I. Fill in the Blanks

I. Fill in the blanks. 1. In 1642, civil war broke out in England, the royalists were defeated by the parliament army led by ______. In 1649, Charles I was sentenced to death, and England was declared to be a commonwealth. Oliver Cromwell 2. The revolution period is also called ______, because the English revolution was carried out under a religious cloak. the Puritan age 3. The Revolution Period produced one of the most important poets in English literature, whose name is ______. John Milton 4. ______is the greatest writer of the seventeenth century, and one of the giants of English literature. John Milton 5. In Revolution Period ______towers over his age as William Shakespeare towers over the Elizabethan Age and as Chaucer towers over the Medieval period. John Milton 6. During the civil war and the commonwealth, there were two leaders in England, Cromwell , the man of action, and ______, the man of thought. John Milton 7. In 1637 Milton wrote the finest pastoral elegy in English, ______, to memorize the tragic death of a Cambridge friend. Lycidas 8. Milton wrote his masterpiece ______during his blindness. Paradise Lost 9. In the field of prose writing of the Puritan Age, ______occupied the most important place. John Bunyan 10. ______has been one of the most popular pieces of Christian writing produced during the Puritan Age. The Pilgrim’s Progress 11. ______wrote his masterpiece The Pilgrim’s Progress during his second imprisonment. John Bunyan 12. ______gives a vivid and satirical description of Vanity Fair which is the symbol of London at the time of Restoration. The Pilgrim’s Progress 13. Dryden wrote many works on literary criticism, and has been regarded as the earliest literary critic of real importance in the history of English literature. The famous piece is “An Essay of Dramatic Poesy”. He has been called ______. Father of English prose 14. “ ______” is Dryden’s tragedy based on the story of Antony and Cleopatra under the influence of Shakespeare’s tragedy “Antony and Cleopatra”. All for Love 15. The literature of the middle and later periods of the 17th century cultimated in the poetry of ______and in the prose writing of ______, and also in the plays and literary criticism of ______. John Milton, John Bunyan, John Dryden II. Choose one or more answers for the following. 1. In 1649,______was beheaded. England became a commonwealth. a. James I b. James II c. Charles I. d. Charles II 2. The revolution of 1688 meant three of the following things: a. the supremacy of Parliament b. the beginning of modern England c. the triumph of the principle of political liberty d. the Restoration of monarchy 3. Who of the following were the important metaphysical poets? a. John Donne b. George Herbert c. John Milton d. Richard Lovelace 4. Milton wrote a number of pamphlets defending the English people. Choose them from the following. a. Defence of the English People b. B. Second Defence of the English People c. L’Allegro d. Il Penseroso 5. Which works were written by Milton? a. Paradise Lost b. Paradise Regained c. Samson Agonistes d. Volpone 6. Which was not written by Milton? a. Areopagitica b. Lycidas c. L’Allegro d. Song to Celia 7. Paradise Lost is ______. a. Milton’s masterpiece b. a great epic in 12 books c. written in blank verse d. about the heroic revolt of Satan against God’s authority 8. Milton is ______. a. a great revolutionary poet of the 17th century b. an outstanding political pamphleteer c. a great stylist d. a great master of blank verse 9. Of the many contemporaries and successors of Shakespeare, the most important and well-known was ______, who became the poet laureate in 1616. a. John Dryden b. Samuel Johnson c. Ben Johnson d. Robert Southey 10. Ben Johnson ______. a. was the first poet laureate in English literature b. was a productive playwright c. wrote a great number of comedies d. was the author of Volpone 11. John Milton was ______. a. one of the giants of English literature in the 17the century b. blind in his later life c. a distinguished revolutionary writer d. the greatest poet and pamphleteer in his age e. the author of Samson Agonistes 12. IN his blindness, Milton wrote his most important poetic works, such as ______. a. Paradise Lost b. Samson Agonsistes c. Paradise Regained d. The Pilgrim’s Progress e. L’Allegro 13. The main literary form of 17th century was poetry. Among the posts, Milton was the greatest, besides him, there were two groups of poets. They were ______. a. the lake poets b. the university wits c. the Metaphysical poets d. the Cavalier Poets e. the Active Romantic Poets III. Find the relevant match for column A from column B. A. B. c 1. Death Be not proud a. John Dryden b 2. ON his blindness b. John Milton d 3. Of truth c. John Donne e 4. The Pilgrim’s Progress d. Francis Bacon a 5. An essay of dramatic poesy e. John Bunyan

IV. Answer the following questions. 1. What are the different aspects between the literature of Elizabethan period and the literature of the Revolution period? 2. Discuss the theme and characterization of Paradise Lost?

Answers: Q1: The different aspects between the literature of Elizabethan period and that of the Revolution period are as follows: 1. Elizabethan literature had a marked unity and the feeling of patriotism and devotion to the Queen, but in the revolution period, the king became the open enemies of the people, and the country was divided by the struggle for political and religious liberty, so was the literature. 2. Elizabethan literature was inspiring. It was filled with youth, hope and vitality. Literature in the revolution period was colored with gloom and pessimism, age and sadness. 3. Elizabethan literature was intensely romantic, but the puritan literature was not at all.

Q2: the theme and characterization of Paradise Lost: Paradise Lost is John Milton’s masterpiece. The story is from the Bible, about the fall of man. With Satan as his mouthpiece, Milton is uttering his intense hatred of tyranny. By depicting Satan and his followers, Milton is showing a puritan’s revolt against the dictator and the established doctrines of the Catholics and the Anglican church. Satan is the most striking character in the poem, who rises against God and, though defeated, still seeks for revenge. Satan is a real revolutionist.