ENG 105-09 and
105-10 “Introduction to Narrative”
M. DiVito medivito1@aol.com
Office 136h
McIver; MWF: 11-12:00
Book: The Story and Its Writer
In this course
we will be looking at selected pieces of contemporary short fiction to discuss
how current writers present issues of social and cultural importance. We will be focusing on how both character and
subject are portrayed and developed (over a short time) within the text, and
how we as audience respond to it. We
will carefully determine and discuss the “tools” employed by various writers to
hold our attention and make us want to read a story and reflect upon it
later. We will also look at how
different writers may approach similar themes, considering questions of tone,
setting, language, metaphor, symbolism, etc.
Assignments to
include: journals, group presentations, revised final paper. These will make up your final grade, as well
as class participation in discussion.
Because this class is quite large, classroom discussion will be very
important.
Final Grades
determined as follows:
Revised Paper
(50%)
Journals (20%)
Group
Presentations (20%)
Participation
(10%)
**If necessary,
Pop-Quizzes will be given and reflected in the Final Paper
percentage. For example, Pop-Quiz
(10%), Final Paper (40%).
At the end of this class, students should be
able to:
- critically read
and discuss aspects of the short story
- consider author voice and how she/he speaks
to and connects with the audience
- find and discuss the “tools” used by
authors in texts
- effectively
discuss and write on the significance of a work of short fiction in various
contexts (i.e., historical, cultural, social, political, etc.)
ALWAYS come to
class having read the stories and prepared to discuss them. Read the stories with a pencil in hand to
mark important passages and to make notes in the margins or in a notebook. One or two students will be asked to open
discussion for each class. You may
discuss a part of the story that you feel is most interesting, significant,
symbolic, telling, confusing, etc.
Every week (on
Monday) students will hand in a typed, one-page minimum response to the
readings from the previous week. You may
discuss one (in-depth) or several of the stories covered in class. You may reflect upon questions about a story,
important or symbolic elements, as well as the discussions that occurred in
class (i.e., further thoughts on another’s comments, what may have been said
that you agree/disagree with and why, etc.)
Sometimes I may suggest a specific writing topic, but you still must
include a personal, reflective and thoughtful response to the stories. If a journal is so
minimal in content as to suggest you have not read the stories, no credit will
be given.
JANUARY
13: Introduction
to the Short Story
15: Atwood,
“Rape Fantasies” (71)
“Happy Endings” (69)
17:
Paley, “A
Conversation with My Father” (1177)
22: Danticat, “Night Women” (422)
Gaitskill,
“Tiny, Smiling Daddy” (559)
24: Allison, “
27: Olsen, “ I Stand Here Ironing” (1165)
Kinkaid, “Girl”
(839)
Moody, “Boys” (1032)
29: Viramontes, “Moths” (1349)
Proulx, “The
31: Carver,
“What We Talk About When We Talk About Love” (252)
FEBRUARY
3: Chekhov, “The
Lady with the Little Dog” (299)
5:
7: Mason, “
10: Hurston, “Sweat” (664)
12: Freeman,
“The Revolt of ‘Mother’” (547)
17: Gilman, “The
Yellow Wallpaper” (576)
19: Chopin,
“Desiree’s Baby” (322)
“The Story of an Hour” (326)
21: Carter, “The
Company of Wolves” (221)
24: Hawthorne,
“Young Goodman Brown” (633)
Poe, “The Cask of Amontillado” (1188)
26 – 28: Group
work
MARCH
3: Group
Presentations
Poe’s “The Fall of the House of Usher”
“The Tell-Tale Heart”
5: Group
Presentations
Faulkner’s “A Rose for Emily”
“That Evening Sun”
Begin O’Connor groups if time permits
7: O’Connor’s
“Everything that Rises Must Converge”
“Good Country People”
“A Good Man is Hard to Find”
17: Oates,
“Where are You Going, Where have You Been?” (1089)
19: Oates, “How
I Contemplated the World from the
and
Began My Life Over Again” (e-reserves)
21: Oates,
“Heat” (e-reserves)
24: Alexie, “The Lone Ranger and Tonto
Fistfight in Heaven” (14)
Erdrich, “The
Red Convertible” (475)
26: Ellison,
“Battle Royal” (464)
28: Toomer, “Blood-Burning Moon” (1335)
Chestnutt, “The
Wife of His Youth” (312)
31: Gordimer, “The Ultimate Safari” (613)
Head, “Woman from
APRIL
2: Cisneros,
“The House on
Diaz, “The Sun, the Moon, the Stars” (428)
4: Jen, “Who’s Irish?” (719)
7: Mishima, “Patriotism” (1013)
9: Jin, “The
Bridegroom” (738)
11: Roth, “The
Conversion of the Jews” (1229)
14: Allen, “The Kugelmass Episode” (21)
Vonnegut, “Harrison Bergeron” (1354)
16: Borowski, “This Way for the Gas, Ladies and Gentlemen”
(186)
Ozick, “The
Shawl” (1172)
21:
Bierce, “An Occurrence at
23: Wideman, “newborn thrown in trash and dies” (1396)
First Draft due
25 – 28: Group
Work (Stories TBA)
30 – May 5th:
Group Presentations
MAY
5: Final Papers
due