“To Make a Long Story Short”--Encompassing Larger Worlds within Smaller Frames

In this course we will focus on the close reading and analysis of artistically compelling short stories, personal narratives, and reportage. We will read short works crafted by leading 20th and 21st century writers such as Joyce, Hemingway, Lu Xun, Kafka, Borges, Maugham, Orwell, Nabokov, Baldwin, Proulx, Munro, and Murakami. Divergent theoretical perspectives will be considered and contrasted.