| Acknowledgements | 第1-6页 |
| Abstract | 第6-8页 |
| 摘要 | 第8-10页 |
| List of Tables | 第10-13页 |
| Chapter 1 Introduction | 第13-19页 |
| ·An Introduction to The Scarlet Letter | 第13-16页 |
| ·The Objective of the Thesis | 第16-17页 |
| ·The Organization of the Thesis | 第17-19页 |
| Chapter 2 Literature Review | 第19-25页 |
| ·Previous Studies on The Scarlet Letter | 第19-21页 |
| ·Previous Studies on Relevance Theory | 第21-22页 |
| ·Previous Studies on Reading Comprehension | 第22-25页 |
| Chapter 3 Theoretical Framework | 第25-31页 |
| ·The Background of Relevance Theory | 第25-28页 |
| ·Sperber and Wilson'sApproach to Communication | 第28-31页 |
| ·Ostensive───inferential Model of Communication | 第28-29页 |
| ·Principle of Relevance and Optimal Relevance | 第29-31页 |
| Chapter 4 The Writer’s Ostension and the Readers’ Inference of The Scarlet Letter | 第31-42页 |
| ·Ostension of the Writer | 第31-35页 |
| ·The Process of Ostension | 第31-35页 |
| ·Two Intentions in Ostension: Informative Intention and Communicative Intention | 第35页 |
| ·Factors Influencing Ostension of the Writer | 第35-40页 |
| ·Social Culture | 第36-37页 |
| ·Characters of the Writer | 第37-39页 |
| ·Immediate Context | 第39-40页 |
| ·Readers’ Inference | 第40-42页 |
| Chapter 5 Different Meanings of “A” in The Scarlet Letter from the Perspective of Relevance Theory | 第42-68页 |
| ·Different Meanings of “A” in The Scarlet Letter on the Sentence Level | 第43-51页 |
| ·Different Meanings of “A” in The Scarlet Letter with Different People | 第51-62页 |
| ·Different Meanings of “A” in The Scarlet Letter in Specific Context | 第62-68页 |
| Chapter 6 Conclusion | 第68-72页 |
| ·Major Findings | 第68-70页 |
| ·Limitations and Suggestions | 第70-72页 |
| Bibliography | 第72-76页 |
| 攻读硕士期间的科研成果 | 第76页 |
