The Scarlet Letter, published in 1850, is an American novel written by Nathaniel Hawthorne and is generally considered to be his magnum opus. Set in 17th-century Puritan Boston, it tells the story of Hester Prynne, who gives birth after committing adultery, refuses to name the father, and struggles to create a new life of repentance and dignity. Throughout the novel, Hawthorne explores questions of grace, legalism, sin and guilt.
[edit] Plot summary
The Scarlet Letter. Painting by T. H. Matteson. This 1860 oil-on-canvas was made under Hawthorne's personal supervision.
The Scarlet Letter. Painting by T. H. Matteson. This 1860 oil-on-canvas was made under Hawthorne's personal supervision.[1]
The novel begins in 17th-century Boston, Massachusetts, then a Puritan settlement. A young woman, Hester Prynne, is led from the town prison with her infant daughter in her arms and the scarlet letter “A” on her bosom. The scarlet letter "A" represents the act of adultery that she has committed and it is to be a symbol of her sin – a badge of shame – for all to see. A man in the crowd tells an elderly onlooker that Hester is being punished for adultery. Hester's husband, who is much older than she is, sent her ahead to America while he settled some affairs in Europe. However, her husband never arrived in Boston. The consensus is that he has been lost at sea. While waiting for her husband, Hester has apparently had an affair, as she has given birth to a child. She will not reveal her lover’s identity, however, and the scarlet letter, along with her public shaming, is her punishment for her sin and her secrecy. On this day Hester is led to the town scaffold and harangued by the town fathers, but she again refuses to identify her child’s father.[1]
The elderly onlooker is Hester’s missing husband, who is now practicing medicine and calling himself Roger Chillingworth. He settles in Boston, intent on revenge. He reveals his true identity to no one but Hester, whom he has sworn to secrecy. Several years pass. Hester supports herself by working as a seamstress, and Pearl (her daughter) grows into a willful, impish child, who is more of a symbol than an actual character, said to be the scarlet letter come to life as both Hester's love and her punishment. Shunned by the community, they live in a small cottage on the outskirts of Boston. Community officials attempt to take Pearl away from Hester, but, with the help of Arthur Dimmesdale, an eloquent minister, the mother and daughter manage to stay together. Dimmesdale, however, appears to be wasting away and suffers from mysterious heart trouble, seemingly caused by psychological distress. Chillingworth attaches himself to the ailing minister and eventually moves in with him so that he can provide his patient with round-the-clock care. Chillingworth also suspects that there may be a connection between the minister’s torments and Hester’s secret, and he begins to test Dimmesdale to see what he can learn. One afternoon, while the minister sleeps, Chillingworth discovers something undescribed to the reader, supposedly an "A" burned into Dimmesdale's chest, which convinces him that his suspicions are correct.[1]
Dimmesdale’s psychological anguish deepens, and he invents new tortures for himself. In the meantime, Hester’s charitable deeds and quiet humility have earned her a reprieve from the scorn of the community. One night, when Pearl is about seven years old, she and her mother are returning home from a visit to the deathbed of John Winthrop when they encounter Dimmesdale atop the town scaffold, trying to punish himself for his sins. Hester and Pearl join him, and the three link hands. Dimmesdale refuses Pearl’s request that he acknowledge her publicly the next day, and a meteor marks a dull red “A” in the night sky. It is interpreted by the townsfolk to mean Angel, as a prominent figure in the community had died that night, but Dimmesdale sees it as meaning Adultery. Hester can see that the minister’s condition is worsening, and she resolves to intervene. She goes to Chillingworth and asks him to stop adding to Dimmesdale’s self-torment. Chillingworth refuses. She suggests that she may reveal his identity to Dimmesdale.[1]
Hester arranges an encounter with Dimmesdale in the forest because she is aware that Chillingworth knows that she plans to reveal his identity to Dimmesdale, and she wishes to protect him. While walking through the forest, the sun will not shine on Hester, though Pearl can bask in it. They then wait for Dimmesdale, and he arrives. The former lovers decide to flee to Europe, where they can live with Pearl as a family. They will take a ship sailing from Boston in four days. Both feel a sense of release, and Hester removes her scarlet letter and lets down her hair. The sun immediately breaks through the clouds and trees to illuminate her release and joy. Pearl, playing nearby, does not recognize her mother without the letter. She is unnerved and expels a shriek until her mother points out the letter on the ground. Hester beckons Pearl to come to her, but Pearl will not go to her mother until Hester buttons the letter back onto her dress. Pearl then goes to her mother. Dimmesdale gives Pearl a kiss on the forehead, which Pearl immediately tries to wash off in the brook, because he again refuses to make known publicly their relationship. However, he too clearly feels a release from the pretense of his former life, and the laws and sins he has lived with.
The day before the ship is to sail, the townspeople gather for a holiday and Dimmesdale preaches his most eloquent sermon ever. Meanwhile, Hester has learned that Chillingworth knows of their plan and has booked passage on the same ship. Dimmesdale, leaving the church after his sermon, sees Hester and Pearl standing before the town scaffold. He impulsively mounts the scaffold with his lover and his daughter, and confesses publicly, exposing the mark supposedly seared into the flesh of his chest. He falls dead just after Pearl kisses him.[1]
Frustrated in his revenge, Chillingworth dies a year later. Hester and Pearl leave Boston, and no one knows what has happened to them. Many years later, Hester returns alone, still wearing the scarlet letter, to live in her old cottage and resume her charitable work. She receives occasional letters from Pearl, who was rumored to have married an European aristocrat and established a family of her own. Pearl also inherits all of Chillingworth's money even though he knows she is not his daughter. There is a sense of liberation in her and the townspeople, especially the women, who had finally begun to forgive Hester of her tragic indiscretion. When Hester dies, she is buried in "a new grave near an old and sunken one, in that burial ground beside which King's Chapel has since been built. It was near that old and sunken grave, yet with a space between, as if the dust of the two sleepers had no right to mingle. Yet one tombstone served for both." The tombstone was decorated with a letter "A", and it was used for Hester and Dimmesdale.
[edit] Major themes
Nathaniel Hawthorne
Nathaniel Hawthorne
[edit] Sin
Sin and knowledge are linked in the Judeo-Christian tradition. The Bible begins with the story of Adam and Eve, who were expelled from the Garden of Eden for eating from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil. As a result of their knowledge, Adam and Eve are made aware of their disobedience, that which separates them from the divine and from other creatures. Once expelled from the Garden of Eden, they are forced to toil and to procreate – two “labors” that seem to define the human condition. The experience of Hester and Dimmesdale recalls the story of Adam and Eve because, in both cases, sin results in expulsion and suffering. But it also results in knowledge – specifically, in knowledge of what it means to be human. For Hester, the scarlet letter functions as “her passport into regions where other women dared not tread,” leading her to “speculate” about her society and herself more “boldly” than anyone else in New England.[2]
As for Dimmesdale, the “cheating minister” of his sin gives him “sympathies so intimate with the sinful brotherhood of mankind, so that his heart vibrate[s] in unison with theirs.” His eloquent and powerful sermons derive from this sense of empathy.[2] The narrative of the Reverend Arthur Dimmesdale is quite in keeping with the oldest and most fully authorized principles in Christian thought. His "Fall" is a descent from apparent grace to his own damnation; he appears to begin in purity. He ends in corruption. The subtlety is that the minister is his own deceiver, convincing himself at every stage of his spiritual pilgrimage that he is saved.[3]
The rosebush, its beauty a striking contrast to all that surrounds it – as later the beautifully embroidered scarlet A will be – is held out in part as an invitation to find “some sweet moral blossom” in the ensuing, tragic tale and in part as an image that “the deep heart of nature” (perhaps God) may look more kindly on the errant Hester and her child (the roses among the weeds) than do her Puritan neighbors. Throughout the work, the nature images contrast with the stark darkness of the Puritans and their systems.[4]
Chillingworth’s misshapen body reflects (or symbolizes) the evil in his soul, which builds as the novel progresses, similar to the way Dimmesdale's illness reveals his inner turmoil. The outward man reflects the condition of the heart.[4]
Although Pearl is a complex character, her primary function within the novel is as a symbol. Pearl herself is the embodiment of the scarlet letter, and Hester rightly clothes her in a beautiful dress of scarlet, embroidered with gold thread, just like the scarlet letter upon Hester's bosom. [2] Parallels can be drawn between Pearl and the character Beatrice in Rappaccini's Daughter. Both are studies in the same direction, though from different standpoints. Beatrice is nourished upon poisonous plants, until she herself becomes poisonous. Pearl, in the mysterious prenatal world, imbibes the poison of her parents' guilt.
[edit] Past and present
The clashing of past and present is explored in various ways. For example, the character of the old General, whose heroic qualities include a distinguished name, perseverance, integrity, compassion, and moral inner strength, is said to be “the soul and spirit of New England hardihood.” Now put out to pasture, he sometimes presides over the Custom House run by corrupt public servants, who skip work to sleep, allow or overlook smuggling, and are supervised by an inspector with “no power of thought, nor depth of feeling, no troublesome sensibilities,” who is honest enough but without a spiritual compass.[4]
Hawthorne himself had ambivalent feelings about the role of his ancestors in his life. In his autobiographical sketch, Hawthorne described his ancestors as “dim and dusky,” “grave, bearded, sable-cloaked, and steel crowned,” “bitter persecutors” whose “better deeds” would be diminished by their bad ones. There can be little doubt of Hawthorne’s disdain for the stern morality and rigidity of the Puritans, and he imagined his predecessors’ disdainful view of him: unsuccessful in their eyes, worthless and disgraceful. “A writer of story books!” But even as he disagrees with his ancestor’s viewpoint, he also feels an instinctual connection to them and, more importantly, a “sense of place” in Salem. Their blood remains in his veins, but their intolerance and lack of humanity becomes the subject of his novel.[4]
[edit] Public response
The Scarlet Letter was published in the spring of 1850 by Ticknor & Fields, beginning Hawthorne's most lucrative period.[5] When he delivered the final pages to James Thomas Fields in February 1850, Hawthorne said that "some portions of the book are powerfully written" but doubted it would be popular.[6] In fact, the book was an instant best-seller[7] though, over fourteen years, it brought its author only $1,500.[5] Its initial publication brought wide protest from natives of Salem, who did not approve of how Hawthorne had depicted them in his introduction "The Custom-House". A 2,500-copy second edition of The Scarlet Letter included a preface by Hawthorne dated March 30, 1850, that he had decided to reprint his introduction "without the change of a word... The only remarkable features of the sketch are its frank and genuine good-humor... As to enmity, or ill-feeling of any kind, personal or political, he utterly disclaims such motives".[8]
The book's immediate and lasting success are due to the way it addresses spiritual and moral issues from a uniquely American standpoint. In 1850, adultery was an extremely risqué subject, but because Hawthorne had the support of the New England literary establishment, it passed easily into the realm of appropriate reading. It has been said that this work represents the height of Hawthorne's literary genius; dense with terse descriptions. It remains relevant for its philosophical and psychological depth, and continues to be read as a classic tale on a universal theme.[9]
The Scarlet Letter was also one of the first mass-produced books in America. Into the mid-nineteenth century, bookbinders of home-grown literature typically hand-made their books and sold them in small quantities. The first mechanized printing of The Scarlet Letter, 2,500 volumes, sold out within ten days,[5] and was widely read and discussed to an extent not much experienced in the young country up until that time. Copies of the first edition are often sought by collectors as rare books, and may fetch up to around $6,000 USD.
On its publication, critic Evert Augustus Duyckinck, a friend of Hawthorne, said he preferred the author's Washington Irving-like tales. Another friend, critic Edwin Percy Whipple, objected to the novel's "morbid intensity" with dense psychological details, writing that the book "is therefore apt to become, like Hawthorne, too painfully anatomical in his exhibition of them".[10] 20th century writer D. H. Lawrence said that there could be no more perfect work of the American imagination than The Scarlet Letter.[11]
[edit] Allusions
* Anne Hutchinson, mentioned in Chapter 1, The Prison Door, was a religious dissenter (1591-1643). In the 1630s she was excommunicated by the Puritans and exiled from Boston and moved to Rhode Island.[4]
* Martin Luther (1483-1546) was a leader of the Protestant Reformation in Germany.
* Sir Thomas Overbury and Dr. Forman were the subjects of an adultery scandal in 1615 in England. Dr. Forman was charged with trying to poison his adulterous wife and her lover. Overbury was a friend of the lover and was perhaps poisoned.
* John Winthrop (1588-1649), first governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
* Richard Dawkins' Out Campaign is represented with the Scarlet Letter A emblem.
[edit] Film, TV and theatrical adaptations
Main article: Film Adaptations of the Scarlet Letter
1995 film poster
1995 film poster
* 1917: A black-and-white silent film directed by Carl Harbaugh with Mary G. Martin as Hester Prynne
* 1926: A silent movie directed by Victor Sjostrom and starring Lillian Gish and Lars Hanson.
* 1934: film directed by Robert G. Vignola and starring Colleen Moore
* 1973: Der Scharlachrote Buchstabe a film directed by Wim Wenders in German
* 1979: PBS version starring Meg Foster and John Heard
* 1994: A rock musical, "The Scarlet Letter" written by Mark Governor is produced in Los Angeles.
* 1995: The Scarlet Letter, a film directed by Roland Joffé and starring Demi Moore as Hester and Gary Oldman as Arthur Dimmesdale. This version is "freely adapted" from Hawthorne according to the opening credits and takes liberties with the original story.
* 1996: The film Primal Fear references The Scarlet Letter.
* 1996: The Marilyn Manson promotional video for the song 'Man That You Fear' obliquely references the novel.
* The Red Letter Plays (In The Blood produced in 1999, and F--ing A, produced in 2000) by playwright Suzan-Lori Parks, rewrote the story placing it in contemporary New York and Houston.
* 2001: A musical stage adaptation which premiered at the Fringe Festival in Edinburgh, Scotland, by Stacey Mancine, Daniel Koloski, and Simon Gray.
* 2004: The Scarlet Letter is a Korean noir-thriller featuring an adulteress' monologue, that mentions a plan to raise her unborn child as Pearl in America, in a desperate plea to exit her obsessive affair.
* 2008: "shAme"[1], a rock opera by Mark Governor based on "The Scarlet Letter" premieres in Los Angeles. It is a major reworking of his 1994 stage musical that was also produced in Boston in 2000 and as a radio production in Berlin in 2005. The 2000 version was endorsed and presented by the Nathaniel Hawthorne Society.
[edit] References to the novel
Lists of miscellaneous information should be avoided. Please relocate any relevant information into appropriate sections or articles. (September 2008)
[edit] Literature
* The 1993 novel The Holder of the World by Bharati Mukherjee re-wrote the story, placing it in present-day Boston, Colonial America, and seventeenth-century India during the spread of the British East India Company.
* Deborah Noyes wrote a companion to this novel entitled Angel and Apostle with Pearl as the main character.
* Postmodern writer Kathy Acker borrows from The Scarlet Letter in her novel Blood and Guts in High School. Janie, the main character, identifies with Hester Prynne and intertwines their stories in a vulgar manner.
* In the novel Speak, Hairwoman, the English teacher, refers to The Scarlet Letter in her lesson. The novel's protagonist, Melinda Sordino, is a freshman in high school who is ostracized from her fellow schoolmates during the school year, much as Hester Prynne was ostracized by the Puritans in Boston.
* Maryse Condé's novel I, Tituba, Black Witch of Salem, although set at the time of the Salem witch trials, also features the character Hester Prynne.
* The title of Jhumpa Lahiri's 2008 novel Unaccustomed Earth comes from a passage from the introduction to The Scarlet Letter: "Human nature will not flourish, any more than a potato, if it be planted and replanted, for too long a series of generations, in the same worn-out soil. My children have had other birthplaces, and, so far as their fortunes may be within my control, shall strike their roots into unaccustomed earth."
[edit] Culture
Richard Dawkins's Out Campaign for atheism uses a red scarlet "A" on webpages and clothing as an emblem of atheist identification. [12]
Tennessee has drivers convicted of DUI wear vests advertising this fact while on roadside litter pick-up duty. This is a badge of shame similar to the original scarlet letter.
红字》的象征意义
关键词：红字 象征主义 中国论文 职称论文
摘 要:分析了《红字》中红字“A”丰富而深刻的内涵,指出作者通过塑造“小珠儿”的形象,增强了美与丑,善与恶的对比,寄托了作者对爱的绝对自由的向往。关键词:红字;A Pearl;象征主义
纳萨内尼·霍桑是浪漫主义时期美国最具天赋的小说家。他开创了美国文学史上“象征浪漫主义”的创作手法。作为生活在19世纪中期的浪漫主义作家,霍桑深受清教意识、超验哲学和神秘主义三种思想的影响,他对社会充满了怀疑,使得他的作品具有强烈的象征主义倾向。长篇小说《红字》是霍桑的代表作,作品以一通奸案为题材,通过描述小说人物的思想矛盾和生活遭遇来揭露黑暗的社会。霍桑在《红字》中艺术技巧独具匠心,特别是广泛地运用象征手法,像变魔术一样给予平凡的单词以不平凡的意义,给人以深刻的启示。《红字》中使用的象征手法有其深刻的思想根源和美学理论基础,体现了霍桑对“生命力受到压抑”的切肤之痛。鲁迅曾经指出“生命受到压抑而生的苦闷懊恼是文学的根底,而其表现手法乃是广义的象征主义”。霍桑的代表作《红字》正是在继承传统象征意义的艺术手法的基础上,开创了象征主义的新篇章。作为小说名字的“红字”贯穿于故事的全过程,并带有不同的象征含义,具有多义性和不确定性。随着故事情节的发展,红字“A”的内涵发生了由Adulteress到Able再到Angle的变化。这种象征的多义性和不确定性正是作者思想矛盾的反映,同时,作者一方面控诉清教对人性的摧残和压抑;另一方面又认同清教的道德观和教义。《红字》以17世纪北美清教殖民统治下的新英格兰为背景,取材于1642—1649年在波士顿发生的一个恋爱悲剧。故事一开始的场景发生在该镇监狱的门前,而这个场景的主角是海丝特·白兰,一个年轻、美丽的女人,她怀里抱着3个月大的女婴———珠儿,站在刑台上,等待政教合一的加尔文教(即清教)政权在大庭广众面前宣布对她的判决。那么,受审的女罪犯是什么人?她又犯了什么罪?故事开始于几年前,出身英国破落贵族家庭的白兰嫁给了一个畸形的年老学者。婚后,两人决定移居波士顿。途径荷兰时,丈夫因有事留下,妻子先独自来到波士顿,一住近两年。期间丈夫毫无音信。据传他在赶来的途中被印第安人俘虏,生死不明。在独居生活中,海丝特与当地牧师阿瑟·丁梅斯代尔相爱,生下了一个女婴。显然,她犯下了基督教“十戒”中的“一戒”,即通奸罪,为清教的教义所不容。她被投入监狱,法庭判她有罪,令她在刑台上站立三个小时当众受辱,并终身佩带一个红色的字母A(英文通奸Adultery的第一个字母)作为惩戒。但是作者霍桑赋予了在刑台上的“A”更深层的含义。对于压抑人民和毒害人民思想的清教而言,红字“A”为通奸的标记,事实上“A”不仅是海丝特深爱着的恋人Arthur Dimmesdale名字的第一个字母,也是法语中爱情Amour这个词的第一个字母。从字里行间中,读者可以品味出作者霍桑同情海丝特对爱的追求,甚至认为那是人的纯真本性,笔下洋溢出对海丝特的赞美之词:“斯特胸前红色的“A”字之精美仿佛不是屈辱的标志,而是艺术饰品。这个红色的“A”字是用细红布做的,四周用金色的丝线精心刺绣而成,手工奇巧。对于这个“A”字,霍桑设计的独具匠心,包含了丰富而华美的想象,配在她穿的那件衣服上真成了一件美丽的装饰品”。文中的描写给读者的感觉是海丝特仿佛不是一个“犯下无耻罪行的犯人”,而是一个怀抱圣婴的美丽端庄的妇人。随着故事的发展,霍桑不断地赋予了红字“A”更多更深层的含义。海斯特是一个向往纯真爱情,渴望幸福的女人。虽然她无法摆脱强加在她身体上的耻辱,但是她的内心深处的感情却激情澎湃,无法遏制。为了维持生计,她为别人刺绣。她的绣工巧夺天工,精妙绝伦。她精心地绣制各种美丽的“A”字。除了维持生计,海丝特别无所求,把寄托着她的青春,激情和才气的绣品换来的钱施舍给比她幸运的穷苦百姓。尽管她乐善好施,但是海丝特仍然没有摆脱精神的痛苦和世俗的磨难。但她始终没有消沉,反而变得坚强而成熟,依然反抗着清教并坚信着对丁梅斯代尔的爱情。时间是最好的证明,渐渐地她胸前所佩戴的红色字母“A”在众人的心中有了另一番含义:“没有人能够像她那样乐善好施,那样喜欢接济贫困者”;“那刺绣的红字闪射出非凡的光芒,给人以慰藉。在别的地方他是罪恶的标志,但在病房里却成为蜡烛。”虽然还有那些“执着的清教徒”认为海丝特的红字是耻辱的象征,但是更多善良的人们拒绝再用原来的意思解释“A”,他们说那个字的意思应该解释为“能干”(able)的意思。她以自己的美德赢得了人们的尊重和敬爱,她无尽的同情心和勇于献身的精神产生了巨大的力量,在众人眼中,红字“A”反而具有了天使的内涵———纯洁,美丽,善良,博爱。通过作者对红色字母“A”的驾驭,我们可以看出霍桑对主人公海丝特热情、善良、坚强、勇敢的天性的赞美。于此同时,我们也可以看出作者的另一个写作意图,通过美与丑,善与恶的对比,霍桑对清教徒的卑劣行径刻画的入木三分,痛斥得酣畅淋漓。“清教徒倡导勤俭、反对奢靡,无疑是净化社会的一剂良药,但是标榜禁欲,让世人过苦行僧般的生活,多少有些泯灭人性之嫌”。而主人公海丝特正是祭奠清教徒狂热宗教信仰的无辜羔羊。通过“A”的不断变化,作者为我们揭示了当时社会的真实图景。如果说红字A在清教徒的眼中是通奸的代表,那么赋予了象征意义的红字A就象征着善良、美好、坚强和勤劳。如果说小珠儿是永不磨灭的活着的红字的话,那么赋予了象征意义的小珠儿就象征着纯真的爱情、这个时代的曙光。Pearl(小珠儿)是这部小说中唯一的一个阳光人物,她像珍珠一样纯洁,像天使一样善良快乐。在四个主要人物中,只有小珠儿在道德上是完美没有残缺的,她象征着人性中最无暇的一面。小珠儿的出现并非是作者的心血来潮,读者从对海丝特女儿名字的设计上就可以体会到。她是海丝特和丁梅斯代尔的女儿。Pearl这个词来源于圣经,意思是“十分珍贵的东西”。在圣经中记载,上帝让一个商人卖掉所有的财产去买一颗珍珠,并告诉他这颗珍珠即是他的天堂。海丝特为这段爱情付出了沉重的代价,可以说女儿在她心中占据绝对重要的位置,是她的天堂。同时,霍桑在小珠儿情节上的设计也是恰到好处,独具匠心。小珠儿既是海丝特爱情的象征,同时也是她耻辱的象征,是活着的红字。作者总是会有意无意地描写小珠儿对红字近乎天生的热爱:小珠儿出生时第一眼看到的就是母亲胸前灿烂的红字A.而且小珠儿十分的喜欢,伸手去抓,“眼里总是含着奇怪的表情与特殊的微笑”。正是珠儿的存在才时刻提醒着海丝特和丁梅斯代尔他们曾经犯下的“罪行”,督促他们净化自己的灵魂改过自新。正是因为小珠儿的存在才使丁梅斯代尔有勇气在公众面前承认自己的“罪行”。可以说,小珠儿寄托了作者对美好生活,纯真爱情,和追求善良无暇的人性的向往。是作者的希望所在,也是社会的希望所在。总而言之,正是由于霍桑在《红字》中独具匠心的象征手法的运用,使《红字》成为美国第一部象征主义小说,也正是因为霍桑在《红字》中象征手法的成功运用,成就了《红字》在文学领域的重要地位。
参考文献
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[2] 任晓晋,魏玲.红字中象征与原型的
模糊性、多义性和矛盾性[J].外国文学研究,2000,(1):121-125.
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A study of sym bolic m ean ingsof The Scarlet L etterZHANG W en-si(Fudan U n iversity,S hangha i 200433,Ch ina)Abstract:The author gives many rich and p rofoundmeanings of the scarlet letter A to contract beauty w ithugliness besides kindness and evil.Moreover,Haw2thorne reposes too much hope by molding the im age ofPearl.Key words:“the scarlet letter”;A Pearl;symbolism
英语议论文写作是英语专业学习者学习中很重要的一项技能，恰当运用评价资源能增强作者表达对事件的态度和立场，开启话题，可以感染和说服读者。以下是我为大家整理的关于英语议论文范文，给大家作为参考，欢迎阅读!
英语议论文范文篇1
My opinion on copying others' homework
It is konwn to us all that some students copy others' homework,their reasons are as below:first of all,the homework is too much and always difficult;the second,they are not intrested in the lessons;and the third,the aim of finishing their homework is to please the teacher.
In my opinion,copying others' homework is not good,because it's against the rules of the school.We should be honest and work hard to get high scores.If we have difficulties,we can even ask the teacher or our classmates for their help.
英语议论文范文篇2
Now it is common that students copy homework from their classmates. I think it is a terrible thing . Because homework is their own task and the check for what they learn in class.
If they copy others' homework , the teachers won't get the fact so they can't help the students to improve. Besides ,if the students can't finish their homework, they can't get the chance to go over their lessons so they can't make progress. So don't copy others' homework.
英语议论文范文篇3
In the picture we can see that a man is fishing attentively by the lake.Behind him there is a scholar who is stealing the fish in the man’s bucket.It is obvious that the drawer of the picture tries to reveal a serious problemin the academic circle of our country — plagiarism. In recent years academiccheats have become rampant. Quite a lot of graduate students and scholars“use” others’ ideas, articles and papers without acknowledging the sourceof information.
They copy them without the fear that they might be caught.For a long time we paid less attention to the problem of plagiarism, butnow we are increasingly aware of its negative effects. Plagiarists’misconduct simply mean “stealing” others’ intellectual and academicaccomplishments, which not only depreciates their own humanity but contaminatesthe climate of the academic circle. Academic falsification is like an epidemicdisease that spreads fast and will destroy the healthy development of academicstudies. What’s worse, these plagiarists have set a very disreputable exampleto the younger generation.
So what attitude should we hold towards it? From my point of view, weshould resolutely battle against this ill phenomenon. Education of moralityshould be strengthened among the scholars and students. Those who steal others’academic achievements should be given severe punishment whenever they arespotted. If necessary, we can resort to the law to protect the interest of theoriginal writer and inventor. We must recognize that fighting againstplagiarism requires our persistent efforts.
翻译
在画中我们可以看到一位男子正在专心地在湖边钓鱼，在他身后有一位学者模样的人正从钓鱼人的鱼桶中偷鱼。显然，作这幅画的人是想揭示我国学术界的一个严重的问题—— 剽窃。近年来学术欺诈盛行，有不少研究生、学者“利用”别人的想法、文章和论文而不注明信息来源。
他们抄袭他人作品，不怕被抓。对剽窃问题很长时间以来我们关注甚少，现在我们越来越多地意识到它的负面影响。剽窃行为其实就是“偷”他人的知识和学术成就。剽窃不仅贬低人格，而且污染学术风气，它会像传染病那样迅速蔓延，破坏学术研究的健康发展。更糟的是，这些剽窃者给年轻的一代树立了坏榜样。
英语作为一门学科，其本身即承载和蕴含有丰富的德育功能。但这些德育动能需要教师有意识的创设一定的教育情境。情景是道德教育中重要而有意义的组成部分。下面是我给大家推荐的英语教育类论文范文，希望大家喜欢!
《高中英语课堂教学中的德育教育与教学方法探索》
摘要：本文简要论述了英语语言和高中英语课程中所蕴含的德育功能，并进一步提出教师在利用教材和课堂所提供的虚拟道德情境帮助学生获得道德认知的基础上，还应该采用多种教学方法，有意识的为学生在课堂上提供人际交往的机会和场景。以创设真实的道德教育情境，在帮助学生有效完成英语学习的同时，引导他们达到道德知、情、意、行的统一。
关键词：道德;德育教育;高中英语;道德教育情境
中共中央国务院《关于进一步加强和改进未成年人思想道德建设的若干意见》要求：“学校……把德育工作摆在素质教育的首要位置，贯穿于教育教学的各个环节。”道德教育不是学校某一门课程的专有职能，也不是只在某一特定时候才开展的工作。“只有将道德教育与知识教学结合起来，通过学校开设的各种课程进行道德教育，才能为人的精神丰富与道德成长找到一条有效的途径”。
一、英语语言所蕴含的德育功能
早在上世纪20年代初，萨丕尔就指出，语言是描述人类经验与对世界认识的方式，同一语言社区的成员有着共同的、系统的信仰和理念，他们决定了社区的结构，并通过语言表达出来。因此，语言与文化不是互不相干的孤立的现象，他们紧密联系在一起。当代语言观认为，语言是文化的主要载体，也是习得文化的主要途径之一，而离开了文化，也不可能正确的习得与学习语言。何谓文化?英国人类学家泰勒(1871)指出，文化是指社会成员习得的知识、信仰，艺术、道德、法律与习俗的综合体。B.Tomolin等人则进一步将文化分成三大块：思想、产物、与行为，而其中思想起着决定性作用。3由此可见。英语语言本身就承载着思想道德的内容。学习英语语言的过程，同时也是从另一个角度接受德育教育的过程。
二、高中英语课程中的德育功能
要开发和实现高中英语课程中的德育功能，首先要澄清德育教育的内容是什么。道德是一个人对人、事、物及其关系的基本观点，态度，情感及行为表现。4在人与人(他人与群体)之间，主体我(I)与客体我(me)之间，人与动物、人与自然、人与工作、人与神之间都存在道德关系。5从1997年3月正式开始实施的“全球生活价值教育项目”(Living Values Educa-tional Project)所提出的核心德目对我们的德育教育应该具有启示和指导作用，它们是：合作、自由、幸福、诚实、谦卑、爱心、和平、尊重、责任、朴素、容忍、团结。
教育部干2003年颁布的《普通高中英语课程标准(试验)》对英语的课程性质作了如下规定：“英语课程的学习，既是学生通过英语学习和实践活动，逐步掌握英语知识和技能，提高语言实际运用能力的过程，又是他们磨练意志、陶冶情操、拓展事业、丰富生活经历，开发个性和提高人文素养的过程。”这其中显然包含了思想道德教育的内容。相应的，《课程标准》将“培养爱国主义精神，形成健康的人生观”等作为英语课程的任务之一。
我们现行高中英语教材是高中英语教学的媒介物，是经过筛选的学习资料，这些材料本身就蕴含有丰富的德育功能。以人教版全日制普通高级中学教科书(必修)英语第二册(上)为例：该书包括10个主题单元的内容，这10个主题分别涉及到了辩学、自然、文学、艺术、文化、生活、环保等领域，为学生提供了相关方面的一些知识，同时也为他们深入思考人类与这些事物之间的道德关系提供了很好的平台。比如第一单元的阅读文章No:Boundaries给学生简要介绍了Stephen Hawking，学生可以在学习掌握英语语言知识的同时，了解Hawking顽强的奋斗史，从而去追问顽强、信念、意志、责任之于生命的意义，去探求自由、幸福的哲学意义。
三、英语教学与道德教育情境的创设
如前所述，英语作为一门学科，其本身即承载和蕴含有丰富的德育功能。但这些德育动能需要教师有意识的创设一定的教育情境。情景是道德教育中重要而有意义的组成部分，情景不同，所产生的学习方式不同，其学习结果和效果也不同。
(一)课堂教学与虚拟道德情景
课堂教学就可以提供一种道德教育情境。以扎实高效的认知法(the cognitive approach)为例，其步骤一般是这样的：1、复习导入。讲解新词;2，讲解语法;3、语法练习;4、讲授新课，并展小组活动。逐句讨论课文内容与意义。教师总结;5、回到课文，听录音，学生就课文内容提问。如此，尤其是在开展第4和第5步骤的过程中，学生在老师有意识的引导下，在阅读材料和课堂所提供的虚拟情境中，即可获得一定的道德认知。但认知并非道德教育的全部，道德情感、道德意志和道德行动亦是道德教育非常重要的组成部分，毕竟，“人是做成的而并非生就的”。对于虚拟情境中的个体来讲，他的所作所为只是他的一种意象，并不能保证其在真实情最能够达到道德知、情、意、行的统一。
(二)课堂教学与真实道德情景
课堂教学中的真实情境最主要的是课堂人际交往中发生的各种场景，包括师生交往、生生交往等。这种情境因为过去一直没有受到教师教育意识的足够关注，教师和学生往往会在这种情境中展示出自己最自然本真的一面，因而它所体现的道德更多的是直觉性和习惯化的行为，因此也就更加利于师生之间进行更加有效的道德观察、道德评价和道德教育。当然，这要求教师在课堂教学中注意采用一些鼓励课堂人际交往的教学方法，如交际法，提示法、社区式语言学习法、整体教学法，任务型语言教学法、合作型学习等，并在教学开展的过程中有意识的关注自己和学生在课堂交往时的道德行为和表现，及时给予评价或鼓励。
需要说明的是，在道德教育的过程中——无论是虚拟情境抑或真实情境中，应鼓励学生在对话与协商中提升其道德判断和行为抉择的能力。为了保证师生、生生之间对话与协商的有效，在课堂交往中教师应注意有关言说与倾听有关的问题。在这里，哈贝马斯(Habermas.J)所界定的理想言说的四个条件或许会有帮助：言说内容的真实性;言说行动的适当性，言说者意向的真诚性，言说含义的可领会性。至于倾听，教师则应注意避免“不倾听”、“不健全倾听”、“虚假倾听”、“拒绝倾听”、“批发式倾听”和“同情式倾听”等几种情况和倾向。
当然，德育教育绝非仅由教师和课堂教育教学就能完成，它需要政府、社会、学校、社区，家长和受教育者本人的共同努力。本研究仅希望能够对广大同行在相关方面的课堂教学提供一些思考。
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