{"content":[{"text":"English 238: Introduction to Fiction \n Summer 2020 \n Instructor: Mr. Daniel Froid (dfroid@purdue.edu) \n Office Hours: By appointment","bbox":{"left":0.276895,"top":0.090997,"width":0.44621999999999995,"height":0.072911}},{"text":"Course Description \n This course is designed to introduce you to a variety of narrative forms and styles, \n as well as to introduce you to the basic tools necessary to understanding, analyzing, \n and writing about complex texts. The particular focus of this course is on a range of \n fiction that can be defined as speculative: works that contain elements of unreality \n or works that tweak, overtly or subtly, reality as we think we know it. The fiction \n we will read is also loosely related to the theme of exploration or discovery: of a new \n world, a secret, one’s home or one’s own life. Some of these stories introduce you to \n new worlds complete with fantastic or alien beings. Others make seemingly familiar \n locales and situations appear utterly strange and unfamiliar. \n We will study the basic elements that make up works of fiction, including \n plot, setting, point of view, and more. Because every text we read in some way \n bends the laws of reality, we will examine how they produce cultural commentary \n and ultimately develop, through reading, writing, and discussion, a working \n definition of speculative fiction: what it is, what it does, and the kinds of meanings \n it can generate.","bbox":{"left":0.117686,"top":0.182058,"width":0.762252,"height":0.291434}},{"text":"Learning Outcomes \n English 238 is a three-credit course designed to teach students how to read fiction \n critically. It promotes understanding and appreciation of the range, values, \n techniques, and meanings of genres of fiction. By the end of the semester, you will \n be able to do the following: \n • Define “fiction” along with other key literary terms and identify significant \n features of literary styles and genres; \n • Discuss significant social and cultural functions of fiction; \n • Draw on relevant cultural and historical information to situate texts within \n their proper contexts; \n • Adopt methods such as argumentation and analysis to interpret assigned \n texts and understand how those methods contribute to understanding the \n meaning of literary works; \n • Use logic and creativity to produce original, persuasive arguments; \n • Articulate the importance of speculative thinking and speculative literary \n texts to broaching cultural, political, and historical questions.","bbox":{"left":0.117686,"top":0.491793,"width":0.743912,"height":0.293125}},{"text":"Required Texts/Materials \n Texts \n Jeff Vandermeer, Annihilation (FSG, 2014): 9780374104092 \n Hiroko Oyamada, The Factory (New Directions, 2019): 9780811228855 \n Marie Ndiaye, Self-Portrait in Green (Two Lines, 2014): 9781931883399","bbox":{"left":0.117686,"top":0.80322,"width":0.7120460000000001,"height":0.09108699999999992}}],"images_bbox":[],"images_bbox_not_text_overlap":[]}