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Introduction to Fiction is just that: an introduction to a literary genre that is massive in scope, and impossible to do justice to in one semester of study. So with that acknowledgement, this course will be devoted to the study of a diverse collection of short form fiction, with a focus on basic critical approaches including examinations of the foundational elements of fiction, the influence of personal and exterior factors in a writer’s life and on his/her work, the relevance and irrelevance of genre delineations and taxonomy, and some of the more prevalent theoretical approaches to literary criticism. In this course, you will be exposed to work that might challenge your preconceived notions of what fiction is, what forms it can take, and what it is meant to accomplish. As such, I want to emphasize that in this course, we do not judge work as “good” or “bad” – we will consider all work critically, i.e., via academic analysis, and hopefully expand our understanding of fiction through this process. In other words, this isn’t a book club, and I want you to concentrate your efforts away from casual reading and toward more rigorous, immersive strategies of engagement. Our class time will be largely devoted to discussions of the work, and how our analyses will form the basis for the course’s written assignments. Since this is a writing-intensive course, you must draw on the skills gained in the prerequisite course, ENG 1101, to meet the Outcomes outlined by the English Department (listed below, and on the Learning Outcomes sheet, posted in Open Lab), and to apply them to the written work in this course: two major papers, a reading journal, responses to assigned readings posted on the course’s Open Lab Dashboard, and copious notes to be taken in class.

Introduction to Fiction is just that: an introduction to a literary genre that is massive in scope, and impossible to do justice to in one semester of study. So with that acknowledgement, this course will be devoted to the study of a diverse collection of short form fiction, with a focus on basic critical approaches including examinations of the foundational elements of fiction, the influence of personal and exterior factors in a writer’s life and on his/her work, the relevance and irrelevance of genre delineations and taxonomy, and some of the more prevalent theoretical approaches to literary criticism. In this course, you will be exposed to work that might challenge your preconceived notions of what fiction is, what forms it can take, and what it is meant to accomplish. As such, I want to emphasize that in this course, we do not judge work as “good” or “bad” – we will consider all work critically, i.e., via academic analysis, and hopefully expand our understanding of fiction through this process. In other words, this isn’t a book club, and I want you to concentrate your efforts away from casual reading and toward more rigorous, immersive strategies of engagement. Our class time will be largely devoted to discussions of the work, and how our analyses will form the basis for the course’s written assignments. Since this is a writing-intensive course, you must draw on the skills gained in the prerequisite course, ENG 1101, to meet the Outcomes outlined by the English Department (listed below, and on the Learning Outcomes sheet, posted in Open Lab), and to apply them to the written work in this course: two major papers, a reading journal, responses to assigned readings posted on the course’s Open Lab Dashboard, and copious notes to be taken in class.