英语短篇小说赏析教学大纲2013-2014
英语短篇小说赏析
教学大纲与教学计划
英美短篇小说赏析是一门专业素质教育任选课,供英语专业高年级学生选读。通过阅读和分析英语小说,促进学生语言基本功和人文素养的提高,增强学生对英语文学和西方文化的了解。
David LIN – Associate Prof, Master of ARTS 2014/2/23
目录
Course Introduction ................................................................................................... 1 Course Objectives ...................................................................................................... 1 Course Related Information: ...................................................................................... 1 Teaching Schedule: .................................................................................................... 2 Recommended Text Book .......................................................................................... 3 Assessment Summary................................................................................................ 3 Assessments .............................................................................................................. 7
Assessment 1. Contrast Two Short Stories.......................................................... 7
Stories Analysis Worksheet ........................................................................ 8 Marking Guide ........................................................................................... 9 Assessment 2 Read, study and analyse short Stories ........................................ 10 Assessment 3. Story Writing ............................................................................ 14
Course Introduction
A short story is usually a brief fictional narrative in prose concentrated on a single effect, for example, the creation of mood rather than the telling of a story, which is conveyed in a single significant episode or scene and involving a limited number of characters, sometimes even only one, with words of 3000 to 20000 in general. Whether long or short, a work of fiction is usually made up of certain identifiable devices or elements, each of which contributes to the making of an integrated and unified whole. In relation to the major elements of fiction, we generally refer to plot, character, setting, point of view, theme, style, tone, symbolism and allegory. This course is designed to introduce these fundamental elements to the students who major in English Literature in detail with illustrative readings provided so that they may be better able to analyse, understand and appreciate what they are reading.
Course Objectives
- Apply Fiction approaches to contrast two different short stories. The approaches may include but not limited to: plot, characters, setting, point of view, theme, style, tone, symbolism, and allegory.
- Apply Fiction approaches to analyse a short story. - Write a short story (a slice of life) applying the approaches.
Course Related Information:
Course Code 41070103
Course Name: Appreciation of English Short Stories Credits 1.5 Teaching Hours 24 Major English Course Feature Elective Revised Feb 2014
Teaching Schedule:
Week
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Content
Title
Plot Characters Setting Point of view Theme
Fiction Studies
Author(s) Stephen Crane Amy Tam Jack London Ernest Hemingway Leslie Silko
Home Readings
Christmas Day in the morning (Pearl S. Buck) The Catbird Seat (James Thurber) A Horseman in the Sky (Ambrose Bierce) The Broken Globe (Henry Kreisel) Rain (W. Somerset Maugham)
The Bride Comes to Yellow Sky Two Kinds To Build a Fire
A Clean, Well-lighted Place Yellow Woman
Assessment 1: Contrast two short stories from the home readings by analysing plot, characters, settings, point of view and themes. 30% Style Tone
My Oedipus Complex The Horse Dealer’s Daughter
Frank O’Connor D. H. Lawrence
Haircut (Ring Lardner) Luck (Mark Twain)
Assessment 2. Analysing Mark Twain’s story – Luck. Write an analysis essay discussing the story’s plot characters, setting, point of view, theme, style and tone. Word limit: 1200 (30%)
10 11 12
Symbolism Allegory
The Chrysanthemums Old Rogaum and his Theresa
John Steinbeck Theodore Dreiser
The Egg (Sherwood Anderson)
Everything that Rises must converge (F. O’Connor)
Assessment 3. Write a short story based on your own slice of life, applying the fiction approaches of plot characters, setting, point of view, theme, style, tone, symbolism, and allegory. Length: two pages of A4 size, 40%
2
Recommended Text Book
Liuchen, LIN (2009) An Approach to Fiction (2nd Edition), Shanghai: Shanghai Foreign
Language Education Press
Assessment Summary
Assessment Requirement
Percentage Due date One Contrast two short stories in analysing five 30%
Week 6 作业号:
approaches: plot, characters, settings, 4月4日 311632
point of view, and themes.
23:59
Complete the worksheet in no less than 1000 words
Two Analyse one given short story, and write an 30%
Week 9 作业号:
essay discuss about plot, characters, 4月25日 311636
setting, point of view, themes, style, and 23:59
tone.
Word limit: 1200
Three Write your own short story (slice of your 40%
Week12 作业号:
life), applying the fiction approach by plot, 5月16日 311638
characters, setting, point of view, themes, 23:59
style, tone, symbolism, and allegory. Use MS Word processor to complete your descriptive writing. Your work should be no less than two A4 size pages, using the font of Time and New Roman in font size of 12, by 1.5 spacing line.
All the assessments must be uploaded online. First, student has to sign-up online.
Click here to sign up
To sign up you must provide true information, your real Chinese name, real student ID and select institute name and your cell-phone number. 注意,在注册时,学生一定要提供真实信息。认真填写邮箱(需要激活),填写常用密码(一定要记住密码,学生忘记密码要自己找回,否则作业按0分计)。同时提供真实姓名和学生学号,所在班级如1101,并选择学校(吉林省,吉林化工学院)。学生要提供手机号码,在老师批改时有问题而已联系你。最后输入验证码,并点击注册键。
进入下一页面后,要到邮箱里激活。然后进入批改网。
输入作业码,并点击查找。
Assessments
1
Appreciation of English Short Stories
Assessment 1. Contrast Two Short Stories
Marks: 30%
Due Date: Week 6
Complete the worksheet in no less than 1000 words
15-19% 20-24% 25-30%
Contrast TWO short stories from the following:
Christmas Day in the morning (Pearl S. Buck) The Catbird Seat (James Thurber) A Horseman in the Sky (Ambrose Bierce) The Broken Globe (Henry Kreisel) Rain (W. Somerset Maugham)
Stories Analysis Worksheet
Analysis Story A Story B Approach
Title Title Author
Author Plot
Characters
Setting
Point of view
Theme
Word Limit
500
500
Marking GuideAnalysis Approach Story A Title Author Plot Characters Setting Point of view Theme Word Limit Overall Evaluation Total % Final Course Mark 5% 10% 5% 10% 10% Story B Title Author 5% 10% 5% 10% 10% 10% 10% 100% 30 marks9
241070103Appreciation of English Short StoriesAssessment 2 Read, study and analyse short StoriesMarks: 30%Due Date: Week 9You should answer ONE of the questions in this booklet.15-19%20-24%25-30%10
Write about at least TWO short stories (one of them must be LUCK from Mark Twain, and one from your home reading list except the one you have used in assessment 1).At the beginning of your answer: • write the question number • give the titles of the story • name the author(s).Choose ONE question. Write no less than 1000 words for your answer. Where there are two parts to the question, make sure you ANSWER BOTH PARTS. Support your discussion with specific evidence from at least TWO stories.1.Analyse how the stories you have studied created a strong impression of people OR places OR issues AND why these impressions were important to each text as a whole. How was the structure OR style OR language of the stories you have studied particularly original or unusual AND why was this effective? Describe important symbols in the stories you have studied AND analyse how the symbols helped develop important ideas. ‘A successful story must affect the heart as well as the head.’ Analyse methods used to affect both feelings and thoughts in the stories you have studied. Identify what you consider to be the author’s main purpose in producing each of the stories you have studied AND explore, in depth, one or two main techniques used to achieve this purpose. Analyse methods used to make the stories you have studied believable or persuasive.2.3.4.5.6.7.Analyse techniques used to show changes in main characters or individuals in the stories you have studied AND why these changes were important to each story as a whole.11
Short storiesQuestion number:________ Title (A): LUCK Author: Mark TwainTitle (B): __________________________________________________________________ Author: ___________________________________________________________________Note: Refer to at least TWO texts of the same genre. Planning: (draft your writing outline here)12
Begin your answer here: (1200 words)13
341070103Appreciation of English Short StoriesAssessment 3. Story WritingMarks: 40%Due Date: Week 12 in-class submission, print copy onlyComplete the worksheet in no less than two pages of A4 size paper. Font: Time & New Roman; Font Size: 12; Spacing Line: 1.5.20-25%26-34%35-40%14
EXPERIENTIAL writing is based on your own EXPERIENCESTopic:WINNING1.Write a narrative/descriptive story loosely based on your own experience of winning. There are many aspects of winning that you could consider on which to base your story. For example Winning a game Winning a contest/competition Winning a prize Winning a booby prize Winning an award Winning a trophy Winning a bet Winning an argument Winning a lot of money Not winning any of the above Having a winning idea Finding a winning solution Looking like a winner Being part of a winning team Having a winning personality Winning out over competition Winning a person over Picking a winner Wanting to be a winner Nearly winning Hating a winnerIn your story, we can easily find nine elements of the fiction approach, i.e. plot, character, setting, theme, point of view, style, tone, symbolism, and allegory. You should apply all the writing skills in your story writing.2.At the top of your answer, write your THESIS - in narrative writing this is15
usually called a THEME. You could view the theme as: the point about life being made the lesson learned the value of the experience the moral, etc.Your theme should say something truthful about the experience you describe and may be EITHER implicit OR explicit. The best stories often have an implicit theme. 3. Remember that the best stories will SHOW rather than tell FOCUS on one incident rather than many CONTAIN dialogue to assist characterisation and theme AVOID overt or explicit explanation/reflection USE language precisely CHOOSE revealing details END on a high point.FINAL CHECK:Have you …1 4 5 6 7. 8.Specified your topic/thesis as required? Written FINAL copies ONLY? Proof-read, edited and polished your writing? Font: Time & New Roman / size in 12/ line spacing 1.5? Included your ID Number and your name at the top of every page? numbered your page?16