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1、English 101/SewardShort Story TheoryTheme Theme controlling idea orcentralinsightMoral generalterm applicableto most ofmankind concerning right/wrong behavior1. Theseterms arenot interchangeable. Theybothexplainhuman existence and behavior. 2. Allinterpretive fictionhas atheme. 3. Themeexists
2、whenthe a. authorseriouslyattemptsto record life accuratelytorevealsome truthaboutit b.authormechanicallyintroduces some concept oflife asa unifyingelement whichthe storyillustrates (weakthemes)4. Explicitlystated theme directpresentationofthem5. Theme must bea declarativestatement, notaquesti
3、onorsentence fragment. Itmust account forallmajordetailsina selection. Avoid triteorclichéexpressions since thesetend to be vague. 6. Implicitlystated theme:the reader must phrase the theme forhimselfusingthemeaningofthestorya. Theme maybe stated inseveralways. b.Several themes maybe identifia
4、bleina good story. This indicatesdepthofthe story. c. Pickoutwhat youbelieve isthe maininsight, the one that seems tocover mostofthe events inthe story. d.We cannotrejectathemebecausewe donotagreewithit. Itisstill aview oflife whichwe canstore inmemorytomeasure ourownview oflife. e. Moral hin
5、ting tends tooversimplifythe storyand makes a distinctjudgement, whichmaynotreflect currentmorality. f. Whenstating theme, neveruse characternames orreferences to the literature; statethemeas a generalization, usingwords such asa person, we, society, people, whichcanbe softened bysometimes, of
6、ten, most. g.Never use superlatives ortermswhichdonotallow latitude. e.g.all, wemust, never,always, etc.SymbolArbitrary Symbol: somethingthat hasone meaninge.g.numbers, chemicalsymbols,highwaysigns etc.Literary Symbol: anobject, person, situationoractioninastorythat has literalmeaning inthe st
7、orybutsuggests other meanings as wellName Symbolism: GrannyWeatherall,Laird are intentional usesofnames tosuggestcharacteristicsofindividualsActions as Symbols: acharacter's flight couldbe symbolic ofescape, inBoys and Girlsthe gi
