2011年英语专八考试英美文化大纲:
　　这一期名师根据历年经验总结了英语专八考试英美文化大纲；小编已经为大家整理好了,希望大家可以在考前好好掌握,祝愿大家在以后的考试中都能取得优异的成绩!
　　An Outline of British Literary History
　　Early and Medieval English Literature
　　1. Beowulf, epic in old Briton
　　2. Romance
　　3. Ballads
　　4. Geoffrey Chaucer, the founder of English poetry, “The Canterbury Tales”
　　The English Renaissance (16th—first half of 17th)
　　1. Characteristic of Renaissance: 1) a thirsting curiosity for the classical literature; 2) keen interest in the activities of humanity (humanism)
　　2. Thomas More, the greatest of the English humanists, “Utopia”
　　3. Poets in this period: (The sonnet, an exact form of poetry in 14 lines of iambic pentameter intricately rhymed, was introduced to England from Italy by Sir Thomas Wyatt and Henry Howard)
　　① Sir Philip Sidney (1554-86), love sonnets: “Astrophel and Stella”
　　② Walter Raleigh (1552-1618), “Discovery of Guiana”
　　③ Edmund Spenser (1552-99), “The Shepherd’s Calendar” (a pastoral poem in 12 books); “The Faerie Queene” (his masterpiece dedicated to Queen Elizabeth). He is the first master to make Modern English the natural music of his poetic effusions.
　　④ John Lyly (1554-1606), a romance writer for the gentle reader, “Euphues”
　　4. Prose Writer: Francis Bacon (1561-1626), “Essays” (58 ones). It covers a wide variety of subjects, such as love, truth, friendship, parents and children, beauty, studies, riches, youth and age, garden, death, and many others. They have won popularity for their precision, clearness, brevity and force.
　　5. Drama (the highest glory of English Renaissance)
　　① university wits: Lyly, Peele, Marlowe, Greene, Lodge and Nash. They made rapid progress in dramatic technique because they had a close contact with the actors and audience.
　　② Christopher Marlowe (1564-93): 1) Tamburlaine; 2) The Jew of Malta; 3) Doctor Faustus
　　③ Ben Jonson (1572-1637): 1) Every man in His Humor; 2) Volpone, or the Fox”; 3) The Alchemist;
　　④ William Shakespeare
　　Four Tragedies: 1) Hamlet 2) Othello 3) King Lear 4) Macbeth
　　Celebrated comedies: 1) The Merchant of Venice 2) The Taming of the Shrew 3)（转载自扬格外语考试网http://waiyu.kaoshibaike.com，请保留此标记。） A Midsummer Night’s Dream 4) All’s Well That Ends Well other celebrated ones: 1) Titus Andronicus 2) Romeo and Juliet 3) Henry V 4) Twelfth Night 5) Julius Caesar 6) Timon of Athens 7) The Tempest 8) Antony and Cleopatra
　　The Neoclassical Period
1. John Milton (1608-1674): 1) Paradise Lost 2) Paradise Regained 3) Samson Agonistes
　　2. John Bunyan (1628-1688): The Pilgrim’s Progress
　　3. Metaphysical Poets (mysticism in content and fantasticality in form): 1) John Donne (1572-1631), the founder of the Metaphysical school of poetry. 2) George Herbert (1593-1633), “the saint of the Metaphysical school”, sings the glory of God 3) Andrew Maevell, a Puritan
　　4. John Dryen (1631-1700): 1) All for Love (a tragedy) 2) An Essay of dramatic Poesy (It established his position as the leading critic of the day.)
　　5. Richard Steele (1672-1729), a representative of the Enlightenment in English literature, the founder of “The Tatler” (a newspaper)
　　6. Joseph Addison (1672-1719), another representative of the Enlightenment in English literature, the founder of “The Spectator” (a daily paper)
　　7. Alexander Pope (1688-1744), the most important poet and classicist in the first half of the 18th century. 1) Essay on Criticism (didactic poem in heroic couplets) 2) The Rape of the Lock 3) Pope’s Homer (his translation of “Illiad” and half of “Odyssey” in heroic couplets)
　　8. Jonathan Swift (1667-1745): Gulliver’s Travels
　　9. Daniel Defoe (1660-1731): 1) Robinson Crusoe 2) Captain Singleton 3) Moll Flanders 4) Colonel Jacque
　　10. Samuel Richardson (1680-1761): Pamela, or, Virtue Rewarded
　　11. Henry Fielding (1707-1754): 1) Tom Jones 2) Joseph Andrews
　　12. Tobias Smollett (1721-1771): Roderick Random
　　13. Laurence Sterne (1713-1768): 1) Tristram Shandy 2) A Sentimental Journey
　　14. Richard Brinsley Sheridan (1751-1816), a playwright: The School for Scandal
　　15. Samuel Johnson (1709-1784), a lexicographer critic and poet: Dictionary
　　16. Oliver Goldsmith (1730-1774): The Vicar of Wakefield
　　17. Edward Gibbon, historian: The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire