American Short Story

This course will look at the American short story as a genre for creative writing.  In the first half of the semester, students will read a wide selection of the form and discuss the elements that shape fiction: plot, point-of-view, character, setting, tone and style, etc.  These discussions will lead to students writing and workshopping their own short fiction, the activities that will take them through the second half.

Assignments:

essay midterm and final exams

several short reaction papers

two literary analysis essays

one short story

Required Texts:

Negri (ed.), Great American Short Stories(Dover Thrift Edition)

Wolff (ed.), The Vintage Book of Contemporary American Short Stories.

Other materials will be distributed as .pdf files on Laulima.

Course texts will be available for purchase at Revolution Books.