Dynamic and Unchanged Characters · 发展的人物与不变的人物
A dynamic character bends the plot
- A dynamic character who develops over the course of the narrative often makes choices that directly or indirectly affect the climax and/or the resolution.
- That is the CED's own link between character and plot.
- So "she changes" is only half an answer — the other half is what her change did to the ending.
A character’s choices are the plot wearing shoes: they actually go somewhere.
发展的人物会弯折情节
- 在叙事过程中发展的动态人物,常常作出直接或间接影响高潮与/或结局的选择。
- 这是 CED 自己在人物与情节之间建立的联系。
- 因此"她变了"只是半个答案——另一半是她的变化对结局做了什么。
人物的选择是穿上鞋的情节：它真的会往前走。
A dynamic character matters to plot because their choices... · 动态人物之所以对情节重要,是因为他们的选择……
So "she changes" is half an answer; the other half is what the change did. · 因此"她变了"是半个答案;另一半是这一变化做了什么。
Two kinds of change
- Changes can be visible and external — health, wealth, position.
- Or internal, psychological or emotional.
- And external changes can lead to internal changes, and vice versa — the causal arrow runs both ways.
两类变化
- 变化可以是可见的、外在的——健康、财富、地位。
- 也可以是内在的、心理的或情感的。
- 而且外在变化可以引发内在变化,反之亦然——因果箭头是双向的。
Prove a character changed, in three quotations · 用三处引文证明人物变了
Before, hinge, after — and the hinge is the one students omit. · 之前、转折、之后——学生漏掉的正是转折。
External changes can lead to internal changes, and internal to external. · 外在变化可以引发内在变化,内在变化也可以引发外在变化。
The CED states the causal arrow runs both ways. · CED 明确指出因果箭头是双向的。
Some characters do not change
- Some characters remain unchanged or are largely unaffected by the events of the narrative.
- That is not a failure of characterisation — it is a choice with a function.
- An unchanged character often measures the change in everyone else.
有些人物不会变化
- 有些人物保持不变,或基本不受叙事中事件的影响。
- 这不是人物塑造的失败——而是一种带有功能的选择。
- 不变的人物,往往用来丈量其他所有人的变化。
A character who does not change is a weakness in the writing. · 不发生变化的人物是写作上的一处弱点。
The CED names it as a real category; such a character usually measures everyone else's change. · CED 把它列为一个真实的类别;这样的人物通常用来丈量其他所有人的变化。
An unchanged character is a choice, not an oversight. The CED says some characters remain largely unaffected — and such a character usually functions as a fixed measure against which everyone else's movement becomes visible. Treating them as underwritten misses their whole job.
不变的人物是一种选择,不是疏漏。CED 说有些人物基本不受影响——而这样的人物通常起到固定标尺的作用,使其他所有人的移动变得可见。把他们当作写得不够,就完全错过了他们的职责。
To evidence a change, quote the character early and quote them ____. · 要为一次变化提供证据,就在早处引用这个人物,并在 ____ 处引用。
One quotation shows a state; two show a difference. · 一处引文显示一种状态;两处才显示差异。
Change needs two measurements
- To claim a character changed, quote them early and quote them late.
- One quotation shows a state; two show a difference.
- The essay that only quotes the ending has asserted a change rather than evidenced it.
变化需要两次测量
- 要主张某个人物变了,就在早处引用他们,在晚处也引用他们。
- 一处引文显示一种状态;两处才显示差异。
- 只引用结尾的文章,是断言了变化,而不是为它提供了证据。
Put the change pass in order. · 把变化检查排序。
The last step is the one the CED actually asks for. · 最后一步才是 CED 真正要求的。
A change pass
- Quote the character early. Quote them late. Name whether the change is external or internal.
- Say which caused which, if the text lets you.
- Then say what their choice did to the climax or the resolution.
变化检查
- 在早处引用这个人物。在晚处引用。说出这一变化是外在的还是内在的。
- 如果文本允许,说出是哪一个导致了哪一个。
- 然后说出他们的选择对高潮或结局做了什么。
The father loses the farm (external), and only afterwards stops speaking to his brother (internal) — the CED's arrow running from outside in. His sister, who changes in nothing across three hundred pages, is how the reader measures how far he has gone.
父亲失去了农场(外在),此后才不再与哥哥说话(内在)——这正是 CED 所说由外而内的那个箭头。而他那位三百页里毫无变化的妹妹,正是读者用来丈量他走了多远的尺度。
A dynamic character's choices affect the climax or resolution — so name what the change did, not just that it happened. Change may be external or internal, and each can cause the other. Some characters remain unchanged, and that is a function: they measure everyone else. Evidence a change with two quotations, early and late.
动态人物的选择影响高潮或结局——因此要说出变化做了什么,而不只是它发生了。变化可以是外在的或内在的,而两者可以互为原因。有些人物保持不变,这本身就是一种功能:他们丈量其他所有人。用两处引文(早与晚)为一次变化提供证据。