【導(dǎo)讀】IntroductionI.Whydowehavesuchcourse?Englishliteratureisoneofthepulsoryandmostimportantcourses.However,theEnglishliteraturecoursesofferedaremerelytaughtattheleveloflearninggeneralinformationanddevelopingliteralunderstanding.Admitedly,suchcourseshelpthem/youalotintheir/youracquisitonoftheEnglishlanguage.ButthefunctionofEnglishliteraturereachesfarbeyondthat.InreadingEnglishliterature,astudentshouldha

　　

【正文】 I nt r oducti on I. Why do we have such course? Engli sh l it er at ur e i s one of t he pulsory and m ost im port ant courses. However, the Engli sh l it er at ur e cour ses of fered ar e m er el y taught at the level of l earning gener al i nf orm at ion and devel opi ng l it er al under st anding. Adm it edl y, such cour ses hel p t hem/ you a lot i n thei r/ your acquisit on of t he Engli sh l anguage. But t he f unct ion of Engl ish lit er at ure reaches f ar beyond t hat. I n r eading Engli sh li teratur e, a st udent shoul d have t he power t o di scer n how hum an bei ngs tr anslate t hei r exper ience into art ist ic expr essi on and repr esent ati on。 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。 and how soci al concer n i s invol ved in a speci fi c f orm of human imagi nati on. I n addi ti on, students should el evate t o t he l evel of cult ivat ing a curi osit y for the unknown, t hi nki ng cogentl y and l ogical ly, expr essi ng t hemsel ves cl earl y and conci sely, and obser vi ng t he worl d ar ound them cr it ical ly and obj ecti vel y. But most st udent s ar e sti l at a l oss as t o how t hey can ef fect ivel y analyze a li terar y wor k by t hemselves i n any of t hese r espects, even t hough t hey have read pl enty of excer pt s f rom r epr esentati ve wor ks in t he Bri ti sh and Am eri can li terary canon. And they t end t o have l it le i dea what role t he begi nning part plays i n the whole story, how t he plot devel ops and es to r esol ut ion, i n what way poi nt of vi ew determi nes a reader ‘s understandi ng of t he st or y, and how the images and symbol s ar e related to t he t hem e. Upon consider at ion of t hese f act or s, we have such cour se wit h the intent ion of culti vati ng both student s‘ li terar y sensibili ti es and t heir / your cri tical power when r eadi ng English short st or ies and novels. II. Int roducti on about reading a st ory 1. What is St ory? ―Yes –oh, dear, yes—the novel t el s a st or y. ‖ This i s Forster‘ s rem ar k, which is wor t h special at enti on, for he i s om eone i n the tr ade and wit h ri ch experi ence. In his Aspect s of t he Novel he l ist s ―stor y‖ as t he f ir st aspect. People readi ng novels f or st ories usual ly ask quest i ons l ike ―what happened next?‖ and ―and‖ what would he do next ?‖ These questi ons atest t o t he t wo basic el em ents of a st or y. The one i s the event and t he other t he time. A st or y i s a seri es of happeni ngs ar ranged in t he nat ural t emporal or der as t hey occur. Stor y i s the basi s of t he novel, and i ndeed the basis of nar ati ve wor ks of al ki nds. 2. The str ucture and f uncti ons of a story Pl ot。 charact er 。 poi nt of view。 t heme。 st yl e 3. What is Ficti on? Fi ct ion, t he general t erm f or i nvent ed s tori 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 nove l 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