“ While people are fairly young and the musical composition of their lives is still in its opening bars, they can go about writing it together and exchange motifs…but if they meet when they are older…their musical compositions are more or less complete, and every motif, every object, every word means something different to each of them.”
--from The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Professor: Jeremy Isaac
Email: jeisaac@uncg.edu
Phone: 334-4697
Office: 136A McIver
Office Hours: M 2:00-4:00 or by appointment

Text: Ann Charters, Ed., The Story and Its Writer, 6th Edition
Paula Fox, Desperate Characters
Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Course Description

In this introductory course in literature we will read a variety of short stories, as well as two novels, and explore strategies for the analysis and interpretation of fiction. The semester will be divided among the elements of fiction, culminating in our examination of the two novels. We will pay special attention not only to these elements (point of view, character, plot, setting, language, and style) but also to the cultural contents of the works. We will look past the flesh of the text, examining it to its very bones.

Student Learning Goals

At the completion of this course, you should be able to:
1. Identify and understand the basic elements of fiction
2. Apply the techniques of literary analysis to texts
3. Use literary study to develop your skills in close reading and clear writing
4. Demonstrate an understanding of how cultural context impacts meaning

Requirements
Workload
1. Participation in class discussions
2. Three exams
3. Frequent pop quizzes or short assignments
4. Final paper (5-8 pages)

Attendance

Strict attendance is required. Students are expected to attend class on time. Students who have three consecutive absences will be dropped from the roster. Perfect attendance will be rewarded. After two unexcused absences, each subsequent absence will lower your semester grade by as much as a full letter grade.

Participation

You’re going to have to talk. In order for us to have successful and lively discussions, active participation in class is MANDATORY. Come prepared for the Tuesday and Thursday discussions; expect occasional quizzes, but expect those to increase if no one talks.

Paper

You will have a final paper of 5-8 pages. The paper should be typed, double-spaced, spell-checked, and proofread. Even though this is not a writing intensive class, I will nevertheless expect a strong standard of mechanical and stylistic proficiency. Good grammar, organization, and clarity are key to good ideas.

Late Work

I absolutely, positively do not give makeup exams or accept late final papers. Examine the syllabus closely. If you know you will not be present for an exam, let me know immediately.

Grades

Semester grades will be computed as follows:
3 Exams: 60%
Final Paper: 25%
Participation/ Quizzes: 15%

Academic Integrity Policy/ Plagiarism

All work submitted to the course must abide by the Academic Integrity Policy, which is covered in the UNCG Student Handbook and available online. Plagiarism is an extremely serious matter. It can result in the failure of this course.

SCHEDULE

*Note: Readings listed beneath each date should be read for that date. All readings are required

Aug. 17 Introduction, Syllabus

Aug. 19 Ann Charters, “The Elements of Fiction” (p.1739)
Lorrie Moore, “How to Become a Writer”

Point of View

Aug. 24 Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “The Yellow Wallpaper”
Jamaica Kincaid, “Girl”

Aug. 26 James Baldwin, “Sonny’s Blues”

Aug. 31 Flannery O’Connor, “Everything That Rises Must Converge”
John Updike, “A & P”

Sept. 2 Edith Wharton, “Roman Fever”
Susan Minot, “Lust”

Sept. 7 William Faulkner, “A Rose for Emily”

Character and Characterization

Sept. 9 Tobias Wolff, “The Rich Brother”
Charles R. Johnson, “Menagerie, a Child’s Fable”

Sept. 14 Herman Melville, “Bartleby, the Scrivener”

Sept. 16 Anton Chekov, “The Lady with the Little Dog”

Sept. 21 Raymond Carver, “What We Talk About When We
Talk About Love”

Sept. 23 Exam 1

Plot and Structure

Sept. 28 Edgar Allan Poe, “The Cask of Amontillado,”
Edgar Allan Poe, “The Tell-Tale Heart”

Sept. 30 Flannery O’Connor, “A Good Man is Hard to Find”

Oct. 5 Albert Camus, “The Guest”
John Cheever, “The Swimmer”

Oct. 7 Joyce Carol Oates, “Where Are You Going,
Where Have You Been”

Oct. 12 Fall Break

Oct. 14 Tim O’Brien, “The Things They Carried”
Tim O’Brien, “Alpha Company”

Setting, Language, and Style

Oct. 19 F. Scott Fitzgerald, “Babylon Revisited”
Ernest Hemingway, “Hills Like White Elephants”

Oct. 21 Ralph Ellison, “Battle Royal”
Sandra Cisneros, “The House on Mango Street”

Oct. 26 Junot Díaz, “The Sun, the Moon, the Stars”
Edwidge Danticat, “Night Women”

Oct. 28 Exam 2

Nov. 2 Paula Fox, Desperate Characters

Nov. 4 Desperate Characters

Nov. 9 Desperate Characters

Nov. 11 Desperate Characters

Nov. 16 Milan Kundera, The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Nov. 18 The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Nov. 23 The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Nov. 25 Thanksgiving Holiday

Nov. 30 The Unbearable Lightness of Being

Dec. 2 Exam 3

5-8 page Final Paper due in my office by 5:00 p.m., Wednesday 12/8