Spring 2002
English 105-08: Introduction
to Narrative--Writing Intensive
Karen Meyers
Required Texts: James Pickering, ed. Fiction
100: An Anthology of Short Fiction, 9th edition
Leslie Marmon Silko, Ceremony
In English 105 we will concentrate on short stories, though we
will also read a few narrative poems and one novel. The purpose of the course is to enhance your appreciation and
enjoyment of fiction by helping you to understand both the texts themselves and
the narrative techniques employed by their authors, and by encouraging to bring
your own perspective to bear on the reading.
Learning Goals: At the completion of this course, you
should be able to
--- Identify
and explain the elements of narrative
---Analyze
narrative texts from different critical perspectives and, when appropriate,
show an understanding of their social and historical contexts
---Demonstrate
skills of close reading and clear writing about the texts
In this writing intensive section you will use
informal writing as a way of exploring the texts and your own responses to
them. Please use a 3-ring looseleaf notebook or folder with pockets as your journal so
that you can turn in individual pages and keep them when I return them to
you. You will be required to turn in 18 satisfactory journal entries, 9
before and 9 after Spring Break. (See
other side for more information about journals.)
You will also
write two "formal" papers,
due February 28 (with required revision due March 19, worth 20% of your final
grade) and April 16 (worth 30%, with optional revision due May 2).
Frequent pop quizzes, given promptly at 11:00,
should encourage you to come to class on time, having read the assigned stories
carefully. Quizzes cannot be made up, but I will drop the lowest quiz
grade. (10% of final grade)
Early in the
semester you will choose a story from the syllabus and 2 or 3 classmates with
whom you will work on a 45-minute oral
presentation to teach your story to the class. (20% of grade)
In place of a
final exam, you will turn in a portfolio
on May 14 consisting of eight substantially revised journal entries and a
final, synthesizing essay. (20%)
Regular participation in class discussions
can boost your final grade to the next level if you are near a borderline.
In order to
accommodate illness, bad weather, emergencies, and unavoidable obligations such
as work requirements and team or arts-related travel, I will permit 4 absences in the course of the
semester. Each additional absence
will lower your final grade by 3 points unless you have been able to
convince me that you were the victim of extraordinary extenuating
circumstances.
Bad weather policy: Unless the University is officially closed
and classes cancelled as of 11:00, I will be here and I will hold class. If you do not feel safe driving to campus,
take the day as one of your 4 permitted absences.
My office is 103 McIver, and I will announce office
hours soon. Feel free to visit, call or
e-mail me anytime that you want to talk about the course or your
assignments. Office phone: 334-3282;
home phone: 272-4996 (before 11
P.M. please); email <karen_meyers@uncg.edu> If you miss class, you are
responsible for coming to the next class prepared and for turning in any
assignments due in your absence and on your return. Call me if you have a question about the assignments.
Writing Center: 101 McIver.
Open Monday - Thursday 9 am - 8 pm,
Friday 9 am - 3 pm. This is a
drop-in center staffed by graduate and advanced undergraduate student
consultants. Highly recommended as a place
to go for feedback or instruction when you're writing a paper for this or any
other course.
Please
TURN OFF all cell phones, pagers, and other electronic devices before entering
class!!!
Journals
You are
responsible for turning in a total of 18
journal entries, 9 before Spring
Break and 9 after Spring Break (including at least one about the novel Ceremony). To get credit for a
journal entry, you must turn it in during class on the day the story is being
discussed. (If you are absent, you
may turn it in on the day you return to class.) In other words, you cannot turn in a journal on a story after we
have discussed it in your presence, and you cannot wait until the end of the
semester to complete your quota or to make up for missing entries.
Each journal
entry must be typed (double spaced)
with a heading that includes your name, the date, the title and author of the
story, and the number (out of 18) of the entry. They must be at least 250
words long. When two stories are assigned for a
day, it
The journal
is a good place to play with ideas about the stories, and to take risks, puzzle
through questions, and express opinions.
If you're having trouble deciding what to write about, try one of these
suggestions: 1) Pick a character in the
story, tell how you respond to that character, and try to figure out what the
author has done to elicit that response from you. 2) Choose an object in
the story that gets mentioned frequently, and try to figure out what it
represents or how the author's use of it changes throughout the story.
3) Pick out some examples
of foreshadowing and explain their significance in the story. 4)
Choose a particular passage or scene to discuss in detail. Analyze the author's style in the passage or
the importance of that scene in relation to the story's theme. 5)
Compare the "before" and "after" of the story. Pick out one person or thing that has
changed considerably, and try to account for the change. 6)
Identify the central conflict in the story. What forces, ideas, attitudes, values, etc. stand in opposition
to each other? How, if at all, is the
conflict resolved? 7) If the story elicits a powerful emotional
response from you (fear? anger? sadness?
hope?), try to account for that response. What has the author done to affect you in this way? 8)
If something in one story (a character, or an event, or an atmosphere)
reminds you of something in another story, explore the comparison. 9) If
you know something about the social, historical, or cultural context of the
story, you can discuss that. 10) Reflect on a connection between something in
the story and something in your own experience -- i.e., write about a way in
which the story reminds you of something in your own life. 11) If you are puzzled by something in a
story, compose a question about it and then explore different possible
answers. 12) If you
I will write
brief responses as I read your journal entries and give them a check (fine) or
check-plus (fantastic). To meet the course requirement, you must
turn in 18 satisfactory (check) journal
entries (An UNsatisfactory entry is
one that is too short, or that does nothing more than retell the events of the
story, or that indicates virtually no reading comprehension, or that is not
written with reasonable clarity and competence. You may not revise unsatisfactory journal entries to make them
satisfactory, but you may write extra ones to get to a total of 18 satisfactory
entries, as long as they are turned in before we discuss the stories in
class.) If you turn in fewer than 18
satisfactory journals, you will lose 2
points off your final grade for each one that is missing. On the other hand, if over half of your
journal entries get check-pluses, your final grade will be raised by 5 points.
Final Portfolio
At the end of the semester you will choose
eight journal entries (including at least one on Ceremony) to revise, extend, and polish, taking into account your
own different perspective on the stories by that point in the semester as well
as my comments and our class discussion of the stories. These revised journal entries, along with a
final synthesizing essay, will comprise the final portfolio that will account for 20% of your grade.
BEST-GUESS SCHEDULE
T 1/15 Introduction
STORIES ABOUT DISILLUSIONMENT
R 1/17 Anderson, "I Want To Know
Why" and Joyce,
"Araby"
T 1/22 Cisneros, "The House on Mango Street" and Bambara, "The Lesson"
R 1/24 Crane, "The Bride Comes to Yellow
Sky" Sign up for oral presentations.
T 1/29 Mansfield, "Miss Brill"
and Strout, "A Little Burst"
STORIES ABOUT GROWING UP
R 1/31 Porter, "The Grave"
and Winthrop, "The
Golden Darters"
T 2/5 *
Oates, "Where Are You Going, Where
Have You Been?" and Jewett,
"A White Heron"
R 2/7 Faulkner, "Barn Burning" Discuss first
paper assignment.
T 2/12 * Wright,
"The Man Who Was Almost a Man" and Updike, "A
& P"
STORIES ABOUT THE NATURE OF HUMAN NATURE
R 2/14 * Williams, "The Use of Force"
and Kaufman, "Sunday in the Park"
T 2/19 Poe,
"The Cask of Amantillado"
and Jackson,
"The Lottery"
R 2/21 Singer, "Gimpel the Fool"
and Walker, "To Hell with Dying"
T 2/26 * Glaspell, "A Jury of Her Peers" and Camus, "The Guest"
R 2/28 FIRST SUBMISSION OF PAPER #1 DUE. In-class reading of narrative poems.
STORIES THAT TAKE US BEYOND THE ORDINARY
T 3/5 *
Bradbury, "August 2002: Night Meeting" and Bierce, "An
Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge"
R 3/7 Bowen, "Demon Lover"
and Godwin, "Dream Children"
SPRING BREAK
T 3/19 REVISION OF PAPER #1 DUE. Reading TBA
STORIES ABOUT
RELATIONSHIPS
R 3/21 * Chekhov,
"The Lady With the Pet Dog" Discuss second
paper assignment
T 3/26 Chopin, "The Story of an Hour" Gilman, "The
Yellow Wallpaper"
R 3/28 * Mason,
"Shiloh" and Freeman, "A New England Nun"
T 4/2 * Steinbeck, "The Chrysanthemums"
and Boyle, "The Astronomer's Wife"
STORIES ABOUT TRANSFORMATIONS
R 4/4 Malamud, "The Magic Barrel"
and Lawrence, "The Horse Dealer's Daughter"
T 4/9 * Carver,
"Cathedral"
and Papertalk
R 4/11 Baldwin, "Sonny's Blues"
T 4/16 PAPER #2 DUE. Background information
and preparation for reading Ceremony
A STORY ABOUT THE TRANSFORMING POWER OF STORIES
R 4/18 Silko,
Ceremony
T 4/23 Silko,
Ceremony
R 4/25 Silko,
Ceremony
T 4/30 Silko,
"Yellow Woman"
R 5/2 Tidying up. Instructions for Final
Portfolio
T 5/14 at 12 noon: FINAL PORTFOLIO DUE IN MY OFFICE