Reading and Writing Short Stories: Learning from the American Tradition module (EN31030)

This module will be suitable for you whether you are studying creative writing or literature.

Our reading will include familiar names such as F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway, as well as writers you may be discovering for the first time.

We will read love stories, science fiction, stories about immigration and the traumas of war, stories of Gothic horror, stories of sexualities, and much more. The longest story may take you an hour to read, while the shortest is just 35 words long!

What you will learn

In this module, you will:

• gain an overview of the history of American literature from the end of the 19th century to the present
• practice slow, close reading of texts from different periods and genres
• develop your creative writing and editing skills
• learn how critics approach the short story as a genre
• hone your skills of close reading and analysis
• develop a sophisticated understanding of how good writers also need to be good readers
• learn how to interact with others in class and online, sharing ideas and giving feedback in a safe, respectful, and inclusive environment
• learn how to show a critical appreciation of the range and scope of the American short story from the late 19th century to the present

By the end of this module, you will be able to:

• show an appreciation of the range and scope of the American short story
• evidence an understanding of the terms of current debates in the study of the short story
• show an understanding of the formal construction of short stories
• analyse a range of American short stories, combining critical focus and close analysis
• engage in-depth with a series of critical debates surrounding the reading and writing of the short story
• integrate theoretical and critical modes of analysis in the production of critical or creative work

Assignments / assessment

• close reading essay - 2,000 words (40%)
• final essay for literature students only - 3,000 words (60%)
• creative submission for creative writing students only - 3,000 words (60%)

Teaching methods / timetable

• Each week, you will have a one-hour lecture
  • this introduces you to key concepts and ideas that we will then discuss in depth during the seminar
• Each week you will have a two-hour seminar
  • will include a creative writing workshop, where work written by our creative writing students will be shared and discussed