ENGL 184:The Short Story
Spring 2006
Dr. Sandy Petrulionis
TR 925-1040 am
135 Hawthorn
Office: 129 CAC
Mailbox: 108 CAC
Phone: 949-5365
E-mail: shp2@psu.edu
Office Hours: TR 130-330; W 9-12
REQUIRED TEXTS:
• The Riverside Anthology of Short Fiction: Convention and Innovation, ed. Dean Baldwin
• A Writer’s Reference, 5th ed., Diana Hacker (Bedford/St. Martin’s)
COURSE DESCRIPTION AND GOALS:
ENGL 184 is a literature course focusing on the genre of short prose fiction. We will be reading
and discussing several stories written in English by British and American writers, as well as
works in translation. We will review the development of the short story; and through close
readings of the assigned works, we will analyze the various elements of fiction: plot, character,
theme, point of view, and style.
The goals of ENGL 184 are to teach you how to read and write critically about short fiction and
how to recognize various literary devices and techniques that authors use. By the end of the
semester, you should have a thorough understanding of and be able to analyze various types of
short stories.
ASSIGNMENTS (you will receive specific instructions for each):
♦ Daily Quizzes and Class Participation (20%)
♦ Reading Journal (10%)
♦ Two Short Essays (15% each)
♦ Mid-Term and Final Exams (20% each)
All assignments are due at the beginning of class. Assignments may always be handed in
early—in person or in my mailbox. Late papers will be dropped a letter grade for each class that
they are late; they will not be accepted more than one week late.
CLASS POLICIES:
Read your assignments before coming to class each week. Be on time for class.
Classroom Deportment And Environment: There is no right and wrong in a Literature class;
there are only people who have read or not read assignments. A Literature classroom is most
stimulating and rewarding when it centers on probing, thought-provoking class discussion. The
more of you who speak up to share your thoughts about the authors and works we’re
considering, the more enriching everyone’s experience will be. You may not always agree with
your classmates—but in such disagreements we all more closely approach an understanding of
the subject and gain insights into others’ opinions and experiences.
Some of these stories will hit a nerve, and may influence you in surprising ways. In class
discussions, you may disagree with your classmates; in such disagreements we often expand
the impact and meaning of the story. In all class dialogue, I expect and provide tolerance,
respect, and courtesy.
The following are considered disruptive behaviors that are inappropriate in a college classroom.
Each instance will reduce that day’s participation grade to zero:
/ allowing your cell phone to ring
/ using or monitoring portable electronic devices
/ walking in and out of the room during class
/ eating or drinking loudly enough that we hear you
/ sleeping
/ yawning uncontrollably
/ conversing privately with your classmates
/ doing work that is unrelated to our class
In addition, any student who acts disrespectfully, intolerantly, or disruptively to me or to other
students will be asked to leave and will be withdrawn from the class.
Class cancellation: If class is going to be cancelled, you can find out by logging on to
www.aa.psu.edu/cancel. If the entire campus has closed, it will be announced at
www.aa.psu.edu and on local radio stations.
I encourage questions from you—in class, out of class, via e-mail or telephone. If you don’t
understand an assignment, if you’re having trouble with a paper, or if you just want to discuss
something we’re reading—please let me know. I’d like to have the chance to suggest a solution
before an issue becomes a problem.
The last day to late drop this course is April 7.
SCHEDULE OF CLASSES
**NOTE: Always read the biographical sketch of the author preceding each story.
Week 1: Introduction to the Short Story
Jan. 12:
“The Short Story: A Brief History” (p. 1144)
“The Elements of Fiction” (p. 1177)
O. Henry, “The Gift of the Magi” (p. 436)
Weeks 2, 3: Early Masters and Gothic Tales
Jan. 17:
Nathaniel Hawthorne, “My Kinsman, Major Molineaux” (p. 57)
Jan. 19:
Edgar Allan Poe, “The Tell-Tale Heart” (p. 104); Nikolai Gogol, “The Overcoat” (p. 107)
Jan. 24
Shirley Jackson, “The Lottery” (p. 738)
Jan. 26:
Anton Chekhov, “The Lady with the Dog” (p. 364)
Weeks 4, 5: Literary Naturalism
Jan. 31:
Ivan Sergeyevich Turgenev, “Yermolai and the Miller’s Wife” (p. 181)
Feb. 2:
Stephen Crane, “The Open Boat” (p. 337)
Feb. 7:
Ambrose Bierce, “Chickamauga” (p. 295), and “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”
(handout)
Feb. 9:
Guy de Maupassant, “Two Little Soldiers” (p. 270)
Weeks 6, 7: Depictions of Women’s Lives
Feb. 14:
Mary E. Wilkins Freeman, “The Revolt of Mother” (p. 301)
Feb. 16:
Susan Glaspell, “A Jury of Her Peers” (p. 472)
Essay #1 due
Feb. 21, 23:
Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “The Yellow Wallpaper” (handout)
Weeks 8, 9, 10: Treatment of Racial Tensions
Feb. 28:
Langston Hughes, “Cora Unashamed” (p. 630); Amy Tan, “Two Kinds” (p. 1104)
Mar. 2:
Mid-Term Exam
SPRING BREAK: March 6-10
Mar. 14:
Mar. 16:
Mar. 21:
Mar. 23:
Ernest J. Gaines, “The Sky is Gray” (p. 816)
Kate Chopin, “Desiree’s Baby” (p. 332); Toni Cade Bambara, “Gorilla, My Love” (p. 921)
Alice Walker, “Nineteen Fifty-Five” (p. 1022)
Zora Neale Hurston, “The Gilded Six-Bits” (p. 660)
Week 11: Regionalism, Local Color
Mar. 28:
Eudora Welty, “Why I Live at the P.O.” (p. 711), and “A Still Moment” (p. 721)
Mar. 30:
Flannery O’Connor “Good Country People” (p. 773)
Weeks 12, 13: Modernism and Its Precursors
Apr. 4:
Herman Melville, “Bartleby, the Scrivener” (p. 191)
Apr. 6:
Ernest Hemingway, “The Short Happy Life of Francis Macomber” (p. 637); F. Scott
Fitzgerald, “Babylon Revisited” (p. 579)
Apr. 11, 13:
Joseph Conrad, The Heart of Darkness (p. 376)
Weeks 14, 15: Contemporary Short Stories
Apr. 18:
Joyce Carol Oates, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?” (p. 840)
Apr. 20:
Apr. 25:
Apr. 27:
Raymond Carver, “The Cathedral” (p. 1011)
Essay #2 due
Margaret Atwood, “Happy Endings” (p. 1058); Alice Munro, “The Progress of Love” (p.
1061)
Lydia Davis, “A Few Things Wrong with Me” (p. 954)
FINAL EXAM: May 4 (Thursday), 310-5 pm
“The meaning of a story has to be embodied in it, has to be made concrete in
it. A story is a way to say something that can't be said any other way, and it
takes every word in the story to say what the meaning is. You tell a story
because a statement would be inadequate. When anybody asks what a story is
about, the only proper thing is to tell him to read the story.”
---Flannery O'Connor
PENN STATE ALTOONA STATEMENT
ON ACADEMIC INTEGRITY
[<http://www.aa.psu.edu/academic/integrity.htm>]
“According to Penn State University, Academic integrity is the pursuit of
scholarly activity in an open, honest and responsible manner. Academic
integrity is a basic guiding principle for all academic activity at The
Pennsylvania State University, and all members of the University
community are expected to act in accordance with this principle.
Academic integrity includes a commitment not to engage in or tolerate acts
of falsification, misrepresentation or deception. Such acts of dishonesty
violate the fundamental ethical principles of the University community and
compromise the worth of work completed by others.”
The following are all examples of plagiarism:
submitting work as your own that you did not write (even a sentence!)
ƒ failing to document your research sources
ƒ failing to use quotation marks to indicate words that are directly quoted from
any source (in other words, any words that you did not write must be contained
in quotation marks).
ƒ
We all know that Internet sources have made it very easy and
(perhaps) tempting to plagiarize.
But carefully assess the risk you take before you decide to engage
in academic dishonesty in this class:
Any student who engages in academic dishonesty will fail
ENGL 184, will be reported to Academic Affairs, and may be
suspended from Penn State Altoona.