Unit 2:  Fiction

Many of us enjoy reading fiction and are very comfortable with it.  When you're writing about literature, though, you need to pay attention to the choices the author has made to communicate his/her story, as well as the story itself.

In this genre you have a choice of studying stories by two of America's greatest writers:  Ernest Hemingway and William Faulkner.  

• If you choose to read Hemingway, you will work on a unit about one story he wrote, "Hills like White Elephants," and then write about another of his stories, "A Clean, Well-Lighted Place."
  

• If you choose to read Faulkner, you'll be reading a famous short story, "A Rose for Emily," that is representative in many ways of Faulkner's writing.  You'll also learn something about the author's life.  

These authors have very different and distinctive styles of writing, one deceptively simple and concise, and the other, complex and a bit strange.  Both writers craft their works with great care.  You should click on the names of the works above to find out which story you'd like to study.

There are a few  terms for you to learn as you read the story of your choice.  The terms used to discuss drama apply to fiction, too.  You'll need to know the meanings of these words and understand how to apply them when you take your first exam in this course.

Now, read the stories to decide which of the authors you'd like to write about:

"A Clean, Well-lighted Place" or "A Rose for Emily."

When you've made your choice, click on it below!

"A Clean, Well-lighted Place" Assignments

"A Rose for Emily" Assignments