Nathaniel Hawthorne, circa 1883. (Image courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division [reproduction number, LC-USZ62-2358 (b&w film copy neg.)])
Instructor(s)
Prof. John Hildebidle
MIT Course Number
21L.705
As Taught In
Fall 2005
Level
Undergraduate
Course Description
Course Features
Course Highlights
This course features a unique collection of short fiction references in the readings section, as well as course study materials.
Course Description
For some reason, American literature (like French, Irish, and Russian, among others) has been especially productive in major works in fictional forms shorter than the novel. Our task in this course will be to survey that field, by looking at particular moments of high accomplishment. We will, in addition, consider some of the ways in which literary formulae can be used and varied, and some of the impacts of elements of narrative construction.
Other Versions
Other OCW Versions
OCW has published multiple versions of this subject. 
- 21L.705 Major Authors: Old English and Beowulf (Spring 2014)
- 21L.705 Major Authors: America's Literary Scientists (Fall 2010)
- 21L.705 Major Authors: Rewriting Genesis: "Paradise Lost" and Twentieth-Century Fantasy (Spring 2009)
- 21L.705 Major Authors: John Milton (Spring 2008)
- 21L.705 Major Authors: After the Masterpiece: Novels by Melville, Twain, Faulkner, and Morrison (Fall 2006)
- 21L.705 Major Authors: Melville and Morrison (Fall 2003)
- 21L.705 Major Authors: Oscar Wilde and the '90's (Spring 2003)