Elements of Reading Fictions
Understanding Fiction小说理解
12
• Hero 男主角 • Heroine 女主角 • supporting role 配角
Characters in Oliver Twist
• • • • • • • • Oliver Twist old Sally Bumble Mr. Mrs. Sowerberry Noah Claypole Jack Dawkins Fagin Mr. Brownlow
2. Setting
• In a narrow sense, setting is the place and time of the work, but broadly it includes the total environment of the fiction. • Setting, therefore, refers to such factors as the physical locale that frames the action, the time of day or year, the climatic conditions, and the historical period during which the action takes place.
2.Antagonist反面人物:
In Greek drama, the character who opposes the protagonist, or hero: therefore, any character who opposes another. In some works, the antagonist is clearly the villain, but in strict terminology an antagonist is merely an opponent, and may be in the right, like Creon in Oedipus. 3. deuteragonist: 配角 the person second in importance to the protagonist in a drama
Character Analysis 分析
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emotiona pleasant l
-follow the instructi on from the old man
Social
-very kind -arrogant Afraid that -even to other -ambitious the boy though he people to get a loose his is in even never cadillac little finger mental met before disorder, he stiil keep kind to other people for example to the man
"He no longer dreamed of storms, nor of women , nor of great occurrences, nor of great fish, nor fights, nor contests of strength, nor of his wife. He only dreamed of places now and of the lions on the beach. They played like young cats in the dusk and he loved them as he loved the boy."
- be good in a work by follow the instruction of the boss
Elements of Fiction
•Setting
•Character •Plot •Point of View •Theme •Symbolism •Other
Types of Characters
the elements of style笔记
the elements of style笔记【实用版】目录1.概述《风格的要素》2.《风格的要素》的主要内容3.对《风格的要素》的评价和反思正文《风格的要素》是一本关于英语写作风格的经典指南，作者威廉·斯特劳斯（William Strunk Jr.）在书中详细阐述了英语写作的基本原则和方法。
本书分为四个部分，包括“词汇”、“句子”、“段落”和“篇章”，为英语写作提供了全面的指导。
首先，在“词汇”部分，斯特劳斯强调了选择恰当词汇的重要性，提倡简练、准确的表达。
他认为，恰当的词汇能够增强文章的说服力，提升读者的阅读体验。
此外，他还提醒作者避免使用过于华丽的辞藻，以免陷入堆砌词汇的陷阱。
其次，在“句子”部分，斯特劳斯阐述了如何构建简洁、有力的句子。
他提出了一些实用的建议，如避免过长的句子，使用主动语态等。
同时，他还强调了句子内部的平衡和对仗，认为这是写出优美句子的关键。
接下来，在“段落”部分，斯特劳斯讲解了如何组织段落，使之既有逻辑性，又易于阅读。
他提倡使用短段落，并确保每个段落只包含一个主题。
此外，他还强调了段落间过渡的重要性，以确保文章的连贯性。
最后，在“篇章”部分，斯特劳斯讨论了如何构建一篇完整的文章。
他强调了文章主题的重要性，并提醒作者始终保持对主题的关注。
同时，他还建议作者在文章中设置明确的起点、发展和结尾，使文章结构更加清晰。
总的来说，《风格的要素》是一本极具价值的写作指南，无论是对于初学者还是有经验的作者，都具有很大的启发意义。
然而，我们也应意识到，随着时代的发展，一些具体的写作规则可能已经过时。
第1页共1页。
Five Elements of a Short Story Plot, Character, Setting
Five Elements of Fiction:Plot, Setting, Character, Point of View, ThemeI.Plot–How the author arranges events to develop the basic idea; it is the sequence of events in a story or play. Theplot is a planned, logical series of events having a beginning, middle, and end. The short story usually has one plot so it can be read in one sitting. There are five essential parts of plot:1)Exposition (introduction)– Beginning of the story; characters, background, and setting revealed.2)Rising Action – Events in the story become complicated; the conflict is revealed. These are events betweenthe introduction and climax.•Conflict –Essential to plot, opposition ties incidents together and moves the plot. Not merely limited to arguments, conflict can be any form of struggle the main character faces. Within a shortstory, there may be only one central struggle, or there may be many minor obstacles within adominant struggle. There are two types of conflict:o Internal– Struggle within one's self.▪Character vs. Self– Struggles with own soul, physical limitations, choices, etc.o External– Struggle with a force outside one's self.▪Character vs. Character– Struggles against other people.▪Character vs. Nature– Struggles against animals, weather, environment, etc.▪Character vs. Society– Struggles against ideas, practices, or customs of others3)Climax – Turning point of the story. Readers wonders what will happen next; will the conflict be resolvedor not? Consider the climax as a three-fold phenomenon:•Main character receives new information.•Main character accepts this information (realizes it but does not necessarily agree with it).•Main character acts on this information (makes a choice that will determine whether or not objective is met).4)Falling action– Resolution begins; events and complications start to fall into place. These are the eventsbetween climax and denouement.5)Resolution (Conclusion) –Final outcome of events in the story.II.Setting –Time and location that a story takes place. For some stories, the setting is very important; while for others, it is not. When examining how setting contributes to a story, there are multiple aspects to consider:1)Place - Geographical location; where is the action of the story taking place?2)Time - Historical period, time of day, year, etc; when is the story taking place?3)Weather conditions - Is it rainy, sunny, stormy, etc?4)Social conditions - What is the daily life of the character's like? Does the story contain local colour (writingthat focuses on the speech, dress, mannerisms, customs, etc. of a particular place)?5)Mood or atmosphere - What feeling is created at the beginning of the story? Cheerful or eerie?III.Character– There are two meanings for “character”: 1) a person in a fictional story; or 2) qua lities of a person.1) People in a work of fiction can be a(n):•Protagonist –Clear center of story; all major events are important to this character.•Antagonist –Opposition or “enemy” of main character.2) Characteristics of a character can be revealed through:•his/her physical appearance•what he/she says, thinks, feels, dreams and what he/she does or does not do•what others say about him/her and how others react to him/her3)Characters can be...•Round –Fully developed personalities that are affected by the story’s events; they can learn, grow, or deteriorate by the end of the story.Characters are most convincing when they resemble realpeople by being consistent, motivated, and life-like.•Flat - One-dimensional character•Dynamic–Character who does go through change and “grows” during a story•Static– Character does not go through a change.IV.Point of View – The angle from which the story is told. There are several variations of POV:1)First Person– Story told by the protagonist or a character who interacts closely with the protagonist or othercharacters; speaker uses the pronouns “I”, “me”, “we”. R eaders experiences the story through this person'seyes and only knows what he/she knows and feels.2)Second Person–Story told by a narrator who addresses the read er or some other assumed “you”; speakeruses pronouns “you”, “your”, and “yours”. Ex: You wake up to discover that you have been robbed of all ofyour worldly possessions.3)Third Person–Story told by a narrator who sees all of the action; speaker uses the pronouns “he”, “she”,“it”, “they”, “his”, “hers”, “its”, and “theirs”. This person may be a character in the story. There are severaltypes of third person POV:•Limited – Prob ably the easiest POV for a beginning writer to use, “limited” POV funnels all action through the eyes of a single character; readers only see what the narrator sees.•Omniscient- God-like, the narrator knows and sees everything, and can move from one charac ter’s mind to another. Authors can be omniscient narrators by moving from character to character, eventto event, and introducing information at their discretion. There are two main types of omniscientPOV:4)Innocent Eye/Naïve Narrator – Story told throug h child’s eyes; narrator’s judgment is different from thatof an adult.5)Stream of Consciousness –Story told so reader s solely experience a character’s thoughts and reactions. V.Theme –Central message, “moral of the story,” and underlying meaning of a fictional piece; may be the author’s thoughts on the topic or view of human nature.1)Story’s title usually emphasizes what the author is saying.2)Various figures of speech (symbolism, allusion, simile, metaphor, hyperbole, or irony) may be utilized tohighlight the theme.3)Examples of common themes occurring in literature, on television, and in film are:•Things are not always as they appear to be.•Love is blind.•Believe in yourself.•People are afraid of change.•Don't judge a book by its cover.。
fiction-the elements of fiction
• Fiction is the truth inside the lie. -Stephen King 小说是谎言中的真相。 • Truth is so hard to tell, it sometimes needs fiction to make it plausible. -Francis Bacon 真相太难出口,所以有时需要小说让真相变得合理。
Plot
• Rising Action
• Climax • Falling Action
Characters
• Static Character vs. Dynamic Character 静止人物与动态人物
• Flat Character vs. Round Character 扁平人物与圆形人物
Elements of Fiction
• • • • • Setting Plot Characters Theme Point of view • • • • • 背景 情节 人物 主题 视点
Setting
• Social & Historical Background • Place that the story happens • Time • Symbolic setting-natural scenery, weather, metropolis, wilderness, boat, roads, etc.
Tone
• • • • • serious or ironic sad or happy private or public angry or affectionate bitter or nostalgic
Irony
Verbal irony Structural irony
elements of novel
Tone
• Tone indicates the author’s implicit attitude toward the people, places, and events in fiction.
• e.g. A mother who says “come here” to her child, • may convey affection, anger, concern, or alarm. • Direct commentary / dramatic presentation / ironic language
• Syntax: The ways the author arranges words into phrases, clauses and finally whole sentences to achieve particular effects.
• (short and spare/ long and involved, simple/compound/ complex, loose/periodic/balanced)
• Conflict • External (physical, moral, or psychological contest between antagonistic characters) • Internal (moral, psychological, or spiritual struggle within the character itself)
• • Parable (格言）—— teaching Ficiton —— its generalized view of life and human nature.
• Theme Vs subject • Many stories share identical subjects, such as fate, love, war, death, growth, racial prejudice, and sex discrimination, etc. Yet each usu. makes its own statement about the subject and expresses its distinct view of life.
The Elements of Fiction
PLOT
conflict: The basic tension, predicament, or challenge that propels a story's plot complications: Plot events that plunge the protagonist further into conflict rising action: The part of a plot in which the drama intensifies, rising toward the climax climax: The plot's most dramatic and revealing moment, usually the turning point of the story falling action: The part of the plot after the climax, when the drama subsides and the conflict is resolved
The Elements of Fiction
While the list of formal elements encourages us to divide a story into parts, in the story itself these elements blend to create a whole. At some level, or perhaps in the first reading of a piece, readers should read without applying these divisions in order to experience the story's unique effect. Nevertheless, knowledge of the formal elements is necessary for most critical discussions of fiction. These elements provide a basic vocabulary and set of critical tools that can be used in conjunction with many other critical approaches.
The-Elements-of-Fiction
determine the importance, ask, “what was going on at that time?”
Setting as Cultural Context- Setting also involves the
Rising Action: the series of conflicts and crisis in the story that lead to the climax
Falling Action: all of the action which follows the climax
Exposition: the start of the story, the situation before the action starts
The Elements of Fiction
Fiction refers to any imaginary work
portraying characters and events
Classification of fiction
novel novelette short story
The Elements Include:
social circumstances of the time and place. Consider historical events and social and political issues of the time.
Effects of Setting- Creates atmosphere, gives insight to
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Types of Characters:
(1)Protagonist & Antagonist Protagonist: central character; Antagonist: rival, opponent. opponent. Without them, there will be no plot.
external conflict internal conflict
two or more elements contesting within the protagonist’s（主角 own character （主角)
Five Stages of Plot
3. Crisis/Climax background information, scene (if any), situation or atmosphere, dates the action, characters, the conflict, 1. Exposition展示 展示 the rising action, develops intensifies the conflict
Plot
Plot
A Sequence of Interrelated Actions or Events 情节： 情节：一些关联的行为或事件
Plot:
(1) Conflict in Plot
a basic opposition between man and nature, man and society, man and man
5. Resolution/Conclusion
Beginning
Middle
End
The Order of Plot
A. Chronological Plotting B. Flashback C. Interleaving片段倒叙 片段倒叙 D. Cliffhanger连续的悬念插曲 连续的悬念插曲 the narrative at one point jumps backwards
Elements of Reading Fictions
Read the following:
A woman is sitting in her old, shuttered house. She knows that she is alone in the whole world; every other thing is dead. The doorbell rings.
Types of Characters:
• • • (3) Dynamic (可变人物) & Static（不 变人物，小人物）Characters Dynamic characters exhibit a capacity to change; Static characters do not.
What a given character is revealed by what that character does.
Thanks for your attention
Goodbye
Style, theme Style, theme
Ways of Analy
• Literature often refers to imaginative literature, that is, the writer makes full use of his imagination to relate the story, to express his thoughts, emotion, making the readers feel pleasant, simulated and moved, and gaining more knowledge, enlarging wider vision, and purifying feelings.
Ways of Analysis of a Literary Works
Literature has many forms. And for “genre”体裁 poetry, fictions and 体裁, 体裁 drama are the main literary forms. Fictions are easier to be accepted for the learners for they have lots of plots, rich language and are close to life. In writing, fictions include description, narration, emotionalizing as well as dialogues and comments.
Methods of Characterization
(1) Direct Characterization: Telling
A.through the use of names: The Heart of Darkness, Young Goodman Brown rely on exposition and direct commentary （解释） 解释） by the author B. through appearance: one legged-man, a face with a scar C. by the author
The Order of Plot
Plot brings order out of life and it focuses and clarifies (explain解析 life. (explain解析) life. 解析)
Characters
Characters
Characters: The People in Fiction 人物： 人物：小说中的人们
(from the ends on a balcony to the busy one episodelovers with a moment of uncertainty about place below) marketwhat will happen next——suspense—— and leads to another episode (as commonly used by Charles Dickenson)
Types of Characters:
(2) Flat & Round Characters Flat characters: embody or represent a single characteristic, trait(特点）, or idea. Round characters are just the opposite, and they embody a number of qualities and traits. 扁形人物与圆形人物，是由英国评论家弗斯特在其《小 说面面观》中提出的两个美学概念。扁形人物，是用单 线条平涂的方法勾勒出来的线性人物，仅占平面的二维 空间；圆形人物，则占主体的三维空间，像个水晶球， 在阳光的照耀下反射出绚丽多彩的光芒。 从理论上看，圆形人物比之扁形人物好像是略高一筹； 而实际上，在具体的创作中，二者可以说是各领风骚、 各尽其妙。
Suspense, wonder, deep thought:
(1) Who rang the bell? (2) Why is the character a woman rather than a man? (3)Why is the house old and shuttered? (4) Who is recounting the story? Plot, character, setting, point of view
Suspense, wonder, deep thought:
(5) What effect is produced by the word “knows”? (6) Why does the author select the word “dead” in ending the paragraph? (7) Why does the author arrange another paragraph with just three words?
Style, theme Style, theme
Suspense, wonder, deep thought:
(8) What is characteristic of the wording and of the sentence structure? (9) What is the moral sense of the story?
A. story B. prose C. poem D. play
Why do you think it is a story?
1) It tells us something imagined rather than real. 2) It has something to do with an image of people we meet in our daily life. 3) It has a character and the character does something in a certain place at a certain time.
Methods of Characterization
(2)Indirect Characterization: Showing
allow the characters By action to reveal themselves The idea that directly through their one’s behavior is a logical dialogue and their action. and even necessary extension of one’s psychology and personality is widely shared.