第一篇：10英美文学名词解释
英美文学名词解释(一)
1. Allegory: A tale in verse or prose in which characters, actions, or settings represent abstract ideas or moral qualities. An allegory is a story with two meanings, a literal meaning and a symbolic meaning.
2. Alliteration: The repetition of the initial consonant sounds in poetry.
3. Allusion: A reference to a person, a place, an event, or a literary work that a writer expects the reader to recognize and respond to. An allusion may be drawn from history, geography, literature, or religion.
4. American Naturalism: American naturalism was a new and harsher realism. American naturalism had been shaped by the war; by the social upheavals that undermined the comforting faith of an earlier age. America’s literary naturalists dismissed the validity of comforting moral truths. They attempted to achieve extreme objectivity and frankness, presenting characters of low social and economic classes who were determined by their environment and heredity. In presenting the extremes of life, the naturalists sometimes displayed an affinity to the sensationalism of early romanticism, but unlike their romantic predecessors, the naturalists emphasized that the world was amoral, that men and women had no free will, that lives were controlled by heredity and environment, that the destiny of humanity was misery in life and oblivion in death. Although naturalist literature described the world with sometimes brutal realism, it sometimes also aimed at bettering the world through social reform.
5. American Puritanism: Puritanism is the practices and beliefs of the Puritans. The Puritans were originally members of a division of the Protestant Church. The first settlers who became the founding fathers of the American nation were quite a few of them. They
were a group of serious, religious people, advocating highly religious and moral principles. As the word itself hints, Puritans wanted to purity their religious beliefs and practices. They accepted the doctrine of predestination, original sin and total depravity, and limited atonement through a special infusion of grace form God. As a culture heritage, Puritanism did have a profound influence on the early American mind. American Puritanism also had a enduring influence on American literature.
6. American Realism: In American literature, the Civil War brought the Romantic Period to an end. The Age of Realism came into existence. It came as a reaction against the lie of romanticism and sentimentalism. Realism turned from an emphasis on the strange toward a faithful rendering of the ordinary, a slice of life as it is really lived. It expresses the concern for commonplace and the low, and it offers an objective rather than an idealistic view of human nature and human experience.
7. American Romanticism: The Romantic Period covers the first half of the 19th century.
A rising America with its ideals of democracy and equality, its industrialization, its westward expansion, and a variety of foreign influences were among the important factors which made literary expansion and expression not only possible but also inevitable in the period immediately following the nation’s political independence. Yet, romantics frequently shared certain general characteristics: moral enthusiasm, faith in value of individualism and intuitive perception, and a presumption that the natural world was a source of goodness and man’s societies a source of corruption. Romantic values were prominent in American politics, art, and philosophy until the Civil War. The romantic exaltation of the individual suited the nation’s revolutionary heritage and its
frontier egalitarianism.
8. American Transcendentalism: Transcendentalists terroras from the romantic literature of Europe. They spoke for cultural rejuvenation and against the materialism of Americagogopirit, or the Oversoul, as the most important thing in the Universe. They stressed the importance of the individual. To them, the individual was the most important element of society. They offered a fresh perception of nature as symbolic of the Spirit or God. Nature was, to them, alive, filled with God’s overwhelming presence. Transcendentalism is based on the belief that the most fundamental truths about life and death can be reached only by going beyond the world of the senses. Emerson’s Nature has been called the “Manifesto of American Transcendentalism” and his The American Scholar has been rightly regarded as America’s “Declaration of Intellectual Independence”.
9. Analogy: (a figure of speech) A comparison made between tow things to show the similarities between them. Analogies are often used for illustration or for argument.
10. Anapest抑抑扬: It’s made up of two unstressed and one stressed syllables, with the two unstressed ones in front.
11. Antagonist: A person or force opposing the protagonist in a narrative; a rival of the hero or heroine.
12. Antithesis: (a figure of speech) The balancing of two contrasting ideas, words phrases, or sentences. An antithesis is often expressed in a balanced sentence, that is, a sentence in which identical or similar grammatical structure is used to express contrasting ideas.
13. Aphorism: A concise, pointed statement expressing a wise or clever observation about
life.
14. Apostrophe顿呼法: A figure of speech in which an absent or a dead person, an abstract quality, or something nonhuman is addressed directly.
15. Argument: A form of discourse in which reason is used to influence or change people’s idea or actions. Writers practice argument most often when writing nonfiction, particularly essays or speeches.
16. Aside: In drama, lines spoken by a character in an undertone or directly to the audience. An aside is meant to be heard by the other characters onstage.
17. Assonance: The repetition of similar vowel sounds, especially in poetry. Assonance is often employed to please the ear or emphasize certain sounds.
18. Atmosphere: The prevailing mood or feeling of a literary work. Atmosphere is often developed, at least in part, through descriptions of setting. Such descriptions help to create an emotional climate for the werrors to establish the reader’s expectations and attitudes.
19. Autobiography: A person’s account of his or her own life. An autobiography is generally written in narrative form and includes some introspection.
20. Ballad: A story told in verse and usually meant to be sung. In many countries, the folk ballad was one of the earliest forms of literature. Folk ballads have no known authors. They were transmitted orally from generation to generation and were not set down in writing until centuries after they were first sung. The subject matter of folk ballads stems from the everyday life of the common people. Devices commonly used in ballads are the refrain, incremental repetition, and code language. A later form of ballad is the literary
ballad, which imitates the style of the folk ballad.
第二篇：美国大学英美文学专业TOP 10
HarvardUniversity
申请截止日期为1月3日，学校不提供单独的文学硕士学位。国际申请者必须提交GRE和TOEFL成绩。学校每年都会收到数百名申请者提交的申请材料，而 录取新生的比例仅为5～7%。每一位被录取的新生均能获得至少4年的全额奖学金——除了学费全免外，每年还能获得17500美元左右的日常生活补助。网址：http://www.gsas.harvard.edu/
University of California—Berkeley
申请者必须具有学士学位，本科GPA成绩在3.0以上。申请者需提供学习纪录、个人陈述、推荐信和考试成绩。校方还很重视申请者的研究兴趣与教授研究兴 趣之间的吻合度，并考虑申请者的背景和生活经历是否对今后的学习和研究有利。除了GRE、TOEFL等标准化考试的绝对分数外，校方还看重GRE成绩(特 别是GRE General考试中语文部分)的相对比例，因此要求申请者能在12月之前参加完所有的考试。该校申请截止日期为1月5日，国际学生需交纳80美元的申请 费。
网址：http://www.english.berkeley.edu/
YaleUniversity
该校通常重点考查申请者的GPA成绩、GRE成绩、研究经验和与本校研究领域的契合程度。近年来大多数被录取的新生平均GRE成绩都在700分以上(特 别是语文部分)，TOEFL平均成绩为623分。申请者应至少拥有学士学位，本科GPA在3.0以上、研究生GPA 在3.5以上。申请TA奖学金的申请人必须提供TSE考试成绩，该成绩不得低于50分(满分60分)。该校的申请截止日期为1月15日，国际学生申请费为 60美元。
网址：http://www.yale.edu/
PrincetonUniversity
该校每年录取大约10～12名新生。在录取过程中，教授们主要注重评价申请者的英美文学专业背景。具体的衡量指标有：本科GPA成绩、GRE成绩等。此 外，学校非常重视申请者的文学研究经验，包括本科毕业论文和课堂内外参与的研究项目或研究经历。当然，申请时提交的Essay和推荐信也是重要的评估文 件。普林斯顿大学提供了在线申请的网址和PDF格式的表格供申请者下载，但学校已经不通过邮寄方式向申请者寄送纸质表格。申请费为：网上申请65美元，书 面申请105美元，申请截止日期为12月31日。
网址：http://www.princeton.edu/
StanfordUniversity
该校每年会收到大约300份入学申请，录取的新生人数在12～15名左右。录取委员会并未设置严格的选拔规则，但要求申请者表现出足以完成学位学习的才 能和品性。主要考查的因素有：学术背景、标准化考试成绩和写作能力等。被录取的新生通常拥有较高的标准化考试成绩(TOEFL笔考620分以上，GRE语 文成绩700分以上，GPA高于3.5)，而且其研究兴趣与本系教授的契合程度较高，能够迅速进入角色，帮助教授开展文学研究工作。申请该校的截止日期为 12月14日，申请费为105美元。
网址：http://www.stanford.edu/
CornellUniversity
申请者需要提交的材料有：完整的研究生院入学申请、个人陈述、英美文学系的补充申请表格、一份以前学校的官方成绩单、3封推荐信、GRE成绩(包括 General成绩和物理学Subject成绩)，国际学生需要提交TOEFL成绩。此外，英美文学系对申请者的TOEFL和GRE语文成绩有较高要求， 一般被录取新生的
TOEFL最低成绩为笔考620分，GRE语文成绩均在705分以上。该校的申请费为：网上申请70美元、书面申请80美元，申请截止日 期为12月15日。网址：http://www.english.cornell.edu/
University of Chicago
芝加哥大学英美文学系仅提供博士学位，每年系内招收的博士新生在10～15人之间。申请者需要提供的材料有：推荐信、学术背景证明材料、GRE成绩、 TOEFL成绩(国际学生)、写作范例(Writing Sample)。申请时不能以LSAT或GMAT来代替所要求提交的GRE成绩。在最近3年中，入学新生的平均GRE语文成绩为712分，国际新生的平均 TOEFL成绩在623分以上，本科GPA平均在3.6以上。同时要求申请者提交10～15页的写作范例，该文章可以是课堂讨论的小论文，也可以是学位论 文的节选。申请截止日期是12月15日，申请费为55美元。网址：http://english.uchicago.edu/
ColumbiaUniversity
哥伦比亚大学英美文学系的申请者需要向校方提交的材料有：学士学位证明、申请表格、3封推荐信、以往所有就读学术机构的成绩记录、GRE成绩。国际申请 者即使获得了用英语授课的研究生学位，也必须向校方提供TOEFL成绩。博士新生入学的申请截止日期为12月15日，如果申请者通过学校网站进行在线申 请，申请费为75美元;如果采用传统的书面材料打印申请，则需缴纳90美元申请费。
网址：http://www.columbia.edu/
JohnsHopkinsUniversity
该校每年从约450名申请者中录取10～12人。尽管学校对申请者的GRE、TOEFL成绩和本科GPA不设最低分限制，但在申请过程中，教授们最看重 的三
个要素还是：GRE成绩(特别是语文部分的分数)、以往学习的成绩单和推荐信。此外，申请者过去的文学研究或创作经验也是非常重要的。申请该校的截止 日期是次年1月，学校在2月中旬至3月底之间做出最终决定。
网址：http://www.jhu.edu/
University of Pennsylvania
该校仅接受秋季入学申请，学校每年从400多名申请者中录取10人左右，申请该校的截止日期是次年1月。申请者须提交申请表格、个人陈述、成绩单、至少 3封推荐信。申请者需要参加GRE的General考试。国际学生还必须提交TOEFL考试成绩。入学新生的平均GRE语文成绩为706分，平均 TOEFL成绩在627分以上。
网址：http://www.upenn.edu/
对中国申请者的建议
目前国内很多学校的英美文学专业授课往往采取了“文学史+名著选读”的模式。由于学生被动地接受了教师的灌输，因而很难真正形成自己对文学作品的独到见 解。教师在处理名著选段时往往把大部分时间用在了解释句子和单词的意思上，导致很多学生虽然上了一两年的英美文学专业课程，却没有接触过一部完整的著作， 这与美国大学英美文学专业的研究生入学要求还是存在着不小的差距。此外，很多该专业的同学实际上对文学并非有着浓厚的兴趣和研究欲望，因此在出国之后也面 临着专业和研究领域的重新抉择。
根据中国英美文学专业的现实，结合笔者多年的留学研究经验，对该专业的同学出国深造可给出以下建议：
1、如果你对该专业确实具有浓厚的研究兴趣、并立志将其作为终生奋斗的领域，可以在大学课堂所涉及的内容之外广泛阅读英美文学原著。由于美国历史相对较 短，知名的文学著作和作家也相对较少，因此要在本科阶段就加强专业领域的研究，同时不断尝试以自己的独特眼光来评价文学作品，力求创新。
2、如果你对该专业并非抱有浓厚兴趣，可以考虑在申请时转换专业方向。根据笔者经验，美国一些与国内英美文学专业学习相关的专业还是很乐意接受该方向的 学员申请，如地区性研究(特别是亚洲及东亚文化研究等)。如果学生在本科或研究生阶段已经选修了一部分外专业的课程、甚至已经获得了其他专业的第二学位， 也可以考虑申请此方向。
第三篇：英美文学。
一、殖民主义时期The Literature of Colonial America
1.船长约翰•史密斯Captain John Smith
《自殖民地第一次在弗吉尼亚垦荒以来发生的各种事件的真实介绍》
“A True Relation of Such Occurrences and Accidents of Note as Hath Happened in Virginia Since the First Planting of That Colony”
《弗吉尼亚地图，附：一个乡村的描述》
“A Map of Virginia: with a Description of the Country”
《弗吉尼亚通史》“General History of Virginia”
2.威廉•布拉德福德William Bradford and John Winthrop
《普利茅斯开发历史》“The History of Plymouth Plantation”
3.约翰•温思罗普John Winthrop
《新英格兰历史》“The History of New England”
4.罗杰•威廉姆斯Roger Williams
《开启美国语言的钥匙》”A Key into the Language of America”
或叫《美洲新英格兰部分土著居民语言指南》
Or “ A Help to the Language of the Natives in That Part of America Called New England ”
5.安妮•布莱德斯特Anne Bradstreet
《在美洲诞生的第十个谬斯》
”The Tenth Muse Lately Sprung Up in America
二、理性和革命时期文学 The Literature of Reason and Revolution
1。本杰明•富兰克林Benjamin Franklin
※《自传》“ The Autobiography ”
《穷人理查德的年鉴》“Poor Richard’s Almanac”
2。托马斯•佩因Thomas Paine
※《美国危机》“The American Crisis”
《收税官的案子》“The Case of the Officers of the Excise”
《常识》“Common Sense”
《人权》“Rights of Man”
《理性的时代》“The Age of Reason”
《土地公平》“Agrarian Justice”
3。托马斯•杰弗逊Thomas Jefferson
※《独立宣言》
4。菲利浦•弗瑞诺Philip Freneau
※《野忍冬花》“The Wild Honey Suckle”
※《印第安人的坟地》“The Indian Burying Ground”
※《致凯提•迪德》“To a Caty-Did”
《想象的力量》“The Power of Fancy”
《夜屋》“The House of Night”
《英国囚船》“The British Prison Ship”
《战争后期弗瑞诺主要诗歌集》
“The Poems of Philip Freneau Written Chiefly During the Late War”
《札记》“Miscellaneous Works”
第四篇：英美文学
英国文学知识点梳理：
1.Renaissance: ( from 14th century to 17th century)
Definition: Renaissance is commonly applied to the movement or period in Western civilization, which marks the transition from the medieval to the modern world. An age of drama and poetry.
Reasons:the rediscovery of ancient Roman and Greek culture, the new discoveries in geography and astronomy, the religious reformation and economic expansion
Significance: a reflection of the class struggle waged by the new rising bourgeoisie against the feudal class and its ideology.
William Caxton—the first person who introduced printing into England.
Sonnet: originated in Italy, sonnet is a fourteen-line poem with a distinctiverhyme scheme and metrical pattern. It was introduced to England by Sir Wyatt in the early stage of English Renaissance and then further cultivated by Edmund Spenser and William Shakespeare so as to produce respectively the Spenserian stanza and
Shakespearian stanza, both of which exerted great influence on the successing poets.Shakespearian Stanza: Shakespearean Sonnet is made up of three quatrains(四行诗节) with different rhymes, followed by a couplet. The rhyme scheme is abab cdcd efef gg. Spenserian Stanza: invented by Edmund Spenser. It is a stanza of 9 lines, with the first eight lines in iambic pentameter 抑扬格五音步& the last line in iambic hexameter抑扬格六音步, rhyming ababbcbcc.
blank verse—is unrhymed poetry with each line written in iambic pentamet Metaphysical Poetry:
Definition:The term is commonly used to name the work in the 17th century written by the writers who wrote under the influence of John Donne.Representatives: John Donne & George Herbert
Technique: Peculiar/Metaphysical conceits(奇喻)
General Features: a. The diction is simple and echoes the words and cadence of
common speech.The imagery is drawn from the actual life yet subtle, the extended metaphors for such images are typically called “metaphysical/peculiar
conceits”. The form is frequently that of an argument with the poet’s loved, with God, or with himself.
2.Neo-classic Period:
1)The Enlightenment Movement—The Age of Reason
Definition: The Enlightenment refers to a progressive intellectual movement
throughout Western Europe that spans approximately one hundred years from
1680s to 1789.
Purpose: to enlighten the whole world with the light of modern philosophical and
artistic ideas.
2) Neoclassicism: (Main literary form—English Novels)
Definition: In literary criticism, this term refers to the revival of the attitudes and
styles of expression of classical literature. It is generally used to describe a period in
European history beginning in the late seventeenth century and lasting until about
1800.
Characteristics of Neoclassical Literature: fixed laws and rules for almost every
genre of literature. Prose: lyrical, epical, didactic, satiric or dramatic, each class
guided by its own principles. Drama: in Heroic Couplet; strictly observation of the 3
unity of time, space andaction; regularity in construction; type characters
rather than individuals. Mainstream of literature: realism—writers described the
social realities.
3.Romantic Period: (an age of poetry)
1) Romanticism
English Romanticism is said to have begun in 1798 with the publication of
Wordsworth and Coleridge’s Lyrical Ballads and to have ended in 1832 with
Sir Walter Scott’s death and the passage of the first Reform Bill in the
Parliament.
2) Characteristics of the Age
The Romantic Age is emphatically an age of poetry.Women novelists appeared in this age. It was during this period that women assumed, for the first time, an important place in English literature. (Jane Austen)The greatest historical novelists Walter Scott belongs to this period. His
historical novels combines a romantic atmosphere with a realistic depiction of
historical background and common people’s life. Scott marked the transition
from romanticism to the period of realism that followed it.
4.The Victorian Period:
1) Victorian Literature
The novel became the most widely read and most vital and challenging
expression of progressive thought.
The Victorian age was also a great one for non-fictional prose.The poets of this period were mainly characterized by their experiment with
new styles and new ways of expression.
2) Critical Realism
English critical realism of the 19th century flourished in the 1840s and early 1850s.It found its expression mainly in the writing of novels and the greatest
English critical realist of the time was Charles Dickens—a humorist and
satirist, a great bourgoisie intellect who could not overstep the limits of
his class.The English critical realism of the 19th century not only gave a satirical
portrayal of the bourgeoisie and all the ruling classes, but also showed
profound sympathy for the common people.
5.The Modern Period—marked by the publification of T. S. Eliot’s The Wast
Land: (Prevailing Genre: Fictions)
1) Cultural Background
Darwin’s Origin of Species and social Darwinism;Einstein’s theory of relativity; Freud’s
analytical psychology; irrational philosophers including Schopenhauer, Nietzsche and
Bergson.
2) The Differences Between Realism and Modernism:
Realism: Theoratical Base ---Rational PhilosophyFunction of Literature--- Educate
People and Criticize Social EvilsSubject--- Public, Exterior WorldConception of
Time &Space--- Clock Time, Geographic spaceForms and Techniques--- Hero, Plot
Tone--- Optimistic
Modernism: Theoratical Base --- Irrational PhilosophyFunction of Literature---
Expression of "Self"Subject--- Private, Interior World
Conception ofTime &Space--- Psychological Time &SpaceForms and Techniques---
Anti-hero, Anti-plot
Tone--- Pessimistic
Modernism is , in many aspects, a reaction against rationalism, it rose out of
skepticism and disillusion of capitalism. The Major theme of Modernism:
distoreted, alienated and ill relationships between man and nature, man and society,
man and man, and man and himself.
Literary Trends: expressionism, surrealism(超现实主义), futurism, imagism and stream
of consciousness, existentialsm.
美国文学
1. Literature of Colonial Period
a. Indian tribes had a rich store of oral literature in the forms of songs, spells, charms,
omens ,riddles and stories.
b. Three stages: Traditional literature, Transitional Literature, Modern Literaturec. The first permanent English settlement was established at Jamestown, Virginia in 1607.
d. Puritanism :Origin of Puritan
Doctrines:based on Calvinism1)predestination2)original sin and total depravity
3)limited atonement4)theocracy
Influence on American Literature 1)Its optimism has exerted a great influence on
American literature2)Puritan’s metaphorical mode of perception changed
gradually into a literary symbolism
e. Literature of Colonial Settlement: Forms: histories, travel account, biographies,
diaries, letters, autobiographies, sermons and poems. Characteristics:1) American
colonial literature is neither real literature nor American. 2) Their writings served either
God or colonial expansion
2. The Literature of the Revolutionary Period:
a. The Age of Reason: Definition:A rational society is that “reforms the mind,
sweetens the temper, cheers the spirits, and promotes health”(by Thomas
Jefferson).
b. The forms of literature: ballads, skits, broadsides, newspaper poems, editorials,
essays, private and public letters, satires, pamphlets
3. The Literature of the Romantic Period
1) American Romanticism: an artistic and intellectual movement originating in Europe
in the late 18th century and characterized by a heightened interest in nature, emphasis on
the individual’s expression of emotion and imagination, departure from the attitudes and
forms of classicism, and rebellion against established social rules and conventions.
native factors: It is a period following American independence.(Political independence,
economic development and territorial expansion contributed much to literature.
foreign influence: Romanticism emerged from England and it added impetusto the
growthof Romanticism in America.
2) Distinct Features of American Romanticism
a. It was in essence the expression of a real new experience
b. American Puritanism served as a cultural heritage in American literature. c. American new ideals were strong enough to inspire Romantic spirit
d. both imitative & independent
4.The Literature of the Realistic Period:
a. Realism:is a term applied to literary composition that aims at an prejudice, idealism, or romantic color.
b. Time:Realism flourished from the Civil War to the turn of the century.
c. Features: (1) It stresses truthful treatment of material. (2) Characterization is the center of the story. (3) Open ending is a good example of the truthful treatment of material. (4) Realism focuses on common characters and everyday events. (5) Realism emphasizes objectivity. (6) Realism presents moral vision.
d. Two Literary Trends:
1)Local Color(or Local Corlorism/Regionalism etc.)
a. Local Color is a term applied to literature which, asthat have escaped standardizing cultural influences
b. Features: Presenting a locale which is distinguished from the outside world; Describing the exotic and the picturesque; Nostalgia; Showing things as they are; The influence of setting on character(environmental determinism)
2) Naturalism:
a. Background: 1) Darwinism’s key points: the struggle for existence or evolution, the survival of the fittest, natural selection. 2) SocialDarwinism: the weak and stupid would fall victim in the natural course of events to economic forces.
b. Definition: Naturalism is a critical term applied to the method of literary
composition
c. Features:Humans are controlled by laws of heredity and environment. The universe is cold, godless, indifferent, and hostile to human desires.
The literary naturalists have a major difference from the realists. (Violent, sensational, sordid, unpleasant and ugly vs. genteel)
5. The Literature of the Modernist Period:
1). Modernism:
Cultural Background: Darwin’s Origin of Species; Freud’s analytical psychology(libido, id, ego, superego); Irrational Philosophers: Schopenhauer & Nietzsche
Modernist literature is characterized chiefly by a rejection of 19th-century traditions.
2) Imagism:(Leaders: Ezra Pound and Amy Lowell)
Definition: Imagism is the doctrine and poetic practice of a small but influential group of American and British poets calling themselves imagists between 1912 and 1917. Aiming at a new clarity and exactness in the short lyric poem, the imagists cultivated concision and directness, building their short poems around single images; they also preferred looser cadences to traditional regular rhythms.
Features: Free choice of subject matter, Free verse, Image Without interpretation or comment
Influences: a. The imagist theories call for brief language, describing the precise picture in as few words as possible. This new way of poetry composition has a lasting influence in the 20th century poetry. b. The second lasting influence of Imagism is the form of free verse. There are no metrical rules. There are apparent indiscriminate line breaks, which reflects the discontinuity of life itself. That is art of the poem. (The poet uses the length of the lines and the strange groupings of words to show how life itself can be broken up into somehow meaningless clusters.)
2)The Lost Generation:
.first used by Gertrude Stein, an American woman writer, who was one of the leaders of the group,the term defines a sense of moral loss or aimlessness. The WWI destroyed the innocent ideas, many good young men went to the war and died, or
returned damaged, both physically and mentally; their moral faith were no longer valid--- they were “Lost.”
In the Narrow Sense: a group ofAmerican writers, including Hemingway,
F.S.Fitzgerald, J.Dos Passos, E.E.Cummings, Sherwood Anderson, and Hart Crane, etc.
In the Broad Sense: the entire post WWI American young generation
Main Characteristics: Suffering from the war, losing beliefs, being cut off from life, indulged in drinking and partying.
第五篇：英美文学
A summery of first two lessons
From the previous classes, we've essentially get an brief idea of some basic knowledge about the United Kingdom. The main knowledge points can be concluded as follows:
The full name of the complicated country is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Britain is no longer an imperial country, though its past has huge effects. The two main effects respectively lie in Britain'international relationships and the make-up of the British population.
UK, as a multiracial society, has the remarkable class regional and economic differences.
London, the capital and the largest city, is dominant in the UK in all fields. England, the largest in geography and population of the four nations, dominant in culture and economy.
A British invasions history which experiences from stages.
Scotland, the most confident of its own identity, has spent a history as a unified state independent of the UK.
Scotland joined the Union by agreement of the English and Scottish parliament.
A brief introduction to Wales.
Northern Ireland has an active cultural life but has its problems because of the conflicts and the influence of UK.
Irish desires for an indepent Irish state all the time, therefore issues accurred in frequent succession. The Home Rule Bill, the East Rising of 1916 and the Sinn Fein Party made Irish independent.
There exists religious conflicts between the Irish and the British because of the ethnical distinction.
British government organised a partition of Ireland as a compromise.
More violent campaign, IRA's violence and Bloody Sunday.
In order to halt the terrible conflicts, Ireland and Great Britain aim to cooperate with each other and arrive at a resolution. Finally, the Good Friday Agreement was emerged.
Learning first two lessons has laid a good foundation for our further study on the following lessons. I'm looking forward to comprehend more knowledge about British politics, economy, culture and foreign relations and so on.