Ⅳ.Topic Discussion (20 points in all, 10 for each)
Write no less than 150 words on each of the following topics in English in the corresponding space on the answer sheet.
49.In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen explored three kinds of motivations of marriage the middle-class people had in the second half of the 18th century. Try to make a brief discussion about them with specific examples from the novel. Make comments on Austen’s attitude towards these motivations.
A. Motivation one: to pursue material interest through marriage; Wickham, Miss Binley and Charlotte Lucas are examples of this kind.
B. Motivation two: to seek sensual pleasure and beauty; Lydia and Mr. Bennet are examples of this kind.
C. Motivation three: to search for trus love and also take personal merits and financial positions into consideration; Elizabeth Bennet is a typical example of this kind.
D. Austen celebrated the third kind of motivation of marriage while criticizing the first two wrong motivations.
50.Retell in a few sentences the story of the last chapter (Ch, 135) “The Chase-Third Day” of Melville’s novel Moby-Dick. Discuss the meaning of the ending of the story.
The story of Moby-Dick is simple, telling the battle between Ahab, captain of the whaling ship Pequod and the monstrous white whale Moby Dick. Ahab is obsessed by his determination to revenge himself upon the fierce, cunning whale, because it has crippled him. After many days of search and pursuit, the white whale is finally sighted. Chapter 135 is a description of the third day' s chase. Three boats have been lowered in chase of the whale, but two of them are later destroyed by the whale. Although the whale is harpooned at last, the ship is sunk and all the people aboard are drowned except Ishmale, the narrator of the story who happens to be rescued by another whale ship. Moby-Dick is not merely a whaling tale or sea adventure. It is a tragic epic. The voyage the Pequod has made is a symbolic voyage of the mind in quest of the truth and knowledge of the universe, a spiritual exploration into man' s deep reality and psychology. The battle between Ahab and the white whale symbolizes the struggle between man and nature, man and fate, good and evil.
Write no less than 150 words on each of the following topics in English in the corresponding space on the answer sheet.
49.In Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen explored three kinds of motivations of marriage the middle-class people had in the second half of the 18th century. Try to make a brief discussion about them with specific examples from the novel. Make comments on Austen’s attitude towards these motivations.
A. Motivation one: to pursue material interest through marriage; Wickham, Miss Binley and Charlotte Lucas are examples of this kind.
B. Motivation two: to seek sensual pleasure and beauty; Lydia and Mr. Bennet are examples of this kind.
C. Motivation three: to search for trus love and also take personal merits and financial positions into consideration; Elizabeth Bennet is a typical example of this kind.
D. Austen celebrated the third kind of motivation of marriage while criticizing the first two wrong motivations.
50.Retell in a few sentences the story of the last chapter (Ch, 135) “The Chase-Third Day” of Melville’s novel Moby-Dick. Discuss the meaning of the ending of the story.
The story of Moby-Dick is simple, telling the battle between Ahab, captain of the whaling ship Pequod and the monstrous white whale Moby Dick. Ahab is obsessed by his determination to revenge himself upon the fierce, cunning whale, because it has crippled him. After many days of search and pursuit, the white whale is finally sighted. Chapter 135 is a description of the third day' s chase. Three boats have been lowered in chase of the whale, but two of them are later destroyed by the whale. Although the whale is harpooned at last, the ship is sunk and all the people aboard are drowned except Ishmale, the narrator of the story who happens to be rescued by another whale ship. Moby-Dick is not merely a whaling tale or sea adventure. It is a tragic epic. The voyage the Pequod has made is a symbolic voyage of the mind in quest of the truth and knowledge of the universe, a spiritual exploration into man' s deep reality and psychology. The battle between Ahab and the white whale symbolizes the struggle between man and nature, man and fate, good and evil.