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Tables of Contents for The Sincerest Form
Chapter/Section Title
Page #
Page Count
How to Use This Book
xiii
Acknowledgments
xix
Theory and Practice: An Introduction
xxi
PART I Reading and Imitating the Master Stylists
1
272
CHAPTER 1 PLOT AND STRUCTURE
3
25
The Art of the Echo
ANDREA BARRETT
3
25
"The Behavior of the Hawkweeds"
4
1
Notes on Craft and Context
21
1
On Point of View in Structure
21
1
On Characterization in Structure
21
1
On Theme in Structure
21
1
On Theme in Plot
22
1
On Time Span: The Structure of Plot
22
1
On Plot and Structure: Putting It Together
23
1
On History and Invention
23
3
Applications and Connections
26
1
Exercises
26
2
CHAPTER 2 A PRIMER FOR NARRATIVE STYLES
28
29
Self Reflexive Fiction and the World within the Word
JOHN BARTH
28
29
"Lost in the Funhouse"
30
1
Notes on Craft and Context
49
1
On Form and Language in Style
49
1
On Theme in Style
50
1
Author as Character, Character as Author
51
1
On Fiction about Fiction
52
1
"Lost in the Funhouse" as a Primer for Narrative Styles
53
1
On Self Reflexive Imitation
53
1
Applications and Connections
54
1
Exercises
55
1
Examples of Student Work
55
2
CHAPTER 3 CHARACTER AND THE EPIPHANIC MOMENT
57
19
Learning to Reveal the Hidden
CHARLES BAXTER
57
19
"Fenstad's Mother"
58
1
Notes on Craft and Context
70
1
On Plot in Characterization
70
1
Counterpointed Characterization: Protagonist and Antagonist
71
1
The Epiphanic Moment
71
1
Humor and Dialogue in Characterization
72
1
Extras: Allusions in Characterization
72
1
Life off the Page: Development of Minor Characters
73
1
On Real Characters
73
1
Applications and Connections
74
1
Exercises
74
2
CHAPTER 4 DIALOGUE
76
31
Minimalism and the Monologue
RAYMOND CARVER
76
31
"A Small, Good Thing"
77
1
Notes on Craft and Context
97
1
On Economy in Language and Dialogue
97
1
On Expansion as Revision
98
1
Fleshing Out a Story
99
1
On Character: Names and Distance
100
1
On Point of View and Distance
100
1
On the Selection of Details
101
1
On Dialogue and Monologue
101
1
On Evoking Emotional Intensity through Restraint
103
1
Applications and Connections
103
1
Exercises
104
1
Examples of Student Work
104
3
CHAPTER 5 THEME AND THE SELECTION OF DETAIL
107
21
Writing Up Close and at a Distance
RICHARD FORD
107
21
"Communist"
108
1
Notes on Craft and Context
122
1
Details: On Time Span
122
1
Writing Up Close
123
1
Writing at a Distance
123
1
Summary vs. Dialogue
123
1
Details: On What's Left Unsaid
124
1
The Selection of Details
124
1
On Details in Theme
125
1
On Setting in Theme
125
1
Applications and Connections
126
1
Exercises
127
1
CHAPTER 6 COMPRESSION
128
17
Prose as Architecture
ERNEST HEMINGWAY
128
17
"Chapter VII"
130
1
Notes on Craft and Context
130
1
On Compression and Style
130
1
On Point of View in Style
131
1
On Word Choice and Syntax
131
1
"In Another Country"
132
1
Notes on Craft and Context
136
1
On Tense and Point of View
136
1
On Dialogue and Language
137
1
On Prose as Architecture
137
1
Applications and Connections
138
1
Exercises
139
1
Examples of Student Work
140
5
CHAPTER 7 SETTING
145
23
Perception, Place, and Displacement
BHARATI MUKHERJEE
145
23
"The Management of Grief "
147
1
Notes on Craft and Context
161
1
On Setting: Empathy and the Unfamiliar
161
1
The Facts: Setting the Scene
162
1
On Collective Catastrophes and Shared Grief
162
1
On Place and Displacement
162
1
On Fate
163
1
On Displaced Characters
163
1
On the Unreliable Narrator
164
1
On Perception and Displacement
164
1
On Displacement as Bond and Conflict
165
1
On Time and Place in Displacement
165
1
Applications and Connections
166
1
Exercises
166
2
CHAPTER 8 POINT OF VIEW AND COMIC TIMING
168
16
You and I
LORRIE MOORE
168
16
"How to Become a Writer"
170
1
Notes on Craft and Context
176
1
On Second-Person Point of View
176
1
You as You and I
176
1
On Parody
177
1
On Nontraditional Plot
177
1
Not One Climax, but Many: Episodic Plot
178
1
Humor: Rhythm and Diction
178
1
Point of View: Sharing the Joke and the Darkness
179
1
Applications and Connections
179
1
Exercises
180
1
Examples of Student Work
180
4
CHAPTER 9 DRAMATIC ENCOUNTER
184
22
Mixing the Accidental and the Foreordained
FLANNERY O'CONNOR
184
22
"A Good Man Is Hard to Find"
185
1
Notes on Craft and Context
199
1
On the Plot
199
1
On the Foreordained
200
1
On Humor and Horror
200
1
Plot: Escalating Danger
200
1
On Character Driving Plot
201
1
On Hints from Minor Characters
201
1
On Free Will and Predestination
201
1
On Pace and the Dramatic Encounter: Sustaining Hope
202
1
On Character and Grace
202
1
On Symbolic and Thematic Implications
203
1
After the Dramatic Encounter
203
1
Applications and Connections
204
1
Exercises
205
1
CHAPTER 10 LANGUAGE AND FORM
206
27
The Power of Data and Lists
TIM O'BRIEN
206
27
"The Things They Carried"
208
1
Notes on Craft and Context
223
1
The Challenges of "True" Narrative
223
1
On Form: The List Story
223
1
On the Tonality and Weight of Lists
224
1
On Style and Rhythm
225
1
On Dialogue and Specific Language
226
1
On the Individual and Universal Character
226
1
On Invention as Truth Seeking and Narrative Posturing
227
1
Drawing Connections: Hemingway and Barth
228
1
From Imitation to Original Creation
228
1
Applications and Connections
228
1
Exercises
229
1
Examples of Student Work
230
3
CHAPTER 11 THE PROCESS OF REVISION
233
24
Inflected English
BERNARD MALAMUD
233
24
"The Magic Barrel"
235
1
Notes on Craft and Context
249
1
Revision as Creation
250
1
On the Process of Revision
250
1
On Creating and Revising Characters
253
1
On Magical Realism
253
1
On Style and Dialogue
253
1
On Style and Description
254
1
On Plot and Point of View
254
1
Getting the Ending Right
254
1
On Theme without Reduction
255
1
Applications and Connections
255
1
Exercises
256
1
CHAPTER 12 AUTOBIOGRAPHY VS. INVENTION
257
16
Blending Fantasy and Reality
JAMAICA KINCAID
257
16
"My Mother"
258
1
Notes on Craft and Context
262
1
Reading Genre: Fantasy or Reality?
262
1
On Autobiography in Fiction
263
1
On Culture: Reinventing Narrative
263
1
On Autobiography and Symbol
264
1
Representative Character and Conflict
264
1
Episodic Plot: Transformation and Flux
265
1
Concrete Detail in Invention
265
1
On Imitation and Autobiography
266
1
On Interchangeable Identity and Language
266
1
The Concrete in the Abstract
267
1
Applications and Connections
267
1
Exercises
268
1
Examples of Student Work
268
5
PART II An Anthology
273
(A short story by each of the following authors, with ten exercises attached)
JOHN CHEEVER,
"Reunion"
275
4
PETER HO DAVIES,
"Relief"
279
9
JUNOT DIAZ,
"How to Date a Browngirl, Blackgirl, Whitegirl, or Halfie"
288
4
STUART DYBEK,
"We Didn't"
292
10
AMY HEMPEL,
"In the Cemetery Where Al Jolson Is Buried"
302
8
GISH JEN,
"Who's Irish?"
310
10
JHUMPA LAHIRI,
"Sexy"
320
17
REGINALD MCKNIGHT,
"The Kind of Light That Shines on Texas"
337
11
GRACE PALEM,
"Faith in the Afternoon"
348
11
GEORGE SAUNDERS,
"The Wavemaker Falters"
359
7
DAVID FOSTER WALLACE,
"Forever Overhead"
366
9
EUDORA WELTY,
"Why I Live at the P.O."
375
Glossary
G-1
Credits
C-1
Index
I-1