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1、 Theme Definition Thecentralideaorstatementaboutlifethatunifiesandcontrolsthetotalwork Athememaybestatedorimplied Itistheperceptionaboutlifeorhumannaturethatthewriterwantstocommunicate MisconceptionsaboutTheme 1 Eachanovelhasatheme themes Themeonlyexistsinthenovelthat seriouslyattemptstoreflectlifef
2、aithfully intendstorevealtruthaboutlife arebasedonideasortheoriesoflife Eg Novelsofratiocination 推理 horrorhavenotheme Theyareaimedatentertainingthereader notatimprovinghisunderstandingoflife 2 Thethemeislargelywhatthenovelis ThedifferencebetweenTheme Novel Theme Anabstractideaappealingsolelytotheint
3、ellectuallevelofreadingVitaminsNovel AworkofartappealingtotheemotionallevelVegetables 3 Thethemeisconfusedwithamoralorlesson Moral Lesson theadvicestatedorimpliedinaparable fable sth ofarulebywhichonecanregulatehisbehavior Eg Bekindtoyourneighbours Honestyisthebestpolicy Theme Morecomplicatedasanove
4、listoenhanceone sawarenessofliferatherthansimplytotellhimhowtobehave 4 Onenovelhasonlyonetheme Somehaveseveralsubthemestothemaintheme Someareappreciatedfortheirthematicambiguity 5 Thethemeisconfusedwiththesubject Subject Amatter anaffairTheme AnideaSubject Thetopiconwhichanauthorhaschosentowrite The
5、me Somestatementaboutorsomeopiniononthattopic Eg Love SubjectLoveisinvincible ThemeWar SubjectWarisuseless Theme Theme Particulartothenovel thoughsomearesimilar Subject Universal Eg TheScarletLetterTheGreatGatsbyWomeninLoveSubject LoveTheme Different FiveRequirementsforStatingaTheme Athememustbeexpr
6、essedintheformofastatementwithasubjectandapredicate Eg Loveofone scountryofteninspiresheroicself sacrifice Payattentiontoitsconvertibilitytosentenceformifathemeisstatedinthephraseform Eg Futilityofenvy Envyisfutile Selflessmaternallove Maternalloveisselfless 2 Namesofcharacters placesshouldnotbement
7、ioned Thethemeisageneralizationaboutlifebasedonthenovel andthestatementofthemeshouldbetruealsoofotherpeopleorlifesituations Eg WutheringHeights People spsychologyofrevenge Heathcliff spsychologyofrevenge 3 Thoughathemeisageneralization overgeneralizationshouldbeavoided Sinceathemeisextractedfromapar
8、ticularnovel event itmaynotbeapplicabletoallsituations Always never all every beavoidedSome sometimes may beused Whenmakingageneralization oneshouldstrictlykeeptowhatisactuallyinthenovelandnotsmuggleintoitassumptionssuppliedfromhispastexperience 4 Thethememustaccountforallthemajordetailsandmustnotbe
9、contradictedbyanydetailsinthenovel 5 Oneshouldavoidreducingathemetoaclich orplatitudesinceathemeisdifferentformamoraloralesson Eg Beautyisonlyskin deep SomeThemes Justiceprevails Loveconquersall Societywillalwaysoverwhelmtheindividual Childrenoftenseemoreclearlythanadults There snoplacefortheartisti
10、nthejungle WheretoLookfortheTheme 1 Howthenovelisentitled Thecentralthemeofthenovelissometimespresentinthetitle Eg PrideandPrejudice AboutDarcy sPrideElizabethBennet sPrejudice 2 Howthenovelistshowshisinterest Ifthenovelistisinterestedinsth hewouldallowmorespacetoit describingornarratingingreatdetai
11、l 3 Howthenovelistdealswithacommonsubject Ifthenovelisttreatsthecommonsubjectsinanuncommonway itshowsthatheistryingtoconveysth neworimportantinthenovel 4 Importantsymbols Symbolsareloadedwithimportantmeanings Soifasymbolappearsrepeatedlyoratimportantmoments itmaypointtothethemeofthenovel Eg TheScarl
12、etLetter theletter A AnalyzingTheme 1 Doestheworkhaveatheme Isitstatedorimplied 2 Whatgeneralization s statement s aboutlife humanexperiencedoestheworkmake 3 Whatelementsoftheworkcontributemostheavilytotheformulationofthetheme 4 Doesthethemeemergeorganicallyandnaturally ordoestheauthorseemtoforcethe
13、themeuponthework 5 Whatisthevalue significanceofthework stheme Isittopicaloruniversalinitsapplication 主题 是故事的意义 是作者对题材的某种评论 不论明示或暗示 是作者在写作过程中 与读者在阅读过程中所发现的总意义 也是人类欲使经验意义化的一种小说形式的反映 ARoseforEmily Death1 FuneralofEmily 2 DeathofEmily sfather 3 DeathofoldladyWyatt Emily sgreat aunt 4 CorpseofHomerBarro
14、n TheDeclineoftheOldSouth1 Atonetime theGriersonhomewasinoneofthefinestneighborhoodsinJefferson bythetimeofEmily sdeath garagesandcottonginshadencroachedandobliteratedeventheaugustnamesofthatneighborhood 2 ThereactiontotheYankee HomerBarron TheyoungergenerationfindsiteasiertoacceptHomer whiletheolde
15、rfolksfindhisrelationshipwithawomanborntooldSoutherngentilityunacceptable CommunityVs Isolation TheoddrelationshipbetweenthetownofJeffersonandEmily 1 Atherfuneral thenarratornotesthatEmilyhasbeen atradition aduty andacare asortofhereditaryobligationuponthetown However Emilyhasverylittletodowiththeto
16、wnspeopleduringherlife 2 Herfatherpreventsherfromdatinganyone afterhisdeath Emilycontinuestoisolateherselffromtherestofthecommunityforthebetterpartofherlife 3 AlthoughEmilyisindifferenttothetown thetownseemstobealmostobsessedwithher ThereactionJeffersonhastoherrelationshipwithHomerBarronexemplifiesthisobsession 4 Thesevariousreactionsdemonstrateaninterestingconflict EventhoughEmilyviewsherselfasseparatefromthecommunity thecommunitystillembracesher
