫皮尔斯》描写的是下层人民的生活，既表达了对统治阶层的尖锐讽刺，也抒发了对穷苦人民悲惨生活的同情。

术语解释

1. Assonance（南开大学2009研）

Key: Assonance: the repetition of identical or similar vowel sounds in the stressed syllables (and sometimes in the following unstressed syllables) of neighboring words, especially in poetry. Assonance is often employed to please the ear or emphasize certain sounds. It is distinct from rhyme in that the consonants differ although the vowels or diphthongs match: sweet dreams, hit or miss.As a substitute for rhyme at the ends of verse lines, assonance had a significant function in early Celtic, Spanish and French Versification.

2. Ottava rima（人大2007研）

Key: Ottava rima is a rhyming stanza form of Italian origin, which in English consists of eight iambic lines, usually iambic pentametersoriginally used for long poems on heroic themes, and it later came to be popular in the writing of mock-heroic works.

3. Folktale（厦门大学2009研）

Key: Folktale: A folktale is a story passed on by word of mouth rather than by writing, and thus partly modified by successive retellings before being written down or recorded. The category includes legends, fables, jokes, fairy tales etc.Many folktales involve mythical creatures and magical transformations.A famous folktale is Thousand and One Nights.

4. Beowulf（北航2007研）

Key: Beowulf:Beowulf is an Old English heroic epic poem of unknown authorship,dating as recorded in the Nowell Codex manuscript from between the 8thand the early 11th century, set in Denmark and Sweden. Commonly cited as one of the most important works of Anglo-Saxon literature,Beowulf has been the subject of much scholarly study, theory, speculation, discourse, and, at 3182 lines, has been noted for its length. In the poem, Beowulf, a hero of the Geats, battles three antagonists: Grendel, Grendel's mother; and an unnamed dragon. In the final battle, Beowulf is fatally wounded. After his death his retainers bury him in a tumulus in Geatland.

5. epic （天津外国语学院2007研；厦门大学2008研）

Key: epic: It is, originally, an oral narrative poem, majestic both in theme and style. Epics deal with legendary or historical events of national or universal significance, involving actions of broad sweep and grandeur. Most epics deal with the exploits of a single individual,thereby giving unity to the composition.Great epics include The Iliad and The Odyssey by Homer.

6. Alliteration （南开大学2010研）

Key: Alliteration: ①(also known as ‘head rhyme' or ‘initial rhyme'), the repetition of the same sounds—usually initial consonants of words or of stressed syllables—in any sequence of neighboring words. ②Now an optional and incidental decorative effect in verse or prose, it was once a required element in the poetry of Germanic languages (including Old English and Old Norse) and in Celtic verse. ③ Such poetry, in which alliteration rather than rhyme is the chief principle of repetition, is known as alliteration verse; its rules also allow a vowel sound to alliterate with any other vowel.

7. Old English period (the Anglo- Saxon period)

Key: Old English period (the Anglo-Saxon period): ①The Old English Period, extended from the invasion of Celtic England by Germanic tribes (the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes) in the first half of the fifth century to the conquest of England in 1066 by the Norman French under the leadership of William the Conqueror. ②Only after they had been converted to Christianity in the seventh century did the Anglo-Saxons, whose earlier literature had been oral, begin to develop a written literature.

8. Romance（北外2011研）

Key: Romance: ①it refers to a fictional story in verse or prose that relates improbable adventures of idealized characters in some remote or enchanted settings; or, more generally, a tendency in fiction opposite to that of realism.②The term now embraces many forms of fiction from the Gothic novel and the popular escapist love story to the scientific romances of H.G.. Wells, but it usually refers to the tales of King Arthur's knights written in the late Middle Ages. ③Medieval romance is distinguished from epic by its concerning on courtly love rather than warlike heroism. Later prose romances differ from novels in their preference for allegory and psychological exploration rather than realistic social observation,especially in American works like Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Blithedale Romance.

9. Freudianism （国际关系学院2007研）

Key: Freudianism: Freudianism derives from Sigmund Freud, an Austrian neurologist who founded the psychoanalytic school of psychology. Freudianism emphasizes the importance of unconscious forces in determining the beliefs and actions of human beings. The theory also has great influence on literature in the 20th century. A lot of modern writers such as Woolf, Joyce and Lawrence are deeply influenced by Freudianism.

10. Arthurian legend

Key: Arthurian legend: It is a group of tales (in several languages)that developed in the Middle Ages concerning Arthur, semi-historical king of the Britons and his knights. The legend is a complex weaving of ancient Celtic mythology with later traditions around a core of possible historical authenticity.

11. heroic couplet （人大2006研；厦门大学2007研；北航2010研）

Key: Heroic couplet: A heroic couplet is a traditional form for English poetry, commonly used for epic and narrative poetry; it refers to poems constructed from a sequence of rhyming pairs of iambic pentameter lines. The rhyme is always masculine. The use of the heroic couplet was first pioneered by Geoffrey Chaucer in The Legend of Good Women and The Canterbury Tales.

12. Prose

Key: Prose: ①the form of a written language that is not organized according to the formal patterns of verse;Although it will have some sort of rhythm and some devices of repetition and balance, these are not governed by a regularly sustained formal arrangement, the significant unit being the sentence rather than the line. ② Some uses of the term include spoken language as well, but it is usually more helpful to maintain a distinction at least between written prose and everyday speech, if not formal oratory. ③ Prose has as its minimum requirement some degree of continuous coherence beyond that of a mere list.

13. Morality play

Key: Morality play: ① a kind of religious drama popular in England, Scotland, France, and elsewhere in Europe in the 15thand early 16thcenturies. ②Morality plays are dramatized allegories, in which personified virtues, vices, diseases, and temptations struggle for the soul of man as he travels from birth to death. ③ They instill a simple message of Christian salvation, but often include comic scenes. The best-known is Everyman. They had a considerable influence on the development of Elizabethan drama.

14. Couplet

Key: Couplet: ① A couplet is a pair of rhymed verse lines, usually of the same length; One of the most widely used verse-forms in European poetry. ②Chaucer established the use of couplet in English, notably in the Canterbury Tales,using rhymed iambic pentameters later known as heroic couplets,a form revived in the 17th century by Ben Jonson, Dryden and others.

15. Ballad (Popular ballad)（厦门大学2008研；国际关系学院2007研）

Key: Ballad (Popular ballad): ①a folk song or orally transmitted poems telling a direct dramatic manner some popular story usually derived from a tragic incident in local history or legend. The story is told simply, impersonally, and often with vivid dialogue. ②Ballads are normally composed in quatrains with vivid alternating fore-stress and three-stress lines, the second and fourth lines rhyming; . But some ballads are in couplet form, and some others have six-line stanzas. ③Appearing in many parts of Europe in the late Middle Ages, ballads flourished particularly strongly in Scotland from the 15thcentury onward. Since the 18thcentury, educated poets outside the folk-song tradition - notably Coleridge and Goethe—have written imitations of the popular ballad's form and style: Coleridge's‘Rime of the Ancient Mariner' is a celebrated example.

简答题

1. Why is the Knight first in the General Prologue to tell a tale in Canterbury Tales?（北航2009研）

Key: According to Chaucer's words before he introduces the pilgrims, he judges each one by whom they are, what is their degree and their arriving sequence. At that time, the upper class or nobility is represented chiefly by the Knight and his Squire, which means that the Knight has the highest degree among the pilgrims. They are noble for their bravery in the battles and their loyalty to the woman. The Knight tells his tragic love story which was treasured by people at that time. So the Knight is the first to tell a tale. This shows the social class at that time. Secondly, according to Chaucer's description, the Knight is in the front of the other entire persons.

2. What is Chaucer's contribution to the English language?

Key: (1) Chaucer's language is vivid and exact. His words are easy to understand.

(2) He introduced from France the “heroic couplet” to English poetry.

(3) Though influenced by French, and Italian literature models, he is the first important poet to write in the current English language. His production of so much excellent poetry was an important factor in establishing English as the literary language of the country.

3. What are the artistic features of Piers the Plowman?

Key: Artistic features of Piers the Plowman:

(1) Piers the Plowman is written in the form of a dream vision.

(2) The poem is an allegory which relates truth through symbolism.

(3) The poem is a satire on the corruption prevailing among the ruling classes, ecclesiastical and secular.

(4) Alliteration is notable in this poem.

4. What is the function of the Prologue to The Canterbury Tales?

Key: (1) The Prologue is a splendid masterpiece of realistic portrayal, it is usually regarded as the greatest portrait gallery in English literature.

(2) From the Prologue, we can see that Chaucer is a talented portrait painter. The pilgrims presented vividly in the Prologue are the representatives of various walks of life and social groups, with various interests, tastes and predilections. Each of the narrators reveals his or her own views and character. Thus Chaucer created a striking brilliant and picturesque panorama of his time and his country.

(3) The prologue sets the tone for the story-telling .

(4) There is also an intimate connection between the tales and the Prologue, both complementing each other. The Prologue provides a framework for the tales.

（此题可从《坎特伯雷故事集》序言的社会意义、与正文的关系等方面作答。)

5. What is Chaucer's contribution to the English language?

Key: (1) Chaucer's language is vivid and exact. His words are easy to understand.

(2) He introduced from France the “heroic couplet” to English poetry.

(3) Though influenced by French, and Italian literature models, he is the first important poet to write in the current English language. His production of so much excellent poetry was an important factor in establishing English as the literary language of the country.

（此题可从乔叟作品的语言特点、写作形式的创新方面作答。）

6. What is the social significance of The Canterbury Tales?

Key: (1) In his masterpiece The Canterbury Tales, Chaucer gives us a true-to-life picture of the society of his time.

(2) As a forerunner of humanism, he praises man's energy, intellect, quick wit and love of life. His tales expose and satirize the degeneration of the noble, the heartlessness of the judge, the corruption of the Church and so on.

（此题可从《坎特伯雷故事集》反映的社会现实作答。）

7. What are the essential features of romance in the medieval English literature?

Key: The romance was the prevailing form of literature in the Middle Ages. It was a long composition, sometimes in verse, sometimes in prose, used to sing knightly adventures or other heroic deeds. Its essential features are:

(1) The central character of the romance is the knight, a man of noble birth skilled in the use of weapons. He is commonly described as riding forth to accomplish some missions—to protect the church, to attack infidelity, to rescue a maiden, to meet a challenge or to obey a knightly command.

(2) Romantic love is an important part of the plot in the romance.

(3) It lacks general resemblance to truth or reality.

(4) The structure is loose and episodic, and the language is simple and straight forward.

8. What are the major subjects that the English romance mainly deals with?

Key: ①The English romance mainly deals with three major subjects: the “Matter of France”, the “Matter of Rome”, and the “Matter of Britain”.

②The “Matter of France” means a collection of tales about Charlemagne, the mighty ruler of France and neighboring countries around 800 A.D., and his peers and their wars against the Saracens.

③The “Matter of Rome” covers everything from the ancient Romans and the Greeks. Alexander the Great, king of Macedonia and conqueror of Greece, Egypt, India and Persian Empire is the favorite hero of this group. Besides this, Trojan War is also dealt with in this group.

The “Matter of Britain” means the legendary history of Britain. It mainly deals with the exploits of King Arthur and his knights.

9. What is the influence of the Norman Conquest upon English language and literature?

Key: (1) During the period of the Norman Conquest, English and Norman-French existed side by side in England, together with Latin. French for quite a long time prevailed among the noble; Latin was at bigger schools and it also used in the churches and monasteries; and the lower ranks made use of English.

(2) In this period, English language had experienced gradual but radical and extensive changes. Thousands of words were borrowed from French and through French from Latin and also Greek, but many English worlds disappeared at the same time. The English language in this transitional stage from Old English to Modern English has generally been known as Middle English.

(3) The literature was varied in interest and extensive in range. The Normans began to write histories or chronicles. Most of them were written in Latin of French. The prevailing form of literature in the feudal England was the Romance.

(此题主要从诺曼征服时期英语语言的变化和这一时期出现的文学形式两个方面回答。)

10. What are the essential features of romance in the medieval English literature?

Key: The romance was the prevailing form of literature in the Middle Ages. It was a long composition, sometimes in verse, sometimes in prose, used to sing knightly adventures or other heroic deeds. Its essential features are:

(1) The central character of the romance is the knight, a man of noble birth skilled in the use of weapons. He is commonly described as riding forth to accomplish some missions—to protect the church, to attack infidelity, to rescue a maiden, to meet a challenge or to obey a knightly command.

(2) Romantic love is an important part of the plot in the romance.

(3) It lacks general resemblance to truth or reality.

(4) The structure is loose and episodic, and the language is simple and straight forward.

（此题可从传奇诗的定义、主题、结构、语言风格等方面作答。）

11. Make comments on the romance Sir Gawain and the Green Knight.

Key: (1) The story of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight is the culmination of the Arthurian romances. It was a long composition, sometimes in verse, sometimes in prose, used to sing knightly adventures or other heroic deeds.

(2) This romance is an interesting combination of French and Saxon element. It is written in an elaborate stanza combining meter and alliteration. At the end of each stanza, there is a rimed refrain.

(3) Its theme id a series of tests on faith, courage, purity and human weakness for self-preservation.

(4) Besides, the romance gives the reader an engrossing tale well told, vested in beautiful poetry and containing many artistic merits. With a preference for irony, suggestion and implication, the author tries to make his romance the vehicle of a wise morality in which the humorous grotesque merges with the morally serious. Its language is simple and straightforward. That is why the poem has shared great popularity over and above most other romances of the period.

（此题主要从《高文爵士和绿衣骑士》的写作风格和主题两方面来作答。）

12. What are the artistic features of Old English poetry?

Key: (1)The use of alliteration. Each full line has four stresses with a number of unstressed syllables, three of which begin with the same sound or letter.

(2)The use of the strong stress and the predominance of consonants. Almost all this poetry is composed without rhyme. Each line is divided into two halves and each half has two heavy stresses.

(3)The use of vivid poetic diction and parallel expressions for a single idea, such as the sea is called“swan-road” or “whale-path”, a soldier is called “shield-bearer”, “battle-hero” or “spear-fighter”, etc.

13. What are the writing features of Beowulf?

Key: Writing features of the poem Beowulf:

(1) It is a pagan poem of all advanced pagan civilization, presenting a panoramic picture of the tribal society.

(2) The use of alliteration is a notable feature and makes the stresses more emphatic.

(3) The use of the strong stress and the predominance of consonants are also very notable in this poem.

(4) There are a lot of metaphors and understatements in this poem.

（主要从《贝尔武夫》的主题以及所运用的修辞手法来解答。）

14. What are the main incidents in the poem Beowulf?

Key: The main incidents of the poem cover Beowulf's fight with the monster Grendel in Hrothgar's Hall, Beowulf's fight against Grendel's revengeful mother, his return in glory to his uncle and his succession to the throne, and his defeat over the fire dragon with his life as the cost.

《贝尔武夫》这首史诗描写了贝尔武夫战胜恶魔格伦德尔以及格伦德尔复仇的母亲后，荣归故里，继承王位，为君王50载。诗的结尾部分教的是贝尔武夫与火龙作战的故事，他战胜了火龙却也牺牲了自己的生命。

15. What are the main characteristics of Anglo-Saxon literature?

Key: (1) Anglo-Saxon literature, is almost exclusively a verse literature in oral form. It could be passed down by word of mouth from generation to generation. It is given a written form long after its composition.

(2) English poetry in Anglo-Saxon period falls into two groups: pagan poetry and religious poetry. Beowulf is the representative of the pagan poetry. It is the oldest poem and the most important specimen of Anglo-Saxon literature, and also the oldest surviving epic in the English language. Religious poetry is represented by the works of Caedmon and Cynewuff.

（主要从盎格鲁-萨克逊时期文学的形式和分类来分析。）

论述题

1. Summarize Chaucer's literary career.

Key: Chaucer's literary career can be divided into three periods corresponding with those of his life. (1) The first period refers to the period of French influence. In this period he wrote in the manner of contemporary French poets. Among his original poems in his early period, the best known is The Book of the Duchess, an elegy written upon the death of the first wife of the poet's patron John of Gaunt. The Romance of the Rose is a translation of a 13th-century French poem.(2) The second period refers to the period of Italian influence, especially of Dante and Boccaccio. In this period, he chiefly used the “heroic” stanza of seven lines. His main works in this period are three longer poems: The House of Fame, Troilus and Criseyde, The Legend of Good Women.(3) The third period refers to the period of his maturity. In this period, he forms his own writing style. He has his own choice of subject and diction, his own grasp of plots and characters. His masterpiece The Canterbury Tales was produced in this period. He mainly used the “heroic couplet”.

（此题可从乔叟三个时期不同的写作风格以及每个时期的代表作品的角度作答。）

2. How did Chaucer's creative work reflect the changes of the English society in the second half of the 14th century? How much was Chaucer influenced by foreign authors such as Dante or Boccaccio? What are some of the significances of such influences? （人大2007研）

Key: (1) At that time, the feudal system had already begun to crumble. His work, for the first time in English literature, created a comprehensive realistic picture of the medieval English society and created a whole gallery of vivid characters from all walks of life. For example,his masterpiece The Canterbury Tales is a collection of stories told by a group of pilgrims on their way to Canterbury which are from all walks of life. His characterization is very vivid and the true side of society at that time is revealed.

(2) Dante and Boccaccio not only had direct influence on Chaucer's poem in form and content, but also had determined effects on his world value. Since then, his literary activities turned into an active and creative phase which is marked by his two long poems,The House of Fame and Troilus and Criseyde.Chaucer mainly wrote three longer poems using the heroic stanza of seven lines. From the perspective of newly citizen class, he held positive attitude towards love and individual happiness and rejected feudalism and religious abstinence.

(3) Chaucer's poetry traces out a path to the literature of English Renaissance. Chaucer's poem marks a new step in the author's progress to maturity and is distinguished for its profound delineation of characters and truthful description of human relations. Chaucer chose the metrical poetry which laid the foundation of the English tonico-syllabic verse. He did much in making the dialect of London.

3. Compare Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales with Old English poetry and the works of other Middle English poets to illustrate that Chaucer is the first realistic writer in English literature.

Key: ①The Old English poetry is specifically Christian, devoted to religious subjects. More importantly, it is almost all in the heroic mode due to the great influence of the heroic ideal,i.e.Beowulf is the ideal of kingly behavior.The idealized hero figures predominantly in Old English literature. ②Middle English romance generally concerns the knight. It makes liberal use of the improbable, often of the supernatural. ③Religious writing reflects the unchanging principles of medieval Christian doctrine, which looks to the world to come for the only answer to men's troubles. William Langland's Piers the Plowman reflects the great religious and social issues of his day,yet it is written in the form of a dream vision. ④ It is Chaucer alone who, for the first time in English literature, presented to us a comprehensive realistic picture of the English society of his time and created a whole gallery of vivid characters from all walks of life in his masterpiece The Canterbury Tales.

4. State the social significance of William Langland's Piers the Plowman and comment on the poem's writing features.

Key: ① Piers the Plowman remains a classic in popular literature.It was very popular throughout the fourteenth and the fifteenth centuries. It praises the poor peasants, and condemns and exposes the sins of the oppressors. It played an important part in arousing the revolutionary sentiment on the eve of the Rising of 1381 headed by Wat Tyler and John Ball.

②It is a realistic picture of medieval England. But Piers is not a representative of the poor peasants. He is one of the well-to-do peasants. He has no intention of upsetting the feudal order of society, and he accepts the existing social relations. This is the limitation of the poem.

③ Writing features:

(1) Piers the Plowman is written in the form of a dream vision. The author tells his story under the guise of having dreamed of it.

(2) The poem is an allegory which relates truth through symbolism.

(3) The poet uses indignant satire in his description of social abuses caused by the corruption prevailing among the ruling classes, ecclesiastical and secular.

(4) The poem is written in alliteration.

5. What is the function of the General Prologue to The Canterbury Tales?

Key: ①The General Prologue is usually regarded as the greatest portrait gallery in English literature. It is largely composed of a series of sketches differing widely in length and method, and blending the individual and the typical in varying degrees. ②The purpose of the General Prologue is not only to present a vivid collection of character sketches, but also to reveal the author's intention in bringing together a great variety of people and narrative materials to unite the diversity of the tales by allotting them to a diversity of tellers engaged in a common endeavor, to set the tone for the story-telling—one of jollity which accords with the tone of the whole work: that of grateful acceptance of life, to make clear the plan for the tales, to motivate the telling of tales and to introduce the pilgrims and the time and occasion of the pilgrimage. ③On the other hand, there is also an intimate connection between the tales and the Prologue, both complementing each other. The Prologue provides a framework for the tales.

6. What is the most important department of English folk literature? And make comments on its most famous cycle: the Robin Hood Ballads.

Key: (1) The most important department of English folk literature is the ballad. A ballad is a story told in song, usually in quatrains with alternating four-stress and three-stress lines, the second and fourth lines rhyming. When it was chanted by ball-assigners, the audience joined in a refrain which usually followed each stanza. They are mainly the literature of the peasants, and in them one is able to understand the outlook of the English common people in feudal society.

The subject of ballads are various in kind, as the struggle of young lovers against their feudal-minded families, the conflict between love and wealth, the cruelty of jealousy, the criticism of the civil war, and the matters of class struggle.

(2) The most famous cycle of English ballads centers on the stories about a legendary outlaw called Robin Hood. Robin Hood, a legendary popular hero, is depicted in the ballads as a valiant outlaw, famous in archery, living under the greenwood tree with his merry men, taking from the rich and giving to the poor, waging war against bishops and archbishops, and constantly hunted by the sheriffs, whom he constantly outwits.

Clearly the historical origin of Robin Hood and his band of outlaws is to be found in the perpetual struggles of the peasants against the landlords, against the local officials and against the king's judges. Robin Hood is a partly historical and partly legendary character.

The character of Robin Hood is many-sided. Strong, brave and clever, he is at the same time tender-hearted and affectionate. But the dominant key in his character is his hatred for the cruel oppressors and his love for the poor and downtrodden. Robin Hood appears to be devout and orthodox in religion. Another feature of Robin's view is his reverence for the king. The king appears in the ballads as an intermediary between the outlaws and his officials and judges, as the humorous and understanding guest in the greenwood, feasting on his own stolen deer. In spite of this, the Robin Hood ballads show the fighting spirit, indomitable courage and revolutionary energy of the English peasantry.

（此题分两部分作答，第一部分主要分析什么是歌谣以及歌谣的写作主题；第二部分主要分析Robin Hood的主要内容，主题和Robin Hood的形象。）

7. What are the three parts told in the story of Beowulf? . How is heroic ideal reflected in Beowulf?

Key: ①Structurally speaking,Beowulf is built around three fights.The first part deals with the fight between Beowulf and the monster Grendel that has been attacking the great hall of Heorot, built by Hrothgar, the Danish King. The second part involves a battle between Beowulf and Grendel's mother, a water-monster, who takes revenge by carrying off one of the king's noblemen. The last part is about the fight between Beowulf and a firedrake that ravages Beowulf's kingdom.

②Beowulf is a pagan poem concerned with the heroic ideal of kings and kingship in North Europe.Battle is a way of life at that time. Strength and courage are basic virtues for both kings and his warriors. The king should protect his people and show gentleness and generosity to his warriors. And in return, his warriors should show absolute obedience and loyalty to the king. By praising Beowulf s wisdom, strength and courage, and by glorifying his death for his people, the poem presents the heroic ideal of a king and his good relations to his warriors and people.

作品分析题

Passage 1（南开大学2009研）

From The Canterbury Tales

Speaking of his equipment, he (the knight) possessed

Fine horses, but he was not gaily dressed.

He wore a fustian tunic stained and dark

With smudges where his armor had left mark.

1. What does the fact that the knight owns fine horses indicate?

Key: The fact indicates that the knight represents a real knight and the ideal of a medieval Christian man-at-arms.

2. What does the clothes he wears indicate?

Key: The knight wears a fustian tunic stained and dark with smudges, which indicates that he has recently returned from an expedition.

3. What does Geoffrey Chaucer want to show through these details?

Key: Through these details, Chaucer wants to show that the knight is brave, experienced, devout and prudent. The Knight rides at the front of the procession described in the General Prologue, and his story is the first in the sequence. The Host clearly admires the Knight, as does the narrator.

Question 4 is based on the following passage of The Canterbury Tales.

From The Canterbury Tales

No morsel from her lips did she (the nun) let fall,

Nor dipped her fingers in the sauce too deep…

And she would wipe her upper lip so clean

That not a trace of grease was to be seen

Upon the cup when she had drunk.

4. What does the narrator think of the nun? Why do you think so?

Key: The narrator does not admire the nun. The author describes the nun with irony. Though the nun is well-educated and has good manners, she gives much importance to those things that should not be important for a nun. For example, the author is sarcastic when he uses the example of her feeling for a mouse to testify her charity and pity. Her dress is also not suitable for a nun: “She wore a coral trinket on her arm, / A set of beads, the gaudies tricked in green, / Whence hung a golden brooch of brightest sheen/ On which there first was graven a crowned A, / And lower,Amor vincit omnia.”

Passage 2

When the sweet showers of April fall and shoot

Down through the drought of March to pierce the root,

Bathing every vein in liquid power

From which there springs the engendering of the flower,

When also Zephyrus with his sweet breath

Exhales an air in every grove and heath

Upon the tender shoots, and the young sun

His half-course in the sign of the Ram has run,

And the small fowls are making melody

That sleep away the night with open eye

(So nature pricks them and their heart engages)

The people long to go on pilgrimages

And palmers long to seek the stranger strands

Of far-off saints, hallowed in sundry lands,

And specially, from every shire's end

In England, down to Canterbury they wend

To seek the holy blissful martyr, quick

In giving help to them when they were sick.

Questions:

1. What is expressed in these opening lines of The Canterbury Tales?

Key: ①The opening lines are a superb expression of a double view of the Canterbury pilgrimage. The first eleven lines are a chant of welcome to the spring with its harmonious marriage between heaven and earth which mellows vegetations, pricks fouls and stirs the heart of man with a renewing power of nature. Thus, the pilgrimage is treated as an event in the calendar of nature, an aspect of the general springtime surge of human energy which wakens man's love of nature. ② But spring is also the season of Easter and is allegorically regarded as the time of the Redemption through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ with its connotations of religious rebirth which wakens man's love of God (divine love). Therefore, the pilgrimage is also treated as an event in the calendar of divinity, an aspect of religious piety which draws pilgrims to holy places.

2. How does the author emphasize the transition from nature to divinity?

Key: ① The structure of this opening passage can be regarded as one from the whole Western tradition of the celebration of spring to a local event of English society, from natural forces in their general operation to a specific Christian manifestation. ② The transition from nature to divinity is emphasized by contrast between the physical vitality which conditions the pilgrimage and the spiritual sickness which occasions the pilgrimage, as well as by parallelism between the renewal power of nature and the restorative power of supernature (divinity).

3. Comment on Chaucer's contribution of rhymed stanzas.

Key: Chaucer introduced various rhymed stanzas to English poetry to replace the Old English alliterative verse. He first introduced into English octosyllabic couplet and the rhymed couplet of iambic pentameter which is to be called later the heroic couplet,And in The Canterbury Tales,he employed the heroic couplet with true ease and charm for the first time in the history of English literature