I think of that story that all of you have probably read in school, The Things They Carried by Tim O'Brien.

你们都在学校读过奥布莱恩的，他们所携带之物。

耶鲁公开课 - 文学理论导论课程节选

The subject matter itself becomes the dominant device, and it implies in your imagination a way to construct it, but the way to construct it is not the dominant.

但是在奥布莱恩的文章里，主题被首先给出，主题占支配地位，在想象中引导你构建情节。

耶鲁公开课 - 文学理论导论课程节选