要寫(xiě)好英語(yǔ)記敘文，光了解其語(yǔ)言特點(diǎn)還是不夠的。同描述文、說(shuō)明文、議論文等其他文體相比，英語(yǔ)記敘文有其特殊的寫(xiě)作方法與技巧。掌握了這些寫(xiě)作方法和技巧，往往能獲得事半功倍的效果。從中學(xué)生寫(xiě)英語(yǔ)作文的實(shí)際出發(fā)，下面介紹一些基本的英語(yǔ)記敘文的寫(xiě)作方法和技巧。
1.明確五個(gè)“W”和一個(gè)“H”
要寫(xiě)好記敘文，首先必須確定寫(xiě)些什么，然后懂得如何收集、選取素材，而不能提筆就寫(xiě)，寫(xiě)到哪里算哪里。這里，我們可以借用新聞?dòng)⒄Z(yǔ)寫(xiě)作中經(jīng)常用到的五個(gè)“W”和一個(gè)“H”的概念。即：What（什么事），Who（什么人）， When （什么時(shí)候），Where（什么地點(diǎn)），Why（什么原因），How （怎么樣）。盡管不是每篇英語(yǔ)記敘文都一定要將這些W和H包括進(jìn)去，但是，一方面，確定寫(xiě)作內(nèi)容、收集寫(xiě)作素材必定要圍繞這五個(gè)W和一個(gè)H進(jìn)行；另一方面，一篇好的英語(yǔ)記敘文讀后不應(yīng)讓讀者還存有上述疑問(wèn)。請(qǐng)讀下面這篇簡(jiǎn)短的習(xí)作：
Last week I took part in the final piano contest at the school. On that night， I was so nervous（緊張）that I could hardly move my fingers. As I waited for my turn to appear on the stage， I was sure I had forgotten the opening notes of my piece of music. I began thinking of ways to run away； maybe I could faint（暈倒） or pretend（假裝）to be very much ill. But then at the last minute my piano teacher came by to wish me luck and said something that suddenly changed everything. When my turn came， I played with ease and confidence（信心）。 Although the results of the contest were disappointing（失望）， I was pleased that I had conquered（征服）one of my major enemies——stage fright（怯場(chǎng)）。
文中黑體部分讀后讓人留下了兩個(gè)疑問(wèn)：1）老師究竟說(shuō)了些什么（What）使得一切突然發(fā)生了變化； 2）既然“輕松自信地”進(jìn)行了演奏，為何（Why）結(jié)果會(huì)令人失望。由于文章沒(méi)有很好地處理這兩個(gè)W，所以盡管文筆不錯(cuò)，還是一篇沒(méi)有寫(xiě)好的記敘文。
2.確定以第幾人稱(chēng)以及何種順序展開(kāi)記敘
一般來(lái)說(shuō)，英語(yǔ)記敘文展開(kāi)記敘的視角有兩個(gè)：第一人稱(chēng)和第三人稱(chēng)。第一人稱(chēng)是從“參與者”的角度進(jìn)行記敘；第三人稱(chēng)是以“觀察者”的身份展開(kāi)敘述，要根據(jù)具體情況合理選用。
在用第一人稱(chēng)的記敘文中，不要過(guò)多地使用“I…”，“We…”這樣的句型，以免給人單調(diào)乏味的感覺(jué)。在以第三人稱(chēng)進(jìn)行記敘時(shí)，要避免過(guò)多的評(píng)論，以至失去記敘文的客觀性。另一方面，確定了記敘視角后，不可再隨意變來(lái)變?nèi)ィ悦馄茐奈恼碌倪B貫性以及打亂讀者的思路。
在確定了記敘的視角后，還要確定以何種順序展開(kāi)記敘。在英語(yǔ)記敘文中，常用的是按事情發(fā)生的時(shí)間順序進(jìn)行記敘。盡管有時(shí)采用不按時(shí)間順序的倒敘、插敘等方法可以產(chǎn)生某種特定的效果，但就目前中學(xué)生的實(shí)際英語(yǔ)水平而言，值得練習(xí)的還是以時(shí)間順序展開(kāi)的記敘方法；因?yàn)檫@種記敘順序無(wú)論從時(shí)態(tài)，還是連接詞、過(guò)渡詞等方面都比較容易掌握。
下面是從第一人稱(chēng)角度，按事情發(fā)生順序所寫(xiě)的一篇較好的習(xí)作：
An Unusual Autumn Night
It was a cool autumn night. Many people were already deep in sleep， but I was still reading an interesting novel. Suddenly I smelt something burning. I looked out of the window. Oh， my god！ A fire had broken out！ A house on the opposite side was on fire. It was my classmate， Lily's house. Flames were shooting out of the kitchen windows. Smoke was everywhere. “Fire！ Fire！ Help！ Help！”I cried out at the top of my voice. Then I called the fire brigade. By this time， many neighbours had been worken up and were running out. I took a pail and joined the people in putting out the fire. Luckily， Lily and her parents came out in time. They were so frightened and nervous that they could do nothing but cry. I was about to go to comfort them when suddenly I thought of the big colour TV set in their living room. It would explode and cause more damage if the fire reached it. I rushed into the house without much thinking. I found the TV set quickly， but couldn't move it. The flames were coming. I tried all I could to push out the table on which the TV set was placed. The table suddenly moved and I fell， my leg hurt. Just at that time， two firefighters appeared. One carried me out and the other carried out the TV set.
About half an hour later， the fire was put out. Fortunately， it didn't destroy many things. Of course it didn't spread to other houses either. Lily's parents were so thankful that they couldn't say a word. My neighbours and the firefighters said I was a brave girl.
Later that night， I didn't sleep a wink， not that my injured leg hurt much but that I was excited. I thought a lot. In this world， there are still bad things—— theft， robbery， wars， but there are more good-natured people. If everyone does a bit for others， the world will become much better.
江蘇 宋麗芳
3.在塑造人物、展開(kāi)情節(jié)上下功夫
像寫(xiě)漢語(yǔ)記敘文一樣，要寫(xiě)好英語(yǔ)記敘文也必須在塑造人物、展開(kāi)情節(jié)上下功夫。我們記敘的任何事情都是要由人來(lái)進(jìn)行的，人物塑造的好壞是衡量記敘文好壞的一個(gè)重要標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。因此，人物，特別是主要人物的動(dòng)作、言語(yǔ)如何記敘表達(dá)都應(yīng)該仔細(xì)推敲。另外，所述事情的情節(jié)展開(kāi)也不能面面俱到地“報(bào)流水賬”，而要突出重點(diǎn)，詳略有致。還應(yīng)該有意識(shí)地采用類(lèi)似“設(shè)置懸念”、“前后呼應(yīng)”等的寫(xiě)作手法，以吸引讀者的興趣。
請(qǐng)讀下面這篇摘自人民教育出版社出版的高一英語(yǔ)教科書(shū)中的一篇短文：
My friend Paul will never forget his first chemistry teacher. He was a little man with thick glasses， but he had a strange way of making his classes lively and interesting. And his lessons were not easily forgotten.
Paul remembers one of his first lessons from this teacher. After the students were all in the chemistry lab， the teacher brought out three bottles. One was filled with petrol（汽油）， one with castor oil（蓖麻油）and one with vinegar（醋）。 “Now watch carefully，”said the teacher.
He then filled a cup with some of the petrol， some of the castor oil and some of the vinegar. As the students watched him quietly， he mixed the three together. After that， he held up one of his fingers and showed it to the class. He then dipped it into the cup. After a few seconds he took his finger out. “Now watch，”he said. “Remember， you must do everything as I do. ”
He put a finger in his mouth， tasted it and smiled， looking rather pleased. Then he handed the cup around the class of students. Each student dipped a finger into the mixture and sucked （吮吸）it. Instead of smiling， each of them made a face. The mixture tasted terrible.
When the cup was at last returned to the teacher， he said sadly，“I'm sorry， none of you watched carefully enough. Yes， I sucked a finger， but the finger I put into my mouth was not the one I had dipped into the cup.”
It was Paul's first important lesson as a student of chemistry and he never forgot it.
全文重點(diǎn)突出，抓住化學(xué)課上老師讓學(xué)生嘗試混合液體這一細(xì)節(jié)來(lái)詳細(xì)敘述，而不贅述化學(xué)課的其他環(huán)節(jié)。同時(shí)，通過(guò)著重描寫(xiě)嘗試混合液體的過(guò)程以及相應(yīng)的反應(yīng)，特別是用直接引語(yǔ)客觀表述老師的說(shuō)明，令人信服地塑造了一個(gè)讓人難以忘懷的教師形象。
總之，寫(xiě)好英語(yǔ)記敘文的基本方法是：首先明確所要記敘的要素，即上面所述的五個(gè)W和一個(gè)H；然后，確定以第幾人稱(chēng)的視角以及何種順序展開(kāi)記敘，以保證記敘的條理性；后，多在塑造人物、展開(kāi)情節(jié)上下功夫，使文章能引人入勝。
1.明確五個(gè)“W”和一個(gè)“H”
要寫(xiě)好記敘文，首先必須確定寫(xiě)些什么，然后懂得如何收集、選取素材，而不能提筆就寫(xiě)，寫(xiě)到哪里算哪里。這里，我們可以借用新聞?dòng)⒄Z(yǔ)寫(xiě)作中經(jīng)常用到的五個(gè)“W”和一個(gè)“H”的概念。即：What（什么事），Who（什么人）， When （什么時(shí)候），Where（什么地點(diǎn)），Why（什么原因），How （怎么樣）。盡管不是每篇英語(yǔ)記敘文都一定要將這些W和H包括進(jìn)去，但是，一方面，確定寫(xiě)作內(nèi)容、收集寫(xiě)作素材必定要圍繞這五個(gè)W和一個(gè)H進(jìn)行；另一方面，一篇好的英語(yǔ)記敘文讀后不應(yīng)讓讀者還存有上述疑問(wèn)。請(qǐng)讀下面這篇簡(jiǎn)短的習(xí)作：
Last week I took part in the final piano contest at the school. On that night， I was so nervous（緊張）that I could hardly move my fingers. As I waited for my turn to appear on the stage， I was sure I had forgotten the opening notes of my piece of music. I began thinking of ways to run away； maybe I could faint（暈倒） or pretend（假裝）to be very much ill. But then at the last minute my piano teacher came by to wish me luck and said something that suddenly changed everything. When my turn came， I played with ease and confidence（信心）。 Although the results of the contest were disappointing（失望）， I was pleased that I had conquered（征服）one of my major enemies——stage fright（怯場(chǎng)）。
文中黑體部分讀后讓人留下了兩個(gè)疑問(wèn)：1）老師究竟說(shuō)了些什么（What）使得一切突然發(fā)生了變化； 2）既然“輕松自信地”進(jìn)行了演奏，為何（Why）結(jié)果會(huì)令人失望。由于文章沒(méi)有很好地處理這兩個(gè)W，所以盡管文筆不錯(cuò)，還是一篇沒(méi)有寫(xiě)好的記敘文。
2.確定以第幾人稱(chēng)以及何種順序展開(kāi)記敘
一般來(lái)說(shuō)，英語(yǔ)記敘文展開(kāi)記敘的視角有兩個(gè)：第一人稱(chēng)和第三人稱(chēng)。第一人稱(chēng)是從“參與者”的角度進(jìn)行記敘；第三人稱(chēng)是以“觀察者”的身份展開(kāi)敘述，要根據(jù)具體情況合理選用。
在用第一人稱(chēng)的記敘文中，不要過(guò)多地使用“I…”，“We…”這樣的句型，以免給人單調(diào)乏味的感覺(jué)。在以第三人稱(chēng)進(jìn)行記敘時(shí)，要避免過(guò)多的評(píng)論，以至失去記敘文的客觀性。另一方面，確定了記敘視角后，不可再隨意變來(lái)變?nèi)ィ悦馄茐奈恼碌倪B貫性以及打亂讀者的思路。
在確定了記敘的視角后，還要確定以何種順序展開(kāi)記敘。在英語(yǔ)記敘文中，常用的是按事情發(fā)生的時(shí)間順序進(jìn)行記敘。盡管有時(shí)采用不按時(shí)間順序的倒敘、插敘等方法可以產(chǎn)生某種特定的效果，但就目前中學(xué)生的實(shí)際英語(yǔ)水平而言，值得練習(xí)的還是以時(shí)間順序展開(kāi)的記敘方法；因?yàn)檫@種記敘順序無(wú)論從時(shí)態(tài)，還是連接詞、過(guò)渡詞等方面都比較容易掌握。
下面是從第一人稱(chēng)角度，按事情發(fā)生順序所寫(xiě)的一篇較好的習(xí)作：
An Unusual Autumn Night
It was a cool autumn night. Many people were already deep in sleep， but I was still reading an interesting novel. Suddenly I smelt something burning. I looked out of the window. Oh， my god！ A fire had broken out！ A house on the opposite side was on fire. It was my classmate， Lily's house. Flames were shooting out of the kitchen windows. Smoke was everywhere. “Fire！ Fire！ Help！ Help！”I cried out at the top of my voice. Then I called the fire brigade. By this time， many neighbours had been worken up and were running out. I took a pail and joined the people in putting out the fire. Luckily， Lily and her parents came out in time. They were so frightened and nervous that they could do nothing but cry. I was about to go to comfort them when suddenly I thought of the big colour TV set in their living room. It would explode and cause more damage if the fire reached it. I rushed into the house without much thinking. I found the TV set quickly， but couldn't move it. The flames were coming. I tried all I could to push out the table on which the TV set was placed. The table suddenly moved and I fell， my leg hurt. Just at that time， two firefighters appeared. One carried me out and the other carried out the TV set.
About half an hour later， the fire was put out. Fortunately， it didn't destroy many things. Of course it didn't spread to other houses either. Lily's parents were so thankful that they couldn't say a word. My neighbours and the firefighters said I was a brave girl.
Later that night， I didn't sleep a wink， not that my injured leg hurt much but that I was excited. I thought a lot. In this world， there are still bad things—— theft， robbery， wars， but there are more good-natured people. If everyone does a bit for others， the world will become much better.
江蘇 宋麗芳
3.在塑造人物、展開(kāi)情節(jié)上下功夫
像寫(xiě)漢語(yǔ)記敘文一樣，要寫(xiě)好英語(yǔ)記敘文也必須在塑造人物、展開(kāi)情節(jié)上下功夫。我們記敘的任何事情都是要由人來(lái)進(jìn)行的，人物塑造的好壞是衡量記敘文好壞的一個(gè)重要標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。因此，人物，特別是主要人物的動(dòng)作、言語(yǔ)如何記敘表達(dá)都應(yīng)該仔細(xì)推敲。另外，所述事情的情節(jié)展開(kāi)也不能面面俱到地“報(bào)流水賬”，而要突出重點(diǎn)，詳略有致。還應(yīng)該有意識(shí)地采用類(lèi)似“設(shè)置懸念”、“前后呼應(yīng)”等的寫(xiě)作手法，以吸引讀者的興趣。
請(qǐng)讀下面這篇摘自人民教育出版社出版的高一英語(yǔ)教科書(shū)中的一篇短文：
My friend Paul will never forget his first chemistry teacher. He was a little man with thick glasses， but he had a strange way of making his classes lively and interesting. And his lessons were not easily forgotten.
Paul remembers one of his first lessons from this teacher. After the students were all in the chemistry lab， the teacher brought out three bottles. One was filled with petrol（汽油）， one with castor oil（蓖麻油）and one with vinegar（醋）。 “Now watch carefully，”said the teacher.
He then filled a cup with some of the petrol， some of the castor oil and some of the vinegar. As the students watched him quietly， he mixed the three together. After that， he held up one of his fingers and showed it to the class. He then dipped it into the cup. After a few seconds he took his finger out. “Now watch，”he said. “Remember， you must do everything as I do. ”
He put a finger in his mouth， tasted it and smiled， looking rather pleased. Then he handed the cup around the class of students. Each student dipped a finger into the mixture and sucked （吮吸）it. Instead of smiling， each of them made a face. The mixture tasted terrible.
When the cup was at last returned to the teacher， he said sadly，“I'm sorry， none of you watched carefully enough. Yes， I sucked a finger， but the finger I put into my mouth was not the one I had dipped into the cup.”
It was Paul's first important lesson as a student of chemistry and he never forgot it.
全文重點(diǎn)突出，抓住化學(xué)課上老師讓學(xué)生嘗試混合液體這一細(xì)節(jié)來(lái)詳細(xì)敘述，而不贅述化學(xué)課的其他環(huán)節(jié)。同時(shí)，通過(guò)著重描寫(xiě)嘗試混合液體的過(guò)程以及相應(yīng)的反應(yīng)，特別是用直接引語(yǔ)客觀表述老師的說(shuō)明，令人信服地塑造了一個(gè)讓人難以忘懷的教師形象。
總之，寫(xiě)好英語(yǔ)記敘文的基本方法是：首先明確所要記敘的要素，即上面所述的五個(gè)W和一個(gè)H；然后，確定以第幾人稱(chēng)的視角以及何種順序展開(kāi)記敘，以保證記敘的條理性；后，多在塑造人物、展開(kāi)情節(jié)上下功夫，使文章能引人入勝。