The function of the title

Recently, I was reading Anne of the Green Gables to tell you about Amway. This is a book with fresh style and very "healing" effect, which is full of spiritual nutrition and is said to have influenced many celebrities. But I'm not going to talk about this book today. I mentioned this book because I wanted to take the opportunity to ask a question: What is the function of the title of this book-Anne of Green Gables?

in the last article, we talked about how to analyze the meaning of the article title. In this article, we are going to talk about "the function of headlines".

regarding "the function of the title", the first thing we need to understand is who this "function" refers to. The answer to this question is also obvious. The function of the title refers to its function on the text.

As we said before, an article is structurally divided into two parts: the title and the body. Although the number of words in the title is small, it occupies half of the whole article structure. And the title plays a great role in the text.

Let's cut to the chase. What exactly does the title do in the text? According to my summary, there are five main functions.

First of all, such "headlines" as Unforgettable Water-Splashing Festival, When the plane was in distress, and One Day in Early Autumn, their function is obviously to explain the background of the incident. In our literature, the concept of the word "background" refers to the elements of "environment" such as time, place, season and weather. Take the title of "when the plane is in distress" as an example. This article is obviously about "when the plane is in distress", but the title is "when the plane is in distress", that is to say, the title points out the background of this incident. So, remember, the first function of the title is to explain the background of the story. This kind of title is characterized by: a time or a place, or a season, weather ...

There is also a kind of title, which is similar to such titles as Borrowing Arrows from Grass Boat, Taking Birth by Wisdom, and Drawing Carambola ... Their greatest feature is that they basically present the structure of "subject-predicate object" or "verb-object". Obviously, the function of this kind of title is to summarize the content of the article. For example, the main content of the article "Borrowing Arrows from Grass Boat" is "Borrowing Arrows from Grass Boat".

Third, titles like How Steel was Tempered and Reading for the Rise of China reveal a truth to us, or convey an emotion, or send out a call ... In fact, these titles themselves are the central theme of the article. So if someone asks you what the function of this kind of title is, you can answer it like this-revealing the central theme of the article.

The fourth kind of headlines, such as Colia's Wooden Box, A Steamed Bread and Tracy's Bicycle … The things appearing in the headlines, such as "Wooden Box", "Steamed Bread" and "Bicycle", connect the whole article in series like a line, and this kind of "concatenation" plays a role in our literature. Therefore, this kind of title, their role in the text is-as a clue throughout the text.

Finally, if you brush your circle of friends, will you find that the circle of friends is often brushed by the titles of some articles (especially if there are many middle-aged and elderly people in your circle of friends)-"A video that has gone crazy abroad! I have to watch it without wifi, What just happened in Guangzhou shocked the whole world, and Little Apple is really out of date! This is the strongest divine comedy! "..... These titles, the biggest purpose is to attract readers to click in. And their function is to set suspense and attract readers' interest. The text "What is Happiness" that we have studied, the book "The Shadow Stealer" that was very popular some time ago, and the reading "The Dinner of 3, Yuan for the Hourly Worker" that was tested in the mock test of the senior high school entrance examination in Guangzhou before also have this function. The characteristics of this title are usually divided into two types: first, the form of questions, such as What is Happiness and Am I Really Stupid … second, the title contains two contradictory elements, such as A Brief History of the Future and A Dinner of 3, yuan by the Hourly Worker … (The future and history are contradictory, and the hourly worker and the dinner of 3, yuan). )

What we have said above is the role of headlines in five aspects, namely:

1. Explain the background of the incident; 2. Summarize the main contents of the article; 3. Reveal the central theme of the article; 4. As a clue running through the whole article; 5. Set suspense to attract readers' interest.

Finally, we need to note that many titles often have more than one function. If you have read Feng Jicai's article "My mother tied red for me", you will find that the title "My mother tied red for me" has three functions at the same time-summarizing the content of the article, serving as a clue throughout the whole article and revealing the center to some extent. Therefore, it is necessary to make a comprehensive analysis when doing the problem.

Let's go back to the question we asked at the beginning of the article: What does the title "Anne of Green Gables" do? Obviously, its function is: as a clue throughout the book.