Readings | Masterworks in American Short Fiction | Literature

The readings are also listed by session.

Texts for Purchase

Hitchcock, Bert, Virginia Kouidis, and Eugene Current-Garcia, eds. American Short Stories. 7th ed. New York, NY: Longmans, 2001. ISBN: 0321080564.

James, Henry. The Turn of the Screw, The Aspern Papers, and Two Stories. New York, NY: Barnes and Noble, 2003. ISBN: 1593080433.

Hemingway, Ernest. In Our Time. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 2002. ISBN: 0743237250. (E-book ed.)

Welty, Eudora. Thirteen Stories. New York, NY: Harcourt Brace, 1977. ISBN: 0156899698.

Hammett, Dashiell. The Continental Op. New York, NY: Random House, 1989. ISBN: 0679722580.

Alvarez, Julia. How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents. New York, NY: Penguin, 1992. ISBN: 0452268060.

Diaz, Junot. Drown. New York, NY: Penguin, 1997. ISBN: 1573226068.

Cather, Willa. "Old Mrs. Harris." In The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Edited by Paul Lauter, et al. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath, 1994, pp. 1133-1168. ISBN: 066932972X.

Readings by Session

Readings included in the anthology are marked thusly +.

Course Reading
SES #	topics	readings
1	A Hearty Welcome Discussion of William Carlos Williams's "The Use of Force." A Few "Getting to Know You" Exercises	+ Williams, William Carlos. "The Use of Force."
2	Discussion of Hawthorne's, "The Birth-Mark." And One of the Low Points of the Term - Some Professorial Mutterings on Romanticism and Symbol	+ Hawthorne. "The Birth-mark."
3	Discussion of Melville's, "Bartleby, the Scrivener."	Melville, Herman. "Bartleby, The Scrivener." In Legal Fictions Short Stories About Lawyers and the Law. Edited by Jay Wishingrad. Woodstock, NY: Overlook Press, 1992, pp. 224-258. ISBN: 0879514558.
4	A Preliminary Set of Definitions - Romanticism vs. Realism Discussion of Henry James's, "The Turn of the Screw."	James, Henry. The Turn of the Screw, The Aspern Papers, and Two Stories. New York, NY: Barnes and Noble, 2003. ISBN: 1593080433.
5	We'll Finish with James
6	Discussion of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's, "The Yellow Wall-Paper."	+ Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The Yellow Wall-Paper."
7	Discussion of Willa Cather's, "Old Mrs. Harris."	Cather, Willa. "Old Mrs. Harris." In The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Edited by Paul Lauter, et al. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath, 1994, pp. 1133-1168. ISBN: 066932972X.
8	More on Cather
9	Discussion of Stephen Crane's, "The Blue Hotel."	+ Crane, Stephen. "The Blue Hotel."
10	Some Misguided Professorial Remarks on Modernism Discussion of William Faulkner's, "Barn Burning."	+ Faulkner, William. "Barn Burning."
11	Discussion of Ernest Hemingway's, "Indian Camp," and "The Three-Day Blow."	Hemingway, Ernest. "Indian Camp," and "The Three-Day Blow." In In Our Time. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 2002. ISBN: 0684822768.
12	Hemingway Continues in the Rain and Despair Hey, Let's Go Fishing on the "Big Two-Hearted River," ok?
13	A Walk on the Noir Side. The Maltese Falcon (John Huston, 1941) Discuss Dashiell Hammett's, "The Whosis Kid."	Huston, John. The Maltese Falcon. 1941. Hammett, Dashiell. "The Whosis Kid." In The Continental Op. New York, NY: Random House, 1989. ISBN: 0679722580.
14	Discussion of Eudora Welty's, "Why I Live at the P.O."	Welty, Eudora. "Why I Live at the P.O." In Thirteen Stories. New York, NY: Harcourt Brace, 1977. ISBN: 0156899698.
15	Discussion of Eudora Welty's, "Moon Lake." Anyone who ever went to summer camp can help educate the rest of us.	Welty, Eudora. "Moon Lake." In Thirteen Stories. New York, NY: Harcourt Brace, 1977. ISBN: 0156899698.
16	Discussion of Julia Alvarez's, How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, Chapter 1.	Alvarez, Julia. How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents. New York, NY: Penguin, 1992, chapter 1. ISBN: 0452268060.
17	Discussion of Julia Alvarez's, How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accent. What is this book - a novel? A collection of stories? In any case, what is it most fundamentally "about?"	Alvarez, Julia. How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents. New York, NY: Penguin, 1992. ISBN: 0452268060.
18	Discussion of Raymond Carver's, "Boxes."	+ Carver, Raymond. "Boxes."
19	Discussion of Tim O'Brien's, "The Things They Carried."	+ O'Brien, Tim. "The Things They Carried."
20	Discussion of Junot Diaz's, Drown. Formulate some possible questions to ask him, when he visits class just after the break.	Diaz, Junot. Drown. New York, NY: Penguin, 1997. ISBN: 1573226068.
21	Guest Appearance by Junot Diaz
22	Final Presentations
23	Final Presentations (cont.)
24	Final Class Meeting Sorrowful Farewells, and THE HILDESILLY ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE JOKE CONTEST (Yes, there will be prizes to be won)