LI 220 Fiction and the Human Experience
Spring 2006: First 8 Weeks
Dr. Hamblin

Course Description:

A study of fiction by significant writers past and present.  University Studies course.  Prerequisite:  EN 100.

Principal University Studies Objectives:

• 1: Locating and gathering information

• 2: Thinking critically

• 3: Communicating effectively

• 8: Making aesthetic judgments

Textbook: 

Fiction 100: An Anthology of Short Fiction, edited by James H. Pickering, 10th edition (available in Textbook Service)

Course Requirements:

• 3 Outside Papers (500 words, 2-3 sources) (30%)

• Midterm and Final Exams (40%)

• Panel presentation (on one of the stories marked by *) (10%)

• Class activities (20%)

Course Outline:

Jan 17                    Introduction

Initiation

Jan 18                    Hawthorne, "My Kinsman, Major Molineux"  

Jan 19                    Joyce, "Araby"; Bambara, "The Lesson"  

Jan 20                    Updike, "A & P"

Jan 23                    Wright, "The Man Who Was Almost a Man"

Jan 24, 25             *Conrad, "Heart of Darkness"

Individual and Society

Jan 26                    Jackson, "The Lottery"; Fr. O'Connor, "Guests of the Nation"; Paper #1 due

Jan 27                    Camus, "The Guest"

Jan 30                    W. C. Williams, "The Use of Force"           

Jan 31                    Faulkner, "A Rose for Emily"    

Personal Relationships

Feb 1, 2                  *Melville, "Bartleby the Scrivener" 

Feb 3                      Faulkner, "Barn Burning"

Feb 6                      Steinbeck, "The Chrysanthemums"; Walker, "To Hell with Dying"

Feb 7                      Boyle, "Astronomer's Wife"; Mason, "Three-Wheeler"

Feb 8                      Midterm Exam

Feb 9, 10                *Baldwin, "Sonny's Blues"

Cultural and Philosophical Matters

Feb 13                    Fl. O'Connor, "A Good Man Is Hard to Find"

Feb 14                    Singer, "Gimpel the Fool"; Cisneros, "The House on Mango Street"

Feb 15                    Bellow, "Looking for Mr. Green"      

Feb 16                    Bradbury, "August 2002: Night Meeting"; Garcia-Marquez, "A Very Old Man
                                with Enormous Wings"; Paper #2 due   

Feb 17                    Silko, "Yellow Woman"

Feb 20                    Gilman, "The Yellow Wall-Paper"

Feb 21, 22              *Joyce, "The Dead"

Aging and Dying

Feb 23                     Bierce, "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge"; Mansfield, "Miss Brill"

Feb 24                     Porter, "The Grave"

Feb 27                     Poe, "The Fall of the House of Usher"

Feb 28                     Irving, "Rip Van Winkle"

Mar 1                      Gogol, "The Overcoat"; Paper #3 due

Mar 2, 3                  *Tolstoy, "The Death of Ivan Ilych"

May 6, 7                  Summary and review

Mar 8                      Final Exam                   

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