This course will
focus on reading and writing the short story from the perspective of craft. We
will learn to ask questions about the import of imaginative literature and to
study the basic elements of the short story, such as character, point of view,
dialogue, plot, etc. Our goals will be (1) to learn about writing
techniques and craft in short stories; (2) to learn how to ask good, meaningful
questions, particularly those that arise when we read closely and
experience these short stories; (3) to develop textual analyses that help us
understand how the stories are structured to provoke questions for us; (4) to
write a short story.
Course Texts:
Writing
Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft8th edition (Janet Burroway, Elizabeth
Stuckey-French, Ned Stuckey-French). The 7th edition is also
acceptable, although you may need to make your own copies of stories that are
only in the 8th edition.
Grading:
The course will
include a mid-term exploratory essay, a completed and revised short story,
reading response blogs, writing exercises, quizzes, peer review, in-class and
online participation, etc.