21L.325  Small Wonders: Short Story Collections (Melville and Lahiri)

Characters in stories by Herman Melville (The Piazza Tales [1856] )  and Jhumpa Lahiri ( Unaccustomed Earth [2008] )  travel through unknown seas and mysterious landscapes.  From quite different perspectives—those of 19^th-century New England mariner and farmer and 21^st-century urban Indian-American writer—these authors intersect in unexpected ways.  In their explorations of  “unaccustomed earth”—the new worlds their characters navigate with puzzlement, courage, resilience, and humor—they display uncommon mastery of the American short story. Students will discuss their stories as separate pieces and also as parts of carefully designed collections. Written work will include a reading journal and two brief essays.