ENG201: Critical Approaches to Fiction

Visit http://www.10families.com/ for an excellent exhibit of ten American families.

"Family Affair": Investigating the Fictional American Family

Don't forget to post to the message boards for Weeks Nine and Ten!!!

We will approach the study of fiction by putting it in the context of the American family. In addition to reading and analyzing the books listed below, we will be watching several sitcoms, including Family Ties, The Cosby Show, Will and Grace, Frasier, and Cheers. We will examine all of these texts in the context of formal fictional characteristics, such as narrative and theme. We will be thinking about how the American family has been shaped and reshaped in the last century. My hope is that you will not only learn more about fiction, but also about the American family and its many manifestations. The course will conclude with the showing of the film Boogie Nights.

You can purchased the following books at any of our local bookstores or super cheap at half.com. I used half and saved $60. You may choose any edition of the books. Click on the links for more information about the authors and their works.

• Toni Morrison, Beloved
• Wallace Stegner, Big Rock Candy Mountain
• Stephen King, The Shining
• Dorothy Allison, Bastard Out of Carolina
• Joyce Carol Oates, We Were the Mulvenys
• Barbara Kingsolver, The Bean Trees

Throughout the course of this quarter, I will be drawing on several different texts to help further our understanding of fiction and the American family. If you feel like you need more information, please refer to the following texts:

• Wayne C. Booth, Rhetoric of Fiction
• Stephanie Coontz, ed. American Families: A Multicultural Reader
• Stephanie Coontz, The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap
• Wallace Martin, Recent Theories of Narrative
• Paul Colby, Narrative (The New Critical Idiom)

I have given all of the assignments for this course equal weight because I thin that they are all important to your learning this quarter.

Reading Quizzes 25%

On the day that each book is due, there will be a reading quiz that will cover the entire book. I do not ask ridiculously specific questions, but rather, I ask short essay questions. There will typically be five questions that focus on main themes or concepts in each book. You cannot make up a quiz. If you know in advance that you will not be in class on the day of the quiz, then you must make arrangements with me. There will be no exceptions to this policy. You may bring your books and any notes that you have taken during your reading to class to use during the quiz.

Discussion Board Posts 25%

Every Friday between 12:01a.m. and 11:59 p.m., you will be required to post tot he online class discussion board. your messages there must be further speculations about the books and sitcoms that we have been discussion all week. You should not just reiterate what we have discussed in class, but rather come up with your own ideas and reflections about those texts. It is up to to you decide whether you want to post an original thread or follow up on what someone else has written; however, at least twice during the quarter, you must post an original message.

Mid-Term Exam 25%

For the mid-term exam, you will bring together all of the materials of the course, including the books and the sitcoms. You will not be asked factual and summary questions like those on the book quizzes; instead, you will be asked questions that make you synthesize that material. Most of the quizzes will require that you draw on tow or more texts and that you look back on our class discussion for support. We will decide the format for this exam as a class. There are many options: in-class exam, out -of-class exam, group exams, and exam questions in advance.

Reflective Essay 25%

The reflective essay is the capstone project of the course. You will focus on the texts we have discussed in class, class discussions, and the posts that you have made to the message boards. Even more so than the mid-term exam, you will bring all of these elements to bear in thinking about this final project. You will receive more specific information about this essay as we grow closer to the end of the course. Your essay should be 4-5 double-spaced pages (Times New Roman).

The Spring Literary Festival, which brings in wonderful, well-known writers each year, will be in May. You will be able to earn extra credit by attending and writing a brief essay, approximately one page, about the person(s) that you heard read. There are multiple times available, and I will give you more information about the participants and their scheduled reading times as we get closer to the presentation dates.

I do not except late assignments. EVER. If you know in advance that you will not be in class on the day that an assignment is due, then please see me. We can make arrangements.

As the first part of this syllabus makes clear, your attendance in this course is crucial; however, I know that people get sick or need to go on an interview or just can't wake up on time. Given that, you can miss class four times, that it is a while week of class, before it will count against you. After the fourth absence, your final grade will be lowered by 1/3. For example, if your final grade is a B+ and you miss class six times, then your final grade will become a B-. Although I do not take attendance by calling roll each day, do not think that I am not keeping track of your absences. Your quizzes and your other participation will be noticed and recorded. Also, it is in your best interest to attend class regularly, because may items, such as paper due dates and quiz dates will change according to where we are as a class. I will not remind yo of these changes, so you must be aware of when assignments change.

Click on each board below to read what others in the class have written this week and to make your post.

Week One

Week Two

Week Three

Week Five

Week Seven

Week Eight

Week Nine

Week Ten