IntroductionI.Whydowehavesuchcourse?Englishliteratureisoneofthecompulsoryandmostimportantcourses.However,theEnglishliteraturecoursesofferedaremerelytaughtattheleveloflearninggeneralinformationanddevelopingliteralunderstanding.Admittedly,suchcourseshelpthem/youalotintheir/youracquisitionoftheEnglishlanguage.ButthefunctionofEnglishliteraturereachesfarbeyondthat.InreadingEnglishliterature,astudentshouldhavethepowertodiscernhowhumanbeingstranslatetheirexperienceintoartisticexpressionandrepresentation;howwriters,throughtheircreativeimpulses,conveytoustheirinsightsintohumandestinyandhumanlife;andhowsocialconcernisinvolvedinaspecificformofhumanimagination.Inaddition,studentsshouldelevatetothelevelofcultivatingacuriosityfortheunknown,thinkingcogentlyandlogically,expressingthemselvesclearlyandconcisely,andobservingtheworldaroundthemcriticallyandobjectively.Butmoststudentsarestillatalossastohowtheycaneffectivelyanalyzealiteraryworkbythemselvesinanyoftheserespects,eventhoughtheyhavereadplentyofexcerptsfromrepresentativeworksintheBritishandAmericanliterarycanon.Andtheytendtohavelittleideawhatrolethebeginningpartplaysinthewholestory,howtheplotdevelopsandcomestoresolution,inwhatwaypointofviewdeterminesareader’sunderstandingofthestory,andhowtheimagesandsymbolsarerelatedtothetheme.Uponconsiderationofthesefactors,wehavesuchcoursewiththeintentionofcultivatingbothstudents’literarysensibilitiesandtheir/yourcriticalpowerwhenreadingEnglishshortstoriesandnovels.II.Introductionaboutreadingastory1.WhatisStory?“Yes–oh,dear,yes—thenoveltellsastory.”ThisisForster’sremark,whichisworthspecialattention,forheissomeoneinthetradeandwithrichexperience.InhisAspectsoftheNovelhelists“story”asthefirstaspect.Peoplereadingnovelsforstoriesusuallyaskquestionslike“whathappenednext?”and“and”whatwouldhedonext?”Thesequestionsattesttothetwobasicelementsofastory.Theoneistheeventandtheotherthetime.Astoryisaseriesofhappeningsarrangedinthenaturaltemporalorderastheyoccur.Storyisthebasisofthenovel,andindeedthebasisofna