英语小说要素分析.doc

《英语小说选读》电子备课本摘要 PAGE PAGE 34 - PAGE 34 - Introduction I. Why do we have such course? English literature is one of the compulsory and most important courses. However, the English literature courses offered are merely taught at the level of learning general information and developing literal understanding. Admittedly, such courses help them/you a lot in their/your acquisition of the English language. But the function of English literature reaches far beyond that. In reading English literature, a student should have the power to discern how human beings translate their experience into artistic expression and representation; how writers, through their creative impulses, convey to us their insights into human destiny and human life; and how social concern is involved in a specific form of human imagination. In addition, students should elevate to the level of cultivating a curiosity for the unknown, thinking cogently and logically, expressing themselves clearly and concisely, and observing the world around them critically and objectively. But most students are still at a loss as to how they can effectively analyze a literary work by themselves in any of these respects, even though they have read plenty of excerpts from representative works in the British and American literary canon. And they tend to have little idea what role the beginning part plays in the whole story, how the plot develops and comes to resolution, in what way point of view determines a reader’s understanding of the story, and how the images and symbols are related to the theme. Upon consideration of these factors, we have such course with the intention of cultivating both students’ literary sensibilities and their /your critical power when reading English short stories and novels. II. Introduction about reading a story 1. What is Story? “Yes –oh, dear, yes—the novel tells a story.” This is Forster’s remark, which is worth special attention, for he is someone in the trade and with rich experience.