Linked Short Stories: Examining Classic and Contemporary short Story Collections

Short story collections often gain in richness and resonance when the stories they contain are linked—whether that linkage exists in terms of community, setting, central characters, or major events.  In this course we will read Sherwood Anderson’s Winesburg, Ohio; Richard Ford’s Rock Springs; Elizabeth Strout’s Olive Kitteridge; Alice Munro’s The Beggar’s Maid; and Tim O’Brien’s The Things They Carried.  We will read to become experts in how individual stories are constructed and how they then build upon themselves.  Students will write two 7–8 page papers examining theme and technique.  As well, student will do some writing exercises that illuminate how these writers are achieving their effects.