《英语短篇小说选读》讲义(第一周)(12英本2班) (1)
Dewey 英文小说阅读章节概括(前十七章)
Dewey（小猫杜威）英文小说阅读概括（前17章）Summary of the novelChapter 1 The Coldest MorningOn January 18, 1988, the coldest morning of the year, Vicki Myron and her colleague Jean firstly heard a noise and then found a new born kitten in the drop box of the library. The kitten was so cold that there was no warmth at all, and he was so weak that he can hardly stand on himself. No one knew how he got into the box. They rescued him and took a warm water bath for him. After the bath, a beautiful, long-haired orange baby presented before their eyes.The poor little kitten attracted the librarians’ care. The little kitten seemed to be thankful to everyone he met for saving his life. Vicki wanted to adopt him.Chapter 2 A Perfect AdditionThe staff of the library showed love and interest to the kitten. Everyone wanted to pet him, and he never fear the strangers. The kitten was happy that first day. Doris Armstrong, the grandparent on the staff, brought a pink blanket for the kitten next morning.Dewey began to meet someone outside the staff of the library. If the staff wanted to keep the kitten, he must be admitted by the people in Spencer. Vicki first called the mayor, but he seemed not be enthusiastic. Then she took him to see Mary Houston, the historian of Spenser. Mary love the kitten very much and thought it was a good idea to have a kitten in the library. Dewey became famous in Spencer gradually. But some mothers were afraid that their children would be allergic to the cat. Vicki solicited the advice of two general practice doctors. They assured that it was safe to have Dewey. Many children loved Dewey and Dewey loved children, too. The library became Dewey’s home.Chapter 3 Dewey Readmore BooksThe staff saved Dewey, and Dewey saved the people in Spencer, too. In the 1980s, a farm crisis broke out in Spencer. It was primarily a financial disaster. It caused the price of land began to drop and credit dried up. The farmers in Spencer had to sell their lands and go out to find jobs. The town was dying. ―One of the worst things about bad times is the effect on your mind‖(Page 25), but Dewey’s coming changed it. His story resonated with the people. He believed everything would go to be fine. Dewey made the old patrons think that they came to the library not only to kill time. He sent happy to the people there.The staff set up a Name the Kitty contest. The kitten received names like Garfield, Tiger, and Fleabag and so on. But the most entries were for Dewey. At last, the kitten’s name is Dewey Readmore books.Chapter 4 A Day in the LibraryWhen Vicki arrived at library every morning, Dewey was waiting for her at thefront door. Dewey had an amazing sense of who needed him. He was interested in everything.In the library, it was easy for Dewey to find a public place to have a quick nap. A lap, a box and even the back of a copier. The staff set a Dewey Box in the back room to save money for Dewey and sell soda cans. In return for their a little contribution, they get endless happiness from Dewey. Before Dewey’s coming, the staff had become splintered. But once the little kitten arrived, the tension disappeared. Sometimes, Dewey would play jokes on them.Vicky took Dewey to Dr. Easterly’s office. Dr. Easterly was a vet. He neutered Dewey though Vicki was heart-broken. Vicki and Dewey’s relationship was not only friends, just like mom and son. Dewey loved everyone, but he loved Vicki deeper.Chapter 5 Catnip and Rubber bandsThough Dewey was beautiful and trusting, but not everything was perfect with him. He may work all night to go into the closet to sleep on a puppet. He loved catnip most, the smell would make him crazy. Another thing he was most interested in was rubber band. His nose could smell them across the library and easily find them. Though the staff didn’t give Dewey rubber bands, he could steal by himself. They have to make sure everyone’s drawer was completely closed. They clean all the places where rubber bands probably existed, and at last people could hardly find a rubber band in the library. ―He was far more intent on eating rubber bands than we were on stopping him.‖(Page 46)Anyway, Dewey’s true love was people. The library was small for human, but it means the whole world full of many interested things to Dewey.Chapter 6 MonetaVicki’s great-grandfather Norman Jipson amassed enough land to his children. Her family lived on this land and run a big farm when she was young. Not far away from her father’s farm was the Roof Garden, the most popular place in Iowa in the 1940s. There her father met her mother. Her mother’s family was Catholic, but she run away and married Vicki’s father. The couple had six children. Vicki’s childhood was difficult but full of funny. She and her sisters and brothers played baseball with other children. The farm was empty and lonely at night, but everyone in the family had each other.Two miles from their eastern field was the town Moneta. Vicki once received education in the Moneta School. In the 1950s, the school was the proud of the people in Moneta, but it was shuttered in 1959. Two years after that, her father sold out the land and started selling insurance. Moneta was getting worse and worse. Vicki never found her home and her childhood memory again.Chapter 7 Grand AvenueIn the 1850s, Spencer was a town which could found on map—there was no resident at all. Later, some people decided to stay. Spencer incorporated in 1871. When the first generation grew too old to farm, they moved to Spencer. It wasn’t a industrial town but an agriculture town. On June 27, 1931, it was hot that day. An eight-year-old boy set a fire accidentally. The fire caused more than half of the businesses in the town were destroyed. The people didn’t claim the boy; on thecontrary, they kept the boy’s name a secret. They united together and rebuilt Spencer. In the late 1980s, people in Spencer once again pulled together in the farm crisis, and then the library was built then.When Vicki first arrived at the library, she wanted to remodel it. On the very beginning, the city council didn’t want to give money to her. But Dewey made a change. He made more and more people visit the library. Even better, they were talking about Dewey. Finally, the city council agreed to support Vicki.Chapter 8 A Cat’s Best FriendsDewey was so lovely and kind to people that almost everyone believed that himself or herself was the only best friend of Dewey. If Dewey appeared in the Story Hour, children could hardly calm down. But there was only person Dewey couldn’t win over. The girl was afraid of four-legged animals. So every time the girl came to the library, Vicki locked Dewey in her office though he was reluctant.Then it came to Dewey’s first birthday. The staff inferred the date was November 18.th by the date they found him. It was unbelievable that people in Spencer were sending cards to a cat! On the birthday party, Dewey received a cake made of cat-food. Children and adults smiled and giggled.Dewey loved everyone equally. But he had special relationship and it was with Crystal, who was easy to be neglected. She was a beautiful girl of about 11; however, she had little speech and controlled her limbs well. But when Dewey came to her, she would squeal happily, and her smile was the brightest one in the world. Dewey helped Crystal feel happiness in her difficult life.Chapter 9 Dewey and JodiVicky was a single mother who had a daughter Jodi. They were inseparable when Jodi was young. But when Jodi was 13 years old, after moving to Spencer, Jodi didn’t allowed her mother kiss her goodnight. Vicki was heartbroken. In addition, when their loving dog, Brandy, was dead, Vicki did n’t told Jodi. Because she didn’t want Jodi see how much she was hurt. But in Jodi’s eyes, her mother ―was the woman who killed her dog and didn’t even care‖. Before Dewey arrived when Jodi was 16, they had little to talk about. Vicki felt that they were living separate lives.With Dewey, Vicki had something to talk about that Jodi would like to hear. Dewey was the only thing that could make their relationship lighthearted and playful. Meanwhile, Dewey loved Jodi crazily. On holidays when the library was closed, Vicki brought Dewey home. When Jodi came back home, he jumped right up and rushed to her. Wherever Jodi went, he followed. It didn’t matter where she sit on, he jumped on her laps and purred.Vicki and her daughter weren’t the only ones he helped. To some parents who worked long days, they had little time to take care their children. But Dewey filled the blank hours to some extent.Chapter 10 A Long W ay from HomeAfter Vicki’s graduation from high school, she got engaged to the third boy she had dated. But Vicki wanted to leave the small town, so she broke off the engagement. Then she moved to Mankato with her friend Sharon and they worked at Mankato Box Company. There Vicki met Wally Myron at a dance club. Wally was the person wholiked smiling and talking. They got married in July 1970 and Vicki got pregnant right away. But when she went to labor, the doctor used two doses of Pitocin in order to speed the process, which caused negative after-effects. Her doctor suggested exploratory surgery. In the operation, her ovaries and uterus were taken away. It meant that she couldn’t have children any more. Everything in Vicki’s world went black.From then on, Wally was addicted to alcohol. Everything had no sense for him except drinking. He promised many times that he would quit, and of course, nobody believed. On the contrary, Vicki’s family and friends helped a lot, especially when she needed help. Though she got help from many people, Vicki and her daughter’s life went into a difficult position. Eventually, Vicki couldn’t bare the life and divorced with Wally. With the help of welfare council, Vicki completed her college, becoming the first Jipson to earn a college diploma from a four-year college.Chapter 11 Hide-and-SeekAfter graduation, Vicky took the interview of the Spencer Public Library and she was admitted. Within months, she started new programs to develop the library. In 1987, she became the new director of the library. To improve she was the best person for the position, she joined The American Library Association-accredited long-distance master’s program. At the same time she threw herself into the remodeling of the library. She has to plan, research, and budget and so on. All of which meant, Vicky had little time with Jodi. Once Jodi had a party for her friends in her house, and all the things became a wreck. The mess didn’t bothered Vicky, but the relationship with Jodi made she couldn’t whip more work.A library after closing was a lonely place. Vicky had to stay late in the library because of her work. Then Dewey would play hide-and –seek with Vicky. With the company of Dewey, she never felt lonely. Whatever she needed, Dewey’gave her, without thought, without wanting something in return.Chapter 12 ChristmasChristmas was a holiday in Spencer celebrated together. After a stressful fall, Vicki was happy to stop thinking about school and remodeling, and for a change focusing on decorating —for the Christmas. When the staff pulled the plastic Christmas tree, Dewey became interested in it. He loved the tree very much. Dewey watched them assembling the tree and chewed the branches though he couldn’t eat them. Everyone thought Dewey found a new best friend. That year Dewey received enormous stack of gifts from the grateful patrons. But his favorite toy was a red yarn.The library was closed for a few days in Christmas. Dewey came home with Vicki. But he spent most of the time alone because Vicki and Jodi had to go back to Hartley. After Mid-night Mass on Christmas Eve, Vicki and Jodi headed home for Dewey, who as always was eager to see them.Chapter 13 A Great LibraryThe Spencer Public Library was founded in 1883 in Mrs. H. C. Crary’s parlor. In 1902, Andrew Carnegie granted the town $10,000 for a new library. The library opened on March 6, 1905. It was typical of Carnegie libraries. The ceiling was high and the windows enormous. The floorboards creaked when you walked on them. Itwas as quiet as a church. But a growing town, the library was beautiful but small. In 1971 the town tore the old building down to build a bigger, more modern, more efficient library. But the new building wasn’t right for a town like Spenser. Fewer people came to the library. So the staff decided to remodel it. While painting the bare concrete walls, the painter, Tony, became friends with Dewey. Dewey loved to climb to the top wall shelves and being up on the lights, which often made children begged him to come down.Between 1987 and 1989, visits to the library increased from 63,000 a year to more than 100,000. Of course the remodeling helped, but most of the change, most what brought the new people was Dewey.Chapter 14 Dewey’s Great EscapeBetween the two sets of the doors of the library was a tiny glass lobby to help keep out the cold in winter. Dewey spent enough time in the lobby. He was curious about the outside world. So one day Dewey escaped from the library. Next morning Dewey didn’t come to eat his morning meal. Vicki searched the whole library for Dewey, and that night, she drove around for half an hour instead of heading home, but nothing happened, also the staff. Some patrons knew something was wrong, and they also helped to find Dewey.Three days later, Jean Hollis Clark found Dewey under a car on Grand Avenue and brought him back to the library. The staff gave him food to eat. Vicki gave Dewey a bath and Dewey tolerated for the first time. Dewey had a tear in one ear and a scratch on his nose. Y ears later, Vicki made it a habit to open a side door during library broad meetings, but Dewey never going out anywhere for the next sixteen years.Chapter 15 Spencer’s Favorite CatAbout two months after Dewey’s escape, Vicki took his for his first official photograph. Dewey was nervous there, but he was more a fast learner. With the encouragement of Vicki, Dewey jumped onto the chair and let the photographer took six photos. In the photograph on the cover of the book, Dewey was beautiful, relaxed, and he was no fear of the camera.The local Shopko was holding a pet photo contest to raise money for charity. Vicki entered Dewey in the contest. The town voted and Dewey won more than percent of the votes. Maybe he won by his beautiful photograph, or his good look, or his personality and so on. But the most important was the town adopted him. He made a difference in the way the town thought about itself absolutely.Chapter 16 Iowa’s Famous Library CatDewey’s escape was a turning point and after that he became famous. He appeared frequently in the newspapers of the town nearby. And Des Moines Register, which was the daily newspaper in the state capital, let more than 500,000 people read Dewey’s story. Then Dewey began to make his regular appearance on the local television newscasts or nearby cities and states, and most of those programs were same –the story of a poor kitty. But his appearance on Living in Iowa was typical. The host loved him very much.Because of Dewey, Vicki became very active in state library circles. She was elected as the president of the Iowa Small Library Association. She told people thatthey should believe in themselves, just like Dewey.Dewey brought pride, confidence to Spencer. His friends were proud of him. More than that, there were eleven different people came up to Vicki and swore on their mothers’ grave that they had shoved Dewey down the drop box!Chapter 17 Dewey in the Modern W orldIn 1994, the Spencer library entered the modern era. People began to use the library differently. The card catalog cabinets were sold at auction. One public-accessed computer would replace them all. A librarian clerk’s job used to involve filing and answering reference questions. Now it’s understanding computers and inputting data. The library had books which had survived World War Ⅱ, the Hundred Y ear’s War, the Black Death and even earlier. The technology supplied convenient service to readers, and the visits to the library kept rising.Dewey didn’t care about any of that. He liked sitting on the computers and bask in the heat.。
《Short Stories》 讲义
《Short Stories》讲义在文学的广袤天地中，短篇小说（Short Stories）犹如一颗颗璀璨的星辰，以其独特的魅力闪耀着。
它们或许没有长篇巨著那般宏大的篇幅和复杂的情节架构，但却能在有限的文字里，传递出深刻的情感、独特的见解和引人入胜的故事。
短篇小说的一个显著特点就是其篇幅的精炼。
相较于长篇小说，短篇小说需要作者在更短的篇幅内塑造鲜明的人物形象，构建引人入胜的情节，并传达深刻的主题。
这就要求作者具备高超的文字驾驭能力和谋篇布局的智慧。
比如，莫泊桑的《项链》就是一篇经典的短篇小说。
故事以女主人公马蒂尔德借项链参加舞会为开端，因丢失项链而辛苦还债为发展，最终揭示项链是假的为结局。
整个故事紧凑而又充满戏剧性，在短短几千字内，将马蒂尔德的虚荣、命运的无常以及社会的现实展现得淋漓尽致。
再看欧·亨利的《麦琪的礼物》，一对贫困的夫妻为了给对方送上一份珍贵的礼物，分别卖掉了自己最宝贵的东西，然而最终的礼物却都失去了实用价值。
这样的情节既温馨又充满了讽刺，让人在为他们的爱情感动的同时，也对生活的无奈有了更深的思考。
短篇小说的魅力还在于其情节的巧妙构思。
好的短篇小说往往能在开篇就迅速抓住读者的注意力，然后通过巧妙的情节转折和发展，让读者始终保持着紧张的阅读状态。
例如，芥川龙之介的《罗生门》，以一个破败的城门为背景，通过一个仆人的心理变化和选择，展现了人性的复杂和黑暗。
从一开始仆人的犹豫，到最后为了生存而放弃道德，每一个情节的推进都让人意想不到，却又在情理之中。
而在契诃夫的《变色龙》中，通过对警官奥楚蔑洛夫围绕一条狗的态度反复变化，将其见风使舵、趋炎附势的丑态刻画得入木三分，让人在捧腹大笑的同时，也对社会的丑恶现象有了深刻的认识。
短篇小说的人物塑造同样至关重要。
由于篇幅限制，作者无法像在长篇小说中那样对人物进行全方位的细致描绘，但却可以通过抓住人物的关键特征和典型行为，使人物形象鲜明而生动。
比如鲁迅的《孔乙己》，仅仅通过孔乙己站着喝酒却穿着长衫、“排出九文大钱”等几个典型的动作和细节，就将一个深受封建科举制度毒害的读书人的形象呈现在读者面前，让人对他的可怜与可悲感同身受。
英文经典短篇小说阅读与赏析课件
The star guided the three men to a manger ( /ˈmeɪndʒə/马槽) where they discovered the child.
The men offered the child their gifts: gold（黄金）, incense （乳香） and myrrh（/ mə/殁 药）. This event is known as
But later Jim gives Della a beautiful set of combs, which proves to be of no use for her now.
Then, Della gives the chain to Jim, but is told that Jim has sold his gold watch to get the money to buy the combs for her hair.
Part I Comprehension and appreciation
Time: On Christmas Eve
Event: Buying gifts
Characters: Della and Jim (Magi)
About the plot Logic: Beginning-Development-Result
the Adoration of the Magi.
That night, God told them in
their dreams to ignore Herod's
orders. The next day the Magi
left secretly.
Massacre of the Innocents /ˈmæsəkə(r) / /ˈɪnəsnt /
《英语短篇小说选读》讲义(第一周)(12英本2班) (1)
Today‟s Agenda
—about the instructor
—about the course —class website
—Chapter 1 Plot (I)
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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.
Story? Essay? Poem? Play?
Novel
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Read the following paragraphs
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About the course
Expected duration: 16 weeks Overview Selected readings of English short stories is a class that uses famous short stories in both American and British literature to help students enhance their reading ability, get to know the cultures of foreign countries, and most importantly, master the basic literary criticism skills. Students in this course will focus on the function and significance of basic elements of the short stories upon various selected readings.
英美短篇小说选读 what is literature
What is Literature?College of Foreign LanguagesZheng BorenDefinition of Literature⏹For centuries, writers, literary historians, and others have debated bout butfailed to agree on a definition for this term.⏹Some assume that literature is simply anything that is written, therebydeclaring a city telephone book, a cook book, and a road atlas to be literary works along with David Copperfield and the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.⏹Derived from the Latin littera, meanin g “letter,” the root meaning of literaturerefers primarily to the written word and seems to support this broad definition.However, such a definition eliminates the important oral traditions on which much of western literature based, including Homer’s Ili ad and Odyssey, the English epic Beowulf, and many Native legends.⏹To solve this problem, others choose to define literature as an art, therebyleaving open the question of its being written or oral. This further narrows its meaning, equating literature to works of the imagination or creative writing.⏹Whether one accepts this definition, many argue that a text must have certainpeculiar qualities before it can be dubbed literature. For example, the artist’s creation or secondary world often mirrors the au thor’s primary world, the world in which the creator lives and moves and breathes. Because reality or the primary world is highly structured, so must be the secondary world. To achieve this structure, the artist must create plot, character, tone, symbols, conflict, anda host of other elements or parts of the artistic story, with all of these elementsworking in a dynamic relationship to produce a literary work.⏹Some would argue that it is the creation of these elements—how they are usedand in what context—that determines whether a piece of writing is literature.⏹What literary work may contain is a peculiar aesthetic quality—that is, someelement of beauty—that distinguishes it as literature from other forms of writing.⏹Still other critics add the test-of-time criterion to their essential components ofliterature. if a work withstands the passage of time and is still being read centuries after its creation, it is deemed valuable and worthy to be called literature.Functions of Literature (1)⏹Literature helps us grow, both personally and intellectually;⏹it helps us connect ourselves to the broader cultural, philosophic, and religiousworld of which we are a part;⏹it enables us to recognize human dreams and struggles in different places andtimes that we would never otherwise know;⏹it gives us the knowledge and perception needed to appreciate the beauty oforder and arrangement, just as a well-structured song or a beautifully done painting can;⏹it provides the comparative basis from which we can see worthiness in the aimsof all people, therefore helping us see beauty in the world around us;Functions of Literature (2)⏹it exercises our emotions through interest, concern, tension, excitement, hope,fear, regret, laughter, and sympathy.⏹Through cumulative experience in reading, great literature shapes our goals andvalues by helping us clarify our own identities, both positively, through acceptance of the admirable in human beings, and negatively, through rejection of the sinister. It helps us shape our judgments through the comparison of the good and the bad.⏹Both in our everyday activities and in the decisions we make as individuals andas citizens, it enables us to develop a perspective on the events that occur around us and in the world at large, thereby enabling us to gain understanding and control.Types of Literature: the Genres⏹1) narrative,⏹2) poetry,⏹3) drama,⏹4) nonfiction prose⏹All are art forms, each with its own internal requirements of structure and style. Narrative⏹ A narrative is an account of a series of events, usually fictional, althoughsometimes events in fiction may also be historical.⏹The two kinds of narrative fiction you will read most often are s hort stories andnovels. Myths, parables, romances, and epics are also part of the genre.Short Story⏹ A short story is usually about one or two characters undergoing difficulty orfacing a problem.⏹The relationships among the characters are described briefly, for the shortenedform of the story does not permit leisurely or extensive development of gradual changes in character.Novel⏹the full and sometimes exhaustive development of interactions, for it is adeliberately longer form.⏹Like the short story, the novel usually focuses on a small number of characters. Poetry⏹Poetry is a broad term that includes many subtypes, such as sonnet, lyric,pastoral, ballad, song, ode, drama, epic, and dramatic monologue.⏹Poetry is a compressed, and often deeply emotional, form.⏹It is this compactness of expression, combined with the broadness of application,that makes poetry unique.Drama⏹ A drama or play is designed to be performed on a stage by living actors.⏹Drama presents speech and action which render the interactions that causechange in the characters and resolve the conflicts among the characters.⏹The dramatic types are tragedy, comedy, and farce.⏹Tragedy: human disasters/ elevate human values/ show the most admirablequalities of human beings⏹Comedy: treats people as they are/ laughing at them or sympathizing with them/showing them to be loving and successful.⏹Farce: exaggerates human foolishness/ gets the characters into improbable andlunatic situations, and laughs at everyone in sight.Nonfiction Prose⏹This is a broad term including short forms like essays and articles and alsolonger non-fictional and non-dramatic works.⏹The essay or article is a form for idea, interpretations, and descriptions.⏹The topics are unlimited; they may be on social, political, artistic, scientific, andother subjects.Literary Studies⏹Literary Study is not innocent, but sophisticated. It includes following threeaspects:⏹Study of Literary history⏹Study of Literary works⏹Study of Literary criticismLiterary History⏹It traces the development of literature in a chronological order from a historicalpoint of view.⏹Every individual writer exists in a certain milieu—the political and economiccontext, the social institutions, the emotional and intellectual climate.Literary Works⏹A work of literature is written by an individual, marked by his special personalityand personal past.⏹The literary work represents in a deep way the writer’s attempt to confront andfind meaning in his experience.Literary Criticism⏹“Three R’s”—the writer, the writing, and the reader⏹Relationships: complex rather than simple, dynamic rather than static⏹Assumption 1: there is no such thing as an innocent reading of a text.⏹Whether our responses to a text are emotional and spontaneous or will-reasonedand highly structured, all such interactions are based upon some underlying factors that cause us to respond in a particular fashion. What elicits these responses and how a reader makes sense out of a text is what really matters. And it is the domain of literary theory to question our initial and final responses, our beliefs, our feelings, and our overall interpretation.⏹Assumption 2: Since our responses to a text have theoretical bases, I presumethat all readers have a literary theory.⏹Consciously or unconsciously, we as readers have developed a mind-setconcerning our expectations when reading any text (be it a novel, a short story, a poem, or any other type of literature). Somehow, we make sense out of printedmaterial. The methods we use to frame our personal interpretations of any text involve us in the process of literary criticism and theory, and automatically make us practicing literary critics whether we know it or not.⏹My third assumption rests on the observation that each reader’s literary theoryand accompanying methodology is either conscious or unconscious, complete or incomplete, informed or ill-informed, eclectic or unified.⏹Since an unconscious, incomplete, ill-formed, eclectic literary theory morefrequently than not leads to illogical, unsound, and disorganized interpretations, I believe that a well-defined, logical, and clearly articulated theory will enable readers to develop their own methods of interpretation, permitting them to order, clarify, and justify their personal appraisals of any text in a consistent and rational manner.Can a story have multiple meanings?(can a text have more than one interpretation?)⏹Not all readers interpret texts in the same way. In fact, they voiced theirunderstandings of the story gave fundamentally different interpretations.⏹Our response to any text is largely a conditioned or socially constructed one; thatis, how we arrive at meaning in fiction is in part determined by our past experiences. Consciously or unconsciously, we have developed a mindset or framework concerning our expectations when reading a novel, short story, poem, or any other type of literature. In addition, what we choose to value or uphold as good or bad, moral or immoral, or beautiful or ugly within a given text actually depends on this ever-evolving framework. When we can clearly articulate our mental framework when reading a text and explain how this mindset directly influences our values and aesthetic judgments about the text, we are well on our way to developing a coherent, unified literary theory.⏹The relationship between literary theory and a reader’s per sonal worldview isbest illustrated in the act of reading itself. When reading, we are constantly interacting with the text.⏹According to Rosenblatt’s text The Reader, the Text, the Poem (1978), during theact or event of reading, “A reader brings to the text his or her past experience and present personality. Under the magnetism of the ordered symbols of the text, the reader marshals his or her resources and crystallizes out from the stuff of memory, thought, and feeling a new order, a new experience, which he/she sees as the poem.This becomes part of the ongoing stream of the reader’s life experience, to be reflected on from any angle important to him or her as a human being.”⏹Accordingly, Rosenblatt declares that the relationship between the reader and thetext is not linear, but transactional; that is, it is a process or event that takes place at a particular time and place in which the text and the reader condition each other. The reader and the text transact, creating meaning, for meaning does not ex ist solely within the reader’s mind or within the text, Rosenblatt maintains, but in the transaction between them. To arrive at an interpretation of a text, readers bring their own “temperament and fund of past transactions to the text and live through a process of handling new situations, new attitudes, new personalities,[and] new conflicts in value. They can reject, revise, or assimilate into the resource with which they engage their world.” Through this transactional experience, readers consciously and unconsciously amend their worldview.How to Analyze and Approach an English Poem?⏹I. Suggestions:⏹ 1. Read not only once⏹ 2. look into reference books (dictionary, Bible, etc.)⏹ 3. Read so as to hear the sound yourself⏹ 4. Pay a careful attention to what the poem is saying⏹ 5. Read affectionatelyII. A Number of Questions :⏹ 1. Who is the speaker? What kind of person is he?⏹ 2. To whom is he/she speaking?⏹ 3. What is the occasion?⏹ 4. What is the setting in time?⏹ 5. What is the setting in place?⏹ 6. What is the central purpose of the poem? State a central idea.⏹7. Discuss the theme of the poem.⏹8. How does it achieve?⏹9. a. Outline the poem so as to show the structure of the poem/ b. Summarize theevents of the poem⏹10. Paraphrase the poem⏹11. Discuss the diction of the poem. Point out words that are particularlywell-chosen and explain why.⏹12. Discuss the imagery of the poem. What kind of imagery is used?⏹13. Point out examples of metaphor, simile, personification, and metonymy;explain their appropriateness.⏹14. Point out and explain any symbols. Explain allegory⏹15. Point out and explain examples of paradox, overstatement, understatement& irony. What are their functions?⏹16. Compare the poetic language involved in a poem with the common language.⏹17. What have you learned from the poem in terms of its moral, aesthetic andartistic value?⏹18. Do you like or dislike the poem? Give a brief account for your response.⏹19. Could you liken/ compare this English poem to certain Chinese poetic work?⏹20. Try to translate the English poem into Chinese.How to Read Novels (6 Parts)⏹I. Narrator: Two types1. First person narrator (First Person Point of View)⏹1). First Person as Central Character: David Copperfield⏹2). First Person as Secondary Character: The Great Gatsby2. Third Person⏹1). Omniscient narrator⏹2). Narration limited to the point of view of major characterII. Plot + Structure:⏹Is there a direction? Where is it going? How does it develop? (Four Patterns) III. Character⏹How are characters introduced? (age, name, appearance, morality, etc.)⏹Who is the central character? (protagonist vs. antagonist)⏹What are his or her distinguished characteristics?⏹By what means the author demonstrate?⏹To what extent is the character defines by contrast with minor characters? Orby conflict with his or her environment?⏹Does the novel or story show the growth of change of character?⏹How much of the meaning (theme) depends on the growth of change?IV. Theme/ Purpose⏹Does the novel or story make a general statement about life or experience?V. Techniques:⏹What techniques or devices has the author employed? Any symbols? Anyallusions?⏹ 1. allusion- The Bible, the Greek or Roman Mythology, the Classical works⏹ 2. Stream of consciousness⏹ 3. Rhetoric devices (metaphor, simile)IV. Language + Style⏹What is the style of the novel?⏹What are the characteristics of the language? (simple words?/bigwords?/repetition?/ colloquial or formal?)。
Unit 1 英语短篇小说教程
Thank you!
Comment on the following statement:
Israel Zangwill, an English writer, says something about the “truth” of fiction. Do you agree to this opinion?
“In Literature, everything is true except names and places; in history nothing is true except names and places. ”
John M. Ellis: The Theory of Literary Criticism
The word literature is something like the word weed. A weed is just a plant that gardeners for one reason or another don’t want in the garden, but no plant has characteristics that clearly make it weed and not merely a plant.
The former has two levels of understanding, the narrative level and the authorial level, or the surface level and the deep level of understanding;
The former allows different interpretations; The former requires imaginative participation on the
《英语短篇小说选读》讲义(第十二周)
Relative clauses
Adverbial clauses Nominal clauses
Non-finite forms (infinitive, -ing, ed)
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Semantic function
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Style
Grammatical—sentence type
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Style
Elements of style
—diction
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Style
Figures of Speech
it was like having some butterflies in my
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英语短篇小说阅读指导PPT课件
2019/12/28
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Guidance on reading short stories
---focusing on emotions
把握短篇小说中的情感表达
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A sample of a short story
• Setting: when and where • Characters: who • Plot: what • Theme: the message of the story
苏州工业园区星海实验中学 许毅颖
2019/12/28
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Warm-up activity—sentence relay game
210E:n054321d1098765432
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Warm-up activity—sentence relay game
• 1. Every man is guilty of all the good he didn’t do. • 2. Love is like war: easy to begin but hard to stop. • 3. Hope is being able to see light despite the darkness. • 4. The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. • 5. When anger rises, think of the consequences. • 6. Every gift from a friend is a wish for your happiness.
Focusing on emotions
Setting: outside the station the night before
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Read again and find the elements of a story
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What are the elements of a novel or a short story?
பைடு நூலகம்
What‟s the difference between “plot” and “story”?
What‟s the difference between “plot” and “story”?
E.M. Forster made a helpful distinction between story and plot. A story is „a narrative of events in their timesequence. A plot is also a narrative of events, the emphasis falling on causality.‟ A story arouses only curiosity; a plot demands some intelligence and memory. Thus plotting is the process of converting story into plot, of changing a chronological arrangement of incidents into a causal and inevitable arrangement.
(5) Why does the author select the word “dead” in ending the paragraph? (6) Why does the author arrange another paragraph with just three words? (7) What is the moral sense of the story?
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Class Website
Each week, you can download the PPT for this class at the following website: If you must miss a class, you can review what we learned by downloading the PPT. Reviewing the PPTs will help you do better on the final exam. Of course, you should also take notes during class, especially when we analyzing the literary works.
Welcome to my class!
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Today‟s Agenda
—about the instructor
—about the course —class website
—Chapter 1 Plot (I)
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Unit 1 Plot (I)
I. Definition of plot II. Conflict III. Stages of short stories IV. The arrangement of the plot
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Instructor: Esther Lv
15th September, 2014
Week 1
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Suspense, wonder, deep thought:
Novel
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Read the following paragraphs
Usually we have Plot (情节) Point of view (视角) Character (人物) Setting (情景) Style (风格) Theme (主题) Symbol (象征) Irony (反讽)
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I. Definition of plot
Plot is the deliberately arranged sequence of interrelated events that makes up its basic narrative structure. Plot reveals events to us, not by recounting them in their temporal relationships, but by making us aware of the intricate pattern of cause and effect in a story. Causality becomes the most important feature of fictional plots.
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.
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Unit 1 Plot (I)
Warm-up question: Brainstorm anything when mentioning a novel. What are the basic elements of a novel?
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Why do you think it is a story?
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.
Story? Essay? Poem? Play?
It tells us something imagined rather than real. It has something to do with an image of people we meet in our daily life. It has a character and the character does something in a certain place at a certain time.
Reading and writing assignments and activities are designed to prepare each student for mastering the skills.
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