Oakhill Humanities Program / Summer Session 2019 – Syllabus for Writing Short Fiction
Instructors: Ron Kuka, Mary Terrier, Christopher Chambers
Textbook: The Story and Its Writer
Mondays June 24-August 12 6 pm-8pm
Week 1: June 24: Point of View and Voice
Barry Hannah, Even Greenland
Junot Diaz, How to Date A Browngirl, Blackgirl, Whitegirl, or Halfie
Week 2: July 1: Story and Plot
Donald Barthelme, The School
Julio Cortázar, A Continuity of Parks
Week 3: July 8: Scene and Summary
Flannery O’Connor, Good Country People
John Cheever, The Swimmer
Week 4: July 15: Character
James Baldwin, Sonny’s Blues
Roberto Bolaño, Jim
Week 5: July 22: Dialogue
Raymond Carver, Cathedral
Frank O’Connor, Guests of the Nation
Week 6: July 29: Setting
Sherwood Anderson, Death in the Woods
Tim O’Brien, The Things They Carried
Week 7: August 5: Beginnings and Endings
Margaret Atwood, Happy Endings
Denis Johnson, Car Crash While Hitchhiking
Week 8: August 12: Workshop & Class Reading
Attendance Policy: In accordance with OCI policy, if you are absent from any
two (2) of the class sessions, you will be removed from the class.
Book Return Policy: If you are transferred or don’t complete the course, please return the text book to the Oakhill School Office. The instructors will collect books at the end of the 8-week session.