【正文】 ct is t hat , when a reader r eads a wor k of fi cti on, his f ocus i s mostl y cast upon the plot , the char act er, and the l anguage used, so t hat t he sym bol s ar e automat ical ly backgrounded on the r eader’ s par t. But in some novels and stor ies, t he symbol ism looms so lar ge that the r eader wil l fail t o get a pr ehensive under standi ng of t he wor k wi thout payi ng special atenti on t o the symbols. The Scarlet Let er by Nat hani el Hawt horne i s one of such works. The ver y t itl e points to a double symbol: t he scarl et l eter 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 l iter aly st ands f or, and the wor k event ual ly develops int o a test and cr it ique of sym bol s themsel ves. Thomas Pynchon’s V. cont inues al ong much the same l ine, test ing an al phabeti cal sym bol . Anot her example i s Herm an Melvi l e’ s MobyDi ck, i n whi ch the huge whit e whale i n the t it le of t he book acquir es gr eat er m eani ng than the l it er al di cti onar y defi ni ti on of an aquati c mammal . It also suggests mor e than t he devi l, to whom some of the characters liken i t. The huge whal e, as t he st ory unf olds, es to impl y an ampli tude of meani ngs: among t hem the f orces of nat ur e and the whol e universe. Li ter ar y symbols are of t wo broad t ypes: one type incl udes those embodyi ng universal suggest ions of meani ng. Fl owing wat er suggests time and et erni ty, a journey i nto t he underwor l d and retur n f rom it is inter pr eted as a spir it ual exper ience or a dar k night of the soul , and a ki nd of redempti ve odyssey. Such symbols ar e used wi dely ( and som et imes unconsciously) in west er n l iter ature. The ot her t ype of symbol secures i ts suggesti venes not f rom qual it ies inherent in i tself but fr om t he way in which i t is used in a gi ven work, in a special cont ext . Thus, in MobyDi ck the voyage, the l and, and the ocean ar e objects pr egnant wi t h meani ngs that seem al most i ndependent of the author’ 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, ment al , per sonal, int eractional, 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 li terar y text or a par t of the text, seei ng it as a di scourse presupposing a social relat ion between i ts part icipants ( author and r eader , character and char act er , charac ter and reader, etc.) , and a shari ng of knowl edge and assumpt ions by part icipants. Cohesion: Does the t ext cont ain l ogi cal or other li nks bet ween sentences ( eg coor di nat i ng conj unct ions, l inking adver bial s) , or does it t end t o r epl y on i mpli ci t connect ions of meani ng? What sor t of use i s made of cr oss r efer ence by pr onouns (she, i t, t hey, et c), by subst itut e for ms ( do, so, et c), or el li psi s? Is t her e any use m ade of elegant var iati on—t he avoidance of repet it ion by subst it uti on of a descri pt ive phrase ( as “t he ol d l awyer ” substi tutes f or the r epeti ti on of an ear li er “Mr Jones”) ? Are meani ng connect ions r ei nfor ced by r epet it ion of wor ds and phr ases, or by r epeatedly using wor ds fr om the sam e sem ant ic f ield? Cont ext : Does t he wr it er address the r eader di r ectl y, or t hrough the wor ds or thought s of some fi ct ional character ? What li ngui st ic cl ues ( eg fi rst per son pronouns I , me, my, m ine) ar e t her e of the addresser addr esee rel at ionshi p? What at itude does the author im ply t owar ds his/her subj ect ? If a character ’s wor ds or t houghts ar e r epr esented, is t hi s done by di rect quot ation, or by som e other method ( eg indir ect speech, f r e i ndir ect s peech) ? Ar e ther e si gnif icant changes of st yle wi th respect to di f erent per sons ( nar rat or or character) who is supposedl y speaking or t hi nking t he wor ds on t he page? What i s the point of view of t he story? Ar e t he fr equent shi ft s of poi nt vi ew? If so, i n whose voice is t he nar r at or speaki ng? Chapter Seven Symbol What is symbol ? Symbol, in the simpl est sense, anythi ng that st ands f or or r epr esents somethi ng else beyond it—usual y an idea conventi onal ly associ at ed wit h i t. Objects l ike f lags and crosses can functi on symbol icaly。 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 they r el at ively si mple or plex? Wher e does the plexit y li e ( in pr em odi f i cat ion by adjecti ves, nouns, et c, or in post modi fi cat ion by pr eposit ion by pr eposit ional phr ases, r elati ve clauses, et c) ? Verb phr ases: Ar e t her e any signif icant depart ur es fr om t he use of t he si mple past tense? For exam pl e, not ice occur rences and f unct ions of the present t ense, of t he progressi ve aspect, of the perf ect aspect, of modal auxil iar ies. ot her phrase types: I s ther e anyt hi ng to be sai d about other phr ases t ypes, such as preposi ti onal phrases, adverb phr ases, adj ecti ve phrases? Wor d classes: Havi ng alr eady consi der ed major wor d classes, we may consi der mi nor word cl asses ( eg f uncti onal wor ds) , such as preposi ti ons, conj unct ions, pr onouns, deter miner s, auxi li ari es, int er jecti ons. Are par ti cul ar wor ds of these types used f or part icular ef ect ( eg dem onst rati ves such as this and t hat , negati ves such as not , not hing)? Gener al : Note whet her any gener al t ypes of gramm at ical constr uct ion ar e used t o