【正文】 er son, at l east por tr ait l ike. Faulkner’ s Miss Emi ly, twi ce apears at a wi ndow of her houses “l(fā)i ke the carven t or so of an idol in t he niche. ” Though Faul kner invest s her wit h li fe and vi gor , he al so cl othes her i n symbolic hi nts: she seems almost to t ypes of sentence are used, what is t hei r functi on? Sent ence plexit y: Do sent ences on whole have a simpl e or a pl ex str uct ur e? What is t he aver age sentence lengt h? Does pl exity var y str ikingl y fr om one sentence t o another? I s plexit y mainl y due to ( i) coordi nat ion, (i i) subor dinati on, ( i i) j uxt aposit ion of clauses or of other equi val ent str uct ures? In what part s of the text does pl exi ty t end to occur ? clause types: What t ypes of clauses are favored—r elati ve cl auses, adverbial clauses, or di f erent types of nomi nal clauses? Ar e non f init e for ms monl y used, and i f so, of what types ar e t hey ( inf ini tive, i ng f or m, ed for m, ver bles st ructur e) ? What i s their f uncti on? Clause st ructur e: I s t her e anyt hi ng signif icant about cl ause elements (eg f requency of objects, adverbial s, plements 。 they point , they hint, or , as Henr y James put it , they cast long shadows. Sym bol ism The term symbolism ref er s t o the use of symbol s, or to a set of rel at ed sym bol s, whi ch is one of the devices that enr ich shor t fi cti on and pensat e for i ts bri efnes in space. 2. There are t wo broad types of li terary symbols Sym bol i s general ly acknowl edged t o be one of the most fr equentl y employed devi ces i n poetr y. I n wor ks of f icti on it i s no less fr equent and no less impor tant. The fact is t hat , when a reader r eads a work of f icti on, hi s focus is most ly cast upon the pl ot, the character, and the l anguage used, so that the symbol s are aut omat ical y backgrounded on the r eader ’s part . But i n some novel s and st ori es, the symboli sm looms so l arge t hat the r eader wi l f ai l to get a prehensive understanding of t he work wi t hout payi ng special at ent ion t o the symbols. The Scarlet Let er by Nathani el Hawt horne i s one of such works. The ver y t it le point s to a double symbol: t he scarl et l et er A worn by Hest er conveys a mult iple of senses which di f er gr eat ly fr om what it l it er al y st ands f or, and the wor k event ual y devel ops into a test and cr it que of symbols themsel ves. Thom as Pynchon’ s V. cont inues al ong much the same li ne, t est ing an alphabet ical symbol . Anot her exam ple i s Herm an Melvi le’ s MobyDi ck, i n which t he huge white whal e i n the t it le of the book acqui res gr eat er m eaning t han the l it er al di ct ionary def ini ti on of an aquatic mammal. I t al so suggest s mor e than the devil , to whom som e of the char act ers l iken i t. The huge whal e, as t he st or y unfol ds, es to i mpl y an am pli tude of meani ngs : among them the f or ces of natur e and the whol e uni ver se. Li terar y sym bol s are of t wo broad types: one t ype includes those em bodyi ng uni versal suggest ions of meani ng. Fl owi ng wat er suggests t im e and et er nit y, a j ourney int o the underwor ld and r etur n fr om i t is i nterpr et ed as a spi ri tual experi ence or a dark night of t he soul , and a ki nd of redem pti ve odyssey. Such symbols ar e used wi del y ( and somet imes unconsciousl y) in wester n li ter at ure. The other t ype of symbol secures i ts suggestivenes not fr om quali ti es inher ent i n i tself but f r om t he way in which it i s used i n a gi ven wor k, in a speci al cont ext . Thus, in Moby Di ck the voyage, t he l and, and t he ocean ar e obj ect s pregnant wi t h m eani ngs t hat seem alm ost i ndependent of t he aut hor ’ s use of t hem in t he st or y。 i t s syll abl es, t he nar r at or t el l s us, “cast an East er n enchantm ent over m e. ” Even a l ocale, or a f eat ur e of physical topogr aphy, can provide r ich sym boli c suggest ions. The caf 233。t ypes of sent ence ar e used, what is t hei r f uncti on? Sent ence pl exi t y: Do sent ences on whol e have a sim pl e or a pl ex str uct ure? What i s the aver age sent ence l engt h? Does pl exit y var y st ri ki ngly f r om one sent ence t o anot her ? I s pl exi t y m ainl y due t o ( i) coor di nati on, (i ) subor di nati on, ( i ) j uxt aposit on of clauses or of other equi val ent str uct ures? I n what part s of t he t ext does pl exi t y tend t o occur ? cl ause t ypes: What types of cl auses are f avor ed—r el at i ve cl auses, adver bial cl auses, or di f er ent t ypes of nomi nal cl auses? Ar e nonf init e f orms m onl y used, and if so, of what t ypes ar e t hey (i nfi ni ti ve, i ng form , ed f orm, ver bl es str uct ure) ? What is t hei r f uncti on? Clause st r uct ur e: I s t her e anyt hi ng signif icant about cl ause el em ent s (eg f r equency of objects, adver bi al s, pl em ent s。 on t he ot her hand, t he whit e whal e i s invest ed wit h dif f er ent m eani ngs f or di f er ent cr ew m em ber s thr ough t he handli ng of mater ials i n t he novel. Sim il ar l y, i n Hem i ngway’s A Farewel t o Arm s, r ain, whi ch i s gener al l y regar ded as a sym bol of li f e (especial y i n spr i ng) , and whi ch is a m il dl y annoyi ng m et eorol ogi cal phenom enon i n the openi ng chapt er , is conver ted i nt o a symbol of deat h t hr ough t he uses t o which it i s put i n t he wor k. 3. Sym bol s i n fi cti on are inanim at e obj ect s Oft en sym bol s we m et i n fi ct ion ar e i nanim at e obj ect s. I n Wil i am Faul ker’ s “A Rose for Emi ly, ” Mi s Emi l y’ s i nvi si bl e but per cepti ble wat ch ti cki ng at he end of a gol den chai n not onl y indicates t he passage of ti me, but suggests t hat t im e passes wi t hout even bei ng not iced by t he wat ch’ s owner . The gol den chai n t o which it i s at ached car ri e