Plot and the Dramatic Situation · 情节与戏剧情境
| English | 中文 | Pinyin · 拼音 |
|---|---|---|
| Plot/plɒt/ | 情节 | qíng jié |
| dramatic situation/drəˈmætɪk ˌsɪtʃuːˈeɪʃn/ | 戏剧情境 | xì jù qíng jìng |
Plot is not "what happens"
- Plot 情节 is the sequence of events in a narrative.
- Events throughout a narrative are connected, each building on the others.
- The connection is often cause and effect — which is why order carries meaning.
Events with no meaningful order are a diary whose pages fell out on the stairs.
情节不是"发生了什么"
- 情节(plot)是叙事中事件的序列。
- 叙事中的各个事件是相互关联的,每一个都建立在其他事件之上。
- 这种关联往往是因果关系——这正是顺序承载意义的原因。
没有有意义顺序的事件，像日记本散落在楼梯上的纸页。
Plot is defined as... · 情节被定义为……
And the events are connected, each building on the others, often causally. · 而且这些事件是相互关联的,每一个都建立在其他事件之上,往往具有因果性。
Sequence versus chronology
- Chronology is the order the events happened in.
- Sequence is the order the text puts them in.
- When the two differ, the difference is a choice, and choices are what analysis is about.
序列与时间顺序
- 时间顺序是事件实际发生的先后。
- 序列是文本把它们排列的先后。
- 当两者不同时,这一差异就是一个选择,而分析所关心的正是选择。
When the order of the text differs from chronology, that difference is a choice. · 当文本的顺序与时间顺序不同时,这一差异是一个选择。
And choices are what analysis is about. · 而分析所关心的正是选择。
The dramatic situation
- The dramatic situation 戏剧情境 includes the setting and action of the plot and how the narrative develops to place characters in conflict.
- It often involves the rising or falling fortunes of a main character or set of characters.
- So naming the dramatic situation means naming who is in conflict with what, and which way their fortunes are moving.
戏剧情境
- 戏剧情境(dramatic situation)包括情节的背景与行动,以及叙事如何发展从而把人物置于冲突之中。
- 它往往涉及主要人物或人物群体命运的上升或下降。
- 因此点明戏剧情境,就是要说出谁与什么处于冲突之中,以及他们的命运正朝哪个方向移动。
Separate the story from the plot · 把故事与情节分开
The dramatic situation is what a reader has been given so far, which is not the same as what has happened. · 戏剧情境是读者到目前为止被给予的东西,这与实际发生了什么并不相同。
Select all · 所有 the parts of the dramatic situation. · 选出戏剧情境的所有组成部分。
It often also involves rising or falling fortunes; the author's intention is outside the text. · 它往往还涉及命运的上升或下降;作者的意图在文本之外。
Summary is not plot analysis. Retelling the events in order restates the text; describing the plot means naming the connection between events (usually cause and effect), the conflict, and the direction the fortunes are moving.
概述不是情节分析。按顺序复述事件只是重述文本;描述情节意味着点明事件之间的关联(通常是因果)、其中的冲突,以及命运移动的方向。
The dramatic situation often involves the rising or falling ____ of a main character. · 戏剧情境往往涉及主要人物 ____ 的上升或下降。
The place where the direction changes is almost always where a question is set. · 方向发生变化的那个地方,几乎总是出题之处。
Fortunes have a direction
- Ask at any point in a story: are this character's fortunes rising or falling?
- The answer is usually clear, and it usually changes at least once.
- The place where it changes is almost always the place a question will be set.
命运有方向
- 在故事的任何一处都可以问:这个人物的命运是在上升还是在下降?
- 答案通常是清楚的,而且通常至少会变化一次。
- 它发生变化的那个地方,几乎总是出题之处。
Match each move to what it produces. · 把每个动作与其产出配对。
The exam never rewards summary — it rewards the connections. · 考试从不奖励概述——它奖励的是那些关联。
Describing a plot without retelling it
- Name the conflict. Name the direction of fortunes. Name the connection between two events.
- That is a description of plot; a list of what happened is a summary.
- The exam never rewards summary — it rewards the connections.
不复述故事地描述情节
- 点明冲突。点明命运的方向。点明两个事件之间的关联。
- 这才是对情节的描述;一份"发生了什么"的清单只是概述。
- 考试从不奖励概述——它奖励的是那些关联。
Summary: he loses his job, then quarrels with his brother. Plot: the quarrel is possible only because the job is gone — the loss removes the one reason he had to stay civil, and his fortunes fall in both directions at once.
概述:*他丢了工作,然后与哥哥吵了一架。*情节:这场争吵之所以可能,正因为工作没了——这一损失拿走了他唯一保持客气的理由,而他的命运在两个方向上同时下坠。
Plot is the sequence of events, connected and often causal — so order carries meaning and differs from chronology by choice. The dramatic situation is setting plus action plus the development that places characters in conflict, often involving rising or falling fortunes.
情节是事件的序列,彼此关联且往往具有因果性——因此顺序承载意义,并因选择而与时间顺序不同。戏剧情境是背景加行动,再加上把人物置于冲突之中的那种发展,往往涉及命运的上升或下降。