【導(dǎo)讀】Whatistheaveragesentencelength?Doesplexityvarystrikinglyfromonesentencetoanother?Isplexitymainlydueto(i)coordination,(i)subordination,(i)juxtapositonofclausesorofotherequivalentstructures?Inwhatpartsofthetextdoesplexitytendtooccur?clausetypes:Whattypesofclausesarefavored—relativeclauses,adverbialclauses,ordiferenttypesofnominalclauses?Arenon-finiteformsmonlyused,andifso,ofwhattypesarethey(infinitive,-ingform,-edform,verblesstructure)?Whatistheirfunction?Clausestructure:Isthereanythingsignificantaboutclauseelements(egfrequencyofobjects,adverbials,plements;oftransitiveorintransitiveverbconstructions)?Arethereanyunusualorderings(initialadverbials,frontingofobjectorplement,etc)?Dospecialkindsofclauseconstructionoccur(suchasthosewithpreparatoryitorthere)?Forexample,noticeoccurrencesandfunctionsofthepresenttense,oftheprogresiveaspect,oftheperfectaspect,ofmodalauxiliaries.otherphrasetypes:Isthereanythingtobesaidaboutotherphrasestypes,suchasprepositionalphrases,adverbphrases,adjectivephrases?Phonologicalschemes:Arethereanyphonologicalpatternsofrhyme,alliteration,assonance,etc?Arethereanysalientrhythmicalpaterns?Dovowelsandconsonantsoundspaternorclusterinparticularways?Howdothesephonologicalfeaturesinteractwithmeaning?Tropes(foregroundedirregularitiesofcontent):Arethereanyobviousviolationsoforneologismsfromthelinguisticcode?Forexample,arethereanyneologisms(suchas“portentousinfants”)?

　　

【正文】 oasti ng and shaking hands on for mal or i nfor mal occasi ons. As r het ori cal devi ce, symbol i s dif fer ent f rom metaphor , which i s li teral ly f alse but f i gur at ively tr ue. Unl ike al egor y, whi ch represent s abst ract erms li ke “l(fā) ove” or “t r ut h, ” symbols ar e per cept ibl e obj ect s. I n l iter at ure al most anythi ng—par ti cul ar obj ect s, char acters, set ti ng, and act ions—can be sym bol ic i f the author wi shes to make it so by eit her hi nt ing or i nsi st ing t hat t he materi al means mor e than i t li teral ly does. Symbols ar e suggest ed thr ough speci al t reatm ent such as i magery, repeti ion, connotat ive l anguage, or other ar ti st ic devices. I n F. Scot t Fi tzgerald’ s novel The Gr eat Gatsby, a huge pair of bespectacl ed eyes star es acr oss a wi ldnes of ash heaps f rom a bil lboard advert ising t he ser vi ces of an oculi st . Repeatedly a ppear ing i n t he st or y, the bespectacled eyes e t o mean mor e than sim pl y t he avail abi li ty of eye exam inati on. A character i n the stor y par es it t o the eyes of God。 he hi nt s that som e sad, passionat e spir it is br oodi ng as it watches the pasi ng pr oc ession of humanity. Such an obj ect i s a sym bol : in l it eratur e, a symbol is a t hing t hat r ef ers or suggests mor e t han i ts l it er al meani ng. There ar e quit e a lot of symbol s that appear in or dinary l if e, f or the use of symbol is by no means of l imi ted t o li te r at ure and ar t. For instance, a dove is a symbol of peace, t he fl ag is t he symbol of a count ry, and t he cr oss i s the symbol of t he Chri st ian r el igi on. These ar e symbol s adopt ed by a whole society and ar e recogni zed by al l members of such a societ y. There ar e other kinds of symbols, such as f igure 3, whi ch may be abst rac t symbols. But sym bol s in l it eratur e works ar e dif fer ent f rom ei ther of the other types. General ly speaki ng, a l it er ary symbol does not have a m on social aceptance, as does t he fl ag。 i t is, rather, a symbol the poet or t he wr iter adopt s for t he pur pose of hi s/ her wor k, and i t is t o be under st ood onl y in the context of t hat wor k. I t dif fer s fr om t he kind of sym bol i l ust rated by t he fi gure 3 because i t is concr ete and specif ic. A poet or a wri ter uses s ymbols f or the sam e reason he/ she uses simi les, metaphor s, and i mages, etc: they hel p t o expr es hi s/ her meaning i n a way t hat wi l l appeal t o the senses and to the emoti ons of t he reader . Most symbols, in li teratur e and ever yday l if e as wel , possess a t remendous condensing power. Their f ocusing on t he rel at ionshi ps bet ween the vi si bl e ( audibl e) and what they suggest can ki ndl e it i nto a si ngl e impact. Of course, in l it er ary works, symbols, unlike t hose i n ordi nar y l if e, usual ly do not “st and f or” any one meaning, nor f or anythi ng absolut el y defi ni te。 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。 on t he ot her hand, t he whit e whal e i s i nvest ed wi th di f erent m eani ngs f or di f fer ent crew m em ber s t hr ough the handl ing of m at er i al s in t he novel. Sim il arl y, i n Hemi ngway’s A Far ewel t o Ar ms, rai n, whi ch i s gener al l y regarded as a sym bol of li f e (es