再論大學英語寫作的舉例

摘 要: 本文對大學英語段落寫作發展所涉及的一個重要形式——舉例作了進一步探討。本文認為，研究大學英語段落的舉例不應該只關注舉例本身，而應該注意到與舉例及其上下文的關系。此外，本文還探討了舉例的內在形式，即它的句子之間構成的句群關系。

關鍵詞: 大學英語寫作 舉例 內在形式 句群關系

在前一些時候，筆者探討了大學英語文章舉例的幾個問題(見《論大學英語寫作的舉例方法》，載《西南民族大學學報》(外國語言文學與文化研究版，2007年第12期)，其中考察了舉例的原由、舉例的角度、舉例的具體性和舉例過渡詞語的使用，筆者通過最近一段時間的研究，覺得還有一些舉例的問題值得探討，如舉例的外向聯系和舉例的內在形式，現特討論如下。

所謂大學英語文章舉例的外向聯系，是指舉例有時可能不是孤零零地放上一個例子或者幾個例子就了事，而是與它的上下文形成一種密切的關系，很可能在它的前面會提出文章的論題，然后出現舉例，然后出現具體分析，最后再出現更加抽象的議論，等等，這是一系列的語言表述，如下例所示:

1.1)Let us take an example of a style that is a little too large for the occasion.2)Here is an extract from an editorial in a student magazine produced by the Geographical Society.

2.The Geographical Society perhaps had its embryonic origin in 1949.From that time，the Society’s lamps have gyrated ceaselessly，being refueled by enthusiastic fertile minds，working on the inexhaustible bounds of Geography.Through trips，films and talks from distinguished speakers on topics of Geographical interest，aimed at ‘the promotion of interest in the study of Geography’，the Society’s pulsating influence has passed from generation to generation.

3.1)A certain enthusiasm，a certain warmth of partisanship，is perhaps pardonable when you are writing in praise of your own society.2)But even if make allowance for a tone of enthusiasm，some of the words and phrases used here are inappropriate.3)This passage was written in 1958.4)This Geographical Society is therefore some nine years old.5)To write that its‘pulsating influence has passed from generation to generation’ is a gross exaggeration...6)In short，a more measured and less extravagant style would have been more effective and more appropriate in this context.

在上述3段引文中，一個英國文體學家舉例論述一篇學生的文章是怎樣用詞不恰當的問題。其中第2段是舉例，但從篇章分析的角度來看，第1段、第3段卻不可忽視，因為它們分別擔任著提出問題(第1段第2句)、具體分析問題(第3段1—5句，由于篇幅所限，筆者還做了一些刪節)、總體評價(第3段第6句)。由此可見，如果我們從英語寫作的教學和研究出發，就不能一味就舉例而談舉例。科學合理的做法是應該注意例子和上下文的關系，把它們結合起來考察。最近一些研究者注意到了這方面的問題，如高恩光、戴建東(2004:778)就指出:“就一首詩歌談它本身的做法是不夠的，你還應該用詩歌的實際例子來證明，你應該用一種所謂的SQIF的模式，即包括總說、引證、闡釋和議論的模式。”從高恩光、戴建東的具體上下文，可以明白他們這里所說的“引證”，其實就是指引用原文的例證或事實證明，而其余的概念與我們這里討論的除了例子之外的其他因素相符合。

大學英語文章段落舉例的外向聯系還有一個含義，是它的本身在文章表達中的二重性。一方面，它屬于舉例的方法范疇，較為具體而確定地說明、證明一個事物，另一方面，它的“身份”似乎又不那么確定，因為它要根據文章的行文的要求而不斷呈現一種新的內涵。國外一些研究者注意到了這個特點，Thomas S.Kane(1988:79—80)在分析一個作家的舉例方法時指出舉例有兩個好處，一是作者可以“給他的論斷提供事實依據，使讀者可以根據自己的知識來做出正確的判斷;另一個好處是舉例可以化抽象為具體，使困難的東西變得容易理解”。顯而易見，Kane在這里看到了舉例遠不止于舉例本身，它還有闡明的作用。

當我們為了說明一個主題句的抽象意思的時候，我們舉例是為了將問題更加清楚而容易理解，此時的舉例就既有舉例的內涵，又有闡明的內涵;當我們在確立一個主題句，然后需要對比的內容才說得更加清楚的時候，我們舉例是為了證明，同時也是為了對比，如下例所示:

1.In fact，success in one area often precludes success in another.A famous politician once told me that his career had practically destroyed his marriage.“I have no time for my family，”he explained.“I travel a lot.And even when I’m home，I hardly see my wife and kids.I’ve got power，money，prestige——but as a husband and father，I’m a flop.”

2.People become quite illogical when they try to decide what can be eaten and what cannot be eaten.If you live in the Mediterranean，for instance，you would consider octopus a great delicacy.You would not be able to understand why some people find it repulsive.On the other hand，your stomach would turn at the idea of frying-potatoes——a normally accepted practice in many northern counties.

上面的第1個例子的主題句比較抽象，所以作者舉了一個政治家的例子來進行證明，所以這里的舉例具有舉例和證明的雙重性質;第2個例子的主題句雖然比較易懂，但有極大的可能性要求作者舉一個對比性的例子來發展段落才是較好的方法，所以作者此時舉例分別說明地中海國家的情況怎么樣，北歐的情況又怎么樣，于是就形成了舉例同時又是對比的格局。綜觀英語除舉例之外的所有主要發展方式，如闡明、證明、解釋、對比、陳述等，往往都有可能與舉例這種方式結合在一起而使得舉例這種方式呈一種綜合性的特征。

舉例除了上述外向型的聯系之外，它還有自己固有的形式。歷來一些英語寫作的研究者認為只要指明一篇文章是采用了舉例的方式就可以了，不必仔細考究舉例本身的存在形態，結果學生往往很明白舉例的方式(許多中國大學生都是成年人，這個方法似乎不難理解)，可是下筆又茫然，應該怎樣做——怎樣安排舉例的句子或句子組合更是胸中無數，這就說明，研究舉例而不研究其具體存在的形態是不應該的，會對英語寫作教學帶來不良影響。

從篇章語言學的角度來看，我們可以把舉例的方式劃分成三種情況:一是單獨的句子舉例;二是聯合性的句群舉例;三是有較為完整意思的句群舉例。如下例所示:

1.If there were deprived of electricity，the whole society would be unable to function in its normal way.It would be in a great mess.Cities would be plunged into darkness，industrial production would be reduced to standstill，and all electric apparatus would stop working.In short，people would feel totally helpless.

2.Advertisements appear everywhere in modern society.For example，when you walk along the streets，you can see large advertisement boards with pretty girls smiling at you.In newspapers，for another example，you often see half of the pages covered with advertisements.As still another example，when you turn on the TV set，you see advertisements again.Whether you like them or not，they are pouring into your life.

3.I always have many things to do on Sundays.For example，I have to do a great number of home work assignments in the morning and take the dancing lessons at the Children’s Palace in the afternoon.In the evening I have to baby sit my little sister since my parents like to go out for amusement at that time.

4.But there are certain things that cannot be bought with money.A millionaire who suffered from serious cancer was willing to buy his health by selling all his expensive property.But he failed and soon died in despair.An old rich merchant was willing to buy the true love of a beautiful young girl at any cost，but his wicked dream never come true.Many other things such as devoted friendship and real honor are invaluable and cannot be bought with money，either.So money is far from omnipotent.

上述例1是由一個句子構成的例子;第2、3例是由聯合性的句群構成的句子，按黃國文(1988:20-24)的分析，它們應該分別為并列關系和順序關系型的句群，當然我們還可以找出黃國文在他的研究中提到其他關系的句群，諸如對應、分解、轉折、解釋、因果等句群關系構成的舉例方式。第4例是有較為完整意思的句群舉例，因為它開頭有引起的句子，后面有一個較為抽象的評論性的句子。筆者認為，按照這種分類研究，將對英語寫作的學習者具有較大的幫助作用，因為它們可以有效地、具體地指導學生進行各個句子的構思與撰寫，從而迅速成文，并可能會少犯語言表達方面的毛病。例如學生發展“It is well known that most Net users are more likely to project aspects of the person they wish they could be so that they can impress other to be friend with them.As a result，there will be some cheating sometimes.”這樣一個主題的時候，他如果要用舉例的方法來發展段落的話，他應該考慮至少兩方面的句子組合:1.舉例的句子是否能夠有呈因果型的安排;2.是否有幾句評價性的話語。如果將這些細節想清楚了，下筆就很可能呈以下的理想表述:

It is well known that most Net users are more likely to project aspects of the person they wish they could be so that they can impress other to be friend with them.As a result，there will be some cheating sometimes.For example，Miss Li started a Net relationship with a man she knew as “Little Bird”.She is in frequent contact with him because she considered him trustful，believing he loved her very much.She could not wait after 3-month correspondence，and decided to have personal encounter to move their friendship or romance forward.The physical contact，however，reveals that the man was a husband with wife and children.So you can see that people may gain companionship and community on the Net，but it more often than not exists in the cyberspace and we should always be careful when we are in search of social interaction on the Internet.

參考文獻:

[1]高恩光.英語寫作新論.上海外語教育出版社，2005.

[2]Kane，Thomas S.The New Oxford Writing.New York:Oxford University Press，1988.

[3]黃國文.語篇分析概要.湖南教育出版社，1988.