English 105 Zacharias

Introduction to Narrative Fall 2001

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SYLLABUS

INSTRUCTOR: Lee Zacharias

131 McIver

334-4695

lazachar@uncg.edu

Office hours 9-9:30 T Th

1:30-3:30 T

TEACHING INTERN: Jane Kitchen

134 McIver

334-5459

janekitchen@triad.rr.com

Office hours to be announced

TEXTS: Ann Charters, The Story and Its Writer, 5th edition (not compact edition)

Kaye Gibbons, Ellen Foster

Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God

Lee Smith, Oral History

COURSE DESCRIPTION: In English 105, an introductory course in fiction, we will read a variety of short stories, novellas, and novels and explore strategies for the analysis and interpretation of fiction, paying special attention to its basic elementspoint of view, character, plot, setting, imagery and languageand to its cultural context.

STUDENT LEARNING GOALS: At the completion of this course, students should be able to identify and understand the basic elements of fiction, be familiar with a number of basic literary terms, apply strategies for literary analysis and interpretation to fiction, and demonstrate an understanding of its cultural context. Although this is not a writing-intensive course, through essay questions on examinations, students should develop skills to write coherently about fiction.

REQUIREMENTS:

Class discussion of reading assignments. Some discussion will take place in groups to be assigned. These are the same groups that will produce collaborative final projects.

Critical vocabulary. There is a glossary of literary terms in the back of the Charters anthology. A list of terms students are to know will be provided. Terms

need not be memorized all at once, but as they come up in relation to the stories we read.

Journals. You are to keep a journal in respnse to reading assignments. Entries need not be long, but you should write at least two observations or questions for each story you read. Note that journals will not be collected or graded, but I will

be calling on you in class to ask what you noted in your journals.

Quizes. If you do not keep up your journals and a thoughtful classroom dialogue about the fiction we are reading, I reserve the right to give unannounced reading

quizes.

Examinations. There will be three examinations on reading assignments and literary terms. The exams will be composed of short-answer questions (such as definitions and IDs) and essays. Exams will cover only the reading material assigned in that exam periodi.e., they will not be cumulative. The final exam will be no longer than the previous two exams.

Group Projects: Groups will be assigned after the drop-add period is over. (If further drops create too great a numerical imbalance in the groups, there may be

some reassignments prior to the final group projects.) Each group will develop a project to be presented to the rest of the class in response to one or more works of fiction read over the course of the semester. This project might be a panel discussion, a dramatization, a collaborative oral research report, a mock press

conference, interview, art work, musical review, video, orits up to you! Plan

on about 15-20 minutes for the presentation, to be made the last day of class and if

necessary during the first part of the final exam period. The only rules are that the

presentation must be legal on university property and that every member of the group must participate. Group members will fill out confidential evaluation forms

on the contribution of other group members.

Academic Integrity Policy. All work submitted to the course must abide by the Academic Integrity Policy, which is covered on page 205 (and following) of the

UNCG Student Calendar and Handbook 2001-2002 and available online at http://saf.dept.uncg.edu/studiscp/Honor.html.

GRADING: Semester grades will be computed on the following basis:

Exams: 24% each

Group Project: 18%

Class discussion: 10%

(Note: If I find it necessary to give quizes, your quiz scores will become half of your class discussion grade, with a bonus 2 points for students who

receive an A in actual discussion and a bonus 1 point for students who receive a B in actual discussion.)

ATTENDANCE POLICY: After 3 consecutive or a total of 5 unexcused absences, I willrequest that the Registrar drop a student from the class, which may result in a WF for the course. Course grade will be lowered one letter for a total of 4 unexcused absences or excessive tardies.

ASSIGNMENT SCHEDULE:

Aug. 23 Introduction to Narrative Fiction (handout)

Ernest Hemingway, "Hills Like White Elephants"

Who tells the story?

(Point of View)

Aug. 28 Leo Tolstoy, "The Death of Ivan Ilych"

Aug. 30 Edith Wharton, "Roman Fever"

Flannery OConnor, "Everything That Rises Must Converge"

Sept. 4 Susan Sontag, "The Way We Live Now"

Jamaica Kincaid, "Girl"

Sept. 6 Amy Tan, "Two Kinds"

John Updike, "A & P"

Sept. 11 Raymond Carver, "Cathedral"

James Joyce, "Araby"

Sept. 13 Charlotte Perkins Gilman, "The Yellow Wallpaper"

William Faulkner, "A Rose for Emily"

Sept. 18 EXAM 1

Who animates it?

(Character/Characterization)

Sept. 20 Nikolai Gogol, "The Overcoat"

Sept. 25 Isaac Bashevis Singer, "Gimpel the Fool"

Sept. 27 Anton Chekov, "The Darling"

Leo Tolstoy, "Chekovs Intent in The Darling"

Eudora Welty, "Plot and Character in Chekovs The Darling"

Oct. 2 Franz Kafka, "The Metamorphosis"

John Updike, "Kafka and The Metamorphosis"

Oct. 4 Toni Cade Bambara, "The Lesson"

Charles Johnson, "The Menagerie"

How does it unfold?

(Plot and Stucture)

Oct. 11 Flannery OConnor, "A Good Man Is Hard To Find"

Flannery OConnor, "The Element of Suspense in A Good Man Is Hard To Find"

Edgar Allen Poe, "The Cask of Amontillado"

Oct. 16 Frank OConnor, "Guests of the Nation"

Albert Camus, "The Guest"

Oct. 18 John Cheever, "The Swimmer"

Tim OBrien, "The Things They Carried"

Oct. 23 EXAM 2

What is its climate?

(Setting and Language)

Oct. 25 Ralph Ellison, "Battle Royal"

Ralph Ellison, "The Influence of Folklore on The Battle Royal"

Cynthia Ozick, "The Shawl"

Oct. 30 Gabriel García Marquez, "A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings"

Leslie Marmon Silko, "Yellow Woman"

How do we read longer fiction?

(The Novel)

Nov. 1 Kaye Gibbons, Ellen Foster (through chapter 10)

Nov. 6 Ellen Foster (finish)

Nov. 8 Zora Neale Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God (through chapter 6)

Nov. 13 Their Eyes Were Watching God (through chapter 16)

Nov. 15 Their Eyes Were Watching God (finish)

Nov. 20 Lee Smith, Oral History (opening section and Part I)

Nov. 27 Oral History (Part II)

Nov. 29 Oral History (Part III)

Dec. 4 Oral History (finish)

Dec. 6 GROUP PROJECTS

Dec. 13 (8-11) CONTINUATION OF GROUP PROJECTS (if necessary)

EXAM 3