We will read and discuss an assortment of novels and short stories written by American authors in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Students will be expected to attend class and take part in open discussions of the readings. Written work will consist of a series of between five and ten short in-class essays written in response to study questions handed out in advance. Half the final grade will be based on these papers; half will be based on contributions to class discussion.

Texts: Milton Crane, ed., FIFTY GREAT AMERICAN SHORT STORIES; Wallace Stegner, ed., GREAT AMERICAN SHORT STORIES; Nathaniel Hawthorne, THE HOUSE OF THE SEVEN GABLES; John Steinbeck, EAST OF EDEN; James Baldwin, GO TELL IT ON THE MOUNTAIN; and Anne Tyler, A PATCHWORK PLANET