COURSE OUTLINE

Course ID Course title Credits

American Literature:

ANH408DE05 Elements of Short Stories 3

Văn học Mỹ

To be applied to Semester_______, Academic year: ________________ under Decision No

_______/QĐ-BGH ____________

A. Course Specifications:
Periods Periods in classroom
Total Lecture/ Self-study Lecture
Activity Lab room Fieldwork
periods Seminar periods room
(1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7)
60 30 30 90 60 XX XX

B. Other related Subjects:

Other related Subjects Course ID Course title
Prerequisites: N/A
1.
…
Co-requisites:
1. ANH218DE_ English Critical Reading and Writing
…
Other requirements: N/A
1.
…

C. Course Description:
As an introductory course to American literature, this course focuses mainly on the fundamental
elements of literature. It introduces students those elements of how to read (and write) fiction such as
plot, character, setting, point of view, style (tone and language), symbol, and theme. The vehicle for
carrying these elements is mostly the works of short fiction drawn from American Literature. In
addition, students will have the opportunity to analyze and explore translated literatures from other
countries. This course not only intends to create the foundation for students to read and research
languages, histories of different societies and periods, but also attributes to their critical and cultural
analysis. As the result, it will open for students the windows on literary works written by Asian
Americans including Vietnamese American writers.

D. Course Objectives:
Course Objectives
No.
This course aims to:
Exemplify clearly the basic elements of short stories such as plot, character, point of
1.
view, style, symbol, and theme;
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 2. Develop students’ ability to interpret and analyze the stories presented; and
Enable students to appreciate the language of films based on those elements acquired
3.
from the process of analyzing works of fiction.

E. Learning Outcomes:
Learning Outcomes Linked to PLOs
No. Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able
to:
1. Analyze the elements of a short story prescribed in the course; PLO_9 (R)
2 Discuss critically elements of a short story in a presentation; PLO_12 (R)
Create a film review based on the principles learned concerning PLO_10 (R)
3
story production; and
Evaluate elements of a short story, including author styles and PLO_1 (I)
4 techniques, cultural background, and the literature movement and PLO_2 (I)
context. PLO_12 (R)

F. Instructional Modes:
A wide range of instructional modes are designed to promote declarative and procedural knowledge,
student engagement, and collaboration in a supportive learning environment. Activities which
involve teacher-centered transmission models (e.g. lectures) and student-centered constructivist
models (e.g. discussions and task-based activities) will provide a variety of input-output procedures
to reach the target of quality learning.

Generally, each meeting might be conducted in the following way:

1. Lectures (20% of the time): Students will be introduced to new concepts.
2. Discussions or tasks (65% of the time): Students will participate in discussion activities or
tasks designed to activate the concepts presented in lectures or reading materials.
3. Commentary (15% of the time): The instructor will give comments on the
opinions/problems presented in group/class discussions or problems found in the tasks.

G. Textbooks and teaching aids:

1. Required Textbooks and Materials:
 An introduction to English and American literature - Elements of short stories (a course
book) by Dr. Nguyen Thu Huong.
2. Suggested Course Materials:
 Bendixen, A. & James Nagel, J. (2010). A Companion to the American Short Story.
Chichester, UK: Wiley-Blackwell.
 Lee, R. C. (2014). The Routledge companion to Asian American and Pacific Islander
literature. London ; New York: Routledge/Taylor & Francis Group.
 Thuy Pelaud, I. (2011), This is all I choose to tell: history and hybridity in
Vietnamese American literature. Philadelphia, Pa.: Temple University Press.
3. Useful websites:
 http://academic.pgcc.edu/bookbridge/literature.htm
This website contains some general guidelines on how to read literature and interesting
questions for discussion of various fiction stories. This is a great resource for students to
learn how to approach a piece of literature.
 http://americanliterature.com/
This website provides a comprehensive collection of works of different types such as short
stories, classic literatures, literatures for children by American authors.

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H. Assessment Methods (Requirements for Completion of the Course):
1. Description of learning outcomes assessment

Group presentation
Task description:
Students are required to form groups during week 1 to receive presentation stories based on the
contents of the course. Each group member will take turns to present an issue (plot, character,
setting, point of view, etc. presented from week 1-6) found in the assigned short story, then they
will discuss the different issues & messages of the story.
Task length - Each group has about 30 minutes for presentation and 10 minutes
for questions and answers.
Assessment Criteria - Accuracy (grammar & articulation) (20 %)
- Fluency (20 %)
- Content and Critical Thinking (20 %)
- Body language (20%)
- Visuals (20%)

Film reviews/trailers
Task description:
Film review/trailer presentation provides learners with an opportunity to thread all the elements
learned. All of the elements of short stories can be translated into a film review or trailer.
Imagine that you are going to promote a film. Each group will select or create a film of your
choice/interest and be ready to present the review so that it can be drawn to a large audience.
You can provide your comments on the strong and weak points of the film.
Task length - Each group has about 20 minutes for presentation and 10 minutes
for questions and answers.
Assessment Criteria - Accuracy - language choice and grammar (30%)
- Fluency (20%)
- Content and Visual Aids (30%)
- Persuasion power/appeal (20% )

Midterm and final tests

Task description:
Essay-type questions will be included in the mid-term and final assessment. These are
opportunities for students to analyze and synthesize the important points they have learned
during the course. More importantly, they will also be assessed on the ability of appreciation
through the capacity of assessing certain aspects of the stories that they have been introduced
to.
Task length 90 minutes each
Assessment Criteria - Accuracy – language choice and grammar (30%)
- Content (70%)

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2. Summary of learning outcomes assessment
* For main semester ONLY:
Linked to intended Percentag
Components Assessment Forms Schedule
LOs e
LO 1 + 4 On-going In Class Writing 20% During the
Assessment Assignments Course
LO 2 On-going Group Presentation + Story 10% Week 8&9
Assessment Role-Play
LO 1 + 4 Mid-term In-Class, subjective, open- 20% Week 8
book test

LO 3 On-going Film reviews or trailers 10% Week 13-14

Assessment
LO 1 + 4 Final Test In-class, subjective, open- 40% Week 15
book test

Total 100%

3. Academic Integrity
  Academic integrity is a fundamental value that affects the quality of teaching, learning, and
research at a university. To ensure the maintenance of academic integrity at Hoa Sen University,
students are required to:
 Work independently on individual assignments
Collaborating on individual assignments is considered cheating.
 Avoid plagiarism 
Plagiarism is an act of fraud that involves the use of ideas or words of another person without
proper attribution. Students will be accused of plagiarism if they:
i. Copy in their work one or more sentences from another person without proper citation.
ii. Rephrase, paraphrase, or translate another person’s ideas or words without proper
attribution.
iii. Reuse their own assignments, in whole or in part, and submit them for another class.
 Work responsibly within a working group
In cooperative group assignments, all students are required to stay on task and contribute
equally to the projects. Group reports should clearly state the contribution of each group
member.
Any acts of academic dishonesty will result in a grade of zero for the task at hand and/or
immediate failure of the course, depending on the seriousness of the fraud. Please consult Hoa
Sen University’s Policy on Plagiarism at http://thuvien.hoasen.edu.vn/chinh-sach-phong-tranh-
dao-van. To ensure the maintenance of academic integrity, the university asks that students
report cases of academic dishonesty to the teacher and/or the Dean. The names of those students
will be kept anonymous.

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I. Teaching Staff:
Email, Phone number, Office
No. Professor’s name Position
Office location hours
Coordinator
of Literature,
Dr. Christopher Christopher.Delacour@hoasen.edu.vn
1 Mon-Wed Culture &
Denis-Delacour A110 – Quang Trung 2
Society
Courses

J. Outline of Topics to be covered (Learning Schedule):

* For main-semester ONLY:

Week/ Topics Readings Homework /

Meeting Assignment
1/1 INTRODUCTION (Students are
Objectives, course completions and required to form
assignments. groups during the
first lecture.)
1/1 LITERATURE AND THE WORLD
Literature in context: authors, literary
movements and history.
2/2 PLOT
Characteristics, methods, examples.
3/3 PLOT William Faulkner,
Reading and literary analysis. A Rose for Emily
4/4 CHARACTER
Characteristics, methods, examples.
5/5 CHARACTER Guy de Maupassant
Reading and literary analysis. The Necklace
6/6 SETTING
Characteristics, methods, examples.
6/6 SETTING Ernest Hemingway
Reading and literary analysis. In Another Country
7/7 POINT OF VIEW
Characteristics, methods, examples.
7/7 POINT OF VIEW Edgar Allan Poe
Reading and literary analysis. The cask of Amontillado
8/8 In-Class Exam. 90’
8/8 In Class Story Presentation. Each group have
30’ for
presentations &
10’ for questions
& answers.
9/9 In Class Story Presentation. Each group may
have 30’ for
presentations &
10’ for questions
& answers.
10/10 STYLE, TONE, and LANGUAGE
Characteristics, methods, examples.
10/10 STYLE, TONE and LANGUAGE James Joyce
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 Reading and literary analysis. Araby
11/11 SYMBOL
Characteristics, methods, examples.
11/11 SYMBOL Alice Walker
Reading and literary analysis. Everyday Use
12/12 THEME
Characteristics, methods, examples.
12/12 THEME O’Henry
Reading and literary analysis. The Gift of the Magi
13/13 The Language of Film (Your instructor
Film Trailer Presentation may show a
film.)

14/14 The Language of Film

Film Trailer Presentation
15/15 Review
15/15 Final In-Class Exam.

Người viết Trưởng Bộ môn Trưởng khoa

TS Nguyễn Thu Hương PGS.TS Nguyễn Ngọc Vũ

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