Warm-up (课前准备)：

Q1: Which is your favorite novel?

Q2: Do you remember the first novel which impressed you most?

Q3: Do you know the main elements of a novel?

An Overview (本章概览)：

The novel, as a genre, shares some characteristics with short story, for instance, plot and character. However, the novel does have something that short story cannot boast. To define is to draw the limits between things. Therefore, a comparison is needed here, brief as it will be, to isolate the novel from its fellow genres. What we call a novel is virtually a book in itself while a poem, no matter how long it is, usually is not printed as a book, epics like Iliad and Odyssey being exceptions. E. Allan Poe once suggested that a short story should be of the length that it could be read at one sitting without causing tiredness. Like any other works of art, a novel is an organic whole. Its various elements are created simultaneously by the novelist and cannot be separated without losing their perspectives. However, for the sake of focused analysis we can provisionally isolate some of its elements and give them due consideration.

Objectives (学习目标)：

1.To get a knowledge of different genres of novel

2.To know the elements and logic for writing novel

3.To cultivate the ability of appreciating novel and writing fictional stories

Knowledge Structure (知识结构):

Part One: What is Novel? and Kinds of the Novel

1. Definition of novel

2. History of novel

3. Kinds of novel

4. Early Development of the Novel

Part Two: Elements of the Novel

1. Story

2. Character

3. Plot

Part Three: Elements of the Novel

1. Theme

2. Setting

3. Narrative Point of View