ClassInfo

This course is divided into three units: I. Origins and definitions of the short story. II. Elements of Narrative. III. Additional genres of the short story

We will read approx. 4-5 short stories a week (some quite short), save for the last two weeks, during which we'll read an author collection by sf/f writer Ted Chiang.

Our short stories will contain a mix of classics of 19th-c and 20th-c American fiction (Poe, Twain, Anderson, Melville, Hawthorne, Du Bois, Hemingway, etc.); classics from early 20th-century world literature by Franz Kafka, Anton Chekhov, Jorge Luis Borges, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez; and an assortment of 20th-century fiction by celebrated authors working in a wide range of genres, modes, and locations (Ursula K. Le Guin, Angela Carter, Tanith Lee,Toni Cade Bambara, Lorrie Moore, Kelly Link, Sherman Alexie, Chinua Achebe, Sandra Cisneros, Ryūnosuke Akutagawa, George R. R. Martin, Neil Gaiman, Haruki Murakami, Luisa Valenzuela, Nalo Hopkinson, and others).

Presentation: Collaborative Class Story

Textbooks (Required)

1. Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang, ISBN: 9781101972120

2. The Short Story: An Introduction, by Paul March-Russell, ISBN: 978-0-7486-2774-5

3. The Story and Its Writer, ed. Ann Charters, 8th edition, ISBN: 9780312596231 (or the 9th edition, if necessary)

I've tried to keep the cost of textbooks below $50. All of the texts above are currently available on Amazon or other online booksellers as used books for less than $10 each. All textbooks will also be available at the bookstore.

Anyone drawn to the short story as a genre or to the study of fiction, in general. Majors and non-majors welcome. No prerequisites required.

ENGL 1031 satisfies the Literature Core requirement.

I. ANALYTICAL SKILLS: This course will use the short story to teach you about the importance of a liberal education by engaging with three major issues: (1) the development of arguments that use reason and evidence to come to a conclusion; (2) the acquisition of analytical skills that will allow you to respond to stories written in a variety of cultural contexts; and (3) the ability to recognize more and less valid modes of approaching literary analysis.

II. WRITING SKILLS: Most of the assignments, including the presentation, involve writing (analytical, argumentative, expository, and a limited amount of creative writing). We will also spend one week on "reading and writing about literature" during which our non-fiction readings will introduce you to strategies and insights that will assist you in writing a literary analysis for a literature course.

III. LITERARY HISTORY AND TERMINOLOGY: Students will learn the key elements of narrative and will examine classic texts from several major literary periods through class discussions, handouts, and targeted non-fiction readings.

We will read approx. 4-5 short stories a week (some quite short), these may also be paired with additional materials including literary criticism, historical or biographical references, or multimedia forms such as music, art, and video.

(1) CRITICAL REASONING: the development of arguments that use reason and evidence to come to a conclusion

(2) WRITING SKILLS: acquisition of analytical skills that will allow you to respond to stories written in a variety of cultural contexts

(3) LITERARY CRITICISM/ TERMINOLOGY: the ability to recognize more and less valid modes of approaching literary analysis