【正文】 we have such course? English li terature is one of the pulsor y and most impor tant cour ses. However。 theme。 char acter。 how wri ters, t hr ough thei r creative impulses, convey to us t heir i nsights into human desti ny and human lif e。 st yl e 3. What i s Fi cti on? Ficti on, the gener al term for invent ed st ori es, now usual y appl ied to novels, shor t stori es, novel a, r omances, fables, and other nar rati ve works in prose, even though m ost pl ays and nar rati ve poems ar e al so f icti onal . ( P. 83. Concise Dicti onar y of Lit er ary Term s) 4. The St ory and t he Novel To read novels f or st or y is not hi ng wrong, but not hi ng prof essi onal eit her. ―One m ar k of a secondr at e mind is t o be al ways t el ing st or ies. ‖ The r emark by the French wri ter j ean de La Br uyere ( 1645~1696) i s also tr ue of the reader. If t he pur pose of t he novel i s only t o t el l st or ies, it could as wel r emain unbor n, for newspapers 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 both present and past , and even about futur e. In f act, m any newapaperm en have been dissati sf ied wit h t heir j ob of report ing and e i nt o the fi el d of novel wr it ng. Def oe, Dickens, Joyce, Hemi ngway and Cam us wer e am ong the m ost fam ous and t he m ost successf ul conver ts. Even histori ans m ay feel obl iged t o do m or e t han mere stori es or f acts. Edward Gi bbor n‘ s Decli ne and Fal of t he Roman Em pir e is praised not only f or it s m ul ti udi nous f acts and rat i onal ist ic anal ysis, but mor e f or i ts beaut y of nar ra ti ve style. In t el i ng stori es, t he novel ist aims at something higher or he i nt ends to add something t o t he m ere “f act s. ” As i ndi cated i n t he defi ni ti on of t he novel, what makes a novel i s t he novel ist?s style ( personali zed present ati on of t he story) 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 six elements of t he str uct ur e of tr agedy? Tragedy as a whol e has just six const it uent el ement s… and t hey are pl ot, charact ers, verbal expresi on, t hought, visual adornment, and song— posi ti on. For the el em ents by whi ch t hey imi tate ar e t wo ( ver bal expr essi on and song— posit on), t he manner i n whi ch t hey imi tate 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 i s Pl ot under t he pens of m oder n novel ists and storytel 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, unt il it was discover ed t hat it was t hr ough gr ief at the death of t he ki ng.‘… P. 6 I t suspends t he t imesequence, it m oves as f ar away f rom t he st ory as i ts lim it at ions wil l al ow. ) The st or y and t he char acter al one can not m ake a novel ye. To make a novel, a pl ot i s pr er equi si te. A look at the exam pl e suggest ed by E. M. For st er wil hel p to disti ngui sh bet ween t he story and t he pl ot. ―The king died and then t he queen died‖ i s not a pl ot, but a story. I f we make it ―The ki ng di ed and t hen t he queen di ed of gr ief,‘ we have a pl ot. This causal phr ase ―of gr ief‖ i ndicat es our i nt er pr et at ion and t hus ar r angem ent of t he happeni ngs. I n t he worl d of r eali ty events t ake pl ace one aft er anot her i n the nat ur al tempor al order , but in t he worl d of f ict i on it i s t he noveli st ‘s design that one part icul ar event occur af ter anot her par ti cular event. The very wor d ―plot‖ im pli es t he noveli st ‘s r ebel li on agai nst t he nat ural aw and his endeavor t o m ake meanings out of t he happeni ngs that may ot her wi se be meaningl es. ―The happeni ngs‖ m ay or m ay not be r eal happeni ngs. ( So what pl ot is ) A plot is a par ti cular ar angem ent of happenings i n a novel t hat is aim ed at r eveali ng t heir causal relati onshi ps or at conveying the novel ist‘ s i deas. A plot is sometim es cal led a st or y li ne. The m ost import ant of t he tr adit ional pl ot i s that it should be a plete or unif ied acti on, that is, somet hi ng wit h a begi nni ng, a mi ddl e, and an end. 3. The dr amati c sit uati on i n a st or y. 4. The thr e par ts of a pl ot: a begi nning ( exposi ti on), a mi ddle ( suspense or a ser ies of suspense … .f or eshadowi ng… cr isis –a m oment of hi gh t ension) , and an end( a cl imax, t he mom ent of great est tension… the concl usion—fal ing acti on, resoluti on or denouem ent) . Pl ot a beginni ng a mi ddle an end exposi ti on some other events cl imax (t he mom ent (suspense, a seri es of suspense, of gr eat est tensi on, f or eshadowi ng, cr isis) t he conclusi onf al li ng act ion, r esol ut ion or denouement ) I. Read the st ories of ?Rip Van Wi nkle‘(Washingt on I r vi ng) and ?Davi d Swan‘ ( Nathani el Hawt hor ne) II. Q uesti ons: ( Fi ni sh r eadi ng t he t wo st or ies and poi nt out t he plots of t he t wo st or ies, t he descr ipti ve det ai ls, t he exposi ti on, char act ers) Rip Van Winkl e 1. Descri pti ve details: the pl ot of t he st or y? 2. What part of t he st or y seems li ke t he exposit on? 3. Where does the dr am ati c confli ct ? 4. What is t he climax of the st or y? Davi d Swan 5. t he pl ot of t he story? 6. How full y does t he author draw t he char acters i n t he st or y? ( Charact er tr ai ts are t he quali ti es of a char acter‘ s personal it y. They are r evealed thr ough a char acter‘ s act i ons and wor ds and through descr i pti on). 7. Mor e wor ks t o do: som et hi ng about t he wri ters of t he t wo st or ies. Chapt er Two Character I n t he intr oduct ion we have said t hat f icti on i s an image of peopl e in act ion,