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I. Elements of Fiction
A. Plot
1. Events
2. Conflict
B. Character
1. Flat Characters
2. Round characters
3. Protagonists v. Antagonists
C. Theme
D. Point of View
1. First Person narration
2. Third Person Omnipotent
3. Third Person Limited
4. The trustworthy narrator
E. Setting
1. Time
2. Place
F. Symbol and Irony
1. Allegory
2. Analogy
3. Metaphor/Simile
4. Extended Metaphor
G. Emotion and Humor
II. Short Story Forms
A. Questions of Plot, Character, Theme, Point of View, and Setting
B. Analyzing forms of Symbol and Irony, Emotions, and Humor
III. Critical Approaches to Literature
A. Marxist
B. Feminist
C. New Criticism
D. Reader Response
E. Deconstruction
F. Psychoanalytical
IV. Issues of Cultural Diversity
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Specific works to be studied, classroom approaches, and related
assignments may vary from semester to semester and from one instructor to
the next, however, the following represent typical assignments.
1. Read approximately 40 to 50 pages per week.
a. Read and analyze major short stories that reflect the evolution of
the short story as a literary form.
b. Read and analyze of a selection of short stories that illustrate
cultural diversity specifically as they relate to themes and forms.
c. Read and analyze short stories that reflect the various
treatments of a specific theme.
d. Read from a selection of short stories that allow a consideration of
the craft of the short story.
2. Write 2 to 4 critical response essays of 750 to 1250 words.
3. Write a research paper 1000 to 1500 words, which includes historical, cultural, and
critical sources.
4. Writing critical reading logs.
5. Group and individual research presentations.
6. Objective quizzes.
7.Essay examinations.
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Representative Textbooks
Arp, Thomas R., and Greg Johnson, eds. Perrine's Story and Structure. 12th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2009.
Boyle, T. Coraghessan. Doubletakes: Pairs of Contemporary Short Stories. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2004.
Cassill, R.V., and Richard Bausch, eds. The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction. 7th ed. New York: Norton, 2006.
Charters, Ann. The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction. Compact 7th ed. Boston: Bedford, 2007.
Gioia, Dana, and R.S. Gwynn, eds. Longman Anthology of Short Fiction: The Stories and Authors in Context. Compact ed. New York: Longman, 2001.
Kelly, Joseph, ed. The Seagull Reader: Stories. 2nd ed. New York: Norton, 2007.
Kenison, Katrina, series ed. The Best American Short Stories. Boston: Houghton. (Published annually.)
Madden, David. Cengage Advantage Books: A Pocketful of Prose: Vintage Short Fiction. Vol. 1 and 2. Revised ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2006.
Martin, Wendy. The Art of the Short Story. Boston: Houghton, 2006.
Nguyen, Bich Minh, and Porter Shreve, eds. The Contemporary American Short Story. New York: Longman, 2004.
Oates, Joyce Carol. The Oxford Book of American Short Stories. New York: Oxford UP, 1994.
Pickering, . Fiction 100: An Anthology of Short Fiction. 11th ed. Paramus, NJ: Prentice: 2006.
Pritchett, V.S. The Oxford Book of Short Stories. New York: Oxford UP, 2001.
Winegardner, Mark, ed.. 3 x 33: Short Fiction by 33 Writers. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2005.