Choosing a textbook for ENG 200: Intro to Fiction

Textbooks under evaluation The Art of Story The Art of Story Edited by Daniel Halpern Edited by Daniel Halpern Major American Short Stories Edited by A. Walton Litz

The Art of Story Newer textbook More contemporary authors More stories from which to choose

Major American Short Stories Contains only American authors, but more detailed Covers a larger time frame Contains supplemental essays

Criteria for evaluation Diversity of short stories (weighted in the evaluation) Diversity of short stories (weighted in the evaluation) Biographies of authors Biographies of authors Essays on key groups authors and their styles Essays on key groups authors and their styles

First criterion, diversity of short stories and the authors The Art of Story contains text by authors from twenty countries The Art of Story contains text by authors from twenty countries The Art of Story contains stories of extremely different styles The Art of Story contains stories of extremely different styles Major American Short Stories contains only American authors but the styles vary significantly over the 150yr. span Major American Short Stories contains only American authors but the styles vary significantly over the 150yr. span

First criterion conclusion The Art of Story has an overall stronger diversity in its texts The Art of Story has an overall stronger diversity in its texts

Second criterion, Biographies of authors The textbooks have similar biographies of the authors The textbooks have similar biographies of the authors One paragraph summaries in the back of the book One paragraph summaries in the back of the book Teacher can supplement more detailed biographies if needed Teacher can supplement more detailed biographies if needed

Second Criterion conclusion The texts are approximately equal The texts are approximately equal

Third criterion, Essays on key groups of authors and styles Major American Short Stories includes four essays Major American Short Stories includes four essays The Art of Story does not include essays The Art of Story does not include essays

Third criterion conclusion Clearly, Major American Short Stories is stronger in this criterion Clearly, Major American Short Stories is stronger in this criterion

Conclusion Major American Short Stories is stronger in the third criterion Major American Short Stories is stronger in the third criterion The texts are equal in the second criterion The texts are equal in the second criterion Since The Art of Story is significantly stronger in the first criterion, it is overall the strongest Since The Art of Story is significantly stronger in the first criterion, it is overall the strongest

Recommendation The Art of Story should be used for the survey course ENG 200: Intro to Fiction based on its strength in diversity, which is key to a survey course The Art of Story should be used for the survey course ENG 200: Intro to Fiction based on its strength in diversity, which is key to a survey course

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