1、Unit 4 Exploring literatureExtended readingHow to appreciate fiction is a form of literary work created from imagination.It is not presented as fact,though it may be based on a true story or situation.Types of literature in the fiction genre include the novel,short story,and novella(中篇小说).Learn back
2、ground information Analyse the main elementsThe author The work SettingPlotCharactersWriting style ThemePoint of viewHow to understand and appreciate fictionThe authorName:Birth:Death:Nationality:Career:Remembered as:Notable awards:Ernest Hemingway18991961AmericanNovelist,short story writer,journali
3、stone of the greatest American writers of the 20th centuryNoble Prize in Literature in 1954 Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1953Hemingways works The Sun Also Rises(1926)太阳照样升起 Men Without Women(1927)没有女人的男人（短篇小说集）A Farewell to Arms(1929)永别了，武器 The Fifth Column and the First Forty-Nine Stories(1938)第五纵
4、队与首辑四十九篇（短篇小说集）For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940)丧钟为谁而鸣 The Old Man and the Sea (1952)老人与海Hemingways life story Started his career as a writer in a newspaper office in Kansas City at the age of seventeen Joined a volunteer ambulance unit in the Italian army after America entered the First World War Spen
5、t considerable time in hospital after a wound Returned to America and became a reporter for Canadian and American newspapers(From Nobel Lectures,Literature 19011967,Editor Horst Frenz,Elsevier Publishing Company,Amsterdam,1969)The workThe Old Man and the Sea,short heroic novel by Ernest Hemingway,pu
6、blished in 1952.It was his last major work of fiction.The story centres on an aging fisherman who engages in a battle to catch a giant marlin.The novel is based on a true story that happened to his friend,a fisherman named Gregorio Fuentes.Hemingway was deeply moved by the story and decided to write
7、 a novel.The Old Man and the Sea was an immediate success and came to be regarded as one of Hemingways finest works.It won him the Pulitzer Prize for fiction in 1953 and was cited when he won the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1954.A hugely popular film adaptation starring Spencer Tracy was released i
8、n 1958.SettingPlotCharactersWriting styleThemePoint of viewThe setting is the environment in which a story unfolds.Time The time in setting can refer to the length of time in which the story unfolds(as short as a day or as long as 1000 years or more).The time can also refer to the time period,the hi
9、storical era(for example the Middle Ages)in which the novel is set.PlaceThe place is where the story happens.The story may happen in a specific country,city or neighbourhood or span several.MoodThe mood of a storys setting refers to the tone you create by providing details of time and place.ContextT
10、he context in setting refers to the way time and place come together to show how elements of setting(such as politics,culture,society)shape(or limit)peoples choices and actions.Functions of settingas the background for actionas the antagonistas a means of creating appropriate atmosphereas a means of
11、 revealing characters personalitiesas a means of reinforcing the theme Whats the setting of The Old Man and the Sea?Start and end setting The beginning and conclusion of the story take place in a small fishing village just outside Havana.Santiago lives alone in a small fishing hut.The small town set
12、ting conveys a sense of community.The setting also supports the melancholy tone of the novel.At sea in the Gulf of MexicoThe primary story takes place out at sea in the Gulf of Mexico.Santiago spends several days in his one-person fishing boat searching for a good catch.The setting supports the mood
13、y tone and the feeling of loneliness.The simple setting of the fishing boat contrasts with the vastness of the ocean and the power of the attacks.The setting creates sympathy for Santiagos hardship as well as his efforts to conquer nature.The plot is the literary element that shows the arrangement o
14、f events and actions within a story.Exposition:the start of the story,the situation before the action startsRising action:the series of conflicts and crisis in the story that lead to the climaxClimax:the turning point,the most intense moment,either mentally or in actionFalling action:all of the acti
15、on which follows the climaxResolution:the conclusion,the tying together of all of the threadsWhats the plot of The Old Man and the Sea?Santiago,a Cuban fisherman has gone fishing constantly for 84 days,got nothing.At 85th day,he set out his small boat alone.He caught a huge marlin fish.A pack of sha
16、rks followed after the marlin and the old man fought against the shark.He felt very tired,hungry and thirty,but he didnt give up.When the old man got ashore,only skeleton remained.The old man was so exhausted,and he staggered back to his hut,and fell into bed.After the intense struggle,the old man f
17、inally caught the fish.ExpositionRising actionClimaxFalling actionResolution are imaginary people that writers create in stories.The person,thing,or force that works against the protagonist Can be another character,a family,a society rule,a force of nature or a force within the main character The ma
18、in character or hero in literary works,usually the one with whom the audience identifies Often referred to as“the good guy”The heroName:Basic information:Personalities:Symbol:Santiagoan old fisherman who struggles with a giant marlin far out in the Gulf Streamoptimistic,confident,brave,persistentthe
19、 unyielding and optimistic spiritThe supporting characterName:Basic information:Personalities:Symbol:Manolina warm-hearted boy who admires and deeply loves the old manbrave,responsible,stubborn,kind the new hope of the next generationThe Antagonistthe marlinthe sharksthe seaThe writing style is the
20、unique way in which the writer chooses to assemble words and sentences together to create an overall piece of writing.Word choiceSentence length and structureUse of figurative languageThe perspective a writer chooses to useHemingways Iceberg TheoryIf a writer of prose knows enough about what he is w
21、riting about he may omit things that will have a feeling of those things as strongly as though the writer had stated them.The dignity of movement of an iceberg is due to only one-eighth of it being above water.A good writer does not need to reveal every detail of a character or action.(Death in the
22、Afternoon,by Ernest Hemingway)7/8 under for every 1/8 showingIceberg principle:Concise language Deep and complicated thoughts and meanings underneathI always try to write on the principle of the iceberg.There is seven-eighths of it underwater for every part that shows.(Hemingway)Language styleFew ad
23、jectives or adverbsFew conventional emotive languageFew comments from the authorSimple,short,conventional words and sentencesConcisenessRepetitionVivid description of the characters thoughtsThe fish was coming in on his circle now calm and beautiful looking and only his great tail moving.The old man
24、 pulled on him all that he could to bring him closer.For just a moment the fish turned a little on his side.Then he straightened himself and began another circle.(page 53,lines 710)I moved him,he thought.Maybe this time I can get him over.Pull,hands,he thought.Hold up,legs.Last for me,head.Last for
25、me.You never went.This time Ill pull him over.(page 53,lines 1315)I must get him alongside this time,he thought.I am not good for many more turns.Yes you are,he told himself.Youre good for ever.(pages 5354,lines 2224)You are killing me,fish,the old man thought.But you have a right to.Never have I se
26、en a greater,or more beautiful,or a calmer or more noble thing than you,brother.Come on and kill me.I do not care who kills who.(page 54,lines 2729)The theme is the central or underlying idea in literature,which may be stated directly or indirectly.All novels,stories,poems and other literary works h
27、ave at least one theme running through them.Theme vs Subject The subject is a topic that acts as the foundation for a literary work,such as marriage in 19th-century France.The theme is an opinion the author expresses on the subject,for instance,the authors dissatisfaction with the narrow confines of
28、 French bourgeois marriage during that period.How to identify the theme The statement of the theme should do the work full justice.It is fully and completely supported by the works other elements,so you need to identify the subject,the plot,the main characters,the authors point of view,etc.of the wo
29、rk.The title of the work often suggests a particular focus or emphasis for the readers attention.The novel highlights the theme that man can be destroyed but not defeated.It is a representation of life as a struggle against forces in which only a partial victory is possible.Santiago embodies Hemingw
30、ays definition of courage as“grace under pressure”.He never loses dignity in the face of death.The glory and honour comes not from his battle itself but from his pride and determination to fight.The theme of The Old Man and the Seahonour in struggle,defeat and deathpride as the source of greatness a
31、nd determinationThe point of view is the method of narration that determines the position or angle of vision from which the story is told.Third-person point of viewFirst-person point of viewThis means that the narrator is a character in the story.He or she describes the action in his or her own word
32、s.Whats shown is limited to the characters observations and thoughts.Events and characters described by a character outside the action Third-person omniscient point of view The narrator is all-knowingCan see into the mind of more than one characterGives reader access to all charactersThird person li
33、mited point of view The narrator tells the story from the perspective of only one character.The reader only learns what this person feels and experiences.Third-person point of viewThe writer in the novel is also the narrator.Hemingway told the story through the third-person omniscient point of view.
