Instructor: Gerard Canavan
Office: McIver 334K
Phone: 256-0483
Email: gerry_canavan@uncg.edu
Office Hours: 11-12 MWF or by appointment

SYLLABUS

COURSE DESCRIPTION
This course will consist of critical reading and analysis of short stories and novels. Attention will be paid to historical, social, cultural, and literary contexts as appropriate.

STUDENT LEARNING GOALS
Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:
• Identify and understand various characteristics of narrative
• Apply techniques of literary analysis to short stories and novels
• Use literary study to develop skills for careful reading and clear writing
• Demonstrate understanding of the social and historical contexts in which various literary texts have been written
• Read and discuss narrative on the level of both plot and theme

REQUIRED TEXTS
Ann Charters, editor. The Story and Its Writer, 6th edition.
(ISBN: 0-312-39729-1)
Kurt Vonnegut. Slaughterhouse Five.
(ISBN: 0-385-33384-6)
Milan Kundera. The Unbearable Lightness of Being.
(ISBN: 0-06-015258-3)

REQUIREMENTS
Your work in this class will be evaluated by two short (3-5 page) papers and a take-home final exam, as well as by your class participation. Information on the papers and the final will be provided in class.

Each paper and the take-home exam will be worth 25% of your grade. The final 25% of your grade will be derived from attendance, class participation, and any reading quizzes.

Late papers will lose a full letter grade for each day they are late, to a maximum of three days, after which a grade of 0 will be received. Weekends count.

No late papers will be accepted for the final exam.

ATTENDANCE AND CLASS PARTICIPATION
An essential part of this course is class discussion. As such, it is important that you come to class every day having read the required reading and prepared to discuss the material.

Attendance in this class is mandatory. You are allowed to miss two classes over the course of the semester. After that, your class participation grade will suffer. Three points will be taken off your final grade average for each unexcused absence over two.

Upon the sixth absence, you will receive a failing grade for the course.

ACADEMIC INTEGRITY POLICY
Students are expected to abide by the terms of the student code of academic conduct, available in your undergraduate bulletin or online at http://studentconduct.uncg.edu. I urge you all to examine this material, and consult me with any questions you may have about plagiarism and academic integrity before it becomes an issue.

Ignorance of what constitutes plagiarism is not an acceptable excuse for plagiarism. Academic dishonesty of any kind will not be tolerated and will result in a failing grade.

Students at UNCG are required to write and sign the Academic Integrity Pledge on all major work submitted for this course. The pledge reads, "I HAVE ABIDED BY THE UNCG ACADEMIC INTEGRITY POLICY ON THIS ASSIGNMENT.”

CLASS SCHEDULE
Any changes to this schedule will be announced in class as they become necessary.

Monday, August 16 First Day of Class
Wednesday, August 18 Ernest Hemingway, “Hills Like White Elephants” (handout)
Friday, August 20 Tobias Wolff, “Say Yes” (handout)
LAST DAY OF DROP/ADD

Monday, August 23 Margaret Atwood, “Happy Endings”
Wednesday, August 25 Ambrose Bierce, “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”
Friday, August 27 Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “The Yellow Wallpaper”

Monday, August 30 Anton Chekov, “Angel [The Darling]”
Wednesday, September 1 Anton Chekov, “The Lady with the Little Dog”
Friday, September 3 John Updike, “A&P”

Monday, September 6 LABOR DAY — NO CLASS
Wednesday, September 8 Flannery O’Connor, “A Good Man Is Hard To Find”
TOPICS FOR PAPER #1 HANDED OUT
Friday, September 10 Sherwood Anderson, “Hands”

Monday, September 13 Bobbie Ann Mason, “Shiloh”
Wednesday, September 15 James Baldwin, “Sonny’s Blues”
Friday, September 17 Amy Tan, “Two Kinds”

Monday, September 20 William Faulkner, “A Rose For Emily”
Wednesday, September 22 Toni Cade Bambara, “The Lesson”
Friday, September 24 Shirley Jackson, “The Lottery”

Monday, September 27 Grace Paley, “A Conversation with My Father”
Wednesday, September 29 Nikolai Gogol, “The Overcoat”
Friday, October 1 Jamaica Kincaid, “Girl”
FIRST PAPER DUE


Monday, October 4 Donald Barthelme, “Me and Miss Mandible”
Wednesday, October 6 Gabriel Garcia Marquez, “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings”
Friday, October 8 Tim O’Brien, “The Things They Carried”
LAST DAY TO WITHDRAW

Monday, October 11 FALL BREAK — NO CLASS
Wednesday, October 13 Franz Kafka, “The Metamorphosis”
TOPICS FOR PAPER #2 HANDED OUT
Friday, October 15 Ursula K. LeGuin, “The Ones Who Walked Away From Omelas”

Monday, October 18 Frank O’Connor, “Guests of the Nation”
Wednesday, October 20 Zora Neale Hurston, “Spunk”
Friday, October 22 John Cheever, “The Swimmer”

Monday, October 25 Raymond Carver, “What We Talk About When We Talk About Love”
Wednesday, October 27 Tobias Wolff, “The Rich Brother”
Friday, October 29 Charles Johnson, “Menagerie, a Child’s Fable”

Monday, November 1 Susan Sontag, “The Way We Live Now”
Wednesday, November 3 Lorrie Moore, “How to Become a Writer”
Friday, November 5 Rick Moody, “Boys”
SECOND PAPER DUE
TOPICS FOR FINAL EXAM HANDED OUT


Monday, November 8 Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Part 1
Wednesday, November 10 Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Part 2
Friday, November 12 Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Part 3

Monday, November 15 Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Part 4
Wednesday, November 17 Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Part 5
Friday, November 19 Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Part 6&7

Monday, November 22 Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse Five, Chapter 1
Wednesday, November 24 THANKSGIVING BREAK — NO CLASS
Friday, November 26 THANKSGIVING BREAK — NO CLASS

Monday, November 29 Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse Five, Chapters 2-4
Wednesday, December 1 Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse Five, Chapter 5
Friday, December 3 Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse Five, Chapters 6-7

Monday, December 6 Kurt Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse Five, Chapters 8-10
LAST DAY OF CLASS


Wednesday, December 8 FINAL EXAM DUE BY 3 PM IN MY MAILBOX IN MCIVER 132-A