英语短篇小说选读OHenry欧亨利

1、O. Henry,. A Brief Introduction . Life . Major Works and Writing Style . Plot-A Retrieved Reformation,. A BRIEF INTRODUCTION,Influence,The father of the modern American short story” American life humor encyclopedia 美国生活的幽默百科全书 Short prose writer laureate as Manhattan 曼哈顿桂冠散文作家,The three short story

2、writers of the world,GuydeMaupassant 居伊德莫泊桑 Anton chekhov 契诃夫 O.Henry 欧亨利,-the most popular and widely known American short story writer of the twentieth century. -The highly ironic, sentimental or unexpected story conclusion has been closely identified with O. Henry so that his name has become syno

3、nymous with the fiction of this kind. - He was commonly regarded as modern American master of the short story form. His works were considered as models of genre and his short story techniques were taught in college writing course. -O. Henrys Memorial Award Prize,. LIFE,- He was born in 1862 in North

4、 Carolina, where he spent his childhood. - When he was eighteen years old because of his body, he went to Texas. - In 1887 he married Athol Estes Roach, they had one daughter and one son. - In early 1898 he was found guilty of embezzlement (挪用) charges and sentenced to five years in an Ohio prison.,

5、- After doing three years of the five years sentence, Porter emerged from the prison in1901 and changed his name to O. Henry. - He moved to New York City,where over the next ten years before his death in 1910,he published over 300 stories and gained worldwide acclaim as American favorite short story

6、 writer. -He died on June 5,1910 in New York City at the age of forty seven.,. Major Works and Writing Style,O. Henrys stories are famous for their surprise endings, to the point that such an ending is often referred to as an O. Henry ending. He was called the American answer to Guy de Maupassant. B

7、oth authors wrote twist endings, but O. Henry stories were much more playful. His stories are also well known for witty narration. Most of O. Henrys stories are set in his own time, the early years of the 20th century. Many take place in New York City and deal for the most part with ordinary people:

8、 clerks, policemen, waitresses.,Major Works,Cabbages and Kings 白菜与国王,The Romance of a Busy Broker 证券经纪人的浪漫故事 The Gift of Magi 麦琪的礼物 The Last Leaf 最后一片叶子 A Cosmopolite in a Caf 咖啡馆里的世界公民 Mammon and the Archer 财神和爱神 The Ransom of Red Chief 红色酋长的救赎 The Furnished Room 带家具出租的房间 The Cop and the Anthem 警察和

9、赞美诗 A Retrieved Reformation 重新做人,The Gift of Magi,Its about the young couple who are short of money but desperately want to buy each other Christmas gifts. Unbeknownst to Jim, Della sells her most valuable possession, her beautiful hair, in order to buy a platinum fob chain for Jims watch; while unb

10、eknownst to Della, Jim sells his own most valuable possession, his watch, to buy jeweled combs for Dellas hair.,The Ransom of Red Chief,Two men kidnap a boy of ten. The boy turns out to be so disgusting that the desperate men ultimately pay the boys father $250 to take him back.,The Cop and the Anth

11、em,Its about a New York City hobo named Soapy, who sets out to get arrested so he can avoid sleeping in the cold winter as a guest of the city jail. Despite efforts at petty theft, disorderly conduct, and mashing with a young prostitute, Soapy fails to draw the attention of the police. Disconsolate,

12、 he pauses in front of a church, where an organ anthem inspires him to clean up his life and is ironically charged for loitering and sentenced to three months in prison.,The Last Leaf,The Young, poor painter Johnsy contracted pneumonia, Sue make every effort to take care of her, but she still did no

13、t improve. Johnsy would give up completely when the last leaf fell to the ground. In order to save her ,Another old artist Behrman climbed the wall to paint the ivy leave in rainy night, which he contracted pneumonia and died two days later. Johnsy survived , the last one was painted by Behrman, bec

14、ame his final masterpiece.,O.Henrys Writing Style,A master of surprise endings, who wrote about the life of ordinary people in New York City. Typical for O. Henrys stories is a twist of plot which turns on an ironic or coincidental circumstance. In his works, O.Henry presents the panorama of the Ame

15、rican people to readers with ironic and humorous tone. Tearful Smile they help others without asking for rewards and regard it as a pleasure; they give up their own treasure and chance to others etc.,Human Evils,Human beings have many defects, too. Sometimes they are lazy, officious, vain, arrogant,

16、 shameless, cowardly,etc By exposing the human defects and the dark sides of the world, O.Henry wants to awaken peoples conscience and deepest desire for all good things,people can use their efforts to save and cleanse the whole world.,. Plot-A Retrieved Reformation,Plot is the literary element that

17、 describes the structure of the story. It shows the arrangement of events and actions within a story. Plot has two basic types: conflict plot and epiphany plot.,Five stages of plot: exposition, complication, crisis, falling action and resolution.,exposition,complication,crisis,falling action,resolut

18、ion,Conflict plot,The plot revolves around conflict. The story usually begins with the“ exposition”-passages which give the readers basic information about who the characters are, where they are and what they are doing. Conflict rises when the protagonist encounters more and more obstacles in pursuit of his or her goal.,The conflict is intensified through a phase of rising action until a cl