1. 研究目的与意义（文献综述包含参考文献）

literature review

renowned at home and abroad for short stories, alice munro creates numerous works, which bring enormous impact on the growth of female and also attract many scholars to study from multiple angles. most deal with the novel from the perspective of writing techniques, narrative style, female images, identity and the background mixed with complicated era and environment. besides, another field about the female consciousness and psychology is also worth exploring.

as we all known, munro is proficient at describing ordinary female characters. also, with her identity as a female writer, she conveys not only about the female character but also the female consciousness and the complex psychology. and this kind of issue appears stronger when confronted with more dramatic contrast between figures and the surroundings. so, some of the researchers try to analyze female psychology from the the behavior of female and the unique background. chen(2000) discusses several scattered things in the progress of love to reconstruct the real life and the related relationships between husband and wife, family and children among three generations for the better understanding about the feeling of women. zhao(2002) lists some typical heroines of munro#8217;s short stories to show some distinct qualities of being independent, firm and persistent and points out the meaning of the difference between what they appear to be and what they really are, which implies the awareness of the female consciousness.

2. 研究的基本内容、问题解决措施及方案

methods and procedures of the study

in general, a detailed reading of original work and its chinese version is the first and the most important step of the study, which helps me be familiar with the novel to be studied. combining the chinese version with the english version, the main plot of the novel can be generally known in the first-round reading. after having a general understanding about some basic information in this book, intensive reading is needed. in the second-round reading, the description of the female characters, including their behavior, the dialogues related with them and the monologue of them need to be recorded. also, some key words and sentences, which reveal the psychological world of female, are worth noticing and recording. recording in detail is beneficial for the further study of the progress of love. during the last reading, i wrote some of my opinions and tried to find the deeper meaning in the book. at the same time, i did some research about the author and her novels and some extra reference materials, such as theses, journals, comments written by other scholars and experts. furthermore, some useful advice is provided by my supervisor. notes, reference materials and some advice from my supervisor are beneficial for me to comprehensively study the book.

the thesis consists of three parts. background information fills the first part, with the introductions to the author, alice munro, and to the books, the progress of love. personal experience, writing style, literary achievements and masterpieces of the author will be mentioned. besides, a brief plot summary will also be touched. literature review and the purpose of the thesis are to be concluded in the following part.