THE LEARNING CURVE Spring 2012
Art History, Archaeology, Astronomy, History, Literature, Philosophy, Music

Winter's Light: 12 Short Stories

Book lovers have discovered a secret, a secret that keeps us reading, sometimes voraciously. Early on we have discovered that books gave us a sense of kinship with others whose lives appear vastly different from our own. Regardless of what we think at first, once we see beyond the obvious, we discover characters who share our own hopes, fears and dreams, and we realize that we have in knowing them new pieces of knowledge about how it is to be human in a world not our own. Amy Tan believes that the best fiction enlarges us by helping us “notice small details in life” and “to see the world from closer up or farther away.” In short, fiction has the possibility “to change us” and “help us live interesting lives.” 

The stories Tan has chosen for the anthology, The Best American Short Stories 1999, may shock and surprise you in how they reflect the ever changing landscape of the world, but they are certain to engage and provoke you. Inexpensive copies of the book, edited by Tan and published by Houghton Mifflin, are available at Amazon.com.

We will continue to offer a relaxed open forum for participants to offer interpretations and analyses which reflect personal experience and observation and to engage in spirited discussions. Note: for the first class, please print and read Hemingway’s notable story “The Hills Like White Elephants.” Just go into Google.com and write in the title and the story will pop up, ready for you to print.
Please prepare for our first meeting by reading both “Hills” and “In the Kindergarten.” 

Week 1: Coming of Age
“The Hills Like White Elephants” & “In the Kindergarten”
Week 2: Friends, Lovers
“The Piano Tuner” & “Marry the One …”
Week 3: Accommodation
“Save the Reaper” & “Interpreter of Maladies”
Week 4: Secrets
“The Bunchgrass Edge” & “Kansas”
Week 5: Waiting
“The Sun, Moon, Stars” & “Mrs. Dutta Writes”
Week 6: Discovery
“The Uncharted Heart” & “The Hermit’s Story”         
When: Select either Section 1 or Section 2
Sec. 1: Tuesdays, Feb 14 – Mar 20, 1:00-3:00pm
Sec. 2: Thursdays, Feb 16 – Mar 22, 9:30-11:30am
Where: St. Philip’s Plaza (See locations page for details)
Cost: $135 (6 sessions) Note: enrollment is limited to 16 students per section

Instructor:  Kathryn Cowan, Ph.D. taught literature for over forty years to students in St. Louis, Memphis, and Santa Cruz, CA.  She is pleased to find that in retirement, she can read and write at will, and enjoy the pleasure of teaching more frequent classes for The Learning Curve where she has taught since 2008.

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