Masterworks in American Short Fiction
MIT OpenCourseWare offers this survey of American short fiction, tracing moments of high accomplishment in forms shorter than the novel. The course examines how literary formulae get used and varied across different writers and periods, and looks closely at elements of narrative construction such as point of view, structure, and pacing. Materials include a syllabus, reading list of short stories and novellas, and assignments built around close reading and written analysis. The course is self-paced and free to access through MIT's OpenCourseWare platform, with no certificate offered. It suits readers interested in the short story as a distinct American literary tradition alongside its French, Irish, and Russian counterparts, and in how compact narrative forms achieve effects a novel cannot.