What is metafiction? (one to two sentences)  Thad: A piece of fiction in which the author makes the reader think about the elements of fiction used in the short story.  (partial answer).

What are the formal elements of a short story? (list eight: plot, setting, character, style/tone, narrative point of view, theme, story, figurative language)

What is figurative language and how is it used in some of the stories we have read?  (Chopin: a lot, e.g., symbolism (clouds, window)):  similes, metaphors, personification, symbolism, metonymy, allegory.  Thad:  Figurative language is when a writer describes something by comparing it to something else.  Flor: It is a tool that authors use to enrich and embellish their writing.)

What is fiction? (two to three sentences)  (this will not be on the exam)

How do the authors we’ve read during this course utilize the elements of fiction in their work? (Use one element of fiction and discuss it across the stories that we’ve read.)

What similarities do you find amongst the characters that we’ve read about?

How does setting play a role in the interpretation of a story.  Use specific examples from the stories that we’ve read to explain the significance of setting.

What is fiction?  Why and how is it relevant?

How can you use fiction in everyday life?  (we’ll discuss this)

What similarities and differences exist between the Gladman and Chopin short stories that we read?

Ben:  Both leave a lot up to the reader for interpretation.

In “The Story of an Hour,” which scene was the climax? (not on the exam)

Is there a plot in Kincaids short story “Girl.”  Please discuss.

What is the significance of the snake in Hurston’s short story “Sweat”? (high)

Which elements of fiction does Jamaica Kincaid use in “Girl.”

How does your interpretation of “Girl” change if you see it as a monologue versus a dialogue?

What role does setting play in Chopin’s “The Story of an Hour”? (not on the exam)

What is Scholes’ definitions of myth and fable and how do they help us to interpret Gladman’s “Proportion Surviving”?

How does the narrative point of view effect/influence a story?  Give two examples.  (high)

What is the difference between plot and story? (this will not be on the exam)

Would setting help a reader understand a character’s dialogue?

Why is dialect important in Hurston’s “Sweat” and in Kincaid’s “Girl”? (medium)

What are some similarities between Delia Jones and Mrs. Mallard?

Please compare the role of the wife in Chopin’s story and in Poe’s “The Oblong Box”.  (this will not be on the exam)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In class today, we wrote a bit about writing about literature:  what we learned from the readings, as well as what questions that were still outstanding.  Professor Rodgers introduced this exercise by talking about her frustration regarding the fact that often more time is spent discussing the technical aspects of writing about literature, e.g., MLA in-text citation formatting guidelines, versus the rhetorical and stylistic issues related to writing about literature, e.g., how to select quotes, how to introduce quotes, etc.

Here are some of the questions:

Re: “Close Reading”:  Should you use this as a model for reading passages or entire stories?

Re: Author Biographies: When can you use them in your interpretations of stories?

 

For our next class, please do the following three things (I have added one thing to this list, which I forgot to mention in class):

1/ Take a look at the following Writing Resources that I have put together for our course:

Writing About Literature: Three Web Texts

Notes on Close Reading (Professor Kelley)

http://writingcenter.unc.edu/resources/handouts-demos/writing-for-specific-fields/literature-fiction#section-2

http://rwc.hunter.cuny.edu/reading-writing/on-line/writing-about-literature.html

General Writing Resources

Writing About Texts

What Is the MLA?

Professor Rodgers’ Guide to the Purdue OWL

2/ Please read sections 1-5 of Dostoyevsky’s “Notes From the Underground.”  Fydor Dostoyevky’s Notes from the Underground

3/ Print out a copy of Zora Neale Hurston’s short story “Sweat,” which you can access here:

https://openlab.citytech.cuny.edu/introtofictionspring2013/files/2013/03/Hurston.Sweat_.doc

We will continue discussing Poe’s story “The Oblong Box.”  In works like “The Purloined Letter,” it is clear that Poe is investigating issues related to writing and storytelling.  Is he in “The Oblong Box”?  If so, how?  Please think a bit about how this story is itself about the act of storytelling.  Also, think about the plot of this story and consider the multiple definitions of the term “plot.”  Finally, please consider what the oblong box may represent or symbolize.

We are going to spend at least half of our next class discussing issues related to writing about literature.  We will then spend some time discussing what to read next.  Here are a few options:

Wilkie Collins’ The Dream Woman

Fydor Dostoyevky’s Notes from the Underground

Henry James’ The Aspern Papers

Margaret Atwood’s “Happy Endings”

Kafka, Franz.  “The Metamorphosis”