【正文】 Another exam pl e is Thomas Har dy, under whom the pr esent ati on of set i ng assum es an unusual im por t ance. Hi s “Wessex” vil lages cast int angi bl y such as spel l upon t he vil lager s t hat once t hey leave their homet owns t hey wil l i nevi t abl y suf fer f rom di sast er s, and t he f art her t hey ar e away f rom their homet owns, the m or e, t er ibl e their disast ers wi l be. For exam ple, i n t he Tes of t he D’ Urbervi l es, t he Val e of Blakem ore was t he pl ace wher e Tess was bor n and her l if e was t o unf ol d. Every contour of the surr oundi ng hi l s was as per sonal t o her as t hat of her r el ati ves’ faces。 ( 3) t he tim e or per i od i n whi ch the acti on takes pl ace, f or exam ple, the l at e eight enth centur y i n hi st or y or wi nter of t he year。 ( 2) t he occupat ions and dai ly m anner of li vi ng of t he characters。 his contem por ar y Evelyn Waugh st at ed t hat he West Afr i ca of t hat book r epl aced t he t r ue r em em bered West Af ri ca of hi s own experi ence. Such power i s not un mon: the Yor kshir e m oor s have been r om anti cized because Em il y Br ont e wr ote of t hem i n W utheri ng Hei ghts, and li ter ar y t our ists have visit ed St oke on Tr ent i n nort her n England because i t pri ses t he “Fi ve Towns” of Ar nol d Ben ’s novel s of t he earl y t went iet h cent ur y. Thus, a reader ’s r eact ion t o a pl ace i s not m er el y based upon t he way it l ooks, but upon t he pot enti al it i es of act i on suggest ed by it. Pl aces m at t er greatl y t o m any writ ers. For instance, t he Fr ench noveli st Bal zac, bef or e wr it i ng a st ory set i n a t own, he woul d go and visit t hat t own, select a f ew lanes and houses, and descri bes t hem i n det ai l, down t o t hei r ver y sm el l s. I n his vi ew t he pl ace i n whi ch an event occurs was of equal m om ent wit h t he event i tself, and i t has a part t o pl ay. Another exam pl e is Thomas Har dy, under whom the pr esent ati on of set i ng assum es an unusual im por t ance. Hi s “Wessex” vil lages cast int angi bl y such as spel l upon t he vil lager s t hat once t hey leave their homet owns t hey wil l i nevi t abl y suf fer f rom di sast er s, and t he f art her t hey ar e away f rom their homet owns, the m or e, t er ibl e their disast ers wi l be. For exam ple, i n t he Tes of t he D’ Urbervi l es, t he Val e of Blakem ore was t he pl ace wher e Tess was bor n and her l if e was t o unf ol d. Every contour of the surr oundi ng hi l s was as per sonal t o her as t hat of her r el ati ves’ faces。 she l oved the pl ace and was l oved i n the pl ace. The val e, f ar f r om t he m addi ng crowd of t he ci vil ized ci t y, was as ser ene and pur e as t he i nhabit ant s. Tes s, im bued deepl y wi t h the natur al hue of the vale and bound cl osel y t o thi s worl d of sim pli ci t y and seclusi on, experi enced he r own del i ght and happi ness though her f am il y was poor. It was, t o some ext ent, her depart ur e fr om her nat i ve pl ace t hat l ed to her t r agedy. I n The Ret urn of t he Nati ve, t he at m ospher e of Egdon Heat h pr evail s over t he whol e book。 ( 2) t he occupat ions and dai ly m anner of li vi ng of t he characters。 P, and Faul kner ’s Bar n Bur ni ng concer n t he t heme of “i ni ti at i on i nto m at uri ty. ” Such gener al descri pt i ons of t heme can be usef ul, especial y i f we want t o sort a l arge number of st or i es and novel s i nt o r ough categor i es, but t he fact that hey are sim il ar i n t hem e does not m ean that hey mean t he sam e t hi ng. The at ti ude t owar ds t he t hem e m ay be ver y dif f er ent : the t one of t r eatm ent m ay be, f or exam pl e, ei t her ic or t ragic, st r ai ght f or ward or i r oni c. The wr it er ’ s vi si on of li fe i s t he speci al underl ying f act of a stor y, and a t hem e, abst ractl y st ated, is not the sam e t hi ng as a visi on of l if e. And we suggest anyway t hat, i n t he begi nni ng, you l ook f or what ever t rut h or i nsi ght you t hink t he wri t er of a stor y i nt ends t o reveal . Try t o stat e a theme i n a sent ence. By doing so, we wi l fi nd ourselves l ooki ng cl osely at t he st or y. Kennedy and Gi oi a make a helpf ul suggesti on t o consi der t he f ol lowi ng poi nts when we t hi nk about t he t heme of a st or y: Look back once m or e at t he t it l e of t he st or y. What does i t indi cate i n r el ati on to t he whole st or y? Does the m ai n char act er i n any way change i n t he st or y? Does thi s char act er ar i ve at any event ual r eali zat ion or under st andi ng? Ar e you l eft wi t h any r eal i zati on or underst andi ng af ter fi nishing r eadi ng the st or y? Does t he aut hor (t hr ough the nar ator) m ake any gener al observati ons about l if e or hum an nat ur e? Do the char act ers m ake any ( Caut i on: Characters now and agai n wil l ut t er opini ons wi t h which t he reader i s not necessar il y supposed to agr e.) Does t he st ory contai n any especi al l y cur ious obj ect s, m yst er i ous f lat char act er s, si gni fi cant ani mals, r epeat ed nam es, speci al al usi ons, or what ever , t hat hi nt t owards m eanings l ar ger t han such t hi ngs or dinari ly have? I n l it erar y st ori es, such symbols or m et aphor s m ay poi nt to centr al t hem es. When we have wor ked our stat em ent of t heme, have we cast our st at em ent i nt o gener al l anguage, not j ust gi ven a plot summ ar y? Does our st at em ent hol d t r ue for t he st or y as a whol e, not just par t of i t? Chapt er Four Set i ng “Once upon a t i me there l i ved a ki ng named M i das i n Phrygi a. He loved gol d more t han anythi ng el se but hi s l it tl e daught er. ” Thi s is t he openi ng sent ences of “Gol den Touch”, whi ch int roduces t he tim e, pl ace, and the usual m ent al it y of the char act er. What i s set ti n