12年gre作文要求:GRE作文范文大全(19)
groups then bring to fruition. Perhaps the speaker's claim will have more merit at the close of
the next millennium since politics and science are being conducted increasingly by
consortiums and committees. Yet, today it behooves us to continue draw ing inspiration from
"the famous few," and to continue understanding history chiefly in terms of their influence.
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"Imaginative works such as novels, plays, films, fairy tales, and legends present a more
accurate and meaningful picture of human experience than do factual accounts. Because the
creators of fiction shape and focus reality rather than report on it literally, their creations have a
more lasting significance."
Do imaginative works hold more lasting significance than factual accounts, for the reasons
the speaker cites? To some extent the speaker overstates fiction's comparative significance.
On balance, however, I tend to agree with the speaker. By recounting various dimensions of
the human experience, a fictional work can add meaning to and appreciation of the times in
which the work is set. Even where a fictional work amounts to pure fantasy, with no historical
context, it can still hold more lasting significance than a factual account. Examples from
literature and film serve to illustrate these points.
I concede that most fictional works rely on historical settings for plot, thematic, and character
development. By informing us about underlying political, economic, and social conditions,
factual accounts provide a frame of reference needed to understand and appredate
imaginative works. Fact is the basis for fiction, and fiction is no substitute for fact. I would also
concede that factual accounts are more "accurate" than fictional ones--insofar as they are
more objective. But this does not mean that factual accounts provide a "more meaningful
picture of the human experience." To the contrary, only imaginative works can bring an
historical period alive by way of creative tools such as imagery and point of view. And, only
imaginative works can provide meaning to historical events--through the use of devices such
as symbolism and metaphor.
Several examples from literature serve to illustrate this point. Twain's novels afford us a
sense of how 19th-Century Missouri would have appeared through the eyes of 10-year old
boys. Melville's "Billy Budd" gives the reader certain insights into what travel on the high seas
might have been like in earlier centuries, through the eyes of a crewman. And the epic poems 感谢您阅读《GRE作文范文大全(19) 》一文,出国留学网(liuxue86.com)编辑部希望本文能帮助到您。
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