Part V The Victorian Age,(1832-1901),Chapter I A Survey of the Victorian Period,(1) Definition: the Victorian Period roughly coincides with the reign of Queen Victoria who ruled over England from 1837 to 1901. one of the most Glorious period in the English history,1837年，18岁的女王维多利亚登基. 新女王在继位之前的日记中写道：既然上帝把我置于这个国家的王位上，我将尽力履行自己的职责。我尚年轻，可能在许多方面缺乏经验，但我肯定，几乎无人像我这样怀着为国为民的良好意愿和真切希望。 女王充分实现了自己的诺言：她在其一生中模范地履行了立宪君主的职责，因此深受国民的爱戴；她还是那个时代道德风尚的典范，她是贤妻良母，也是优秀的一家主妇。她自己生活严谨，工作刻苦，对别人又充满责任感。在许多国人眼中，她就是那个时代的缩影，她漫长的63年在位时期则是国家繁荣昌盛的顶峰. 在英国所有国王中，她享有盛誉，这不是因为她做出了什么轰动的事业，而是因为她什么都不做，而仅仅恪守立宪君主的本分，做她那个时代的表率。,(2) Background: developed rapidly both politically (2) Period of excitement ,lively Character Sketches or does the author want the reader to both see and feel it? What details of setting does the author isolate and describe?,Is the setting important? If so, what is its function? Is it used to reveal, reinforce, or influence character, plot, or theme? Is the setting an appropriate one?,5. Point of view The method of narration that determines the position, or angle of vision from which the story is told. Commonly used points of view Third-person point of view omniscient Third-person point of view limited First-person point of view,Analyzing point of view What is the point of view; who talks to the reader? Is the point of view consistent throughout the work or does it shift in some way? Where does the narrator stand in relation to the work? Where does the reader stand? To what sources of knowledge or information does the point of view give the reader access? What sources of knowledge or information does it serve to conceal?,If the work is told from the point of view of one of the characters, is the narrator reliable? Does his or her personality, character, or intellect affect an ability to interpret the events or the other characters correctly? Given the authors purposes, is the chosen point of view an appropriate and effective one? How would the work be different if told from another point of view?,6. Language and style Style consists of diction (the individual words an author chooses) and syntax (the arrangement of those words), as well as such devices as rhythm and sound, allusion, ambiguity, irony, paradox, and figurative language. Each writers style is unique. It constitutes his “signature” in a way that sets his work apart. Diction: the type and quality of the individual words that comprise an authors basic vocabulary. The denotative meaning of words,The connotative meaning; The degree of concreteness or abstractness; The degree of allusiveness; the parts of speech they represent; The length and construction; The level of usage they reflect (standard or nonstandard; formal, informal, or colloquial); The imagery they contain; The figurative devices (simile, metaphor, personification, etc,) they embody;,Syntax: The ways the author arranges words into phrases, clauses, and finally whole sentences to achieve particular effects. The lengthwhether they are short, spare, and economical or long and involved; The formwhether they are simple, compound, or complex;,The construction Loose sentences that follow the normal subject-verb-object pattern, stating their main idea near the beginning in the form of an independent clause Periodic sentences that deliberately withhold or suspend the completion of the main idea until the end of the sentence, Balanced sentences in which two similar or antithetical ideas are balanced.,David Copperfield (1849-1850),David is sent by his stepfather Mr. Murderstone to work in a warehouse and board with the Micawber family, whose host is like Dickens father, improvident and optimistic. He marries his employers daughter Dora, a pretty but empty-headed woman. She soon dies and David becomes a famous writer later and he finally weds Agnes, the woman he has loved all his life.,Wilkins Micawber was modeled on Dickens father, John Dickens, who also ended up in a debtors prison (the Kings Bench Prison) after failing to meet the demands of his creditors. He is continually in debt and looking for “something to turn up”. The impecunious身无分文的 and loveable Micawber allows Dickens to vent some feelings about his father.,Appearance: a stoutish, middle-aged person, in a brown surtout and black tights and shoes, with no more hair upon his head (which was a large one, and very shining) than there is upon an egg, and with a very extensive face. His clothes were shabby, but he had an imposing shirt-collar on. He carried a jaunty sort of a stick, with a large pair of rusty tassels to it; and a quizzing-glass hung outside his coat, - for ornament, I afterwards found, as he very seldom looked through it, and couldnt see anything when he did.,Language: Welcome poverty!. Welcome misery, welcome houselessness, welcome hunger, rags, tempest, and beggary! Mutual confidence will sustain us to the end! Boy, as I have frequently had occasion to observe: When the stomach is empty, the spirits are low! Remember my motto Nil