Things to discuss while I'm in D.C.

Folks,

While I'm gone feel free to let Thursday evening's conversation go in whatever ways you think are most helpful, but there are some issues I'd like you to consider (and discuss) while I'm gone.

Baxter talks about the use and overuse of the epiphany in contemporary writing, but he makes only a small gesture toward mentioning the other options available to the contemporary writer. I'd love to see you talk about this more specifically, especially in terms of the stories you've read both this week and last week. What are the other options for closure in a short story available to us as contemporary writers? Do you see any of them on display in the stories we've been reading so far?

Grace Paley's Conversation with my Father is, on one level, the story of a woman unable to confront her father's looming death; on another it's a meta analysis of story crafting itself, with the writer (Paley) showing us various drafts and the critic (the father) describing why they don't work. I'm interested in both of these levels--they work very well together--but as a discussion item, talking about the meta element of the piece might be very helpful. Discuss the stories within a story Paley is writing. Why do they fail or succeed? How would you describe Paley's artistic goals and are there any other stories in our two packets so far that reflect these goals? That argue with these goals? Run with this. It's fertile ground.

And while you're talking about meta elements I would love for you to talk about the meta elements in all the stories in the packet. Some, like The Marker, are almost confrontational in the way they deploy meta elements. Others, like Paley's also function, at least to some degree, like realistic stories. And then there's Borges, of course. It might be fun and revealing to take all the stories from the two packets and place them on a line from least to most meta and then discuss why (these things are never very helpful unless you discuss the why). Try it out and see.

You might also want to discuss Baxter's comments about Carver, Joyce, and Cheever. How fully do you agree with his points, or is there something else going on here that he might be missing?

When I get back we'll be talking about the novellas in the third packet and I'll get an update on the discuss you have this week. Best of luck and if you need anything just email.