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1、1.What are the origin and features of literary theory in classical times? P1-2 1）It originates in all societies from the very earliest times. And it is related to the Greek forms. They were tied in very tightly to specific social occasion, for instance, plays recitation of Homeric epics, epinician o
2、r victory odes were conducted in different rituals. 2) a.It focused on concept genre , which sprang up almost automatically in Greek literary theory. b. The element of ritual was modified by the element of agon or contest. c. Greek plays, epics and odes were all performed to an audience. The role of
3、 audience was inescapable. d. The textual object of Greek literary theory is the term poiesis. It is in its relations with neighbouring areas of verbal composition. e. It makes no clear separation between the language of poiesis and the language of legal debate, or political debate, or public speaki
4、ng. 2. By the first century B. C., the rhetorical critics had established two important systems of classification. What are they? Expound them in details. P4 1)The first system of classification was a division of stylistic registers into the high (or grand), the middle (or moderate), and the low(or
5、plain).The grand style calls for strong emotion and elevated language, the plain style calls for quiet simplicity, and relatively unadorned language, the middle style is a quiet but not simple style, it calls for sweetness, smoothness, flowingness. Each style is considered appropriate for specific a
6、udiences and specific forms of persuasion. The grand style serves to sway an audience to resolution and decision, the middle style serves to win an audience by charming conciliation, and the plain style serves to convince by argument. 2)The second system was the system of tropes and figures. A trope
7、 is a deviation from the normal use of an individual word, while a figure is a deviation from the normal arrangement of words or the normal sequence of thought. The tropes include metaphor, synecdoche, and metonymy. Figures and tropes are viewed as ornaments or clothing for an already existing mater
8、ial and the same may be said of all other stylistic devices discussed by rhetorical critics 3. What are the features of Rhetoric tradition? P5 1) The first feature of Rhetoric tradition is that the traditional separation of form and content is about all a tradition of rhetorical criticism. 2) Anothe
9、r feature of the rhetorical tradition is the emphasis upon details at the expanse of larger wholes. Large-scale unity is not a major concern for the rhetorical critics. 3) The last feature is that rhetorical criticism was a very conservative discipline. Its history contains no drastic challenges or
10、revolutions of the kind associated with later literary criticism, which has typically been affected by the changeability of the object, literature. 4. What are the three most plausibe criteria for defining literature? P6 1)The quality of dramatization. 2) The quality of fictionality. 3)A special fig
11、urative quality of language. 5. Discuss Platos theory of imitation or mimesis. P6-10 1)Mimesis is a critical and philosophical term that carries a wide range of meanings, which include imitation, representation, mimicry, imitatio, receptivity, nonsensuous similarity, the act of resembling, the act o
12、f expression, and the presentation of the self. In ancient Greece, mimesis was an idea that governed the creation of works of art, in particular, with correspondence to the physical world understood as a model for beauty, truth, and the good. Plato contrasted mimesis, or imitation, with diegesis, or
13、 narrative. Plato saw in mimesis the representation of nature. Plato wrote about mimesis in both Ion and The Republic (Books II, III, and X). In Ion, he states that poetry is the art of divine madness, or inspiration. Because the poet is subject to this divine madness, it is not his/her function to
14、convey the truth.citation needed As Plato has it, truth is the concern of the philosopher only. As culture in those days did not consist in the solitary reading of books, but in the listening to performances, the recitals of orators (and poets), or the acting out by classical actors of tragedy, Plat
15、o maintained in his critique that theatre was not sufficient in conveying the truth.citation needed He was concerned that actors or orators were thus able to persuade an audience by rhetoric rather than by telling the truth.citation needed In Book II of The Republic, Plato describes Socrates dialogu
16、e with his pupils. Socrates warns we should not seriously regard poetry as being capable of attaining the truth and that we who listen to poetry should be on our guard against its seductions, since the poet has no place in our idea of God. In developing this in Book X, Plato told of Socrates metaphor of the three beds: one bed exists as an idea made by God (the Platonic ideal); one is made by the carpenter, in imitation of Gods idea; one
