Department of English

This intro to fiction class offers a sampling of short stories, self-contained novel excerpts, and basic fiction theory focused specifically on understanding story mechanics and learning how to read actively. This means asking three questions of every assigned story and every student-authored piece of writing: A.) What is the writer trying to say? B.) What did the writer do that successfully communicated their ideas? C.) How could the writer revise the piece to better communicate their ideas? This class has three core components: reading, writing/revision, and discussion. Students will participate in weekly in-class free-writing prompts/discussion questions, write three 7-to-10 page short stories, one of which will be a revision of a work already submitted in class. A final portfolio collecting the students entire written output will be due at semester's end. Required texts: Halpern, Daniel, ed. The Art of the Story: An International Anthology of Contemporary Short Stories. Instructor: Brando Skyhorse