Narration AP English Literature叙事美联社英语文学.pptVIP

THIRD-PERSON OBJECTIVE In Hemingway’s short story, “The End of Something,” the protagonist, Nick Adams, has just admitted to his girlfriend that he no longer loves her. They have been fishing, and she responds only that she is going to take the rowboat back while he walks. He offers to push it off for her, and the story ends with the following section: EXAMPLE “You don’t need to,” she said. She was afloat in the boat on the water with the moonlight on it. Nick went back and lay down with his face in the blanket by the fire. He could hear Marjorie rowing on the water. Hey lay there for a long time. He lay there while he heard Bill come into the clearing, walking around the woods. He felt Bill come up to the fire. Bill didn’t touch him, either. “Did she go all right?” Bill said. “Oh, yes,” Nick said, lying, his face in the blanket. “Have a scene?” “No, there wasn’t any scene.” “How do you feel?” “Oh, go away, Bill! Go away for a while.” Bill selected a sandwich from the lunch basket and walked over to have a look at the rods. EXAMPLE EXPLAINED We are left to infer the characters’ feelings from the spare, matter-of-fact report of their dialogue and their actions: Nick’s depression and guilt over the breakup, signaled especially by his prone position, hiding his face in the blanket, and by his curt replies; Marjorie’s hurt and determination not to react; and Bill’s half well-meaning, half prying curiosity, which provokes Nick’s irritation. NARRATION IN DRAMA In drama, there is usually no intermediary between audience and characters; each of the characters speaks in an individual voice, which the author has created for him or her. The exception is a narrator in a play, a character who stands outside the action and comments on the characters and events, addressing the audience directly. EXAMPLE In Tennessee William’s The Glass Menagerie, the narrator, Tom Wingfield, is an older version of the character Tom in the main plot. He is depicted as recounting