Schedule for ENGL 225: The Short Story
Autumn 2010
Dr. Don Florence
Please note: in addition to the assignments listed below, each week you will be writing
one paragraph, each, in response to two of my discussion prompts (posted after my
weekly lecture and also in the Discussions forum) and in response to two of your fellow
students’ posts regarding the week’s assigned story readings. You may respond to more
prompts and posts if you wish, of course.
In other words, you’ll be writing at least four paragraphs each week in the discussion
forum as your class participation. For more details, see the individual weekly links in
Learning Modules under Course Tools. I will be posting the weekly discussion questions
immediately after my lecture notes when I post this material for each week; the
discussion prompts will also be available in the discussion forum.
During the semester, I make available various video clips (mostly from YouTube) to give
examples of ways that some stories have been dramatized for film. These clips are
recommended (but not required) viewing to give you additional possible perspectives on
various stories.
All the assigned stories except London’s "To Build a Fire" are in our course anthology,
The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction, 7th ed. For the London story I’ll provide a link to
an online e-text or furnish an electronic "handout."
At the start of each course week, be sure to click on the proper Learning Module link
under Course Tools (in the left margin of your Blackboard course page) to get details
about that week’s assignments and activities. For most of the course, a "week" begins on
a Wednesday morning and runs until the following Tuesday evening, thus including a
weekend and two days thereafter. For this first week, the course "week" is two days
longer, beginning on Monday, Aug. 16th, and running through Tuesday, Aug. 24th.
Week 1 (Aug. 16– 24): Introduction
"Writing about Fiction" in The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction, pp. xxi-xxix.
My lecture on the elements of fiction
Week 2 (Aug. 25 – Aug. 31): Poe and Hawthorne (I)
Poe, "The Fall of the House of Usher"
Hawthorne, "Young Goodman Brown"
My lecture on the ambiguity of thought and perception in Poe and Hawthorne
Week 3 (Sept. 1 – Sept. 7): Poe and Hawthorne (II)
Poe, "The Purloined Letter"
Hawthorne, "The Birthmark"
My lecture on ratiocination in Poe and Hawthorne
Week 4 (Sept. 8 – 14): Youth & Quest
Joyce, "Araby"
Cather, "Paul’s Case"
Berriault, "Who Is It Can Tell Me Who I Am?"
My lecture on youth, disorientation, and the quest for identity
Week 5 (Sept. 15 – 21): Humor
Twain, "The Notorious Jumping Frog of Calaveras County"
Thurber, "The Secret Life of Walter Mitty"
Lardner, "Ex Parte"
My lecture on various forms and purposes of humor in short fiction
Paper #1 assigned on Sept. 15th.
Week 6 (Sept. 22 – Sept. 28): Absurdity & Satire
Barthelme, "Me and Miss Mandible"
Bambara, "Gorilla, My Love"
Garcia Marquez, "The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World"
Wolff, "In the Garden of the North American Martyrs"
My lecture on the fictive uses of absurdity and satire
Week 7 (Sept. 29 – Oct. 5): Bizarre Satire
Bierce, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge"
Faulkner, "A Rose for Emily"
Jackson, "The Lottery"
My lecture on short fiction and methods of madness
Paper #1 due Sept. 29th.
Week 8 (Oct. 6 – 12): Dark Fantasy
Lawrence, "The Rocking-Horse Winner"
Bradbury, "The Veldt"
Capote, "Miriam"
My lecture on fiction and the subconscious mind
Week 9 (Oct. 13 – 19): Realism and Naturalism
Crane, "The Open Boat"
London, "To Build a Fire"
My lecture on realism and naturalism
Paper #2 assigned on Oct. 13th.
Week 10 (Oct. 20 – 26): Realism and Romance
Chekhov, "The Lady with the Dog"
Fitzgerald, "Babylon Revisited"
My lecture on fictive mingling of realism and romance
Week 11 (Oct. 27 – Nov. 2): Brevity and Irony
Chopin, "The Story of an Hour"
Hemingway, "Hills Like White Elephants"
Updike, "A & P"
My lecture on small things ironic
Paper #2 due on Oct. 27th.
Week 12 (Nov. 3 – 9): On the Edge
Gilman, "The Yellow Wallpaper"
Ellison, "King of the Bingo Game"
Welty, "A Worn Path"
My lecture on marginalization and madness
Paper #3 assigned on Nov. 3rd.
Week 13 (Nov. 10 – 16): Alienation
Melville, "Bartleby, the Scrivener"
My lecture on putting the alien in alienation
Week 14 (Nov. 17 – 21): Questions
A time for review
Paper #3 due on Nov. 17th.
Week 15 (Nov. 22 – Nov. 28): Thanksgiving Week
Rest
Week 16 (Nov. 29 - Dec. 5): Alienation and the Surreal
Kafka, "The Metamorphosis"
My lecture on alienation and nightmare
Take-home final exam issued on Nov. 29th.
Week 17 (Dec. 6 – 9): Final Exam Week
Take-home final exam due by noon, Thursday, Dec. 9th.