英语小说选读Word文档格式.docx

英语小说选读Word文档格式.docx

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II.Introductionaboutreadingastory

1.WhatisStory?

“Yes–oh,dear,yes—thenoveltellsastory.”ThisisForster’sremark,whichisworthspecialattention,forheissomeoneinthetradeandwithrichexperience.InhisAspectsoftheNovelhelists“story”asthefirstaspect.Peoplereadingnovelsforstoriesusuallyaskquestionslike“whathappenednext?

”and“and”whatwouldhedonext?

”Thesequestionsattesttothetwobasicelementsofastory.Theoneistheeventandtheotherthetime.Astoryisaseriesofhappeningsarrangedinthenaturaltemporalorderastheyoccur.Storyisthebasisofthenovel,andindeedthebasisofnarrativeworksofallkinds.

2.Thestructureandfunctionsofastory

Plot;

character;

pointofview;

theme;

style

3.WhatisFiction?

Fiction,thegeneraltermforinventedstories,nowusuallyappliedtonovels,shortstories,novella,romances,fables,andothernarrativeworksinprose,eventhoughmostplaysandnarrativepoemsarealsofictional.（P.83.ConciseDictionaryofLiteraryTerms）

4.TheStoryandtheNovel

Toreadnovelsforstoryisnothingwrong,butnothingprofessionaleither.“Onemarkofasecond-ratemindistobealwaystellingstories.”TheremarkbytheFrenchwriterjeandeLaBruyere（1645~1696）isalsotrueofthereader.Ifthepurposeofthenovelisonlytotellstories,itcouldaswellremainunborn,fornewspapersandhistorybooksaresufficienttosatisfypeople’sdesireforstoriesaboutbothpresentandpast,andevenaboutfuture.Infact,manynewapapermenhavebeendissatisfiedwiththeirjobofreportingandcomeintothefieldofnovelwriting.Defoe,Dickens,Joyce,HemingwayandCamuswereamongthemostfamousandthemostsuccessfulconverts.Evenhistoriansmayfeelobligedtodomorethanmerestoriesorfacts.EdwardGibborn’sDeclineandFalloftheRomanEmpireispraisednotonlyforitsmultitudinousfactsandrationalisticanalysis,butmoreforitsbeautyofnarrativestyle.Intellingstories,thenovelistaimsatsomethinghigherorheintendstoaddsomethingtothemere“facts.”Asindicatedinthedefinitionofthenovel,whatmakesanovelisthenovelist’sstyle（personalizedpresentationofthestory）andinterpretationofthestory.

ChapterOnePlot

I.WhatisPlot?

1.AccordingtoAristotlewhatarethesixelementsofthestructureoftragedy?

Tragedyasawholehasjustsixconstituentelements…andtheyareplot,characters,verbalexpression,thought,visualadornment,andsong—composition.Fortheelementsbywhichtheyimitatearetwo（verbalexpressionandsong—composition）,themannerinwhichtheyimitateisone（visualadornment）,thethingstheyimitatearethree（plot,characters,thought）,andthereisnothingmorebeyondthese.

2.WhatisPlotunderthepensofmodernnovelistsandstorytellers?

Andhowtounderstand“Plot”inastory?

（“”ppt:

‘Thequeendied,nooneknewwhy,untilitwasdiscoveredthatitwasthroughgriefatthedeathoftheking.’…P.6Itsuspendsthetime-sequence,itmovesasfarawayfromthestoryasitslimitationswillallow.）

Thestoryandthecharacteralonecannotmakeanovelye.Tomakeanovel,aplotisprerequisite.AlookattheexamplesuggestedbyE.M.Forsterwillhelptodistinguishbetweenthestoryandtheplot.“Thekingdiedandthenthequeendied”isnotaplot,butastory.Ifwemakeit“Thekingdiedandthenthequeendiedofgrief,’wehaveaplot.Thiscausalphrase“ofgrief”indicatesourinterpretationandthusarrangementofthehappenings.

Intheworldofrealityeventstakeplaceoneafteranotherinthenaturaltemporalorder,butintheworldoffictionitisthenovelist’sdesignthatoneparticulareventoccurafteranotherparticularevent.Theveryword“plot”impliesthenovelist’srebellionagainstthenaturallawandhisendeavortomakemeaningsoutofthehappeningsthatmayotherwisebemeaningless.“Thehappenings”mayormaynotberealhappenings.（Sowhatplotis--）Aplotisaparticulararrangementofhappeningsinanovelthatisaimedatrevealingtheircausalrelationshipsoratconveyingthenovelist’sideas.Aplotissometimescalledastoryline.Themostimportantofthetraditionalplotisthatitshouldbeacompleteorunifiedaction,thatis,somethingwithabeginning,amiddle,andanend.

3.Thedramaticsituationinastory.

4.Thethreepartsofaplot:

abeginning（exposition）,amiddle（suspenseoraseriesofsuspense….foreshadowing…crisis–amomentofhightension）,andanend（aclimax,themomentofgreatesttension…theconclusion—fallingaction,resolutionordenouement）.

Plot

abeginningamiddleanend

expositionsomeothereventsclimax（themoment

（suspense,aseriesofsuspense,ofgreatesttension,

foreshadowing,crisis）theconclusion-falling

action,resolutionordenouement）

II.Readthestoriesof‘RipVanWinkle’（WashingtonIrving）and‘DavidSwan’（NathanielHawthorne）

III.Questions:

（Finishreadingthetwostoriesandpointouttheplotsofthetwostories,thedescriptivedetails,theexposition,characters）

RipVanWinkle

1.Descriptivedetails:

theplotofthestory?

2.Whatpartofthestoryseemsliketheexposition?

3.Wheredoesthedramaticconflict?

4.Whatistheclimaxofthestory?

DavidSwan

5.theplotofthestory?

6.Howfullydoestheauthordrawthecharactersinthestory?

（Charactertraitsarethequalitiesofacharacter’spersonality.Theyarerevealedthroughacharacter’sactionsandwordsandthroughdescription）.

7.Moreworkstodo:

somethingaboutthewritersofthetwostories.

ChapterTwoCharacter

Intheintroductionwehavesaidthatfictionisanimageofpeopleinaction,movingtowardsanundeclaredend.Thuscharacterisalwaysinvolvedinfiction,eveninthestoryofthesimplestaction.Sometimescharacterisatthecenterofourinterestbecauseincharacterwemayseemanyfacetsofthepeoplewemeetinourdailylifeandevenofourselves.Fictionalcharacterisalwayscharacterinactionandthecharactergetsintoactionbecauseitiscaughtinasituationofconflictandhe/sheisalwaysprovidedwithmotivation:

he/shehassufficientreasonstoactorbehaveashe/shedoes.Thecharacterisdoingsomethingandthereaderwhilereadingfictionwantstoknowthe“why”aswellasthe“what”oftheaffairs.（Sometimesacharacter’smotiveforanactionisnotexplainedonacceptablegrounds,forexample,thevillaininAdgarAllanPoe’story“TheTell-TaleHeart,”andthusthereaderfeelscheated.Inthiscase,thewriterofdetectivefictionwhomakesthecriminalamerelunatichascheatedthereaderbyavoidingtheproblemofmotive.）Andgenerally,theactionitselfishumanlysignificantanditendsusuallyinashiftinorclarificationofhumanvalues,asdisplayedinJohnUpdike’s“A&

P,”andthemotivationofacharacterinastory—oneoftheanswerstothequestion“why”—isoffundamentalimportance.

I.WhatisCharacter?

Closelyrelatedwiththestoryisthecharacter.HenryJamessaid,“Whatischaracterbutthe

determinationofincident?

Whatisincidentbuttheillustrationofcharacter?

”（TheArtofFiction”）Whenwereadanovel,wereadaboutourfellowbeings,andthatisoneofthemotivesinreadingatall.The“fellowbeings”inthenovelistermedcharacters.By“fellowbeings”ismeantnotonly“humanbeings”butalso“otherbeings,”suchasanimals.GeorgeOrwellusesanimalstorepresenthumanbeingsinhisnovelAnimalFarm.LewisCarrolcreatesmanylovelyanimalsinhisAlice’sAdventuresinWonderlandthatappealtobothchildrenandadults.

Orwelldoesnotintendtoconvincethereaderthatanimalscanspeakhumanlanguageorthat

heisatranslatorbetweenanimalsandhumans.Nosensiblereader,afterreadingOrwell’sAnimalFarm,wouldgotothepigstytolookforatalkingboar.Thisprovestheagreed-onfictionalityofcharactersinnovels.Sobroadly,acharacterisaninventedpersonalitytoresemblebutnevertoequalarealp