University of Maryland at College Park
ENGL246: Introduction to the Short Story
Spring 2009
TTH 12:30–1:45pm
SQH 1121
Professor: Merrill Feitell
Office: SQH 4107
Office Hours: Tuesday 2:00-3:00pm (and by appointment)
Phone: 347-528-0651
Email: mfeitell@umd.edu
Course Goals:
In this course, will we study a wide-range of anthologized short stories, considering the nature
and intention of the form and the elements of its artistry—conflict, character, voice, point of view,
tone, style, structure, image, and metaphor.
Once we are well practiced in examining the illuminated moments of individual stories, we will
study the greater resonances suggested when viewing multiple works of a single author, thus
considering the short story collection as a form unto itself.
Required Texts:
Ann Charters, The Story and Its Writer, Seventh Edition, Bedford St. Martin’s
ISBN: 978-0-312-44272-9
George Saunders, Pastoralia, Penguin Putnam
ISBN: 1-57322-872-9
Various authors, handouts, to be distributed in class
Recommended Text:
Tim O'Brien, The Things They Carried, Random House
ISBN: 0767902890
Learning Outcomes:
This course fulfills the General Education requirements for Humanities courses. At the
completion of this course, students will be able to:
--Demonstrate familiarity and facility with fundamental traits in the short story, including
narrative, character development, and style.
--Demonstrate critical thinking in the evaluation of sources and arguments
in scholarly works, or in the evaluation of approaches and techniques in the visual,
literary, or performing arts.
--Demonstrate the ability to formulate a thesis related to a specific topic in the
humanities and to support the thesis with evidence and argumentation.
--Demonstrate understanding of the creative process and techniques used by
practitioners in a specific field of the visual, literary, or performing arts.
Assignments:
• Weekly Response Posts
You are required to post a weekly response to the assigned readings. Occasionally, I will assign
topics for these posts. Usually, you may use them for thoughtful consideration of any aspect of
the text that interests you: a character; a theme; a narrative technique. These posts may be
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brief—but they must be incisive, clearly written, and demonstrate careful contemplation of the
texts—even if the texts leave you baffled. The posts give you an opportunity to explore and
formalize some of your initial thoughts on the text, to prepare you for an active and intelligent
discussion, to make sure your observations become part of the dialogue, to participate in the
class discussion— even if the classroom itself is not your favorite forum for participation. These
posts also allow you to communicate any questions and confusion you might have about the
reading, which I can then address in class. Finally, these posts can serve you as notes for your
exams.
Posts must be submitted to our course discussion board on Blackboard by 5pm on Mondays.
While I will seldom comment on your individual posts, they will be graded. They mark your
engagement with the material and your involvement in the class, and so they are a crucial
component to your successful class participation—which, as noted below, amounts to 25% of
your grade.
• Quizzes
6 scheduled (and, possibly, several unscheduled) in-class quizzes will engage your knowledge
of the texts and themes covered in individual stories and/or in class discussions. Your diligence
as readers directly influences the likelihood of unscheduled/pop quizzes. If it’s clear to me that
the class is keeping up with the reading, there may, in fact, be no surprise quizzes. Quizzes will
be worth 25% of your grade.
• Mid-Term Essay
There will be one 4- to 5-page essay due during the 5th week of the semester. Essay topics will
be assigned two weeks prior. This essay will be worth 25% of your grade.
• Final Essay
There will be one 6- to 8-page essay due at the time of our designated final exam. Essay topics
will be handed out 2 weeks in advance. Essays should demonstrate a cumulative knowledge of
the materials covered and of the course’s themes. You will be required to engage a specified
number of the texts we’ve read. Essays must be typewritten, double-spaced, proofread, stapled,
honor-coded, and delivered to my office by the end of our designated final exam time. This
essay will be worth 25% of your grade.
Grading Summary:
Response postings/class participation: 25%
Quizzes: 25%
Midterm Essay: 25%
Final Essay: 25%
Academic Honesty:
The University of Maryland, College Park has a nationally recognized Code of Academic
Integrity, administered by the Student Honor Council. This code sets standards for academic
integrity at Maryland for all undergraduate and graduate students. As a student, you are
responsible for upholding these standards for this course. It is very important for you to be
aware of the consequences of cheating, fabrication, facilitation, and plagiarism. For more
information on the Code of Academic Integrity or the Student Honor Council, please visit
http://www.shc.umd.edu
You must write the Honor Pledge on all papers and exams—and sign it!
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Course Policies:
Texts: You must bring your text with you to each class meeting, unless otherwise instructed
(exams, etc.). You can not properly participate in and/or follow classroom discussion without the
benefit of the text as reference.
Laptops and electronics: The use of laptops and electronics is not permitted in our classroom.
The laptop leaves inadequate space for the reading materials under discussion and too easily
invites distraction from the classroom community. I expect that you will take notes in a notebook
and/or in the text itself. If you have a particular reason you feel you must bring use electronic
equipment in class, come see me.
Attendance: Because participation is so crucial to this course, it is obviously important that you
attend every class. Excused absences must be accompanied by a doctor’s note or arranged
with me in advance. I will be taking attendance. Our final is a “Major Grading Event.” You must
be present for it.
Disabilities: If you have a registered disability that requires accommodations, please see me as
soon as possible. You can contact Disability Support Services for more information.
Religious Observance: Please inform me of any intended absences for religious observance in
advance.
Contact Information: You should not expect an immediate response to emails; I will check
twice per day on weekdays only. If you are unable to complete an assignment, come to attend
class and we can discuss it.
SCHEDULE

This schedule and the assignments covered are subject to change. You will be notified
of such changes in class and not necessarily in writing. If you miss a class, you are
responsible for finding out if the assignment has been changed or if handouts have been
distributed. Such changes will be announced on our course Blackboard site and, when
possible, additional readings and handouts will be posted there as well.

Each text will be evaluated for many thematic and structural aspects; the subject
headers below are not indicative of the discussion topic as a whole, but rather to guide
you in considering certain issues and to drawing comparisons as you read.
T
1/27 SNOWED OUT!
TH
1/29 Introduction
 Handout: John Edgar Wideman’s “Stories”
 Handout: Tobias Wolff’s “Bullet in Brain”
 Handout: Etgar Keret’s “Crazy Glue”
T
2/3
TH
2/5
The Great Story Effect: Hmpff...
 Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral”
 Raymond Carver’s “Cathedral” (read it twice)
 Casebook: Flannery O’Connor, “Writing Short Stories”
Week 1
Week 2
1st Response Post Due
5pm Monday 2/2
The Illuminated Moment: Why the Tortoise & the Hare and
The Lady With the Lapdog Aren’t the Same Thing.
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 Anton Chekhov’s “The Lady with the Little Dog”
 Casebook: Raymond Carver, “On Writing”
T
2/10 Story v. Tale
 Nathaniel Hawthorne’s “Young Goodman Brown”
 Joyce Carol Oates’s “Where Are You Going? Where
Have You Been?”
 Related Commentary: Chekhov’s “Technique in Writing
the Short Story”
TH
2/12 Possible Film Screening: “Where Are You Going? Where
Have You Been?”
Room TBD
T
2/17 Story v. Tale
 Richard Ford’s “Under the Radar”
 Edgar Allan Poe’s “Tell-Tale Heart”
TH
2/19 Character & Conflict: Third Person
 The Conversion of the Jews
 Commentary: Margaret Atwood’s “Reading Blind
T
2/24 Character & Conflict: Second Person
 Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl”
 Lorrie Moore’s “How to Become a Writer”
TH
2/26 Character & Conflict: First Person
 Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “The Yellow Wallpaper”
 Charlotte Perkins Gilman’s “Why I Wrote the Yellow
Wallpaper”
T
3/3
Character & Conflict: Time, Memory, & the World Beyond
the Page
 James Baldwin’s “Sonny’s Blues”
 Commentary: Richard Ford’s “Why We Like Chekov”
 Commentary: J. Baldwin, Autobiographical Notes
(optional)
TH
3/5
T
3/10 Character and Comedy
 Herman Melville’s “Bartleby, the Scrivener”
Week 3
2nd Response Post Due
5pm Monday 2/9
QUIZ #1
Week 4
3rd Response Post Due
5pm Monday 2/16
Week 5
4th Response Post Due
5pm Monday 2/23
QUIZ #2
Week 6
5th Response Post Due
5pm Monday 3/2
Voice and Character
 Tillie Olsen’s “I Stand Here Ironing”
 Junot Diaz’s “How to Date a Browngirl, Blackgirl,
Whitegirl, or Halfie”
 Handout: Voice
Week 7
Mid-Term Essay Due
6th Response Post Due
Monday 5pm 3/9
TH
3/12 Voice & Character & Point of View
 Jhumpa Lahiri’s “When Mr. Pirzada Came to Dine”
 John Updike’s “A&P”
 Alice Munro’s “How I Write Short Stories”
Spring
Break Spring Break
Spring Break
T
3/24 The Short Short
Week 8
QUIZ #3
4
7th Response Post Due
5pm Monday 3/23
 Rick Moody’s “Boys”
 Ann Beattie’s “Snow”
 Sandra Cisneros’ “The House on Mango Street”
 Jamaica Kincaid’s “Girl”
 Handouts
TH
3/26 Character, Conflict, Voice, Point of View, Time, Memory,
and the World Beyond the Page
 James Joyce’s “The Dead”
QUIZ #4
ALERT: The Make-Sure-You-Read-This Amazing-StoryTwice-QUIZ
T
3/31 Style & Effect
 Ernest Hemingway’s “Hills Like White Elephants”
 Lorrie Moore’s “How to Become a Writer”
 Handouts: Narrative Distance
TH
4/2
Form Play: The Anthropomorphic
 Franz Kafka’s “The Metamorphosis”
 Handout: Robert Olen Butler’s “Jealous Husband
Returns in Form of Parrot”
T
4/7
Form Play: The Writer’s Hand
 Grace Paley’s “A Conversation With My Father”
 Margaret Atwood’s “Happy Endings”
 Mary Lavin’s “The Widow’s Son”
 Commentaries: Grace Paley, A Conversation with Ann
Charters
TH
4/9
T
4/14 Double Takes: Flannery O’Connor
 Flannery O’Connor’s “Good Country People”
 Handout: On Seeing
8th Response Post Due
5pm Monday 3/30
Week 10
9th Response Post Due
5pm Monday 4/6
Double Takes: Flannery O’Connor
 Flannery O’Connor’s “A Good Man Is Hard to Find”
 Handout: Flannery O’Connor
TH
4/16 Trickery
 Ambrose Bierce’s “An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge”
T
4/21 Form Play: Metaphor
 Tim O’Brien’s “The Things They Carried”
 Commentaries: Tim O’Brien’s “Alpha Company”
TH
4/23 Double Takes: Tim O’Brien
 Handouts: Including O’Brien’s “How to Tell a True War
Story”
T
4/28 Double Takes: Tim O’Brien
 Handouts: Including O’Brien’s “The Lives of the Dead”
 Commentaries: Sherman Alexie’s “Superman and Me”
TH
Week 9
Week 11
10th Response Post Due
5pm Monday 4/13
QUIZ #5
Week 12
11th Response Post Due
5pm Monday 4/20
Week 13
12th Response Post Due
5pm Monday 4/27
4/30 The Single Author Collection: George Saunders’ Pastoralia
 “Pastoralia”
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T
5/5
The Single Author Collection: George Saunders’ Pastoralia
 “Winky”
 “Sea Oak”
Week14
13th Response Post Due
5pm Monday 5/4
The Single Author Collection: George Saunders’ Pastoralia
 “The Barber’s Unhappiness”
 “The Falls”
TH
5/7
T
5/12 Conclusions: Empathy, Perspective, Simultaneity,
Interconnection
Final Essay Q&A
FINAL
EXAM
5/19 FINAL EXAM
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