SHORT STORIES – Weekly Assignments
WEEK 1 - Romanticism
Monday 2/3
Course IntroductionNotes: Short Story History
H/W: Student Info sheet & Consent Form signed by Fri. 2/3
Tuesday 2/4
Literary Terms review worksheet
H/W= finish Literary Terms review worksheet
Wednesday 2/5
Review Lit Terms
H/W= Read Irving’s “The Adventure of a German Student” & quest.
Thursday 2/6
Review note-taking; discuss “German Student”
H/W= Read Hawthorne’s "Young Goodman Brown" & quest.
Friday 2/7
Notes: Romanticism- Discuss “Goodman Brown”
Discuss Quarter 1 Essay
H/W= Read Irving’s ”The Devil and Tom Walker” & quest.
Week 2 - Romanticism
Monday 2/10
Notes: Washington Irving
Discuss ”The Devil and Tom Walker”
H/W= Read Hawthorne’s “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment” &
quest.
Tuesday 2/11
Notes: Nathaniel Hawthorne
Discuss “Dr. Heidegger’s Experiment”
H/W= Read Cooper’s “The Lake Gun” & quest
Wednesday 2/12
Notes: James Fenimore Cooper
Discuss “The Lake Gun”
H/W= Read Melville’s “The Lightning-Rod Man”
Thursday 2/13
Notes: Herman Melville
Discuss “The Lightning-Rod Man”
H/W= Prepare notes for Monday’s quiz on Romantics
Friday 2/14
No School- Mid-winter Recess
SHORT STORIES – Weekly Assignments
Week 3 - Poe- Horror
Monday 2/17
No School- Mid-winter Recess
Tuesday 2/18
No School- Conference Day
Wednesday 2/19
Open-note quiz on American Romantics –
Romantics QUESTS. DUE
Poe notes
H/W= Read “Ligeia” (h/o)
Thursday 2/20
Poe’s “Philosophy of Composition”
H/W= Continue reading “Ligeia” + Question
*Students will form four groups of equal
numbers. Each group will specialize in one
of the following stories by E.A. Poe:
 “The Black Cat”
 “The Masque of Red Death”
 “The Tell-Tale Heart”
 “The Cask of Amontillado”
Groups will prepare an informal
presentation for the whole class. Each group
member will focus on one aspect (element?)
of the story. One member will relate the
stages of the plot, identifying the central
conflict. Other group members will talk
about elements and devices, such as
character, POV, symbolism, suspense,
setting, etc., particularly those that develop
Poe’s “singular effect” (according to Poe
himself, all should).
Friday 2/21
Discuss “Ligeia”
H/W= Read “The Premature Burial” pg.58 + Question
Week 4 - Poe- Detective & Mystery
Monday 2/24
Discuss “The Premature Burial”
Form reading groups (see right)
H/W= Read your group’s story
Tuesday 2/25
Work in groups on presentation*
H/W= Read “The Purloined Letter” pg.244 + Question
Wednesday 2/26
Discuss “The Purloined Letter”
H/W= Read “The System of Dr. Tarr and Prof. Fether” pg. 182 + Question
Thursday 2/27
Discuss “The System of Dr. Tarr and Prof. Fether”
H/W= Rehearse your part of presentation
Friday 2/28
Group presentations of stories: SEE ABOVE*
H/W= Study for Romantics Test Monday 2/27
SHORT STORIES – Weekly Assignments
Week 5 - Realism- London & BierceMonday 3/3
Romantics Test
Poe QUESTS. DUE
H/W= Read London’s “The Sun-Dog Trail” p232 +Question
Tuesday 3/4
Notes: Realism, Jack London, Mark Twain, Bret Harte
Discuss “The Sun-Dog Trail”
H/W= Read London’s “To the Man on the Trail” p84 +Question
Wednesday 3/5
Discuss “To the Man on the Trail”
Notes: Ambrose Bierce;
selections from The Devil’s Dictionary
H/W= Read Bierce’s “The Damn Thing”
+Question
Thursday 3/6
Discuss “The Damn Thing”
H/W= Read Bierce’s
“An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge” +Question
Friday 3/7
Open-note quiz on London & Bierce- QUESTS. DUE
Week 6 - Realism- Twain & Harte
Monday 3/10
No School- Conference Day
Tuesday 3/11
Address “Owl Creek Bridge” Quests.
Film: Jacob’s Ladder
H/W= Read “The Esquimaux Maiden’s Romance”
There are no nightly questions for
week 6, nor will we have daily
discussions of stories. Read the
stories carefully, and I highly
recommend you answer the study
questions in your notes.
Wednesday 3/12
Film: Jacob’s Ladder
H/W= Read “The Californian’s Tale”
Thursday 3/13
Film: Jacob’s Ladder
H/W= Read “The Outcasts of Poker Flat”
Friday 3/14
Film: Jacob’s Ladder
H/W= Read “The Luck of Roaring Camp”
Arch located in the village of
Twain Harte, Tuolumne County, CA
SHORT STORIES – Weekly Assignments
Week 7 - Realism- Crane & Chopin
Monday 3/17
Open-note quiz on Twain & HarteQUESTS. & Jacob’s Ladder Response DUE
Tuesday 3/18
Notes: Stephen Crane & Kate Chopin
H/W= Read “Bride Comes to Yellow Sky” + Question
Wednesday 3/19
Discuss “Bride Comes to Yellow Sky”
Read in class: “A Dark Brown Dog” & discuss
H/W= Read “Desiree’s Baby” + Question
Thursday 3/20
Discuss “Desiree’s Baby”
Read in class: “The Story of an Hour”
H/W= Read “Beyond the Bayou” + Question
Friday 3/21
Discuss “Beyond the Bayou”
Themes and Motifs of Realism
Week 8 - Harlem Renaissance
Mon 3/24
Test on Realism- QUESTS. DUE
H/W= Read “A Summer Tragedy”
by Arna Bontemps + Question
Tuesday 3/25
Discuss “A Summer Tragedy” Notes: Harlem
Renaissance
H/W= Read “The Gilded Six-Bits” by Zora Neale Hurston + Question
Wednesday 3/26
Discuss “The Gilded Six-Bits”
Videos: Harlem Renaissance
H/W= Read “Big Black Good Man” by Richard Wright + Question
Thursday 3/27
Discuss “Big Black Good Man”
Read “Feet Live Their Own Lives” by Langston Hughes
H/W= Read “Thank You Ma’am” by Langston Hughes
Friday 3/28
Open-note Quiz on Harlem Renaissance authors & stories- QUESTS. DUE
SHORT STORIES – Weekly Assignments
Week 9 - Modernism
Monday. 3/31
Sign-up Story titles
Read Hemingway’s “A Clean Well-lighted Place”
H/W= Read Thurber’s “The Greatest Man in the World” & quest.
Tuesday, 4/1
Film: “The Greatest Man in the World”
H/W= Read Fitzgerald’s “Jemina, The Mountain Girl” & quest.
Wednesday 4/2
Film: “The Greatest Man in the World”
H/W= Read Shaw’s “The Girls in their Summer
Dresses”
Thursday 4/3
Film: “The Girls in their Summer Dresses” Discuss
H/W= Read Anderson’s “I’m a Fool” & quest.
Friday, 4/4
Quarter Essay is DUE!!! END OF QUARTER 3
Read Thurber’s “The Secret Life of Walter Mitty” &
quest.
Week 10 – Southern Gothic
Monday, 4/7
Notes on Modernism
H/W= Read Welty’s “A Worn Path” & quest.
Tuesday, 4/8
Notes on Southern Gothic
Film: “Noon Wine”
H/W= Read O’Connor’s “Good Country People” & quest.
Wednesday 4/9
Film: “Noon Wine”
H/W= Read Faulkner’s “Shingles for the Lord”
Thursday 4/10
Finish Film: “Noon Wine”
Discuss “Shingles for the Lord”
Friday 4/11
Quiz on Modernism & Southern Gothic & QUESTS. DUE
SHORT STORIES – Weekly Assignments
Week 11 – Ghost Stories
Monday. 4/21
Spring Break- No School
Tuesday, 4/22
Conference Day- No School
Wednesday 4/23
Read “On the Northern Ice” & discuss
Read & take notes on M.R. James’s
“Some Remarks on Ghost Stories”
H/W= Read Treadwell’s “The Telephone” & quest.
Thursday 4/24
Discuss “The Telephone” & quest.
Read & Discuss
Roald Dahl’s piece on ghost story & take notes
H/W= Read Dickens’s “The Signal Man” & quest.
Friday, 4/25
Read from Lovecraft’s
“Supernatural Horror in Literature” & take notes
H/W= Read King’s “1408”
Week 12 – Horror Stories
Monday, 4/28
Film: 1408
H/W= Read A.M. Burrage’s “The Waxwork” & quest.
Tuesday, 4/29
Film: 1408
H/W= Read Lovecraft’s “The Statement of Randolf Carter” & quest.
Wednesday 4/30
Film: 1408
H/W= Read Crawford’s “The Upper Berth” & quest.
Thursday 5/1
Finish Film: 1408; Discuss
Friday 5/2
Open-note Quiz on Ghost & Horror Stories- QUESTS. DUE
SHORT STORIES – Weekly Assignments
Week 13 – Detective Stories
Monday 5/5
Read Michaud’s “A Brief History of Detective Fiction” and
S.S. Van Dine’s “20 Rules for Writing Detective Fiction” & take notes
H/W= Read Doyle’s “The Speckled Band” & quest.
Tuesday, 5/6
Discuss “The Speckled Band”
Activity: Detective Story Map
H/W= Read Glaspell’s “A Jury of Her Peers” & quest.
Wednesday 5/7
Discuss “A Jury of Her Peers” & Story Map
H/W= Read Christie’s “Accident” & quest.
Thursday 5/8
Discuss “Accident” & Story Map
H/W= Read Hammet’s “Arson Plus” & quest.
Friday, 5/9
Discuss “Arson Plus” & Story Map
Week 14 – Mystery Stories
Monday, 5/12
Film: Rear Window
H/W= Read Woolrich’s “It Had to be Murder” & quest.
Tuesday, 5/13
Film: Rear Window
H/W= Read Redman’s “The Perfect Crime” & quest.
Wednesday 5/14
Film: Rear Window
H/W= Read Oates’s “Do With Me What You Will” & quest.
Thursday 5/15
Finish Film: Rear Window Discuss
H/W= Work on Quarter Essay
Friday 5/16
Open-note Quiz on Detective & Mystery- QUESTS. DUE
SHORT STORIES – Weekly Assignments
Week 15 – Sci Fi
Monday 5/19
Film: Minority Report
H/W= Read “Minority Report”
Tuesday, 5/20
Film: Minority Report
H/W= Read “Minority Report”
Wednesday 5/21
Film: Minority Report
H/W= Read “Minority Report”
Thursday 5/22
Film: Minority Report
H/W= Nelson’s “Narapoia”
Asimov’s “The Fun They Had” &
Brown’s “The Weapon”& quests.
Friday, 5/23
Memorial weekend- No school
Week 16 - Fantasy
Monday, 5/26
Memorial Day- No School
Tuesday, 5/27
Read & discuss fantasy fiction theory
H/W= Read “An Axe for Men” & quest.
Wednesday 5/28
Read selections from Tolkien’s
“On Fairy Stories”
H/W= Read “Leaf by Niggle” & quest.
Thursday 5/29
Discuss “Leaf by Niggle”- work on Epistolary Story
H/W= Read “The Magestone” & quest.
Friday 5/30
Open-note quiz on Sci-Fi and Fantasy stories- QUESTS. DUE
SHORT STORIES – Weekly Assignments
Week 17 – Old World Stories
Monday 6/2
H/W= Read Lavin’s “Sarah”
Short Stories Final Exam
Tuesday, 6/3
Read in class Joyce’s “Araby”
H/W= Read Gorky’s “Twenty-six Men”
Where: here in room 245
When: period 1, Thu. 6/12 & Fri. 6/13
What to bring: pen
Wednesday 6/4
Read in class Jalal’s “Anket Anketov”
H/W= Work on Quarter Essay!
Thursday 6/5
Read in class Marquez’s
“Balthazar’s Marvelous Afternoon”
H/W= Read Borges’s
“The Garden of Forking Paths”
Friday, 6/6
Discuss Old World Stories
Quarter Essay Due!
Week 18 – New World Stories
Monday, 6/9
Read in class “The Warmth of Things”
H/W= Read Silkko’s “Tony’s Story”
Tuesday, 6/10
Discuss New World Stories
Wednesday 6/11
Open-note Quiz on
Old and New World Stories
Thursday 6/12
Final Exam
Friday 6/13
Final Exam
Monday 6/10
Make up day;
Contingency day;
Instructor eval.
Thursday, June 12th:
 Part 1: Title/Author matching 20 pts.
(genre/period for ½ credit)
 Part 2: Title/plotline matching 20 pts.
 Part 3: Multiple Choice
20 pts.
20 questions taken straight
from the quizzes
 Short Response10 pts.
Regarding use of devices in
stories
Friday, June 13th:
 Write a critical essay using
evidence from 2 short stories
covered during the course:
30 pts.
 You will choose one from a dozen
themes
 Form a controlling idea about that
theme as it pertains to the two stories
 Prove the idea true by referring to
authors’ development of the idea
through the use of literary techniques
and devices
All books must be returned by Fri. 6/13
I would certainly appreciate receiving
any story handouts you may still have to
be reused next year!