Description:

This course features significant opportunities to write about the literature and the reader's response to it. Students will learn the historical fictional precedents of the short story; the similarities and differences between the short story and other narrative forms, such as the novel; the differences between the short story and its historical precedents, between short stories and film adaptations of them, and between commercial and literary short stories. Students will discover the place of short stories in major literary movements, the key elements of short stories and interpretive approaches to short stories. 3 hrs./wk.

Supplies: Refer to the instructor's course syllabus for details about any supplies that may be required.

Textbook(s): For information see - http://bookstore.jccc.net

Course Fees: NONE

Course Objectives:

Upon successful completion of this course the student should be able to:

1. Both orally and in writing, define and interpret short fiction.
2. Differentiate the short story from other narrative forms.
3. Define at least four major historical precedents of the short story and compare each to the short story.
4. Define, differentiate, and apply major literary movements to short stories.
5. Compare and contrast key differences between commercial and literary short fiction.
6. Contrast the significant differences among the major genres of short fiction, using appropriate short stories to illustrate their attributes.
7. List and describe the key elements of short stories, including character, conflict, language and style, plot, point of view, setting, voice and tone, and theme.
8. Use appropriate short stories to illustrate the above key elements.

Content Outline & Competencies:

I. Interpretation of Short Fiction, Orally and in Writing
   A. Major interpretive approaches
      1. Describe and differentiate the major approaches to
interpretation:
         a. Historical-cultural
         b. Reader response
         c. Textual-linguistic
      2. Write one or more interpretive papers using the reader response
approach. 
      3. Write an interpretive paper using either the historical-cultural
or textual-linguistic approach. 
      4. Deliver an oral presentation using either the reader response
interpretive approach to a story, the historical-cultural approach, or the
textual-linguistic approach.
      5. Describe and differentiate at least four minor approaches to
interpretation, including:
         a. Biographical
         b. Feminist 
         c. Moral-philosophical
         d. Mythical-archetypal
         e. Psychological, such as family systems and Freudian 
         f. Socio-economic/political, such as Marxist
      6. Write an interpretive paper, using any one of the minor
approaches to interpretation.

II. Narrative Forms Related to Short Fiction
   A. List and describe at least three narrative forms related to short
fiction, including:
      1. Autobiography
      2. Memoir 
      3. Novel
      4. Novella
      5. Vignette
   B. Compare and contrast the preceding narrative forms to short
stories.

III. Historical Story-Telling Precedents of  Short Fiction
   A. List and describe the 14 story-telling precedents of short fiction:
      1. Allegory 
      2. Anecdote
      3. The Canterbury Tales and Decameron
      4. Epic
      5. Fable
      6. Fairy tale
      7. Folk tale
      8. Joke
      9. Legend
      10. Medieval romance
      11. Myth  
      12. Parable
      13. Religious tale
      14. Tall tale
   B. Identify evidence of such precedents in short stories.

IV. Major Literary Movements
   A. List and describe the following major literary movements:
      1. Impressionism
      2. Minimalism
      3. Naturalism
      4. Realism 
      5. Romanticism
      6. Surrealism
   B. Trace the development of those movements.
   C. Identify patterns of such literary movements in short stories.

V. Compare and Contrast the Key Differences Between Commercial Short
Fiction and Literary Short Fiction

VI. Major Genres of Short Fiction
   A. Describe, compare, and contrast at least five of the major genres of
fiction.
      1. Bildungsroman
      2. Crime/ detective story
      3. Episodic
      4. Ghost story/ occult story 
      5. Historical story
      6. Love story
      7. Picaresque story  
      8. Science fiction story 
      9. Self-discovery/coming-of-age story 
      10. Stream of consciousness story
      11. Utopian story
      12. Western story
   B. Identify the aspects of above fictional genres in short stories.

VII. List and Describe the Key Elements of Short Fiction, Including:
   A. Character
      1. Antagonist and protagonist
      2. Flat and round
      3. Developing and static
      4. Confidante
      5. Foil
      6. Parody
      7. Stereotype, stock character, and caricature
   B. Conflict
      1. Interpersonal
      2. Intrapersonal
   C. Language and style
      1. Allusion: internal and external
      2. Concreteness and abstraction
      3. Dialogue
      4. Denotation and connotation
      5. Dialect and idiom
      6. Figurative language, including analogy, metaphor, and simile
      7. Literal and contextual
      8. Repetition
      9. Rhythm
      10. Sensory detail
      11. Showing and telling
      12. Symbolism and allegory
   D. Plot
      1. Ambiguity
      2. Chronology, flashback, and in media res
      3. Coincidence
      4. Communication and failure of communication
      5. Comparison and contrast
      6. Complication
      7. Conclusion
      8. Crisis/dilemma
      9. Cultural adjustment
      10. Endings: plausible/ surprise/ walk away and implausible/ trick
      11. Epiphany
      12. Exposition and dramatization
      13. Fantasy
      14. Foreshadowing
      15. Irony: verbal, dramatic, and situational
      16. Leads: false leads, true leads, suspense
      17. Nature and its relationship to humans
      18. Peripety
      19. Plotlessness: mood piece
      20. Resolution
      21. Revelation: illumination of earlier detail
      22. Rising action and falling action
      23. Rite of passage
   E.  Point of view
      1. Authorial editorializing vs. objectivity
      2. Narrative angles such as third person-omniscient, third
person-main character, third person-minor character, first person-main
character, first person-minor character
   F. Setting
      1. As catalyst
      2. As character
      3. As stage
      4. As symbol/microcosm
   G. Voice and tone
      1. Admiration
      2. Belief
      3. Disbelief
      4. Prophecy
      5. Satire
      6. Skepticism
      7. Sympathy
   H. Theme
      1. Aging and mortality
      2. Acceptance and denial
      3. Alienation and connection
      4. Authority
      5. Change and stasis: individual and generational
      6. Closeness and distance
      7. Connection and distance
      8. Community and isolation
      9. Economic class
      10. Expectation and reality
      11. Family relationships, including parent-child relationships
      12. Friendship
      13. Generational continuity and difference
      14. Growth and stagnation
      15. Implicit and explicit
      16. Innocence and experience
      17. Love and hate
      18. Men and women; men and men; women and women relationships
      19. Mortality
      20. Political
      21. Race and ethnicity
      22. Reality and appearance
      23. Self-discovery, including coming of age, initiation, and
self-deception
      24. Society and the individual, including political issues
      25. Supernatural
      26. Universal and transient/localized
      27. Violence and peace

VIII. Identify, Illustrate, and Explain, Both Orally and in Writing, the
Above Elements in Short Fiction.

Methods of Evaluation of Competencies:

Evaluation of student mastery of course competencies will be accomplished using the following methods:

A. Activities:
   1. Frequent tests on individual readings-at least five times during the
semester (between 10%-20% of grade).
   2. Cumulative midterm and end-of-term examinations, a major part of
which will be writing of the types described in Section I above (between
30%-40% of grade).
   3. Two major homework writings of the types described in Section I
above (between 30%-40% of grade).
   4. Oral presentation (between 10-15% of grade).
   5. In-class participation: statements and responses to questions that
illustrate mastery of the competencies I-VIII described above (between
10-20% of grade).

B. Grading: All grading is on a point basis. The final grade in the course
is based on the percentage of final actual points divided by final possible
points.

Grading Scale:
   A =  90%-100%
   B =  80%- 89%
   C =  70%- 79%
   D =  60%- 69%
   F = Below 60%

Caveats: NONE

Disabilities:

If you are a student with a disability, and if you will be requesting accommodations, it is your responsibility to contact Access Services. Access Services will recommend any appropriate accommodations to your professor and his/her director. The professor and director will identify for you which accommodations will be arranged.

JCCC provides a range of services to allow persons with disabilities to participate in educational programs and activities. If you desire support services, contact the office of Access Services for Students With Disabilities (913) 469-8500, ext. 3521 or TDD (913) 469-3885. The Access Services office is located in the Success Center on the second floor of the Student Center.