115 年 國立政治大學英國語文學系碩士班文學組《文學作品分析》
第 1 題70 分
Read the following four short works and write an essay in English answering the questions that follow them below.
Song (1)
Summer is over upon the sea.
The pleasure yacht, the social being,
that danced on the endless polished floor,
stepped and side-stepped like Fred Astaire,
is gone, is gone, docked somewhere ashore.
The friends have left, the sea is bare
that was strewn with floating, fresh green weeds.
Only the rusty-sided freighter
go past the moon's marketless craters
and the stars are the only ships of pleasure.
—Elizabeth Bishop
vocabulary:
Fred Astaire: an actor famous for his dancing
The Widow (2)
Q: Nice place you have here.
A: I try to keep it up. But it's hard. It's hard.
Q: How many years has it been now?
A: Seven. Seven come September. He was sitting in that chair, right where you are now, and the next minute he was gone. Just a kind of long sigh, and he was gone.
Q: Sounds like a pretty good way to go. Since we all have to go sometime.
A: That's what everybody said. The minister, the undertaker. I suppose I should have been grateful, but if it had been less sudden, it might have been less of a shock. It was as if he wanted to go, the way he went so easy.
Q: Well. I doubt that. But it's you I'm interested in, you in the years since. You look wonderfully well.
A: Ever since I stopped taking the pills. These doctors nowadays, they prescribe the pills, I honestly believe, to kill you. I was having dizzy spells, one leg seemed to be larger than the other, my hands felt like they were full of prickers...it all stopped, once I stopped taking the pills.
Q: And your...mental state?
A: If you mean do I still have all my buttons, you'll have to judge that for yourself. Oh, I'm forgetful, but then I always was. I know if I stand in the middle of the room long enough it'll come to me. It's like the sleeping. At first I used to panic, but now if I wake up at three in the morning I just accept it as what my body wants. Trust your body, is the moral of it all I suppose.
Q: By mental state I meant more grief, loneliness, sense of self, since...you became a widow.
A: Well, first, there's the space. No, first, there's the ghosts. Then there's the space.
Q: Ghosts?
A: Oh yes, right there. All the time. Talking to me, telling me to put one foot in front of the other, not to panic. Rattling the latches at night. As certain as you're sitting there. Many a time I've seen it rock by itself.
Q: Perhaps I should change chairs.
A: Oh no, sit right there. People do all the time.
Q: After the ghosts, space?
A: An amazing amount of it. Amazing. I never noticed the sky before. Seventy years on earth and I never looked at the sky. Just yesterday, there were clouds in it with little downward points, like a mountain range upside down, or a kind of wet handwriting, it looked ever so weird, I can't describe it properly. Ad the trees. The way the trees are so patient, so themselves, gathering their substance out of air—it sounds silly, in words.
Q: So you would say then that since your husband's passing your life has taken a turn toward the mystical?
A: Not mystical, practical. The income tax, for instance. I do it all myself, federal and state. I never knew I had it in me to enjoy numbers. And people. I have friends, of all ages. Too many at times, I take the phone off the hook. I think what I meant about the space before, it's space you can arrange yourself, there's nobody pushing at you with his space, nobody to tell you you're crazy when you're weeding the peas at four in the morning and start singing.
Q: You often sing to yourself?
A: I'm not sure.
Q: I don't mean to pry—
A: Then don't pry.
vocabulary:
undertaker: a person who prepares the dead and arranges funerals
latch: a fastener to keep something (such as a door or window) closed
pry: ask a nosy or presumptuous question
en face: facing one another, opposite one another
skid: slide rather than grip the ground; fall rapidly
One must be prepared, in interviewing the elderly, for these sudden changes of mood, for abrupt closure of access. Human material rubbed so thin by longevity resembles a book whose pages in their tissue fineness admit phrases from the next page or, in their proximity en face, have become scrambled inky mirrors one of the other. Paranoia is the natural state of a skidding organism. Volatility is the inevitable condition of angels. The widow's face, so uncannily tranquil and spacious before, has grown hard and narrow as a gem that is cutting the transparent interface of the interview. One must return to scratch:
Q: But, er, ma'am, prying wasn't I mean, what we want to do here, your testimony is so positive, so unexpectedly so, that we want to bring to the widest possible audience...uh, its great value in this era of widows, to all those others who find themselves alone.
A: You are not alone. You are not. Not.
—John Updike
His Wife's Parents (3)
A man lives with his wife's parents, because if left alone they cried all day because life had passed them by, and it hurt them to see young people so happy, while they were old and unhappy.
If the man wanted to go upstairs his father-in-law would say, I want to go upstairs too, let me ride on your back. But his mother-in-law would want to go too. So he would have to ride the father-in-law on his back, and carry his mother-in-law in his arms.
If they saw him breathing, they would want to breathe. Give us artificial respiration, they would say; and he would have to pump air into them until they tired of breathing.
If he slept, they woke him. We want to sleep too, but we're afraid to sleep while you sleep, because someone might wake us; so stay awake while we sleep, so we'll be safe. But after they were finished sleeping they still did not want him to sleep; because it is lonely when somebody sleeps and leaved you alone.
The man said to his wife, I cannot get to like your parents too well. I can't put my finger on the reason, but, nevertheless, there it is...
—Russell Edson
Waiting (4)
When I am alone I am happy.
The air is cool. The sky is
flecked and splashed and wound
with color. The crimson phalloi
of the sassafras leaves
hang crowded before me
in shoals on the heavy branches.
When I reach my doorstep
I am greeted by
the happy shrieks of my children
and my heart sinks.
I am crushed.
Are not my children as dear to me
as falling leaves or
must one become stupid
to grow older?
It seems much as if Sorrow
had tripped up my heels.
Let us see, let us see!
What did I plan to say to her
when it should happen to me
as it has happened now?
—William Carlos Williams
vocabulary:
phalloi: penises, or symbols or representations of a penis
shoal: a sandbank or sandbar that makes the water shallow
Question: What do these four works say or imply about interpersonal relationships (including family relationships)? What kinds of barriers or obstacles to such relationships are shown, and how do people struggle to overcome them? Use evidence from the works to support your interpretation.
登入後即可作答並保存紀錄。
核心觀念解析
本題為典型的比較文學分析與主題申論題，評量考生對不同體裁文本（抒情詩、對話體短篇小說、荒謬主義散文詩、現代主義意象詩）進行跨文本互照、細讀（Close Reading）與批判性論述的能力。本題考的核心觀念為：「個體自主性與人際/家庭連結之間的內在張力（The Tension between Autonomy/Solitude and Interpersonal/Domestic Connection）」。四篇作品共同探討了人際關係的本質，揭示了社交流變（Transience）、空間壓迫與制度窺探（Spatial Encroachment & Institutional Prying）、情感寄生與共依附（Parasitic Codependency）、以及家庭責任對審美孤獨的擠壓（Domestic Burden vs. Aesthetic Solitude）等障礙，並展示了個體如何透過冷肅的超越、空間界線的重構、荒謬解構與坦承內在衝突等策略來進行抗爭與調適。
題目深度剖析與解題脈絡
解題過程分為三個核心子課題：關係的本質、關係的障礙、以及 overcoming（克服/抗爭）的策略。
(a) 四首/篇作品對「人際與家庭關係」的本質剖析
解題說明：要分析四篇作品對人際與家庭關係的隱喻，必須鎖定各文本的意象與敘事結構：
- Elizabeth Bishop《Song (1)》：
- 本質：將人際社交關係隱喻為「海上的豪華遊艇（pleasure yacht）」與「社交存在（social being）」。人際互動本質上是暫時的、表面化的且隨季節（時光）流逝而消逝的歡愉（"stepped and side-stepped like Fred Astaire"）。當熱鬧的社交季節結束，連結即刻瓦解，留下冷清裸露的本質。
- John Updike《The Widow (2)》：
- 本質：揭示了傳統婚姻關係中隱含的「空間擠壓」與「自我抹滅」，以及外部社會（採訪者 Q、醫生、宗教與殯葬業者）對個人真實經驗的規範與消費。婚姻關係在表面和諧下，往往伴隨著個體主體性受制於伴侶空間的隱性代價。
- Russell Edson《His Wife's Parents (3)》：
- 本質：將家庭/姻親關係去浪漫化，呈現為一種荒謬且具吸血寄生性質（vampirism）的情感勒索。長輩以「孤獨」與「生命流逝」為名，全盤索取年輕世代的生命能量與呼吸自由，模糊了個體間的基本邊界。
- William Carlos Williams《Waiting (4)》：
- 本質：展現了家庭親情關係中的雙重性與內在衝突（Ambivalence）。家庭雖然帶來溫馨（"happy shrieks of my children"），卻同時扮演著沉重的精神負擔與個體審美孤獨（Aesthetic Solitude）的破壞者。
【答案】
四篇作品共同指出：人際與家庭關係並非純粹的庇護所，而往往充滿了表面性、空間壓迫、情感寄生與個體自由的犧牲。Bishop 視人際社交為短暫易逝的表演；Updike 揭示婚姻對空間的無形擠壓與社會對孤獨者的符號化；Edson 將家庭責任極化為無底洞般的情感吸血；Williams 則呈現了親情愛意與個體靈魂自由之間無法調和的內在沉痛。
(b) 文本中呈現的「關係障礙與困境」類型
解題說明：梳理文本中具體呈現的障礙（Barriers / Obstacles），必須引用文本證據：
- 時間與流變性障礙（Temporal and Transient Barrier）：
- 證據：Bishop 詩中 "Summer is over upon the sea" 與 "The friends have left, the sea is bare"。社交關係建立在脆弱的歡愉之上，難以抵禦時間的推移與孤獨的必然性。
- 空間壓迫與外部窺探障礙（Spatial Encroachment and Prying Barrier）：
- 證據：Updike 作品中寡婦提到過往婚姻 "nobody pushing at you with his space"，點出親密關係對個體空間的物理與心理擠壓。此外，採訪者 Q 代表社會機構對寡婦進行窺探與意義賦予（"I don't mean to pry" / "bring to the widest possible audience"），形成個體與外部世界溝通的二次障礙。
- 界線消融與寄生共依附障礙（Parasitic Codependency and Loss of Boundaries）：
- 證據：Edson 散文詩中岳父母的要求："ride on your back"、"Give us artificial respiration"、"stay awake while we sleep"。這種困境源於長輩缺乏個體邊界，將自身的死亡焦慮與孤獨轉嫁為對下一代生理與心理機能的完全控制。
- 家庭責任與審美/精神獨處的衝突障礙（Domestic Obligation vs. Solitary Fulfillment）：
- 證據：Williams 詩中門檻（doorstep）成為一道屏障。門檻外是與自然交融的冷肅與色彩繽紛（"When I am alone I am happy"），門檻內則是孩子尖叫聲所帶來的沉重打擊（"my heart sinks. I am crushed."）。親情責任直接中斷了個體的精神審美。
【答案】
關係中的主要障礙包含：（1）人際社交的易逝性與表面性（Bishop）；（2）親密關係中的空間侵犯以及外部社會的窺探與客體化（Updike）；（3）家庭倫理中界線模糊所導致的情感吸血與極致共依附（Edson）；（4）家庭責任對個體獨處與審美自由的沉重侵蝕（Williams）。
(c) 個體克服與抗爭之策略
解題說明：分析人物或敘事者如何 struggle to overcome，須觀察其態度、語言與行為選擇：
- 超越式的客觀與冷肅觀照（Sublime Realism & Cosmic Detachment）：
- 策略：Bishop 的敘事者不再執著於流逝的社交遊艇，轉而將目光投向 "rusty-sided freighter" 與 "stars are the only ships of pleasure"。透過將心境投射於浩瀚冷肅的宇宙客體，接受孤獨的常態。
- 重構自主空間與嚴正劃定界線（Reclaiming Autonomous Space & Boundary Assertion）：
- 策略：Updike 中的寡婦停止服藥（拒絕醫療體系控制），並在丈夫死後重獲空間（"space you can arrange yourself"），享受獨自看天空、做帳單、四點拔草唱歌的自由；面對 Q 的隱私窺探，她直接反擊 "Then don't pry"，並在結尾以強烈的宣言 "You are not alone. You are not. Not." 拒絕被客體化。
- 荒謬主義式疏離與冷諷解構（Absurdist Irony & Emotional Detachment）：
- 策略：Edson 詩中的丈夫面對不可理喻的情感寄生，沒有選擇正面暴力對抗，而是以冷靜、荒謬且近乎客觀的語調向妻子吐露："I cannot get to like your parents too well. I can't put my finger on the reason..."。透過情感的退後與荒謬化描述，維持內心最後的精神距離。
- 內省式的坦承與哲學對話（Introspective Acknowledgment & Philosophical Preparation）：
- 策略：Williams 的主角並未逃避家庭，而是在內心坦承這份悲傷（"It seems much as if Sorrow had tripped up my heels"），透過問答（"What did I plan to say to her..."）主動迎向並消化這份必然的家庭沉重感。
【答案】
人們克服與應對障礙的策略包括：Bishop 透過向冷肅自然的轉向實現精神超越；Updike 中的寡婦透過重建個人空間與語言防線拒絕被界定；Edson 透過荒謬的冷幽默保持情感疏離；Williams 則透過內省式坦承來消化家庭責任帶來的必然悲傷。
完整高分英文評析範文（碩士班考試標準解答）
[!NOTE]
國立政治大學英國語文學系碩士班入學考試之「文學作品分析」科，極度看重英文學術寫作能力、文本細讀（Close Reading）能力及結構嚴密之論述能力。以下提供符合高分標準的完整英文 Essay。
Title: The Solitary Self and the Burden of Connection: Spatial Encroachment, Parasitic Dependency, and Strategies of Autonomy in Four Modern Works
Introduction
Interpersonal and familial relationships have long been framed as sanctuary sites of emotional security and social belonging. However, the four works by Elizabeth Bishop, John Updike, Russell Edson, and William Carlos Williams present a starkly unromanticized critique of human connectivity. Across varying literary forms—lyric poetry, dialogue-driven fiction, absurdist prose poetry, and modernist imagism—these writers imply that interpersonal relationships are frequently burdened by transience, spatial encroachment, parasitic codependency, and the erasure of individual aesthetic solitude. Rather than submitting passively to these structural obstacles, the figures within these works struggle for self-preservation through mechanisms of cosmic detachment, aggressive boundary enforcement, absurdist ironization, and introspective reconciliation.
I. The Implied Nature of Interpersonal and Familial Relationships
The four works collectively demystify human relationships, depicting them not as organic havens but as fragile, demanding, or suffocating constructs. In Elizabeth Bishop’s "Song (1)," social relationships are metaphorical "pleasure yachts" operating on an "endless polished floor." They are performative and seasonal, inherently tied to ephemeral pleasures ("stepped and side-step like Fred Astaire"). Once the seasonal utility expires ("Summer is over"), the illusory nature of social warmth dissolves, leaving the self in bare isolation.
If Bishop exposes the transience of social acquaintance, John Updike’s "The Widow (2)" and Russell Edson’s "His Wife’s Parents (3)" interrogate the claustrophobic mechanics of domestic intimacy. Updike’s narrative unveils marriage as an insidious form of spatial competition, where one spouse's presence
第 2 題30 分
Read the following poem and write a brief essay answering the question that follows below.
Capitalist Poem #7
I stole the UNICEF box.
I didn't mean to.
It was an accident.
I didn't turn it in at school.
I wanted it.
I kept it.
I hid it in my closet.
The box grew on my mind every day.
I thought of what it would buy for the Africans.
Four schoolbooks.
A dozen meals.
Eighty-five polio vaccinations.
Nine hundred million vitamin tablets.
Eventually I think I blew all the money at 7-11.
Some friends came with me and we splurged.
We bought: Chunkies, Big Buddies, baseball cards,
M&M's Charleston Chews, fire balls, rootbeer barrels,
Clark Bars, Snickers, Milky Ways, bubble gum,
Sweet'n'Sours, Red Hots, Marathon Bars, and Pixie Stix.
To be perfectly honest, I might have gotten that money one year at Christmas when my best friend
Bobby Wixam broke both his legs sledding. I was OK, even though I was on the sled too when we ran
into the light pole. But it was Bobby's birthday, either that day or the next, and the party favors were
sets of little blue dinosaurs which I really wanted. They actually looked more like a pack of prehistoric
dogs, or wolves. And on Sunday his dad was going to take us to the Redskins game. But when Bobby
broke his legs we couldn't go. Everything was cancelled. I was so disappointed that my mother gave
me five dollars.
I don't really remember what happened to the UNICEF box.
I might have lost it.
—Campbell McGrath
vocabulary:
UNICEF: the United Nation's Children's Fund
splurge: spend extravagantly
Redskins: a professional football team
Question: What does this poem express about capitalism? Use evidence from the poem to support your interpretation.
登入後即可作答並保存紀錄。
核心觀念
本題考查詩歌如何透過敘事者、語氣、意象、結構與反諷，批判資本主義的消費邏輯。詩題直接標示為〈Capitalist Poem #7〉，使私人童年回憶不只是個人罪行，而成為資本主義文化的縮影。
資本主義在本詩中的核心特徵包括：
- 將事物以金錢與商品價值衡量。
- 以立即消費滿足欲望，取代長期的倫理責任。
- 使慈善、同情與公共利益被個人慾望吞沒。
- 透過廣告式商品堆疊，製造無止境的購買衝動。
- 使人用遺忘、轉移話題與自我辯解，逃避消費背後的道德代價。
解題方法
作答時應依序處理三個層次：
- 指出詩中的衝突：UNICEF 捐款箱代表救助非洲兒童的公共善；糖果、零食與棒球卡代表兒童的私人消費欲望。
- 分析語言與結構：前段簡短、冷靜的告白，中段列出援助金額，接著以冗長的商品清單打斷道德反省，最後以破碎回憶逃離責任。
- 解釋反諷：敘事者表面上只是童年犯錯，實際上呈現消費社會如何把他人的飢餓、疾病與教育需求，轉化為自己短暫的享樂。
詩句證據與分析
一、慈善金錢被轉化為私人財產
開頭連續短句「I stole the UNICEF box.」、「I wanted it.」、「I kept it.」、「I hid it in my closet.」呈現直接而近乎冷漠的告白。捐款箱本應屬於需要救援的兒童，敘事者卻因「想要」便將其藏進衣櫥；這種佔有行為顯示資本主義式的私有慾望凌駕公共責任。
「衣櫥」也是重要意象：它把原本應流向公共救援的資源，封閉成私人的祕密財物。慈善不再是共同關懷，而成為可被個人佔有、支配與消費的金錢。
二、生命需求被量化，卻仍敗給零食欲望
第二節以「Four schoolbooks」、「A dozen meals」、「Eighty-five polio vaccinations」、「Nine hundred million vitamin tablets」列出捐款能換取的援助。這些項目涉及教育、食物、防疫與營養，直接指向貧困兒童的生存條件。
詩人刻意將援助成果量化，形成鮮明對照：同一筆錢能提供書本、餐食與疫苗，卻被花在便利商店。這種數字化語言本身也帶有反諷意味：資本主義習慣以價格、數量與交換衡量世界，但當生命需求只是一串可計算數字時，人也更容易忽略其真實重量。
三、商品清單呈現過度消費
「Chunkies, Big Buddies, baseball cards, / M&M's Charleston Chews, fire balls」以下的大量零食名稱，構成全詩最密集、最喧鬧的段落。商品名稱連綿不斷，模擬便利商店貨架與消費廣告的視覺效果。
這份清單與前段的「schoolbooks」、「meals」、「polio vaccinations」形成強烈反差。前者是維持生命與未來的基本資源；