English 005: From Pucks to Parliament 2009-11-10T21:14:45Z This is the blog for "English 005: From Pucks to Parliament: Exploring Canada's Cultural Landscape," Dr. Paul Martin's 2007 freshman seminar on Canadian culture. tag:pwmartin.blog.uvm.edu,2009:/005//10 Movable Type Copyright (c) 2009, pwmartin In preparation for our class with Randall Maggs 2009-11-10T21:14:45Z 2009-11-10T21:14:39Z tag:pwmartin.blog.uvm.edu,2009:/005//10.958 2009-11-10T21:14:39Z In preparation for Randall Maggs' visit to UVM, here are a few things I'd like you to watch that tell us a few things about the connection between hockey and Canadian literature. First, this video includes interviews with authors Randall... pwmartin http://www.uvm.edu/~pwmartin Paul.Martin@uvm.edu In preparation for Randall Maggs' visit to UVM, here are a few things I'd like you to watch that tell us a few things about the connection between hockey and Canadian literature.

First, this video includes interviews with authors Randall Maggs, Paul Quarrington, and Dave Bidini, who have each written extensively about hockey.

Second, the short film below is based on one of the poems from Night Work. Randall's book has also inspired a new song by legendary Newfoundland singer/songwriter Ron Hynes.

This link to the page about Night Work: The Sawchuk Poems contains links to this film, but also to a number of interesting articles and reviews of the book. Please also make sure to watch this profile of Terry Sawchuk.

Although I'd like you to make sure to know a bit about the real Terry Sawchuk, it's also worth learning a few things about goaltending from who else but the grande dame of Canadian Literature, Margaret Atwood.

Finally, I don't think a consideration of the connection between hockey and Canadian literature would be complete without a nod to Richard Harrison's book of poems Hero of the Play and to Roch Carrier's story "The Sweater." Here's the short animated film the National Film Board made of this story.

I do spend a good deal of time talking about the connection between hockey and Canadians in my freshman seminar on Canadian culture that I teach here each fall. One of the best ways I've found to explain some of this connection between national identity and hockey in Canada is by having the students read Richard Harrison's introductory essay from the tenth anniversary edition of Hero of the Play.

Referring to the debates in Canada over where the game was first played, Harrison contends that "[what's] important isn't where the origin of hockey is found in Canada, but how Canada finds at least part of its origin in hockey." If one searches for a mythic origin of Canadian psyche, hockey may be as good a place as any to look first. "[. . .] perhaps most important, in terms of the intensityof the origin-of-hockey debate, is that creation myth insists that the distinguishing features of a people's character are things born with them, created when the people were created. Hockey emerges in the Canadian past at the time the Canada we lived in then as separate communities was being made into the Canada we live in now as a people. In mythic terms, hockey is one of the few things that could be said to be ours from before the beginning of Canadian time" (16-17).

Harrison's work is only one of many examples of the great writing about hockey and hockey players we've seen emerge from Canada over the last few years. The non-fiction front ranges from books about the love of playing the game as an adult -- Dave Bidini's The Best Game You Can Name, the great Bill Gaston's Midnight Hockey, and Tom Allen's The Gift of the Game are some of the best recent examples -- to more reflective books like David Adams Richards' wonderful Hockey Dreams: Memories of a Man Who Couldn't Play, Stephen Brunt's Searching for Bobby Orr, or Roch Carrier's Our Life With the Rocket, proving that the world of hockey writing is far more than simply books documenting the careers of particular players or teams. While Canadian fiction and poetry about hockey don't always spring immediately to mind, books like Harrison's Hero of the Play, Gaston's The Good Body, Roy MacGregor's The Last Season, Stephen Galloway's Finnie Walsh, Mark Anthony Jarman's Salvage King Ya! and Randall Maggs' Night Work: the Sawchuk Poems top the list of the great hockey literature of our day.

]]> Group presentation assignment 2009-10-28T19:53:38Z 2009-10-28T19:53:18Z tag:pwmartin.blog.uvm.edu,2009:/005//10.951 2009-10-28T19:53:18Z About tonight's class You're reading this tonight because I'm confined to the house with the dreaded H1N1 virus. My son came down with a very bad case of this over the weekend. Within a half-hour of us getting off the... pwmartin http://www.uvm.edu/~pwmartin Paul.Martin@uvm.edu About tonight's class

You're reading this tonight because I'm confined to the house with the dreaded H1N1 virus. My son came down with a very bad case of this over the weekend. Within a half-hour of us getting off the bus from Ottawa, I was in the ER with him. He finally got released yesterday afternoon, but will be home for the rest of the week. I've been hit with flu-like symptoms for the last couple of days, so I'm forced to cancel our class tonight. The last thing I want to do is get any of you sick.

What we were going to do tonight is talk about Ottawa and look at the video you filmed. This presentation was going to count for 10% of your final grade. We're still going to go ahead with your presentation, but it will just take a bit of a different form. It will now be a special posting on your blog.

Online group presentation assignment

Here is the group presentation assignment:

Your job in this special blog posting is to work together to write a joint posting that will talk about your experiences in Ottawa. This posting should touch on many of the things you did and observed. Use it to tell us what you learned about Canada and Ottawa, both through what you were told by tour guides and your professors, but also through what you observed on your own.

Your blog posting will be at least 1200 words long. It will include pictures and video. It will be written by everyone in the group and you will be graded for this assignment as a group. So, it is everyone's job to make sure that you all collaborate equally and that the final product is as good as you can possibly make it. This assignment counts for 10% of your final grade.

DEADLINE: Friday, November 6

Some tips for your assignment

As I mentioned above, this posting will include the video clips (or some of them) that you shot in Ottawa. In our class on November 4, we will have a short blogging workshop that will show you how to add the videos you took with the iPods into your blog posting. So, you may want to review those videos tonight and think about what you might say about them.

Tonight, you will want to spend some time as a group to talk about the things you'll write about and how you will do this. Writing your sections independently and then combining them later will not be very effective, as you don't want to wind up repeating yourselves. So, at the very least, your goal tonight is to spend some time reflecting on your Ottawa experiences and then work on an outline for your blog posting. Then, you might want to take some time to figure out who is going to be writing what.

By next class, you need to have a full draft ready to go. So, between tonight and next Wednesday, you should spend some time collaborating electronically on the draft of your blog posting. You might want to use something like Google Docs to work on this together. Or you could simply send everything back and forth to each other via e-mail. By next week, you need to have a full draft complete. On November 4, you will be adding your video and doing a final revision of your blog posting. The completed posting needs to be posted on your group blog by November 6.

]]> Group blog assignment 2009 2009-10-14T21:04:32Z 2009-10-14T21:03:09Z tag:pwmartin.blog.uvm.edu,2009:/005//10.948 2009-10-14T21:03:09Z As you know, each of your groups is focusing on one region of Canada and your group will be creating a blog where you will share with the rest of the class (and the world!) all that you’ve learned about... pwmartin http://www.uvm.edu/~pwmartin Paul.Martin@uvm.edu As you know, each of your groups is focusing on one region of Canada and your group will be creating a blog where you will share with the rest of the class (and the world!) all that you’ve learned about this area.

Each week, your group will be responsible for a blog posting that will encompass text, images, and, if you wish, audio or video. Your goal over the course of the semester is to share with the class as much as you can learn about your particular region. While you might have blog postings about things that are happening in the news in that region or some cool links or information that you’ve discovered about that area, the biggest posting of the week will revolve around one of the following themes:

- the Canadian election and the major issues affecting your region

- the history of your region

- the geography of your region

- An author from your region

- A musical artist or group from that region

- A town or city from that region

- A newspaper from your region

- Issues affecting First Nations people in your region

- A book about your region from the library

- A movie or TV series from that region (NOT a US film or TV series filmed in Canada)

All of your blog postings should contain text and images and each should be a minimum of 250 words. I’ll also be expecting to see you using a variety of types sources. The Internet might work for some of these, but I expect you to use the library as well.

]]> Podcast assignment 2009 2009-10-14T20:44:22Z 2009-10-14T20:31:49Z tag:pwmartin.blog.uvm.edu,2009:/005//10.947 2009-10-14T20:31:49Z Create a 7-10 minute podcast on a Canadian topic that you find interesting. This could be anything from your take on our Ottawa experience, an interesting event in the history of Canada, Canada/US relations, or even your favourite Canadian band,... pwmartin http://www.uvm.edu/~pwmartin Paul.Martin@uvm.edu Create a 7-10 minute podcast on a Canadian topic that you find interesting. This could be anything from your take on our Ottawa experience, an interesting event in the history of Canada, Canada/US relations, or even your favourite Canadian band, writer, or hockey team. The sky is the limit!

Your goal is to create an interesting podcast that will pique your audience's interest in the topic. For it to be engaging, you need, of course, to have an argument or hook of some kind that will make people want to listen to what you have to say. You can do research if you like and, if you wish, you can incorporate images and audio clips. You could even create a video podcast if you like. If including research or audio and video clips that you have not created yourself, make sure to tell your audience where you got that material. If using copyrighted music, use a clip of less than thirty seconds rather than an entire song.

It's also important to think about your delivery of your content. A successful podcast will be one in which you are relaxed and clear, while not seeming overly rehearsed or sounding like you're reading directly from the page. Let your personality come through. Have fun, too, with the medium. There are all sorts of things you can do to make your podcast different from those of everyone else.

To hear last year's student podcasts, you can find them all on our blog under the "Assignments" tab.

PODCASTS ARE DUE NO LATER THAN 11/4.

WHEN YOU'RE FINISHED, SEND YOUR FILE TO ME VIA THE UVM FILE TRANSFER SERVICE

]]> How to log in to your group blog 2009-09-30T20:59:22Z 2009-09-23T22:12:15Z tag:pwmartin.blog.uvm.edu,2009:/005//10.943 2009-09-23T22:12:15Z To log in, simply go to http://canada.blog.uvm.edu/mt... pwmartin http://www.uvm.edu/~pwmartin Paul.Martin@uvm.edu news To log in, simply go to http://canada.blog.uvm.edu/mt

]]> Three questions about Canadian geography 2009-09-09T21:53:46Z 2009-09-09T21:42:07Z tag:pwmartin.blog.uvm.edu,2009:/005//10.940 2009-09-09T21:42:07Z Today, each of you wrote down three questions about Canadian geography and then passed your questions to your neighbour. Your job now is to do a bit of research and answer your neighbour's question. In your entry, include the question... pwmartin http://www.uvm.edu/~pwmartin Paul.Martin@uvm.edu news Today, each of you wrote down three questions about Canadian geography and then passed your questions to your neighbour. Your job now is to do a bit of research and answer your neighbour's question. In your entry, include the question and the source you used to answer it.

]]> Introductions 2009-09-02T20:47:09Z 2009-09-02T20:47:05Z tag:pwmartin.blog.uvm.edu,2009:/005//10.938 2009-09-02T20:47:05Z Using your first name only, tell us a bit about yourself. Where are you from? What brought you to this class? What do you know about Canada? How was your first week of classes? Do you have any questions about... pwmartin http://www.uvm.edu/~pwmartin Paul.Martin@uvm.edu Using your first name only, tell us a bit about yourself. Where are you from? What brought you to this class? What do you know about Canada? How was your first week of classes?

Do you have any questions about the class that I didn't answer today?

]]> English 005 Syllabus from 2008 2009-09-02T20:11:08Z 2009-09-02T20:10:48Z tag:pwmartin.blog.uvm.edu,2009:/005//10.937 2009-09-02T20:10:48Z English 005 TAP: From Pucks to Parliament: Exploring Canadian Culture From Canadian music (Arcade Fire, Neil Young, Nelly Furtado, Joni Mitchell, the Barenaked Ladies, Leonard Cohen, and Avril Lavigne to name a few), to Canadians in film and television (actors... pwmartin http://www.uvm.edu/~pwmartin Paul.Martin@uvm.edu English 005 TAP:

From Pucks to Parliament: Exploring Canadian Culture

From Canadian music (Arcade Fire, Neil Young, Nelly Furtado, Joni Mitchell, the Barenaked Ladies, Leonard Cohen, and Avril Lavigne to name a few), to Canadians in film and television (actors like Jim Carrey, Mike Myers, Seth Rogen, Kiefer Sutherland, William Shatner and Keanu Reeves; directors such as James Cameron, Atom Egoyan, and David Cronenberg; and newscasters such as John Roberts and the late Peter Jennings), to Canadian literature (authors such as Margaret Atwood, Alice Munro, Rohinton Mistry and Michael Ondaatje), Americans hear, see, and read work by Canadians on a daily basis.

And yet, if you ask the average American about Canada, you’ll find that most know very little about this mysterious land north of the US, labeled on most American maps as nothing more than “Canada.” In this course’s exploration of Canadian culture, we’ll “travel” from coast to coast to coast in our quest to learn more about the people, culture, politics, and history of Canada, the United States’ largest trading partner and one of its most important allies. Throughout our journey, we’ll be paying particular attention to Canadian literature, music, television, and movies.

As this is an English course, there will be a strong emphasis on Canadian literature; the books we read will help to give you a sense of the broad diversity of the country’s peoples, history, and regions as well as of the richness of its literature. This will also be a technology-driven, writing intensive course that will see you writing, blogging, and even podcasting about your new discoveries about Canada. The course will include a mandatory class trip to Ottawa, Canada’s capital, during which we will visit Parliament, the National Gallery and Museum of Civilisation, and, yes, even attend a hockey game.

This class will be a Residential TAP course and some of you will live in Living/Learning’s Global Village Residential Learning Community as part of "Canada House." This will allow for a number of extra-curricular activities outside of class time and will enhance the course experience significantly. Those not living in the Global Village will still be required to participate in extra-curricular events connected to Canada House.

For the duration of the course, each student will also be loaned an iPod loaded with Canadian music, audio books, and lectures connected to the topics we will be studying.

Technology

One of the exciting things about this course is that it will be breaking new ground at UVM. For the duration of the Fall semester, you will all be loaned Apple 20 G color iPods and Griffin iTalk microphones to use in this course and, if you wish, for other classes. This project will allow us to test this technology as a teaching tool that, hopefully, UVM will be able to deploy on a wider scale in coming years for courses that would most benefit from access to audio materials. Texts we will be using the iPods to access will include a wide variety of Canadian music, readings or lectures from important writers and thinkers, and excerpts from Canadian radio with a particular focus on comedy programs like The Dead Dog Cafe Comedy Hour, the Vinyl Cafe, and the Vestibules. You will also be watching some Canadian TV.

When you receive your iPod it will already be preloaded with a great deal of content. Take time to explore as much music and other content as you can. Every week, or close to it, there will be listening assignments and, on at least a couple of occasions including our trip to Ottawa, audio recording assignments. Treat these assignments as you would any readings for the course. They will be part of your overall exploration of Canadian culture. The audio files I want you to listen to each week will likely be conveniently arranged as "playlists" on your iPod.

There will be several classes over the course of the term where we will focus on how to use the technology, so don't be alarmed if you've never used an iPod before or don't yet know a lot about blogging, or even computers.

The course blog is located at http://pwmartin.blog.uvm.edu/005 You are required to read the content on the blog regularly. There will also be assigned online discussion topics and opportunities for you to blog further about content connected to the course. To create your own personal blog, visit http://www.uvm.edu/blogging to sign up for your own blog on the UVM system.

An important note about the content I am distributing to you on the iPods:
You are not allowed to share any of the music you are being lent nor are you permitted to make permanent copies of it. Once the course is over, you are obligated to delete any copyrighted material used for the course from your computers. This course-use of the copyrighted material is permitted under the provisions of the Technology, Education and Copyright Harmonization (TEACH) Act enacted in 2002 as an amendment to the Copyright Act of 1976. (See http://www.usg.edu/legal/copyright/teach_act.phtml for further information).

Field Trip!

One of the great things about being so close to Canada is that it's easy for us to zip across the border to study first hand our neighbors to the north. Reserve October 23-25 for our class field trip to Ottawa, Canada's capital. If you need a note for any other instructors to explain your absence from their classes on those days, I will be happy to provide that. The trip is mandatory for this TAP class. Around 100 students in total will head to Ottawa early Thursday morning and, over the course of two and a half days, we will do everything from touring Canada's Parliament and the Museum of Civilization to seeing a hockey game (the Ottawa 67s). The full itinerary will be announced closer to the trip.

The fee for students in our English 005 TAP class is $190 ($240 for other students), which includes all transportation, admission fees, two nights in a nice hotel in downtown Ottawa, and likely a dinner on Thursday night.

For crossing the border, make sure that you have either a passport or BOTH an official photo ID (i.e. a driver's license) AND a birth certificate/proof of citizenship. Students without the proper documentation will not be allowed on the bus.

Required Texts:

Books:
Thomas King, The Truth About Stories (purchase the book and also listen on our iPods to the lecture series)

Michael Ondaatje (ed.), From Ink Lake: Canadian Stories (purchase directly from Professor Martin for $20)

Alistair MacLeod, No Great Mischief

Other photocopied readings

A journal or notebook devoted solely to in-class writing

(Unless otherwise indicated, I encourage you to purchase books from the campus bookstore. The Truth About Stories, for instance, is normally unavailable in the United States and the UVM bookstore has gone to great efforts to track it down for us.)

Audio:
Content distributed on the iPods

Assignments

  • Blog postings 20%
  • Group presentation 10% (week of October 6)
  • Midterm exam 20% (October 17)
  • Podcast 15% (due Nov. 7)
  • Term paper/Final project 25% (due Dec. 10)
  • Participation and attendance 10%


N.B. Late assignments will be penalized one grade increment per day past the assigned deadline, unless accompanied by a doctor's note outlining medical reasons for the delay.


Tentative Schedule

Sept. 3: Introduction


Sept. 5: Canadian geography; why study Canada? (iPod distribution) Listen to: Week 1 playlist


Sept. 8: Atlantic Canada: stories in From Ink Lake by Alistair MacLeod (1-8, 682-704), No Great Mischief; Listen to Week 2 playlist


Sept. 10: No Great Mischief


Sept. 12: No Great Mischief, Alistair MacLeod visit (3:00 PM Grace Coolidge Room, Waterman - attendance is mandatory)

SATURDAY SEPT 13th: Alistair MacLeod appearance at the Burlington Book Festival (please try to attend)


Sept. 15: No Great Mischief (add/drop deadline) Listen to Week 3 playlist


Sept. 17: [Blogging workshop]


Sept. 19: [Blogging workshop]


Sept. 22: Canadian history Listen to Week 4 playlist


Sept. 24: Canadian history (visit to class from Professor Massell)


Sept. 26: Québec history and culture, stories by Jacques Ferron (115-26), Mordecai Richler (151-74)


Sept. 29: Québec history and culture, cont.: stories by Madeleine Ferron (203-206) and Marie-Claire Blais (326-31) Listen to Week 5 playlist


Oct. 1: The Canadian Political system; Canadian news sources; Watch one entire episode of The National


Oct. 3: Talking to Americans; watch prior to class (part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5)

Oct. 6: The Canadian election (group assignment) Listen to Week 6 playlist

Oct. 8: The Canadian election (group assignment)

Oct. 10: The Canadian election (group assignment)

Oct. 13: Canadian Thanksgiving (readings from The Vinyl Cafe) Listen to Week 7 playlist

Oct. 15: Election results discussion; Discussion of podcast assignment

Oct. 17: MIDTERM EXAM

Oct. 20: Podcast workshop

Oct. 22: Hockey and Canadian culture; Richard Harrison (photocopy and audio); Roch Carrier (audio) Listen to Week 8 playlist

Oct. 24: OTTAWA TRIP (no class)

Oct. 27: Ottawa discussion Listen to Week 9 playlist

Oct. 29: Podcast production workshop

Oct. 31: Multiculturalism and Canadian culture: readings by Mistry, Brand, and Austin Clarke; (last day to withdraw from classes)

Nov. 3: Advising workshop Listen to Week 10 playlist

Nov. 5: Advising appointments

Nov. 7: Advising appointments (Podcast assigment due)

Nov. 10: Canada at war; Listen to Week 11 playlist

Nov. 12: First Nations: Thomas King, The Truth About Stories (FINISH READING BY TODAY)

Nov. 14: The Truth About Stories

Nov. 17: Canadian literature from Ontario: readings TBA; Listen to Week 12 playlist

Nov. 19: Canadian literature

Nov. 21: Canadian music: bring a list of your top 5 Canadian songs from the iPods

Nov. 24 - 28: Break for American Thanksgiving

Dec. 1: The prairies! Readings by Stegner, Vanderhaeghe, Wiebe, and Gabrielle Roy; Listen to Week 13 playlist

Dec. 3: The prairies continued...

Dec. 5: British Columbia: readings by Kogawa, Hodgins, and Wilson

Dec. 8: Canadian comedy Listen to Week 14 playlist

Dec. 10: Last day of class


UVM's policy on religious holidays:

Religious Holidays: Students have the right to practice the religion of their choice. Each semester students should submit in writing to their instructors by the end of the second full week of classes their documented religious holiday schedule for the semester. Faculty must permit students who miss work for the purpose of religious observance to make up this work.

Academic integrity

Offenses against the Code of Academic Integrity are deemed serious and insult the integrity of the entire academic community. Any suspected violations of the code are taken very seriously and will be forwarded to the Center for Student Ethics & Standards for further investigation.

]]> Fall 2009 syllabus 2009-08-20T02:08:10Z 2009-08-20T02:07:18Z tag:pwmartin.blog.uvm.edu,2009:/005//10.934 2009-08-20T02:07:18Z I'll have the fall 2009 syllabus posted by August 31. It's going to be a great semester![Posted with iBlogger from my iPod touch]... pwmartin http://www.uvm.edu/~pwmartin Paul.Martin@uvm.edu

[Posted with iBlogger from my iPod touch]


]]> The prairie sky 2008-12-05T02:52:29Z 2008-12-05T02:52:14Z tag:pwmartin.blog.uvm.edu,2008:/005//10.879 2008-12-05T02:52:14Z We've been talking about the prairies this week, so I thought I'd point you to the "Seven Wonders of Canada" website created by CBC. This was a nationwide contest to choose what Canadians thought to be our country's greatest wonders.... pwmartin http://www.uvm.edu/~pwmartin Paul.Martin@uvm.edu We've been talking about the prairies this week, so I thought I'd point you to the "Seven Wonders of Canada" website created by CBC. This was a nationwide contest to choose what Canadians thought to be our country's greatest wonders. Naturally, to this prairie boy at least, the prairie sky was one of them.

This video clip from the CBC news will show you just what I'm talking about.

]]> Final assignment 2008 2008-12-01T03:27:23Z 2008-12-01T03:27:18Z tag:pwmartin.blog.uvm.edu,2008:/005//10.877 2008-12-01T03:27:18Z The final project for this course gives you the opportunity to write a paper on anything connected to Canadian culture that interests you. Your topic could stem from something we've covered in the class, something you learned about in Ottawa,... pwmartin http://www.uvm.edu/~pwmartin Paul.Martin@uvm.edu The final project for this course gives you the opportunity to write a paper on anything connected to Canadian culture that interests you. Your topic could stem from something we've covered in the class, something you learned about in Ottawa, or anything else about Canada you'd like to explore in greater detail. When you're thinking about what to write, cast your net widely. Your paper could be on anything from an historical event or an aspect of Canadian politics, to hockey in Canadian culture or any of the books we've read this semester.

That said, your paper must also have an argument, a thesis that you are setting out to prove with the research that you've done. When using your research, make sure that we still hear your voice and ideas and that you're not simply stitching together many different pieces of information that you've picked up from elsewhere. Finding that balance between simply describing your topic and analyzing what you think is interesting about it. This one of the key things you need to do to write a good research paper.

Your paper will, as I suggest above, need to to involve a fair amount of research. You can use the internet, but you also will need to use the library. At least two of the sources you cite in your essay must be PRINT sources that you located at the library. If you've not yet started to explore the resources our library has to offer, this is your opportunity to do so. You can include images and even multimedia if you wish (you could send your paper to me electronically or even make it a blog posting!), but not to such a degree that it overwhelms your text.

Before you begin researching, you must clear your topic with me. By December the 10th at the latest, submit to me a proposal outlining your topic and the approach you are going to take. Your proposal should also discuss what kind of sources you plan on using and should show me that you've already done some preliminary research on your topic.

Word length: 2000-2500 words (roughly 8-10 pages)
Due date: 12/19, 8:00 AM (at the absolute latest)

]]>

]]> Top 5 Canadian songs 2008-11-20T16:08:27Z 2008-11-20T16:08:12Z tag:pwmartin.blog.uvm.edu,2008:/005//10.873 2008-11-20T16:08:12Z Here's your assignment in place of Friday's class. Post a comment to this blog entry where you list your top 5 Canadian songs from the iPod. Make sure to explain the reasons for each choice. See you after the Thanksgiving... pwmartin http://www.uvm.edu/~pwmartin Paul.Martin@uvm.edu Here's your assignment in place of Friday's class. Post a comment to this blog entry where you list your top 5 Canadian songs from the iPod. Make sure to explain the reasons for each choice.

See you after the Thanksgiving break!

]]> Readings for Nov. 19 2008-11-17T21:12:00Z 2008-11-17T21:11:12Z tag:pwmartin.blog.uvm.edu,2008:/005//10.872 2008-11-17T21:11:12Z Two stories for 11/19: Margaret Atwood: The Man From Mars (p. 273) Alice Munro: Miles City, Montana (p. 656)... pwmartin http://www.uvm.edu/~pwmartin Paul.Martin@uvm.edu Two stories for 11/19: Margaret Atwood: The Man From Mars (p. 273)

Alice Munro: Miles City, Montana (p. 656)

]]> Canada at War - resources 2008-11-09T20:49:02Z 2008-11-09T20:48:53Z tag:pwmartin.blog.uvm.edu,2008:/005//10.865 2008-11-09T20:48:53Z The Memory Project Digital Archive "The Digital Archive officially launched on the anniversary of D-Day on June 6th, 2003. Explore over 85 years of military history through hundreds of first-hand accounts and original artifacts shared by veterans from across Canada."... pwmartin http://www.uvm.edu/~pwmartin Paul.Martin@uvm.edu The Memory Project Digital Archive

"The Digital Archive officially launched on the anniversary of D-Day on June 6th, 2003. Explore over 85 years of military history through hundreds of first-hand accounts and original artifacts shared by veterans from across Canada."

Canada and the First World War

An online exhibit from the Canadian War Museum

Remembrance

Information on Remembrance Day in Canada and all that it signifies

]]> Podcast assignment 2008 2008-10-29T14:40:17Z 2008-10-29T14:40:03Z tag:pwmartin.blog.uvm.edu,2008:/005//10.859 2008-10-29T14:40:03Z Create a 7-10 minute podcast on a Canadian topic that you find interesting. This could be anything from your take on our Ottawa experience, an interesting event in the history of Canada, Canada/US relations, or even your favourite Canadian band,... pwmartin http://www.uvm.edu/~pwmartin Paul.Martin@uvm.edu Create a 7-10 minute podcast on a Canadian topic that you find interesting. This could be anything from your take on our Ottawa experience, an interesting event in the history of Canada, Canada/US relations, or even your favourite Canadian band, writer, or hockey team. The sky is the limit!

Your goal is to create an interesting podcast that will pique your audience's interest in the topic. For it to be engaging, you need, of course, to have an argument or hook of some kind that will make people want to listen to what you have to say. You can do research if you like and, if you wish, you can incorporate images and audio clips. You could even create a video podcast if you like. If including research or audio and video clips that you have not created yourself, make sure to tell your audience where you got that material. If using copyrighted music, use a clip of less than thirty seconds rather than an entire song.

It's also important to think about your delivery of your content. A successful podcast will be one in which you are relaxed and clear, while not seeming overly rehearsed or sounding like you're reading directly from the page. Let your personality come through. Have fun, too, with the medium. There are all sorts of things you can do to make your podcast different from those of everyone else.

To hear last year's student podcasts, you can find them all on our blog under the "Assignments" tab.

PODCASTS ARE DUE NO LATER THAN 11/14.

WHEN YOU'RE FINISHED, SEND YOUR FILE TO ME VIA THE UVM FILE TRANSFER SERVICE

]]>