English Prose
Fall 2010
Office Hours: Tuesdays: 10:00～12:00; Wednesdays: 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. The
course format will include lectures, class discussion, and oral presentations on the required
reading of the weeks. Besides regular class attendance and participation, students are required
to make at least oral presentation (one before the midterm exam and one after it). There will also
be pop-up quizzes to test students’ mastery of advanced-level vocabulary.
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, and quizzes. 20%
 oral presentation: 15%
each group (three or four students) will choose to give a presentation on one of the essays
of a given week and give a 15-minute presentation.
 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 (9/14): Introduction: Chapter 1, “On Writing”
Jennifer Lee, “I think, Therefore I AM”
Kurt Vonnegut, Jr., “How to Write with Style”
Week 2 (9/21): Chapter 1, “On Writing”
William Zinsser, “Simplicity”
Amy Tan, “Mother Tongue”
Week 3 (9/28): Chapter 2, “On Reading”
Judith Ortiz Cofer, “Volar”
Malcolm X, “Prison Studies”
Eudora Welty, “On Writer’s Beginnings”
Week 4 (10/5): Chapter 3, “Description”
Diane Ackerman, “Farewell to Summer and Its Buzzing Creatures””
Annie Dillard, "In the Jungle"
Week 5 (10/12): Chapter 3, “Description” continued
Maxine Hong Kingston, "Catfish in the Bathtub"
Suzanne Berne, "My Ticket to the Disaster"
Week 6 (10/19): Chapter 4, “Narration”
Elizabeth Wong, “The Struggle to Be an All-American Girl”
Langston Hughes, “Salvation”
David Sedaris, "Let It Snow"
Week 7 (10/26): Chapter 5, “Process Analysis” & Chapter 6, “Illustration”
Bill Bryson, “Your New Computer”
Barbara Ehrenreich, “What I've Learned from Men”
Jared Diamond, “Globalization Rocked the Ancient World Too”
Week 8 (11/2): Chapter 7, “Comparison and Contrast”
Rachel Carson, "A Fable for Tomorrow"
Dave Barry, "Punch and Judy"
Week 9 (11/9): Chapter 7, “Comparison and Contrast”
Michele Ingrassia, "The Body of the Beholder"
Erica Goode, “Home Alone”
Week 10 (11/16): Midterm Exam
Week 11 (11/23): Chapter 8, “Cause-and Effect Analysis”
Stephen King: “Why We Crave Horror Movies”
Elie Wiesel, "The America I Love"
Steve Olson, “Who’s Your Daddy?”
Week 12 (11/30): Chapter 9, “Classification”
Judith Viorst, “Friends, Good Friends - and Such Good Friends”
Jedediah Purdy, “Shades of Green”
Week 13 (12/7): Chapter 9, “Classification”
Amy Rashap, “The American Dream for Sale: Ethnic Images in Magazines”
James T. Baker, “How Do We Find the Student in a World of Academic Gymnasts and
Worker Ants?”
Week 14 (12/14): Chapter 10, “Definition”
Nicholas Handler, “The Posteverything Generation”
Dagoberto Gilb, "Pride"
Week 15 (12/21): Chapter 10, “Definition”
Thomas L. Friedman, “Generation Q”
Gloria Naylor, “A Word's Meaning”
Week 16 (12/28):
Gary Engle, “What Makes Superman So Darned American?” (handout)
Week 17 (1/4): Final Exam