Introduction to Fiction

English 23 will introduce you to the study of fiction (novels and short stories) to sharpen your critical reading, thinking, and writing skills. We will read six novels and several short stories. We will discuss storytelling techniques such as: narrators, setting, tone, characterization, etc. As the semester progresses and as you gain confidence in analytical thinking, we will discuss the literature through various theoretical approaches such as new historicism, feminism, and psychoanalysis. Class will consist of small group and whole class discussion. Group work will involve generating questions, answering questions, and presenting short reports that will motivate the discussion. I hope that we can arrive at some class interpretations of novels while simultaneously allowing each of you to maintain individual interpretations.

Required Texts:

Course Requirements:
  •  "Salient Features" Journal (developed by C. Lewis) should be completed before each class period. SFs are short writing assignments in which you can point out important elements noticed in each reading. These observations will be used as springboards for both class discussions and paper topics. See attached guidelines.
  • You will produce two analytical papers: 1st 4-6 pages; 2nd 6-8 pages.
  • I have scheduled one rough draft workshop for each paper. If you are absent or if you come with an incomplete draft, your paper grade will be lowered by one full grade (an A becomes a B; a B+ becomes a C+ and so on).
  • You may volunteer to submit a copy of a paper draft during the semester. On the designated day, please bring in thirty-six (36) copies. To save money and trees, feel free to single space, double-side and/or reduce copies.
    •
  • You are expected to participate in in-class writing assignments as well as in group and class discussion.
  • I would be happy to speak to you during office hours, but I suggest that you make an appointment if that is not possible.
  • Absolutely no late work will be accepted. Missing work will be averaged as a zero (0).
    •

    Course Syllabus

    Assignments due on:
     
    Tu. 1/11 Introduction
    Th. 1/13 Hawthorne, "Young Goodman Brown" (1846) 
    Hawthorne, "Rappachini's Daughter" (1846)
    Tu. 1/18 Poe, "The Fall of the House of Usher" (1839) 
    Gilman, "The Yellow Wallpaper" (1847)
    Th. 1/20 Bronte, Jane Eyre (1847)
    Tu. 1/25 Bronte, Jane Eyre
    Th. 1/27 Bronte, Jane Eyre
    Student Presentations 
    Group tableau vivants
    Tu. 2/1 James, Daisy Miller (1878) on Reserve
    Th. 2/3 Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884)
    Tu. 2/8 Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
    Th. 2/10 Twain, The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
    Student Presentations
    Tu. 2/15 Joyce "Araby" (1914) 
    Lawrence, "The Horse Dealer's Daughter" (1922) 
    Lawrence "Odour of Chrysanthemums" (1922)
    Th. 2/17 Paper Workshop 
    model, peer swap, rubric for presentations
    Tu. 2/22 First Paper Due
    Group presentations on language & dialect; 
    groups write mid-term (questioning strategies)
    Th. 2/24 Cather, A Lost Lady (1923)
    Tu. 3/1 Cather, A Lost Lady
    Student presentations
    Th. 3/3 Mid-Term Examination
    Tu. 3/15 Wharton, "Roman Fever" (1936)
    Th. 3/17 Woolf, To the Lighthouse (1927)
    Tu. 3/22 Woolf, To the Lighthouse
    Th. 3/24 Woolf, To the Lighthouse
    Student presentations
    Tu. 3/29 Faulkner, "A Rose for Emily" (1930) 
    Faulkner, "Barn Burning" (1939)
    Th. 3/31 Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God (1937)
    Tu. 4/5 Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God
    Th. 4/7 Hurston, Their Eyes Were Watching God, 
    Student presentations
    Tu. 4/12 Baldwin's "Sonny's Blues" (1957) 
    Walker's "Everyday Use" (1973)
    Th. 4/14 Paper Workshop
    Tu. 4/19 Naylor, Mama Day (1988)
    Th. 4/21 Second Paper Due (continue reading Mama Day) 
    Video of Naylor interview 
    Students make quilts
    Tu. 4/26 Naylor, Mama Day
    Evaluations