同学们，本栏目是对你们学过的知识和生活中常见问题的归纳。其中，有一些共性问题，也许你会需要哦！

让我来帮你解决常见问题！

Q1: What’s full-length Novel?

A: Without modification, the word “novel” refers to the full-length novel. But nobody has been able to propose an all-accepted length for the novel and people seem to have no need for such a standard. The standard exists only in acquiescence and mutual confidence. E.M. Forster, a British novelist who wrote the book Aspect of the Novel, could not let go the aspect needed to make a work a novel at all. But a novel of about 50,000 words is not a full-length novel in our mind. Conveniently, a full-length novel, printed, comprises a book of considerable thickness. More importantly, full-length should indicate full development.

Q2: What is the main feature of Gothic Novel?

A: Gothic novel emphasizes the grotesque, mysterious, and desolate. Gothic, originally in the sense “medieval, not classical,” was applied by Horace Walpole to his novel The Castle of Otranto, a Gothic Story, published in 1765. This novel is filled with scenes of terror and gloom in a medieval setting. Popular in the 18th century, Gothic novel is an ancestor of the modern mystery story, fantasy, and science fiction. The typical Gothic novel (the story always took place in the past), tantalizing plot of revenge and terrifying scenes and ending. Readers are to find deserted castles on a lonely bleak mountain top or deep in an isolated valley or on an island nobody can locate on the map or in the mind. Supernatural things become natural here. The Good might or might not be rewarded in the end. The main character is always a woman usually doomed in one way or another. In the castle there is an outrageous secret. The male is usually dark, gloomy. It is a woman’s adventure story. The atmosphere, much like that in a Gothic church, is depressing. Think of Jane Eyre. Rochester is a Gothic hero. Another example is Rebecca.

Q3: What are the six elements of novel?:

Story

Character

Plot

Theme

Setting

Narrative point of view

Q4: What Is Plot?

A: The story and the character alone can not make a novel yet. To make a novel, a plot is prerequisite. A look at the example suggested by E.M. Forster will help to distinguish between the story and the plot."The king died and then the queen died is not a plot, but a story. If we make it “The king died and then the queen died of grief,” we have a plot. This causal phrase "of grief" indicates our interpretation and thus arrangement of the happenings.

Q5: Where to Look for the Theme

The novelist may state or imply the theme. He uses every possible method to convey the theme. Though the theme is based upon the whole novel, practically, we can specify some important areas in which to look for the theme.

(1) How the novel is entitled. The title is the name of the novel and in many cases (almost all cases) the novelist intends it to tell something important about the novel. Sometimes the central theme of the novel is present in the title. For example, Pride and Prejudice is about Darcy's pride and Elizabeth Bennet’ s prejudice. Main Street is about the life of middle-class people in a midwestern town. Think what the title of For Whom the Bell Tolls tells about its theme, and As I Lay Dying.

(2) How the novelist shows his interest. If the novelist is Interested in something, he would allow more space to it, describing or narrating in great detail. Yet, sometimes he emphasizes it by leaving it out, as in the case of Ernest Hemingway. The point concerned here is why novelist gives more attention to this particular character, scene or event but not others.

(3) How the novelist deals with a common subject. Often the novelist has to include in his work some common subjects, but if he treats the common subjects in an uncommon way, it shows that he is trying to convey something new or important in the novel. Maybe it is the theme that demands him to do so.

(4) Important symbols. Symbols are loaded with important meanings. So if a symbol appears repeatedly or at important moments, it may point to the theme of the novel. A good example Is the letter "A" in The Scarlet Letter.

(5) Important speeches. Characters talk and in their talk are revealed their Judgments of the other characters or events. The characters' judgments may give important clues to the theme.