Spring 2017

The American Short Story

Listed in: English, as ENGL-359

Faculty

Sarah Osment (Section 01)

Description

This course will introduce you to the American short story by way of some of the best-known authors of the last century and a half.  Although sometimes dismissed as a minor, slight or amateurish literary form, the short story, in its brevity and density, demands close and careful attention. We will track the development of the short story as a form through careful close reading, as well as consider the historical and literary contexts that shaped the texts on our syllabus. We will also trace some of the leading critical debates around the emergence and evolution of the short story form as we develop theories of our own. Through engaged discussion and focused writing activities, students will learn how to analyze, raise critical questions of, and produce arguments about short fiction. Authors will include Alexie, Anderson, Baldwin, Barthelme, Cheever, Chestnutt, Cole, Curtis, Davis, Diaz, Egan, Ellison, Faulkner, Gilman, Hawthorne, Hemingway, Irving, Jackson, Jen, Larsen, Melville, Moore, Morrison, O’Connor, Poe, Saunders, Toomer, Foster Wallace, Welty, Wharton, Yu.

Limited to 25 students.  Spring semester.  Visiting Lecturer Osment.

ENGL 359 - L/D

Section 01
Tu 10:00 AM - 11:20 AM JOCH 202
Th 10:00 AM - 11:20 AM JOCH 202

Offerings

2024-25: Not offered
Other years: Offered in Spring 2017