English 881: Special Topic — Narrative Inquiry & Narrative Theory

ENGL 881 Course Syllabus (Summer 2025)

• Image from “The Power of Storytelling: Inspiring and Connecting with Your Audience” by Heather V. MacArthur (Forbes, May 24, 2024)

Instructor Information

• Dr. Pagnucci’s Contact Information
• Dr. Pagnucci’s Schedule

Course Access

• Semester: Summer 2025
• Banner Course Number (CRN): 30449
• Section: 001
  • Past Graduate Student Home Pages
• Meeting Time: 1:00 p.m. – 4:15 p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday, & Thursday
• Classroom: Leonard Hall – Room 307
• D2L Course Website (requires IUP login)

Course Legend (or Course Information & Policies)

• Course Description, Overview, Philosophy, & Pedagogy
• Course Goals & Learning Outcomes
• Course Grading and Major Assignments
• Course Texts
• Course Technology
• Course Policies
  • Summer Graduate Course Attendance Policies
• IUP Policies

---

Course Story
(A.K.A. Course Calendar)

• Chapter 1: Family Stories
  • Story Assignment — Family Story
  • Part 1 (July 1): Prologue – Home Is Where Your Story Begins (Online Class Story Day)
  • Part 2 (July 2): Family Stories 1
  • Part 3 (July 2): Introduction to Narrative Inquiry
  • July 4th Holiday (July 3): NO CLASS
• Chapter 2: School Stories & Language Legends
  • Story Assignment: School Story/Language Legend
  • Part 4 (July 8): Family Stories 2
  • Part 5 (July 9): School Stories
  • Part 6 (July 10): Language Legends
• Chapter 3: Stories of Hope & Healing
  • Story Assignment: A Story of Hope & Healing
  • Part 7 (July 15): Truth, Trauma, and the Power of Telling
  • Part 8A (July 16): Stories of Healing & Hope
    • Part 8B (July 16): Hero Stories
  • Part 9 (July 17): Conferences with Dr. Pagnucci
• Chapter 4: The Book of Stories
  • Course Assignment – The Book of Stories
  • Part 10 (July 22): Conferences with Dr. Pagnucci
  • Part 11 (July 23): Reading The Book of Stories
  • Part 12 (July 24): The Big Fish Feast
• Chapter 5: Live a Narrative Life
  • Part 13 (The Future): The End of the Story (for now)

Major Course Tasks Schedule

Narrative Inquiry Foundations

• The Story of Narrative Inquiry
  • Narrative Scholars Research Task
  • IUP English Narrative Dissertations
  • Narrative Bibliography
• The Nature of Narrative Inquiry
• The Narrative Songs Playlist
• Storytelling Techniques and Sample Stories
• Microsoft Sway
  • Software for Bringing Stories to Life
• Blurb
  • Blurb provides super low cost on demand publishing, so you could get a glossy copy of your book to hold in your hand

---

Stories for a Rainy Day

• Chapter: Literacy Narratives
  • Story Assignment – Literacy Narrative
  • Chapter: Stories of Literacy
  • Chapter: Teaching Literacy Narratives
  • Story Reading Groups (Literacy Narrative First Drafts)
• “Tell All the Truth But Tell It Slant” by Emily Dickinson
  • Commentary on the Poem by Camille Turner
• Story Reading Groups (Family Stories)
• Story Reading Groups (School Stories & Language Legends)

Bibliographies

• Literacy Bibliography
• The Routledge Encyclopedia of Narrative Theory (RENT)

Course Resources

• Composition Studies Resources
• English Professional Conferences
• English Professional Organizations
• Guide: Dissertation Chapter 1
• Past Course Activities

Journals Related to Narrative

• English Education (focuses on public school issues)
• Journal of Narrative Theory (journal aimed at theoretical explorations of narrative issues)
• Wikipedia Entry: Autoethnography
• Narrative Inquiry (journal which publishes narrative inquiry research)
• 
• Storyworlds: A Journal of Narrative Theory (an interdisciplinary journal featuring cutting-edge research on storytelling practices across a variety of media)
• Writing on the Edge (focuses on composition issues and stories)

Narrative and Storytelling Resources

• AERA Narrative and Research Special Interest Group (SIG)
• The Centre for Narrative Research
• Center for Narratological Study
• Creative Nonfiction Resources
  • Developed by Mary Sagal
• The Interdisciplinary Center for Narratology (ICN)
• The International Society for the Study of Narrative Literature
• Project Narrative
• Society for the Study of Narrative Literature
• “Why Study Narrative? Education and Debate” (by Trisha Greenhalgh & Brian Hurwitz, 1999; article focusing on narrative-based medicine)
• Wikipedia Entry: “Autoethnography”
• Wikipedia Entry: “Narrative Inquiry”

---

Thanks

• I want to thank IUP C&T alum Dr. Carrie Fitzpatrick who helped create the original design for this page along with locating many of the resources linked here.