英语短篇小说教程本科课件(上)

1、英语短篇小说教程Short Stories in English: A Reading Course英语短篇小说教程Short Stories in EngUnit OneIntroduction: The Short StoryReading: “Early Autumn” by Langston Hughes Unit OneComment on the following statement: Do you agree to this opinion? “Autobiography is fiction, for in the process of writing the author

2、will have inevitably created a fictitious character.” Comment on the following stateComment 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 histor

3、y nothing is true except names and places. ” Comment on the following state The Random House Dictionary definition of the word “fiction”: The class of literature comprising works of imaginative narration, esp. in prose form. The Random House DictionarThe four main categories of literature:fiction: n

4、ovel, novella, short stories, myth, legend folktalepoetry: ballad, epic, free verse, psalm, sonnet drama: play, opera, radio/TV/film scriptsprose: essay, criticism, literary theory, (auto)biographyThe four main categories of liSylvan Barnet: A Short Guide to Writing about Literature Perhaps the firs

5、t thing to say is that it is impossible to define literature in a way that will satisfy everyone. And perhaps the second thing to say is that in the last 20 years or so, some serious thinkers have argued that it is impossible to set off certain verbal works from all others, and on some basis or othe

6、r to designate them as literature. It is an honorific word, or a body of work embodying eternal truth and eternal beauty. Sylvan Barnet: A Short Guide tJohn 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 r

7、eason or another dont want in the garden, but no plant has characteristics that clearly make it weed and not merely a plant. John M. Ellis: The Theory of LRobert Frost and Ezra Pound: Robert Frost: Literature is “a performance of words.”Ezra Pound: Literature is “news that stays news.”Robert Frost a

8、nd Ezra Pound: Essential differences between fiction and non-fictional writings: 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 imagina

9、tive participation on the part of the reader;In the former, the authors voice is generally disguised, speaking through a persona.Essential differences between Discussion: Is it literature?The old dog barks backward without getting up.I can still remember when he was a pup. Robert Frost: “The Span of

10、 Life”Discussion: Is it literature?Discussion: Is it literature? 坟是白馒头， 井像黑窟窿， 黄狗身上白， 白狗身上肿。 Discussion: Is it literature? Discussion: Is it literature? Thirty days hath September, April, June and November; All the rest have thirty-one, Excepting February alone Which has twenty-eight in fine, Till l

11、eap year gives it twenty-nine. Discussion: Is it literature?Reading and Textual Analysis Langston Hughes: “Early Autumn”Reading and Textual Analysis Questions 1. Even though we call it a “short story,” is there much “story” in the usual sense of the word? Is “story” an inevitable part?3. Is there a

12、clear message? What is Marys problem?4. How does the story touch the reader if it is a touching one?5. What part does the setting play in the story?Questions Henry James:The best fiction would not rely primarily upon plot, instead, would derive its impact from truth of detail.Henry James:Jack London

13、:(Good literature) transcends the limits of particularity to reach universality.Jack London:Isarael Zangwill:Art deals with essences, not with accidents.Isarael Zangwill:Chekhov: It is not the business of a writer to answer the great questions but to state the questions correctly.Chekhov:英语短篇小说教程Sho

14、rt Stories in English: A Reading Course英语短篇小说教程Short Stories in EngUnit TwoThe Author, the Narrator and the ReaderReading: (1): “The Washwoman” by I.B. Singer (2): “A Piece of Yellow Soap” by Frank Sargeson Unit TwoThe Author The author is not the same as the narrator even when an author uses the fi

15、rst-person “I”. The author creates and chooses a narrator to tell a story and he might as well choose a totally different narrator to make a different story. A highly sophisticated author can choose a nave person, a child for example, to tell a story. The Author The author isThe Narrator Who is tell

16、ing the story determines the storys point of view the vantage point from which events are presented. The implications of this choice are far-reaching. The perspective from which a story is told determines what details are to be included in the story and how they are to be arranged and presented. The

17、 Narrator The narrator of a story may be: reliable or unreliable, objective or subjective, fair or partial, sympathetic or detached, simple-minded or sophisticated, ignorant or insightful. In other words, he may or may not present an accurate picture of events. The narrator of a story may beThe Read

18、er:Since the narrator does not always represent the author, the reader can not take the narrators words for granted, but needs to weigh and decide how much he can trust the narrators story. The reading process is interactive, with the reader playing the role of both a receiver and a contributor, as

19、meaning can only be discovered and constructed by the reader. It is a mistake to think that, for each story, there is one “correct” interpretation for all readers. The Reader:The first-person narration: The first-person narration is provided by a narrator inside the story as the main character, or a

20、 participant, or an observer. This way of narration can present incidents more convincingly as the story is told by “I” personally. But the first-person narrator is, by definition, limited because he presents a situation as only one person sees it. The first-person narration: The third-person narrat

21、ion: The third-person narration is provided by a narrator outside the story. The narrator may know everything, or may have a limited vision about the story. The third-person narration: The third-person narration :The omniscient narrator is a third person narrator who knows everything. This kind of n

22、arrator can present an overview of events and characters, and can move in and out of the characters minds freely. The limited omniscient narrator gives a narration that focuses only on what a single person experiences. In other words, events are limited to one persons perspective, and nothing is rev

23、ealed that the narrator does not see, hear, feel, or think about. The third-person narration :The Nave Narrator A nave narrator is a story teller who does not fully understand the significance of the story he is telling, thus a special literary effect, which we call dramatic irony, is achieved betwe

24、en his limited understanding and the readers better understanding of the situation. The Nave Narrator A Reading and Textual Analysis (1): I.B. Singer “The Washwoman”(2): Frank Sargeson “A Piece of Yellow Soap” Reading and Textual Analysis Questions for Discussion:In this Unit, we have two stories ab

25、out two washwomen. There are a lot of similar descriptions and common characteristics in the two stories. Find and list them. The two first-person narrators tell two stories of two washwomen who share similar tragic fates. Discuss the differences in the narrators that result in the differences in th

26、e way the two short stories are told, and the different effect achieve. (Please make reference to “Reading Tips” on page 11 and page15)Does the piece of washing soap (in “A Piece of Yellow Soap”) have the “power” as the narrator tells us? What is the “power” that forces him to take off? Questions fo

27、r Discussion:英语短篇小说教程Short Stories in English: A Reading Course英语短篇小说教程Short Stories in EngUnit ThreeThe Setting and the ThemeReading:“The Discus Thrower” by Richard Selzer Unit ThreeThe Setting and the Background: The setting often refers to the geographical location and the historical period in wh

28、ich a literary work is set, but it can mean more than just the background - the time and the place. It can be a key force in the story. The setting may influence the characters, affect or reflect their emotional state, create a mood for the story, and reinforce the central ideas that the story exami

29、nes. The Setting and the BackgroundThe Setting:The historical setting refers to the approximate period of time during which a story takes place. The geographical setting refers to the actual location in which a story takes place. The physical setting refers to the various physical attributes of sett

30、ing, for example, the stormy weather, or the groomy midnight, which help create a storys atmosphere. The cultural setting refers to the social conventions and the general environment, for example, the religious, moral, political and emotional conditions by which characters may be constrained. The Se

31、tting:The Setting: When the setting dominates, or when a piece of fiction is written largely to present the manners and customs of a locality, the writing is called local color or regionalism. The Setting: The Theme and the Subject: Subject refers to what the story is about, while theme is a general

32、 idea that extends beyond the story and applies to the world outside fiction. Subject is the narrators contents and concern, while theme is the authors implication, some comment on values in human nature and conduct. The Theme and the Subject: The Theme and the Subject:The theme of a story is seldom

33、 stated explicitly. Instead, it is implied and conveyed through the selection and arrangement of details, and through the actions and reactions of the characters. If the subject of a story is growing up, its theme may be childhood innocence vs. the corrupted adult world.If the subject of a story is

34、about war, it may reveal its theme of the conflict between human nature and patriotism.The Theme and the Subject:The Theme: Certain themes are frequently found in fiction, such as loss of innocence, pain of love, struggle of women for equality, generation conflict, clash between desire and conscienc

35、e, search for ones cultural identity and the tension between idealism and reality. The Theme: The Story:The Discus Throwerby Richard Selzer The Story:Judith Ramsay: With his deftness of style, his imaginative use of medical ans surgical materials, and his clear narrative talent, Rechard Selzer creat

36、es a metaphor for medicine which has all the strange, crude honesty that gives his writing its power. Judith Ramsay:Critic David Johnson:“How can we face death if we are still alive?”“How can death inform life if death has not been reached?”Critic David Johnson:Questions for Discussion: What impress

37、ion do you get of the patient from the description given in the story? List the abnormal behaviors of the patient. What do we understand his abnormality? Read carefully the paragraph about plate-throwing (lines 73-77). Why does the writer give such detailed description of it? What is your interpreta

38、tion of this rather abnormal behavior? Why does the writer choose “The Discus Thrower” as the title? Is it coincidence that the short story has the same title as the famous Greek sculpture Discobolus (Discus Thrower)? Questions for Discussion: WhatDiscobolusDiscobolus英语短篇小说教程Short Stories in English

39、: A Reading Course英语短篇小说教程Short Stories in EngUnit FourThe Character and CharacterizationReading:“Mr. Know-All” by Somerset Maugham Unit FourThe Character: Originally refers to a person who typifies some definite quality, but now is more generalized to refer to any person in a creative writing. The

40、Character: The Character and Other Literary Terms:character hero and heroine anti-heroprotagonist / main characterantagonist foilThe Character and Other LiteraThe anti-heroThe anti-hero is a fictional character occupying a central position in the plot but possessing qualities antithetical to those o

41、f the traditional hero.The anti-hero is not simply a failed hero but a social misfit, graceless, weak, and often comic, the embodiment of ineptitude and bad luck in a world apparently made for others.The anti-heroThe Character:A round character: usually has more than one quality, and grows in the co

42、urse of the story development, as he reacts to events and to other characters. A flat character: is constructed around a single idea or quality. Such a character does not develop in the course of narration and is easily recognized and remembered. A foil: is a supporting character whose role in the s

43、tory is to highlight the protagonist by presenting a comparison or a contrast to him. The Character:A round characteA static or dynamic character: A flat or round character is also referred to as a static or dynamic character.A static character is one who changes little if at all. Things happen to s

44、uch a character without things happening within.A dynamic character, on the other hand, is one who is modified by actions and experiences, and one objective of the work in which the character appears is to reveal the consequences of these actions.A static or dynamic character:Individualized and type

45、 characters: Individualized characters are ones endowed with traits that mark them as individuals, as opposed to type characters. Individualized characters belong, generally speaking, to realism, as opposed to the type characters of romanticism.Individualized and type characCharacterization : Charac

46、terization is the creation of imaginary characters so that they exist for the reader as lifelike persons. Characterization : Characterization: direct and indirect presentation There are two basic types of textual indicators of character:The direct presentation names the character trait or sums it up

47、, such as “hes utterly selfish” or “he loves only himself.”The indirect presentation, on the other hand, does not mention the trait but display and exemplifies it in various ways, leaving the reader the task of inferring the quality they imply. Characterization: direct and iThe common methods of ind

48、irect presentation:the act and speech in the form of behavior and conversation;the activity of mind in musing, meditation, self-debating or interior monologue;the external appearance, such as a crooked face indicating a crooked mind, or a dirty and disorderly room connoting the characters state of c

49、onfusion.The common methods of indirectPreference for indirect methodIn an individualistic and relative period like our own, generalization and classification of characters / people are less tolerated. When suggestiveness and indeterminacy are preferred to closure and definitiveness and when emphasi

50、s is put on the active role of the reader, the explicitness and guiding capacity of direct definition are often considered drawbacks rather than advantages.Preference for indirect methodCharacterization, the direct methodsample 1: He was certain that you were as glad to see him as he was to see you.

51、 In your own house you might have kicked him downstairs and slammed the door in his face without the suspicion dawning on him that he was not a welcome visitor. He was a good mixer, and in three days knew everyone on board. He ran everything. (Somerset Maugham, “Mr. Know-All,” lines 87-91)Characterization, the direct mCharacterization, the indirect methodSample 2: “Do you like card tric