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. For the most up-to-date schedule of classes, see below:
Week 1:
W 1/28: Introductions: to Introduction to Fiction, to the OpenLab, to each other, and to fiction: Margaret Atwood, “There Was Once” 1992 ( to access this electronically, sign in to JSTOR using your library barcode number, which starts with 22477). 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 post due 2/1.
[M 2/2]: Join the discussion begun with the post on the upcoming readings (see blog for instructions); take online quiz
Week 2:
W 2/4: 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“; Kate Chopin, “The Story of an Hour” 1894, and Susan Glaspell, “A Jury of Her Peers” 1917
[M 2/9]: Online discussion
Week 3:
W 2/11: William Faulkner, “A Rose for Emily” 1930
[M 2/16] Presidents’ Day: No Classes
W 2/18: Monday Schedule (Monday classes meet instead of Wednesday classes): online discussion
Week 4:
[M 2/23]: online discussion
W 2/25: Nathaniel Hawthorne, “Young Goodman Brown” 1835 and Franz Kafka, “The Metamorphosis” 1915; complete homework
Week 5:
[M 3/2]: online discussion [or return to last week’s discussion]
W 3/4: Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “The Cottagette” 1910 (scroll down a little bit to get to this story), “The Yellow Wall-Paper” 1899
Week 6:
[M 3/9]: online discussion; Project #1 Part I due
W 3/11: Thomas Wolfe, “Only the Dead Know Brooklyn” 1935 (optional); Project #1 workshop
Week 7:
[M 3/16]: online discussion: Review for Midterm Exam; draft of Project #1 Part 2 due online
W 3/18: Review for Midterm Exam; Project #1 due
Week 8:
[M 3/23]: online discussion: midterm exam preparation
W 3/25: Midterm Exam; complete homework
Week 9:
[M 3/30]: online discussion: Beginning Beloved
W 4/1: Toni Morrison, Beloved 1987, through p. 100; complete homework
Spring Recess: [M 4/6], W 4/8: no classes
Week 10:
[M 4/13]: online discussion: Continuing Beloved
W 4/15: Beloved, through p. 247; complete homework
Week 11:
[M 4/20]: online discussion
W 4/22: Beloved
Week 12:
[M 4/27]: online discussion; Project #2 Part I draft due
W 4/29: Beloved; Project #2 Part 2 draft due online
Week 13:
[M 5/4]:online discussion; Project #2 due
W 5/6: Contemporary short fiction: Louise Erdrich, “The Shawl” 2001, and Cynthia Ozick, “The Shawl” 1989
Week 14:
[M 5/11]: online discussion; Presentations due
W 5/13: Contemporary short fiction: Sherman Alexie, “What You Pawn I Will Redeem” 2003
Week 15:
[M 5/18]: online discussion: Review for Final Exam; Final Presentations due
W 5/20: Final Exam; conclusions
