ENGLISH 235 INTRODUCTION TO SHORT FICTION 2020

Instructor: David Shaw

Classroom Location:
Dept. Office:
Office Hours:
Telephone:
Email: david.shaw@concordia.ca

Course Description
Through a detailed examination of the various forms of short fiction, this course is designed to
familiarize students with the vocabulary, critical concepts, and history of the genre. Through
this course, students will gain not only an understanding of the short story as a form of fiction
writing, but also develop their understanding of critical analysis.

Course Outcomes
In the process of completing this course, students will:
• Engage with a wide range of short fiction
• Understand fundamental concepts of literary analysis and how to apply them in a wide
range of contexts
• Gain a basic understanding of the role of the critic in relation to short fiction

Required Texts
All readings for this course will be available electronically through the Concordia Li-
brary Reserves: https://reserves.concordia.ca. If you are having any issues accessing the Re-
serves please let me know.

Course Assignments and Grade Breakdown

3 response papers (500 words each) 30%
Midterm paper proposal 10%
Midterm paper (1200 words) 20%
Final paper proposal 10%
Final paper (2000 words) 30%

Response Papers
Over the course of the term you will be expected to submit three short response papers, each
of which should be around 500 words. Each response paper should offer a brief critical analysis
of one course reading of your choice. Your response paper must be submitted to me via email
the day before the reading to which you're responding is being discussed (i.e., if you wanted to
write a response paper about Wharton’s “Xingu,” which we’ll be discussing on 30 January, you’d
have to submit your response to me via email by midnight on 29 January).

Plagiarism
The most common offence under the Academic Code of Conduct is plagiarism, which the
Code defines as “the presentation of the work of another person as one’s own or without prop-
er acknowledgement.” This includes material copied word for word from books, journals, In-
ternet sites, professor’s course notes, etc. It refers to material that is paraphrased but closely
resembles the original source. It also includes for example the work of a fellow student, an an-
swer on a quiz, data for a lab report, a paper or assignment completed by another student. It
might be a paper purchased from any source. Plagiarism does not refer to words alone –it can
refer to copying images, graphs, tables and ideas. “Presentation” is not limited to written work.
It includes oral presentations, computer assignment and artistic works. Finally, if you translate
the work of another person into any other language and do not cite the source, this is also pla-
giarism.
(Source: The Academic Integrity Website: concordia.ca/students/academic-integrity )

Important Academic Dates

Monday, 20 January is the deadline for withdrawal with tuition refund from winter term
courses.
Monday, 23 March is the last day for academic withdrawal from winter term courses.

Grading Values
Le#er Grade Numeric GPA
Range
A+ 90-100 4.30
A 85-89 4.00
A- 80-84 3.70
B+ 77-79 3.30
B 73-76 3.00
B- 70-72 2.70
C+ 67-69 2.30
C 63-66 2.00
C- 60-62 1.70
D+ 57-59 1.30
D 53-56 1.00
D- 50-52 0.70
FNS (see below) 40 0
R (see below) 20 0
Course Outline

Week 1: Introduction
7 January: Introduction to the course
9 January: “It’s Better to Write Than Be a Writer” and “How to Become a Writer” by Lorrie
Moore

Week 2: Literary Criticism

14 January: “What Makes Interpretation Acceptable?” by Stanley Fish
16 January: “The Flash of Fireflies” by Nadine Gordimer

Week 3: Gothic
21 January: “The Yellow Wallpaper” by Charlotte Perkins Gilman
23 January: “The Fall of the House of Usher” by Edgar Allen Poe

Week 4: Psychological Realism

28 January: “The Figure in the Carpet” by Henry James
30 January: “Xingu” by Edith Wharton

Week 5: Modernism, Writing Workshop

4 February: Writing Workshop
6 February:“The Mark on the Wall” and “Kew Gardens” by Virginia Woolf
(Midterm Proposal Due Today)

Week 6: More Modernism

11 February: “The Secret Sharer” by Joseph Conrad
13 February: “The Garden Party” by Katherine Mansfield

Week 7: Science Fiction

11 February: “Vaster Than Empires and More Slow” by Ursula K. Le Guin
13 February: “Bloodchild” by Octavia Butler (Midterm Paper Due Today)

Week 8: Reading Week

Week 9: Postmodernism
3 March: "Pierre Menard, Author of the Quixote” by Jorge Luis Borges
5 March: “The Phantom of the Opera’s Friend” by Donald Barthelme

Week 10: Magical Realism

10 March: “Pterodactyl” by Mahasweta Devi
12 March: “Two Words” by Isabel Allende

Week 11: Metafiction

17 March: “Lost in the Funhouse” by Roland Barthes
19 March: “Good Old Neon” by David Foster Wallace (Final Paper Proposal due today)
Week 12: Indigeneity and Colonialism
24 March: “Good Story, That One” by Thomas King
26 March: “treaties” and “it takes an ocean not to break” by Leanne Betasamosake Simpson

Week 13: Close Third Person

31 March: “The Golden Vanity” by Ben Lerner
2 April: “Cat Person” by Kristen Roupenian 

Week 14: Beyond the Short Story

7 April: selections from @dril
9 April: course wrap up, final paper discussion

Final Paper due 20 April

Resources For Students

Please be aware of the following resources:

Advocacy and Support Services http://advocacy.concordia.ca/toc-text.html


Centre for Mature Students http://relish.concordia.ca/cms/
Concordia Counselling and Development http://cdev.concordia.ca/
New Student Program http://newstudent.concordia.ca/
Office for Students with Disabilities http://advocacy.concordia.ca/disabled/disabled.html

Please also be aware of Concordia’s academic Code of Conduct: http://relish.concordia.ca/

Legal_Counsel/policies/english/AC/Code.html.

If you have any further concerns or questions, please feel free to come speak with me directly,
email me at david.shaw@concordia.ca, or to set an appointment to meet at my office.