Dr. Anneliese Watt
Syllabus for SL231: Introduction to Short Fiction
Winter 06-07
Course Schedule
SL231-01 Introduction to Short Fiction
3rd hr.
9:55-10:45
O159
INSTRUCTOR INFO
Office: A211, phone 872-6074
Please feel encouraged to drop by the office any time during the normal working day
(including Wednesdays), though you may make an appointment if you wish to ensure that I
will be there.
Email: watt@rose-hulman.edu
Email is also a good way to communicate with me. I will use email to communicate with
you both individually and collectively, so please check your email regularly.
COURSE INFO
Required Texts (available in RHIT bookstore)
 The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction, Shorter Seventh Edition (0-393-92612-5)
 Best American Short Stories 2006 (061854352x)
This course will take a fairly straight-forward approach to reading, discussing, and
writing about short stories. Why? 1) To introduce you to the stories that are an important
component and reflection of your culture and also other cultures and eras with which you
are less familiar; 2) In the process, to help you to gain insight into yourself and how you fit
in your society; 3) To teach you to recognize story-telling techniques that allow fiction
writers to successfully achieve desired effects, and to learn the vocabulary that is helpful in
discussing what you read.
TARGETTED ROSE-HULMAN STUDENT OBJECTIVE (from RoseE-Portfolio)
RH 4. Culture - An ability to understand diverse cultural and humanistic traditions
When given the opportunity, students will:
1. Perform, interpret, analyze, or otherwise engage in artistic, literary, and/or other forms of
culture.
You are required to submit one of the papers written for this class to the above objective (unless
you already have a submission you prefer in that spot).
ASSIGNMENTS AND GRADES:

15% Participation/Small Assignments. Attendance, preparedness for and
participation in discussions, enthusiasm, and general contribution to the class. When
quizzes are given or in-class writing is collected, such small assignments will
contribute to this part of your grade. I’m not going to be lecturing; think of me as
your educated tour guide. I need you to help me to create a positive atmosphere of
shared learning and discovery.

35% Short Responses. Your grades on 5 short response papers will be averaged
to determine this portion of your grade. You may not turn in more than one response
in a given week (they need to be spread throughout the quarter). If you turn in
responses 6 or 7 different weeks, I will drop the lowest grade(s), averaging only the
5 highest. (You may not turn in more than 7 responses.) You choose the story and
day of the week, but the response must be turned in prior to class discussion of that
story (at the beginning of the hour is fine). Responses will not be accepted late
(after the discussion of the story).
**I expect these responses to consist of two substantial paragraphs: one
paragraph of personal reaction to the story, and one paragraph analyzing
technique by responding to your choice of the general questions in pages
xxi-xxiii of the text. (Samples will be provided.) Each response will be assigned a
letter grade, and then I will average the five to determine this portion of your grade.

15% Longer Paper #1, on any of stories read Days 2-20, Draft due Jan. 16,
Final due Jan. 19.
20% Longer Paper #2, on any of stories read Days 21-37 (excluding your group
work story, as described below), Draft due Feb. 16, Final due Feb. 20 (Tues. of
finals week).
You will write two papers of about five pages each in which you offer more extended
analysis of a particular aspect of one or more stories of your choice that we read for
class. (Sample will be provided.) Pages xv-xxiii contain guidelines for writing about
fiction that should help you write these papers. You may again use the general
questions on pages xxi-xxiii of the text as jumping-off points.
Comparing these longer papers to the short response papers: these papers are more
extended treatments of the kinds of analytical concerns treated in the second
paragraph of the short response papers; skip the personal reaction featured in the
first paragraph of the short response papers. Your papers may build on our class
discussion of the stories, but they should not simply repeat it. Your papers will be
different from our class discussion in that you should find one narrower point that
you want to make and then make it thoroughly, drawing passages from the story to
support your reading of it. You may also choose to compare/ contrast two different
stories in regard to that particular aspect you are focusing on, for example the use of
a first-person narrator. You are also welcome to conference with me for help in
narrowing your topic or addressing particular concerns you may have about your
paper.
The papers will receive a letter grade. The penalty for failure to have a draft for the
peer review session is one full letter grade on the final paper grade; for example, if
the final draft of Longer Paper #1 earns a B-, but you did not have a draft ready for
the peer review session on Jan. 16, that B- would be recorded as a C-. There is also
a penalty of one grade increment per day for late final drafts, with no papers
accepted more than a week after the deadline.

15% Individual and Group Work on Short Story from the 2006 Collection.
During Weeks 9 and 10 we will be reading selected stories from Best American Short
Stories 2006. Three of these stories we will read and discuss as a whole class; these
three stories are “fair game” for a short response or longer paper, if desired.
But for another portion of this work—the portion comprising this 15% of your grade-I will assign groups of 4, each group having its own different story from the
collection. As a group, you will work together to understand your assigned story,
perhaps supplementing your own reactions with a quick online search for any readily
available information about the author or the story. Then, each person in the group
will produce one of the four group deliverables:
(a) plot summary,
(b) character descriptions,
(c) analysis of theme, or
(d) analysis of technique (what you notice about how the story is told or
written).
So each group member will be responsible for writing one of these deliverables, and
then will get feedback on it from the other group members and have a chance to
revise. The group’s deliverables will then be posted on Angel, and we’ll take a day in
class to allow everyone to read the postings by the other groups, and complete a
brief in-class writing about the similarities and differences that emerge. Individuals
will receive a letter grade based on the deliverable for which they had primary
responsibility, plus group member evaluations of their contributions to the team’s
overall understanding of the story and feedback on drafts of the other team
members’ deliverables. Each deliverable should be fairly short, 1-2 typed pages.