Exercise3AmericanRealism[2页].docx

Exercise 3American RealismI. Multiple choice:1. The Age of Realism in the literary history of the United States refers to the period fromto.A. 1861.1914 B. 1763.1918 C. 1865.1914 D. 1865.19182. Stylistically, Henry James' fiction is characterized by.A. highly refined languageB. ordinary American speechC. short, clear sentencesD. abundance of local images3. is described by Mark Twain as a boy with “a sound heart and a deformed conscience.A. Tom Sawyer B. Huckleberry Finn C. Jim D. Tony4. The setting of is America, where some Europeans, who are actually expatriatedAmericans, learns with difficult to adapt themselves to the American life.A. Middlemarch B. The Europeans C. Daisy Miller D. The Portrait of a Lady5. Mark Twain wrote most of his literary works with a language.A. grand B. pompous C. simpleD. vernacular6. Henry James experimented with many different themes in his literary career, the mostinfluential one being.A. nothingnessB. disillusionmentC. international themeD. relationship between men and women7. The book from which “all modern American literature comes“ refers to.A. the Great GatsbyB. the sun Also risesC. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn D. Moby-Dick8. Mark Twain stood on the side of China in its struggle against foreign invasions. Hisand are two notable examples of his vigorous attacks on the imperialistbehaviour of the United States and other foreign countries in China.A. the Treaty with ChinaB. To the Person Sitting in DarknessC. Disgraceful Persecution of a BoyD. Goldsmith's Friend Abroad AgainIL Identification of fragment:“We dasn't stop again at any town, for days and days; kept right along down the river. We wasdown south in the warm weather, now, and a mighty long ways from home. We began to come totrees with Spanish moss on them, hanging down from the limbs like long gray beards. It was thefirst I ever see it growing, and it made the woods look solemn and dismal.”Questions:A. Identify the author and the work.B. Whom does the word "we" refer to?C. What is the name of the river mentioned in the passage?III. Give brief answers:1. Who are the three dominant figures of the American Realistic Period and what are theirliterary differences?2. In American literature what is the significance of "Adventures of Huckleberry Finn" by MarkTwain?Suggested answers:L l.C 2.A3.B4.B5.D6.C7.C8.A.BII. A. Mark Twain The Adventures of Huckleberry FinnB. The word “we" refers to Huck and Jim.C. the Mississippi riverIII.1. The three dominant figures of the period were William Dean Howells, Mark Twain, and HenryJames. Though the three prominent writers all worked fbr realism, they had differentunderstanding of the “truth”. While Mark Twain and Howells seem to have paid more attention tothe “life” of the Americans, Henry James has apparently laid a greater emphasis on the “innerworld“ of man. He is a realist of the inner life. Though Twain and Howells both share the sameconcern in presenting the truth of the American society, they have each of them different emphasis.Howells focuses his discussion on the rising middle class and the way they live, while Twain dealswith his own region and people of the lower class of society at the forefront of his stories. Jameswrites mostly of the upper reaches of American society.2. First of all, the novel is written in a language that is simple, direct and lucid and faithful to thecolloquial speech. This unpretentious style of colloquialism is best described as “vernacular”.Speaking in vernacular, wild and uneducated Huck, running away from civilization fbr hisfreedom, is vividly brought to life.The book is also significant for the shape given to it by the course of the raft's journey down theMississippi as Huck and Jim seek their different kinds of freedom. Twain, who knew the riverintimately, uses it her both realistically and symbolically.Another great contribution of the book is the profound portrait of Huckleberry Finn. The novelbegins with a description of how Widow Douglas attempts to civilize Huck and ends with himdeciding not to let it happen again at the hands of Aunt Sally. The climax arises with Huck's innerstruggle on the Mississippi, when Huck is polarized by two opposing forces between his heart andhis head, between his affection for Jim and the laws of the society against those who help slavesescape. Huck's final decision - to follow his own good-hearted moral impulse rather thanconventional village morality - amounts to a vindication of what Twain called “the damnedhuman race,“ damned for its comfortable hypocrisies, its thoroughgoing dishonesties, and itspervasive crulties. With the eventual victory of his moral conscience over his social awareness,Huck grows.Huckleberry Finn marks the climax of Twain's literary creativity. It is what Hemingway oncedescribes as the one book fro