No Reading Room for Tuesday.
When we get together this Thursday, let’s talk about Edwige Danticat’s short story, “Night Talkers.” (Available in our handy-dandy course anthology.).
Also, don’t forget about our final class assignment/project: “My Short Story Anthology.” New due date: Tuesday, December 14, midnight.
Welcome back! I hope you enjoyed your fall recess.
Tuesday is Reading Room day!
Thursday, we’ll return to discussing Bryan Washington’s collection – – Lot. For Thursday, let’s focus our discussion on these four stories: “Elgin,” “610 North, 610 West,” “Navigation” and “Bayou.”
Finally, I’ve written up our final project/assignment: “My Short Story Anthology.” See all the details here.
Tuesday, November 16, is – – you guessed it: Reading Room day.
For next Thursday, November 18, you’ll want to read Bryan Washington’s fantastic short story collection – – Lot. If you can’t read the whole thing, delve as far into the collection as you can.
Remember: due today, November 11, at midnight is your third reflection essay. See my previous post for details about how to successfully craft this reflection.
For those who are interested, I’ll be teaching two whiz-bang, super-dank classes next semester: English 465: Post-Apocalyptic [PA] Fiction and English 630: Literature of Labor. English 465 will be entirely online; English 630 – – for now- – is scheduled as “hybrid,” i.e. one class session online and the other in-person. (This latter arrangement may change, i.e. to completely online.) Here’s a link to a previous version of English 465 – – I’ll be making some adjustments to the syllabus, shifting a text or two on/off the reading list etc. (If you have any five-star recommendations in the PA genre to suggest, please do! I’m always looking for new reads and new classroom instigations.) The Lit. of Labor course is always fun and may expose you to stories you might otherwise miss out on. Link to one previous version of English 630 can be found here.
Tuesday is Reading Room day!
Thursday, we’ll talk about Gish Jen’s classic short story – – “In the American Society.” (Available in our best-selling class anthology.)
Reminder: Our next reflection essay is due Thursday, November 11, at midnight. (See previous post for a description of this version of the reflection essay.)
For Thursday, let’s talk about Louise Erdrich’s short story, “The Leap.” (This can be found in our handy, dandy online textbook.)
For our next reflection essay, I’m going to adopt a suggestion from one of your fellow students. The rules are these: select two stories from your Reading Room adventures; choose one of our “formal” categories – – plot, character, or setting. Compare and contrast each of your chosen story’s use of this category. As usual, no more than two pages (appended to your reading journal). This reflection will be due: Thursday, November 4, at midnight. (I am, of course, willing to be flexible about this date so long as we all agree on a common date. To be discussed in class tomorrow.)
For Thursday, October 21, read: Edwige Danticat’s “Night Talkers” and Kelly Link’s “The Hortlak.” (Both available in our class textbook.) We can decide which story we really want to focus on for our next zoom session on October 21.
Remember: no official zoom session on Thursday, October 14. I’ll be BART’ing, flying, and driving all day Thursday. (You are of course welcome to hang out in the zoom room during our regularly scheduled hours.)
Remember: your “This story is better than Shrek because . . . ” reflection piece is due by Thursday, October 14, at midnight.
Between Thursday, October 14, and Thursday, October 21, try to read the two stories on our syllabus: Edwige Danticat’s “Night Talkers” and Kelly Link’s “The Hortlak.” (Both available in our class textbook.) We can decide which story we really want to focus on for our next zoom session on October 21.
As usual, keep visiting the Reading Room and maintaining your reading journals – – due every Tuesday by 5 p.m. or so.
I should have internet etc. during my journey (though I may not be able to check email etc. as frequently as normal) – – i.e. feel free to email me with questions etc.
“As my father steered the Oldsmobile and I sat in the back reading a comic book, my mother worked on her makeup.” – – Viet Thanh Nguyen, “War Years”
“Mrs. Hoa drove a small Datsun sedan the color of an egg yolk, peppered with flakes of rust.” – – Viet Thanh Nguyen, “War Years”
Tuesday is Reading Room day! And, for Thursday, we’ll be talking about Viet Thanh Nguyen’s short story, “War Years.”
[Random video – – Southern Culture on the Skids with “Grey Days” – – inspired by Mariam’s Zombies earworm.]