Предыдущая страница реферата | 1  2  3  4 | Следующая страница реферата

- What do you know about Winston Churchill's activity from 1939 onward?

- Politically suspect in consequence, he was a lonely figure until his response to Adolf Hitler's challenge brought him to leader ship of a national coalition in 1940. With Franklin D. Roosevelt and Joseph Stalin he shaped Allied strategy in World War II, and after the breakdown of the alliance he alerted the West to the expansionist threat of the Soviet Union. He led the Conservative Party back to office in 1951 and remained prime minister until 1955, when ill health forced his resignation.

- Can tell us about a great British poet?

- Yes, certainly. I shall to tell you about Lord Byron, an English Romantic poet and satirist whose poetry and personality captured the imagination of Europe. Renowned as the "gloomy egoist" of his autobiographical poem "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage" in the 19th century, he is now more generally esteemed for the satiric realism of "Don Juan".

- What family did Byron come from?

- Byron came from a well-to-do family but his father squandered most of his mother fortune. At the age of 10, Byron unexpectedly inherited the title and estates of his great-uncle William, the 5th Baron Byron. Byron went to Harrow, one of the most prestigious schools of England. In 1805 Byron entered Trinity College, Cambridge.

- Were Byron's first books popular?

- In 1806 Byron had his early poems privately printed in a volume entitled "Fugitive Pieces". Byron's first published volume of poetry "Hours of Idleness" appeared in 1807. A sarcastic critique of the book in "The Edinburgh Review" provoked his retaliation in 1809 with a couplet satire "English Bards and Scotch Reviewers" in which he attacked the contemporary literary scene. This work gained him his first recognition.

- Was Byron interested in politics?

- Yes, of course. In 1809 Byron took his seat in the House of Lords. In February 1812 he made his first speech in the House of Lords.

- What poem brought Byron fame?

- "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage" did. At the beginning of March 1812, the first two cantos of "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage" came out and Byron "woke to find himself famous." The poem describes the travels and reflections of a young man who, disillusioned with a life of pleasure, looks for distraction in foreign lands. Besides the description of Byron's own wanderings through the Mediterranean, the first two cantos express the melancholy and disillusionment felt by a generation weary of the wars of the post-Revolutionary and Napoleonic eras.

- What other verse tales did Byron create?

- Byron created a number of gloomy verse tales. "The Giaour". "The Bride of Abydos", "The Corsair" sold 10,000 copies on the day of publication. Byron went abroad in April 1816, never to re turn to England. At Geneva Byron wrote the third canto of "Childe Harold". In 1817 he created the poetic drama "Manfred" whose protagonist reflects Byron's own Romantic spirit. In 1817 Byron wrote his greatest poem "Don Juan". In this poem Byron was able to free himself from the excessive melancholy and reveal other sides of his character and personality - his satiric wit, and his unique view of the comic rather than the tragic discrepancy between reality and appearance.

- Did Byron take part in any war?

- In 1823 Byron participated in the struggle of the Greeks for their independence from the Turks. He sent ? 4,000 of his own money to prepare the Greek fleet for sea service. Byron made efforts to unite various Greek factions. He took personal command of a brigade of Greek soldiers. But a serious illness in February 1824 weakened him, and in April he contracted the fever from which he died. Deeply mourned, he became a symbol of disinterested patriotism and a Greek national hero.

- What do Byron's works reveal?

- Lord Byron's writings are more autobiographic than even those of his fellow self-revealing Romantics. Upon close examination the paradox of his complex character can be resolved into understandable elements. Byron early became aware of reality's imperfections, but the scepticism and cynicism bred of his disillusionment coexisted with a lifelong tendency to seek ideal perfection in all of life's experiences. Consequently, he alternated between deep-seated melancholy and humorous mockery in his reaction to the disparity between real life and his unattainable ideals. The melancholy of "Childe Harold" and the satiric realism of "Don Juan" are thus two sides of the same coin.

- Can you tell us about an American outstanding personality?

- Yes, I shall tell you about Abraham Lincoln.

- What is Abraham Lincoln notable for?

- The 16th president of the United States, Abraham Lincoln preserved the Union during the Civil War and brought about the emancipation of the slaves. Among American heroes, Lincoln continues to have a unique appeal for his fellow countrymen and also for people of other lands. This charm derives from his remark able life story - the rise from humble origins, the dramatic death - and from his distinctively human and humane personality. His relevance endures and grows especially because of his eloquence as a spokesman for democracy. In his view, the Union was worth saving not only for its own sake but also because it embodied an ideal, the ideal of self-government, which was of interest to the people of the entire world. Hence the universality of his continuing appeal.

- What is known about Lincoln's childhood?

- Abraham Lincoln was born on February 12, 1809, in a backwoods cabin in Kentucky.

- What was Abraham Lincoln's father?

Рекомендуем скачать другие рефераты по теме: реферат бесплатно без регистрации, сочинение рассуждение на тему, отчет по практике.



Предыдущая страница реферата | 1  2  3  4 | Следующая страница реферата

Поделитесь этой записью или добавьте в закладки