TuesdaywithMorrie英语书评（共2篇）
TuesdaywithMorrie英语书评 篇1
Tuesday with Morrie by Mitch Albom-Review Written as an appeal to the salvation of soul, Tuesday with Morrie is an incredible treasure to the mankind.This book is published in the U.S.in 2006.This is a book about “the life’s greatest lessons” between a young man and an old man, the true experience of Mitch and his respecting professor.Regardless of their close friendship on the campus, Mitch, who “had become too wrapped up in the siren song of his own life”(Mitch, 2006, p.33)stayed out of touch with his teacher after graduation until it comes to the last moment, when Morrie was terminally sick.Due to a great coincidence, they reunited thankfully and Morrie brought back the true feelings in the dust-laden heart of Mitch.They started fourteen extraordinary lessons, during which they discussed the simple but ultimate issues of life.These lessons are sure to make the most important course one has to take.The words flow gently through people’s minds like a warm stream with twinkling sprays of thoughts.With the main lessons presented in a natural, plain dialogue mode, it reads entirely relaxed.Readers are absorbed into the scene, talking face-to-face with Morrie, asking the same questions that disturb them so much and gain spiritual enhancement over and over again.And it is not simply an aggregation of the conversations they have made.The structure is exquisitely designed with the main lessons and the backgrounds appearing alternatively.It remains intriguing and the coordination of the two parts make the affection it created far more impressed and long-lasting.In addition to helping people reconsider the real content and the significance of love, it is a terrific journey where readers are confronted directly with the death.There is no doubt that the mightiest part of the book is the combination of love and death.The two concepts have striking contrast but both contribute to the return of people’s soul.With death drawing near, people tend to think more and deeper.It is the best time for one to look back, evaluating his or her life in a completely different way.When people know they are bound to die, they are no longer engaged in the trifles around, they are no longer bothered by the huge appetite they have got for everything.And the material world just seems unimportant;they only want company and mental comfort from others.It is the only time that almost every human being can reexamine himself and knows the true feelings inside him.De.Montaigne and Steve Jobs have both spoken highly of the particular state of mind called “being-towards-death”.For them，being-towards-death means one can truly get rid of the daily routines and decide what really matters for him or her as well as the people around.And that is what makes this series of chicken soup a milestone in history.Another highlight is that Mitch faced up to himself bravely.It is estimable for him to spoke out his faults, revealing the cold, indifferent figure of himself.This big contrast and the great change of Mitch present people an overwhelming affection and drive people to reflect on themselves.As a book to refresh people’s soul, Tuesday with Morrie is absolutely perfect.The warmth of love and the depth of thought shock everybody.There is one little flaw, though.At the end of the book, it puts “Have you ever really had a teacher…If you are lucky enough to find your way to such teachers, you will always find your way back.”(Mitch, 2006, p.192)Yet actually, unfair as the life is, quite few individuals can expect to have such enormous fortune to come across such a great mind in their life.For the majority, they are more likely to gain constant power from their inner world.It would be better if the author could express this idea in another way or maybe propose a more common method for the ordinary to create their own culture.At least it may not be so wisea to owe this too much to his teacher.Though this is also a book in memorial to Morrie, it is more crucial to pass on.And Morrie would be glad to see so, wouldn’t he? This may probably make the impact of the book more sustainable, not just a transitory passion, but a continuous one.Tuesday with Morrie is a profoundly heart-warming book which enables us to explore our love and inner passion.The unembarrassed love between Mitch and Morrie is to touch everyone, making us feel ashamed when we hold back our true feelings, making us feel guilty when we drop our dreams and stimulating us to love and gain the courage to say that our culture is wrong.And the reexamination of these beautiful concepts in the view of death pushes us to embrace our life and create our own culture.References：
Mitch, A.(2006), Tuesday with Morrie, New York, Anchors Books
礼貌原则在英语学术书评中的体现 篇2
书评，作为对出版作品进行评价的工具，越来越引起学术界的重视。前人曾经从它的体裁特点、评价策略、人际情态意义、讲究礼貌、语类结构等角度进行过研究。本文拟以面子理论为框架，详细探讨英文学术书评作者是通过何种手段来实现维护面子的目的的。
二、对书评的探讨
书评是评论者对作品内容的批判性评价，它的目的在于介绍和评论某一作品的内容。书评是潜在的威胁作者或读者面子的一种文学体裁，它不仅反映书评者对所评书目的个人观点，而且还反映他处理人际关系的技巧 (Hyland, 2000)。
从这个概念中我们得知书评有两个基本要点：介绍和评价。评论者不仅要回答是什么的问题，还要回答怎么样的问题。通常的做法是用二分之一到三分之二的篇幅来总结作者的主要观点，至少用三分之一的篇幅做出评价。作评者写好书评需要一定的交际技巧，需要维护作者、读者及自己的面子。
三、西方社会中的礼貌现象评述
礼貌是在任何文化中都普遍存在的极其平常的一种社会现象。自1978年Brown和Levinson发表了《语言使用中的普遍原则:礼貌现象》一文后，礼貌现象引发了诸多社会语言学家、人类学家和语用学家们的关注。他们从各个不同的角度出发对这一现象作了大量的实证研究和理论探讨。其中影响最大的是Brown和Levinson提出的面子理论和Leech提出的礼貌原则。
（一）B&L的“面子理论”
B&L在1978年提出的“面子理论”是建立在Goffman’s的面子理论基础上的。面子对每一个人来说是最神圣的、不可侵犯的。他们认为所有理性的社会成员都具有面子，他们根据个人需要把面子分为两类:消极面子,即个人拥有行动自由、不受干涉的权利；积极面子,即个人的正面形象或“个性”，包括希望这种自我形象受到赞许的愿望，这个定义是以西方文化中重视个人价值观念为基础的。
通常情况下，交际双方会通过彼此合作维护对方的面子，但现实生话中难免有不少潜在的威胁面子的行为, 当这种情况发生时，为减轻威胁面子的程度，需要采取一些补偿措施，即礼貌策略。禮貌策略分为积极礼貌策略和消极礼貌策略。前者是指在进行威胁面子行为时采取补偿行动，对受话人的积极面子加以保护，具体做法有表示赞扬、赞同等。消极礼貌即采取补偿行动使受话人的消极面子加以保护，具体做法有使用疑问句、过去时、缓冲语、歉语等。
（二）Leech提出的礼貌原则
英国语言学家Leech在1983年提出了礼貌原则的六条准则：
①策略准则：尽量减少他人付出的代价，尽量增大对他人的益处。②慷慨准则：尽量减少对自己的益处，尽量增大自己付出的代价。③赞扬准则：尽量缩小对他人的批评，尽量增加对他人的赞扬。④谦虚准则：尽量缩小对自己的标榜，尽量夸大对自己的批评。⑤赞同准则：尽量缩小与他人的不同意见，尽量增加与他人相同的意见。⑥同情准则：尽量缩小对他人的厌恶，尽量扩大对他人的同情。
四、礼貌原则在英语学术批评中的体现
既然书评会潜在地威胁面子，那么作评者就需要从人际关系的角度作全面地考虑，既要做出正确可观的评价，又要创造一个和谐友好的对话氛围，避免过分威胁作者的面子。
学术书评是对一本书的质量、学术水平、理论观点以及实用价值等方面进行的评价，它必然会涉及到面子问题（李经纬，1996）。根据Leech的观点，遵循赞扬准则和赞同准则, 是对作者积极面子的维护。批评和建议属于负面评价，是对作者和评论者面子的侵害，但是没有哪一个学者的观点会绝对地正确或是文章写得确实无懈可击，所以学术批评是不可避免的。正是学术批评促进了学术繁荣和学术进步。为了解决既要提出批评又要保护作者和评论者的面子这一矛盾，作评者必须采取必要的礼貌策略。当然，由于西方人的坦率的特点，不拐弯抹角，直截了当地指出缺点和不足在英语书评中比较常见。在他们看来，有批判的眼光，有不同的见解往往被看成是有思想、有见地、有创造性的表现（柳淑芬，2005），这不属于本文的研究范围，本文主要关注的是当书评者进行负面评价时，为减弱威胁面子行为的侵害程度，保持人际关系的和谐所采取的修饰性的策略以及作评者对作者进行的正面赞扬。
以下是笔者从2006年出版的Applied Linguistic和The Modern Language Journal中随机选取的例子以及对它们进行的归类分析。
(1) Much of the analysis of King’s speeches and sermons is valuable. However, the term ‘messianic’ is misleading.
(2) The instructor’s manual in both series could be improved with the addition of more specific strategies. Nevertheless, the variety and wealth of activities make these booklets a useful and attractive supplement to any language.
(3) Despite its shortcomings, Stone’s volume is the richest in the number and range of its entries in all categories.
(4) The introduction is easy to understand, but at times it is not sufficiently detailed or explicit.
在上述四个例子中，书评者采用了表示转折关系或让步关系的副词或连词要么对作者先表扬后批评，要么先批评后表扬，减弱了赤裸裸的批评给作者所造成积极面子的侵害程度。在笔者所调查的书评中，类似上述这种褒贬结合的批评在负面评价中所占的比例最大。如：
(5) Although the careful reader may find somewhat redundant…such a schema meets Coppola’s didactic purpose and facilitates subsequent referencing.
(6) In its separation of the spoken and written textual components, it may well prove to be another alternative for the teacher struggling to find materials appropriate for the large Chinese learner population in the USA.
may作为一个表示可能性的情态动词，语气相对缓和。用于负面评价时，可以避免对作者的直接批评，一定程度上维护了作者的积极面子，如例(5)。
用于正面评价时，同样可以使语气得到缓和，避免把自己的看法强加给读者，增加了书评内容的可接受性，在维护作者和读者面子的同时也维护了自己的面子，如例(6)。再如：
(7) The treatment of prepositions could have been better integrated into the Noun Group section.
(8) This volume covers an impressive ground in terms of periods, authors and approaches, yet in a few instances one would expect to encounter more recent sources.
(9) In a discussion of speech acts, almost two pages are dedicated to a lengthy passage from one of Ibsen’s plays, when a much shorter sequence might have sufficed.
在一定语境下，使用情态动词可以减弱语言的批评力量（Perkins, 1983）。could, would , might作为can, will, may的过去时，其语气更加缓和且更带有试探性。它们的使用也是为了避免与作者的正面交锋，增加了批评的可协商性。使用这些情态动词有时表明作评者因缺乏权威不便非常肯定地提出批评或对该评价模棱两可，为了回应来自读者潜在的质疑而采取的保全双方面子的措施，有时也表示承认与分歧立场对话的可能性，为对话协商提供一个更宽松的环境。如：
(10) A small drawback is that the English translations in the book seem to need some polish.
(11) There are some small typographical errors throughout, making sentences at times a little difficult to understand.
(12) The title of the volume is somewhat misleading.
(13) These, however, were minor points that one should expect from software.
在以上幾个例子中，书评者通过使用seem, a little, somewhat, minor等模糊语，使他们的观点更具有说服力和可接受性。
(14) One seeking the precise Latin for the injunction against arguing about taste would not find this…
(15) It is much to be welcomed that both of these books make a substantial…in content.
(16) It is taken for granted in several papers that rationalist positions equal…
在上述例中，作评者使用了表示泛指意义的one 和非人称主语引导的句子，让读者去评论，让事实自己说话，可以避免因评论不当而招致的批评，同时也开脱了自己的责任，保护了作评者的面子。
(17) It strikes me that more careful editing was necessary to aid coherence and consistency throughout the book.
一般过去时除了表示在过去某个时间发生的事或存在的状态外，还可表示礼貌地提出建议。
(18) This volume, offers a comprehensive description and analysis of FLT in China, on the basis of up-to-date domestic and international research.
(19) The overall aim of Linguistic and the Language of Translation is admirable and a work of its kind is indeed much needed.
(20) It will provide a clearer understanding of the nature of thoughts, beliefs and values. The result is at least interesting and more often than not richly illuminating.
在以上三例中，作评者用大量的褒义词语对作者进行公开赞扬，一方面显示了自己作为评论者的权威，维护了自己的面子；另一方面又肯定了作者在学术领域所作的贡献，承认了作者的个人价值，维护了作者的积极面子。
综上所述，作评者在评论中除了通过正面评价来保护作者的积极面子外，还通过使用褒贬结合的批评方式、情态动词、模糊语、表示泛指意义的one、非人称主语句和一般过去时等维护作者或读者的面子。
五、结束语
本文只是粗浅地谈论了英语学术书评中使用的礼貌策略，希望有利于加深人们对学术书评这一特殊文学体裁的认识，以引发更多相关的讨论。
参考文献：
[1]Brown, P and S, Levinson. Politeness: Some Universals in Language Use［M］.London:Cambridge University Press, 1987.
[2]Hyland, K.Disciplinary Discourse: Social Interaction in Academic Writing［M］.London: Longman, 2000.
[3]Perkins, M.R. Modal Expression in English ［M］.London: Frances Printer, 1983.
[4]李经纬.英汉书评中的礼貌策略比较［J］.解放军外语学院学报，1996，（3）： 1-8.
[5]柳淑芬.对比修辞：英汉书评比较［J］.广东教育学院学报，2005，（1）： 104-108.