COD 2022 - D754
Webinar - Cultural Programme - Reading and Media Breakfasts: Narrating Disenchantment. The American Dream in John Cheever's Short Stories
Literature lovers, Language and Literature teachers interested in literary analysis and its impact on teaching literature, in general, and in Flannery O’Connor’s short story writing, in particular
1
sessions, start: 06-Aug
The course chosen does not allow any new enrolment
Course detail
Year: 2022
Level: Distance
Language: English
Status: Ended
Lugar: Distance
Facilitator/s: Cecilia Lasa MA
ESSARP Schools
Free of charge
Free of charge
Exams Schools
ARS 2200.00
ARS 2200.00
Non affiliate
ARS 2200.00
ARS 2200.00
Sessions
| Sessions | Dates | Start | Finish |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 06 August 2022 | 10:00 am | 11:30 am |
Facilitator/s
Cecilia Lasa
Literature lovers, Language and Literature teachers interested in literary analysis and its impact on teaching literature, in general, and in Flannery O’Connor’s short story writing, in particular
- To reflect upon how two world wars have an impact on the political, economic and literary status of the USA and the “American Dream”.
- To discuss the short story as a privileged genre to narrate post-war disenchantment.
- To identify the main themes and narrative style in John Cheever’s short stories.
- To account for the construction of characters in relation to a process tending towards disillusion in John Cheever’s short stories.
- To analyse how the setting, atmosphere, conflicts and other formal aspects work for the construction of disappointment as a general mood in in John Cheever’s short stories.
- To discuss the short story as a privileged genre to narrate post-war disenchantment.
- To identify the main themes and narrative style in John Cheever’s short stories.
- To account for the construction of characters in relation to a process tending towards disillusion in John Cheever’s short stories.
- To analyse how the setting, atmosphere, conflicts and other formal aspects work for the construction of disappointment as a general mood in in John Cheever’s short stories.
- USA after the world wars: politics, economy and its relation to culture and literature.
- The American Dream after the world wars.
- John Cheever and the short story as a genre.
- Disenchantment in “The Enormous Radio”, “Country Husband” and “The Swimmer”.
- From happiness to despair and disillusion: the construction of characters in “The Enormous Radio”, “Country Husband” and “The Swimmer”.
- The setting of disappointment in “The Enormous Radio”, “Country Husband” and “The Swimmer”.
- Other formal aspects in the narrative configuration of “The Enormous Radio”, “Country Husband” and “The Swimmer”.
- The American Dream after the world wars.
- John Cheever and the short story as a genre.
- Disenchantment in “The Enormous Radio”, “Country Husband” and “The Swimmer”.
- From happiness to despair and disillusion: the construction of characters in “The Enormous Radio”, “Country Husband” and “The Swimmer”.
- The setting of disappointment in “The Enormous Radio”, “Country Husband” and “The Swimmer”.
- Other formal aspects in the narrative configuration of “The Enormous Radio”, “Country Husband” and “The Swimmer”.
1) Discussion of the problems related to the context of production and its relation to American literature after the wars 2) Introduction to the world of John Cheever and the importance of the short story 3) Exploration of specific features of short stories –narrator, characters, setting, conflict, etc.–4) Guided group analysis of the selection of short stories.
Source texts
Cheever, John. “Country Husband”. In The Short Stories of John Cheever.NewYork:Vintage Books, 2000.
-. “The Enormous Radio”.In The Short Stories of John Cheever.NewYork:Vintage Books, 2000.
-.“The Swimmer”.In The Short Stories of John Cheever.NewYork:Vintage Books, 2000.
Critical material
Collins, Robert. “From Subject to Object and Back Again: Individual Identity in John Cheever’s Fiction”. Twentieth Century Literature, Vol. 28, N° 1, 1982; pp. 1-13.
Donaldson, Scott. “Cheever’s Shady Hill: A Suburban Sequence”. In Kennedy, J. Gerald.Modern American Short Story Sequences.Composite Fictions and Fictive Communities. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995; pp. 133-150.
Kazin, Alfred. “Professional Observers”. In Bright Book of Life: American Novelists and Storytellers from Hemingway to Mailer. Boston, Toronto: Little, Brownand Company, 1973 [1971]; pp. 95-124.
Cambridge Bibliography about Literature in English
Cambridge International Examinations.Learner Guide IGCSE®Literature in English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018.
Russell, Carey. Cambridge IGCSE® and O Level Literature in English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018.
Whitthome, Elizabeth. AS & A Level Literature in English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018.
Cheever, John. “Country Husband”. In The Short Stories of John Cheever.NewYork:Vintage Books, 2000.
-. “The Enormous Radio”.In The Short Stories of John Cheever.NewYork:Vintage Books, 2000.
-.“The Swimmer”.In The Short Stories of John Cheever.NewYork:Vintage Books, 2000.
Critical material
Collins, Robert. “From Subject to Object and Back Again: Individual Identity in John Cheever’s Fiction”. Twentieth Century Literature, Vol. 28, N° 1, 1982; pp. 1-13.
Donaldson, Scott. “Cheever’s Shady Hill: A Suburban Sequence”. In Kennedy, J. Gerald.Modern American Short Story Sequences.Composite Fictions and Fictive Communities. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995; pp. 133-150.
Kazin, Alfred. “Professional Observers”. In Bright Book of Life: American Novelists and Storytellers from Hemingway to Mailer. Boston, Toronto: Little, Brownand Company, 1973 [1971]; pp. 95-124.
Cambridge Bibliography about Literature in English
Cambridge International Examinations.Learner Guide IGCSE®Literature in English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018.
Russell, Carey. Cambridge IGCSE® and O Level Literature in English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018.
Whitthome, Elizabeth. AS & A Level Literature in English. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2018.