English 311, Section 4 Office: 1204 HW

T, F 2:10-3:25, 509C HW Phone: 772-5110

Barbara Barnard E-mail: bbarnard@hejira.hunter.cuny.edu

Spring 2000 Office hours: T, F 11:30-12:30 and by appointment

Prerequisites for this course: English 120 and English 220.

Required text: Writing Fiction: A Guide to Narrative Craft, Fifth Edition, by Janet Burroway (Addison Wesley Longman, 1999).

Books are available at Shakespeare & Co., across the street at 939 Lexington

Ave. (between 68^th and 69^th Streets).

February

T 1 Introduction to the course and "Samuel" by Grace Paley (handout)

F 4 Preface to Writing Fiction and

Chapter 1: Whatever Works>>The Writing Process, and

Discuss character sketches or anecdotes due on the 15^th.

T 8 Chapter 2: The Tower and the Net>>Story Form and Structure

F 11 Lincoln’s birthday—college is closed

T 15 Character sketch or anecdote due for class discussion. (Use assignment

#2, 3 or 5 on page 26 to get started, or generate your own story idea.)

F 18 Sketches continued

T 22 Story #1 due

Chapter 3: Seeing Is Believing>>Showing and Telling

F 25 Chapter 4: Book People>>Characterization, Part I

T 29 Chapter 5: The Flesh Made Word>>Characterization, Part II

 

March

F 3 Chapter 6: Long Ago and Far Away>>Fictional Place and Time

T 7 Character sketch or anecdote due for class discussion. (You may use one

of the writing assignments at the ends of Chapters 2 or 6 to begin building your second story, or you may begin in your own way.)

F 10 Continue discussion of sketches for Story #2

T 14 Chapter 7: Call Me Ishmael>>Point of View, Part I

F 17 Story #2 due

Chapter 8: Assorted Liars>>Point of View, Part II

T 21 Chapter 9: Is and Is Not>>Comparison

F 24 Chapter 10: I Gotta Use Words When I Talk to You>>Theme

T 28 Character sketch or anecdote due, for discussion

F 31 Sketches continued

 

April

T 4 Workshop

F 7 Workshop

T 11 Workshop

F 14 Story #3 due

Workshop

T 18 Chapter 11: Play It Again Sam>>Revision

April 19-28 Spring Recess

 

May

T 2 Workshop

F 5 Workshop

T 9 Workshop

F 12 Story #4 due (rewrite of any previous story)

Workshop

T 16 Workshop

F 19 Workshop

May 23-30 Final Exam Week

Course Requirements

 

Attendance and participation: Fiction I is a seminar course, not a lecture course. For students, this means more expressive freedom, but it also means that you share more responsibility for the success of the course. Each student is expected to be well-prepared for class and to participate in every class discussion; you will need not only to do the reading but also to consider thoughtfully what you have read.

Excessive absences (more than four) can seriously lower your grade for the course. Chronic lateness will have the same effect. Extreme absence problems will result in a grade of WU. On the other hand, responsible attendance and diligent participation in class discussion are essential for those who seek to earn the higher grades. We will work on bits and pieces of stories on the days scheduled for "character sketches and anecdotes," and your contribution to these discussions (both in the form of your own work which you share and also in the form of the thoughtful assistance you give to classmates in helping them develop their story ideas) will constitute an important part of class participation. You will be awarded a letter grade for your class participation, which will be averaged together equally with your four story grades in calculating your grade for the course.

 

Written work: You will submit three original stories and one rewrite (of any previous story). One of these stories must be duplicated and distributed for workshop discussion. This course is a fiction workshop. You must have a completed story discussed by the class in order to receive a passing grade for this course. Our goal in workshop discussion will be to explore and appreciate one another's work and to provide constructive suggestions for each writer. Length: Each of your completed stories must be l,000 words or more (at least four pages, typed, double-spaced). Save a clean copy of your work, or be sure you save it on a disk. You may not submit my graded copy for the workshop. Lateness: Any story submitted after the due date will be dropped one half of a letter grade for lateness during the week following the due date, and an additional half of a letter grade for any subsequent week/s of lateness. This policy is intended to help you stay on schedule; otherwise, the work will pile up on you in the latter half of the semester.

 

Duplicating your story for Workshop Discussion: When you have scheduled your workshop (during the second half of the semester), you will make copies of your story for the class. You must duplicate a clean copy of the story, not my graded copy. This way, members of the workshop will not be influenced by my written comments on your story, but will form their own opinions and suggestions. It is more useful to you, the writer, to receive a variety of suggestions and reactions to your work during the workshop discussion.

We can no longer use the Faculty Duplicating Center for copying student stories, as we had in the past, so you will need to be responsible for copying your own work. There is a CopyCats copy center on Lexington Ave. between 70th and 71st Streets (phone: 734-6236) and a Kinko's Copy Center at Lexington Ave. and 78th Street (phone: 628-5500). If there is a Staples store near you with a do-it-yourself copy center, their prices are often the lowest. You must distribute your copies at least one class period before your story is to be discussed, since the class must have time to read your story in advance of your workshop date. You are only required to copy and distribute one story for workshop discussion.

 

Grading: I will average together the four story grades and your letter grade for class participation. The rewrite grade (Story #4) is an additional letter grade; it does not replace the grade on the previous draft. Also, when submitting your rewrite, you must attach the previous, graded draft (#l, 2 or 3), since the rewrite grade depends upon how effectively you have revised your earlier work.