eng242 week 1clean

ENG242 The Short Story

Week 1 OutlineWeek 1 Topics The prose tale

Week 1 Tasks

I. Getting StartedGetting Started QuizIntroductory Discussion

II. ResourcesFoster:

- Chapters 1, 11Charters:

- Nathaniel Hawthorne - “Young Goodman Brown”- Edgar Allan Poe - “Cask of Amontillado”; “Tell-Tale Heart”; “The Importance of

the Singe Effect in a Prose Tale”Lectures 1, 2, 3

III. Activities Discussion 1Discussion 2Assignment

Week 1 Calendar

MondayDay 1

TuesdayDay 2

WednesdayDay 3

ThursdayDay 4

FridayDay 5

SaturdayDay 6

SundayDay 7

Due Getting Started Quiz

Due Introductory Discussion

ReadFoster: Ch. 1

ReadCharters: “Young Goodman Brown”;

Due Discussion 1

ReadFoster: Ch. 11

ReadLecture 3

DueDiscussion 2

Due Assignment

DueDiscussion Forum Secondary Posts

“The Cask of Amontillado”; “The Tell-Tale Heart”; “The Importance of the Single Effect in a Prose Tale”

ReadLectures 1, 2


Getting Started QuizImportant Information for a Successful Learning ExperienceThe links under the Course Information area as well as those under Welcome on the Moodle Home page contain vital information about the course and University requirements, policies, and procedures. Review the following resources:

- Online Learning Basics- How to Access TU Email- Course Syllabus- Late Policy- Course Policies- Course Calendar- Rubrics

Reviewing this information at the beginning of each term will help you prepare for the requirements of each course. While much of the information may be the same, some courses have a different set of rubrics, different late policy, or different due dates for assignments. Find out this information early on so that you can plan your time accordingly.

Completing This Task

1. Take the quiz by clicking on the Attempt quiz now button below.2. After completing all the questions, click on Submit all and finish to submit the

quiz for grading. If you need to save your answers and return to the quiz at a later time to complete it, click on Save without submitting.

3. You will be taken to a screen to check what was correct and what was marked as incorrect. After you review your answers, click on the Finish review button. You may retake the quiz if you wish.

Assessment and GradingThis activity will be graded automatically in Moodle.

Learning Outcome(s): n/a

Due Date: By midnight on Day 1


Introductory DiscussionWelcome to English 242 – The Short Story! Please introduce yourself to the class. Share with other students a little about yourself. Add questions that deal with the course topics (e.g. Are you an English major? Are you an aspiring writer? Are you an avid reader? Are you a fan of the short story?) This is a great way to learn and share more about each other as we begin this class together. Also, feel free to attach a picture of yourself.

Completing This Task

To Post Your Initial Response:1. Click the Respond button below.2. On the Respond screen, enter a descriptive title in the Subject area, and type

your posting in the Message box.3. Answer the question(s) in complete sentences. Be as detailed as possible to

answer the prompt thoroughly.4. Be sure to check your spelling, grammar, and punctuation. (Note: You can also

type your answer into a word processor and copy and paste it into the Message screen. This will also help to check your word count.)

5. Click the Post to forum button to submit your posting.

To Post Follow-up Responses to Your Peers:1. On the original discussion screen, postings will appear below at the bottom of

page. Choose the posting that you want to reply to by clicking on its title.2. The posting will open on another screen. Click the Reply link in the lower right-

hand corner of the posting.3. The Editing screen will appear. Please note that the title is already filled in from

your peer’s original posting. This is how the system keeps track of the discussion threads. Type your response in the Message box. Be sure to check your spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

4. Click the Post to forum button to submit your response.

Assessment and Grading

Writing Requirements - Initial Post Length: 150-200 words- Secondary Post Length: minimum of 100 words per post

Learning Outcome(s): n/a

Due Date: Post initial response by midnight on Day 1; respond to at least two classmates by midnight on Day 7.


ResourcesTextbooksFoster:

- Chapters 1, 11Charters:

- Nathaniel Hawthorne - “Young Goodman Brown”- Edgar Allan Poe - Cask of Amontillado”; “Tell-Tale Heart”; “The Importance of the

Single Effect in a Prose Tale”

Additional ResourcesLecture 1: Introduction to the CourseLecture 2: Foster’s First ThemesLecture 3: Edgar Allan Poe & Nathaniel Hawthorne


Lecture 1 Introduction to the CourseAs I mentioned earlier, welcome to English 242 – The Short Story. During the course of our term, we will be exploring different forms, themes, styles, and variations of the short story that will ultimately grant each of you the opportunity to better understand this short form, increase your understanding of story structure, and hone analytical skills you can apply to all story forms.

The short story is its own particular beast. As we will see, right from our first readings, simply because these stories are short doesn’t mean that they are any less important or less powerful than longer works, like novellas and novels. The short story is a specific form an author has deliberately chosen as the means to express a particular story. Broaden your mind to the world of art at large. One would never consider a painting better simply because it is large. Nor would one consider a painting insignificant because it is tiny or simple. The same could be said of music. Simply because a piece of music is played by solo artist doesn’t mean that it is any less valuable than an opera.

As we will learn from the stories we read and from Mr. Foster’s How to Read Literature Like a Professor, great authors make specific choices when constructing a story. Some authors have gone so far as to argue that each story is merely a string of choices leading the reader through a tale from its beginning to end. The choice of form is as vital to an author as the plot and characters. There have been great authors throughout history who have dabbled in both the long form and the short: Nathaniel Hawthorne, Kate Chopin, Ernest Hemmingway, Kurt Vonnegut, and Stephen King – to name a few. There have also been authors who wrote in various forms and then came to revere the short story as their preferred form, most notably Edgar Allan Poe, the subject of much of this week’s reading.

It will be our task to read each of the assigned stories closely and to do our best to insert ourselves into the worlds and characters the authors create. There will be times when these tales seem too brief, where we might wish the story continued if only to allow us to see more of the main character or because we’ve been left with unanswered questions. Other times, we will marvel at how much an author can cram in to just a few short pages. There will also be those stories that are, in point of fact, short: they fit perfectly and tidily into their dozen or so pages. How each of us experiences these ‘prose tales’ may vary greatly and that is why your reactions and interactions through our discussion questions are so critical to the class experience. Invest yourself in the stories. Draw one another’s attention to what you consider exciting, palpable, faulty, unrealistic, lovely, and expertly written.

As an additional note, answers to the discussion questions should be written with proper grammar and spelling and should be proofread prior to posting. Using the word processing program of your choice, then copying your work into the course message boards often proves a beneficial method. Such a method also gives each student a record of his or her work from throughout the course.

I’d be surprised if the full spectrum of reactions listed above didn’t take place for each one of you as we make our way through the term. Each of our reactions is valid, especially if we can back those reactions up by citing specific moments from the tales or by referencing the analytical techniques I will bring forward in the lectures and Mr. Foster will bring forth in his text.

Revisit the message boards throughout the week to read through classmates’ posts and respond. Remember that debate and disagreement is perfectly fine. We each have our own opinions: that’s part of what will make this course so interesting. However, be sure to still be considerate of one another when voicing disagreement.

There’s a great selection of stories ahead of us. I hope you will enjoy the class and take away a newfound respect for the short story when the course ends.


Lecture 2 Foster’s First Themes

Every Trip Is A Quest (Except When It’s Not)As Foster so rightly points out in both the title and concluding moments of Chapter 1, there is no such thing as ‘always,’ ‘every,’ ‘never,’ or ‘none’ in the world of literature. As soon as a literary ‘rule’ or ‘technique’ is established, it seems there is an author who immediately challenges it or even proves the rule to be utterly false. Thus, we must take the themes presented throughout Foster’s text as jumping off points, not hard and fast restrictions that apply to each tale we read.

That being said, Foster does an expert job of boiling down some of the primary elements of any story into a basic list that we will see applies (with varying degrees of success) to even the first week’s stories. For our purposes, it is perhaps most valuable to think (nearly) every story we read to be a ‘quest’ or ‘journey.’ Consequently, we can start analyzing each tale by first looking for the following ingredients:

A) “a quester” (Foster 3) – Usually the main character who sets out on a mission at the start of the story. We can consider this character the ‘protagonist.’ Often, people equate this word with “hero;” often that proves true. But the official definition of protagonist is a character who is trying to accomplish something. (Foster 3)

B) “a place to go” (Foster 3) – Where is this protagonist headed? What is the goal?

C) “a stated reason to get there” (Foster 3) – The key word here is “stated.” Often, the protagonist will come right out and say ‘why’ he or she is on the mission.

D) “challenges and trials en route” (Foster 3) – These are the obstacles the character meets along the way. As you’ll hear time and again, “without conflict, there is no drama.” If a character were to say, “Today I am going to buy a car.” Then simply head to the show room and bought one, if nothing else, the story would lack interest. The obstacles, challenges, and trials – and how the protagonist faces them – often prove to be the most thrilling and interesting parts of any story. Furthermore it is through these challenges and trials that the reason for the mission stated in step “C” may change, leading us to step “E.”

E) the “real reason to go” (Foster 3) – Why steps “C” & “E” differ can be the most crucial elements of a story. When a character sticks to the mission but changes his or her reason for accomplishing the mission, we have to ask ourselves if that means the entire mission has changed. Often we have to step back and ask ourselves whether we need to go back and evaluate the original mission.

Foster then writes “The real reason for the quest never involves the stated reason” (Foster 3). I, for one, must immediately call this statement into question – and I am interested to see your reactions – simply because of Edgar Allan Poe. When reading Poe’s stories this week, in addition to the other parts of his story we’ll analyze, ask yourself whether his protagonists change the reasons for their missions.

What we can ponder, as we move forward and begin to analyze this term’s stories, is whether “The Real Reason To Go” (Foster 3) changes or whether it is something entirely different Perhaps, for example, the protagonist misunderstood the mission in the first place. Or, it could be that there are two characters on different missions and their collision sets off an entirely different plot.

Other times, it is simply a question of changing one’s methods. A protagonist may stick to his or her goal and reasons. But, due to the challenges and obstacles, the protagonist may have to change how he or she plans to succeed: the mission remains, but the route is altered.

Consider Foster an entry point for analysis. One doesn’t have to agree with his theories. But take them into account when studying a story and see whether what he says applies. If not, discussing what is taking place instead is a great way to begin delving deeper.

… More Than It’s Gonna Hurt You: Concerning ViolenceIt would be impossible to have a week where we covered Edgar Allan Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne without discussing violence. Both authors, as you will see from their stories and from my lecture about them, wrote particularly dark tales that often turned incredibly violent. Thus, discussing the use of violence in stories is crucial.

Foster covers all sorts of violence, including their literal or symbolic meanings. Perhaps it is best to start at the end of Foster’s remarks and work through them in a slightly different order.

As readers, it is perhaps most helpful to enlarge our ideas of violence and what falls under that umbrella. Physical brutality and murder are the first notions that come to mind when discussing violence. They are perhaps the most obvious and given that we have entire sections of bookstores now that purely deal with crime, murder, and horror as their own genres, it’s no wonder we think this way.

Consider the mystery story: if I were to say to you, “I’m reading a mystery,” would you assume that someone in the book must have done something violent – “whodunit” is the question? Or would you say, “Oh, is it the mystery of where you left your keys?” We’ve allowed physical violence and what Foster describes as “person to person” violence to become our dominant thought. With the two authors we’re studying this week – that isn’t the worst perspective!

However, for the course as a whole, we need to step back and consider not just what our characters are doing to one another, but what the author is doing to the characters. Illness, weather, dialogue, even an ‘accident’ can be an act of violence. Certainly, given the wide breadth of stories that are out there, a character can cause any of these things

– including weather if we look at science fiction, fantasy, or mythology. But an author can throw characters into a situation where they suffer. These acts of writing a character into a painful situation can be thought of as acts of violence.

Here’s a hypothetical example: A branch falls from a tree and crushes a character, shattering his bones or cracking her skull. There’s blood everywhere. Do you only consider this act violent if another character caused that branch to fall? Or is it also violent if there was a storm and this branch snapped?

That is looking at violence from a ‘cause and outcome’ perspective. When something severe and bloody happens, labeling it violent may seem automatic. The next step is to think about the act itself. Foster mentions that stories can have countless deaths in them. Whether that death is caused by Jack the Ripper or Hurricane Katrina makes it no less violent.

But what if the act is something far simpler? Can it be as powerful?

What if a character -- Breaks your favorite piece of jewelry? Sleeps with your spouse? Locks you in a closet while the other children enjoy the only sunny day in 100 years?

The severity of violence is not necessarily equal to its effect. If we’re sitting around watching Scream each stab of the knife is obviously violent. But it is not necessarily ‘meaningful’ (or ‘symbolic’). A slap, a cruel word, or the ‘silent treatment’ can prove far crueler within our upcoming stories. In short, what Foster is telling us about violence must be taken into account for all aspects of the stories we’ll read this term: everything must be judged within the context of the story.

I assure you that the young girl locked in the closet, missing the one sunny day of her life in Ray Bradbury’s “All Summer In A Day” seems a victim of far worse violence than many of the murder victims encountered in horror stories. Is it “fair,” (Foster 90) as Foster asks, to equate this young girl missing sunshine with another character’s death? Probably not. But we are talking about literature; we are not talking about real life. We are talking about imaginary people (for the most part) living in worlds authors have constructed with expectations and priorities that differ from story to story.

This week, yes, we start with two dark authors whose acts of violence are obvious, deliberate, and bloody. But as we make our way through the course, the goal will be to seek out the smaller actions, the smaller deeds, and simply the suffering of the characters we encounter. The next step is for us to analyze how severe that violence or cruelty seems within the context of the story.

For now, let’s start with Poe and Hawthorne and see why violence, darkness, and cruelty were such essential elements to their work.


Lecture 3Edgar Allan Poe & Nathaniel HawthorneWe begin our course with two short story masters who were contemporaries and fans of one another’s work. Both Poe and Hawthorne were nineteenth century authors whose short works were published in magazines. To this day, magazines remain a great home for short stories – The New Yorker, for example, still publishes short stories in each issue. As we see from Poe’s article, celebrating Hawthorne, short stories were better known as “prose tales” during this time period.

Why is the prose tale Poe’s preference?For Poe, the short story was the form of choice because one could read it in entirety in one sitting. Novels, for the most part, are next to impossible to read straight through without taking a break of some sort. Consequently, the author can’t keep the reader invested in the piece - with the same level of attention - from start to finish. Also, with novels, the author has no control over when the reader will set the book down. Imagine a novel saying “if you’re planning on taking a break, now would be a good time.” Thus Poe, who began his creative writing career as a poet, loved the prose tale because it was the perfect size for reading “in one sitting” (Charters 979). The author could have as much command as possible of the reader’s attention and expecting that one’s work could be read in one sitting would not place an unrealistic demand on the reader.

Art and entertainment are luxuries that one incorporates between life’s many obligations. It’s an interesting notion to consider how ‘consuming’ a work of art piece by piece over long stretches of time can impact one’s appreciation of the work in its entirety. Writing is considered an art that exists in the mind of the reader. The words on the page “paint a picture,” but that picture is painted in the readers mind, not on the page. Writing a piece whose length required a reader’s mind to leave and return was unacceptable to Poe. Rather than allowing life to interrupt the appreciation of his writing, Poe opted to keep his stories short. He celebrated Nathaniel Hawthorne’s prose tales for doing the same.

Poe’s TalesEdgar Allan Poe is often considered the inventor of the ‘detective story.’ Neither “Cask of Amontillado” nor “The Tell-Tale Heart” has an investigator solving a case, but Poe wrote ‘crime stories’ with intensity and levels of description that thrust the reader into the narrator’s mind, allowing the reader to appreciate the entirety of each heinous act. From motive to aftermath, Poe’s attention to detail and his understanding of human psychology leave the author with very few questions about what took place.

I emphasize what took place because the large question one might ask, after having read one of Poe’s stories, is why?! Why on earth would a person do such an awful thing to another human being? Even though such an enormous question hangs over each of his prose tales, Poe is so committed to his narrators and their missions, that we see they have no questions about their crimes: what they intend to do, they do.

Already, we have to consider Foster’s remarks from chapter one. Do the stated reason and the real reason for Poe’s narrator’s missions differ? Do these characters change their missions? Do we find out halfway through the stories that the narrators’ intentions have changed? Were the narrators not entirely forthcoming with the truth at the tale’s onset?

These are certainly questions to consider as we analyze Poe’s work.

With both stories, Poe selects the criminal as his narrator. For some reason – possibly madness – these narrators consider themselves victims who are getting some form of revenge. In reality, this revenge is the murder of a person the narrator knows very well. Poe’s narrators are ‘familiar killers’ and his victims are ‘unsuspecting acquaintances.’ Both murders are elaborate in both their commission and in the killers’ psychological journeys: these are not thoughtless acts. Imagine what it was like for readers in the nineteenth century to have read these stories considering they were the first of their kind. There was no Silence of the Lambs or Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. There wasn’t an endless list of procedural crime shows like “Criminal Minds” exploring the motivations and minds of killers. These were firsts. They were horrifying. They were gripping. And they set a standard.

Another interesting aspect to consider, when analyzing Poe, is the use of sound. Poe began his writing career as a poet who made masterful use of rhyme. He is still considered one of the most expert poets when it comes to the use of repetition and internal rhyme – rhyming within one line of a poem. The sound of his words was always an essential ingredient. Here, with “Cask” and “Tell-Tale” we see Poe has gone further. Not only does the sound of his words matter, but also actual sounds – ringing bells, beating hearts, breathing, dripping – are everywhere. In Poe’s tales, sound is haunting and maddening. The crimes may be triggered by something or someone the narrator sees, but they linger with something the narrator hears.

Nathaniel HawthorneIn addition to “Young Goodman Brown,” Nathaniel Hawthorne is best known for having written The Scarlet Letter. Though considered a novel by modern standards, it is interesting to point out, especially in a short story class, that when Hawthorne originally finished The Scarlet Letter his editors considered it too short. He went back and wrote an enormous prologue to bring the story up to “novel length” to satisfy the publishers. But Hawthorne was known to tell readers to skip the prologue entirely and to enjoy the shorter version. In fact, when I teach The Scarlet Letter I abide Mr. Hawthorne’s wishes and tell my students to skip the prologue, as well. This was certainly a man who appreciated the value of brevity.

I mention The Scarlet Letter because I imagine many of you have either read or heard the details of that novel. If not, perhaps you’ve seen Emma Stone in Easy A – which is hardly a substitute for Hawthorne’s book, despite the fact that it is a completely entertaining movie. What one can see in any of these versions is that Hawthorne was very critical of America’s puritanical relationship with religious faith. Though a Christian, as was the vast majority of America in his time, Hawthorne despised the way in which

people were judged by religious standards citizens claimed to believe in public, but did not practice behind closed doors – or out in the dark woods.

Hawthorne used his stories to be a social critic. He used Colonial America – hundreds of years before his time – as the setting for much of his work because he considered it a place his readers automatically assumed had heightened religious pressures. Furthermore, Colonial America was a place where readers knew the line between religion and law was blurry. How else could a thing like the Salem Witch Trials take place?

Hawthorne has no qualms about making his characters and their journeys very literal – almost comically overly done in their self-awareness. He played off names and ideas that had double meanings in each of his tales. Poe doesn’t do this in the least, thus it’s important to take a look at how Hawthorne does this and to keep it in mind as we move through the term. Take a look at the tale we read this week. Considering the madness that takes place around the protagonist, could there be a more fitting name than Goodman? Take a look at the very start of the story. Goodman not only leaves home, he leaves “Faith.” Yes, that is his wife’s name. But one has to consider, would “Goodman” have been better off if he had just stayed home with his “Faith?” Is the only way for a person to see the truth to leave Faith behind and to wander into the darkness? Does abandoning Faith leave you walking through the woods with the devil?

Hawthorne had no problem laying those questions – as deliberately and literally as possible – at his readers’ feet. After all, this is just a brief prose tale. Hawthorne is making some enormous statements with “Young Goodman Brown.” Why not dive in?


Discussion 1Every Trip Is A Quest, But Do We Need Foster’s Requirements?Consider Foster’s chapter “Every Trip Is A Quest.” In all three of the stories read this week, our protagonists are on quests. Poe’s protagonists’ quests have far more to do with the execution of a plan than they do actual traveling. When it comes to Hawthorne and “The Young Goodman Brown,” an actual journey is underway.

Initial Post Look back over the ideas Foster puts forward as essential to any quest and select one Poe story along with Hawthorne’s tale. Analyze the stories using Foster’s list of essential ingredients. As you do so, there are a number of sub-questions you may want to take into account: Is Foster’s list of what’s required sufficient? Does a story need to meet all of his requirements to be successful? Are there elements in the stories covered this week that Foster has overlooked? If so, what do you think should be added to the list and what title would you give this additional ingredient?

Secondary PostsFor your secondary post, seek out two classmates who have come up with additional ingredients Foster should have included, pointed out ingredients they don’t consider necessary, or have expressed an overall opinion that differs from your own. Engage your classmates in a discussion about your similarity or difference of opinion. Should you disagree, see if you can find a middle ground or a way of redefining Foster’s elements that would please you both.



This activity will be graded using the Discussion Forum Grading Rubric.

Learning Outcome(s): 1, 41. Analyze the development of the short story as a literary genre.4. Apply critical theories when examining stories.



Discussion 2Familiar FiendsIn each of the stories read this week, the villain was someone who knew his victim(s) well. I have dubbed this pair of characters the ‘familiar killer’ and the ‘unsuspecting acquaintance’ – these are not official literary terms, but I think they sum up what’s taking place.

Initial Post What is the effect of having the victim and the perpetrator already connected? Some sub-questions to consider in your analysis: Does it increase the impact of the story or does it confine the world of the story and ultimately decrease the impact? What about the violence that takes place in these tales: does having an established relationship or history between the characters increase the impact of the violence or does it detract from the violence because we are so forewarned about what is going to take place?

How does this close relationship affect your idea of the victim? Do you feel like the victim should have seen it coming? Do you feel worse for the victim? There are two sides here, remember that. When it comes to violence, it can often be the kneejerk reaction to focus on who committed the act. Don’t forget the victim.

Secondary Posts Find two fellow classmates who have chosen a Poe or Hawthorne story you did NOT write about in your initial post. Read through his or her post carefully. Express whether you felt the effect of having a familiar fiend in these tales. Be sure to add at least two additional reasons having a familiar killer adds to or detracts from the impact of the story.



This activity will be graded using the Discussion Forum Grading Rubric.

Learning Outcome(s): 2, 3, 42. Identify different literary elements and their impact on the story.3. Categorize story and themes – based on genre, time period, emotional content, etc.4. Apply critical theories when examining stories.



AssignmentEssay on Poe or HawthornePlease select one of the two essay topics below. Please use cited examples and quotes from the stories. If you are applying concepts from Foster, please be sure to cite examples and quotes, as well.

1. As mentioned in the Poe lecture, one of the reasons Poe makes such enormous use of sound in his stories is that he began his creative writing career as a poet and had a great ear for language. But he is not simply using the sound of language in his stories; he focuses a great deal of attention on sound and hearing. What are the effects of Poe’s focusing on sound in his stories? Is there something about sound that lends itself more readily to horror and mystery stories? Find a scene from a horror movie you find to be particularly scary. As an after note to your paper, talk about the role sound played in creating a more terrifying scene. Now that you have read Poe and written this paper, what role do you think sound plays in horror that has stayed true from Poe’s time to our own?

2. Young Goodman Brown becomes a distrustful and cynical man after his night in the woods. Can a human being regain a positive outlook of the world after such an experience? Does Hawthorne put Young Goodman Brown through too much or are there parts of the modern world where the metaphorical “party in the woods” is taking place each night while people claim to be pure? As part of your paper, find a news article that speaks to your point of view when it comes to the “party in the woods.” What accusations was Hawthorne making about society that hold true to the present day?

Completing This Task1. Click the Browse button below to select your assignment file. 2. Then click Upload this file button. 3. When you are ready to submit the assignment, click Send for marking. 4. Then click Yes to confirm submission.


Writing Requirements (MLA format)- 3-4 pages (approx. 300 words per page)- 1-inch margins- Double spaced- 12-point Times New Roman font- Works Cited page

This assignment will be graded using the Written Assignment Grading Rubric

Learning Outcome(s): 1, 5, 61. Analyze the development of the short story as a literary genre.5. Formulate new critical theories about the stories under study and apply these theories to given stories.6. Compose well-constructed essays that use excerpts from course work to support written arguments.

Due Date: By midnight on Day 6


What Questions Do You Have?General DiscussionPlease post any questions you have about this week’s topics. This is an opportunity to learn from your peers and develop a better understanding of the content, which will help you move forward in this course.

Due Date: Complete as necessary

eng242 week 1clean

Documents