| SES # | topics | readings | 
|---|---|---|
| 1 | A Hearty Welcome Discussion of William Carlos Williams's "The Use of Force." A Few "Getting to Know You" Exercises | + Williams, William Carlos. "The Use of Force." | 
| 2 | Discussion of Hawthorne's, "The Birth-Mark." And One of the Low Points of the Term - Some Professorial Mutterings on Romanticism and Symbol | + Hawthorne. "The Birth-mark." | 
| 3 | Discussion of Melville's, "Bartleby, the Scrivener." |  Melville, Herman. "Bartleby, The Scrivener." In Legal Fictions Short Stories About Lawyers and the Law. Edited by Jay Wishingrad. Woodstock, NY: Overlook Press, 1992, pp. 224-258. ISBN: 0879514558. | 
| 4 | A Preliminary Set of Definitions - Romanticism vs. Realism Discussion of Henry James's, "The Turn of the Screw." |  James, Henry. The Turn of the Screw, The Aspern Papers, and Two Stories. New York, NY: Barnes and Noble, 2003. ISBN: 1593080433. | 
| 5 | We'll Finish with James | |
| 6 | Discussion of Charlotte Perkins Gilman's, "The Yellow Wall-Paper." | + Gilman, Charlotte Perkins. "The Yellow Wall-Paper." | 
| 7 | Discussion of Willa Cather's, "Old Mrs. Harris." |  Cather, Willa. "Old Mrs. Harris." In The Heath Anthology of American Literature. Edited by Paul Lauter, et al. 2nd ed. Vol. 2. Lexington, MA: D.C. Heath, 1994, pp. 1133-1168. ISBN: 066932972X. | 
| 8 | More on Cather | |
| 9 | Discussion of Stephen Crane's, "The Blue Hotel." | + Crane, Stephen. "The Blue Hotel." | 
| 10 | Some Misguided Professorial Remarks on Modernism Discussion of William Faulkner's, "Barn Burning." | + Faulkner, William. "Barn Burning." | 
| 11 | Discussion of Ernest Hemingway's, "Indian Camp," and "The Three-Day Blow." |  Hemingway, Ernest. "Indian Camp," and "The Three-Day Blow." In In Our Time. New York, NY: Simon and Schuster, 2002. ISBN: 0684822768. | 
| 12 | Hemingway Continues in the Rain and Despair Hey, Let's Go Fishing on the "Big Two-Hearted River," ok? | |
| 13 | A Walk on the Noir Side. The Maltese Falcon (John Huston, 1941) Discuss Dashiell Hammett's, "The Whosis Kid." | Huston, John. The Maltese Falcon. 1941.  Hammett, Dashiell. "The Whosis Kid." In The Continental Op. New York, NY: Random House, 1989. ISBN: 0679722580. | 
| 14 | Discussion of Eudora Welty's, "Why I Live at the P.O." |  Welty, Eudora. "Why I Live at the P.O." In Thirteen Stories. New York, NY: Harcourt Brace, 1977. ISBN: 0156899698. | 
| 15 | Discussion of Eudora Welty's, "Moon Lake." Anyone who ever went to summer camp can help educate the rest of us. |  Welty, Eudora. "Moon Lake." In Thirteen Stories. New York, NY: Harcourt Brace, 1977. ISBN: 0156899698. | 
| 16 | Discussion of Julia Alvarez's, How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents, Chapter 1. |  Alvarez, Julia. How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents. New York, NY: Penguin, 1992, chapter 1. ISBN: 0452268060. | 
| 17 | Discussion of Julia Alvarez's, How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accent. What is this book - a novel? A collection of stories? In any case, what is it most fundamentally "about?" |  Alvarez, Julia. How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents. New York, NY: Penguin, 1992. ISBN: 0452268060. | 
| 18 | Discussion of Raymond Carver's, "Boxes." | + Carver, Raymond. "Boxes." | 
| 19 | Discussion of Tim O'Brien's, "The Things They Carried." | + O'Brien, Tim. "The Things They Carried." | 
| 20 | Discussion of Junot Diaz's, Drown. Formulate some possible questions to ask him, when he visits class just after the break. |  Diaz, Junot. Drown. New York, NY: Penguin, 1997. ISBN: 1573226068. | 
| 21 | Guest Appearance by Junot Diaz | |
| 22 | Final Presentations | |
| 23 | Final Presentations (cont.) | |
| 24 | Final Class Meeting Sorrowful Farewells, and THE HILDESILLY ABSOLUTELY TERRIBLE JOKE CONTEST (Yes, there will be prizes to be won) |