【正文】 s in t he novel . I n f act , an exposi ti on must have a set ing. But set ing goes al ong wit h every event i n t he novel wher eas exposi ti on is onl y the i niti ati ng act ion. 1. The el em ent s m aki ng up a set ing By the set ing of a st ory, we si mply m ean i ts pl ace and t ime, the physical , and somet imes spir it ual , backgr ound against which t he act ion of a nar ati ve takes pl ace. Ever y a stor y as shor t as t he one at t he begi nni ng of the i nt roducti on must be set in a cert ain pl ace and t ime: we have an “ol d, shutt ered house” and the pr esent tense suggest s tim e (t hough the present t ense i ndi cat es m uch more t han ti me it sel f in t he story) . The el ement s making up a se t ing ar e gener al ly: ( 1) t he act ual geogr aphi cal l ocati on, i ts t opogr aphy, scener y, and such physical ar angements as the l ocat ion of t he wi ndows and door s in a room。 ( 2) t he occupati ons and dail y manner of l iving of t he char acter s。 she l oved t he place and was loved in t he place. The vale, far f rom the m adding cr owd of the ci vi li zed ci ty, was as serene and pure as t he inhabi tants. Tess, imbued deepl y wit h t he nat ural hue of t he val e and bound cl osely t o t hi s wor ld of sim pl icit y and secl usi on, exper ienced her own deli ght and happi ness t hough her fami ly was poor . I t was, t o som e ext ent , her depar tur e f rom her nati ve place that led to her t ragedy. I n The Return of the Nat ive, the atm osphere of Egdon Heath pr evail s over t he whole book。 ( 3) the t ime or peri od in which t he act ion t akes place, f or exampl e, t he late ei ght enth cent ur y i n histor y or wint er of t he year 。 as an envir onm ent , i t absorbs some and r epels ot her s of the characters: those who are abs orbed achi eve a somber int egr ation wit h it , but t hose who ar e repel ed and rebel suff er di saster . Somet imes an environment serves as m ore than a m ere pl ace to set the st ory. Of ten, i t is i next ri cably ent angl ed wit h the pr otagoni st , and even car ies str ong symboli c meanings. Cat hy as an image of the f emini ne per sonali ty, for exam ple, in Em il y Bront e’s Wuthering Hei ght s, i s not supposed to possess the “wi lderness” char act er ist ic of mascul init y and symbol ized by t he local es of Heat hcl if f and Wutheri ng Hei ght s. I n some f icti on, set ing i s cl osely bound wi th theme. In The Scarlet Let ter , even smal detail s af ord power ful hints at t he theme of the stor y. At t he st art of the stor y, t he nar r at or descri bes a coloni al j ai lhouse: Befor e thi s ugl y edif ice, and between i t and t he wheel tr ack of t he st reet, was a gr ass plot , much over gr own wi th bur dock, pigweed, apple per u, and such unsight ly veget ati on, whi ch evi dentl y f ou。 hi s cont emporary Evel yn Waugh stated t hat t he West Af ri ca of that book r epl aced t he tr ue remember ed West Af ri ca of hi s own exper ience. Such power is not unm on: t he Yor kshi re m oor s have been r om ant icized because Emi ly Br onte wr ote of t hem i n Wuthering Hei ght s, and li ter ar y t our ists have visi ted Stokeon Tr ent i n nort her n England because it pri ses t he “Five Towns” of Ar nol d Ben ’s novels of the earl y t went iet h cent ur y. Thus, a reader ’s react ion t o a place i s not mer ely based upon t he way it l ooks, but upon the pot ent iali ti es of acti on suggest ed by it . Places m att er greatl y t o many wri t ers. For instance, the Fr ench noveli st Balzac, bef or e wr it ing a st or y set in a t own, he woul d go and visit t hat t own, select a few lanes and houses, and descri bes t hem in det ai l, down t o thei r ver y smels. I n his view the pl ace i n which an event occurs was of equal moment wi th t he event it self , and it has a par t to pl ay. Another exam pl e is Thomas Har dy, under whom the pr esentati on of set ti ng assum es an unusual i mport ance. Hi s “Wessex” vil lages cast int angibl y such as spel l upon the vil lagers t hat once they leave their hometowns t hey wil l inevitabl y suf fer f rom disaster s, and t he fart her t hey ar e away f rom their hometowns, the mor e, t er ible their disast ers wi l be. For example, in the Tes of t he D’Urbervi l es, the Val e of Bl akem ore was t he place wher e Tes was bor n and her l if e was to unf old. Ever y contour of the sur r ounding hi l s was as per sonal to her as that of her rel at ives’ f aces。 P, and Faul kner ’s Bar n Burni ng concern the theme of “i ni ti at ion i nto m aturi ty.” Such gener al descri pt ions of theme can be usef ul, especial y i f we want to sort a l arge number of stor ies and novel s into rough categor ies, but t he fact that hey ar e sim il ar i n theme does not m ean t hat hey mean the same thi ng. The at it ude towards t he theme m ay be ver y dif fer ent : t he tone of tr eatment may be, f or exampl e, eit her i c or tr agi c, st raightf orwar d or ir onic. The wri ter ’s visi on of l if e i s the special under lyi ng fact of a st ory, and a theme, abstr act ly st at ed, i s not t he same thing as a vi si on of li fe. And we suggest anyway t hat , in t he begi nni ng, you l ook for whatever t rut h or insight you think t he wr it er of a stor y int ends t o r eveal. Try to stat e a theme i n a sentence. By doing so, we wi l f ind ourselves looking cl osely at t he st ory. Kennedy and Gi oi a make a helpf ul suggesti on to consider the f ollowi ng points when we thi nk about the t hem e of a st ory: Look back once mor e at the ti tl e of the stor y. What does it i ndi cat e in r elati on to the whole st ory? Does the m ai n char acter in any way change in t he st or y? Does t his char act er ar r ive at any eventual r ealizati on or under st anding? Ar e you l ef t wit h any reali zat ion or under standi ng aft er f ini shi ng reading t he st