通过分析电影An-Inspector-Calls学习如何写好记叙文.docx

通过分析电影An Inspector Calls学习如何写记叙文

教学课题：通过分析电影An Inspector Calls学习如何写好记叙文。
教学目标：通过分析电影，更加直接地认识记叙文，学习怎样写记叙文。
教学内容：
1. Plot
2. Theme
3. Major characters
4. Point of view
5. Scene
6. Structure
7. Summary

Introduction about the film
An Inspector Calls is a suspenseful film adapted from English dramatist J. B. Priestley’s 1945 play of the same name, but the film is set in 1912. It is one of Priestley’s best known works for the stage, and is considered to be one of the classics of mid-20th century English theatre. It was directed by Aisling Walsh. The film tells that a mysterious inspector interrogates a wealthy English family about their responsibility for the death of a young working class factory girl.

About the author
John Boynton Priestley (1894—1984), was an England writer, commenter and dramatist. He was an “all—round writer”, which means he wrote all different sorts of literature.

Background
The background of An Inspector Calls is set in 1912. And there were strong distinctions between the upper and lower classes in England. Women were subservient to men. All that a well—off women could do was get married while a poor woman was seen as cheap labour. The ruling classes think there is no need to change the status quo.

1. Plot
Clue: Eva’s death
以伊娃的死为线索。

Beginning
In 1912 industrialist Arthur Birling, his wife Sybil and young son Eric are celebrating the engagement of daughter Sheila to Gerald Croft when they are visited by the unexpected arrival of “Inspector Goole”. He tells them of the death of a young woman named Eva Smith.

Development
Through the investigation of Inspector Goole, they each have secrets linking them to the Eva’s death. And then the Inspector leaves.

Climax+Ending
The family rings the hospital and there is no record of a girl dying from drinking disinfectant. Suddenly the phone rings, the phone call reveals that a young woman has just died and the police are on their way to question them about it.

2. Theme
Social responsibility
In the film, each member of the family share the responsibility of Eva's death，the inspector: “Each of you helped to kill her.” They do or don’t take responsibility for their behavior, and the inspector’s lesson.

这部电影主要讲述的是探长调查一个工人阶级的年轻女孩的死亡，发现这个富有的英国家庭应对这个女孩的死负责任。

e.g. The Inspector: One Eva Smith has gone —but there are millions and millions of Eva Smiths and John Smiths still left with us, with their lives, their hopes and fears, their suffering and chance of happiness, all intertwined with our lives, and what we think and say and do.

分析：
这位探长说一个伊娃史密斯死了，还有成千上万个伊娃史密斯或约翰史密斯活在这个世界上，他们的生活都与我们交织在一起；我们必须对自己的一言一行所负责。在电影中指的是柏林一家人必须为伊娃的死负责任。

Class conflict
Class issues are dealt with by having a middle—class family involved in the death of a working-class girl. And there was inequality between the classes still existed and that the upper-classes looked down upon the working-class in 1912 of England

柏灵一家是当时整个资产阶级的缩影，而伊娃是当时工人阶级的缩影。柏灵一家对伊娃的伤害，最终致使她的死亡。这表现出资产阶级对工人阶级的压迫与剥削，还有阶级之间的不平等。

e.g. Eva: …He started giving me money, but then I realized he was stealing it. I told him not to any more. I don’t want him to get into trouble…
Mrs. Birling: That’s enough. Given your present state, I find it hard to believe in your extraordinary scruples.
Eva: They’re not extraordinary. I mean…I was raised to do my best by people…
Mrs. Birling: …that the two of young marry…
Eva: We can’t marry. He…we are not of the same…class. It wouldn’t work…

分析：
伊娃不接受艾瑞克偷来的钱。这让柏灵夫人感到匪夷所思，认为像伊娃这种工人阶级的女孩是不可能这样做的。这属于一种阶级偏见。并且接下来伊娃被问到她可以和艾瑞克结婚时，伊娃的回答是：我们两个属于不同的阶级，是不能在一起的。由此我们可以看出阶级之间是非常不平等的，并且阶级意识已经深入人心。

3. Major characters
Inspector Goole
(Goole=God) isn’t a “real” person. He knows everything. The Birlings question whether he is actually a real inspector, and a phone call made by Gerald to the local police station reveals that there is no Inspector Goole in the local police force.

分析：
在剧情反转的时候，警察局告知亚瑟没有古尔这个探长。并且在电影中有几个镜头说明了古尔是不存在的。第一古尔德离开比尔林家后来到一个巷道，抬头望向伊娃居住的地方的窗口，然而伊娃写完日记，站起身，拿着日记走向窗口往下看，巷道上没有人。第二伊娃死前的那一刻，她看到了护士背后的古尔探长，然而周围的医生并没有看到探长。

Arthur Birling
He’s a prosperous factory owner (businessman), and he is extremely selfish and greed. His first priority is to make money and get power! He strongly believes that “a man has to make his own way”.

e.g. Mr. Birling: the way these cranks talk now, you’d think everybody has to look after everybody else, and we’re all mixed up together, like bees in a hive. “Community”! If I hear that the word one more time… a man must look after his own affairs, and then everything else just…

分析：
从亚瑟的言谈之中，我们可以看出他是一个极度自私的人。他认为“团体”是胡说八道；我们都生活在一起，像蜂窝里的蜜蜂这种说法更是奇怪；并且，在他看来一个人只要做好自己的事情就好。

e.g. “...we can look forward to a time when Birling and company and Crofts Limited are no longer competing, but working as one…lower costs and higher prices.”

分析：
很明显亚瑟是一个唯利是图的人，并且他是一个资本家。事实上他认为他女儿的订婚会为他带来更多的利益，从这我们可以看出他是一个多么贪婪的人。同时，他不考虑价格上涨可能给穷人带来的影响，他只想得到更多的钱。

Sybil Birling
Mrs. Birling is Arthur Birling’s wife. She wants to stick to the rules, concerned about manners (tells what the others shall do or not). She’s very selfish, cold—hearted and snobbish.

e.g. Mr. Birling: an altogether excellent dinner, you must tell cook from me, Sybil.
Mrs. Birling: And you’re not supposed to say such things in front of guests.

分析：
她是一个势利眼。她非常清楚社会阶层之间的差异，她非常生气亚瑟在杰拉德面前称赞厨师，她认为这是一种失态。并且她很注重礼节，直接告诉了亚瑟在高贵的客人面前不能说这样的话。

e.g. Inspector: You still don’t feel sorry for what you did, Mrs. Birling?
Mrs. Birling: No, I do not. I’m sorry she died, naturally, but I don’t accept any blame for it at all.
Inspector: Who is to blame, then?
Mrs. Birling:…and secondly, the young man who got her into trouble...some drunken young idler, then all the more reason why he shouldn’t escape! He should be made an example of.

分析：
她的冷漠和自私使她竭力否认自己过错，她认为自己拒绝帮助伊娃的这个事实并不会导致伊娃的自杀，同时她把致使伊娃自杀的责任推到了那个令伊娃怀孕的男人身上，殊不知那个男人正是她的儿子。这个事实让她自食其果，害人终害己。

Sheila
She is nice, honest, and responsible: she likes to change herself and feels sorry for what she had done.

e.g. Sheila: I’m sorry. I’m so sorry…I was sorry even as I did it. I…I don’t know why I did it.
Inspector: You did it because you were jealous of her.
Sheila: … Yes. That was part of it. Yes. She was…so pretty. She seemed so sure of herself. I’d…I’d never do it again. Not to anyone.

分析：
当希拉得知自己就是那个投诉伊娃并且导致她被开除的顾客，更是导致伊娃最终死亡的罪魁祸首之一。希拉感到非常的后悔，认为自己应该对伊娃的死负责任；同时也说自己再也不会做同样的事了；从此出我们可以看出希拉是一个善良的人。当探长问道希拉：你是因为嫉妒伊娃的美貌才向经理投诉她的，对此，希拉虽然迟疑了一下，但是也诚实的肯定了自己是因为嫉妒她的美貌。

Gerald Croft
Is good—looking, rich man! He’s engaged to Sheila. He is a capitalist and egoist (just interested in money and profit). He seems to agree completely with Mr. Birling, quite the same attitude of the worker.

e.g. Gerald: You can’t have people like that in the work force. And that’s the bottom line.
Mr. Birling: I pay people the going rate. And if people don’t like it, they’re free to leave and go elsewhere. If you don’t come down hard on some of these people, they’ll soon be asking for the earth.
Gerald: That’s right.

分析：
对于亚瑟开除了举行罢工的伊娃这种行为，杰拉德表示赞同，他认为这种工人不能留在工厂中，这是他的底线。可见杰拉德是一个自私自利、唯利是图的人。

e.g. “We all need to come to terms with what’s happened. The police will be back. They’ll want statements.”

分析：
在探长离开后，杰拉德想到的是串口供，以免受到法律的惩罚。他只想到了他自己，没有为自己犯下的罪进行忏悔。

4. Point of view
The film main used the objective point of view(客观视角), but in the ending, the film used the omniscient point of view（全知视角）.

这部电影主要采用客观视角。将探长调查伊娃之死的过程直接呈现在我们，使观众全方位地了解故事的发展。

在结尾处采用了全知视角。当柏灵一家得知探长是假的并且今天下午没有女孩自杀身亡后，他们开始狂欢；与此同时，我们可以从电影中得知，伊娃正在进行自杀，接下来将会有一个探长去他们家进行调查。这一点采用全知视角可以将柏灵一家的狂欢与伊娃的死对比起来，显示出来强烈的对比和讽刺。

采用客观视角和全知视角可以直接客观地展现两种不同的场景，不受时间和空间的限制，反应现实比较灵活。

5. Scene
The Scene is very important in the film. The scene at the beginning of the film, the audience can have the immediate impression of a “heavily comfortable house” and “little dim house”.

在电影中，为了加强了对比效果，运用了大量的场景来突出两种阶级之间的不平等，暗示了伊娃的悲惨遭遇。

分析：
影片一开头，先出现了一幅幽暗的画面；但是很快切换到明亮的画面，一幅看似温馨和谐的家庭油画般的画面，洋溢着轻松和快乐的氛围；在一开始设下了一个疑问，这很容易让观众联想起来这两者之间的关系，引起观众兴趣，并且暗示了一种悲剧气氛。在写作时，我们也可以采用这种两种相反的场景已达到对比的效果。

分析：
在后面调查讲述的阶段，采用闪回来再现回忆片段，只要有伊娃出现的片段都会偏向于冷色调，而现实家庭里面都是暖色调，一冷一暖的对比，其实也是正反的反讽暗示，

在写作时，我们也可以采用这种两种相反的场景来表现对比的效果。

6. Structure
首尾呼应

e.g. Eric: do you believe in God?
Eva: Yes.
Eric: How can you?
Eva: I can’t believe in people. I have to believe in something, or I’d fall. Fall down through the cracks…and never stop falling.

分析
相同的对话在文中出现了二次。第一次在电影开始，观众并不知道这对话是谁说出的，而且为什么说不能相信人，只能相信上帝；在一开始给观众留下一个悬念，同时引出下文。第二次出现在结尾处，点明了谁说出这样的话，并且照应开头，加深了观众的印象。

首尾呼应的作用：前有伏笔，后有照应，可使结构更加紧密、严谨。强调电影主题，加深了观众的印象，引起观众的共鸣。

7. Summary
1) 主题要明确，要使主题贯穿全文。
2）在这部电影中，人物的塑造都是两个阶级的缩影。柏灵一家代表了资产阶级，伊娃代表了工人阶级。在写作时，我们也可以塑造出典型人物，来突出主题。
3）在写作时适当地转换视角，可以直接客观地展现场景，并且反映现实比较灵活。
4）可以用色调相反的场景来加强对比的效果。
5）首尾呼应可以使文章结构紧密。

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