【正文】 concisel y, and observing the wor ld around t hem cri ticaly and objectively. But mos t students are st il l at a loss as t o how t hey can ef ecti vely analyze a lit er ar y wor k by t hemsel ves in any of these respect s, even though they have r ead plent y of excer pts fr om r epr esentat ive wor ks i n the Brit ish and Amer ican l it er ar y canon. And they tend t o have lit tle i dea what role t he beginning par t plays i n the whole story, how t he plot develops and es to resol ut ion, in what way poi nt of view determines a r eader ‘s understanding of t he story, and how the i mages and symbol s ar e related to the theme. Upon consider at ion of these f actors, we have such course with t he i nt enti on of cul tivating bot h st udent s‘ lit er ar y sensi bi lit ies and thei r /your cr it ical power when reading Engl ish shor t stori es and novels. I. Introduct ion about reading a story 1. What is Story? ―Yes –oh, dear, yes—t he novel t el ls a st ory.‖ Thi s i s For ster ‘s remar k, which is worth special at enti on, for he i s someone in the tr ade and wi th ri ch experi ence. In his Aspect s of the Novel he l ist s ―story‖ as t he f ir st aspect. Peopl e reading novels for st or ies usual y ask quest ions l ike ―what happened next ?‖ and ―and‖ what woul d he do next?‖ These questions at test to the two basi c element s of a st or y. The one is the event and t he other the t ime. A st or y is aseri es of happeni ngs ar anged in t he natural t emporal or der as they occur . Story i s the basi s of the novel, and indeed the basis of nar r at ive works of al ki nds. 2. The st ruct ur e and funct ions of a st or y Pl ot 。 how wr it er s, through t heir creat ive impul ses, convey t o us t heir insi ght s i nt o human dest iny and hum an li fe。 st yl e 3. What is Ficti on? Fi ct ion, t he general t erm f or i nvent ed stori es, now usual ly appli ed t o novel s, short st or ies, novel a, rom ances, f abl es, and ot her nar at ive wor ks i n pr ose, even t hough most plays and nar at ive poem s ar e also fi ct ional. ( P. 83. Conci se Di ct ionar y of Lit er ar y Terms) 4. The St or y and the Novel To r ead novel s for st or y i s not hi ng wr ong, but not hi ng pr of essi onal eit her. ―One mar k of a second rate mi nd i s t o be al ways t el li ng stori es.‖ The r em ar k by t he Fr ench wr it er jean de La Bruyer e ( 1645~1696) is al so t rue of t he r eader. I f t he purpose of t he novel i s onl y t o tel st or ies, it coul d as wel l rem ai n unbor n, f or newspaper s and hi st or y books ar e suf fi ci ent to sati sf y peopl e‘ s desi re f or stori es about bot h present and past, and even about future. I n f act , m any newapaperm en have been dissati sfi ed wi th t heir job of r eporti ng and e i nt o t he f ield of novel wri ti ng. Def oe, Di ckens, Joyce, Hem ingway and Cam us wer e among t he m ost f amous and the m ost succesful convert s. Even hi st or ians may feel obl i ged t o do m or e than mer e stori es or fact s. Edwar d Gi bborn‘s Decl ine and Fal of the Roman Em pi re i s pr aised not only f or it s m ul ti udi nous f act s and rati onal ist ic anal ysis, but m or e f or i ts beaut y of nar rati ve style. In t el ing st ori es, t he noveli st aims at som et hing hi gher or he i nt ends t o add som et hi ng to t he mere “f acts.” As indicat ed i n t he def init ion of t he novel, what m akes a novel i s t he novel ist?s st yl e ( personal ized present at ion of t he st ory) and i nterpret at ion of t he st ory. Chapter One Plot I. What i s Pl ot ? 1. Acording to Ari st ot le what are t he si x el em ents of t he str uctur e of tr agedy? Tragedy as a whol e has j ust si x consti tuent el em ents… and t hey are plot, characters, verbal expresion, t hought , visual adornm ent, and song— posit on. For t he elem ents by whi ch t hey imi tate are t wo ( ver bal expr esi on and song— posit on) , t he m anner in which they im it at e i s one (visual adornm ent) , t he t hi ngs t hey imit at e ar e three (plot, charact er s, t hought), and t her e i s not hi ng more beyond t hese. 2. What is Pl ot under t he pens of moder n novel ist s and st orytel er s? And how t o under st and ―Pl ot ‖ i n a st or y? ( ―‖ ppt : ? The queen di ed, no one knew why, unti l i t was discover ed t hat i t was thr ough gri ef at he deat h of t he king. ‘… P. 6 It suspends t he tim e sequence, i t m oves as far away fr om the st or y as it s limi tati ons wil al ow.) The st or y and the charact er al one can not m ake a novel ye. To m ake a novel, a plot is pr erequisit e. A l ook at t he exam pl e suggest ed by . For st er wil l help t o di sti nguish bet wen the st or y and the pl ot . ―The ki ng died and t hen the queen died‖ i s not a pl ot , but a story. If we m ake it ―The king di ed and then t he queen di ed of gr ief, ‘ we have a plot. Thi s causal phr ase ―of gri ef ‖ i ndi cates our i nterpretati on and t hus ar r angem ent of t he happeni ngs. In t he worl d of r ealit y event s t ake place one aft er anot her i n t he nat ur al tem por al order , but i n the wor ld of fi cti on i t is the novel ist‘s desi gn t hat one part icul ar event occur af ter anot her part icul ar event. The ver y wor d ―pl ot ‖ im pl ies the novel ist ‘s r ebel li on agai nst he nat ural aw and hi s endeavor t o m ake m eani ngs out of t he happeni ngs that may ot her wi se be meaningl es. ―The happeni ngs‖ may or may not be real happenings.( So what pl ot i s ) A pl ot is a part icul ar ar angement of happenings i n a novel that i s aimed at r eveali ng t heir causal r elati onshi ps or at conveying the novel ist ‘s i deas. A pl ot i s ometi mes cal ed a st or y li ne. The most im port ant of t he tr adit ional pl ot i s t hat it shoul d be a pl et e or uni fi ed act ion, t hat i s, somet hi ng wit h a beginni ng, a m iddl e, and an end. 3. The dr amati c sit uati on i n a st or