浅谈读写任务中的记叙文写作

刘庆生

一、记叙文的特点

要写好记叙文，我们首先要对记叙文的文体特点有一个大概的了解。英语记叙文的主要特点包括：

1. 时态一般用过去时。

记叙文多数是描述一件发生在过去的事情，因此，时态以过去时为主，包括一般过去时、过去进行时、过去将来时、过去完成时等。

2. 包含六个基本要素。

在写记叙文时，同学们切忌拿起笔就写，想到哪里就写到那里，必须在下笔前构思好文章的主题和内容。要做到这一点，我们必须明确五个“W”和一个“H”。见下表。

确定了这五个“W”和一个“H”，故事的框架也基本上定下来了。尽管不是每篇英语记叙文都一定要将这些W和H包括进去，但是这个方法可以有效地帮助同学们理清写作思路，确定写作素材，避免因为没有方向而使得文章的叙述显得凌乱不堪。另外，掌握了这个方法在写阅读材料为记叙文的summary时也有很大帮助。

3. 人称常用第一、三人称。

一般来说，英语记叙文展开记叙的视角有两个：第一人称和第三人称。第一人称是从“参与者”的角度进行记叙，讲述自身经历；第三人称是以“观察者”的身份展开叙述，展示他人的经历。在确定了文章的人称后，不可再随意地变换人称，以免破坏文章的连贯性或打乱读者的思路。

4. 记叙顺序以时间为线索。

展开记叙的方式虽然很多，但对考生来说，在有限的时间内完成一篇记叙文，还是依时间先后来记叙较好。

5. 常用表顺序的连接词句。

为使句子和段落更衔接，联系更紧密，条理更清晰，记叙文中常用first, then, next, later, after that, after, when, before等连接性词语。

二、实例分析

阅读下面的短文，然后按照要求写一篇150词左右的英语短文。（2009年广州市高三级调研测试）

Who says honesty is dead? Last Tuesday morning Alan Reed, a student, was at the bank. He asked to take out $50 but the bank clerk mistakenly gave him five twenties instead of five tens. For a few seconds he wondered what to do. Should he give the extra money back? Keep it? If he kept it, he could buy several new books, or he could take his friend Alice to a fancy dinner. Probably no one would ever notice. Besides, this would make up for all the times hed been overcharged. But then he looked at the clerk. She was a middle-aged woman with a sweet face, and she reminded him of his mother. She had been nice o him, and she looked pressured in her work. Then it occurred to him that he lady would probably get in trouble. Worst of all, Alan felt he would probably feel guilty about keeping the extra cash. So Alan gave back the money. The bank clerk was so impressed that someone was honest enough to return money not rightfully his that she contacted the newspaper. So there you have it. What would you have done if youd been in Alans position?

[写作内容]

你想投稿给某英文报社，就上面短文中的话题发表议论，内容要点包括：

1. 以约30个词概括故事的主要内容；

2. 以约120个词表达你内心的感受，并包括如下要点：

（1）你看完这个故事的感受；

（2）以你自己或他人的经历说明诚实给人带来的好处；

（3）呼吁人们在日常生活中要诚实。

[写作要求]

1. 作文中可使用自己的亲身经历或虚构的故事，也可以参照阅读材料的内容但不得直接引用原文的句子；

2. 作文中不能出现真实姓名和学校名称。

[评分标准]

概括准确，语言规范，内容合适，篇章连贯。

●写作分析：（Summary略）

Step 1：谈“看完故事的感受”。

谈“感受”，其实就是让考生穿插一些议论在文章当中，因为下文是以记叙为主，搭配在一起就形成了夹叙夹议的文章。表示感受的常用表达如下：

要注意的是议论不宜过多，点到即止。以诚实这个话题为例，考生在写完对Alan的行为的感受后，可以结合故事所反映出的主题honesty来进行适当的议论。要注意的是论点必须和下文的记叙部分相关。如我看完Alan这个故事的感受可写成：

After reading the story, I am so touched by Alan, whose behavior is worth praising. There is no doubt that honesty still plays a very important role in public morality and only those who are honest will be trusted and respected by people.

其中， honest people will be trusted and respected by others是这一小段的议论论点，因此下文必须以这个论点为主题展开故事。

Step 2：以自身经历来说明诚实给人带来的好处。

写作该部分时，同学们一定要注意审题，其关键词是“经历”“好处”，也就是要求考生去回顾或虚构一些故事，来说明诚实给人带来的好处，而不是去发表议论。因此，写作时要注意以下3点：

（1）写好过渡句，承上启下。

在叙述故事前，可以用以下之类的句子来过渡：

Alans story also reminds me of one of my experiences ...

When it comes to honesty, I will never forget the days when ...

After reading Alans story, I recall the experience of my friend, ×××, who ...

（2）围绕中心，选好例子。

围绕诚实给人带来好处这个中心，选好例子，在选例子时要注意：

①考虑要写的例子能否在有限时间内写完，能否做到清晰点题；

②例子没有必要过分地追求新颖或另类。简单的例子只要表达清楚，思路清晰，一样拿高分。

以下是写这篇文章可以参考的两个例子：

例1：老师减少分，自己主动坦白。

During a very important exam in senior 2, I got the first place and I was very happy. However, I later found that my teacher didnt notice one mistake in my paper. If I told her about that, I wouldnt be No.1 in the class. However, I persuaded myself that honesty came first to the No.1 which didnt actually belong to me. So I came to the office and told my teacher the fact. My teacher was so satisfied with what I had done that she even praised me for my honesty.

其中的六个要素是：

When: in senior 2

Who: I

Where: in the office

What: I got the first place in an important exam but found out that one mistake was ignored by the teacher in the paper

How: I told my teacher the truth and was praised by her

Why: honesty is more important than being No.1 in the exam

例2：打烂窗户，向邻居坦白。

One day, when I was playing football with my friend in the courtyard, I kicked the ball so hard that it hit the window of my neighbors house, causing it to break into pieces. Feeling afraid of being scolded by my neighbor, I ran away at once without being noticed by anyone in the courtyard. However, every time I thought of the thing I had done, I felt so guilty that I finally confessed my error to my neighbor. To my surprise, my neighbor didnt blame me for my breaking the window, but instead，forgave me for my honesty.

其中的六个要素是：

When: one day

Who: I

Where: in the courtyard

What: I broke the window of my neighbors house

How: I confessed my error to my neighbor and he forgave me finally

Why: my neighbor considered me as an honest boy

（3）围绕主题，结束点题。

在叙述经历之后，在结尾处要点题，说明诚实让人受益匪浅。这样，可以让评卷老师知道你的例子是围绕主题来展开的。以下几个句型可以作为点题时的参考句型：

My experience has taught me that ...

I have learnt from ×××s story / experience that ...

I always consider my experience as valuable for it teaches me that ...

I benefit a lot from this experience ...

本篇文章可以这样点题：

I benefit a lot from this experience and realized that it is honesty that wins us the respect from others and brings us the real happiness.

Step 3: 写好结尾部分

一篇好的文章除了引人入胜的开头，精彩的正文外，绝对离不开一个好的结尾。写好记叙文结尾有以下几招：

（1）结尾的大意可以和开头相同，但应该尽量避免用相同的句型去表达。如：要表示某样事物很重要时，除了用sth is very important之外，我们还可以用important的同义词、同根词，或同义结构来转换：

sth is of greatimportance

sth plays a very important role in...

sth is of great significance to sb

sth is necessary to sb

sth is so significant that we cant live without it

（2）学会使用表示归纳的句型。如：

Above all, ...

To sum up, ...

In a word, ...

In conclusion, ...

（3）在写到一些非常严肃，客观上毋庸置疑的话题的时候（如：health, friendship, honesty, a sense of responsibility, confidence, sincerity等），我们往往可以采取“A is to B what C is to D (A对B来说，就如同C对D一样重要)”句型进行结尾。

本文的结尾可以是：

To sum up,honesty is to us what water is to fishand never in our life should we neglect it. (诚实对我们来说就如同水对鱼来说一样重要) 本句后一分句还使用了倒装句来加强语气，说明诚实的必要性。

结合上述写作分析，我们可以得到下面的参考文章：

Last Tuesday, Alan Reed went to the bank to take out 50 dollars but the bank clerk gave him 100 dollars mistakenly. However, instead of keeping the extra cash, Alan gave back the money to the bank.

After reading the story, I am so touched by Alan, whose behavior is worth praising. There is no doubt that honesty still plays a very important role in public morality and only those who are honest will be trusted and respected by people.

During one very important exam in senior 2, I got the first place and I was very happy. However, I later found that my teacher didnt notice one mistake in my paper. If I told her about that, I wouldnt be no.1 in the class. However, I persuaded myself that honesty came first to the no.1 which didnt actually belong to me. So I came to the office and told my teacher the fact. My teacher was so satisfied with what I had done that she even praised me for my honesty.

I benefit a lot from this experience and realized that it is honesty that wins us the respect from others and brings us the real happiness.

To sum up, honesty is to us what water is to fish and never in our lives should we neglect it.

责任编校蒋小青