評論
打印
Listen to a conversation between a student and her creative writing professor.
聽一段學生和創(chuàng)意寫作課教授的對話。
Student: Hello. Professor Thomson.
湯姆森教授，你好。
Could I talk to you for a minute?
我能跟你聊一會兒嗎？
Professor: Oh. Hi. Laura.
教授：噢，你好，勞拉。
We missed you last class.
上節(jié)課你沒來。
Student: Yeah. I was sick for a few days.
對，我病了好幾天。
Um...I was wondering... did I miss a lot of work?
我想知道……我是不是落下了很多功課？
Professor: Let's see... well, we discussed the story that you have been assigned to read for class.
教授：讓我想想……我們已經(jīng)討論了那篇布置給你們閱讀的文章了。
A Memory by Eudora Welty.
尤多拉·韋爾蒂的《回憶》。
And then we listened to a recording of an interview with Welty.
然后我們聽了一段采訪韋爾蒂的錄音。
The recording is on reserve at the library.
錄音存在圖書館。
You'll need to listen to it.
你要聽一聽。
So... did you have a chance to read the story?
你有時間閱讀那篇故事嗎？
Student: Yeah. I did.
學生：我讀了。
Professor: What did you think?
教授：你覺得怎么樣？
Student: Well... I was a little surprised.
學生：我有點驚訝。
I mean, the first time I read it anyway.
至少在我第一次看的時候。
Professor: What surprised you?
教授：什么讓你感到驚訝？
Student: You know, it just seemed like there was nothing going on in the story.
學生：你知道的，故事里看起來就好像什么事都沒發(fā)生。
I mean, a girl is just sitting at the beach thinking about one of her memories.
我是指，不過是個女孩兒坐在沙灘上回憶過去。
And at the same time, she is watching other bathers on the beach, and sort of just thinking about what they are doing too.
同時她也在看沙灘上其他在曬日光浴的人，在思考他們正在干什么。
And that's all that happens!
這就是故事全部！
So at the end of the story, I thought, that's it? !
所以，看到故事結尾，我就想，這就沒了？
Professor: I know what you mean.
教授：我明白你的意思。
There's no surprise ending like in O.Henry's story The Gift of the Magi or some big adventure like in Faulkner's The Bear.
這里面沒有像歐·亨利的《麥琪的禮物》一樣出乎意料的結局，也沒有和福克納的《熊》一般刺激的冒險。
So you didn't like the story?
你不喜歡這個故事？
Student: Well, actually, while I was reading it the second time, I sort of realized that you don't need surprises or excitement to have a great story.
學生：實際上，在我第二次讀的時候，我有點兒明白了，一個好故事不一定要出人意料或有刺激的情節(jié)。
The girl's memory and the stuff she was thinking about while she was watching the other people on the beach were really interesting to read about.
那個女孩兒看著沙灘上的其他人時，她的回憶和她思考的東西讀起來都很有趣。
And you know, it made me think that when I write my story, the one we have to write for this class, I can maybe use my own memories to get me started.
這讓我思考，當要我寫自己的故事時（就是我們這門課要寫的），也許我也能以自己的回憶開頭。
Professor: Well, in fact, I'd hoped you'd see that.
教授：事實上，我很希望你們能明白這一點。
Of course, there are many levels to the story.
當然了，故事有很多層次。
But what I really wanted the class to take away from it was that you don't need to write about the great exciting world when you write you stories.
但我真正希望班里同學從中吸收的是，當你要寫自己的故事時，你不一定要寫非常精彩刺激的世界。
Even writing about a memory can work.
哪怕寫的是回憶，也能行得通。
Student: Like I could write about one of the times I took a walk in the woods when I was a kid.
學生：就好像，我可以寫小時候我在樹林里散步。
Professor: Exactly! You know, as the due day of your stories approaches, I am hearing from a lot of students that they are worried because they don't have anything exciting enough to write about.
教授：正確！你知道，也快到你們要交文章的日子了，我從很多學生那兒聽說，他們都很擔心，因為他們沒有什么刺激的東西可寫。
But Welty said in the interview we listened to and in her autobiography that her worst stories were the ones where she tried to write about people or places that were unfamiliar to her.
但韋爾蒂在我們聽的采訪里和她的自傳里說了，她寫得最糟糕的故事，都是自己不熟悉的人或地的故事。
That's why a lot of her stories are set in Mississippi, where she is from.
這就是為什么她的故事大多發(fā)生于密西西西比，她的家鄉(xiāng)。
Welty stressed that, for her anyway, familiarity with her subject matter was the key to a successful story.
韋爾蒂強調，對她來說，對故事主題的熟悉程度是故事成功的關鍵。
Student: Familiarity. That makes sense.
學生：熟悉程度。這很有道理。
Thanks Professor Thomson.
謝謝，湯姆森教授。
Professor: No problem.
教授：沒事。
Now, don't forget to listen to that recording.
別忘了聽那段錄音。
What are the speakers mainly discussing?
說話人主要談論的是什么？
Why does the professor mention O.Henry's story, "The Gift of the Magi," and William Faulkner's story, "The Bear"?
為什么教授要提及歐·亨利的故事，《麥琪的禮物》，和威廉·福克納的故事《熊》？
Why does the woman mention walking in the woods?
為什么那位女士提到了樹林中散步？
What point does the professor make when he mentions the interview with Welty and her autobiography?
教授在提及韋爾蒂的采訪和自傳時，他想表達什么觀點？
What was the student's reaction to Welty's story after first reading it?
當學生第一次讀韋爾蒂的故事時，她是什么反應？
