English 402 Fall 2002

Some basic information:

My Office: Wyatt 336. Fall 2002 Office Hours: Tuesday-Thursday, 9:30-10:30 a.m.; Monday, 1:00-2:00 p.m., and by appointment, of course. Phone: x3235 (messages), x3434 (voice mail). Electronic mail: ostrom@ups.edu. Home page: www.ups.edu/faculty/ostrom/. A copy of this syllabus is posted on the home page.

Welcome to English 402.

From having taken English 202 (the prerequisite for taking English 402), you no doubt learned the extent to which short fiction is very much its own literary form, distinct from novels, poems, and plays but sharing some territory with them. In English 402 we shall continue to explore the distinctness and the shared territory, and we shall continue to produce our own short stories. One purpose of English 402 is to create an opportunity for you to work hard and with satisfaction at understanding the art of short fiction.

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 look at the world through the lenses of narrative; to ponder the mysteries of "fiction": these are among the other purposes of this course.

In general, I expect a higher level of commitment and maturity in English 402 than I expect in English 202. Dig in and work hard. This is essentially a "senior seminar," so the energy and ideas you bring to the class are vital.

Be firm and assertive in your own ideas, but also be open to experimentation, to other ways of reading and writing.

Please come to class unless you are ill or otherwise seriously indisposed. Please do try to come on time and prepared. Attendance and participation are crucial.

Please do not eat in class. (Every professor has his or her pet peeves.)

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.

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 four one-page "slices" or "micro-stories." (Please note: the number of micro-stories may change because we may, as a class, decide to do more work in this area.) The portfolio is the work I will evaluate formally, though of course I will be reading and commenting on your drafts all along.

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.

Portfolio: 55 per cent.

Participation (showing up; demonstrating commitment and maturity; doing the reading; contributing to discussions; participating in group work; meeting deadlines for drafts): 20 per cent.

Midterm exam (actually a late-term exam that 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.

Reni Browne and Dave King. Self-Editing for Fiction Writers: How to Edit Yourself Into Print. New York: Quill Books, 1993. In this book, two experienced editors of fiction take their readers (that would be us) through the processes of revision and editing.

Italo Calvino. Invisible Cities. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1974. Paperback. This book will allow us to explore--among other things--the narratives by one celebrated, accomplished, an enormously inventive writer of "postmodern" fiction.

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes. New York: Penguin, . We will read these classic tales of detection not so much to learn how to write detective fiction (although that is an interesting topic, too) as to examine story-structure and effects of suspense.

Robert Shapard and James Thomas, editors. Sudden Fiction International: 60 Short-Short Stories. These stories exemplify the art of the very short narrative; as noted above, we’ll be writing our own "microstories."

And a collection of stories (by one author--that is, not an anthology) of your choice.

Wednesday, September 4. Aims & expectations. A look at the syllabus. Some writing. For Thursday, Chapter One of Self-Editing and "Cities & Memory" 1 and 2 in Invisible Cities and, in Sudden Fiction, "Blackberries," by Leslie Norris.

Friday, September 6. A half-page (nor more than one page, certainly) revision of task C, pp. 12-13 of Self-Editing is due—word-processed, double-spaced.. A review of the history of short fiction. Discuss stories by Calvino and Norris.

Monday, September 9. For today, read, in SF, "Las Papas," by Julio Ortega, "Family Album," by Siv Cedering, and "The Other Wife," by Colette. Discussion-leaders appointed. Photocopy of Genette’s essay distributed. Ideas for a micro-story discussed.

Wednesday, September 11. For today, read Gerard Genette, "Order, Frequency, Duration." Discussion-leaders appointed. For today, also read R.K. Narayan, "House Opposite," and Margaret Atwood, "Happy Endings," in SF.

Friday, September 13. Two copies of a micro-story are due. For today, also read Chapter Two of Self-Editing.

Monday, September 16. A partial draft of your first story is due. Get something down on paper—detailed notes, scenes, pages of a draft. Bring in what you have. For today, read Chapter Three of Self-Editing.

Wednesday, September 18. For today, read Chapter Four of Self-Editing. Also read, in the Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, "A Scandal in Bohemia" and "The Speckled Band." Assess Doyle’s work, in these two tales, with "show and tell," characterization & exposition, point of view, and dialogue. In these categories, what does Doyle do, in your opinion, that works well and not so well?

Friday, September 20. Complete rough draft of your first story due.

Monday, September 23. For today, read Chapter Five of Self-Editing. Also read, in SF, "Disappearing," by Monica Wood, and Patricia Grace, "At the River." Guidelines for group-work and for submitting stories discussed.

Wednesday, September 25. Stories due, with copies. Group work.

Friday, September 27. Group work.

Monday, September 30. Group work, if necessary. Also read, in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, "A Case of Identity" and "The Man With The Twisted Lip." Discussion-leaders assigned.

Wednesday, October 2. For today, read Chapter Six of Self-Editing. Also, in SF, read Talat Abbasi, "Facing the Light," and Denis Hirson, "Arrest Me." Crosscurrents deadline?

Friday, October 4. For today, read Chapter Seven of Self-Editing. Also, in SF, read Bernard Malamud, "The Model," Richard Brautigan, "The Weather in San Francisco," and Barry Yourgrau, "By the Creek." Some options for a micro-story.

Monday, October 7. Three copies of a micro-story, double-spaced and word-processed, due.

Wednesday, October 9. For today, read Chapter Eight of Self-Editing. Also, in SF, read Stuart Dybek, "Death of the Right Fielder," Fernando Sorrentino, "There’s A Man in the Habit of Hitting Me Over the Head With an Umbrella," and Ron Carlson, "Bigfoot Stole My Wife." Discussion-leaders assigned.

Friday, October 11. For today, read Chapter Nine of Self-Editing. Ideas for second story due.

Monday, October 14. For today, read Chapter Ten of Self-Editing. Partial draft of second story due.

Wednesday, October 16. For today, read Chapter Eleven of Self-Editing, and in The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, read "The Noble Bachelor." [Continue working on second story.]

Friday, October 18. For today, read Chapter Twelve of Self-Editing. Review for test. [Continue working on second story.]

Wednesday, October 23. Test.

Friday, October 25. Complete rough draft of second story due. Have you selected a volume of stories yet?

Monday, October 28. Second stories due, with copies. Group work.

Wednesday, October 30. Group work.

Friday, November 1. Group work, if necessary. For today, read Calvino, Invisible Cities, through page 31. Discussion-pairs for Monday assigned.

Monday, November 4. For today, read the rest of Invisible Cities. Micro-story discussed.

Wednesday, November 6. Three copies of a micro-story due, double-spaced, word-processed.

Friday, November 8. For today, in SF, read Clarice Lispector, "The Fifth Story," Paul Theroux, "Acknowledgements," Peter Handke, "Welcoming the Board of Directors," and Donald Barthelme, "The School."

Monday, November 12. Bring in a list of possibilities for a "post-modern" micro-story. You should be finishing your reading of the extra book.

Wednesday, November 14. Revise-O-Rama: Bring in all of the micro-stories you have written so far.

Friday, November 16. Ideas for second story due. In SF, read Jeannette Winterson, "Orion," and Kenneth Bernard, "Preparations." Guidelines for oral presentations discussed. Sign up for oral presentations.

Monday, November 19. Three copies of a micro-story due, word-processed, double-spaced. Discuss publishing?

Wednesday, November 21. Oral presentations.

Friday, November 23. Oral presentations.

Monday, Novmeber 26. Oral presentations.

Wednesday, November 28. Working on the third stories.

Monday, December 2. Rough draft of third story due. Due-date for portfolios set.

Wednesday, December 4. Conference day.

Friday, December 6. Third story due, with copies. Group work.

Monday, December 9. Group work.

Wednesday, December 11. Group work.

During Finals Week: Portfolio due.