【正文】 l ot: a beginni ng ( exposit i on), a m i ddl e (suspense or a ser ies of suspense … . f or eshadowi ng… cri si s –a m om ent of hi gh t ension), and an end(a cli max, the m om ent of greatest t ensi on… t he concl usi on—f al li ng act i on, r esoluti on or denouem ent ). Pl ot a begi nni ng a m i ddl e an end exposit i on some ot her event s cl im ax ( t he m om ent ( suspense, a ser ies of suspense, of gr eat est tensi on, f or eshadowi ng, cri sis) t he concl usi on f al li ng act ion, resol uti on or denouem ent ) I. Read t he st ori es of ?Ri p Van Wi nkl e‘( Washi ngt on I rvi ng) and ?Davi d Swan‘ ( Nat hani el Hawt horne) II. Q uest ions: ( Fi ni sh readi ng t he t wo st or i es and point out t he plot s of t he t wo st ori es, t he descr i pt ive detail s, t he exposit ion, char act er s) Ri p Van Winkle 1. Descr i pt i ve detail s: t he pl ot of t he st or y? 2. What par t of t he st or y seem s li ke t he exposi ti on? 3. Wher e does t he dramati c confli ct? 4. What is t he clim ax of the st or y? Davi d Swan 5. t he pl ot of t he st or y? 6. How f ull y does t he aut hor dr aw t he char act er s in t he st or y? ( Character tr ai t s ar e t he quali ti es of a char acter ‘s personal it y. They ar e reveal ed thr ough a character‘ s act i ons and wor ds and t hr ough descri pti on) . 7. More wor ks t o do: som ethi ng about the wr it ers of t he t wo st or ies. Chapt er Two Character I n t he i ntr oducti on we have sai d t hat fi ct i on i s an im age of people i n act i on, movi ng t owards an undecl ar ed end. Thus char act er i s al ways i nvol ved i n fi ct i on, even i n t he st ory of t he si mpl est act ion. Som et im es character is at t he center of our i nter est because i n char act er we m ay see many f acets of t he people we meet i n our dai l y l if e and even of our sel ves. Fi cti onal char act er i s al ways char act er i n acti on and t he char act er get s i nt o acti on because it i s caught i n a sit uat i on of confl ict and he/ she i s al ways pr ovi ded wi t h m oti vat ion: he/ she has suf fi cient reasons t o act or behave as he /she does. The char act er i s doi ng som ethi ng and t he reader whi le r eadi ng fi cti on want s t o know the ―why‖ as wel as t he ―what‖ of t he af f ai rs. ( Som eti m es a character‘ s m oti ve f or an acti on i s not expl ai ned on acept abl e gr ounds, f or exampl e, t he vi l ai n i n Adgar Al an Poe‘ st ory ―The Tel Tale Hear t, ‖ and t hus the r eader f els cheat ed. I n t hi s case, t he wr it er of detecti ve fi ct i on who m akes t he crim i nal a mer e lunat i c has cheat ed t he r eader by avoi ding t he pr oblem of m ot i ve.) And gener al y, the act i on i t self i s hum anl y signif i cant and i t ends usual ly i n a shif t in or cl ar if icati on of hum an val ues, as di spl ayed i n John Updi ke‘ s ―A amp。 poi nt of vi ew。 and how soci al concer n i s involved i n a specif ic f orm of hum an im agi nat ion. In addit ion, st udent s should el evat e t o t he level of cult ivati ng a cur i osit y f or t he unknown, t hi nki ng cogentl y and l ogi cal y, expr essi ng t hemsel ves clearl y and concisely, and observi ng t he worl d ar ound t hem cri ti cal ly and obj ecti vel y. But m ost st udent s ar e sti l at a l oss as t o how t hey can ef fecti vel y anal yze a l it erar y wor k by them sel ves i n any of t hese respects, even t hough t hey have r ead pl ent y of excer pt s f rom represent at i ve wor ks i n t he Br it ish and Amer ic an li ter ar y canon. And t hey t end to have li t le i dea what r ole t he begi nni ng par t plays in t he whole st or y, how the pl ot devel ops and es t o resol uti on, i n what way poi nt of vi ew determ ines a r eader‘ s under st andi ng of t he st or y, and how t he i mages and symbols ar e r el at ed t o t he t heme. Upon consi der at i on of t hese f act or s, we have such cour se wit h t he i ntenti on of cult i vati ng both st udents‘ li ter ar y sensi bi lit i es and t hei r / your cr it ical power when r eadi ng Engl ish shor t st ori es and novels. I. Int roducti on about readi ng a st ory 1. What i s St or y? ―Yes –oh, dear, yes—t he novel t el s a st or y. ‖ Thi s i s For st er‘s r emar k, whi ch i s wort h special at t enti on, f or he is someone in t he tr ade and wit h ri ch experi ence. I n hi s Aspect s of t he Novel he l ist s ―st or y‖ as the f ir st aspect. Peopl e r eadi ng novels f or st ori es usual l y ask quest i ons li ke ―what happened next ?‖ and ―and‖ what woul d he do next ?‖ These questi ons at t est to t he t wo basi c el em ent s of a st or y. The one is t he event and the ot her t he t im e. A st or y i s a seri es of happeni ngs ar ranged i n t he nat ural tem por al or der as t hey occur . St or y is t he basis of t he novel, and i ndeed t he basi s of nar r at i ve wor ks of al l ki nds. 2. The st r uct ur e and f uncti ons of a st or y Pl ot 。I ntr oduct ion I. Why do we have such course? Engli sh li ter at ure i s one of t he pul sor y and m ost im por tant cour ses. However, t he Engl ish l it er atur e cour ses off er ed ar e mer el y taught at t he l evel of l ear ni ng gener al i nf orm at i on and devel opi ng li t er al understanding. Adm it t edl y, such courses hel p t hem/ you a l ot i n t heir / your acqui sit i on of t he Engl i sh l anguage. But t he f unct i on of Engli sh li ter at ure r eaches far beyond t hat . In r eadi ng Engl ish l it er atur e, a st udent should have t he power t o di scer n how human beings tr ansl at e t heir experi ence i nt o art isti c expr essi on and r epresent at ion。 how wr it er s, t hr ough t hei r cr eat i ve im pulses, convey t o us t heir i nsi ght s i nt o hum an dest iny and hum an li f e。 char act er 。 t hem e。 P, ‖ and t he m ot i vati on of a char act er i n a st or y—o