English 402 Spring 2006
Advanced Creative Writing: Short Fiction
Professor Hans Ostrom
Welcome to English 402.
Here is some basic information:
My Office: Wyatt 336. Office-Hours for Spring 2006: Tuesday-Thursday, 9:30-11:00, and by appointment, of course. The English Department’s telephone: x3235 (messages); my telephone: x3434 (voice mail). Electronic mail: ostrom@ups.edu. The English Department’s mailboxes are located in the room next to the Philosophy Department’s main office on the third floor of Wyatt Hall.
Home page: www.ups.edu/faculty/ostrom/. A printable copy of this syllabus is posted on the home page.
The University’s Equal Opportunity Statement
The University of Puget Sound does not discriminate in education or employment on the basis of sex, race, color, national origin, religion, creed, age, disability, marital or familial status, sexual orientation, Vietnam-era veteran status, gender identity, or any other basis prohibited by local, state, or federal laws. This policy complies with the spirit and the letter of applicable federal, state and local laws, including Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, Sections 503 and 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Questions about the policy may be referred to the University's Director of Human Resources and Affirmative Action (253-879-3116) or the Office of Civil Rights, Department of Education, Washington, D.C. 20202.
Purposes of the Course
In English 202 (the prerequisite for taking English 402), you learned more about how short fiction is its own literary form, distinct from novels, poems, and plays, but sharing territory with them. You also learned more about your own writing of short stories. In English 402 one purpose will be to explore the distinctness and the shared territory, and we’ll continue to produce our own short stories, get responses to them and to drafts of them, to experiment with new possibilities, to develop as writers. Another purpose of English 402 is to create a venue in which you may work hard and with satisfaction at understanding the art of short fiction, as both a writer and a reader.
We will also study short fiction, reading a lot of it from different eras and in different modes, reading as writers who read and readers who write. We will develop both an historical and a genre-based sense of the short story. A book on editing fiction will help us with some nitty-gritty issues, but we will also look at these issues in context and according to the kinds of stories we are trying to write.
To write much; to read a wide variety of stories and experiment with different critical lenses with which to interpret short fiction; to experiment with different narrative methods; to explore narrative theory; to build on your experience writing stories; to give, take, and use responses to work-in-progress; to ponder the mysteries of "fiction": these, then, are among the purposes of this course.
The Etiquette and Atmosphere of the Course
Here are some guidelines to which all of us should try to adhere. I trust none of them will be surprising or difficult. Indeed, I hope they’ll seem familiar, but sometimes it’s good to reaffirm the familiar. All are aimed at creating a productive, workable environment.
The Workshop and In-Class Writing: Caveat Lector
A good chunk of the course will be devoted to the close reading, by your peers, of your work-in-progress. I’ll set out guidelines for how we do this. The workshop method isn’t for everyone, but by staying in the course, you implicitly agree to participate actively and productively in this method of response and revision.
The course also involves much writing in class, sometimes based on a spontaneously invented prompt, but often based on a range of pre-arranged prompts. Although such writing is by nature rough and exploratory, it is productive. It keeps us writing; it helps invention; and it lets us experiment. Often I will ask people to read their writing aloud, just to share the wealth of ideas and texts, not to put people on the spot. Usually, I write and read aloud, too, along with everyone else.
The Portfolio System
You’ll take three stories through the workshop, revising them before, during, and after the presentation to your group. At the end of the term, you will submit two of these in a portfolio, along with at least two one-page "slices" or "micro-stories." Probably you will write at least three micro-stories and then revise at least two of them. The portfolio is the work I will evaluate formally, though of course I will be reading and commenting on your drafts all along. The portfolio is due Wednesday, May 10, by 4:00 p.m.
As you’ll see from the schedule below, there is a rhythm to this course, with intervals of reading and writing, class discussion and group work, and so on. There is a plan for the whole term, but there is, by design, plenty of room for flexibility. Bring the syllabus to class with you every time so that you may note any changes. Bring the appropriate books to class. Always bring paper and pen.
Approximate Breakdown of Elements on Which Your Grade Will Be Based.
Portfolio: 55 per cent.
Participation (showing up; being productive; doing the reading and writing; contributing to discussions; participating in group work; meeting deadlines for drafts): 20 per cent.
Midterm exam (which will ask you to analyze and synthesize the short fiction we have read and ideas & terms from other material we read): 15 per cent.
Oral presentation about an extra book of short stories: 10 per cent.
Extra-credit opportunities: 1) Go to Emily Bernard’s lecture on Monday, February 20th, and write up a brief response. 2) Go to the reading by Suzanne Matson on March 6 (she is reading from her novel, The Tree Sitter) and write up a brief response. For extra extra-credit, you may attend both events and write responses.
The Required Books
Renni Browne and Dave King. Self-Editing for Fiction Writers. Second edition. New York: HarperCollins, 2004.
Wendy Martin. The Art of the Short Story. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 2006.
Robert Shapard and James Thomas, editors. Sudden Fiction International: 60 Short-Short Stories. New York: W.W. Norton, 1989.
Schedule of Classes, Readings, and Assignments
Wednesday, January 18. Review the syllabus, including the objectives; atmosphere and etiquette; grading; and the portfolio. Writing in class: Write a short (one page, handwritten) narrative in which you describe yourself in the act of writing; describe yourself as if you were a fictional character. The narrative may be in first, second, or third person—but only in one of these. Implicitly, what are you trying to show about this character, the writing-you, in your narrative?
Friday, January 20. In The Art of the Short Story, please read pages 16-20, including the two short fables. Before you come to class, try to remember and reconstruct a favorite fable, perhaps from childhood. In Sudden Fiction, please read “The Grasshopper and the Bell-Cricket,” by Yasunari Kawabata, pp. 60-64, and “The Black Dog,” by J. Bernlef, 280-285.
Monday, January 23. A micro-story, no longer than two pages, double-spaced, 12-point font, is due, along with three copies of it.
Wednesday, January 25. In Self-Editing for Writers, please read chapter one. The material will probably be familiar to you—a kind of review. But we’ll try to complicate things in class. In Sudden Fiction, read two stories that contain some significantly conventional elements: “Blackberries,” by Leslie Norris, pp. 39-44, and “Family Album,” by Siv Cedering, pp. 237-239. In both stories, identify good examples of “showing.” In class, we will outline one of two types of conventional stories.
Friday, January 27. For today, please read pp. 56-62 in The Art of the Short Story. These pages provide an overview of the short story during the 19th century, when the form was re-invented. The material will help you understand your own place in time as a writer. Please also read Anton Chekhov’s “The Darling,” which begins on page 87. In-class writing based on photos, pp. 52-55.
Monday, January 30. For today, please read Chapter Three, on point of view, in Self-Editing for Fiction-Writers. This material, to some extent, will be a review for you, but we will complicate things in class. Also for today, bring in lots of notes for your first longer story. The notes may be in a form that makes the most sense to you—ideas, facts, and image concerning characters; ideas for a plot; lists of possible scenes; free-writing; and/or parts of a draft. The more material you have, the better.
Wednesday, February 1. For today, please read Chapter 5 of Self-Editing for Fiction Writers. Mastering dialogue-mechanics is crucial to writing short fiction. In previous short stories, what problems have you had with dialogue? In Sudden Fiction, please read “Katya,” by Sergei Davlatov, pp. 250-54. Writing dialogue in class.
Friday, February 3. Word-process the dialogue you wrote on Wednesday. Double-space it. Make sure the paragraphing, punctuation, capitalization, and other elements of dialogue-mechanics are correct. For today, in The Art of the Short Story, please read “Hills Like White Elephants,” by Ernest Hemingway.
Monday, February 6. A rough draft of your first story is due.
Wednesday, February 8. Please read pages 470-478 in The Art of the Short Story. Consider the features of the Modernist short story. Which Modernist writers have you read? Which ones do you prefer? In the Modernist section, please also read “A Hunger Artist,” by Franz Kafka, and “Guests of the Nation,” by Frank O’Connor.
Friday, February 10. For today, please read Chapter 11 of Self-Editing for Writers, on “Sophistication.” In Sudden Fiction, please read “La Volpaia,” by Mark Helprin, pp. 71-74, and “Disappearing,” by Monica Wood, pp. 154-157. Please identify specific “sophisticated” elements of these stories. Guidelines for group work.
Monday, February 13. Your first story is due. You will be in a group of 7 or 8. You may make copies for every person, or for every other person, but you also need one to read out loud, and you need to give one copy to me, paper-clipped. Make sure the story has PAGE NUMBERS. It should be double-spaced, 12-point font. You need to submit it in a manila FOLDER, and you need to include all notes and drafts, or I won’t read the story. Group work. We will aim to read and discuss about 2 stories per day.
Wednesday, February 15. Group work.
Friday, February 17. Group work.
Monday, February 20. Group work, if necessary. Or field trip.
Wednesday, February 22. Writing in class.
Friday, February 24. A micro-story is due, no longer than two pages, double-spaced. Bring the original plus three copies, please.
Monday, February 27. For today, in The Art of the Short Story, please read “Cora Unashamed,” by Langston Hughes, which begins on p. 870, and “Cathedral,” by Raymond Carver, which begins on p. 975. The persistence of realism. The uses of irony. Telling “a good story.” The quality of “tale.”
Wednesday, March 1. For today, in Sudden Fiction, please read “Happy Endings,” by Margaret Atwood, pp. 55-59, and “Snow,” by Ann Beattie, pp. 286-288. Writing in class.
Friday, March 3. Please read Chapter 12 of Self-Editing for Fiction-Writers, on “Voice.” Writing in class.
Monday, March 6. [Suzanne Matson’s reading is scheduled for today.] Writing in class. Reviewing for the midterm examination.
Wednesday, March 8. Midterm examination.
Friday, March 10. Discussing your work so far.
Monday, March 20th. Photocopied story in class: “Borges and I.” Writing in class.
Wednesday, March 22. For today, in The Art of the Short Story, please read “American Horse” and “The Red Convertible” by Louise Erdrich, starting on p. 1014. Writing in class. For today, please select the collection of short stories on which you will report.
Friday, March 24. A micro-story is due. Please bring the original and three copies.
Monday, March 27. Notes for the second longer story are due: see January 30 for guidelines.
Wednesday, March 29. Please read, in Sudden Fiction, “All at One Point,” by Italo Calvino, 189-193, and “By the Creek,” by Barry Yourgrau, 161-162. How do you interpret these stories?
Friday, March 31. Rough draft of second story due.
Monday, April 3. Presentations
Wednesday, April 5. Presentations.
Friday, April 7. Second story due. See February 13 for guidelines.
Monday, April 10. Group work.
Wednesday, April 12. Group work.
Friday, April 14. Group work, if necessary.
Monday, April 17. Notes for third story due. See January 30 for guidelines.
Wednesday, April 19. Presentations.
Friday, April 21. A revised micro-story or a new micro-story is due—your choice. The original and three copies, please.
Monday, April 24. Work on your third story. Visit me in my office if necessary.
Wednesday, April 26. Third story due. See February 13 for guidelines. Group work.
Friday, April 28. Group work.
Monday, May 1. Group work.
Wednesday, May 3. Group work, if necessary.
Portfolios are due Wednesday, May 10, by 4:00 p.m. outside my office, 336 Wyatt. Two revised stories and at least