Unit-5-英语短篇小说教程

英语短篇小说教程

ShortStoriesinEnglish:AReadingCourseUnitFiveTheStoryandthePlotReading:“TheTaste”byRoaldDahlTheStoryandThePlot:E.M.Forster,afamousEnglishwriter,vividlyexplainsthedifferencebetweenstoryandplot,sayingthat“Thekingdiedandthenthequeendied”isastory;while“Thekingdiedandthenthequeendiedofgrief”isaplot.TheStoryandThePlot:A

storyisanarrativefollowingaseriesofhappeningsintimeorder.Aplot,alsoanarrative,hastheemphasisfallingoncausality(因果关系).Timesequencecharacterizesboththestoryandtheplot,whilethesenseofcausalityovershadowstheplotalone.Thestory,then,isthehypothetical“rawmaterial”ofeventswhichwereconstructfromthefinishedblueprintoftheplot.TheStoryandThePlot:Astoryprovidesananswerto“Whatthen?”(ordering);Aplotprovidesananswerto“Whyso?”(causality).ThePlot:

Plotisanartificialratherthananaturalorderingofevents.Itsfunctionistosimplifylifebyimposingorderthereon.Itwouldnotbepossibletoreciteallincidents,allevents,allthoughtspassingthroughthemindsofoneormorecharactersduringaperiod.Thedemandsofplotstipulatethattheauthorselectfromthiswelterofeventsandreflectionthoseitemsthathaveacertainunity,thatpointtoacertainend.(HughHolman&WilliamHrmon,AHandbooktoLiterature)Plotting:*Thus,plottingistheprocessofconvertingstoryintoplot,ofchangingchronologicalarrangementofincidentsintoacausalandinevitablearrangement.*Plottingisdonethroughtheauthor’smethodofselection,deletion,concentrationandreorganizationofthematerialsforadesiredpurpose.Theplottingofastoryusuallycontains:

thebeginning(calledexposition),thedevelopment(calledcomplication),theheightening(calledclimax);theending(calledresolution).

Theconflictsmayoccur:betweenopposingforces;betweentheprotagonistandantagonist;betweendifferentpointsofview;betweentwomoralchoices.Aconflictcaneitherbe:external(physicalconfrontation);orinternal(moral,psychological,orspiritualstruggle);veryoften,externalconflictsaremerelyprojectionsofinternalconflicts.Theopenending:

Insomestoriesnothingiseverresolvedattheend.Thiskindofnon-solutioniscalledanopenending.Inanopenending,readersarenottoldwhattheprotagonistwilldoorwhatwillhappennext.Thisuncertainty,ononehand,mirrorsthecomplexityoflifeinwhichneatresolutionrarelyoccurs;ontheotherhand,itleavesmoreroomforreaders’imagination.

TheStory:RoaldDahlTheTasteReadingTips:Youmayhaveheardstorieslikethis:someonecanhavealookandatasteofsometeaandtellwhatkindofteaitisandwhereitisproduced.Otherscansipandsmellthewinetoknowtheproducerandthevintage（酒的年份）.Thisisashortstoryofsuchapersonwhowasbelievedtobeanexpertwiththiskindofunusualtalent.Thestoryfollowstheestablishedplotpattern:theexpositionissimpleandclear;thecomplicationisslowanddetailed;theclimaxissuddenandexplosive,andtheresolutionisshortandto-the-point.Youwillfindquitealotofspecialterminologyaboutwine,winemakingandwinemakersinthetext,butyoucanignorethemandgoonwiththestorywithoutbeingmuchaffected.

QuestionsforDiscussion:Canyouexplainthewriter’splotting--whichpartistheexposition,orcomplication,orclimax,orresolutionofthisshortstory?ThenarratorseemstoberathersuspiciousofPratt’smotive.Canyoufindtheplacesinthestorywhereheshowshissuspicionandunderlinethem?CanyousayafewwordsabouteachofthethreemembersoftheSchofieldfamily?Writedownyourimpressiononapieceofpaperandreadoutwhatyouhavewr