【正文】 an invented personali ty to resem ble but never to equal a real person i n l if e. I t i s not di f icult t o se that character s in novels r esemble people i n r eal li fe in m any ways. They have names used i n the same way our s ar e used, they have hat red and l ove, and they have desir es and f ear s. Above al l, they act he way we act or the way we can understand ( li ke or di sl ike). But we m ust bear i n mi nd that the characters ar e not r eal persons, but merel y inventions, however i ngeni ous. Com pare the physi cal l ife and spi ri tual li fe of the characters and ours. We have t o answer t he nat ure‘s cal sever al tim es a day, but character s seldom do thi s, even in t he most reali st ic or natural isti c novel s. We have t o l ive our li fe hour by hour and day by day, but 某某 1 萬噸恒溫庫建設項目 可行性研究報告 2020年 11月 I nt r oduct i on I. Why do we have such course? Engl ish l it er atur e is one of the pulsory and m ost i mpor t ant cour ses. However , the Engli sh li terat ur e cour ses of fer ed ar e mer el y t aught at t he level of l ear ning gener al i nfor mati on and developing l it eral underst anding. Admi t edl y, such cour ses help t hem /you a l ot i n t hei r/ your acqui si ti on of the Engli sh language. But t he functi on of Engl ish li ter at ure r eaches far beyond t hat . In readi ng Engli sh l it eratur e, a st udent should have t he power t o discer n how human beings t ransl ate t hei r experi ence i nto ar tist ic expressi on and represent at ion。 t hem e。 character 。 how wr i ters, thr ough their creati ve impul ses, convey to us t hei r insights i nto human destiny and human l if e。 st yl e 3. What is Fi ct i on? Fi ct i on, t he gener al term f or i nvent ed st ori es, now usual ly appli ed to novels, short st or i es, novel a, r om ances, fables, and ot her nar at i ve wor ks i n pr ose, even though m ost pl ays and nar at i ve poems ar e al so fi ct i onal. ( P. 83. Conci se Di cti onar y of Lit erar y Ter ms) 4. The St or y and t he Novel To read novel s for stor y is not hi ng wr ong, but not hi ng pr of esi onal ei t her. ―One m ar k of a secondr at e mi nd is t o be al ways t el li ng st ori es. ‖ The r em ar k by t he Fr ench wri ter j ean de La Br uyer e ( 1645~1696) i s al so tr ue of the r eader. I f the pur pose of the novel i s onl y t o tel st or i es, it coul d as wel r em ai n unborn, f or newspapers and hi st ory books are suff i ci ent t o sat isf y people‘s desir e f or st or i es about bot h present and past, and even about f ut ure. I n fact, many newapaperm en have been di ssati sfi ed wit h t hei r j ob of r eport i ng and e i nto t he fi eld of novel writ i ng. Def oe, Di ckens, Joyce, Hemi ngway and Cam us wer e among t he m ost f am ous and t he most successful convert s. Even hi st or i ans m ay f eel obli ged t o do m or e t han mer e st ori es or f act s. Edwar d Gi bbor n‘ s Decli ne and Fal of t he Rom an Em pi re i s prai sed not onl y f or i ts m ulti t udi nous f act s and rati onal isti c anal ysi s, but m or e for it s beaut y of nar r ati ve styl e. In t el li ng stories, t he novel ist aim s at som et hing hi gher or he i nt ends t o add som et hi ng t o t he m ere “f act s. ” As i ndicat ed i n t he defi ni t ion of t he novel, what m akes a novel is t he novel ist?s st yl e ( personali zed present ati on of t he st ory) and i nterpret at i on of the st ory. Chapt er One Plot I. What is Pl ot? 1. Accor di ng t o Ar ist ot le what ar e t he six el em ent s of the str uct ure of t ragedy? Tr agedy as a whol e has j ust si x consti tuent el em ent s… and t hey are pl ot , characters, verbal expressi on, t hought , visual adornm ent, and song—posi ti on. For t he el em ent s by whi ch they im it at e ar e t wo ( verbal expr essi on and song— posit i on), t he manner i n whi ch t hey imi t at e is one ( vi sual adornment) , the t hi ngs they im it at e are t hree ( pl ot, char act ers , t hought ), and t her e is not hi ng mor e beyond t hese. 2. What is Pl ot under the pens of m oder n novel ists and st or yt el er s? And how t o under st and ―Pl ot‖ i n a st or y? ( ―‖ ppt: ? The queen died, no one knew why, unti l it was di scover ed t hat it was t hr ough gri ef at t he death of t he ki ng. ‘… P. 6 I t suspends t he tim esequence, it m oves as f ar away f r om t he st or y as it s li mi tati ons wil l al low. ) The st or y and t he char act er al one can not m ake a novel ye. To m ake a novel, a pl ot i s prer equisit e. A l ook at t he exampl e suggest ed by . For st er wil l hel p t o di st i nguish bet wen t he st or y and t he plot. ―The ki ng di ed and t hen t he queen di ed‖ is not a pl ot, but a stor y. I f we m ake it ―The ki ng di ed and then t he queen died of gri ef,‘ we have a plot. Thi s causal phr ase ―of gri ef‖ i ndi cat es our i nter pr etati on and t hus ar angem ent of t he happeni ngs. In t he worl d of r eal it y event s take place one aft er anot her i n the nat ur al t em poral order, but in t he wor ld of f i cti on i t i s t he noveli st ‘ s desi gn t hat one part i cul ar event occur af ter anot her par ti cul ar event . The very wor d ―pl ot ‖ im pl i es t he noveli st‘ s rebeli on agai nst t he nat ural l aw and his endeavor t o m ake m eani ngs out of t he happeni ngs that m ay ot her wise be m eaningless. ―The happeni ngs‖ may or m ay not be r eal happeni ngs.( So what pl ot i s ) A pl ot is a par ti cul ar ar rangem ent of happeni ngs i n a novel t hat i s aim ed at r eveali ng t heir causal r el ati onships or at conveyi ng t he noveli st ‘ s ideas. A pl ot is som etim es cal led a st or y l i ne. The most im port ant of t he tr adi ti onal pl ot i s t hat it shoul d be a pl et e or unif ied acti on, t hat i s, somet hi ng wit h a begi nni ng, a mi ddle, and an end. 3