【正文】 s not hi ng wr ong, but not hi ng pr of essi onal eit her. ―One mar k of a second rate mi nd i s t o be al ways t el li ng stori es.‖ The r em ar k by t he Fr ench wr it er jean de La Bruyer e ( 1645~1696) is al so t rue of t he r eader. I f t he purpose of t he novel i s onl y t o tel st or ies, it coul d as wel l rem ai n unbor n, f or newspaper s and hi st or y books ar e suf fi ci ent to sati sf y peopl e‘ s desi re f or stori es about bot h present and past, and even about future. I n f act , m any newapaperm en have been dissati sfi ed wi th t heir job of r eporti ng and e i nt o t he f ield of novel wri ti ng. Def oe, Di ckens, Joyce, Hem ingway and Cam us wer e among t he m ost f amous and the m ost succesful convert s. Even hi st or ians may feel obl i ged t o do m or e than mer e stori es or fact s. Edwar d Gi bborn‘s Decl ine and Fal of the Roman Em pi re i s pr aised not only f or it s m ul ti udi nous f act s and rati onal ist ic anal ysis, but m or e f or i ts beaut y of nar rati ve style. In t el ing st ori es, t he noveli st aims at som et hing hi gher or he i nt ends t o add som et hi ng to t he mere “f acts.” As indicat ed i n t he def init ion of t he novel, what m akes a novel i s t he novel ist?s st yl e ( personal ized present at ion of t he st ory) and i nterpret at ion of t he st ory. Chapter One Plot I. What i s Pl ot ? 1. Acording to Ari st ot le what are t he si x el em ents of t he str uctur e of tr agedy? Tragedy as a whol e has j ust si x consti tuent el em ents… and t hey are plot, characters, verbal expresion, t hought , visual adornm ent, and song— posit on. For t he elem ents by whi ch t hey imi tate are t wo ( ver bal expr esi on and song— posit on) , t he m anner in which they im it at e i s one (visual adornm ent) , t he t hi ngs t hey imit at e ar e three (plot, charact er s, t hought), and t her e i s not hi ng more beyond t hese. 2. What is Pl ot under t he pens of moder n novel ist s and st orytel er s? And how t o under st and ―Pl ot ‖ i n a st or y? ( ―‖ ppt : ? The queen di ed, no one knew why, unti l i t was discover ed t hat i t was thr ough gri ef at he deat h of t he king. ‘… P. 6 It suspends t he tim e sequence, i t m oves as far away fr om the st or y as it s limi tati ons wil al ow.) The st or y and the charact er al one can not m ake a novel ye. To m ake a novel, a plot is pr erequisit e. A l ook at t he exam pl e suggest ed by . For st er wil l help t o di sti nguish bet wen the st or y and the pl ot . ―The ki ng died and t hen the queen died‖ i s not a pl ot , but a story. If we m ake it ―The king di ed and then t he queen di ed of gr ief, ‘ we have a plot. Thi s causal phr ase ―of gri ef ‖ i ndi cates our i nterpretati on and t hus ar r angem ent of t he happeni ngs. In t he worl d of r ealit y event s t ake place one aft er anot her i n t he nat ur al tem por al order , but i n the wor ld of fi cti on i t is the novel ist‘s desi gn t hat one part icul ar event occur af ter anot her part icul ar event. The ver y wor d ―pl ot ‖ im pl ies the novel ist ‘s r ebel li on agai nst he nat ural aw and hi s endeavor t o m ake m eani ngs out of t he happeni ngs that may ot her wi se be meaningl es. ―The happeni ngs‖ may or may not be real happenings.( So what pl ot i s ) A pl ot is a part icul ar ar angement of happenings i n a novel that i s aimed at r eveali ng t heir causal r elati onshi ps or at conveying the novel ist ‘s i deas. A pl ot i s ometi mes cal ed a st or y li ne. The most im port ant of t he tr adit ional pl ot i s t hat it shoul d be a pl et e or uni fi ed act ion, t hat i s, somet hi ng wit h a beginni ng, a m iddl e, and an end. 3. The dr amati c sit uati on i n a st or y. 4. The three part s of a plot: a beginni ng ( exposit ion) , a mi ddl e (suspense or a seri es of suspense … .f or eshadowi ng… cr isis –a m oment of hi gh t ension) , and an end( a cl imax, t he mom ent of great est tension… the concl usion—fal ing acti on, resol uti on or denouem ent) . Pl ot abeginni ng a mi ddle an end exposi ti on some other events cl imax (t he mom ent (suspense, a seri es of suspense, of gr eatest tensi on, f or eshadowing, crisis) t he conclusi onf al li ng act ion, r esol ut ion or denouement ) I. Read the st ori es of ?Rip Van Wi nkl e‘( Washingt on Ir vi ng) and ?David Swan‘ ( Nathani el Hawt hor ne) II. Q uesti ons: ( Fi ni sh r eading the t wo st ori es and poi nt out t he pl ots of the t wo st ori es, t he descri pti ve details, t he exposit on, charact er s) Rip Van Winkl e 1. Descri pt ive detail s: t he pl ot of the st or y? 2. What par t of the st or y sems l ike the exposit ion? 3. Wher e does t he dram at ic confl ict? 4. What i s the cli max of t he st ory? David Swan 5. the pl ot of the st or y? 6. How f ul ly does the aut hor dr aw the char act er s i n the st or y? ( Charact er t raits are t he quali ti es of a char acter‘ s personalit y. They are r eveal ed t hr ough a char act er‘ s acti ons and words and t hr ough descri pt ion) . 7. More works to do: somet hi ng about t he wr it er s of the t wo stori es. Chapt er Two Charact er I n t he i nt roducti on we have sai d t hat fi ct ion is an im age of peopl e i n acti on, m ovi ng t owards an undecl ared end. Thus char acter i s al ways invol ved in fi ct ion, even i n t he st or y of t he sim pl est acti on. Sometim es charact er i s at the cent er of our interest because in char act er we may se m any f acet s of t he people we m eet in our dail y l if e and even of our sel ves. Fi ct ional charact er i s al ways char acter in acti on and the charact er get s i nto acti on because it i s caught i n a si tuat ion of confl ict and he/she i s al ways pr ovi ded wit h m ot ivat ion: he/ she has suf fi ci ent r easons to act or behave as he /she does. The char