Lesson 13

1. Read texts:

Fiction in the Fifties

Bellow, “Augie March” (E207-18)

O’Connor “Good Country People” (E435-49)

Cheever, “The Swimmer” (E140-48)

Discussion 13

1. Choose one of these stories and analyze what it says about America at mid-century. What are the pros and the cons in terms of middle-class affluence, ethnicity, and/or religion?

LEARNING OBJECTIVES: STRONG OPENING THESIS, DEVELOPMENT (500 words), SUPPORT (quotations), OBJECTIVE TONE (No “I” or “we”).

Lesson 14

1. Read texts:

The 60s

Pynchon, “Entropy” (E730-42)

Le Guin, “Schrodinger’s Cat” (E588-93)

Vonnegut, Slaughterhouse Five (E344-55)

Discussion 14

1. Choose one of these stories and analyze what the controlling metaphor (entropy, the cat, etc.) says about the author’s vision of postmodern America.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES: STRONG OPENING THESIS, DEVELOPMENT (500 words), SUPPORT (quotations), OBJECTIVE TONE (No “I” or “we”).