【正文】 easi ly be used to indicate part icular , and changi ng, viewpoi nt . In t he fol lowi ng exampl e fr om The Secret Agent , we se Mr s. Verl oc’ s act ions f rom Mr . Ver loc’s vi ewpoi nt: Mr . Ver loc heard t he creaky plank in the f loor and was content. He wait ed. Mr s. Ver loc was i ng. In addit ion t o the per cepti on and cognit ion ver bs heard and wai ted and t he indicati on of hi s inner ment al st at e ( was content) we can see t hat Mr s. Ver loc’s m ovement towar ds her husband is vi ewed fr om Mr. Verl oc’ s posi ti on (ing) . The f act hat t he events ar e only seen fr om Mr. Verl oc’ s viewpoint is str ategical y im por tant at his point i n the novel. He does not r eal ize that his wi f e is about t o kil l hi m. Exercise: to understand the di f erences between point s of vi ew, st udy t he Aesop’ s fable. The Ant and the Gr ashopper Wear y in every li mb, t he ant t ugged over the snow a pi ece of corn he had stor ed up last summ er . It would t ast e mi ght good at di nner t oni ght . A gr asshopper, cold and hungr y, looked on. Final y he could bear it no longer. “Please, fr iend ant, may I have a bit e of cor n?” “What wer e you doing al l ast sum mer?” asked t he ant . He l ooked t he gr ashopper up and down. He knew it s kind. “I sang fr om dawn t il l dar k,” r epl ied t he grasshopper , happil y unawar e of what was i ng next . “Wel, ” sai d t he ant , har dl y botheri ng to conceal his contempt , “since you sang al l summ er , you can dance al l wint er .” He who i dl es when he is young wi l have not hi ng when he i s ol d. QUESTIONS I n what poi nt of vi ew is the f abl e nar rat ed? Rewr it e the f able in thi rd per son, sel ect ive omni scient point of vi ew. Fi rst person point of vi ew ( the ant bei ng the nar ator ). Fir st per son poi nt of view (t he grasshopper being t he nar rat or ) . Obj ect ive point of view. Chapter Si x St yl e What i s Styl e? “Proper words i n proper places, makes t he tr ue def i ni ti on of a st yle.” Jonathan Swif t’ s r em ar ks lead us gener al ly t o t hi nking of modes of expression of a piece of fi ction as t he most character isti c of the author’ s st yle. Thus st yl e gener aly ref er s to how the author uses l anguage in hi s/ her wor k: to t he aut hor’s par ti cul ar ways of managing wor ds that we e to recogni ze as habit ual or cust om ar y. A disti nct ive st yl e mar ks t he work of a fi ne wri ter : we can tel La ti n expresi on: Sti lus vi rus arguit ( “The st yle pr ocl ai ms t he man”) , and f or thi s mat er we ar e f am il iar wit h t he experi ence of t rying t o gues t he aut hor of a pi ece of wr it ing on t he evi dence of his/her language. Actual y, styl e is a bi nat i on of two el em ent s, t he idea to be expr essed and t he li ngui st ic t rai ts or char act eri st ics of the author. I t is, as J .R. Lowel l said, “the establi shment of a per fect mutual under st andi ng bet ween the wor ker and his m at eri al ”. However, t her e has never been an agreement on the exact meaning of style in t he histor y of li terar y cri tici sm , and t he fur ther nar rowi ng of it s meani ng bri ngs us on t o mor e cont roversi al gr ound, wher e dif f er ent defi nit ions of st yle i nvol ve even confl icti ng views of the use of language i n li ter at ure . Ther e i s a st rong t radit ion of t hought which r est ri ct s style t o choices of m anner rat her t han m at ter , of expressi on rather t han content. Such separat ion between f or m and meani ng is i mpli ed in t he mon defi niti on of st yle as a “way of wr it ing” or “mode of expression.” There i s equal ly a st rong l iter ar y t radit ion t hat emphasi zes t he insepar abi li ty between styl e and cont ent 。 a m odest dr ess, Neat , but not gaudy, wi l l t r ue cr i t i cs pl ease. Thi s m et aphor r esonat es wi t h Renai ssance and Neo Cl assi ci st pr onouncem ent s on st yl e. For exam pl e, t he i dea t hat st yl e i s l ant er n l it house gr eat ly contr ibutes t o the r eader ’s sense of unease, and so helps to bui ld t he story’s ef ect iveness. Anot her exam ple i s Lawr ence’ s “The Horse Dealer’s Daught er,” t he descri pti on at he begi nni ng of which contr ibutes much t o the at mosphere of t he st ory. 4. The importance of atm osphere in creat ing the set ing But i t is a m istake to say t hat t he at mospher e of a pi ece of f ict ion depends on t he set ing al one. (As il lustr at ed in Shakespear e’s Ham let, t he di alogue at t he ver y beginning of the pl ay hel ps power ful ly t o est ablish t he atmospher e of uncert ainty, in addit ion to t he set ting—the cold midnight cast le.) The vocabular y, t he fi gur es of speech, and the r hyt hm of t he sentence also hel p defi ne the gener al at mosphere, f or by t hese f act ors t he wri ter manages t o cont r ol t he kind of asoci ati ons t hat e t o the r eader ’s mi nd. At mosphere al so depends on character and act ion. In short , we may say t hat the at mosphere of f ict ion i s the pervasi ve, gener al feeli ng, gener ated by a number of factors ( set ti ng, character, acti on, and st yl e) that is characteri sti c of a gi ven st ory or novel. Chapt er Fi ve Point of View The issue of point of view is highl y phi losophi cal , because i t concerns the r elati on between the noveli st and the “f act s” i n t he novel, t he relati on between the noveli st and the r eader , and t he relat ion between t he novel and t he reader. The poi nt of vi ew i s the at it ude or outl ook of a nar rat or or character in a piece of l it eratur e, or i t i s the r elati onship bet ween the nar at or and the nar at ed. Metaphor ical y, a poi nt of view is a standpoint fr om whi ch the nar ator ses t he st ory and how he intends the r eader to see the st or y. When we open a novel , we open a wi