UCL學(xué)姐極力推薦A-Level English Language暑期課外書單——寫作篇
隨著國(guó)際教育越來(lái)越普及、學(xué)生的國(guó)際視野也越來(lái)越寬廣，現(xiàn)在全國(guó)很多學(xué)校的A -Level課程都開(kāi)始從最初的清一色理科&商科拓展開(kāi)來(lái)，慢慢引入文科。作為一只在2017年的CIE A-Level English Language考試中拿到87% A的文科狗，現(xiàn)在我想要推薦一波書單！(放心這是良心安利……畢竟書都不是我寫的)
English Language作為傳統(tǒng)大坑（劃去）每年全世界的拿A率只有4-5%，所以很誠(chéng)懇地建議大家趁著暑假早作準(zhǔn)備，畢竟文科靠積累，需細(xì)水長(zhǎng)流。
我的書單頭號(hào)針對(duì)對(duì)象主要為：
將要在下學(xué)年開(kāi)始CIE?AS Level English Language的學(xué)生。
其次，如果你屬于以下范圍，本書單可以作為參考！因?yàn)槠渲谐ぞ邥獾钠渌麜耆梢援?dāng)作休閑讀物來(lái)看！保證提高英語(yǔ)水平（來(lái)自UCL的微笑）。
- 將要在下學(xué)年開(kāi)始其他考試局English Language的學(xué)生。
- 英語(yǔ)語(yǔ)言文學(xué)愛(ài)好者，或者想提高英語(yǔ)水平
由于書單太長(zhǎng)，分為兩部分，上一部分僅包括為Paper 1的閱讀分析作準(zhǔn)備的書目。今天分享的書單將針對(duì)Paper 2的寫作。（比較長(zhǎng)哈哈哈哈哈因?yàn)閷懽鞅乳喿x分析難提升。）
（前倆都是叫威廉的人寫的，憋問(wèn)我為什么，而且后一個(gè)威廉是前一個(gè)的粉絲）：
“The Elements of Style”?by William Strunk Jr. & E.B. White
這個(gè)真的是業(yè)內(nèi)出名的吧 (*/ω＼*) 基礎(chǔ)中的基礎(chǔ)！對(duì)于母語(yǔ)非英語(yǔ)的我們，我覺(jué)得會(huì)列為“強(qiáng)行推薦暴走推薦必讀書目”。里面包含的寫作要義從語(yǔ)法拼寫到總體寫作風(fēng)格的指點(diǎn)都非常經(jīng)典，大多數(shù)都應(yīng)該嚴(yán)格遵守。我很喜歡一段話，覺(jué)得對(duì)于所有作者（特別是即將要寫Paper 2 Imaginative and Argumentative pieces的小作者們）都很適用，在這里分享給大家：?“In terms of craft, there’s no excuse for losing readers through sloppy workmanship. If they doze off in the middle of your article because you have been careless about a technical detail, the fault is yours. But on the larger issue of whether the reader likes you, or likes what you are saying or how you are saying it, or agrees with it, or feels an affinity for your sense of humour of your vision of life, don’t give him a moment’s worry. You are who you are, he is who he is, and either you’ll get along or you don’t.”
“On Writing Well”?by William Zinsser
大家可以看著它寫Paper 2的那個(gè)argumentative piece（被我和我的老師叫做boring piece，然而壞習(xí)慣不要模仿啊哈哈哈哈）！因?yàn)檫@本書全是在教非創(chuàng)意性寫作。
這本書被作者本人認(rèn)為是對(duì)The Elements of Style的補(bǔ)充。他自己認(rèn)為這兩本書的區(qū)別在于：The Elements of Style “was a book of pointers and admonitions: do this, don’t do that. 而他的書強(qiáng)調(diào)了”how to apply those principles to the various forms that nonfiction writing and journalism can take”。如果僅僅針對(duì)考試，大家可以著重閱讀Part 1, Part 2和……Part 3里面的第13、14章節(jié)（分別關(guān)于游記和回憶錄）。
這本書可能很難懂，但是暑假先看一遍，明年上學(xué)了再多看幾遍，就沒(méi)有問(wèn)題了~
Creative Writing for Dummies by Maggie Hamand
大家可以看著它寫Paper 2的那個(gè)imaginative piece（這是我最享受的一部分考試，雖然我覺(jué)得整個(gè)科目和考試都很享受）！因?yàn)檫@本書講的都是創(chuàng)意寫作。
這本書名字聽(tīng)起來(lái)跟玩兒一樣，寫得也很直白很可愛(ài)。大多數(shù)同學(xué)沒(méi)有創(chuàng)意寫作的經(jīng)驗(yàn)或者基礎(chǔ)，用這個(gè)入門會(huì)很快。但是如果僅僅針對(duì)考試，只需要讀Part II，里面對(duì)于怎么寫人物、場(chǎng)景、對(duì)話、情節(jié)、敘述、描寫解釋得很清楚。（本書的其他部分是指導(dǎo)如何出版英文小說(shuō)的。嗯……不要問(wèn)我為什么在看？
以下推薦均強(qiáng)調(diào)希望大家學(xué)習(xí)作者文筆。我覺(jué)得要做好Paper 2是不能急功近利地去追求什么考試技巧的，比如你不能強(qiáng)行套修辭或者強(qiáng)行抒情，很容易要么生硬要么cliche。寫作貴在細(xì)水長(zhǎng)流，希望有心在Paper 2拿好成績(jī)的同學(xué)真的抓緊暑假開(kāi)始閱讀，當(dāng)然在開(kāi)學(xué)后還是不能放松（笑）畢竟這些都是我在學(xué)年內(nèi)讀的（又笑）。你好書看得多了，具有大美的文字體會(huì)得多了，自然比臨時(shí)抱佛腳或是玩套路的人拿分高。A-Level English Language不是雅思托福，寫作雖然有大致規(guī)則，但千萬(wàn)別套模板。
以下讀物的敘述和描寫兩方面都非常棒，因此每本書第一句推薦的敘述或是描寫……僅僅是相互比較之下的結(jié)果。
“The Shadow of the Wind”?by Carlos Ruiz Zafon
本書的敘述非常值得學(xué)習(xí)。
豆瓣得分9.0了解一下？這本書其實(shí)當(dāng)時(shí)是英語(yǔ)老師逼我看的哈哈哈哈哈（她屬于那種你完全不想產(chǎn)生任何反駁她的念頭的人）但是我真的看進(jìn)去了！總體來(lái)說(shuō)，這本小說(shuō)哥特風(fēng)格濃厚，懸疑和愛(ài)情雙線纏繞，但最具有文學(xué)意義的是主要人物的一生也是西班牙這個(gè)國(guó)家盛衰榮辱的“一生”。我運(yùn)即國(guó)運(yùn)，主人公們?cè)诨氖徶袑ふ蚁Ｍ谶z忘書之墓祭奠傳統(tǒng)印刷文化的故事……反正這主題打動(dòng)我了唄（攤手）。
“Much like the arrival of Spanish trains, in those stolen yaers you never knew when the end of childhood was due.”
“Few things leave a deeper mark on a reader than the first book that finds its way into his heart. Those first images, the echo of words we think we have left behind, accompany us throughout our lives and sculpt a palace in our memory to which, sooner or later - no matter how many books we read, how many worlds we discover, or how much we learn or forge - we will return.”
“The Ocean At The End of the Lane”?by Neil Gaiman
本書的描寫非常值得學(xué)習(xí)。
Neil Gaiman可能是這個(gè)書單里面最著名的作家了嗯~o(*￣▽￣*)o 但是我推薦的這本書是他相對(duì)比較小眾的一個(gè)。首先主角又是一個(gè)熱愛(ài)書籍勝過(guò)一切的孩子哈哈哈哈哈（不知道為什么我一直在推薦愛(ài)書人的故事）。表面和深層次讀出來(lái)是兩個(gè)故事，但每個(gè)都關(guān)于成長(zhǎng)。大人現(xiàn)實(shí)世界的殘忍和小孩童心的對(duì)碰在這本書里體現(xiàn)得淋漓盡致；但是我最感動(dòng)的sub theme是犧牲。
書里的人物描寫非常美，有一句寫Lettie Hempstock的曾經(jīng)被我化用在了自己Paper 2的寫作中（雖然我寫的是威靈頓的紀(jì)念碑23333）：?“Lettie Hempstock was standing at the bottom of the drive, beneath the chestnut trees. She looked as if she had been waiting for a hundred years and could wait for another hundred. She wore a white dress, but the light coming through the chestnut’s young spring leaves stained it green.”?我覺(jué)得很多時(shí)候閱讀一本好書來(lái)學(xué)習(xí)時(shí)，增加詞匯量倒是其次，更重要的是學(xué)習(xí)native speakers怎么把最樸實(shí)的詞活用到極致，也就是語(yǔ)言文字的運(yùn)用。這個(gè)和學(xué)習(xí)語(yǔ)文是相通的。
景物描寫和我下文要推薦的Rachel Joyce走的是不一樣的風(fēng)格，沒(méi)有Rachel那么華麗，這里稍微簡(jiǎn)潔平實(shí)一些，但是非常明亮~?“The golden glow dimmed, so slowly, and then it was gone, leaving only vanishing glimmers and twinkles in the bushes, like the final moments of the fireworks on Bonfire Night.”和 “Moonlight spilled on to the stairs, brighter than our candle flames. I glanced up through the window and I saw the full moon. The cloudless sky was splashed with stars beyond all counting.”是大家完全可以學(xué)習(xí)滴。
“Fahrenheit 451”?by Ray Bradbury
本書的敘述非常值得學(xué)習(xí)。
如果有一個(gè)消防員負(fù)責(zé)燒書、知識(shí)被禁止而垃圾媒體節(jié)目盛行的世界……那會(huì)是怎么樣的？在我看過(guò)的所有反烏托邦作品里，這本書最充滿希望。知識(shí)自由的代價(jià)，是由遺世獨(dú)立的Clarrise、在烈火中涅槃的無(wú)名女人、明哲保身但其實(shí)堅(jiān)毅又通達(dá)的Faber教授還有黑暗的焚書“消防員”體系中有良知而敢發(fā)聲的Guy Montag守護(hù)的。 比起喬治奧威爾Animal Farm和1984里充斥的壓抑和無(wú)力，這本書里的人像光，無(wú)論微弱或明亮。
作者本身是文法家……他的修辭很打動(dòng)人。
“School is shortened, discipline relaxed, philosophies, histories, languages dropped, English and spelling gradually neglected, finally almost completely ignored. Life is immediate, the job counts, pleasure lies all about after work. Why learn anything save pressing buttons, pulling switches, fitting nuts and bolts?”?（哎哎哎這動(dòng)詞這排比這長(zhǎng)短結(jié)合用來(lái)給Paper 1練習(xí)分析都?jí)虬〔灰埽?/p>
“Everyone must leave something behind when he dies, my grandfather said. A child or a book or a painting or a house or a wall built or a pair of shoes made. Or a garden planted. Something your hands touched some way so your soul has somewhere to go when you die, and when people look at that tree or that flower you planted, you're there. It doesn't matter what you do, he said, so long as you change something from the way it was before you touched it into something that's like you after you take your hands away. The difference between the man who just cuts lawns and a real gardener is in the touching, he said. The lawn-cutter might just as well not have been there at all; the gardener will be there a lifetime.”?（暗喻！象征！敲黑板）
他的用詞并不華麗，但是句子的分量引人深思（這也是我們?cè)赑aper 2要學(xué)習(xí)滴！）：
“Ideas - written ideas - are special. They are the way we transmit our thoughts from one generation to the next. If we lose them, we lose our shared history. We lose much of what makes us human. And fiction gives us empathy: It puts us inside the minds of other people, gives us the gift of seeing the world through their eyes. Fiction is a lie that tells us true things, over and over.”
“The Unlikely Pilgrimage of Harold Fry”
“The Love Song of Miss Queenie Hennessy”
Both by Rachel Joyce
本書的描寫非常值得學(xué)習(xí)。
.
和之前The Snow Garden一個(gè)作者。第二本是第一本書的延續(xù)，第一本就是中文版也很出名的《一個(gè)人的朝圣》。把這兩本書用來(lái)和其他的推薦作對(duì)比，我覺(jué)得Rachel的描寫是這些作家里最值得推崇的（尤其適合Paper 2 Imaginative Piece如果你選擇了寫descriptive piece！絕對(duì)要多看Rachel！），雖然情節(jié)方面可能略顯平實(shí)，不那么戲劇化。她的自然景物描寫非常動(dòng)人，每一個(gè)細(xì)節(jié)都給出強(qiáng)烈的畫面感。
“Sister Catherine showed me the last of the primroses and daffodils. She pointed to the blue haze of forget-me-nots beneath the sycamore trees. Soon the yellows of a spring garden will be replaced by white. There will be blossom on the hawthorn, banks of cow parsley. Peony buds sat tight as marbles. I would love to see them flower.”?（這已經(jīng)是很簡(jiǎn)短的一段……很長(zhǎng)的小節(jié)在兩本書里比比皆是，摘抄下來(lái)可以看一年哈哈哈哈哈）
除了景物之外，她對(duì)生活中瑣事的描寫能讓人覺(jué)得那些事非常美妙。比如……你就說(shuō)削桃子吧：“The glint of light on the blade, the nick in the flesh as the knife pierced it, the sudden overspill of sticky amber juice down her fingers and then on to the plate. After she had eased the knife once round, she put it down and held the peach between her two hands in order to prise it open. She twisted the top half away from the lower and pulled her hands apart so that the peach emerged in two glistening halves, one bearing the stone like a wet nut, the other showing a soft naked bed with pulpy ruby strings.”
其他有一些值得補(bǔ)充閱讀的文學(xué)書，我不詳細(xì)介紹，只列在下面供參考：
The Book Thief?by Markus Zusak
All The Light We Cannot See?by Anthony Doerr
以上兩本小說(shuō)都以二戰(zhàn)為背景，挺有歷史感的……
The Language of Flowers?by Vanessa Diffenbaugh
The Keeper of Lost Things?by Ruth Hogan
這兩本是現(xiàn)代背景，角度新穎而讓人覺(jué)得眼前一亮。
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy?by Douglas Adams
我的老師最喜歡的一套書，科幻向，而且也不難懂
我承認(rèn)English Language是一門學(xué)起來(lái)非常困難的A-Level科目，但是如果大家準(zhǔn)備充分，就不必害怕。在準(zhǔn)備這門考試的十個(gè)月內(nèi)，我寫完了整整6本厚膠套筆記本，（其中當(dāng)然也有很多Paper 1和一些Paper 3&4的內(nèi)容），一大堆的Paper 2……這樣才拿到寫作47/50的喂！短視地來(lái)說(shuō)，希望這個(gè)書單里面的某些讀物能夠?qū)δ愕腜aper 2（甚至Paper 1）有幫助，使你的寫作得到提升；從長(zhǎng)遠(yuǎn)的角度看，希望這些書能夠讓你發(fā)現(xiàn)英語(yǔ)文字的美——而發(fā)現(xiàn)語(yǔ)言文字之美的最終目的，都是給你另一個(gè)愛(ài)世界的視角。
“Goodbye,”?he said. He stopped and turned around. “Does it have a happy ending?”
“I haven’t read that far.”
——Ray Bradbury “Fahrenheit 451”
“But I believe so.”
Catherine “A Level English Language暑假書單”
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