上海交通大学：《20世纪英美短篇小说选读》教学资源_plot（1）

【1.1】 PLOT:A SEQUENCE OF INTERRELATED ACTIONS OR EVENTS Like the people or characters in fiction,who are moulded 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's to say,to a writer,once the narrative or sequential order has been established,the next thing to consider is plot,or the plan of development of the actions What Is Plot? Without a plot,we do not have a story.A plot is a plan or groundwork 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.The British novelist E.M.Forster,in Aspects of the Novel,presented a memorable illustration of plot.As a bare minimum narration of actions,in contrast to a story with a plot,he used the following:"the king died,and then the queen died." This sentence describes a sequence,a chronological order,but it is no more.To have a plot,a sequence must be integrated with human motivation.Thus the following sentence qualifies as fiction with a plot:"The king died,and then the queen died of grief."Once the narrative introduces the operative element "of grief,"which shows that one thing(grief over the king's death)produces or overcomes another(the death of the queen),there is a plot.Thus in a story time is important not only simply because one thing happens after another but because one thing happens because of another.It is response,interaction,opposition,and causation that make a plot out of a simple series of actions. Conflict in Plot

【1.1】 PLOT: A SEQUENCE OF INTERRELATED ACTIONS OR EVENTS Like the people or characters in fiction, who are moulded 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’s to say, to a writer, once the narrative or sequential order has been established, the next thing to consider is plot, or the plan of development of the actions. What Is Plot? Without a plot, we do not have a story. A plot is a plan or groundwork 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. The British novelist E. M. Forster, in Aspects of the Novel, presented a memorable illustration of plot. As a bare minimum narration of actions, in contrast to a story with a plot, he used the following: “the king died, and then the queen died.” This sentence describes a sequence, a chronological order, but it is no more. To have a plot, a sequence must be integrated with human motivation. Thus the following sentence qualifies as fiction with a plot: “The king died, and then the queen died of grief.” Once the narrative introduces the operative element “of grief,” which shows that one thing (grief over the king’s death) produces or overcomes another (the death of the queen), there is a plot. Thus in a story time is important not only simply because one thing happens after another but because one thing happens because of another. It is response, interaction, opposition, and causation that make a plot out of a simple series of actions. Conflict in Plot

Fictional human responses are brought out to their highest degree in the development of a conflict.In its most elemental form,a conflict is the opposition of two people. They may fight,argue,enlist help against each other,and otherwise carry on their opposition.Conflicts may also exist between larger groups of people,although in fiction conflicts between individuals are more identifiable and therefore often more interesting.Conflicts may also exist between an individual and larger forces,such as natural objects,ideas,modes of behaviors,pubic opinions,and the like.The existence of difficult choices within an individual's mind may also be presented as conflict,or dilemma.In addition,the conflict may be presented not as direct opposition,but rather as a set of comparative or contrastive ideas or values.In short,there are many ways to bring out a conflict in fiction. Types of Conflict External Conflict External conflict may take the form of a basic opposition between man and nature(as it does in Ernest Hemingway's The Old Man and the Sea or Jack London's To Build a Fire cf.P.65),or between man and society (as it does in Theodore Dreiser's An American Tragedy or Richard Wright's The Man who Was Almost a Man).It may also take the form of an opposition between man and man(between the protagonist and a human adversary,the antagonist),as,for example,in most detective stories,in which Sherlock Holmes(the detective created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)or a C.Auguste Dupin (the one created by Edgar Allan Poe)is asked to match wits with a cunning criminal. Internal Conflict Internal conflict,on the other hand,focuses on two or more elements contesting within the protagonist's own character,as in Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness, where Kurtz struggles and fails to subdue the savage instincts concealed beneath his civilized veneer. Some conflicts,in fact,are never made explicit and must be inferred by reader

Fictional human responses are brought out to their highest degree in the development of a conflict. In its most elemental form, a conflict is the opposition of two people. They may fight, argue, enlist help against each other, and otherwise carry on their opposition. Conflicts may also exist between larger groups of people, although in fiction conflicts between individuals are more identifiable and therefore often more interesting. Conflicts may also exist between an individual and larger forces, such as natural objects, ideas, modes of behaviors, pubic opinions, and the like. The existence of difficult choices within an individual’s mind may also be presented as conflict, or dilemma. In addition, the conflict may be presented not as direct opposition, but rather as a set of comparative or contrastive ideas or values. In short, there are many ways to bring out a conflict in fiction. Types of Conflict External Conflict External conflict may take the form of a basic opposition between man and nature(as it does in Ernest Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea or Jack London’s To Build a Fire cf. P.65), or between man and society (as it does in Theodore Dreiser’s An American Tragedy or Richard Wright’s The Man who Was Almost a Man). It may also take the form of an opposition between man and man (between the protagonist and a human adversary, the antagonist), as, for example, in most detective stories, in which Sherlock Holmes (the detective created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle) or a C. Auguste Dupin (the one created by Edgar Allan Poe) is asked to match wits with a cunning criminal. Internal Conflict Internal conflict, on the other hand, focuses on two or more elements contesting within the protagonist’s own character, as in Joseph Conrad’s Heart of Darkness, where Kurtz struggles and fails to subdue the savage instincts concealed beneath his civilized veneer. Some conflicts, in fact, are never made explicit and must be inferred by reader

from what the characters do or say as the plot unfolds,as is the case in Earnest Hemingway's Hills Like White Elephants

from what the characters do or say as the plot unfolds, as is the case in Earnest Hemingway’s Hills Like White Elephants