Fition MOOC

In our previous study, we learn what the fiction is and what the non-fiction is.We touch fiction and non-fiction frequently, I hope through in-class study and after-class reading, we can enhance our English study ability.In order to appreciate the fiction, we have already learned elements of fiction, or the approach to fiction. Can you remember these elements? What are they? They are plot, character, setting, point of view, theme, style, tone, symbolism, and allegory. (Quite good)We have learned them in detail. They are working tools for readers to appreciate a literary work. I hope these elements can give us deep insight into understanding the fiction.From this section, it is designed to introduce these fundamental elements to you in detail with some sample readings.This section, we will analyze a short story ―early autumn‖ written by a black American writer Langston Hughes. Have you read this short story? Do you know about Langston Hughes?Firstly, we will talk about the author---Langston Hughes. He is one of the most influential figures in twentieth-century Afro-American literature. he is usually thought of as a poet. He is a famous American black poet, playwright, and novelist. He also participated in the famous Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s. He was a prolific writer. He wrote 16 books of poems, two novels, three collections of short stories, etc. .He was one of the first black writers who could support himself by his writings. He is praised for his ability to say what was important to millions of black people. In his writing, he was famous for his descriptions of black American life. He used his work to praise his people and voice his concerns about race and social injustice.His work is known all around the world and has been translated into many languages. He wrote for almost fifty years. But he is best known for his poetry.Some Langston’s short stories have the quality of poems like the one we are going to talk about——compact, moving and thought-provoking."Early Autumn" is a very short story which tells how two lovers feel years after they parted.In this short story, there are altogether 445 words. It is quite short for only 445 words, which best illustrates elements of fiction, and also includes many features of short stories.This short story ―early autumn‖ is a good example that describes everyday life. Hughes uses this story to show how people can make one irrational decision that can result in a time of sadness.Many years later, broken lovers coincidently met each others---memories, passing time, happiness, sorrow and regret, as the ashes, soaked and disappeared in the river of time, sealed on the wrinkles of their faces, down to their courtesy-like smile.Their distance became closer and then further and further. Early autumn comes every year, yes, every year.Just like our Chinese poet, Xin Qi ji said, ―Young I was，and ignorant of the taste of care, in new verses my imagined woes declare．Now I’ve learned all the bitterness of life’s care，Murmuring instead：Ah autumn，how cool an d fair.‖ Next, let’s appreciate this short story from its elements.少年不识愁滋味，爱上层楼。

爱上层楼，为赋新词强说愁。

而今识得愁滋味，欲说还休。

欲说还休，却道天凉好个秋In this part, we talk about the approach to fiction. Whether long or short, a work of fiction is usually made up of certain elements, each of which contributes to the making of an integrated and unified whole. In relation to the major elements of fiction,we generally refer to plot, character, setting, point of view, theme, style, tone, symbolism, and allegory.Among them the first three are the most basic and profound ones since fiction is defined as characters in action at a certain time and place, that is the plot, character, and setting. So now you can understand in the story who, when, where, what, and how, are related closely. As for the other elements, we’ll study in the future. This time, we mainly talk about the first element --- plot.Like the people or characters in fiction, which are developed out of reality, the actions or events in fiction are also derived from life. Therefore, as we can observe in daily life, they will usually occur in sequence, or in a chronological order in fiction. That is to say, to a writer, once the narrative order has been established, the next thing to consider is plot, or the plan of development of the actions.So what is plot? Without a plot, we do not have a story. We read many novels and stories in your spare time, and I believe you also remember many famous and excellent plots. For example, are you familiar with Pride and Prejudice, Robinson Crusoe, the adventures of Tom Sawyer? Yes, we should pay much attention to the plot and understand the significance of plot.A plot is a plan or groundwork or base for a story, based on conflicting human motivations, with the actions resulting from believable and realistic human response. In a well-plotted story, nothing is irrelevant; everything is related. For example, now let’s read two sentences in contrast to a story with a plot.Firstly, ―The king died, and then the queen died.‖ It describes a sequen ce, a chronological order, but it is no more. It is flat. To have a plot, a sequence must be integrated with human motivation. So we have the second sentence. ―The king died, and then the queen died of grief.‖In this sentence, the narrative introduces the reason of queen’s death, the operative elements ―of grief‖, it shows that one thing produces another, and there is a plot. Now we get the brief impression of what the plot is. Yes, In a well-plotted story, nothing is irrelevant; everything is related.About the stages of the plot, there are five stages in plot, these are exposition, complication, crisis, falling action, and resolution. You can look at this picture here. …Putting them together, they are beginning of the story, middle of story, and end of story.About the first part---exposition, we also call it initiating action. It means the part of a work that provides necessary background information. It usually occurs at the beginning of a short story.About The second part – complication, we also call it rising action. It means the part of the plot in which the conflict is developed and intensified. About the third part—crisis, we also call it climax. It means that point during the plot when the action reaches its turning point. This is the turning point of the story. Usually the main character comes face to face with a conflict. The main character will change in some way.The fourth part is falling action. It means the moment when the tension declines and the plot moves towards its resolution.The fifth part is resolution. It means the final section of the plot in which the major conflict, issue, or problem is resolved. The story comes to a reasonable ending.Putting them together, they are beginning of the story, middle of story, and end of story. When we read the fiction, we usually analyze the plot of fiction from these five stages.Plot is the basic element of the fiction. In a well-plotted story, nothing is irrelevant; everything is related.Character & setting ---the people in fictionPlot, character, setting are the most basic and profound elements in the fiction. Character means the people in fiction. So the term character applies any individual in a literary work.For the purpose of analysis, characters in fiction are described by their relationship to plot; by the degree of development they are given by the author, and by whether or not they undergo significant character change. Characters can be divided into protagonist and antagonist.What is the protagonist? Yes. The major, central character of the plot is the protagonist. It is easy to understand. And then what is the antagonist? His opponent, the character against whom the protagonist struggles or contends, is the antagonist. From these two terms, they are interrelated closely. The protagonist and antagonist do not imply a judgment about moral worth. They are different from hero, heroine, or villain.Many protagonists represent a complex mixture of both positive and negative qualities.The protagonist is easy and simple to identify: he or she is the essential character, without whom there will be no plot.It is the protagonist’s fate on which the attention of the reader is focused. Often the title of the work identified the protagonist: such as Young Goodman brown, Rip Van Winkle, A rose for Emily, and Yellow Women, etc.The antagonist can be somewhat more difficult to identify, especially if he is not a human being. What does it mean? We are familiar with the old man and the sea. In this fiction, the old fisherman Santiago bravely confronted the marlin, a big fish. So, the antagonist may not be a living creature at all, but rather the hostile social or natural environment with which the protagonist is forced to contend.Now we talk about the setting. Fiction can be defined as character in action at a certain time and place. The first two elements character and action have already been discussed. Now we turn our attention to setting.What is setting? Is it the place where story takes place?In fiction, the stage against which the story unfolds we call the setting.In its narrowest sense, setting is the place and time of the narration, but eventually it contains the total environment of the work. Therefore, setting in its broadest sense, means the physical surroundings that frames the action, the time of day or year, the climatic conditions, and the historical period during which the action takes place. Setting is quite important; it helps the reader visualize the action of the work.There are many different kinds of setting in fiction, and they function in a variety of ways.Generally, there are two types of settings---natural setting and manufactured setting. It is simple to understand natural setting. The setting for a great number of stories is out-of-doors.Nature herself is regarded as a force or power to shape action and direct lives. For example, what will you imagine when you read the deep woods? A deep wood may make walking difficult or dangerous. What about open road? It may be a place where one person seeks flight; others may meet their own fate. A lake? The bushes? The ocean? The mountain?Yes, indeed, nature is one of the major forces governing the circumstances of characters.And the second type of setting is manufactured one. Manufactured things always reflect the people who made them. A building or a room tells about those who built it and live in it, and eventually it tells about the social and political orders that maintainthe conditions. A richly decorated house shows the expensive tastes and resources of characters who own it. Ugly and impoverished surroundings may contribute to the weariness, even hostility of the characters living it them.I n t h e f i c t i o n,s e t t i n g p l a y s a n u m b e r o f s p e c i f i c f u n c t i o n s.Setting serves the background for action. Everything happens everywhere. So fiction requires a setting or background of some kind. Setting can be an antagonist. The forces of nature function as an antagonist, helping to establish conflict and to determine the outcome of events, such as the old man and the sea. Setting can be regarded as a means of creating proper atmosphere. Many authors are good at manipulating their settings as a means of arousing reader’s curiosity and expectation. Edgar Allan Poe would be the expert, who not only provides the details of setting, but tells the reader just how to respond to them. Setting can also be functioned as a means of revealing character and a means of reinforcing theme.Setting in fiction is called upon to perform a number of specific functions.We briefly talk about point of view, theme and style. A story must have a plot, characters and a setting. It must also have a storyteller: a narrative voice, real or implied, that presents the story to the reader. When we talk about narrative voice, we are talking about point of view. (or POV)So what is point of view? It is the method of narration that determines the position, or angle of vision, from which the story is told. The nature of relationship between the narrator and the story, the teller and the tale, is always crucial to the art of fiction. It controls the reader’s access to the story and determines just how much he can know at any given moment about what is taking place. So we should pay much attention to POV or point of view.The choice of point of view is the choice of who is to tell the story, who talks to the reader. Perhaps the first choice might be ―let the protagonist tell his or her own story‖. In making this choice, the author decides to employ the first person p oint of view. For example, in the following opening paragraph of James Baldwin’s Sonny Blues―I read about it in the paper, in the subway, on my way to work. I read it, and I couldn’t believe it, and I read it again…‖So in this paragraph, there are so man y first person ―I‖s, it is first person point of view. The First Person POV means the author disappears into one of the characters of the fiction. Uses the pronouns ―I‖ and ―we‖.There are many advantages of first person POV. Firstly, the author creates an immediate sense of reality. Because we are listening to the words of someone who was present at the events, we are inclined to trust the narrator and to enter into the experience. Secondly, the author has a ready-made principle of selection. The author is ready to select what he or she wants. No story can tell everything there is to tell. The author must make choices. A story told in the first person is necessarily limited to what the narrator has seen, heard, or guessed.Second Person POV means using the pronoun ―you‖, but it is rare to be frequently used. Because the second person actually requires a first-person voice. So it is infrequently used.So what is the third-person point of view? In our reading we always meet ―he‖ or ―she‖ or ―they‖ in the fic tion. If the narrator is not introduced as a character, and if everything in the work is described in the third, the author is using the third-person point of view.In the third person point of view, we should be familiar with these two types. Omniscient Point of view & third person limited Point of view.WHAT IS Omniscient Point of view? It means the story is told in third person by a narrator who has unlimited knowledge of events and characters. In our reading, we find this type of narration often.What is the Third Person Limited point of view? It means the story is told in third person but from the view point of a character in the story.Point of view is limited to the character’s perceptions and shows no direct knowledge of what other characters are thinking, feeling, or doing. Third person point of view refers to she, he, it, and they narration. In our reading, we should pay quite attention the point of view.Now let’s move on next element of fiction---theme. If we ask an author why he writes, he mig ht reply, ―Because I have something to say.‖ What the author has to say is the ―theme‖, the central and dominating idea in a story. Therefore, the theme is the central idea or statement about life that unifies and controls the total work. Please notice the definition of theme. It is the author who makes comments about the issue, problem, or subject, etc..The theme of a piece of fiction is its controlling idea or its central insight. It is the unifying generalization about life stated or implied by the story. Theme does not equal ―moral‖, ―lesson‖, or ―message‖.Always keep in mind the following principals concerning theme:Theme should be expressible in the form of a statement sentence.The theme should be stated as a generalization about life.Be careful not to make the generalization larger than is justified by the terms of the story. Avoid terms like, every, all, always, in favor of words such as, some, sometimes, may.Theme is the central and unifying concept of a story. Therefore it accounts for all the major details of the story, is not contradicted by any detail of the story, and cannot rely upon supposed facts.There is no one way of stating the theme of a story. As long as the above requirements are met the statement is valid.Avoid any statement that reduces the theme to a familiar saying that we have heard all our lives.Theme in literature is the author’s way of communicating and sharing ideas, perception, and feeling with his readers.Often, it is the author’s way of probing and exploring the puzzling questions of human existence with the readers. Sometimes, these questions do not produce the neat, tidy, or universally acceptable answers. About other elements, we briefly introduce them.Style, it means the author’s particularly way of telling his story, for example, his characteristic manner of expression; When asked to discuss style, you are being asked to describe how or explain why the words, sentences, and imaginative comparisons are effective in terms of what is being created.Tone, it means the author’s attitude toward his subject or audience;Tone may be characterized as serious or ironic, sad or happy, private or public, angry or affectionate, bitter or nostalgic, or any other attitudes and feelings that human beings experience.Symbol, it means the additional meaning or significance the author attaches to a word, an image, an object, an action or even a character in his work;Allegory, it means the author’s attempt to reinforce his theme by making his characters represent some specific abstract ides or qualities.They are working tools for readers to appreciate a literary work.In the following study of fiction, it is designed to introduce these fundamental elements to you in detail with some sample readings.We briefly talk about point of view, theme and style. A story must have a plot, characters and a setting. It must also have a storyteller: a narrative voice, real or implied, that presents the story to the reader. When we talk about narrative voice, we are talking about point of view. (or POV)So what is point of view? It is the method of narration that determines the position, or angle of vision, from which the story is told. The nature of relationship between the narrator and the story, the teller and the tale, is always crucial to the art of fiction. It controls the reader’s access to the story and determines just how much he can know at any given moment about what is taking place. So we should pay much attention to POV or point of view.The choice of point of view is the choice of who is to tell the story, who talks to the reader. Perhaps the first choice might be ―let the protagonist tell his or her own story‖. In making this choice, the author decides to employ the first person point of view. For example, in the following opening paragraph of James Baldwin’s Sonny Blues―I read about it in the paper, in the subway, on my way to work. I read it, and I couldn’t believe it, and I read it again…‖So in this paragraph, there are so many first person ―I‖s, it is first person point of view. The First Person POV means the author disappears into one of the characters of the fiction. Uses the pronouns ―I‖ and ―we‖.There are many advantages of first person POV. Firstly, the author creates an immediate sense of reality. Because we are listening to the words of someone whowas present at the events, we are inclined to trust the narrator and to enter into the experience. Secondly, the author has a ready-made principle of selection. The author is ready to select what he or she wants. No story can tell everything there is to tell. The author must make choices. A story told in the first person is necessarily limited to what the narrator has seen, heard, or guessed.Second Person POV means using the pronoun ―you‖, but it is rare to be frequently used. Because the second person actually requires a first-person voice. So it is infrequently used.So what is the third-person point of view? In our reading we always meet ―he‖ or ―she‖ or ―they‖ in the fiction. If the narrator is not intr oduced as a character, and if everything in the work is described in the third, the author is using the third-person point of view.In the third person point of view, we should be familiar with these two types. Omniscient Point of view & third person limited Point of view.WHAT IS Omniscient Point of view? It means the story is told in third person by a narrator who has unlimited knowledge of events and characters. In our reading, we find this type of narration often.What is the Third Person Limited point of view? It means the story is told in third person but from the view point of a character in the story.Point of view is limited to the character’s perceptions and shows no direct knowledge of what other characters are thinking, feeling, or doing. Third person point of view refers to she, he, it, and they narration. In our reading, we should pay quite attention the point of view.Now let’s move on next element of fiction---theme. If we ask an author why he writes, he might reply, ―Because I have something to say.‖ What the author has to say is the ―theme‖, the central and dominating idea in a story. Therefore, the theme is thecentral idea or statement about life that unifies and controls the total work. Please notice the definition of theme. It is the author who makes comments about the issue, problem, or subject, etc..The theme of a piece of fiction is its controlling idea or its central insight. It is the unifying generalization about life stated or implied by the story. Theme does not equal ―moral‖,―lesson‖, or ―message‖.Always keep in mind the following principals concerning theme:Theme should be expressible in the form of a statement sentence.The theme should be stated as a generalization about life.Be careful not to make the generalization larger than is justified by the terms of the story. Avoid terms like, every, all, always, in favor of words such as, some, sometimes, may.Theme is the central and unifying concept of a story. Therefore it accounts for all the major details of the story, is not contradicted by any detail of the story, and cannot rely upon supposed facts.There is no one way of stating the theme of a story. As long as the above requirements are met the statement is valid.Avoid any statement that reduces the theme to a familiar saying that we have heard all our lives.Theme in literature is the author’s way of communicating and sharing ideas, perception, and feeling with his readers.Often, it is the author’s way of probing and explor ing the puzzling questions of human existence with the readers. Sometimes, these questions do not produce the neat, tidy, or universally acceptable answers. About other elements, we briefly introduce them.Style, it means the author’s particularly way of t elling his story, for example, his characteristic manner of expression; When asked to discuss style, you are being asked to describe how or explain why the words, sentences, and imaginative comparisons are effective in terms of what is being created.Tone, it means the author’s attitude toward his subject or audience;Tone may be characterized as serious or ironic, sad or happy, private or public, angry or affectionate, bitter or nostalgic, or any other attitudes and feelings that human beings experience.Symbol, it means the additional meaning or significance the author attaches to a word, an image, an object, an action or even a character in his work;Allegory, it means the author’s attempt to reinforce his theme by making his characters represent some specific abstract ides or qualities.They are working tools for readers to appreciate a literary work.In the following study of fiction, it is designed to introduce these fundamental elements to you in detail with some sample readings.。