小說(shuō)構(gòu)成要素(共11頁(yè))

1、精選優(yōu)質(zhì)文檔-傾情為你奉上小說(shuō)構(gòu)成要素 March,2007A Structured Approach to the Short StoryThe term structure as applied to a short story, or to any form of literary art, is a metaphorical expression referring to the architectural-like pattern of the work. Much like a building, a short story is an orderly arrangement of

2、 individual parts put together to form a cohesive whole. In a building, the constituent elements are physical and exist in space; in a short story, the elements are intangibles, but they too are arranged in accordance with a carefully conceived plan. Instead of existing in space, these elements exis

3、t as ideas in the mind of the writer that are transferred to the mind of the reader through the medium of the printed page. The structure is then re-created in the readers mind as the story is read. Behind this concept of structure lies the assumption that the author has an awareness and understandi

4、ng of the need for the structure in the work and that, in writing the story, has made deliberate choices in the selection of details and has carefully arranged these details into a meaningful, aesthetic pattern. A further assumption is that full of appreciation of a story by the reader demands some

5、awareness and understanding of its structure.In its broadest sense, structure includes all the elements in a story: plot, character and characterization, point of view, language, which can be realistic, symbolic or allegory, and theme. In studying literature from a structural point of view, one may

6、deal with these elements separately, at first; however, the ultimate objective is to see the work as a whole and to become aware of how the parts are integrated to produce a composite effect.Elements of PlotSimply stated, plot is the arrangement of the events in a story into a causal sequences. Alth

7、ough the short story is one of the most flexible vehicles for the diverse elements of a plot, this flexibility and variety does not reduce the value of a systematic and even orthodox approach to plot construction. Among the formal elements of plot are: exposition, background; conflict, the oppositio

8、n of forces, internal or external; complication, the development of predictable or unforeseen contingencies in the action; foreshadowing, a hint of what is to come; reversal, a change in fortune experienced by the protagonist; denouement, the final outcome of the sequence of events; and insight, rec

9、ognition by the protagonist of his or her nature or fate. Character and CharacterizationCharacter and characterization are closely related but essentially different concepts. Character refers to one of the persons in the story-the end result of the authors effort to create a fictional personality. C

10、haracterization, on the other hand, refers to the means by which the writer creates the sum of traits, thoughts, and actions which, taken together, constitute a character.At the simplest level, literary characters may belong to a number of stock types. . With creative imagination, however, a writer

11、may start out with commonplace characters and develop them into universal figures, far beyond the original cardboard dimensions of the stereotypes to which they are related. Don Quixote, Hamlet, or Huck Fin, to name a few, escape the confines of their types-the impractical do-gooder, the slow-to-act

12、 intellectual, and the boy who rebels against the mores of his society-and transcend their literary confines to become symbols of human aspirations.Another concept relating to character is that of flatness, or its opposite, roundedness. If the story is a short one, the author may create only flat ch

13、aracters, that is, characters whose essence may be summed up in a phrase. If the story requires it, as is usually the case, a writer may create a rounded character, that is, a character who is so complex as to require extended analysis. Both types of characters may appear in the same story, dependin

14、g on their importance and the length of the story.Literary characters have also been described as being static or developing, depending upon whether they remain the same from the beginning to the end of the story or whether they undergo some significant, internal change in the course of the events.

15、The concept of developing suggests that the character achieves a different view of life as a result of some insight gained from conflict and is no longer quite the same person as before. The concept of static suggests the opposite.Point of ViewThe concept of point of view introduced in the discussio

16、n on character and characterization requires a more detailed explanation because of its importance to the structure of a story. There are several questions about the way a story can be told that will help lead us to an understanding of exactly what point of view is, what varieties there are, and how

17、 different purposes are served by these different varieties. Chief among these questions are the following: through whose eyes and ears do we know what is going on? How much does this observer-spokesperson, or narrator, know about the people and events in the story? Does he or she know all there is

18、to know about everyone and everything or is the knowledge possessed less than total? Does the spokesperson see into the minds of all the major characters or into the mind of just one? For ease of naming and for the subsequent identification, we may ask: in what person is the story being told-first o

19、r third? We also need to consider the degree of participation that the authors spokespersonobserver has in the action of the story. For example, is this spokesperson an agent in the events merely an observer at the periphery of the action, or an outsider reporting second-hand information? Finally we

20、 might inquire: how does the point of view chosen serve the authors purposes and how is it better suited to the needs of the story than other options might have been when one considers the overall effect the author is attempting to produce? In asking all of these questions, and particularly the last

21、 one, one should keep in mind that the point of view selected by the author should unify and give a sense of direction to the story. At the same time, it should also blend smoothly with all the elements of the story.For the purpose of convenient reference, several different points of view have been

22、traditionally distinguished and named. One of the earliest employed and most familiar is the first-person point of view, in which the narrator may be a major character, a minor character, or a bystander. The narrator may give a first-hand account, or one mixed with conjecture and hearsay. The narrat

23、or may be at the edge of the action and basically objective in attitude, as is the case in “The Fall of the House of Usher.” Or the narrator may be at the center of the action and highly involved emotionally, as is the young man in “Im a Fool.” On the other hand, the author may elect to use the thir

24、d-person point of view, in which the reader sees and interprets everything through the mind of a single character, who may be at the center of the story, as with Miss Brill in the Mansfield selection; or at the periphery, as with the townsman-narrator in “A Rose for Emily” (who are totally operates

25、from the third person point of view, even though he employs the pronoun “we”); or outside the action entirely, as in “The Ministers Black Veil.” When a single character at the center of the action is used as the focus of impressions, the term central intelligence is often applied. In the central int

26、elligence point of view, the character is aware of all that occurs in the story and every significant thought he or she has is made known to the reader. Although a central intelligence character is involved in or witnesses all that is happening, the character may be temporarily confused, self-delude

27、d, or nave enough to be unaware of its full meaning. However, even in such instances, the reader may expect to be provided with the necessary information to allow a correct interpretation of the significance of what is going on. Sometimes this point of view is referred to as limited omniscience, sin

28、ce the author provides access to the mind of only one character in the story.Another possibility is the one in which the writer may choose not to invade the inner sanctum of the mind of any of the characters. Instead, the author may decide to function as the “camera-eye” and “tape-recorder” and abst

29、ain from any judgmental comment, relying only on the careful selection of significant details, as Hemingway does in “The Killers.” This ostensibly objective point of view is variously referred to as “the stage-setting” or “scenic” technique of telling a story because of its emphasis on straightforwa

30、rd representation and deliberate avoidance of explicit interpretation of motives and actions.Opposed to these points of view with varying degrees of limited knowledge is the omniscient point of view, one in which the author provides the access to the thoughts of any and all the characters, in any pl

31、ace at any time he or she chooses. Usually the author speaks in the third person, but the method may, once in a while, be used with a first-person narrator. Although writers of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries who employed this point of view often indulged in comments made directly to the rea

32、der, modern writers using this method usually refrain from such statements. Instead, they maintain an aesthetic distance through irony, scrupulous attempts at impartiality, or some other tonal device, as in the case with Fitzgerald and Maugham.LanguageLinked as it is to the pattern of action, charac

33、ter and characterization, and point of view, language, besides being the medium, is also another important element in the structure of the story. As the term is used here, language refers to the way in which words are put together for the creation of special effects. Among these effects are: attitud

34、e, tone, atmosphere and mood, setting, pace and rhythm, and dialogue.The attitude of a work is the relation the author assumes toward the subject, character, and action in the story. Usually it can be described on a continuum from sympathetic, through neutral, to antipathetic. Tone is the verbal sta

35、nce the author assumes toward the reader. It may be anything from sober earnestness to tongue-in-cheek levity. The authors tone may be straightforward and explicit or devious and ironic.The atmosphere is a feeling of “something in the air” that the author develops through either description or dialo

36、gue, to serve as a conditioning or motivating force in the action.The term mood is applied to the emotional content of a scene or entire story and it is created by the combined effect of atmosphere and setting, exposition and foreshadowing, dialogue and action. It can range from happiness to sadness

37、, from complacency to fear, from contentment to deep frustration, and so forth. Along with atmosphere and mood, the author may employ a spatial and temporal setting, which helps determine the outcome of the conflict and the protagonists fate.Language also helps to establish any underlying motif, as

38、used in this connection, is any recurring idea, phrase, image, or action that unifies a story by repeatedly recalling its earlier occurrences.Language also helps to establish the pace and rhythm of a story. Pace and rhythm may be achieved through variations in the length of words and word groups, th

39、rough contrasting or matching syntactic constructions, through the sense of pauses or the rapid flow of speech, through the deliberate selection of words for ease or difficulty of pronunciation, and through the verbatim repetition of words or phrases.Another function of language is the expression of character through speech, that is, dialogue. Symbolism and AllegoryIn a story employing symbolism, the literal element remains basic and is not merely a vehicle for ideas. In such a story, the emphasis is on the characters who exhibit varying degrees of roundedne