English 369 Contemporary American Fiction

Jhumpa Lahiri

Weeks 13 & 14: Discussion of Interpreter of Maladies.  NOTE: Take-home final exam posted in "Assignments."

Weeks 11 & 12: Discussion of The Things they Carried.  NOTE: no class on April 17th.

Weeks 9 & 10: EXAM (April 1st) & discussion of Libra.  NOTE: Paper #2 topics (for papers due April 22nd) posted in "Assignments."

Week 8: Tuesday: Conclude discussion of Beloved.  Thursday: Review for April 1st EXAM.  EXAM MODEL posted in "Assignments."

Week 7: Continue discussion of Beloved.  NOTE: Paper #1 due March 11th.  Exam will be on April 1st .  (Important: see revised Syllabus.)

Week 6: Conclude discussion of Rabbit, Run; commence discussion of Beloved.  Q&C.

Week 5: Continue discussion of Rabbit, Run.  Post Q&C.

Week 4: Conclude discussion of Goodbye, Columbus & begin discussion of Rabbit, Run.

Week 3: Tuesday: conclude discussion of Seize the Day and discuss topics for Paper #1 (see "Assignments").   Thursday: begin discussion of Goodbye, Columbus.

Weeks 1 & 2: Please familiarize yorsellf with the class website.  (See instructions in "Resources.")   Be sure the entry for your name is correct in "Student Profiles."  (If you wish to use a different email address, please send me an email, at shaun.oconnell@umb.edu, telling me what it is and I will change your entry.)   Go to "Writing Room" and make a brief entry (call it "Profile"), telling me and the rest of the class something about yourself.  (You may also post a picture.)  Then check under "Student Profiles" or "Class Portfolio" to be sure your entry is there.  (If it is not, please let me know.  Students who have had classes with me before may find that their entry for this class gets sent to one of our previous classes.  If this happens, let me know and I'll change your password for this class.)  The syllabus is available in "Syllabus."  Handouts are available in "Resources."  We will be discussing examples of contemporary American fiction the first week and Saul Bellow's Seize the Day the second.

EN 369: Contemporary American Fiction: This course examines significant works of American fiction written in the last half-century, a period of dramatic changes in American manners and values, a period of consolidation and improvisation in American fiction.  These works, in form and substance, reflect America's debate between those who see "good in the old ways" and those who try to "make it new.”  Emphasis upon both continuity and experimentation, reflected in a range of fictional voices, styles, forms and visions.  These works demonstrate the variety and vitality of contemporary American fiction.  In addition to these readings, this course examines relevant authorial comments and critical approaches from the 1950s to the present, writings which contextualize contemporary American fiction.  Authors include Nabokov, Bellow, Roth, Updike, Morrison, DeLillo, Lahiri & Lee.