【正文】 ri 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. The dramati c sit uat ion i n a st or y. 4. The t hree part s of a pl ot: a begi nni ng ( exposi ti on) , a mi ddl e ( suspense or a seri es 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 esol uti on or denouem ent). Pl ot a begi nni ng a mi ddl e an end exposit i on some ot her event s cl im ax (t he m om ent ( suspense, a ser i es of suspense, of gr eat est t ension, for eshadowi ng, cr isis) t he concl usi onf al li ng act i on, r esoluti on or denouem ent ) II. Read t he st ories of ?Ri p Van Wi nkl e‘( Washi ngton I r vi ng) and ?Davi d Swan‘ ( Nat hani el Hawthor ne) II. Q uest i ons: ( Fi ni sh r eading t he t wo st ori es and poi nt out the pl ot s of the t wo stori es, t he descri pt i ve det ai ls, the exposit i on, char act ers) Ri p Van Wi nkl e 1. Descri pti ve det ai ls: t he pl ot of t he st ory? 2. What par t of the st or y seems l i ke t he exposit ion? 3. Where does t he dr am at i c confl i ct ? 4. What i s t he cli m ax of t he st ory? Davi d Swan 5. t he plot of t he st or y? 6. How f ul l 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 act er ‘s personal it y. They ar e reveal ed thr ough a char acter ‘s acti ons and wor ds and t hr ough descri pti on) . 7. Mor e works t o do: somet hi ng about t he wr it ers of t he t wo st or i es. Chapter Two Character I n t he i ntr oducti on we have sai d t hat fi cti on is an im age of people i n act i on, m ovi ng t owar ds an undecl ar ed end. Thus char act er i s al ways i nvol ved i n fi cti on, even in t he st or y of t he si m pl est act i on. Som etim es char act er i s at t he cent er of our int er est because in character we m ay see m any f acet s of t he peopl e we m et in our dail y li fe and even of our sel ves. Ficti onal char act er is al ways charact er in acti on and t he charact er get s i nt o act i on because it i s caught i n a si t uati on of confl i ct and he/ she is al ways pr ovi ded wit h moti vat i on: he/she has suff i c