AJ25043 American Short Story: Beginnings to Present

Faculty of Arts
Spring 2011
Extent and Intensity
0/20/0. 2 credit(s) (plus 3 credits for an exam). Recommended Type of Completion: zk (examination). Other types of completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. et Mgr. Kateřina Prajznerová, M.A., Ph.D. (lecturer)
Guaranteed by
Jeffrey Alan Vanderziel, B.A.
Department of English and American Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Tomáš Hanzálek
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 15 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 0/15, only registered: 0/15, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/15
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
This course traces the American short story from its origins in the romanticism of Irving and Hawthorne through the realism and naturalism of such writers as Chopin, Jewett, and Crane into the modernist era of Porter, Hemingway, and Faulkner and concludes with the wide diversity of such contemporary writers as Barth, Oates, Walker, and Silko. Emphasis will be on reading, analyzing, discussing, and writing about each of these selected short stories which serve as representatives of the genre from each era.
Please note that this is an intensive course and that classes will be held the week before the semester begins, Monday February 14th - Friday February 18th, 2011, 10:00-11:35 and 13:20-14:55, in room G31.
The aims of the course include to gain an introduction to the tradition of the short story in American literature; to read critically; to analyze primary as well as secondary texts both orally and in writing.
Syllabus
  • Day 1
  • Introduction to short story
  • Washington Irving, "Rip Van Winkle"
  • Nathaniel Hawthorne, "Rappaccini's Daughter”
  • Sarah Orne Jewett, "A White Heron"
  • Day 2
  • Stephen Crane, "The Open Boat"
  • Edith Wharton, "Roman Fever"
  • F. Scott Fitzgerald, "Babylon Revisited"
  • Ernest Hemingway, "Hills Like White Elephants"
  • Day 3
  • Zora Neale Hurston, "The Gilded Six-Bits"
  • William Faulkner, "That Evening Sun"
  • Katherine Anne Porter, "Theft”
  • Robert Penn Warren, "Blackberry Winter"
  • Day 4 Tillie Olsen, “I Stand Here Ironing”
  • Flannery O'Connor, "A Good Man Is Hard to Find"
  • James Baldwin, "Sonny’s Blues"
  • John Cheever, “The Swimmer”
  • Day 5
  • John Barth, "Lost in the Funhouse"
  • Joyce Carol Oates, "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?"
  • Alice Walker, "Everyday Use"
  • Leslie Marmon Silko, "Storyteller"
Literature
    required literature
  • Stephen Crane, "The Open Boat"
  • Edith Wharton, "Roman Fever"
  • Katherine Anne Porter, "Theft”
  • Leslie Marmon Silko, "Storyteller"
  • Washington Irving, "Rip Van Winkle"
  • Zora Neale Hurston, "The Gilded Six-Bits"
  • F. Scott Fitzgerald, "Babylon Revisited"
  • James Baldwin, "Sonny’s Blues"
  • Robert Penn Warren, "Blackberry Winter"
  • William Faulkner, "That Evening Sun"
  • Nathaniel Hawthorne, "Rappaccini's Daughter”
  • Joyce Carol Oates, "Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?"
  • Ernest Hemingway, "Hills Like White Elephants"
  • John Cheever, “The Swimmer”
  • Sarah Orne Jewett, "A White Heron"

  • John Barth, "Lost in the Funhouse"
  • Alice Walker, "Everyday Use"
  • Tillie Olsen, “I Stand Here Ironing”
  • Flannery O'Connor, "A Good Man Is Hard to Find"
Teaching methods
Students are expected to read and be prepared to discuss each of the assigned stories. For each story (including those assigned for Monday), you are expected to write down a brief question, comment, or reaction—no more than 100 words (may be much shorter) to bring to class with you. These will help guide our discussion of the stories. The major writing requirement is a 400-800 word reflective paper on any one of the stories for each day Tuesday through Friday (4 papers total). The focus should be on one or more elements of the short story--plot, theme, character, symbol, setting, narration, etc. (These will be covered in Monday’s class.) Papers will be due daily—Tuesday through Friday—and ideas from these papers should be incorporated into our discussion of the stories. In addition, each student will be asked to choose one of these four papers to share with the class orally during the discussion time for that story.
Assessment methods
Students are expected to read and be prepared to discuss each of the assigned stories. For each story (including those assigned for Monday), you are expected to write down a brief question, comment, or reaction—no more than 100 words (may be much shorter) to bring to class with you. These will help guide our discussion of the stories. The major writing requirement is a 400-800 word reflective paper on any one of the stories for each day Tuesday through Friday (4 papers total). The focus should be on one or more elements of the short story--plot, theme, character, symbol, setting, narration, etc. (These will be covered in Monday’s class.) Papers will be due daily—Tuesday through Friday—and ideas from these papers should be incorporated into our discussion of the stories. In addition, each student will be asked to choose one of these four papers to share with the class orally during the discussion time for that story.
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
The course is taught: in blocks.
Note related to how often the course is taught: February 14-18, 2011; 10:00-11:35 and 13:20-14:55; G31.
  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/spring2011/AJ25043