SAT Reading- 小說分析舉例

這是 SAT 閱讀練習題的一小部分, 節錄自官方網站的練習範例。這一題考小說閱讀, 文學分析的能力。

這裡我簡單示範, 如何閱讀故事型考題。重點是迅速釐清幾個元素:
- 角色, 角色彼此的關係,
- 場景的時地, 季節, 經濟條件, 社會階級, ...
- 角色的動機: 感情聯繫的, 精神超越的, 事業發展的, 物質報酬的, 社會正義的, ...
- 完成目標的阻礙

Questions 1-10 are based on the following passage.
This passage is from Lydia Minatoya, The Strangeness of Beauty. ©1999 by Lydia Minatoya.
The setting is Japan in 1920. Chie and her daughter Naomi are members of the House of Fuji, a noble family.

題目文本摘自於一本小說。 上面提示說這是講一對日本母女的故事, Chie 是媽媽, Naomi 是女兒, 出身於貴族家庭。
注意: Chie 是比較東方名字, 而 Naomi 是西方名字。所以讀者可以猜想,是否關於隔代文化衝突?

Akira came directly, breaking all tradition. Was that it? Had he followed form—had he asked his mother to speak to his father to approach a go-between—would Chie have been more receptive? He came on a winter’s eve. He pounded on the door while a cold rain beat on the shuttered veranda, so at first Chie thought him only the wind.

開頭有一個角色 Akira 出現。Akira 是 男的 (he),
場景: 冬天晚上, Akira 去拜訪 Chie 家。
Akira 想要是如果先請他媽媽去問他爸爸, 做 go-between 來找 Chie 談, 會不會比較有效?  (點出新生一代, 對老一代之間注重傳統的應對進退, 這些規矩, 很難取捨)
拜訪動機: 他要 Chie 接受甚麼?

The maid knew better. Chie heard her soft scuttling footsteps, the creak of the door. Then the maid brought a calling card to the drawing room, for Chie. Chie was reluctant to go to her guest; perhaps she was feeling too cozy.

貴族家庭所以有 maid, 做開門迎接不速之客的工作。 而 Chie 坐著不動, 享受女主人的地位。

She and Naomi were reading at a low table set atop a charcoal brazier. A thick quilt spread over the sides of the table so their legs were tucked inside with the heat.

場景: 母女坐在有烤爐的房間取暖, 和室。

“Who is it at this hour, in this weather?” Chie questioned as she picked the name card off the maid’s lacquer tray.

“Shinoda, Akira. Kobe Dental College,” she read. Naomi recognized the name. Chie heard a soft intake of air.

“I think you should go,” said Naomi.

這段對話, 很短, 可是暗示一些 Naomi 和 Akira 的過往。你有聽到女兒 Naomi 倒抽一口氣嗎?
(考題還有其它段落)

衝突還沒出現, 但敏銳的讀者, 讀到這裡應該 對 Akira-Chie-Naomi 三者之間可能發生的衝突有些預感了!
小說讀很多, 對文學類型熟悉的人, 可能會在猜, 這個故事發展下去, 會不會是 羅密歐/茱麗葉 類型? 家族間的衝突, 世代間的隔閡造成年輕戀人的阻礙?
透過文類 (genre) 預期性的思考, 是老練的讀者, 自然而然會發展出來的讀書技術。