Passage 1

We know that Poe fought a continuous battle against the demon of plagiarism and the twisted perversion of influence. He even declared war on his fellow-writer Longfellow, accusing him of plagiarism of which he was himself not entirely innocent Passion and influence have their dark sides not only manifest in literary plagiarism — which we note in Baudelaire's translations of Poe — but also in what may be deemed a confusion of identity or quest for an alter ego. Translating Poe became for Baudelaire a real search for the definition of his own personality and even his understanding of gender. Baudelaire's text is a mixed entity, a complex unity like most of Poe's characters, a unity composed of scattered elements. The " Flowers of Evil," are filled with Poe's own experience of despair and doubt about the world and about human beings, blended with Baudelaire's spleen and bouts of ideal. Both writers were divided into forces of Good and Evil, love and hate, masculine and feminine, they were like two images reflected in the mirrors of their creations so perfectly inverted that the reader does not know who inspired whom. Alter egos of each other, these two monsters of selfishness and misanthropy would probably have hated each other if they had had the opportunity to meet Looking at oneself in a mirror can be very upsetting as the hero of William Wilson discovers in the fast lines of this eponymous tale. Baudelaire chose to exalt Poe's character as Griswold presented it because he had many features in common with this portrait. Baudelaire identified with Poe in a very self-centered egotistical way. Both had a strain of masochism and a taste for self-destruction certainly provoked by parental rejection. Baudelaire's most palpable self-destructive action was the translation of Poe's works. From this peculiar and unique encounter of two geniuses was bom a new universal poet, we could name Poedelaire. Half European, half American, the writings of this desexualized creator are tinged with black humor, sensationalism, and sprinkled with a touch of French preciosity.

Questions:

41. The author implies that

A. Longfellow was guilty of plagiarism.

B. Longfellow was not guilty of plagiarism.

C. Poe was guilty of plagiarism.

D. Poe was not guilty of plagiarism.

42. What, according to the author, causes plagiarism?

A. Passion and influence. B. Search and quest.

C. identity and ego D. Translation

43. The author's purpose of mentioning Baudelaire's translations of Poe is

A. to show how the two writers hate each other.

B. to show bow the two writers love each other.

C. to prove that plagiarism is pardonable.

D. to prove that influence may result in a search for an alter ego.

44. It can be inferred that Poe's writing

A. favors the theme of evil. B. tends to describe flowers.

C. reveals a vague personality. D. contains the image of mirror.

45. Why does the author think that Baudelaire's translation of Poe's works was a self-destructive action?

A. Because it made Baudelaire even sadder.

B. Because he allowed Poe to invade his own identity.

C. Because it incurred his parents' contempt

D. Because it ruined his reputation as a good translator.

46. Which of the following words can best describe Poedelaire?

A. romantic B. sentimental C. pessimistic D. revolutionary

Passage 2

Baudelaire first purchased Poe's works in London in 1851. This was his first encounter with American, and he immediately fell in love with the tone, style and content of these texts. He never wrote anything about the theoretical concepts of literary influence and plagiarism whereas Poe had spent a lot of energy attempting to prove his originality. Baudelaire, inversely, although acknowledging that he felt an intimacy with Poe, always refused to admit that he recreated this intimacy in the works he wrote after his translations of Poe, that is to say, after 1856. He was obviously deeply influenced by Poe's essay Eureka presenting the human coalition as a simultaneous movement of attraction and repulsion. This phenomenon of unconscious reappropriation is another clear manifestation of Harald Bloom's Anxiety of Influence. Instead of fighting against the influence of the first writer, the second writer, moved by passion, prefers to vampirize him, to suck out his creative substance like the painter absorbs his bride's life in Poe's The Oval Portrait. This absorption that Bloom calls a tessera, both completes and betrays at the same time. Like physical possession, it satisfies temporarily the one who possesses, while stealing some independence from the one who is possessed. This symbolic betrayal linked to the linguistic possession of Poe by Baudelaire is quite relevant when one observes the mistakes made by the French poet in his translations. Baudelaire loved the English language and used it in an instinctive way, whereas translation requires technicity and precision, a full understanding of both the source and target language which he certainly lacked. In a letter written to Maria Clemm, Poe's mother-in-law, and published in France in 1854 in the newspaper Le Pays, as a preface to one of his first translations, "Souvenirs de M. Auguste Bedloe," we can read the following lines: "Adieu, madame; parmi les differents saluts et les formules de complimentation qui ne peuvent conchire une missive dune arne a une ame, je n'en connais quune aux sentiments que m'inspire votre personne: goodness, godness". It is not my purpose to translate the whole letter but we will concentrate on the two concluding words "goodness, godness" that Baudelaire adds in English at the end of his friendly message. His desire to play upon words and to show his mastery of the English language results in a Poor lexical association that Mrs Clemm must have had some problems in understanding! Goodness is an exclamation, quite inappropriate in such a context and godliness is a neologism, probably used here instead of godliness which would not have been correct either.

Question:

47. The author seems to imply that Baudelaire______________________

A. had no idea of literary influence.

B. never thought of literary influence.

C. never admitted that he was influenced by Poe.

D. never appreciated the writings by Poe.

48. The word "intimacy" in line 5 probably means

A. friendliness. B. sympathy.

C. love. D. privacy.

49. " Anxiety of influence " means the

A. the second writer is influenced by the first writer, but he does not acknowledge it.

B. the second writer does not want to be influenced, but he has to.

C. the second writer purposely imitates me first writer, then he feels guilty of it

D. the second writer is not influenced by the first writer, but is accused of it.

50. The nationality of Baudelaire is

A. English B. French C. American D. German

51. This passage mainly discusses

A. translation. B. misunderstanding.

C. plagiarism. D. influence.

52. According to Poe, attraction and repulsion are .

A. simultaneous B. unconscious

C. contradictory D. both A and C

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