创设矛盾冲突，续写故事情节

李福健

《普通高中英语课程标准（2017年版）》要求，所有语言学习活动都要在主题语境下进行，基于不同的语篇类型，获取、梳理、整合语言知识和文化知识，重视对语篇的赏析，比较探索文化内涵，汲取文化精华。同时，尝试运用所学知识，创造性地表达个人意图、观点和态度，通过运用各种学习策略，提高理解和表达的效果。

为了培养学生的综合语言运用能力，2017年始，读后续写题型被用于高考综合改革试点省份的高考试题当中，随后逐步推广到全国高考改革省份。该题型多以叙事性文本形式呈现，给出叙事的前半部分（350个字左右），要求学生根据已知文本，续写后半部分（续写两段，共150词左右，每段首句已给出）。读后续写是理解与表达能力的综合考查，要求考生能准确把握短文关键信息、语言特点和上下文逻辑关系，续写出内容较为丰富的短文。

然而，笔者在日常教学中发现学生欠缺对文章内容的把控，缺乏文学叙事的相关知识，导致没有情节或者情节设计不合理，偏离故事主线等问题。鉴于此，笔者引入戏剧故事的矛盾冲突理论，训练学生的发散思维，续写故事内容，从而实现故事内容的丰富和连贯。

一、梳理语篇大意，探究主题意义

新课标倡导主题意义探究的课程理念，并提出了探究语篇主题的三个维度：语篇的主要内容，语篇的深层含义（情感态度或价值取向），语篇的文本结构特征和语言特点。这就为读后续写的教学提供了很好的思路。接下来以高三的一次模拟考试中的读后续写讲评课为例进行分析說明。

原题：阅读下面短文，根据所给情节进行续写，使之构成一个完整的故事。

Patrick and the little elf

Patrick never did homework.“Too boring，”he said. He played football and basketball and tennis instead. His teachers told him，“Patrick！ Do your homework or you won’t learn a thing.”And it’s true. Sometimes he did feel like a fool. But what could he do？ He hated homework.

Then one day he found his cat playing with a little toy and he grabbed it away. To his surprise it wasn’t a toy at all， but a man of the tiniest size. He had a little wool shirt and a high tall hat much like a witch’s. He shouted，“Save me！Don’t give me back to that cat. I’ll promise you a wish. I promise you that.”

Patrick couldn’t believe how lucky he was！Here was the answer to all of his problems. So， he said，“Only if you do all my homework till the end of the term， that’s 35 days. If you do a good enough job， I could even get As.”

And true to his word， that little elf began to do Patrick’s homework. Except there was one small problem. The elf didn’t always know what to do and he needed help.“Help me！ Help me！”he’d say. And Patrick would have to help—in whatever way.

“I don’t know this word，”the elf cried while reading Patrick’s homework. “Get me a dictionary. No， what’s even better， look up the word and sound it out by each letter.”

When it came to math， Patrick was out of luck.“What are times tables？”the elf screamed.“We elves never need that. And addition and subtraction and division and fractions？ Here， sit down beside me， you simply must guide me. Elves know nothing of human history. To them it’s a mystery.”So， the little elf， already a shouter， just got louder.“Go to the library， I need books. More and more books. And you can help me read them too.”

Paragraph 1： As a matter of fact， every day in every way that little elf was a nag（喋喋不休的人）！    ___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________-

Paragraph 2： Patrick got his As.   ______________________________________________________________

本文属于“人与社会”的主题情境。讲述了一个不爱做作业的小男孩，从自家猫爪下救下了一只小精灵，小精灵为了报答他，说可以帮做作业。在帮忙的过程中，因为小精灵不懂人类知识，还是需要小男孩的不断帮忙。最终在小精灵的督促下，小男孩完成了本学期的所有作业。

基于叙事性文体的特点，笔者把文章脉络设计成表格，让学生读后梳理文章大意，并探讨文章的主题意义。表格包括几个部分：characters，exposition，rising action，climax，falling action，resolution，theme.

二、引入矛盾冲突概念，通过语篇加深理解

完成上一任务后，教师引出文学中的矛盾冲突理论，并指导学生进行归类。

Identify the conflicts：man vs. man， man vs. nature， man vs. society， man vs. self

e.g. I have a cookie， and I want to eat it， but I also don’t want to gain weight by eating it.

e.g. I want your cookie， but you don’t want to give me your cookie.

e.g. I make cookies， and it’s against the law or the norms of society.

e.g. I make cookies and forget the oven on， and my house catches fire with I trapped inside.（I want to survive， but the fire is destroying my house and me.）

（注：划线部分为要求学生填写的内容。）

接着，引导学生回归原文，找出每部分的矛盾冲突，理清这些矛盾冲突的内在联系。

Conflict 1： Patrick wanted to learn a thing but hated homework.（Para.1）

Conflict 2： An elf was caught by his cat， and he wanted to be free.（Para. 2）

Conflict 3： The elf couldn’t do the homework without Patrick’s help.（Para. 4）

三、理顺故事内在关系，通过开头句子预测情节走向

提问：What can you get from the sentences？

Para.1： As a matter of fact， every day in every way that little elf was a nag！

Para. 2： Patrick got his As.

需要续写的两个段落的首句一般属于中心句或过渡句，蕴含着很重要的信息，如故事的转折、高潮或结局等。引导学生关注这两个句子，有利于学生更好地把握文章的大意和情节走向，使创设的矛盾冲突不会偏离主线，同时也能培养学生的语篇连贯和衔接意识。

四、基于所预测的情节走向，初步应用矛盾冲突

提问：1. What is the conflict about？

2. Which type do you choose to use？（man vs. man/ nature/ self/ society？）

3. How is it solved？（coherent with the first sentence of Para.2）

學生回答后，教师继续补充文学中矛盾冲突的表现形式。总的原则是动作和回应，回应的种类有动作、心理活动、感情变化和言语等。

在学生了解相关知识后，教师展示同伴的优秀习作，并要求学生通过小组合作，分析同学的优秀范文，进一步内化故事情节中的矛盾冲突意识，掌握拓展矛盾冲突的方法。（范文略）

最后，小组代表展示答案，教师给予及时反馈与指导，进一步巩固学习成果。

五、基于情节走向，创设矛盾冲突

学习完同伴的优秀习作后，教师要求学生根据自己已写的文段，进行改写，注意运用本节课学到的矛盾冲突方法，最后还要点明文章的主题。内容包括：conflict，solution to the conflict，theme，responses to action，changes of emotion，coherence. 完成修改后，教师展示习作，供全班同学鉴赏，在展示的过程中，提醒学生注意观察作品是否通过创设矛盾冲突来续写，同时注意是否与上文有衔接，以及当中是否有比较出彩的语言表达。

学生习作展示：

Paragraph 2： Patrick got all his As. His teachers were all amazed， full of praise. Overwhelmed with joy， he couldn’t wait to go back home to share the good news and express thanks to the elf after school， who helped him achieve his goal. However， the moment he opened the door， he wasn’t greeted by the elf but a note on the desk written by the elf， reading “God helps those who help themselves. Your efforts will pay off.”It dawned on him that it was he himself that actually did all the homework. Inspired by the words， he made up his mind to work harder in the coming term.

读后续写的文章属于叙事类文体，矛盾冲突在叙事类文体中尤为重要。矛盾冲突的解决能推动故事情节的发展。借助文学中的矛盾冲突理论可以帮助学生在基于篇章主题意义下更好地发散思维，做到有话可说，有事可写。同时，在学生创设矛盾冲突进行续写的过程中，可以联系上文已有的故事冲突，提高故事的完整性和连贯性。学生掌握了文学中矛盾冲突的基本理论，也有利于在写作创作中打开思路，提高语言的综合运用能力。