1、1Fiction 虚构，小说- A prose narrative that is the product of the imagination. Stories at least partially imagined; A narrative told in prose.2 Novel 小说- Long fictional prose narrative; Short Story- A short work of narrative prose fiction.3 The distinction between the short story and novel is mainly one
2、of length.4Elements of Fiction Plot Character & Characterization Theme Point of view Tone Style Symbol5Plot6 Story - A narrative of events arranged in a temporal sequence. Plot (A Story Line) - A particular arrangement of events in a novel aimed at revealing their causal relationships or at conveyin
3、g the novelists ideas.7Eg: The king died and then the queen died. - A story The king died and then the queen died of grief. -A plot8情节与故事情节与故事 故事是按照时间顺序加以排列的事件叙述；而小说情节虽也是事件叙述，但着重因果关系，（当然可以由果求因，也可以由因及果）于是就会加强对矛盾、冲突的描写，而对结果提出合理的解释。910 所以面对故事，我们最常问的是然后呢？然而面对情节，我们要问的反而是为什么？，因为一本结构紧密的小说，其中必然是相关因果互击，当中千头万
4、绪，繁杂错乱，读者必须运用记忆-掌握因果始终，同时加上智慧-对情节中的悬宕（suspension），加以推敲。如此阅读小说的目的反而不是快得到结局，而是过程中抽丝剥茧，步步为营的乐趣了。11 Plot - The element of fiction that sets up, develops, and resolves a conflict.12Conflict 冲突 The essence of fiction creating plot; - The struggle or encounter within the plot of two opposing forces that se
5、rves to create reader or audience interest and suspense.13Kinds of Conflict External Conflict 外部冲突 - Physical, moral or psychological contest between antagonistic characters. Man versus Man Man versus Nature Man versus Society 14Man vs. Man The protagonist in the story experiences conflict with othe
6、rs, especially the antagonist.15Man vs. Nature The protagonist in the story experiences conflict with the elements of nature. 16Man vs. Society The protagonist in the story experiences conflict with society as a whole. 17 Internal Conflict 内部冲突 - Moral, psychological, or spiritual struggle within th
7、e character itself. Man versus Self18Man vs. Self The protagonist in the story experiences conflict with her or his conscience. 19Five Stages of Plot 21345201. Exposition 开端 Initiating Action - The part of a work that provides necessary background information.21 This usually occurs at the beginning
8、of a short story. Here the characters are introduced. We also learn about the setting of the story. Most importantly, we are introduced to the main conflict (main problem).222. Complication2. Complication 发展 Rising Action - The part of the plot in which the conflict is developed and intensified. A b
9、uilding of interest or suspense occurs.232. Complication2. Complication243. Crisis 高潮 Climax - That point during the plot when the action reaches its turning point.25 This is the turning point of the story. Usually the main character comes face to face with a conflict. The main character will change
10、 in some way.264. Falling Action 逆转 - The moment when the tension subsides and the plot moves towards its resolution.274. Falling Action All loose ends of the plot are tied up. The conflict(s) and climax are taken care of.285. Resolution 结局 - The final section of the plot in which the major conflict
11、, issue, or problem is resolved.295. Resolution The story comes to a reasonable ending.30Putting It All Together1. Exposition 2. Complication3. Crisis4. Falling Action5. ResolutionBeginning of StoryMiddle of StoryEnd of Story31Different Ways of Arranging Events in Plot1. Arranging the events chronol
12、ogically / according to their occurrence in time;2. Rearranging the chronology and inverting the usual order of beginning and ending.32Special Techniques of Plot1. Flashback 倒叙 Retrospect - The interruption of a storys narrative in order to present an earlier scene or episode. A method of Exposition
13、33Eg: Shift from president in oval office to a scene from his high school experience342. Foreshadowing 铺垫，伏笔 - A device by means of which the author hints at sth. to follow.Eg: Violent storms indicate violence to come in plot. 35 3. Suspense 悬念 - The psychological tension or anxiety resulting from t
14、he readers or audiences uncertainty of just how a situation or conflict is likely to end.364. Subplot 次要情节 Minor Plot / Underplot - A secondary action or complication within a fictional or dramatic work that often serves to reinforce or contrast the main plot.37Analyzing Plot1. What are the conflict
15、s on which the plot turns? Are they external, internal, or some combination of the two?382. What are the chief episodes or incidents that make up the plot? Is its development strictly chronological, or is the chronology rearranged in some way?393. Compare the plots beginning and end. What essential
16、changes have taken place? 4. Describe the plot in terms of its exposition, complication, crisis, falling action and resolution.405. Is the plot unified? Do the individual episodes logically relate to one another?6. Is the ending appropriate to and consistent with the rest of the plot?7. Is the plot
17、plausible? What role, if any, do chance and coincidence play?41The Story of an Hour 42Episodes The Story of an Hour is a very brief short story about one hour in the life of Louise Mallard. As the story begins, the narrator reveals that Mrs. Mallard has “heart trouble.” 43 Her sister Josephine and h
18、er husbands friend Richards have come to her after hearing of a railroad disaster that has resulted in the death of Mr. Mallard. 44 Both are concerned that the news will make Mrs. Mallard ill and Josephine takes great care to tell her the news as cautiously as she is able.45 Mrs. Mallard reacts to t
19、he news with “sudden, wild abandonment” and locks herself in her bedroom. In the solitude of her room Mrs. Mallard understands the fundamental change taking place in her life. 46 She sits in a chair, no longer crying, looking out the window at the “new spring life.” She “suspends intelligent thought
20、” and fearfully waits for a “subtle and elusive” idea to “possess her.”47 She begins to comprehend that she is joyful that her husband is dead, but she attempts to suppress the thought.48 Once Mrs. Mallard accepts the feeling, even though she knows that her husband had really loved her, she is ecsta
21、tic that she will never have to bend her will to his again. Now that her husband is dead, she will be free to assert herself in ways she never before dreamed while he was alive. 49 She recognizes that she had loved her husband sometimes, but that now she would be “Free! Body and soul free!” She begi
22、ns to look forward to the rest of her life when just the day before she shuddered at the thought of it.50 Mrs. Mallard leaves her room and rejoins her sister who has been outside the door worrying. She carries herself “like a goddess of Victory” as she joins her sister to return downstairs where Ric
23、hards still waits. 51 On their way down the stairs, they hear the front door open and see Mr. Mallard walk in. He had been no where near the accident scene. The short story ends with the abrupt death of Mrs. Mallard, whose heart gives out. Her doctors explain that she died “of joy that kills.”52Conf
24、lict The conflict is that Mrs. Mallard is happy that her husband died because she is finally free from the unhappy life she was living but she should really be saddened by the death of the man she married.53Mrs. Mallard In the beginning of the story Mrs. Mallard is known simply by her married name.
25、A wife who suffers from “heart trouble,” she is described as “young, with a fair, calm face, whose lines bespoke repression and even a certain strength.”54 When Mrs. Mallard learns of her husbands death, she becomes “Louise,” a woman aware of her own desires, enjoying the prospect of being freed fro
26、m the confines of marriage. Louise dies of a “joy that kills” when her husband reappears. 55 Her character represents feminine individuality; she is a strong-willed, independent woman excited by the prospect of beginning her life again after the reported demise of her husband.56Ending At the end of
27、this story, Louise Mallard drops dead when she sees her husband enter the house. The doctor and other characters presume that she has been overcome with joy that kills since she had been told that Brently, her husband, was killed in a train accident. 57 This is a perfect example of DRAMATIC IRONY, w
28、hich occurs when the audience knows what characters do not. 58 We, the readers, know that Louise was, after her initial shock, relieved that her husband was dead, not because she hated him, but because she felt suffocated by her marriage and her lack of personal identity. 59 We know this from a numb
29、er of clues in the story-the open window she looks out with the clouds parting could symolizes her new open life. But the most clear evidence of her happiness over her husbands death is her realization that she is free-body and soul free. 60 So when she sees her husband at the door, she isnt so over
30、joyed that her heart fails, she is so dissappointed that her heart fails. Her conflict is really internal. She has struggled all her life with not having an identity. 61 Women during the Victorian era were seldom given the opportunity to make their own decisions. First they were considered the property of their fathers, and then of their husbands. Not marrying was somewhat of a disgrace.
