論歐•亨利的寫作技巧

摘要：歐•亨利是美國(guó)的短篇小說(shuō)大師，他的作品向讀者展示了美國(guó)20世紀(jì)初期的社會(huì)全景。他的獨(dú)特的寫作技巧使其聞名于美國(guó)文壇乃至世界文壇。他的作品的主要特色是：出其不意的結(jié)局、幽默與諷刺。
本論文旨在分析歐•亨利的這三個(gè)寫作技巧。首先，本論文將簡(jiǎn)要介紹歐•亨利，包括其作品及其影響。第二部分將分析其作品中出其不意的結(jié)局，這種出其不意的效果主要是由誤導(dǎo)、敘述角度的轉(zhuǎn)換及主要信息的隱瞞實(shí)現(xiàn)。第三部分將闡述其作品中的幽默效果，這主要是由措辭、人物的對(duì)比和對(duì)照引起。第四部分將論述其作品中的諷刺，以《警察與贊美詩(shī)》、《麥琪的禮物》和《帶家具出租的房間》為例。最后，本論文將總結(jié)歐•亨利在寫作技巧方面的成就。

關(guān)鍵詞：寫作技巧；出其不意的結(jié)局；幽默；諷刺

On O. Henry’s Unique Writing Techniques

Abstract

O. Henry is an outstanding American short story writer whose works disclose to us a panorama of American society in the early 20th century. His unique writing techniques, for which he is most famous, establish his reputation not only in the realm of American literature but in the realm of world literature as well. His works are mainly characterized by surprise endings, humor and irony.
This paper, which consists of five parts, aims to analyze three of his major writing techniques: surprise endings, humor and irony. The first part is a brief introduction to O. Henry. The second part discusses his surprise endings, which are mainly achieved through attempts to mislead, the shifting of the angle of narration and the withholding of information. The third part elaborates on humor in his works, which is, for the most part, achieved through diction, using the comparison and contrast of characters. The fourth part is dedicated to irony, exemplified by “The Cop and the Anthem”, “The Gift of the Magi” and “The Furnished Room”. Finally, the paper sums O. Henry’s main achievements, especially in terms of his writing techniques.

Key words: writing techniques; surprise endings; humor; irony

Acknowledgements

First and foremost, I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to my supervisor, Mr. Wang Zuhua, both for his intellectual guidance and for his warm and constant encouragement during the writing process. With patience and prudence, he labored through drafts of this thesis and pointed out defects in my paper. Therefore, I owe all the merits in this thesis, if any, to him, though I am fully aware that the thesis might still contain some mistakes, for which I bear the whole responsibility.
My sincere thanks go to all the teachers in the Department of English, whose interesting and informative courses have benefited me during my college years. The profit that I gained from their profound knowledge, remarkable expertise and intellectual ingenuity will be of everlasting significance to my future life and career.
I am also very grateful to my classmates, who have given me a lot of help and courage during my stay in the university and throughout the writing process.

Contents
中文摘要………………………………………………………………...………… i
Abstract…………………………………………………………………………… .ii
Acknowledgements…………………………………………………………………iii
Introduction………………………………….……………………………………...1
I. Surprise Endings………………………….………………………………………2
A .Surprise Effect Achieved through Attempts to Mislead.………….………. 2
B. Surprise Effect Achieved through Shifting of the Angle of Narration….… 3
C. Surprise Effect Achieved through Withholding of Information…………... .4
II. Humor………………………………………………………………….………...6
A. Humor Effect Achieved through Diction…………..……………….……....6
B. Humor Effect Achieved through Comparison of Characters……….………7
C. Humor Effect Achieved through Contrast of Characters……………….…..7
III. Irony….…………………………………..………………….…………………..9
A. Irony in “The Cop and the Anthem”….……..……….……………….……...9
B. Irony in “The Gift of the Magi”………………………………….….……....10
C. Irony in “The Furnished Room”…………………………….………....……10
Conclusion……………………………………………………….………..………..12
Notes………………………………………………………………………………..13
Bibliography………………………………………………………………………..14