文学原理 第一章 Plot.ppt

I. Plot The Story of an Hour The Girls in Their Summer Dresses Overview Terms Sample, general questions The Story of an Hour The Girls in Their Summer Dresses Terms 1 Fiction Functions of the elements of fiction Plot—story—causality Conflict—external/internal Five stages of a typical realistic story Ways of arranging events—chronological order, inverted order（Flashback） Forshadowing—suspense—coincidence--inevitability Terms 2 Suspense is a sense of uncertainty, an emotional pull which keeps the reader reading. Foreshadowing is the indication of events to come; the planting of hints about what will happen later in the story. Good foreshadowing is subtle and often contributes to high quality in a story. Coincidence refers to the concurrence of events which happen by chance. Coincidence in a plot is acceptable only if it is carefully but subtly foreshadowed. Otherwise, it is a sign of contrivance. Inevitability is the sense that the outcome is necessary and inescapable. It has to happen, given these characters and this situation; It is a sign of high quality in writing. Sample story for plot elements John and Jane meet in college and fall in love. //They go together for a number of years and plan to marry, but a problem arises. Jane first wants to establish herself in a career, and after marriage she wants to be an equal contributor to the family. John understands Jane’s wishes for equality, but he wants to get married first and let her finish her studies and have her career after they have children. Jane believes that John’s plan is unacceptable because she thinks of it as trap from which she might not escape. As they discuss their options they find themselves increasingly more irritated and unhappy with each other. Finally they bring their plans to an end, and they part in both anger and sorrow. Their love is not dead, however, but both go on to marry someone else and build separate lives and careers. In their new lives, neither is totally happy even thoug