文学导论

1. Setting: A setting is the background against which a character is depicted or an event narrated.
2. Symbol: A symbol is a thing that suggests more than its literal meanings. In poetry, it’s a material object used to represent something abstract.
3. Round Character: the person represented in a dramatic or narrative work who is complex in temperament and motivation and is represented with subtle particularity.
4. Conceit: A conceit is a metaphor or simile that is made elaborately (far-fetched), often extravagant.
5. First-person Narration: a story told by a first-person narrator who is either a major or a minor character in the story.
6. Plot: A plot is a particular arrangement of happenings in a novel that is aimed at revealing their causal relationships or at conveying the novelist’s ideas.
7. Eye Rhyme: Eye rhyme is formed by words that look like a rhymed unit but do not have the same sounds.
8. Intrinsic Criticism: Intrinsic Criticism poses a moralistic, utilitarian view of art, where the values of a work are to be found in the usefulness of art for other nonartistic purpose.
9. Tone: Tone, which is decided by synthetic analysis of all element involved in the poem, is the poise, mood, voice, attitude and outlook of
the poet.
10. Metaphor: Metaphor is a figure of speech in which the quality of one is
transferred onto another.
1.What’s the function of images in poems? To create the atmosphere; to
provide an internal pattern; to focus the theme of the poem.
2.What are the basic elements of a traditional novel? Story, character,
plot, theme, setting and narrative point of view.
3.What are the particular qualities of drama? 0)it’s acted rather than
narrated;1)drama is the joint product of many arts, of which direction,
acting, and stage design are the most important.2) dramatic effects are
stage effects, appealing directly to auditory and visionary senses.3)the
unique dynamics between actor and audience.4)the plot needs to
unfold more quickly than in a novel. The action is often telescoped
into extremely concentrated form.
4.How is a plot made? A plot is made with four factors: the doer and the
doing; the time; the space and the value.
5.Where to look for the theme of a novel?1)How the novel is entitled;
2)How the novelist shows his interest; 3)How the novelist deals with a
common subject; 4)Important symbols; 5)Important speeches.
6.What are the normal procedures of writing a research paper?
Reading (note taking: original response, reflections, etc.); selecting a title(a focus); searching for supporting details; arranging Ideas; writing a draft; revising, editing.。