【正文】 oetr y. I n wor ks of f ict ion i t i s no l ess f requent and no less im por tant. The f act is that, when a r eader reads a work of f ict ion, hi s focus is m ost ly cast upon t he pl ot, the character , and t he language used, so that the symbols are aut om atical y backgr ounded on the r eader’s part . But i n some novel s and st ori es, the symboli sm l oom s so l arge t hat t he reader wi l f ai l to get a prehensi ve understanding of t he work wit hout payi ng special at ent ion t o the symbols. The Scarl et Let er by Nathaniel Hawthorne i s one of such wor ks. The ver y t it le point s to a double symbol : t he scar let let er A worn by Hest er conveys a mult iple of senses whi ch di f er gr eatly fr om what it l it er al y stands for, and t he wor k event ualy develops int o a t est and cr i tique of symbol s themselves. Thomas Pynchon’ s V. cont i nues along much t he same l ine, testing an al phabeti cal sym bol . Anot her example is Her man Mel vi l e’s MobyDi ck, in whi ch the huge whit e whale i n t he ti le of t he book acquir es gr eat er meani ng than the l it eral dicti onar y defi ni ti on of an aquati c mamm al . It also suggests m or e t han t he devi l, to whom some of the character s li ken i t. The huge whale, as t he st ory unf olds, es t o im pl y an ampli tude of meanings: among t hem the f orces of nat ure and t he whol e universe. Li ter ar y symbols ar e of t wo broad t ypes: one type i ncl udes t hose embodyi ng universal suggest ions of meaning. Fl owing wat er suggest s ti me and eterni ty, a journey i nto t he under worl d and retur n f rom it i s inter pr eted as a spir it ual exper ience or a dar k night of the soul , and a kind of redempti ve odyssey. Such symbol s ar e used widely (and som et im es unconsciously) in west er n l it er atur e. The ot her t ype of sym bol secur es i ts suggesti veness not f rom qual it ies inherent in itself but fr om t he way i n which i t is used in a gi ven work, in a special cont ext . Thus, in MobyDi ck the voyage, t he l and, and the ocean ar e obj ect s pregnant wi th meani ngs t hat seem alm ost independent of t he aut hor’ s use of t hem in the stor y。 for instance, t he ways sentences ar e connected. Thi s is t he inter nal or ganizati on of a text. Under cont ext , roughly t he mater ial, mental , per sonal, int er actional, soci al, insti tut ional , cul tur al , and hi st ori cal sit uat ion i n which t he discour se is made, we consider the exter nal r el ati ons of t he lit erar y text or a par t of t he t ext , seeing i t as a di scourse pr esupposing a social r el ation bet ween its par ti ci pant s (author and reader , char acter a nd char act er, char act er and r eader, etc.) , and a shar ing of knowl edge and assum ptions by part ici pants. Cohesi on: Does the t ext contain logical or ot her l inks bet ween sentences (eg coordinati ng conj unct ions, l inking adverbial s) , or does it t end to r epl y on i mpli ci t connections of meaning? What sor t of use i s made of cr oss refer ence by pr onouns (she, it, t hey, etc), by subst it ut e f or ms ( do, so, et c), or el ipsi s? Is t her e any use made of el egant var iati on—t he avoi dance of repeti ion by subst it uti on of a descri pt ive phr ase ( as “t he old l awyer ” substi tut es f or the r epet it on of an ear li er “Mr Jones”) ? Are meani ng connections r ei nfor ced by repet it ion of wor ds and phr ases, or by r epeatedly using words f rom the same sem ant ic f iel d? Cont ext : Does the wr it er address the r eader dir ect ly, or t hrough the wor ds or thought s of som e fi ct ional character ? What li ngui st ic cl ues ( eg fi rst person pronouns I , me, my, m i ne) ar e t her e of t he addr esser addr esee relat ionshi p? What at ti tude does the author impl y towar ds his/her subject? If a character’ s wor ds or t houghts ar e repr esent ed, i s thi s done by di rect quot at ion, or by some ot her m et hod (eg i ndir ect speech, f ree i ndi rect speech) ? Ar e there si gni fi cant changes of st yle wi th respect to di f erent per sons ( nar rator or char act er) who i s supposedl y speaking or thi nki ng the wor ds on the page? What is t he poi nt of vi ew of the stor y? Are the f requent shi f ts of point view? I f so, in whose voice i s the nar ator speaking? Chapt er Seven Symbol What i s sym bol? Symbol, i n the si mplest sense, anyt hing t hat stands for or represent s somet hing else beyond it —usual ly an i dea convent ional y asociated wi th it. Obj ect s li ke fl ags and cr osses can f unct ion symboli cal y。 of tr ansit ive or i nt ransit ive verb constr uct ions) ? Ar e there any unusual order ings (i nit ial adverbi al s, f ront ing of object or plement, etc) ? Do speci al ki nds of clause constr uct ion occur (such as t hose wi th prepar ator y it or there) ? Noun phrases: Ar e t hey r el ati vel y simpl e or pl ex? Where does the plexit y l ie ( in pr emodif ication by adj ect ives, nouns, etc, or i n pos tmodif icati on by preposi ti on by preposi ti onal phrases, rel at ive cl auses, etc)? Ver b phrases: Ar e there any si gni fi cant depar tures f rom the use of the sim pl e past t ense? For example, noti ce occurr ences and functi ons of t he pr esent tense, of the pr ogr esive aspect , of t he per fect aspect , of m odal auxi li ari es. other phr ase t ypes: Is t her e anything t o be said about ot her phrases types, such as pr eposit ional phr ases, adver b phrases, adject ive phr ases? Word cl ases: Having al ready considered m aj or word cl asses, we m ay consider minor wor d clases ( eg f unct ional words), such as pr eposit ions, conjuncti ons, pronouns, det ermi ner s, auxil iar ies, i nterj ect ions. Ar e part icular wor ds of t hese t ypes used f or par ti cul ar ef fect (eg demonstr at ives such as t hi s and that, negat ives such as not, nothi ng)?