English 161: Narrative and Narrative Theory
Spring 2013-14, M/W 11:00-12:30
Building 200, Room 305
Professor Alex Woloch
Office: Room 307, Building 460
Office Hours: Mon/Wed 1:30-3:00
Office Phone: 723-4594
Email: woloch@stanford.edu
Course Description:
An introduction to stories and storytelling -- that is, to narrative. What is narrative? How
is it done, word by word, sentence by sentence? Must it be in prose? Can it be in
pictures? When is narrative fictional and when non-fictional? How has storytelling
changed over time? This course will focus on various forms, genres, structures, and
strategies of narrative. The first half of the course will look at these questions through
three major novels: Robinson Crusoe, Emma and Madame Bovary. The second half will
look at experiments in narrative across different forms and media, including film and the
graphic novel. Issues include: point-of-view, chronology, ways of organizing (and
disorganizing) plot, autobiography, first- and third-person narrative (and how they can be
intertwined), unreliable narrators, irony, hidden and nested stories, narrative and history,
narrative and memory.
Texts
Daniel Defore, Robinson Crusoe
Jane Austen, Emma
Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary
Herman Melville, Benito Cereno
Akira Kurosawa, Rashoman (film)
Art Spiegelman, Maus
Georges Perec, W, or The Memory of Childhood
Supplementary Readings
Course Schedule
Monday March 31: Introduction
PART ONE: NARRATIVE AND THE NOVEL
Wed April 2: Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe (1-37)
Borges, “Funes Memorious” (coursework)
Mon April 7: Defoe, Crusoe (37-119)
Wed April 9: Defoe, Crusoe (119-end)
Monday April 14: NO CLASS, READING DAY
Wed April 16: Jane Austen, Emma (Volume One)
Monday April 21: Austen, Emma (Volume Two)
Wed April 23: Austen, Emma (Volume Three)
Mon April 28: Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary
Wed April 30: Flaubert, Madame Bovary
Mon May 5: Flaubert, Madame Bovary
Wed May 7: Flaubert, finish
PART THREE: FORM AND NARRATIVE EXPERIMENT
Mon May 12: Melville, Benito Cereno
Wed May 14: Melville, Benito Cereno
Amaso Delano, from “Narrative of Voyages and Travels, in the Northern and
Southern Hemispheres”
Mon May 19: IN-CLASS SCREENING: Kurosawa, Rashoman
Wed May 21: Kurosawa, Rashoman
Monday May 26: Art Speigelman, Maus 1
Wed May 28: Art Speigelman, Maus 2
Monday June 2 Georges Perec, W, or the Memory of Childhood
Wed June 4 W, or the Memory of Childhood
Course Requirements
1. Active Reading, Participation and Response. Students are required to attend all
lectures and discussions and to complete all reading assignments. In addition, each
student should submit one informal reading response for each text. This response is a
chance to focus on an aspect of the narrative – a device, a character, an episode, a plot
twist, a paragraph, an image, etc. – that’s particularly interesting or striking. The response
can raise general questions and issues that emerge out of the text, but should always do
this by focusing on a specific passage (or group of passages) that is significant, thoughtprovoking or intriguing to you.
2. Take-home midterm. The midterm will be handed out by May 7 and will be due on
May 14. The exam will consist of a 5 page essay on one of the first three texts in the
course (Robinson Crusoe, Emma, Madame Bovary). Topics to be provided.
3. Final essay. A final 6-8 page essay focusing on one of the later texts in the course
(Benito Cereno, Rashoman, Maus, W) or comparing two texts from the course. Topics to
be provided.
4. Final exam. The final exam will have two parts: I.D.s, based on terms from the course,
and discussion and analysis of passages.
***
Students with Documented Disabilities
Students who may need an academic accommodation based on the impact of a disability
must initiate the request with the Office of Accessible Education (OAE). Professional
staff will evaluate the request with required documentation, recommend reasonable
accommodations, and prepare an Accommodation Letter for faculty dated in the current
quarter in which the request is being made. Students should contact the OAE as soon as
possible since timely notice is needed to coordinate accommodations. The OAE is
located at 563 Salvatierra Walk (phone: 723-1066,
URL:http://studentaffairs.stanford.edu/oae).
Honor Code
The Honor Code is the University's statement on academic integrity written by students
in 1921. It articulates University expectations of students and faculty in establishing and
maintaining the highest standards in academic work:
The Honor Code is an undertaking of the students, individually and collectively:
1. that they will not give or receive aid in examinations; that they will not give or
receive unpermitted aid in class work, in the preparation of reports, or in any other work
that is to be used by the instructor as the basis of grading;
2. that they will do their share and take an active part in seeing to it that others as well
as themselves uphold the spirit and letter of the Honor Code.
3. The faculty on its part manifests its confidence in the honor of its students by
refraining from proctoring examinations and from taking unusual and unreasonable
precautions to prevent the forms of dishonesty mentioned above. The faculty will also
avoid, as far as practicable, academic procedures that create temptations to violate the
Honor Code.
4. While the faculty alone has the right and obligation to set academic requirements,
the students and faculty will work together to establish optimal conditions for honorable
academic work.