【正文】 t fi ct i on and pensat e for it s bri efnes i n space. 2. There are t wo broad t ypes of l it erary sym bol s Symbol is gener al y acknowl edged t o be one of t he m ost f r equent l y em pl oyed devi ces i n poet ry. I n works of fi ct i on i t is no l es f r equent and no l es im port ant . The fact i s t hat, when a r eader r eads a wor k of fi ct i on, his f ocus i s mostl y cast upon the pl ot , t he char act er , and the l anguage used, so t hat t he sym bol s ar e automati cal l y backgrounded on t he r eader’s par t. But i n som e novels and st or ies, t he sym bol ism l oom s so l ar ge that the r eader wil l fail t o get a pr ehensive under st andi ng of t he wor k wi thout payi ng speci al at tenti on t o t he sym bol s. The Scarlet Let t er by Nat hani el Hawt hor ne i s one of such works. The ver y ti tl e poi nts t o a double sym bol: t he scarl et l et t er A worn by Hest er conveys a m ul ti ple of senses which di f er gr eat ly f r om what it li t er al l y st ands f or, and the wor k event ual ly devel ops int o a t est and cr it ique of sym bol s themsel ves. Thom as Pynchon’s V. cont i nues al ong much t he same l ine, test i ng an al phabeti cal sym bol . Anot her exampl e is Herm an Mel vi l e’ s Moby Dick, in whi ch t he huge whit e whale i n t he ti l e of t he book acquir es gr eat er m eani ng t han t he l it eral dicti onar ydefi ni ti on of an aquati c m amm al . It also suggests m or e t han t he devil , to whom som e of t he characters l i ken i t. The huge whal e, as t he st or y unf ol ds, es t o im pl y an ampli t ude of meani ngs: am ong t hem t he f or ces of nat ure and t he whol e universe. Li t er ary s ymbols ar e of t wo broad t ypes: one t ype i ncl udes t hose embodyi ng uni versal suggesti ons of m eaning. Flowi ng water suggest s ti me and eter ni t y, a j our ney i nt o the under worl d and r et urn f r om it i s i nt er pr et ed as a spi rit ual experi ence or a dark ni ght of t he soul, and a ki nd of r edem pt i ve odyssey. Such sym bols ar e used wi del y ( and someti mes unconsci ousl y) i n wester n li ter at ure. The ot her t ype of symbol secures it s suggest i venes not fr om quali ti es inherent i n i tsel f but fr om t he way i n which it i s used i n a gi ven work, in a speci al cont ext . Thus, i n Moby Di ck t he voyage, t he l and, and t he ocean ar e objects pr egnant wit h meani ngs that seem alm ost i ndependent of the aut hor’ s use of t hem i n t he st or y。 f or i nst ance, the ways sent ences are connect ed. This i s t he i nt er nal ani zat i on of a t ext . Under cont ext, r oughl y t he m at eri al , mental, personal , int er act ional , soci al , i nst it uti onal, cult ural, and hist or i cal si t uati on i n which t he di scour se i s made, we consider the exter nal r el at i ons of t he l it erar y text or a par t of t he text, seei ng it as a di scourse presupposing a social rel at ion bet wen i ts part ici pants ( aut hor and r eader, character and char act er , char act er and r eader, etc.) , and a shari ng of knowl edge and assum pt i ons by part ici pants. Cohesi on: Does t he t ext cont ai n l ogical or ot her li nks bet ween sent ences (eg coordi nati ng conj unct ions, l i nki ng adverbi al s) , or does it t end to r epl y on i mpli ci t connecti ons of m eaning? What sort of use i s made of cross r ef er ence by pr onouns ( she, it , t hey, et c), by subst it ute f orm s ( do, so, etc), or el i psis? I s ther e any use made of el egant vari at i on—the avoi dance of r epeti ti on by substi uti on of a descri pti ve phr ase ( as “t he old l awyer ” substi t ut es for t he r epet it ion of an ear li er “Mr Jones”) ? Ar e meani ng connecti ons r ei nf or ced by r epeti ti on of wor ds and phr ases, or by repeat edl y usi ng wor ds f r om t he same sem anti c fi el d? Context: Does t he writ er addr es t he reader di rect l y, or t hr ough t he wor ds or t houghts of som e f icti onal char act er? What l i nguisti c clues ( eg f ir st per son pr onouns I, m e, m y, mi ne) ar e t her e of t he addr eser addr esee rel ati onshi p? What at ti t ude does t he author im pl y t owar ds hi s/her subj ect ? If a charact er’ s wor ds or t houghts ar e r epr esent ed, i s t hi s done by di r ect quot at i on, or by som e ot her m et hod ( eg i ndir ect speech, f r e i ndi r ect speech) ? Ar e t her e si gni fi cant changes of st yle wit h r espect t o di f er ent per sons ( nar r at or or character) who is supposedl y speaki ng or t hinking t he wor ds on t he page? What i s the poi nt of view of t he st ory? Ar e t he fr equent shif t s of poi nt vi ew? If so, i n whose voi ce is t he nar r at or speaki ng? Chapter Seven Sym bol What i s sym bol ? Sym bol, i n the sim pl est sense, anyt hi ng that st ands f or or r epresent s som et hi ng else beyond it—usual y an i dea conventi onal l y associ at ed wit h i t. Obj ect s l i ke f l ags and cr osses can f uncti on sym boli cal l y。 of t ransi ti ve or i ntr ansit i ve ver b constr uct i ons) ? Are t here any unusual orderi ngs ( i ni ti al adver bi al s, f ronti ng of obj ect or plement, et c) ? Do speci al ki nds of cl ause constr uct i on occur (such as those wit h pr eparat or y it or t here)? Noun phr ases: Ar e t hey relati vel y sim pl e or plex? Wher e does t he pl exi t y li e (i n pr em odi fi cat ion by adj ecti ves, nouns, et c, or i n post modif icati on by pr eposit i on by pr eposit i onal phr ases, relati ve clauses, et c)? Ver b phr ases: Ar e there any si gnif i cant depart ures f rom the use of the sim pl e past t ense? For exam ple, not i ce occurr ences a nd funct i ons of t he pr esent tense, of t he pr ogr esi ve aspect, of t he per f ect aspect , of m odal auxi li ari es. ot her phr ase t ypes: I s t here anythi ng to be said about ot her phr ases t ypes, such as pr eposit i onal phr ases, adverb phr ases,