1、英语短篇小说教程英语短篇小说教程Short Stories in English:A Reading Course虞建华 编写Unit FourThe Character and CharacterizationReading:“Mr.Know-All”by Somerset Maugham The 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.T
2、he Character and Other Literary Terms:character hero and heroine anti-heroprotagonist/main characterantagonist foilThe anti-herolThe anti-hero is a fictional character occupying a central position in the plot but possessing qualities antithetical to those of the traditional hero.lThe anti-hero is no
3、t 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 Character:A round character:usually has more than one quality,and grows in the course of the story development,as he reacts to events and to o
4、ther 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 story is to highlight the protagonist by presenting a comparison or
5、a contrast to him.A static or dynamic character:A flat or round character is also referred to as a static or dynamic character.lA static character is one who changes little if at all.Things happen to such a character without things happening within.lA dynamic character,on the other hand,is one who i
6、s modified by actions and experiences,and one objective of the work in which the character appears is to reveal the consequences of these actions.Individualized and type characters:Individualized characters are ones endowed with traits that mark them as individuals,as opposed to type characters.Indi
7、vidualized characters belong,generally speaking,to realism,as opposed to the type characters of romanticism.Characterization:Characterization is the creation of imaginary characters so that they exist for the reader as lifelike persons.Characterization:direct and indirect presentation There are two
8、basic types of textual indicators of character:lThe direct presentation names the character trait or sums it up,such as“hes utterly selfish”or“he loves only himself.”lThe indirect presentation,on the other hand,does not mention the trait but display and exemplifies it in various ways,leaving the rea
9、der the task of inferring the quality they imply.The common methods of indirect presentation:lthe act and speech in the form of behavior and conversation;lthe activity of mind in musing,meditation,self-debating or interior monologue;lthe external appearance,such as a crooked face indicating a crooke
10、d mind,or a dirty and disorderly room connoting the characters state of confusion.Preference for indirect methodlIn an individualistic and relative period like our own,generalization and classification of characters/people are less tolerated.When suggestiveness and indeterminacy are preferred to clo
11、sure and definitiveness and when emphasis is put on the active role of the reader,the explicitness and guiding capacity of direct definition are often considered drawbacks rather than advantages.Characterization,the direct methodsample 1:He was certain that you were as glad to see him as he was to s
12、ee you.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)Characteriz
13、ation,the indirect methodSample 2:“Do you like card tricks?”“No,I hate card tricks,”I answered.“Well,Ill just show you this one.”He showed me three.Then I said I would go down to the dining room and get my seat at table.“Oh,thats all right,”he said.“Ive already taken a seat for you.I thought that as
14、 we were in the same stateroom we might just as well sit at the same table.”(Somerset Maugham,“Mr.Know-All,”lines 77-83)Reading Tip:The story is set in the declining years of the British colonialism.Many people in the British colonies,or in America,the former colony,would call themselves“English peo
15、ple,”regarding themselves as members of the glorious British Empire.But those“Colonial English”would not be highly regarded by some“real”English who held the attitude of racial or national superiority.The Story :Somerset Maugh:Mr.Know-All Questions for Discussion:lSummarize the four main characters:
16、the narrator,Mr.Kelada,Mr.and Mrs.Ramsay.lWhat are the undesirable qualities of Mr.Kelada according to the narrator?Find them out in the text and list them.Are they good proof that Mr.Kelada is an unworthy person?lWe have been given enough hints about the true value of the necklace and the possible
17、story behind it.Can you find them?lWhy did the narrator say by the end of the story“I did not entirely dislike Mr.Kelada”?The four main characters:lthe narrator,a reserved,polite yet prejudiced Englishman;lMr.Kelada,an over-zealous,talkative yet kind-natured colonial;lMr.Ramsay,an overbearing,unpleasant and insensitive American;lMrs.Ramsay,a modest yet helpless lady who had fooled her husband.
