It's an argument about the evolution of an art form in a particular place and time.

与一种艺术形式在特定时间地点的演变有关
In order to preserve that quality of a syllabus, you have

为了保有教学大纲的这种特质
to read quite a bit.

你们必须读很多些东西
Reading quite a bit means that you can begin to see the lineaments of

多读书能让你明了
larger trends and movements in that historical period.

在那个历史时期趋势和运动的大致轮廓
It allows you to amass enough evidence to build an intellectual

积累的见识能使你能构建起合理的认知
understanding of what's going on in this period.

理解这个时代的行事方式
If I had dropped a novel, there are certain kinds of arguments

一旦抽掉其中的一本文学体系的一角
I would not have been able to make, and the argument that I'm going to

就会崩塌我希望今天这个解释很有说服力
make for you today would not be as compelling as I hope it will be.

但好像没有达到我的预期效果
So, as in the Franny and Zooey lecture,

在《弗兰妮与祖伊》那课中
I tried to demonstrate for you in a very self-conscious way

我试着向你们展示我的个人观点