Course objective: Teaches students how to appreciate literature by introducing major genres (fiction, poetry, and drama in the whole year) and close reading. (Reminder: This is a required course for DFLL majors, yet it does not directly enhance your English ability. You need to study hard. )

Week 1   9/20     Holiday

Week 2   9/27    Introduction; Raymond Carver, “Cathedral”

Week 3   10/4   Carver, “Cathedral” continued; Plot: Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm, “The Shroud”; 5 parts of plot; Joyce Carol Oates, “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”

Week 4      10/11     Holiday

Week 5   10/18  Oates continued (quiz 1); Point of view: Edgar Allan Poe, “The Cask of Amontillado”

Week 6   10/25  Character: Toni Morrison, “Recitatif” (quiz 2)

Week 7   11/1     Characterization: William Faulkner, “A Rose for Emily”

Week 8   11/8    Setting: Amy Tan, “A Pair of Tickets”

Week 9   11/15   mid-term

Week 10  11/22          Symbol: A. S. Byatt, “The Thing in the Forest”

Week 11  11/29    “The Thing in the Forest” continued

Week 12  12/6      Theme: G. G. Márquez, “A Very Old Man with Enormous Wings: a Tale for Children” (quiz 3)

Week 13  12/13    Women’s liberation issue: Kate Chopin, “The Story of an Hour”

Week 14  12/20    Charlotte Perkins Gilman, “The Yellow Wallpaper” (quiz 4)

Week 15  12/27    Ernest Hemingway, “Hills Like White Elephants”

Week 16  1/3                film?

Week 17  1/10  Alice Munro, “Boys and Girls”

Week 18  1/17   Final

The Norton Introduction to Literature (portable 13^th edition). Ed. Kelly J. Mays. New York: W.W. Norton, 2019. (The shorter 12^th [13th] edition contains all the selections and can still be used in this course. Only the page numbers will be different.) Please also check https://digital.wwnorton.com/litweb for further practice. (Or order online,

visit MYTB set up by 敦煌書局。

1. Mid-term (factual questions and essay questions) 30% + final (factual questions+ essay questions) 30%.
2. Class discussion participation 10% + quizzes 20%.
3. Attendance (3 absences max., with proper reasons) 10%
4. If you want to convert your final grade to a letter grade, the following is the conversion chart American Universities usually adopt: A= over 90, A- = 85-89, B+ = 80-84, B = 75-79, B- = 70-74, C = below 70, D below 65, F = fail below 60.
5. (If we have the in-class examination, then during quizzes, midterms or finals, using any kind of 3C device is strictly forbidden. If transgression is found, the grade will be zero). Other rules will be specified for online examinations and quizzes.