English 132 Carolyn Nelson

Spring 2003 Office: 329 Stansbury

11:30-12:20 MWF Hours: 9:30-10:20 MWF

306 Armstrong cnelson2@wvu.edu

Short Story and Novel

Required Texts:

Joseph Kelly, ed., The Seagull Reader, Stories (Norton)

Edith Wharton, Summer (Bantam)

Toni Morrison, Sula (Plume)

Mary Shelley, Frankenstein (Broadview)

Readings and Assignments

All readings and page numbers are from The Seagull Reader unless otherwise indicated.

1/13 Introduction to the course

1/15 Growing Up: Updike, 301

1/17 Oates, 188

1/20 Martin Luther King Holiday

1/22 Walker, 308

1/24 Joyce, 134

1/27 Wharton, Summer, Chapters 1-5

1/29 Wharton, Chapters 6-8

1/31 Wharton, Chapters 9-11

2/3 Wharton, Chapters 12-15

2/5 Wharton, Chapters 16-18

2/7 Test #1

2/10 Romance/Relationships: Wharton, 327

2/12 Porter, 270

2/14 Faulkner, 73

2/17 Lawrence, 150

2/19 Carver, 8

2/21 Gilman, 90

2/24 Achebe, 3

2/26 Morrison, Sula, 3-48

2/28 Morrison, 49-85

3/3 Morrison, 89-137

3/5 Morrison, 138-174

3/7 Test #2

3/10 Choices & Consequences: Cheever, 23

3/12 Hawthorne, 108

3/14 Steinbeck290

Spring Recess: March 15 to March 22

3/24 McPherson 168

3/26 O'Connor241

3/28 Hemingway 122; Chopin 44

3/31 Shelley, Frankenstein, 47-85 (Volume 1, Chapters 1-3)

4/2 Shelley, 85-117 (Chapters 4-7)

4/4 Shelley, 119-149 (Volume 2, Chapters 1-5)

4/7 Shelley, 149-176 (Chapters 6-9)

4/9 Shelley, 177-200 (Volume 3, Chapters 1-3)

4/11 Shelley, 200-225 (Chapter 4-6)

4/14 Shelley, 225-247 (Chapter 7)

4/16 Discussion of paper topics on Frankenstein

4/18 Easter Holiday

4/21 The Strange, Bizarre, & Unusual: Garcia Marquez, 83

4/23 Kafka, 141

4/25 Paper on Frankenstein due

4/28 O'Connor, 224

4/30 Poe, 262

5/2 O. Henry, 127

Final Exam: Monday, May 5, 8 to 10 a.m.

Policies and Requirements

This course will introduce you to fiction written during the last two hundred years by a

variety of authors from several countries. The class should help you learn to understand how to read fiction in order that you might gain a greater appreciation for it and a pleasure from reading it.

Attendance: In order to get the greatest benefit from the class, it is important to read the assigned material for the day before coming to class. Always bring your book to class with you. You are permitted to have 4 absences. After that, 2 points per absence will be subtracted from your final grade. If some crisis comes up in your life, you need to notify me as well as the university immediately, not at the end of the semester. If you have any questions about the assignments or your progress in the course, please see me during office hours or after class, or send me an e-mail message.

Class Discussions: Students are expected to contribute in a meaningful way to the class discussion. Class participation does not mean that you simply need to talk a lot in class. Rather, it means contributing ideas and insights that have taken into consideration the class readings and other students' contributions.

Response Papers: You are required to write response papers on the readings for 8 of the 15 weeks of the semester. Hand these in on Friday. Include a brief discussion of some of the events of the story or novel and your reaction to them. Do not provide a plot summary of the work or make remarks such as "I found this story to be boring." Such responses will receive low grades. The responses should be typed, with appropriate headings, and will receive from O to 5 points. They cannot be made up at a later date. Do not send these papers, or any others, by e-mail.

Presentation: Students who would like to make a presentation to the class or lead the discussion on one of the readings for the day are encouraged to do so. This presentation should be about 10 minutes and can take a variety of forms, such as handing out questions for discussion, assigning student groups a question or topic to discuss among themselves, having a quiz, etc. Don't just read notes to the class. The main goal is to get the class involved. Depending on the quality of the presentation, you will get from O to 5 points added to your final grade. This is the only extra credit that it is possible to earn.

Grades: Your grade will be calculated on the basis of the points seen below. All tests must be taken on the assigned day and late papers will be graded down 5 points for each late day.

Reading Responses: 8 x 5 points each 40 points

Tests: 2 x 15 points 30

Paper: 15

Final Exam: 15

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