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Upon completion of this course, students will be able to:
1. Analyze and critique assigned short stories and literary criticism;
2. Recognize and define the evolutionary stages of and the variety of forms used in the development
of the short story form;
3. Identify major themes in short stories;
4. Evaluate and classify various themes relating to time period or culture;
5. Recognize and interpret the variety of forms in which the short story exists;
6. Write college-level expository and argumentative analyses of short stories using research and appropriate
secondary sources;
7. Demonstrate familiarity with college-level library research techniques and with the basic reference works
and facilities of the college library;
8. Use MLA format in citing research.
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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
4. Heroes and Anti-heroes
C. Theme
D. Point of View
1. First Person narration
2. Third Person Omnipotent
3. Third Person Limited
4. The Unreliable narrator
E. Setting
1. Time
2. Place
3. Mood or Atmosphere
F. Figurative Language
1. Allegory
2. Analogy
3. Metaphor/Simile
4. Extended Metaphor
G. Emotion, Humor, Irony, Satire
H. Symbolism
I. Choices of Style
J. Choices of Diction
II. Short Story Forms
A. Traditional
B. Modern
III. Critical Approaches to Literature
A.Biographical
B. Deconstruction
C. Economic (Marxist)
D. Formalist
E. Gender (Feminist, Masculinist, Queer)
1. Feminist
2. Masculinist
3. Queer Theory
F. Historical
G. New Criticism
H. Psychological
1. Freudian
2. Jungian
3. Mythological
I. Reader Response
J. Sociological/Cultural
IV. Issues of Cultural Diversity in Literature
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1. Read approximately 50 to 100 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 a selection of short stories that illustrate cultural diversity 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 allows a consideration of the craft of the short story.
2. Write 2 to 4 analytical response essays of 750 to 1250 words.
3. Write a research paper 1000 to 1500 words, which includes literary criticism and/or critical approaches to analyzing literature.
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, 2011.
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, 2010.
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, James H., ed. 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, 2010.
Winegardner, Mark, ed. 3 x 33: Short Fiction by 33 Writers. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, 2005.