L204 2041 EVANS
Introduction to Fiction

1:25p-2:15p MWF (25) 3 CR.

This course is a writing intensive, multi-period, multi-nation introduction to the short story, novella, and novel. We will combine our focus on fiction with examination of a number of brief critical commentaries. The goal of the course is to make you a more attentive reader, a more fluent writer, and a more analytical and critical thinker. In addition to introducing you to a range of fiction, the class will simultaneously extend your knowledge of, and comfort with, various methods of literary interpretation.

The work requirements of the course include four essays, ungraded short responses due at each class meeting, a research exercise, and class participation.

Required reading: Ann Charters, ed. The Story and Its Writer: An Introduction to Short Fiction, Compact edition; Hannah Webster Foster, The Coquette; Jonathon Lethem, Motherless Brooklyn; Tillie Olsen, Yonnondio; David Rosenwasser and Jill Stephen, Writing Analytically; and a selection of material from the online Early American Fiction project.