TOPICS
IN LITERATURE: THE RISE OF THE SHORT STORY
ENGLISH 108, SECTION 02
M, W 7:30-8:45 p.m., 135 McIver Building
Professor: Porter Shreve
E-Mail: p_shreve@uncg.edu
Phone: 334-4692
Office: 119 McIver Building
Office Hrs: M, W 2:30-3:30, 5-6 and by appointment
Text: The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short
Fiction,
unabridged fifth edition, edited by Ann Charters
Course Description
In this course we will read a variety of short
stories and a couple of novellas, mostly by American authors such as Edgar
Allan Poe, William Faulkner, Ralph Ellison, Flannery O’Connor, Joyce Carol
Oates and Louise Erdrich. The semester will be divided among the elements of
fiction: part 1 will focus on image, setting and symbol; part 2 on plot, character
and dialogue; and part 3 on point of view, structure and style. By beginning
our analysis with the various elements we will better understand how stories
are constructed. We will read for what happens next but more importantly for
who, where and why, and in doing so will discover the underground root systems,
the internal circuitry, the bones beneath the flesh of the narrative — insert
your analogy here. Though the course is not a survey and the primary goal is to
make us better readers of individual stories, we will pay attention to
historical context and the progress of literary
influence. We will track, for example, how the emotional and psychological
transformation in Angela Carter’s “The Company of Wolves” works in response to
traditional fairy tales and how the spare language and heightened emotion of
Anton Chekhov influenced the minimalist realism of Ernest Hemingway and Raymond
Carver.
At the completion of this course, you should be
able to:
1. Identify
and understand the varied characteristics of literature
2. Apply
the techniques of literary analysis to texts
3. Use
literary study to develop your skills in careful reading and clear writing
4. Demonstrate
an understanding of the diverse social and historical contexts in which the assigned
literary texts have been written and interpreted
Requirements
Workload
1. Participation in class discussions
2. Three exams
3. Frequent pop quizzes or short assignments
4. One presentation (5-10 minutes)
5. Final paper (5-8 pages)
Attendance
Since this
course depends on a full and lively classroom, we all suffer when seats are
empty. The attendance policy, therefore, is strict and absolute: Any unexcused
absences will affect your grade. Perfect attendance will be rewarded. Good
attendance can nudge you up. But if you miss two classes, each subsequent
absence will cost you a full letter grade.
Participation
Active participation in classroom discussion is critical to the success of this
class. Come prepared, and be aware that in my effort to get everyone involved I
will call on people. If for whatever reason you have not done the reading for a
given class, do not skip it. Come and listen, catch up, and don’t neglect the
reading again. If you’re quiet or nervous about speaking in class, stop by my
office hours and we’ll talk about it.
Late Work
Late work
will be penalized. Because of our tight schedule you need to get your
prospectus and final paper in on time. You will be penalized accordingly if you
do not. Also, I absolutely, positively do not give makeup exams or accept late
papers.
Paper
You will
have two due dates for the final paper: a 1-page prospectus and a final draft
of 5-8 pages. The prospectus and the paper should be typed, double-spaced,
spell-checked, numbered, and carefully proofread. I will expect a strong
standard of mechanical and stylistic proficiency. Good grammar, organization
and clarity are integral to good ideas.
Grades
The
breakdown will be as follows:
Exam 1:
15%
Exam
2: 15%
Exam
3: 15%
Final
Paper: 15%
Pop
Quizzes & Short Assignments: 15%
Participation:
25%
*Note:
Presentations constitute a significant part of the participation grade
Plagiarism
You all know intuitively what it is: using
someone else’s words or ideas and claiming them as your own. The thrust of this
course is to think for yourself. Please don’t put me in the position of
checking line with line, word with word. Plagiarism is an extremely serious
matter. It can result in failure of this course and possible expulsion from the
university.
TENTATIVE SCHEDULE
*Note: Readings listed beneath each
date should be read for that date. All readings are required unless marked
“optional.”
I. IMAGE, SETTING, SYMBOL
M 8/19
Syllabus, Presentation sign-up
“Introduction” Ann Charters
“The House on Mango Street” Sandra
Cisneros
“The Monkey Garden” Sandra Cisneros
“The Moths” Helena María Viramontes
Optional Reading: Casebook 2: Sandra
Cisneros
M 8/26
“The Overcoat” Nikolai Gogol
Optional Reading: “The Genius of
Gogol’s ‘The Overcoat’” Vladimir Nabokov
W 8/28
Setting
Presentation 1: Charlotte Perkins
Gilman
“The Yellow Wallpaper” Charlotte
Perkins Gilman
Presentation 2: Alice Walker
“Roselily” Alice Walker
M 9/2
Labor Day: No Classes
Presentation 3: Franz Kafka
“The Metamorphosis” Franz Kafka
Optional Reading: “Kafka’s View of
‘The Metamorphosis’” Gustav Janouch
Optional Reading: “Kafka and ‘The
Metamorphosis” John Updike
M 9/9
Presentation 4: Gabriel
García Márquez
Presentation 5: Bernard Malamud
“The Jewbird” Bernard Malamud
W 9/11
Presentation 6: D.H. Lawrence
“Odour of Chrysanthemums” D.H.
Lawrence
“The Rocking-Horse Winner” D.H.
Lawrence
M 9/16
Presentation 7: Ralph Ellison
“Battle Royal” Ralph Ellison
“The Lesson” Toni Cade Bambara
W 9/18
Presentation 8: Bobbie Ann Mason
“Shiloh” Bobbie Ann Mason
Presentation 9: Carol Shields
“Mirrors” Carol Shields
Study prep for Exam 1
M 9/23
Exam 1
II. PLOT, CHARACTER, DIALOGUE
W 9/25
Presentation 10: Edgar Allan Poe
“The Cask of Amontillado” Edgar
Allan Poe
Optional Reading: Casebook 5: Edgar Allan Poe
M 9/30
Presentation 11: Flannery O’Connor
“A Good Man Is Hard to Find”
Flannery O’Connor
“Good Country People” Flannery
O’Connor
“Writing Short Stories” Flannery
O’Connor
Optional Reading: Casebook 4:
Flannery O’Connor
W 10/2
Presentation 12: Joyce Carol Oates
“Where Are You Going, Where Have You
Been?” Joyce Carol Oates
Presentation 13: Angela Carter
“The Company of Wolves” Angela Carter
Optional Reading: “On Angela Carter’s The Bloody Chamber” Salman Rushdie
M 10/7
Presentation 14: Anton Chekhov
“The Darling” Anton Chekhov
“The Lady With the Pet Dog” Anton
Chekhov
Optional Reading: “Technique in
Writing the Short Story” Anton Chekhov
Optional Reading: “Chekhov’s Intent
in ‘The Darling’” Leo Tolstoy
W 10/9
Presentation 15: Katherine Mansfield
“Bliss” Katherine Mansfield
“The Garden-Party” Katherine
Mansfield
Optional Reading: “The Stories of
Katherine Mansfield” Willa Cather
M 10/14
W 10/16
Presentation 16: Amy Tan
“Two Kinds” Amy Tan
Presentation 17: Mary Gaitskill
“Tiny, Smiling Daddy” Mary Gaitskill
Dialogue
Presentation 18: F. Scott Fitzgerald
“Babylon Revisited” F. Scott
Fitzgerald
Presentation 19: Ernest Hemingway
“Hills Like White Elephants” Ernest
Hemingway
W 10/23
Film: TBA
M 10/28
Presentation 20: Raymond Carver
“Cathedral” Raymond Carver
Presentation 21: Grace Paley
“A Conversation with My Father”
Grace Paley
Optional Reading: Casebook 1:
Raymond Carver
Optional Reading: “A Conversation
with Grace Paley” Ann Charters
W 10/30
M 11/4
Presentation 22: William Faulkner
“A Rose for Emily” William Faulkner
“That Evening Sun” William Faulkner
Optional Reading: “The Meaning of ‘A
Rose for Emily’” William Faulkner
W 11/6
“Sonny’s Blues” James Baldwin
Optional Reading: “Autobiographical
Notes” James Baldwin
Final paper prospectus due
M 11/11
Presentation 24: John Updike
“A & P” John Updike
Presentation 25: Junot Díaz
“Fiesta, 1980” Junot Díaz
W 11/13
Presentations 26: Stephen Crane
“The Open Boat” Stephen Crane
Optional Reading: “The Sinking of
the Commodore” Stephen Crane
Presentation 27: Tim O’Brien
“The Things They Carried” Tim
O’Brien
“Writing about Short Stories” Ann
Charters (p. 1696)
Optional Reading: “On Tim O’Brien’s
‘The Things They Carried’” Bobbie Ann Mason
W 11/20
Presentation 28: John Cheever
“The Swimmer” John Cheever
Presentation 29: Louise Erdrich
“The Red Convertible” Louise Erdrich
Presentation 30: Virginia Woolf
“Kew Gardens” Virginia Woolf
Presentation 31: Mavis Gallant
“1933” Mavis Gallant
“What is Style” Mavis Gallant
Optional Reading: “Review of ‘Kew
Gardens’” Katherine Mansfield
Presentation 32: Bharati Mukherjee
“The Management of Grief” Bharati
Mukherjee
Presentation 33: Susan Sontag
“The Way We Live Now” Susan Sontag
Presentation 34: Ursula K. LeGuin
“The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas”
Ursula K. LeGuin
Presentation 35: Charles Johnson
“Menagerie: A Child’s Fable” Charles
Johnson
“Happy Endings” Margaret Atwood
Exam 3
* 5-8 page Final Paper due in my office by 5:00 p.m., Monday 12/16