總分總結(jié)構(gòu)是時間和效率的體現(xiàn)。正如公司有級別之分,這樣才能分工明確,有收有放,實現(xiàn)最高效率,不致成為一盤散沙;也好像學(xué)生上課希望老師重點明確,聽課和做筆記都能有的放矢;哪怕事情平常到點菜這檔事,有些人就特別擅長,不僅因為美食經(jīng)驗多,而且因為思路清楚,幾個人該點幾個菜,葷素如何搭配心里都有譜。
除了能在最短時間內(nèi)讓讀者了解最重要的信息,將文章要點一開始就交代清楚的總分總結(jié)構(gòu)還能穩(wěn)定讀者情緒。中國人說話的方式是要擺個噱頭在前面,最好的我藏最后再刷的抖出來,就要看別人愣一下后的突然恍然大悟狀,瘋狂爆笑狀或悲痛反省狀。演戲演的好可以,但議論文中不行。因為議論文的目的是要讓讀者相信你的話,開誠布公才能贏得別人的信任,玩文筆技巧將最好的藏在最后,殊不知無知導(dǎo)致恐懼,加上人或多或少都有點控制欲,所以考官在知情權(quán)被剝奪的情況下,還要一路忍受各種各樣低級的語法錯誤和拼寫錯誤,如何有心情體會你絞盡腦汁或靈感突發(fā)的美妙想法。相反,如果讀了開頭就了解文章大意,雖然用詞簡單,語法勉強,至少考官知道你要從三方面:家庭、學(xué)校和社會的不良影響來分析為什么青少年犯罪越來越多。哪怕中間部分有些辭不達意,語意不連貫,因為已經(jīng)知道大框架,所以考官不會受到太多情緒影響,能夠客觀的評分。鍛煉總分總結(jié)構(gòu)的方法——了解、鑒賞、模仿和提綱
很多學(xué)生哪怕了解了總分總結(jié)構(gòu)的重要性,還是不能應(yīng)用到寫作或口語考試中,因為第一他們覺得這種形式,不就是總分總嘛,太簡單了;第二,因為總分總需要抓大局,對喜歡考慮細節(jié)、見木不見林的學(xué)生而言太難。小瞧總分總就會屢屢挫敗。記得上課時剛重申了總分總的重要,就問學(xué)生“What can art tell people of life that science cannot?”得到的答案是“美呀”;“生活的情趣”等等,但沒有一個是1) 完整的句子; 2) 類似“藝術(shù)能告訴我們2點或3點是科學(xué)所不能告訴我們的”這樣總分結(jié)構(gòu)的答案?赡茏x者會覺得這樣的回答方式太機械了,不幸的是老外真的是這樣思考問題,回答問題的,雖然他們嘴上說3點的時候心里可能還沒想好具體的,但一邊說一邊往下想。學(xué)生不喜歡總分總還有另外一點就是這種結(jié)構(gòu)對思維要求是非常高的,在沒有動筆之前就要運籌帷幄,全盤想清楚。這就像在沒有被學(xué)校錄取前就要完成research proposal,把將來畢業(yè)論文的提綱寫出來,對喜歡滑西瓜皮想到哪寫到哪的考生來講,當(dāng)然很難適應(yīng)。
為了熟練掌握總分總結(jié)構(gòu),除了反復(fù)提醒之外,充分了解這種結(jié)構(gòu)的美妙能夠幫助我們更快的認同并不知不覺就會使用它。而它的美在英文作品中隨處可見?碩homas à Kempis神父在《內(nèi)心世界》中如何教導(dǎo)人們不要聽信讒言:We should not believe every word and suggestion, but should carefully and unhurriedly consider all things in accordance with the will of God. For such is the weakness of human nature, alas, that evil is often more readily believed and spoken of another than good. But perfect men do not easily believe every tale that is told them, for they know that man’s nature is prone to evil, and his words to deception. 看Jane Eyre如何被Helen Burn,那個不幸死于肺結(jié)核的小女孩的語言所震動:The refreshing meal, the brilliant fire, the presence and kindness of her beloved instructress, or, perhaps, more than all these, something in her own unique mind, had roused her powers within her. They woke, they kindled: first, they glowed in the bright tint of her cheek, which till this hour I had never seen but pale and bloodless; then they shone in the liquid luster of her eyes, which had suddenly acquired beauty more singular than that of Miss Temple’s—a beauty neither of fine color nor long eyelash, nor penciled brow, but of meaning, of movement, of radiance. Then her soul sat on her lips, and language flowed, from what source I cannot tell; has a girl of fourteen a heart large enough, vigorous enough to hold the swelling spring of pure, full, fervid eloquence? 看Helen Keller如何對善良之人感恩:On the first day, I should want to see the people whose kindness and gentleness and companionship have made my life worth living. First I should like to gaze long upon the face of my dear teacher, Mrs. Anne Sullivan Macy, who came to me when I was a child and opened the outer world to me. I should want not merely to see the outline of her face, so that I could cherish it in my memory, but to study that face and find in it the living evidence of the sympathetic tenderness and patience with which she accomplished the difficult task of my education. I should like to see in her eyes that strength of character which has enabled her to stand firm in the face of difficulties, and that compassion for all humanity which she has revealed to me so often. 不要以為只有英文才這么寫,如果你習(xí)慣英文教課書的內(nèi)容編排,翻翻中文博導(dǎo)論文集,你會覺得很親切。
這些名家之作思想熠熠,措辭精煉,適合鑒賞。若要模仿,則不太容易。不如仿寫新概念3的文章。舉例來說,新概念3第27課Nothing to sell and nothing to buy的第一段就是很典型的總分結(jié)構(gòu):It has been said that everyone lives by selling something. In the light of this statement, teachers live by selling knowledge, philosophers by selling wisdom and priests by selling spiritual comfort. Though it may be possible to measure the value of material goods in terms of money, it is extremely difficult to estimate the true value of the services which people perform for us. There are times when we would willingly give everything we possess to save our lives, yet we might grudge paying a surgeon a high fee for offering us precisely this service. The conditions of society are such that skills have to be paid for in the same way that goods are paid for at a shop. Everyone has something to sell. 除了段落模仿之外,整篇文章也可考慮模仿,如新概念3第47課Too high a price?中第一段:Pollution is the price we pay for an overpopulate, over industrialized planet. When you come to think about it, there are only four ways you can deal with rubbish: dump it, burn it, turn into something you can use again, attempt to produce less of it. We keep trying all four methods, but the sheer volume of rubbish we produce worldwide threatens to overwhelm us. 這個開頭本身雖然不是總分結(jié)構(gòu),但是提到解決垃圾問題有四種方法,為全文做了概括。要寫簡單明了但有說服力的文章就該參考這樣的寫法。
除了模仿之外,學(xué)生還可以通過寫提綱不斷提高自己的全局思辨能力。中國學(xué)生一般是不喜歡寫提綱的,一種是因為不屑,另一種是因為覺得寫了也白寫,寫文章時靈感來了誰還照著提綱寫?這兩種想法都很危險,不怕跑題的是因為沒吃過考試的虧,英文跑題是家常便飯,而且跑題了自我感覺還很好。提綱就可以起到約束自己的作用,能在最短時間之內(nèi)看出自己是否偏題。寫了提綱卻不能從一而終的則更可惜,寫提綱時想法可能不出跳,但一定很規(guī)矩,有層次,條理清晰;寫到一半蹦出來的想法也許與眾不同,但很可能和其他分論點不屬于同一范疇,結(jié)果只能破壞文章的整體性,就像電影Dream girls中最漂亮的聲音卻不讓它領(lǐng)唱,為全局考慮選擇了缺乏個性的聲音做主唱。
起初練習(xí)寫提綱肯定不容易,要克服的是平時的寫作習(xí)慣和心理障礙。記得最早我自己上英語寫作課時,老師規(guī)定要先寫提綱,提綱過關(guān)了才能寫完整的文章,當(dāng)時拿著筆就是什么都寫不下來,不是腦中一片空白就是想法太多,明知不能全寫卻不知取舍。最后只能先把文章寫完,然后反過來再把提綱提煉出來——真是費力又費時。不過一旦喜歡并習(xí)慣了寫提綱,不僅節(jié)約整體寫作時間,而且內(nèi)容會越來越精彩,因為思維的實力提高了,不用再祈禱考試時超常發(fā)揮了。老師可以給學(xué)生一些考試中出現(xiàn)的題目,讓他們按照總分結(jié)構(gòu)來回答問題。雅思考生可以就下列題目寫提綱,如:為何現(xiàn)在社會普遍不尊重老人?提高油價能否有效改善環(huán)境?科技雙刃劍的作用體現(xiàn)在哪些方面?全民健身對社會的不利影響是什么?博物館的作用到底是什么?等等。
在學(xué)了這么多年語法,背了這么多年單詞后,突然得知這兩點對寫作不是最重要時,不知讀者是歡呼雀躍還是憤憤不平。不管作何種反應(yīng),或已經(jīng)沒有反應(yīng),寫作最重要的還是先把握結(jié)構(gòu)——結(jié)構(gòu)是不變的中流砥柱,而總分總是使用最頻繁、最經(jīng)典的極致。當(dāng)然語法和詞匯也相當(dāng)重要,因為結(jié)構(gòu)不能變,但同一個單詞,同一種句型翻來覆去的出現(xiàn)就不太對得起讀者了。這兩點短期突破比較困難,不能指望昨晚背的今天立馬用上,要靠平時積累,所以這么多年的學(xué)習(xí)就是為了之后的質(zhì)變慢慢累積的量變,過去的努力就是為了現(xiàn)在在正確的道路上走得更快更順利。
作者簡介:金培娜,華東師范大學(xué)英語語言文學(xué)碩士,專攻英語教學(xué)法;上海新東方雅思寫作、閱讀教師。
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