Narrative Form in Twentieth Century Fiction
Wednesdays through 17 November 99
6:30-9:30 p.m., Dean Lesher Center (999) 999-6309
Course Texts:
You may use any edition of these texts you wish. There will also be a reader required for the course.
Goals of this class:
This course will examine twentieth-century works of literature, paying particular attention to the ways in which contemporary (and recent) writers employ form to express content, and to express the ineffable. We will examine both stylistic techniques and genre conventions in order to determine the flexibility of the narrative form and its increasingly unregulated expression in contemporary fiction. We will consider socio-historical pressures, such as mechanical reproduction and transmission, and their bearing on the creation of these works. We will attempt to determine the effects of formal innovation on the process of reading. Mindful of the century’s growing distrust with language, we will discuss the ways in which innovative forms of narrative provide alternative means of representation, means that are as dependent upon the visual, and upon culture, as they are upon language.
Each week, we will examine one novel, or a collection of shorter works or selections. Through discussions and lectures, we will learn to identify formal practices and to evaluate the relationship between form and content, and will develop a vocabulary for discussing these practices. We will get a chance to deploy that vocabulary in a series of well-constructed critical papers.
The reading for each class meeting should be completed before the class session begins. Our discussions will depend upon your being caught up in reading and ready to talk about how the text works.
For Students taking the class for a grade:
Each student will be allowed 2 absences, after which one grade will be deducted per absence from the final grade (for example, an earned final grade of A would drop to an A- with one absence over the limit, to a B+ with two absences over the limit, and so on). If you know that you will be absent for a class session, please contact me so that I can ensure that you’re not missing out on the materials and supplemental assignments for the next class meeting.
All papers must be handed in on the scheduled evening during class. Late papers will lose points.
Keep a copy of submitted work, just in case I lose something. (It hasn’t happened yet, but it doesn’t hurt to be careful.)
Assignments and Grading:
There will be two formal essays required during the term. The first, 4-5 pages in length, will be worth 30% of your grade. The second, 8-10 pages in length, will be worth 40% of your grade. The remaining 30% will be earned through in-class work, contribution to discussion, and participation.
Pass/Fail Grades
Students who elect to take this course for a letter grade must complete all these assignments for a grade. Students who elect to take this course pass/fail (that is, for credit, but not for a grade), must complete all these assignments, but need not receive a grade. I will comment upon the work that pass/fail students turn in, but will not assign a letter grade. To receive a grade of "Pass," the student must present work that would earn a C or higher.
On Writing:
Five indispensable guidelines for writing papers:
I will provide some handouts and tips to strengthen your writing as the assignments come due.
Plagiarism is defined as using someone else’s words without giving them proper credit. Any student who plagiarizes will receive an "F" for the course.
Conferences:
If it’s possible (and it’s not always possible, I know), I’d like to meet with each student outside of class during the first 3-4 weeks of the course. If you can’t schedule a time to meet with me just before or just after class, please talk to me privately, and we’ll try to find another time convenient to us both, or make other arrangements.
Schedule:
15 September: Introduction to course, to the idea of form and other stylistic concerns. Reading: Excerpts from "Exercises in Style," by Raymond Queneau.
22 September: Shifting perspectives and the creation of a whole. Focalization and description. Reading: William Faulkner, The Sound and the Fury.
29 September: The seeing book; pressures of technology in the twentieth century. Reading: Michael Ondaatje, In the Skin of a Lion.
6 October: Fictionalizing personal history; language and history. Reading: James Galvin, The Meadow.
13 October: Technology, history, and vision, continued: images and fiction. Reading N. Scott Momaday, The Way to Rainy Mountain, Bantock, "The Venetian’s Wife" (in Reader).
20 October: Syntax and grammar as an impetus for narrative. Reading: Short stories by Stephen Dixon and John Barth (in Reader).
27 October: Genre fiction and irony: how the expectations of genre open space for experimentation. Reading: Paul Auster, City of Glass.
3 November: What are the requirements of fiction? Prose vs. poetry. Reading: Italo Calvino, Invisible Cities, Jorge Luis Borges (in Reader).
10 November: Short vs. Long fiction: what’s the difference? Reading: Madison Smart Bell, The Year of Silence.
17 November: Conventions of narrative and the twentieth-century. What is a "straight" narrative? Toward a definition of form in fiction. Reading: "Everything that Rises Must Converge" and "A Good Man is Hard to Find" by Flannery O’Connor (in Reader).