L204 15860 INTRODUCTION TO FICTION
Brent Moberly

1:25p-2:15p MWF (25 students) 3 cr., A&H, IW.

The purpose of this course is to develop your ability to read, discuss, and write about fiction. As means of doing this, this course will focus upon the theme of “place.” By “place” I do not necessarily mean “physical place” (or “setting,” as it is formally called), but “social place,” though there is certainly some correspondence between the two. First Lieutenant Jimmy Cross, who is burdened by fantasies of Martha and the Jersey shore as he trudges through the jungles of Vietnam in Tim O’Brian’s “The Things They Carried,” Catherine Earnshaw, who finds herself torn between Thrushcross Grange and Wuthering Heights, in Emily Brontë’s novel of the same name, and Holly Golightly, whose credo in Truman Capote’s Breakfast at Tiffany’s is to remain always in motion these characters, along with others that we will encounter in the course of this semester, all struggle to eek out a place for themselves in light of often repressive realities.

Students will be evaluated on four major papers ranging from 5-12 pages each as well periodic quizzes and short writing assignments over the readings.

Course Texts:
Norton Anthology of Short Fiction, Sixth Shorter Edition
Charlotte Brontë, Wuthering Heights
Truman Capote, Breakfast at Tiffany’s