Literary Terms 文学术语
The central idea or message of a story. (故事的中心思想)
Theme
The narrator's reason for wanting to kill the old man. (杀人动机)
The old man's eye
What seems too good to be true about the Bed and Breakfast. (民宿好得不真实之处)
It's cheap and comfortable
The friends' main reason for going to the lake. (去湖边的目的)
To say goodbye to summer
Hints about what will happen later in a story. (后续事件提示)
Foreshadowing
A scene that interrupts the present action to depict an earlier event. (描述更早事件的场景)
Flashback
Why the narrator didn't kill the old man for the first seven nights. (前七晚没动手的原因)
The eye was closed
How Billy views the landlady at first. (Billy对房东的初印象)
Harmless and kind
The first person to see the black thing on the water. (第一个发现者)
Randy
The main problem or struggle in a story. (主要问题或斗争)
Conflict
The use of an object to represent a larger idea. (物体代表大概念)
Symbolism
The sound that drives the narrator to confess. (导致认罪的声音)
A heartbeat
What is strange about the names in the guest book. (旅客登记簿的奇怪之处)
Only two names before Billy's
What happens immediately after Rachel touches the black thing. (Rachel触摸后的结果)
It dissolves her
In "The Tell-Tale Heart", one action the narrator thinks proves he's smart but shows he's mad. (证明他疯了的聪明举动)
(e.g., His careful planning / Hiding the body)
When the audience knows something critical that a character does not. (观众知道，角色不知道)
Dramatic Irony
Why the policemen come to the house. (警察上门原因)
A neighbor heard a scream
The true nature of the parrot and the dog. (鹦鹉和狗的真实情况)
Stuffed / Dead
Why Randy and LaVerne must take turns standing on the raft. (轮流站立的原因)
The thing goes under if they both sit
In "The Landlady", one clue (besides the animals) that something is wrong. (除动物外的不对劲线索)
(e.g., The cheap price / The missing other guests)
The feeling the reader gets from the story. (读者的感受)
Mood
How the narrator acts when the policemen first arrive. (最初对待警察的态度)
Calm and confident
The significance of the tea tasting like "bitter almonds". ("苦杏仁"味的暗示)
Poison
The suggested mental state of Randy at the very end. (Randy最终的精神状态)
He is crazy / broken
One scary ability of the black thing in "The Raft". (黑色物体的可怕能力)
(e.g., Dissolving people / Going through the raft)