Chapter I The Renaissance Period

　　一、學習目的和要求通過本章學習，了解文藝復興運動和人文主義思潮產生的歷史，文化背景，認識該時期文學創作的基本特征和基本主張，及其對同時代及后世英國文學乃至文化的影響；了解該時期重要作家的文學生涯，創作思想，藝術特色及其代表作品的主題結構，人物刻畫，語言風格，思想意義等；同時結合注釋，讀懂所選作品，了解其思想內容和寫作特色，培養理解和欣賞文學作品的能力。

　　二、考核要求

　　（一） 文藝復興時期概述

　　1. 識記：

　　（1）文藝復興時期的界定

　　（2）歷史文化背景

　　2. 領會：

　　（1）文藝復興運動的意義與影響

　　（2）文藝復興時期的文學特點

　　（3）人文主義的主張及對文學的影響

　　3. 應用：文藝復興，人文主義及玄學詩等名詞的解釋

　　Brief Introduction to the Renaissance Period

　　1. 應用Definitions of the Literary Terms：

　　1. The Renaissance： The Renaissance marks a transition from the medieval to the modern world. Generally， it refers to the period between the 14th & 17th centuries. It first started in Italy， with the flowering of painting， sculpture & literature. From Italy the movement went to embrace the rest of Europe. The Renaissance， which means "rebirth" or "revival，" is actually a movement stimulated by a series of historical events， such as the re-discovery of ancient Roman & Greek culture， the new discoveries in geography & astrology， the religious reformation & the economic expansion. The Renaissance， therefore， in essence is a historical period in which the European humanist thinkers & scholars made attempts to get rid of those old feudalist ideas in medieval Europe， to introduce new ideas that expressed the interests of the rising bourgeoisie， & to recover the purity of the early church from the corruption of the Roman Catholic Church.

　　2. Humanism：

　　Humanism is the essence of the Renaissance. It sprang from the endeavor to restore a medieval reverence for the ancient authors and is frequently taken as the beginning of the Renaissance on its conscious， intellectual side， for the Greek and Roman civilization was based on such a conceptio