113 年 國立中山大學外國文學系碩士班《英文作文與閱讀》

國立中山大學113學年度
碩士班暨碩士在職專班招生考試試題

科目名稱:英文作文與閱讀【外文系碩士班甲組、乙組、丙組】

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國立中山大學113學年度碩士班暨碩士在職專班招生考試試題

科目名稱:英文作文與閱讀【外文系碩士班甲組、乙組、丙組】
題號:412001
共2頁第1頁
※本科目依簡章規定「不可以」使用計算機(問答申論題)

Reading Comprehension and English Composition (100%)

*Please read the following instruction carefully before writing your answers.
The following excerpt is drawn from the initial paragraphs of Love in the Fallen City (Qing cheng zhi lian), a famous novella written by one of the most celebrated Chinese-American writers, Eileen Chang (1920-1995). The novella is known for its depiction of the social and cultural dynamics of China during a transformative period, portaying the struggles faced by individuals striving to find a place in a society conflicted with traditional and modern values.

Your task is to write a short essay (approximately 500 words) that engages in a meticulous close reading of this text, dissecting the author's deliberate choices in crafting the narrative that introduces this renowned story. For example, you can investigate the nuanced literary effects that emerge through the author's distinct narrative styles and tones, analyzing the utilization of various literary devices and rhetorical tropes. You can also choose to scrutinize the author's deliberate deployment of language (i.e., tone, rhythm, and narrative styles), investigating how it contributes to the overall atmosphere and impact of the narrative.

In short, your task is to unpack the author's employment of literary devices, such as symbolism, metaphor, or foreshadowing, and clarify how these devices function to create specific effects within the narrative, thereby revealing the layers of meaning embedded in the text. Please be very specific in your analysis and provide evidence with textual analysis to back up your argument.

LOVE IN A FALLEN CITY
(EILEEN CHANG; TRANSLATED BY KAREN S. KINGSBURY)

• Please note that the main character in this novella is Bai Liusu.
  ** Also note that the translation provided below is subject to minor modification.
  *** Huqin refers to 胡琴.

SHANGHAI'S clocks were set an hour ahead so the city could "save daylight," but the Bai
family said: "We go by the old clock." Ten o'clock to them was eleven to everyone else. Their singing
was behind the beat; they couldn't keep up with the huqin of life.

When the huqin wails on a night of ten thousand lamps, the bow slides back and forth, drawing
forth a tale too desolate for words-oh! Why go into it? The tale of the huqin should be performed by a
radiant entertainer, two long streaks of rouge pointing to her exquisite nose as she sings, as she smiles,
covering her mouth with her sleeve ... but here is was just Fourth Master Bai sunk in darkness, sitting
alone on a ramshackle balcony and playing the huqin.

As he was playing, the doorbell rang downstairs. For the Bai household, this was most unusual;
people didn't pay social calls after dark, not in the old etiquette. If a visitor came at night or a telegram
arrived without warning, either it meant that some event of huge import had transpired or, most probably,
someone had died.

國立中山大學113學年度碩士班暨碩士在職專班招生考試試題

科目名稱:英文作文與閱讀【外文系碩士班甲組、乙組、丙組】
題號:412001
共2頁第2頁
※本科目依簡章規定「不可以」使用計算機(問答申論題)

Fourth Master sat still and listened, but since Third Master, Third Mistress, and Fourth Mistress
were shouting all at once as they came up the stairs, he couldn't understand what they were saying.
Sitting in the room behind the balcony were Sixth Young Lady, Seventh Young Lady and Eighth Young
Lady, along with the Third and Fourth Masters' children, all growing increasingly anxious. From where
Fourth Master sat on the darkened balcony, he could see everything in the well-lit room. So when the
door opened, there was Third Master in his undershirt and shorts, standing on the raised doorsill with his
legs stuck out wide, reaching behind his thighs to slap at the mosquitoes, and calling out to Fourth
Master: "Hey, Old Four, guess what? That fellow that Sixth Sister had left after divorce, well, it seems
he's caught pneumonia and died!"

Fourth Master put down the huqin and walked into the room. "Who brought the news?" he asked.
"Mrs. Xu," said Third Master. Then he turned to shoo away his wife with his fan. "Don't tag
along like this just to gawk at things! Isn't Mrs. Xu still downstairs? She's a big lady, doesn't like
climbing stairs-why don't you go to look after her?"
Third Mistress left and Fourth Master mulled things over. "Isn't Mrs. Xu a relative of the
deceased?"
"Indeed," said Third Master. "It looks like their family has specially asked her to bring us the
news, and that means something, of course."
"Is it possible that they want Sixth Sister to return and go into mourning?"
Third Master scratched his scalp with the handle of the fan. "Well, according to the rules, it
would only be right..."
They both looked over at their Sixth Sister. Bai Liusu sat in the corner of the room calmly
embroidering a slipper; her brothers, it seems, had been so intent on their conversation that they hadn't
given her a chance to speak. Now she simply said, "Go and be his widow, after we've divorced? People
will laugh still their teeth fall out!" She went on sewing her slipper, apparently unperturbed, but her
palms were clammy and her needle stuck-she couldn't draw it through anymore.

ESSAY (100%): Write up a short essay of approximately 500 words (or more if you
want) that engages in a meticulous close reading of the above text, analyzing the
author's deliberate choices in crafting the narrative that introduces this renowned
story.