English Prose
Fall 2008
Office Hours: Wednesdays: 10:00～12:00; Thursdays: 13:00～15:00
Office: Hsiu-chi Building, Room 26628
Telephone: 06-2757575 ext 52255
e-mail: zhuli@mail.ncku.edu.tw
Course Description: This course is designed to enhance students' comprehension and critical
thinking abilities, while expanding their vocabulary and increasing their reading speed.
Required Text:
Muller, Gilber H. & Harvey S. Wiener.
York: McGraw-Hill, 2003.
The Short Prose Reader. 10th edition.
Boston & New
Course Requirements:
 regular attendance, active participation, oral presentation, reading notes, quizzes. 25%
 group presentation: 15%
each group (three or four students) will choose two sub-topics covered in this course, read
as many related articles as possible, and give a 20-minute presentation on each one of the
chosen topic. The group must use audio/video aid, distribute a handout for the class, and
make up a web page to publicize their research findings.
 midterm exam: 30%
For this exam, you will be given the exam questions a week before. On the day the exam
is given, we will decide on the spot which questions you will need to answer.
 final exam: 30%
same as the midterm exam.
Tentative Syllabus:
Week 1 (9/17 & 9/18): Introduction: Chapter 1, “On Writing”
Russell Baker, “On Becoming a Writer”
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., “How to Write with Style”
Week 2 (9/24 & 9/25): Chapter 1, “On Writing”
Amy Tan, “Mother Tongue”
William Zinsser, “ Simplicity”
Week 3 (10/1 & 10/2): Chapter 2, “On Reading”
Eudora Welty, “One Writer's Beginnings”
Judith Ortiz Cofer, “Volar”
Malcolm X, “Prison Studies”
Ellen Tashie Frisina, “‘See Spot Run’: Teaching My Grandmother to Read”
Week 4 (10/8 & 10/9): Chapter 3, “Description”
Annie Dillard, “In the Jungle”
Week 5 (10/15 & 10/16): Chapter 3, “Description” continued
Virginia Woolf, “The Death of the Moth”
Week 6 (10/22 & 10/23): Chapter 4, “Narration”
Elizabeth Wong, “The Struggle to Be an All-American Girl”
George Orwell, “A Hanging”
Week 7 (10/29 & 10/30): Chapter 4, “Narration”
Langston Hughes, “Salvation”
Grace Paley, “Travelling”
Week 8 (11/5 & 11/6): Chapter 5, “Illustration”
Barbara Ehrenreich, “What I've Learned from Men”
Amartya Sen, “A World not Neatly Divided”
Week 9 (11/12 & 11/13): Chapter 6, “Comparison and Contrast”
Rachel Carson, “A Fable for Tomorrow”
Katha Pollitt, “Why Boys Don't Play with Dolls”
Week 10 (11/19 & 11/20): Chapter 6, “Comparison and Contrast” continued
Ellen Goodman, “The Tapestry of Friendships”
Michele Ingrassia, “The Body of the Beholder”
Week 11 (11/26 & 11/27): midterm exam
Week 12 (12/3 & 12/4): Chapter 7, “Definition”
Suzanne Britt Jordan, “Fun, Oh Boy, Fun. You Could Die from It”
Gloria Naylor, “A Word's Meaning”
Week 13 (12/10 & 12/11): Chapter 7, “Definition” continued
David Brooks, “The Organization Kid”
Judith Viorst, “Friends, Good Friends - and Such Good Friends”
Week 14 (12/17 & 12/18): Chapter 8, “Classification”
E.B. White, “The Three New Yorks”
James T. Baker, “How Do We Find the Student in a World of Academic Gymnasts and
Worker Ants?”
Week 15 (12/24 & 12/25): Chapter 10, “Cause-and-Effect Analysis”
Amy Rashap, “The American Dream for Sale: Ethnic Images in Magazines”
Stephen King: “Why We Crave Horror Movies”
Anne Roiphe: “Why Marriages Fail”
Week 16 (12/31 & 1/1): National Holiday; no class
Week 17 (1/7 & 1/8): Chapter 11, “Argumentation and Persuasion”
Judy Brady: “I Want a Wife”
Ronald Takaki: The Harmful Myth of Asian Superiority
Anna Quindlen: “Women Are Just Better”
Week 18 (1/14): Final Exam