Great American Short Stories: A Guide for Writers and Readers

By: Jennifer Cognard-Black, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Jennifer Cognard-Black

Length: 12 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

While short stories exist in traditions all over the world, American short stories are a genre all their own. Emerging from the clash of cultures - and the collision of oral and print traditions - that began during the arrival of European settlers in the 16th and 17th centuries, the short works that emerged have served many functions. They have entertained, certainly, but they have also helped foster identity, shape morality, and build the foundations of the American mythos for nearly four centuries.

Whether you want to write short stories, simply want better insight as a reader, or even if you are looking for a new lens through which to view American history, the 24 rich and informative lectures of Great American Short Stories: A Guide for Writers and Readers will show you the ins and outs of this infinitely adaptable - and intrinsically American - literary form. Professor Jennifer Cognard-Black of St. Mary’s College of Maryland guides you through the technical aspects of the short story, while also digging deep into the history of the form in the United States. Along the way, you will discover why the short story became so deeply connected to American identity and how it continues to evolve alongside the nation itself.

The “great American novel” is often the lofty goal of writers who want to achieve literary immortality. But from the opening sentence to the lingering denouement, American short stories can both capture the world as it is and help envision what could be. Each is unique, and yet each is a part of a larger chronicle: the story of America.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2019 The Great Courses (P)2019 The Teaching Company, LLC

Pleasantly surprised!

This is a great review of the American short stories. It is also chuck full of advice on how to write them. Two thumbs up!

A+

This class is a comprehensive look at how to understand, enjoy, and create short stories, with an emphasis on what makes an American short story. The exercises are relevant and illuminate the curriculum. As usual, The Great Courses are great. Get this one today.

I wanted to learn, but...

Lectures are weighed down by the non-stop brow beating with cartoonish social justice pandering and guilt ridden virtue trumpeting. It made me feel pity for this seemingly sincere professor and her obsequious cult behavior. A tough slog for the uninfected.

Mostly for writers. Solid advice. Not 'woke.'

I am perplexed by the reviews dismissing this lecture set as "woke." Frankly, I have no idea what they're talking about. When "woke" is used to criticize, it generally refers to a heavy-handed and often misguided brand of social commentary based on identity politics, where various groups of people are thought to be locked in an irreconcilable conflict of privilege and victimhood. Nothing like that is found in these lectures. Seriously -- nothing! The lecturer does not use the jargon of identity politics, and at no point does she posit that conflict between groups of people is irreconcilable or inevitable. She does, however, discuss a few literary works that address discrimination, injustice, and other tragic situations at various points in US history. Is this what has offended the anti-woke reviewers? If so, I struggle to imagine what they would consider acceptable, because these are topics that have been addressed by all serious literature in all modern cultures. If that is "woke," then so are Dostoyevsky, Dickens, George Eliot, Charlotte Bronte, Chekhov, Victor Hugo, and William Blake. What on Earth do these people read?! If anything, the lectures are decidedly unwoke in at least once way: the lecturer actively encourages us to write from the point of view of other people about situations and experiences that we have not ourselves gone through and can only have an outsider's perspective on. Critics from the social justice school tend to frown on this, believing that people really only have the right to write from their own point of view about their own experiences. Maybe that view is unhelpfully restrictive, but if we do set out to tell other people's stories, surely we have an obligation to at least be respectful and accurate. Inhabiting someone else's point of view is a delicate matter that needs careful consideration, especially if we hope to publish our work. The lecturer never brought this up, and she probably should have.

As for the lectures themselves -- I enjoyed them, but they are much more about writing than about the history of literature. A more apt title would be "How to Write Short Stories, with Examples from American Literature." When the lecturer was discussing various authors and stories, I felt like she was doing so more to illustrate her points about writing than for the works' own sake. The lectures are also heavily coloured by her subjective tastes and opinions, but that's always going to be the case in a creative writing course (or any art technique course, for that matter). If you are a creative writer, though, these lectures are well worth a listen. There are a lot of inspiring and thought-provoking points. Her way of telling stories is not the only way, but it's definitely a way that's worth exploring.

-sigh-

Polite applause for the craft, torn by obnoxious claps of wokeism. Very trite and nacissistic.