Introduction of essay(2).doc

v-Introduction (2)The eight-legged essay was a style of essay writing that had to be mastered to pass the imperial examinations(科举) during the Ming and Qing Dynasties. It is named so because it was divided into eight sections.The eight-legged essay format was invented by the Song Dynasty reformer Wang Anshi. However, it is not certain exactly when the form became the standard for the civil service examinations(公务员考试). A model form for essay writing issued by Emperor Taizu of Ming in 1370 is much less rigid and precise than eight-legged essays eventually became. It specifies only the topics to be tested in the examinations and the minimum length of the candidates essays. According to Gu Yanwu, the form of the essay became more standardized during the 15th century. The term eight-legged essay first appeared during the period from 1465 to 1487, and the essay form was first required in the examinations of 1487 and 1496. Since mastery of the form was a requirement for success in the examinations, commercial printers during the Ming Dynasty began to print successful examination essays as guides for aspiring candidates. The first of these appeared in pirated form during the 16th century. However, the practice gained official approval in 1587, when the government suggested that the best papers of the previous century be reprinted as examples.Eight sectionsOpening破題break topicTwo sentences of prose whose function is to broach the topic.Amplification承題carry topic Five sentences of prose, elaborating upon and clarifying the theme.Preliminary exposition起講begin speak Prosaic writingInitial argument起股begin section A specified number (4, 5, 8 or 9) of sentence pairs written in parallel, developing the initial argument. The parallel sentences address the topic and convey similar meanings, with similar structure but different words.Central argument中股middle portion Sentences written in parallel, with no limit as to their number, in which the central points of the essay are expounded freely.Latter argument後股after portion Sentences written in parallel, with no limit as to their number. Here, points not addressed in the previous section are discussed; otherwise, the writer may continue padding the ideas in the central argument. It is to be written in a serious tone rooted in realism.Final argument束股tying-up section Parallel sentence groups, each one consisting of either two to three, or else four to five, lines. Here, the main theme is revisited and loose ends are tied up.Conclusion大結big knot Prosaic writing where free expression and creativity are allowed. The concluding remarks are made here.散文的文类1. Classic Essay(古典随笔/经典随笔) In literary studies and criticism, the term “classic” is very broad and comprehensive in meaning. It may refer to : (1) the works of the highest rank in any nation, as every nation, big or small, has at least one period that sees greatest works; (2) Greek or Roman literature, or any work that follows the Greek and Roman tradition of writing; and (3) the works that conform to strict rules or elegant forms, produced from intellect rather than imagination, and avoiding obscurity or self-indulgence. The characteristics of classic literature:(1) Classic literature is of clarity, splendour, sublimity, and philosophicality. (2) In western literature there is always a lasting trait of Greek and Roman vigour which fosters a classic temperament in the literary minds of many genrations.(3) Great importance is placed upon strict rules, elegant forms, refined diction, confined syntax, and balanced texture, in all classic literature including the classic essay, which is more flexible, though.(4) The classic essay is as comprehensive in subject matters and styles as in all classic literature.Classic writers prepared much for modern literature; modern essayists or prose writers owe much to classic essays, without which, as some literary critics believe, they would have to build their literary castle just on the quicksand.2. Periodical Essay(报刊杂文)The periodical essay usually refers to the type of essay that appeared in the journals, as in The Tatler and The Spectator闲谈者和旁观者, from which the periodical essay is generally thought to have initiated. In the late 17th and early 18th centuries there appeared the London coffeehouse, of which the most famous were Buttons and Wills. By that time the passion for coffee-drinking (amusingly satirized in J.S. Bachs “The Coffee Cantata”) had spread all over Europe, and coffeehouse (like hotel bars in the modern world) had become popular places for the exchange of news and opinions. It was in London coffeehouses that the most famous of the early “periodicals” were born, namely The Tatler(1709-1711) and The Spectator(1711-1712).The Tatler is the name of a British magazine, which is the successor of the original literary and society journal founded by Richard Steele and his friend Joseph Addison in 1709. In 1711 The Tatler was replaced by a new paper called The Spectator, published every weekday, and still chiefly written by Steele and Addison. The Spectator, like The Tatler, aims to establish principles of ideal behaviour and genteel conduct, and propose standards of good taste for the general public, which finally contribute to elevate public taste.The essays were to influence the style and form of the English essay for the next two centuries. The success with which Addison and Steele established the periodical essay as a prestigious form can be judged by the fact that they were to have more than 300 imitators before the end of the century.3. Philosophical Essay (哲理散文) Philosophical essay is a term used in a broad sense. It is a classification not of form, but of subject matter. It covers a variety of subjects ranging from philosophy and politics to religion, morals and aesthetics, etc. Writers tried their hands on this genre from an early period, as Aristotle discoursing on Rhetoric and Metaphysics, Cicero on the pleasantness of old age and the art of “divination,” and Saint Augustine on theology.哲理散文是一个广义的用法，它不是针对作品的形式，而是针对作品的内容而言的。它的题材广泛，从哲学、政治、宗教到伦理、美学，无所不包。早在古希腊时期，就有不少文人雅士运用哲理散文阐明自己的主张，如亚里士多德、西塞罗、圣奥古斯丁等人都留下了不少传世之作。 4. Biographical Essay(传记) Biography, a term of Greek origin, formed of bio (life) and graphy (writing), is a written account of life, the history of the life of an individial man. It is a form of nonfictional writing. And in general, the form is considered to include autobiography, in which the subject accounts his or her own history. Biography can be seen either as a branch of history, or as a branch of literature. As a branch of history, it depends on a selective ordering and interpretation of materials, written or oral, established through research, and personal collection and recollection. As a branch of imaginative literature, it seeks to convey a sense of the individuality and significance of the subject through creative sympathetic insight.纪传可以是历史的分支，也可以是文学的分支。历史着重对史料进行有序整理与因果阐释；文学着重人和事件的个性化再现，着重发掘人和事件的普遍意义。 Biography, much the same as history or news,falls theoretically into two types: hard and soft. Hard biography, like hard history and hard news, present the facts, that is the wh-elements of the life of the subjects, in an objective manner, without any subjectivity of the accounter.硬纪传，注重叙述要素性事实，注重客观性，是硬历史或纯历史。 Soft biography, accounts the history of the subject, with materials selected and ordered by the accounter, and with the accounters interpretation of the materials and his or her presentation of the significance of the subject.软纪传，在叙述传主历史时，对事实进行选择与整理，对人与事件进行阐释，并且揭示传主的生命意义，是软历史，而且经常是非虚构文学。 It seems that no biography can provide or stop at hard facts, and that no biography can fail to be soft biography. 纪传作品，似乎不太可能停止于要素性事实的叙述，因此，纪传多数软纪传。散文体软纪传，称为纪传散文。Soft biography, or biography, for its selection and interpretation of materials, its demonstration of significance and its disposition of values, is, in its nature and purpose, a category of essay, essay of biographical content, to be more exact and flecible, biographical essay.The writing of English biographical essay began with the earliest making of Christian prose. Historia Ecclesiastica Gentis Anglorum, or Ecclesiastical History of the English Race, by the Venerable Bede(672?735?) presents in Chapter 24 of Book IV, the life and work of Caedmon, the first known English poet.英语纪传散文，始于早期基督教文献，比德的英吉利民族史中的“凯德蒙传”，是出色的篇章。 5. Literary Criticism and Comment(文学批评与评论) Literary criticism and comment is a term applied to the comparison, analysis, interpretation and evaluation of works of literature. It also means the formulation of general methodological or aesthetic principles for the examination of such works. There are many ways in which criticism may be classified. Generally speaking, it consists of theoretical criticism and practical criticism (sometimes called applied criticism). Practical criticism is sometimes distinguished into impressionistic and judicial criticism. Impressionistic criticism attempts to represent in words the felt qualities of particular passage or work, and to express the responses (the “impression”) that the work directly evokes from the critic. Judicial criticism, on the other hand, attempts not merely to communicate, but to analyze and explain the effects of a work by reference to its subject, organization, techniques, and style, and to base the critics individual judgments on general standards of literary excellence.文学批评和评论是指对文学作品进行比较、分析、阐释和评价。批评的分类总的来说有两种，即：理论评论和实用评论。后者有时又可分为印象批评和评判批评。印象批评是纯粹的主观批评，仅仅局限于从个人的直接