ENGL 394-500 (Spring 2001)
The British Short Story

Texts:

• Thomas Hardy, Outside the Gates of the World (Everyman Paperback Classics)
• James Joyce, Dubliners (Penguin/Viking Critical Edition)
• D. H. Lawrence, Selected Short Stories (Modern Library)
• Katherine Mansfield, Stories (Vintage)
• H. G. Wells, Complete Short Stories (Orion)
• Virginia Woolf, The Haunted House and Other Stories (Harvest)
• Selection of stories available at Notes N' Quotes. Includes stories by John Collier, Arthur Conan Doyle, Rhys Davies, Eric Linklater, T.F. Powys, Muriel Spark, R.L. Stevenson, William Trevor, Sylvia Townsend Warner, Angus Wilson, Malachi Whitaker, etc.

Requirements:

1. Timely preparation of reading assignments and active participation in class discussion
2. Mid-semester exam [20%]
3. Final exam [50%]
4. A substantial paper [30%]

Course Description:

An essentially (but not exclusively) historical examination of some 'major' and 'minor' practitioners of short fiction in Britain, with representative stories by Scots, Irish, and Welsh writers. Special attention to differences in language, style, and technique. Students will be expected to draw upon relevant autobiographical, biographical, and historical materials (diaries, letters, memoirs, etc.) wherever possible, as well as upon available critical studies.

Goals:

1. To provide an overview, though not a comprehensive survey, of the short story in Britain and Ireland.
2. To learn something about narrative technique, as exemplified in the short story.
3. To introduce the student to some of the distinctive regional voices of Scottish, English, Irish, and Welsh writers.