赏读经典原著，培养思维品质—— 以《了不起的盖茨比》为例

浙江

思维品质是指思维的逻辑性、批判性、创新性等思维特点，是个性思维活动中智力特征的表现，反映了每个个体智力或思维水平的差异。《普通高中英语课程标准（2017年版）》把思维品质列为高中英语学科核心素养之一，要求学生能根据文本信息来推断语篇的逻辑联系；能对某一现象或观点进行质疑或批判；能用英语理性地表达自己独特的思想。新高考对于学生思维品质的考查也提出了更高的要求。那么如何培养学生的思维品质呢？笔者认为阅读英语经典文学原著是绝佳的方法，因为此类原著既是作家思想智慧的结晶，也反映了其特定时代的风貌。教师首先让学生独立阅读某一部经典文学作品，初步扫清文本中的语言障碍，了解作品中的故事情节，然后在课堂上引导学生品读鉴赏、领略文学之美，与此同时培养学生的思维品质。下面以《了不起的盖茨比》为例，具体谈一谈教师如何指导学生通过赏读经典原著来培养学生的逻辑性思维、批判性思维和创新性思维等思维品质。

一、有效设疑，培养逻辑性思维

逻辑性思维是思维活动的基本形式之一，在分析和理解语言中具有重要作用。学生在阅读某一作品时，不仅要理解文章语句的表层意思，更要明白故事情节的来龙去脉和彼此的关联。在学生理解文本的基础上，教师可以通过设置有效的问题来引导学生寻找语篇段落之间的内在联系，从而培养学生的逻辑思维能力。例如，在《了不起的盖茨比》第三章中有这样一段描写：

There was music from my neighbor's house through the summer nights.In his blue gardens men and girls came and went like moths among the whisperings and the champagne and the stars.At high tide in the afternoon I watched his guests diving from the tower of his raft or taking the sun on the hot sand of his beach while his two motor-boats slit the waters of the Sound, drawing aquaplanes over cataracts of foam.On week-ends his Rolls-Royce became an omnibus, bearing parties to and from the city, between nine in the morning and long past midnight, while his station wagon scampered like a brisk yellow bug to meet all trains.And on Mondays eight servants including an extra gardener toiled all day with mops and scrubbing-brushes and hammers and garden-shears,repairing the ravages of the night before.

这段话淋漓尽致地描绘了盖茨比公馆中奢华铺张的酒会。“香槟酒、小汽艇、滑水板、私人海滩、跳台、劳斯莱斯汽车”等吸引了很多上流社会的名人雅士如飞蛾一样前来消度周末，他们觥筹交错、通宵达旦，恣意享受着豪华的物质生活。最后每到周一都需要八个仆人，包括一个临时园艺师，苦干一整天，用很多拖把、板刷、榔头和修枝剪来收拾前一晚的残局。在学生对盖茨比家中酒会的豪华程度感到震惊的同时，笔者适时提出了一个问题：Why did Gatsby hold such a grand party every weekend? 学生经过讨论，认为盖茨比举办酒会同追求黛西存在一定的逻辑联系，即盖茨比所做的一切是为了吸引初恋情人黛西的注意，希望她也能来参加自己的酒会，这样就可以顺其自然地靠近她，重新夺回属于自己的美好爱情。

笔者继续追问：What does the word “ravages” imply?学生在刚开始的时候会对这个问题感到不解，因此笔者进行适当提示：Is there any connection between the ravages and Gatsby'sfinal destiny? 这样学生就能自然地将酒会留下的“残局”同盖茨比悲惨的命运结局联系在一起。纵使酒会再豪华奢侈，终有散席之时，留下一片狼藉，待人收拾。而盖茨比的悲剧命运在于他没有认识到上流社会自私、卑劣的本质。为了追求心中的理想，他耗尽了自己的感情、才智和金钱，最终毁灭于对初恋情人的痴心幻想中。小说中像这样的例子不胜枚举，在教师的适当引导和点拨下，学生只要开动脑筋，善于发现作者的巧妙构思和精心布局，一定会找到每个故事情节之间的逻辑联系，让自己的逻辑思维能力不断得到提升。

二、深度设疑，发展批判性思维

批判性思维是指能就某种事物、现象或思想观点做出批判性思考的能力，它需要学生结合自身的生活阅历和价值观对其进行否定、质疑或批判。这是一种较高层次的思维品质，要求学生具备独立的思考和判断能力。教师可以通过深度设疑，引导学生反复阅读、仔细推敲、分析判断，弄懂作者的写作意图和文章的深层意义。在《了不起的盖茨比》一书中，有好几个地方都出现了“green light”一词，现挑取两处如下：

第一章结尾处：I decided to call to him.Miss Baker had mentioned him at dinner, and that would do for an introduction.But I didn't call to him for he gave a sudden intimation that he was content to be alone — he stretched out his arms toward the dark water in a curious way, and far as I was from him I could have sworn he was trembling.Involuntarily I glanced seaward — and distinguished nothing except a single green light,minute and far away, that might have been the end of a dock.When I looked once more for Gatsby he had vanished, and I was alone again in the unquiet darkness.

第九章结尾处：Gatsby believed in the green light, the orgastic future that year by year recedes before us.It eluded us then, but that's no matter — tomorrow we will run faster, stretch out our arms farther...And onefine morning — So we beat on,boats against the current, borne back ceaselessly into the past.

在阅读前，笔者向学生介绍了一些作者的背景信息、写作风格以及文学界对作者本人及其作品的研究成果，这对于学生理解文本有很大的帮助。阅读后，笔者进行了深度设疑：What does the “green light” refer to respectively?学生根据上下文能很快分析判断出前者(a single green light)是指“他的梦中情人黛西”，后者(the green light)是指“光辉灿烂的未来”。接着笔者抛出另外一个问题：What do you think of the green light in Gatsby's heart? 学生经过思考后，对这个问题作出了批判性的回答：对于个体象征而言，盖茨比一直沉浸在对初恋情人的怀念之中，因为黛西已经幻化成了一个美丽的传奇。他渴望通过自己的不懈努力来追求这个完美的理想。但悲剧是盖茨比没有意识到黛西只是一个金钱至上的俗物，她不可能支撑起这样一个完美的理想大厦。对于社会历史象征而言，这盏“绿灯”同时象征着20世纪20年代的“美国梦”，从而使盖茨比的个人经历隐喻着整个美国的经历。他的最终毁灭也标志着当时“美国梦”的彻底毁灭。通过教师的问题引导，学生能从更深和更广的角度进行思考，在思考中又进一步深化对作品的认知，从而不断提升自己的批判性思维能力。

三、开放设疑，提升创造性思维

创造性思维是指在语言的输出过程中，能够大胆地突破传统的思维模式，从新的角度去思考问题，从而得出新颖、独到的见解。创造性思维也要建立在合情合理之上。教师可以从小说中提取某一个点进行开放性设疑，引导学生发挥想象，鼓励学生表达输出。例如，作者菲茨杰拉德把每个人物的形象都刻画得栩栩如生，跃然纸上，如同亲眼所见一般，其中盖茨比和汤姆的形象尤为突出。

He smiled understandingly — much more than understandingly.It was one of those rare smiles with a quality of eternal reassurance in it, that you may come across four orfive times in life.It faced — or seemed to face — the whole external world for an instant, and then concentrated on YOU with an irresistible prejudice in your favor.It understood you just so far as you wanted to be understood, believed in you as you would like to believe in yourself and assured you that it had precisely the impression of you that, at your best, you hoped to convey.Precisely at that point it vanished — and I was looking at an elegant young roughneck, a year or two over thirty, whose elaborate formality of speech just missed being absurd.Some time before he introduced himself I'd got a strong impression that he was picking his words with care.

盖茨比的微笑令人印象深刻。“他文质彬彬，风度翩翩，那含有永久善意的微笑极其罕见，你一辈子也不过能遇见四五次。”盖茨比的力量不在其外表，而在其崇高的精神内涵上。相反，汤姆力大无比，残忍暴戾，飞扬跋扈，声音粗哑，连他的外衣也无法隐藏那巨大的体力。在文中盖茨比和汤姆不仅在外形上形成了鲜明的对比，就连他们的性格特征、思想观念和成长经历等方面也有着截然的差异。

He had changed since his New Haven years.Now he was a sturdy, straw-haired man of thirty with a rather hard mouth and a supercilious manner.

Two shining, arrogant eyes had established dominance over his face and gave him the appearance of always leaning aggressively forward.Not even the effeminate swank of his riding clothes could hide the enormous power of that body —he seemed tofill those glistening boots until he strained the top lacing and you could see a great pack of muscle shifting when his shoulder moved under his thin coat.It was a body capable of enormous leverage — a cruel body.

His speaking voice, a gruff husky tenor, added to the impression of fractiousness he conveyed.There was a touch of paternal contempt in it, even toward people he liked — and there were men at New Haven who had hated his guts.

在引导学生比较了盖茨比和汤姆的形象后，笔者设置了一个开放性题目：Can the image of Gatsby and Tom re flect their character and value? 然后让学生进行小组讨论，并将最终的观点公开分享。有的小组认为盖茨比和汤姆的外在形象恰好能体现出他们分别是什么样的人、代表了什么样的阶层和价值观。盖茨比儒雅豁达，心怀梦想，依靠自己的力量在不断地为美好未来而奋斗；而汤姆是个典型的“富二代”，他简单粗暴，无恶不作，恣意挥霍着前人留下的巨额财富。盖茨比和汤姆代表着两种完全对立、又有着必然的历史联系的美国价值观。而盖茨比之所以很“了不起”，是由于他的诚实、善良和对生活的坚定信念，由于他天真而又执着地认为自己一定可以凭借自己的努力在“汤姆”横行的美国社会创造出一座真正的“人间天堂”。但在汤姆和黛西所代表的现实世界中，盖茨比的梦想以及他所代表的“美国梦”却是如此的荒诞无稽，不堪一击。这种通过人物的外在形象来判断他们所代表的社会阶层和价值观的见解是新颖的，也是深刻的，它揭示出人物矛盾背后的社会历史原因。

开放性设疑能激发学生的想象力和创造力，能有效培养学生的创新性思维能力。值得一提的是，表达创新性的观点需要尊重原作的思想，即原作的思想不能无边际地被扩大或是被误解。由上述内容可知，创新性思维能力的提升依然离不开对文本的深度解读，离不开逻辑性思维能力和批判性思维能力，因为一切创新性思维的前提是符合逻辑，而批判性思维有时本身就是一种创新。

《了不起的盖茨比》被誉为“伟大的美国小说”，其主题鲜明、思想深刻、笔调优雅，具有高度的艺术价值和社会历史价值。在教师的引导下，学生认真研读这部经典作品，积极寻找文本中彼此之间的关系，由表及里，由彼及此；用批判性的眼光去评价故事中的人物、事件及其所影射出的社会历史现象，并能够从新的视角去表达自己的见解、观点，进而培养其逻辑性思维、批判性思维和创新性思维等思维品质。