从目前新SAT阅读提供的相关题目来看,“视角分析”类题目考查得不多,主要会在小说中出题,所以在这里把这种题型所涉及的知识向同学们进行介绍,帮助大家在遇到这种题的时候能够更加从容地应对。
在College Board提供的Test Specifications中,对于“Analyzing point of view”这个考点的解释是:The student will determine the point of view or perspective from which a text is related or the influence this point of view or perspective has on content and style。
我们会发现,这个解释告诉我们,新SAT阅读考题会从两个角度进行考察:1)文章使用了何种视角;2)这样的视角对文章的内容和风格会有何种影响。而在解释中,也道出了point of view的定义:“…from which a text is related”,即故事是从谁的角度、以谁的声音在进行讲述。
因此在新SAT阅读判断视角时,就会涉及到判断:1)文章采用了第几人称 2)叙述者的身份 3)该视角所造成的效果。
先从视角说起。叙述视角分为三种:第一人称(first person)、第二人称(second person)和第三人称(third person)。
第一人称就是以“I”或“we”作为叙述角度。当一篇小说以“I”作为视角时,我们会知道“我”是小说中的角色(通常是主角),能够深入且直接地了解到这个角色的内心,而这样的视角通常是直接的、富有情感的、主观化的。有时,“我”也可以作为旁观者,收集关于主角的一切信息,从而呈现出故事的全貌,比如《伟大的盖茨比》中的Nick Carraway、《呼啸山庄》中的Mr.Lockwood都是以第一人称作为旁观者来叙述故事的。当以“we”来进行叙述时,读者就会感受到自己是故事中的一部分,被归于了一个团体。
第二人称“you”很少作为长篇小说的叙述视角进行使用,在书信体(epistolary style)中比较常见。当使用“你”来进行叙述时,读者会感到叙述者在直接与自己对话,从而产生一种亲密感,也会对叙述者的经历和苦难产生感同身受之感。
第三人称“he”、“she”、“it”、“they”是最常用的一种叙述角度,与第一人称相比,采用第三人称通常会给人感觉更加客观、克制。第三人称按照视角的范围,又可以分为“第三人称有限视角(third person limited)”和“第三人称全知视角(third person omniscient)”。第三人称有限视角指的是,作者只揭示一个角色内心活动;而第三人称全知视角则揭示每个角色的想法和内心活动。
虽然使用同种人称,但不同的身份也会造成叙述效果的不同。比如一位老者作为叙述者,和儿童作为叙述者,叙述的方式必然是不同的。老者的语气会更加沉稳淡然,而儿童则充满天真童趣。再如学者的用词会更加正式、更具学术性,而一个艺术家的用词可能会更加富有个性、充满想象力。
下面,我们以新旧SAT的视角分析类题目为例,带着同学们看一下这类题目的特征。
第一道题来自2008 May一篇自传:
25. The narrative point of view in the passage is that of
(A) a doctor explaining why she chose medicine as a career
(B) a child announcing an important realization attained while living away from home
(C) a mother describing her daughter's experiences at school
(D) an objective narrator presenting multiple perspectives within a story
(E) an adult reflecting on certain memorable childhood events
我们会发现,题干直接问我们文章是以谁的视角来进行叙述的,而选项的开端都是不同的身份:医生、孩子、母亲、客观叙述者、成年人。
我们截取原文的斜体字部分,和个别段落的首句:
This passage is adapted from a novel based on the life of Dr. May Chinn, a medical pioneer in Harlem during the 1920s. Here the protagonist relates several of her childhood experiences.
The summer I turned five, Mama decided she‘d had enough of the Lower East Side. …
It was my first tune away from home, the first time in my life that I was to spend even a night separated from my mother….
…
Upon learning this about myself, mirrors became attractive to me for the first time in my life.
可以看到,斜体字中已经告诉了我们文章节选自一位医生的自传,而这里是主角在叙述童年的经历。段落节选讲的是“我5岁的那个夏天”,后面也叙述了一些当时的经历,因此很容易就可以排除选项A、C、D,B错在文章视角是以成年人在回忆的角度来叙述的,而不是一个孩子在讲述,所以选择E。
第二道题来自旧版SAT OG第7套练习题的小说:
7. The passage is narrated from the point of view of
(A) Henry Mulcahy
(B) an observer who does not know Mulcahy initially, but who learns about him during the course of the passage
(C) an observer who has only partial knowledge of Mulcahy
(D) an observer who knows all about Mulcahy and his thoughts
(E) an administrator at Jocelyn College
这道题还是在问从谁的视角进行叙述,但我们观察选项可以发现,这道题更侧重于考察叙述视角的范围。
我们同样摘取原文段落的片段:
When Henry Mulcahy, a middle-aged instructor of literature at Jocelyn College…unfolded the president's letter and became aware of its contents, he gave a sudden sharp cry of impatience and irritation ...
He had guessed long ago that Hoar meant to dismiss him, but he was amazed, really amazed (he repeated the word to himself) that the man should have given himself away by an action as overt as this one....
For the truth was, as Mulcahy had to acknowledge…that in spite of all the evidence he had been given of the president's unremitting hatred, he found himself hurt by the letter...
从原文片段,我们可以看到,主角为Henry Mulcahy,以第三人称叙述,因此可以直接排除A。原文中我们可以看到Henry Mulcahy的行为:unfolded the president's letter,也可以看到他的心理活动:He had guessed long ago that Hoar meant to dismiss him。并且原文没有其他人的心理活动存在,这时,我们可以排除B和E,在C和D中进行选择。D符合原文对于Henry Mulcahy的描述,因此为正确答案。
最后,我们来看一下新OG第一套题中对于视角分析的考察:
34. Woolf uses the word “we” throughout the passage mainly to
A) reflect the growing friendliness among a group of people.
B) advance the need for candor among a group of people.
C) establish a sense of solidarity among a group of people.
D) reinforce the need for respect among a group of people.
这里可以看到,题干考查的是使用第一人称“we”所达成的效果。
我们摘取原文的斜体字和文本片段(Lines 19-24):
This passage is adapted from Virginia Woolf, Three Guineas. ©1938 by Harcourt, Inc. Here, Woolf considers the situation of women in English society.
But now, for the past twenty years or so, it is no longer a sight merely, a photograph, or fresco scrawled upon the walls of time, at which we can look with merely an esthetic appreciation. For there, trapesing along at the tail end of the procession, we go ourselves.
从原文中,我们发现“we”指代的是全体女性,而Woolf呼吁女性要“we go ourselves”。回到选项,我们会发现A选项的“growing friendliness”,B选项的“need for candor”以及D选项的“need for respect”并没有在原文有特定的体现,而C选项的“solidarity”,团结,则凸显了Woolf所提出的“we go ourselves”,所以在本文中,使用“we”这一人称,能够让女性们感到自己属于一个团体,要为共同的目标而努力。
综上,我们在面临新SAT阅读“视角分析”类题目时,要注意审题,看清题目问的是视角的确定,还是视角的效果,并根据不同的要求来寻找线索进行分析。这样,才能回到原文进行信息的准确判断,选出正确的答案。
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