100年第2學期-0178 文討：探索短篇小說 課程資訊

評分方式

評分項目	配分比例	說明
One turn at Lead class discussion with questions prepared the week prior	10
A midterm essay (3-5 pages) on the theme of “discovery” related to one of the Chekhov stories.	30
A final critical paper (3-5 pages) comparing one of Chekhov’s stories to any other we have read in the second half of the term.	30
Regular participation.	30

教育目標

1. To understand qualities of short fiction, especially the short story, as distinct from the novel. 2. To recognize elements of modernity in short fiction since Chekhov. 3. To improve their critical reading and speaking about modern fiction. 4. To improve their essay writing skills.

課程概述

Anton Chekhov (1860-1904) did not invent the short story in its modern form, but in his incredibly productive career he help perfect it and remains one of the most widely-read short-story writers in the world. Chekhov began writing as a medical student in Moscow (1879-1884) while also supporting his entire family (as he did for his entire, brief, life). The genre was thus perfectly suited to his needs as a busy doctor, but one who cared for his art. Typically, his gift was to create an immediate problem – without foregrounding – for his characters, and then building the story to a moment of sudden insight. This awareness – this discovery – was instantaneous, and might be available to a central character, the reader, the narrator – or to all, at once. It is this moment of discovery that we shall attempt to investigate for ourselves, and define it, or describe it, to the best of our abilities. In the second half of the semester we will read a selection of stories by later writers concentrating especially on those who were influenced by Chekhov or whose works bears remarkable and provocative comparisons to his. Most of these stories are “realistic,” in a sense Chekhov would have accepted and understood, but a few stretch the limits of “reality,” as Chekhov also most certainly did on occasion.

基本資料

選修課，學分數：0-2
上課時間：五/3,4[LAN001]
修課班級：外文系3,4
修課年級：年級以上
選課備註：須填寫文討申請表 12/26截止申請

參考書目

Anton Chekhov, “Oysters” (1884), “The Huntsman” (1885), “Misery” (1886), “Anyuta,”
(1886), “Agatha” (1886), “A Gentleman Friend” (1886), “Dreams” (1886), “Vanka” (1886), “Sleepy” (1888), “In Exile” (1892), “Rothchild’s Fiddle” (1894) “The Student” (1894), “The Man in the Case” (1898), “Gooseberries” (1898), “About Love” (1898), “The Lady with the Dog” (1899), “The Bishop” (1902)
Willa Cather, “Paul’s Case” (1905); James Joyce, “A Painful Case” (1914); Katherine Mansfield, “The Garden Party” (1922); Virginia Woolf, “Kew Gardens” (1921) and “The Duchess and the Jeweler” (1944); W. Somerset Maugham, “The Happy Man” (1924); Frank O’Connor, “Guests of the Nation” (1931); Ernest Hemmingway, “The Short, Happy Life of Francis MacComber” (1936); John Cheever, “Good-bye, My Brother” (1953) and “The Five-Forty-Eight” (1953); Flannery O’Connor, “The River” (1953); “Everything That Rises Must Converge” (1961); J. D. Salinger, “A Perfect Day for Bananafish” (1948), “For Esmé – with Love and Squalor” (1950); Ursula K. Le Guin, “The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas” (1975); Philip K. Dick, “I Hope I Shall Arrive Soon” (1980); Raymond Carver, “Cathedral” (1983). Alice Munro, “Boys and Girls” (1968); “How I Met My Husband” (1974).