Read the ENG 2001 Syllabus
Schedule of Classes (subject to change): Readings and assignments are due by the beginning of class on the dates shown. Additional readings may be assigned as appropriate. This online version is the most up-to-date schedule of classes:
Week 1
M 1/29: Introductions: to Introduction to Fiction, to the OpenLab, to each other, and to fiction:
Be sure to create an account on the OpenLab, add an avatar and any information you want in your profile, and join our course. Follow instructions on the blog for your introduction, due 1/31
Bia Lowe, “I Always Write About My Mother When I Start to Write” (1991)
W 1/31: Margaret Atwood, “There Was Once” 1992 ( to access this electronically, sign in to JSTOR using your library barcode number, which starts with 22477).
Martha Johnson-Olin, “Introduction: A Story Capable of Enchanting the World: Cinderella and Its Many Variations”
Find a Cinderella story, read it, share it by writing a post and attaching it or linking it; and bring it to class on 2/5, ready to discuss it.
Week 2
M 2/5: Cinderella Stories; Presentations.
W 2/7: Gary Parks, “Elements of Fiction”—including all the sub-pages identified on the left-side menu: “Plot,” “Character,” “Setting,” “Point of View,” “Style, Tone, and Language,” “Theme,” and “Symbolism, Allegory, and Image“;
The links above are broken. Try reading this doc of the same information (Elements of Fiction). I’m looking for a good online option. Here’s my first find at an alternative page with information about elements of fiction.
Kate Chopin, “The Story of an Hour” 1894, and Susan Glaspell, “A Jury of Her Peers” 1917
Week 3
M 2/12—Lincoln’s Birthday—College Closed
W 2/14: William Faulkner, “A Rose for Emily”; plus alternate ending
M 2/19—Presidents Day—College Closed
T 2/20—Monday Schedule—No Tuesday Classes: “A Rose for Emily”
Week 4
W 2/21:
M 2/26: Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “The Cottagette” 1910 (scroll down a little bit to get to this story), “The Yellow Wall-Paper” 1891, “Why I Wrote The Yellow Wallpaper?” (1913)
Week 5
W 2/28: Thomas Wolfe, “Only the Dead Know Brooklyn”; Ernest Hemingway, “Hills Like White Elephants” (also read it on Genius for annotations)
M 3/5: Franz Kafka, “The Hunger Artist“; Daniil Kharms, selected short stories
Week 6
W 3/7: Peer Review for Project #1; Review for the Midterm
M 3/12: Midterm Exam
Week 7
W 3/14: Final Peer Review for Project #1; Nella Larsen, Quicksand, ch. 1 (pp 29-44) [if you haven’t gotten your copy of The Complete Fiction of Nella Larsen, please follow along with this online version of Quicksand until you get your book.
M 3/19: Nella Larsen, Quicksand, ch. 2-4
Week 8
W 3/21: Nella Larsen, Quicksand, ch. 8-12 (pp 74-97) Class canceled due to snow
F 3/23: Project #1 due on our OpenLab site
M 3/26: Nella Larsen, Quicksand, ch. 4-7
Week 9
W 3/28: Nella Larsen, Quicksand, ch. 8-12 (pp 74-97)
M 4/2—Spring Break—No Classes
W 4/4—Spring Break—No Classes
M 4/9: : In-class brainstorm for Project #2; Nella Larsen, ch. 13-18 (pp 97-133)
Week 10
W 4/11—Friday Schedule—No Wednesday Classes
M 4/16: : Nella Larsen, Quicksand, ch 19-25 (133-162)
W 4/18: Peer Review for Project #2 annotations; Nella Larsen, Quicksand, Foreword (vii-x) and Introduction (xi-xxii)
Week 11
M 4/23: Final discussion of Quicksand; Contemporary short fiction
W 4/25: Project #2 annotations due; Peer review for Project #2; Contemporary short fiction
Week 12
M 4/30: Contemporary short fiction: Louise Erdrich, “The Shawl” 2001, and Cynthia Ozick, “The Shawl” 1989
W 5/2: Contemporary short fiction: Sherman Alexie, “What You Pawn I Will Redeem” 2003 and “‘It Just Felt Very Wrong’: Sherman Alexie’s Accusers Go On The Record”
Week 13
M 5/7: Project #2 due; Contemporary short fiction: Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, “You in America” (2001) and the Adichie audio interview from the New Yorker (2018)
W 5/9: Contemporary short fiction: Junot Diaz (TBD) and “The Silence: The Legacy of Childhood Trauma”
[I’m choosing among the following]
- “The Cheater’s Guide to Love” * (The New Yorker, July 2012—text, audio)
- “Monstro” (The New Yorker, June 2012—text)
- “Miss Lora” * (The New Yorker, April 2012—text)
- “The Pura Principle” * (The New Yorker, March 2010—text)
- “Alma” * (The New Yorker, December 2007—text, audio)
- “Wildwood” (The New Yorker, June 2007—text)
- “How to date a brown girl (black girl, white girl, or halfie)” (text, audio)
Week 14
M 5/14: Contemporary short fiction
W 5/16: Review for Final Exam
Th 5/17: Wednesday schedule (Thursday classes do not meet) Make-up day for 3/21 snow day
Week 15
M 5/21: Final Exam
W 5/23: Final Exam
