ENGLISH 132/004

Short Story and Novel

Professor Mark Brazaitis

Office: 458 Stansbury

Office telephone: 293-3107 ex. 402

Email: MarkBraz@excite.com

Class Hours: TTh, 1 p.m.-2: 15 p.m.

Office Hours: Tuesdays (2:30 p.m.-5 p.m.), Thursdays (2:30 p.m.-4 p.m.)

and by appointment

Objective: In this class, you will acquire a broad understanding of the art of fiction. You will be able to speak and write knowledgeably about important short stories and novels, short story writers and novelists. You will have a solid grasp of terminology associated with fiction.

Requirements: Over the course of the semester, you will be doing a lot of reading, including seventeen short stories and four novels. You will also be expected to take notes during class discussions and class lectures in order to prepare for quizzes.

Quizzes: There will be four quizzes given over the course of the semester. They will be based on both the readings and class discussions/lectures. The quizzes will each be worth 20 percent of your grade. If you miss one of the first four quizzes, you will be allowed one make-up, to be given the last class period of the semester.

Mini-Quizzes: There will be 10 mini-quizzes given over the course of the semester. The quizzes will be given only on the day's reading. Five of the quizzes will be announced; five will be random. Each quiz will be worth 2 percent of your grade.

Texts: The Oxford Book of American Short Stories (Joyce Carol Oates, editor); The House on Mango Street (Sandra Cisneros); Maggie: A Girl of the Streets (Stephen Crane); Chronicle of a Death Foretold (Gabriel Garcia Marquez); and The Bluest Eye (Toni Morrison).

Final Grades: Final grades will be determined based on your quiz grades.

Class Attendance and Participation: You are expected to come to every class–and to come to class prepared to discuss the readings. Although class participation doesn't facto directly into your grade, consideration will be given to students who participate regularly in class discussions.

Student Responsibilities: If you miss a class for any reason (and it should be a good one) you are responsible for knowing what went on in class. The best way to do this–indeed, the only way to do this–is to contact a fellow student in the class and ask him or her what happened and, if necessary, copy the student's lecture notes.

Class Schedule and Day-to-Day Assignments

Tuesday, January 14: Getting acquainted

Thursday, January 16: Discussion of terms used in fiction. (Additional terms will be introduced throughout the semester.)

Tuesday, January 21: Lecture: Washington Irving. Read: "Rip Van Winkle" in The Oxford Book of American Short Stories.

Thursday, January 23: Lecture: Nathaniel Hawthorne. Read: "The Wives of the Dead" in The Oxford Book of American Short Stories.

Tuesday, January 28: Lecture: Edgar Allan Poe. Read: "The Tell-Tale Heart" in The Oxford Book of American Short Stories.

Thursday, January 30: Lecture: Harriet Beecher Stowe. Read: "The Ghost in the Mill" in The Oxford Book of American Short Stories.

Tuesday, February 4: QUIZ on lectures and class discussions from January 14th to January 30^th.

Thursday, February 6: Lecture: Samuel Clemens (i.e. Mark Twain). Read: "Cannibalism in the Cars" in The Oxford Book of American Short Stories.

Tuesday, February 11: Lecture: Kate Chopin. Read: "The Storm" in The Oxford Book of American Short Stories.

Thursday, February 13: Lecture: Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Read: "The Yellow Wallpaper" in The Oxford Book of American Short Stories.

Tuesday, February 18: Lecture: Henry James. Read: "The Middle Years" in The Oxford Book of American Short Stories.

Thursday, February 20: Lecture: Stephen Crane. Read: Maggie: A Girl of the Streets by Stephen Crane. Note: A mini-quiz will be given on the reading.

Tuesday, February 25: Lecture: Edith Wharton. Read: "A Journey" in The Oxford Book of American Short Stories.

Thursday, February 27: Lecture: Jean Toomer. Read: "Blood-Burning Moon" in The Oxford Book of American Short Stories.

Tuesday, March 4: Lecture: Ernest Hemingway. Read: "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place" in The Oxford Book of American Short Stories.

Thursday, March 6: QUIZ on lectures and readings from February 6th to March 4th. j

Tuesday, March 11: Lecture: William Faulkner and Zora Neale Hurston. Read: "That Evening Sun" and "Sweat" in The Oxford Book of American Short Stories.

Thursday, March 13: Lecture: Zora Neale Hurston. Read: "Sweat" in The Oxford Book of American Short Stories.

March 17th to March 23^rd--Spring Break--Enjoy

Tuesday, March 25: Lecture: Richard Wright, James Baldwin, Ralph Ellison. Read: "The Man Who Was Almost a Man," "Sonny's Blues" and "Battle Royal." Note: A mini-quiz will be given on the readings.

Thursday, March 27: Lecture: Ways to Interpret Fiction.

Tuesday, April 1: Lecture: Writing about Fiction.

Thursday, April 3: QUIZ on lectures and readings from March 11th to April 1.

Tuesday, April 8: Lecture: Magical realism. Read: Pages 1 to 82 of Chronicle of a Death Foretold by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Thursday, April 10: Read: Pages 83 to the end of Chronicle of a Death Foretold. Note: A mini-quiz on the reading will be given.

Tuesday, April 15: Read: The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros. Note: A miniquiz on the reading will be given.

Thursday, April 17: Read: Pages 1 to 109 of The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison.

Tuesday, April 22: Read: Pages 110 to the end of The Bluest Eye. Note: A mini-quiz on the reading will be given.

Thursday, April 24: Catch-up and review.

Tuesday, April 29: QUIZ on lectures and readings from April 8th to April 29th.

Thursday, May 1: Make-up QUIZ (required only of students who missed one of the first four quizzes).