This is the website for Professor Martin's fall 2007 section of English 180: Canadian literature. This site will contain everything related to the course except for grades.

Essay topics (Summer 2008)

Here are our essay topics (finally!) for the first essay. You can focus on just one book if you like, though you may find it interesting to discuss two.\

1. "The truth about stories," Thomas King tells us, "is that's all that we are." Choosing one or two characters from The Blind Assassin, Three Day Road, and/or My Sister's Blue Eyes, examine the function of stories in the character's/characters' life/lives. How do stories shape the character's/characters' behaviours? Do these stories or how they are looked at by the character(s) change over the course of the novel(s)?

2. Examine the role of fate or destiny in the lives of two characters from The Blind Assassin, Three Day Road, and/or My Sister's Blue Eyes.

3. Create a topic of your own. Please clear it with me first, though.

A few tips: First, make sure to cite your sources properly using MLA style. MLA style and my grading criteria are outlined in detail in the essay handout I will distribute to you by e-mail. Second, make sure to give yourself enough time, even if it's only a day or a few hours to reread and revise your essay. This posting I made last year while grading essays will give you a few ideas as to some areas you might want to review before handing in your essay. Second, these essay topics are deliberately broad, allowing you the room to tailor them to what you find interesting about each book. Make sure to narrow the topic you choose enough to make it something manageable for a six page essay. You could easily write a book on any of these topics, so make certain your thesis is specific enough that you aren't biting off more than you can chew.

The Blind Assassin

Here are a few links to some interviews with Margaret Atwood from around the time of the publication of The Blind Assassin:

Margaret Atwood: Queen of Can Lit: A series of clips from the CBC archives about Margaret Atwood. Watch the clip of her 2000 interview with Evan Solomon

An interesting interview with January Magazine

Atwood interviewed by Charlie Rose about The Blind Assassin (also a 2007 interview with him)

Another magazine interview following The Blind Assassin

Interview and reading by Atwood on Minnesota Public Radio

English 180 syllabus from fall 2007

English 180: Topics in Canadian Literature

ENGS 180 B, 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM, TR, LAFAYETTE L311

This course is a broad survey of the last hundred years of fiction in Canada, from before the First World War to the present day. We will cover novels and stories by writers from Canada's three founding peoples (English, French, and First Nations), although our primary focus will be on texts originally written in English. Throughout the course, we will also interrogate the connection between literature, place, and identity. By covering a wide range of texts from different language and cultural communities and from different regions of Canada, we will gain some perspective of the diversity of Canada, its peoples, and its literatures. At the same time, we will also question the assumptions we inevitably make about any country and its people through reading its literature. As with any survey course covering such a large period of time and variety of literary expression, the selections of readings is not meant to be comprehensive, but rather provides you with a wide sampling of periods, genres, and authors.

This course will also allow you the opportunity to participate in the annual (and legendary) Canadian Studies field trip to Ottawa from October 18-20. this is an amazing trip that students frequently cite as being one of their best experiences at UVM. Although I am not requiring participation from the students in English 180, I strongly encourage you to participate. This is a terrific chance for you to explore Canada's capital city and to learn much more about the cultures and places about which we will be reading. Students from 180 who do not go on the trip will be required to complete an alternative assignment.

Finally, I also encourage you to purchase your books from the campus bookstore. A number of the books I've chosen are not normally available in the United States and the UVM bookstore has gone to great efforts to track them down for us. You will find it easier and not likely much more expensive -- if at all -- to buy these books on campus rather than online.

Required Texts:
Stephen Leacock, Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town (Norton Critical Edition only)
Gabrielle Roy, The Tin Flute
Hubert Aquin, Next Episode
Margaret Laurence, The Diviners
Michael Ondaatje, In the Skin of a Lion
George Elliott Clarke, George and Rue
Eden Robinson, Monkey Beach

Also required: a course notebook or journal to bring with you to every class for freewriting assignments.

Assignments

First essay: 15% (1500 words), due October 16
Second essay: 25% (2000 words) due December 4
Blog contributions (minimum of one per week): 20%
Participation and attendance: 10%
Participation in Ottawa trip or alternate assignment: 5%
Final exam: 25%

Continue reading "English 180 syllabus from fall 2007"

Remembering December 6, 1989

Every year on December 6, I mark the anniversary of the Montreal Massacre by taking a moment of silence in class after reading the names of the murdered women.

People across Canada today, and especially on university and college campuses, will be marking this anniversary with speeches, candlelight vigils, and moments of silence. I hope we can all find some time in our classes, homes, or offices to remember the following young women who lost their lives eighteen years ago today.

Victims of the Montreal Massacre at l'École Polytechnique on December 6, 1989

Geneviève Bergeron
Hélène Colgan
Nathalie Croteau
Barbara Daigneault
Anne-Marie Edward
Maud Haviernick
Barbara Klucznik Widajewicz
Maryse Laganière
Maryse Leclair
Anne-Marie Lemay
Sonia Pelletier
Michèle Richard
Annie St-Arneault
Annie Turcotte

In Canada, December 6 is the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women in Canada. Established in 1991 by the Parliament of Canada, this day coincides with the sad anniversary of the death of fourteen young women who were tragically killed on December 6, 1989 at l'École Polytechnique in Montréal because of their gender.

Speaking of Sasquatch...

Meet Quatchi!

Final exam format and essay questions (Fall 2007)

Here are the essay questions for the final, as well as the layout of the first part of the exam.

For the essay questions, only two of those listed below will be on the actual final. So, you should plan out how you would respond to at least two of them; if you plan for only one of them, you might find that it is the one I've chosen not to include. When you prepare to write on the essay topics, give yourself some flexibility as to which texts you might use so that you can have a wider range of choice for the passage identifications. Remember that you can't deal with the same work twice over the course of the exam, so you need to be ready to discuss all of the books we've covered in the course.

PART A (40 points):

CHOOSE FOUR OF THE FOLLOWING SEVEN PASSAGES AND IDENTIFY THE FOLLOWING:

• The title and author of the text from which the passage is taken (1 mark)
• The names of the speakers, listeners, or narrator if relevant (1 mark)
• When and where this passage takes place in the book if relevant (1 mark)
• The significance of this passage. Questions you will need to consider in this regard include: What do we learn from this passage? Does this passage affect the overall plot of the text? Which of the major themes in the text are present here? How does this passage tie into other themes or ideas we’ve seen in some of the other novels we’ve looked at in the course? What else do you notice about this passage? (7-9 marks)

ANSWER ONLY IN COMPLETE SENTENCES AND PUT YOUR ANSWER IN PARAGRAPH FORM. WRITE AS MUCH AS YOU CAN WHEN ANSWERING EACH OF THESE. IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO ANSWER THE QUESTION FULLY IN JUST A FEW SHORT SENTENCES.

PART B (40 points):

USING AS YOUR CHIEF EXAMPLES THREE TEXTS WE HAVE DISCUSSED IN CLASS, WRITE AN ESSAY THAT FULLY ANSWERS ONE OF THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS (N.B. only two of the following questions will be on the actual final exam)

1. In this course, we have studied a wide variety of Canadian fiction. If someone were to ask you what Canadian fiction is like, how would you describe it based on what we've read? Your answer must take into account the complex issues we have discussed in class as well as the diversity of texts we have read. Your discussion must also include a detailed discussion of at least three texts covered in this course.

2. Almost everyone of the books we read this semester engages with the tenuous line between "fact" and "fiction." Looking at three of the books we've read, examine this theme and describe how it comes into play in each work.

3. Memory is a significant theme in many of the works we have looked at in this course. With reference to three of the texts we have read in the class, discuss the role of memory in each.

N.B. Over the course of the exam, you may not focus on the same work twice.

Blog and participation grades

We've briefly discussed this in class a couple of times, but here's a more extensive breakdown of how I determine blog and participation grades:

Blog grade:

A: To earn an A on the blog component of the course all assignments must have been completed and comments posted by the assigned deadline. Comments are thoughtful, fully answer the question asked, and, if specified, take into account the comments of other students.

B: All assignments completed, mostly on time. Thoughtful comments, though perhaps briefer and less engaging than those that merit an A.

C: Most assignments completed, primarily at the end of the semester and/or comments are short, perfunctory answers to the blog prompt with little consideration of the comments of others.

D: Only partial completion of the assignments and comments show little commitment to making a contribution to the discussion.

F: Failure to complete more than 50% of the assigned blog questions.

Participation grade:

A: Nearly 100% attendance, unless due to illness or family emergency AND active participation in class. Clearly on top of the reading and regularly speaks in class. Always engaged in the discussion, whether vocally contributing or not.

B: Missed very few classes (2 or 3 max), unless due to illness or family emergency. Participated in class vocally on a fairly regular basis, but, more importantly, is always listening and attentive to the ongoing discussion. Unprepared for class occasionally, but usually caught up on the reading and willing to contribute.

C: Misses more than three classes for reasons other than illness or family emergency. Clearly behind in the reading on at least several occasions. Mostly attentive and speaks in class several times over the course of the semester. Makes a good effort to stay involved in class discussion and appears interested.

D: Regularly missing from class and/or frequently appears disinterested. Routinely behind on reading and fails to bring books to class. Leaves class from time to time to take phone calls thinking that the professor thinks they are using the bathroom, continually passes notes back and forth with someone else, works on other homework, reads the newspaper during class, checks e-mail or text messages while instructor or classmates are speaking, all of which, I should add, are apparent to the instructor and your classmates and immediately qualify you for a D.

F: Attendance and participation not worthy of a D or higher. Failure to attend most classes and/or to participate in any meaningful way.

Monkey Beach blog prompt

So, now that you've finished reading Monkey Beach, what did you think? Which part(s) of the book did you find most interesting? Any questions about the book you'd like us to cover in class?

You might also want to check out the video of Eden Robinson's reading here last fall.

Second essay topic

As we discussed in detail on November 13, your assignment for the second essay is to create your own topic that allows you to look at a common theme or connection between two of the final books we've looked at in this course (The Diviners, In the Skin of a Lion, George and Rue, and Monkey Beach). If there's a different Canadian book that you've read that you'd like to discuss in your essay, you may do so in place of one of the other texts we've read in class.

Make sure that the topic is narrow enough that you can answer it sufficiently and in enough detail in a 2000 word essay. Although I've chosen not to require you to do secondary research, I encourage you to do so if it's relevant to your topic.

I recommend that you run your topic by me either in person or by e-mail. I'm also willing, if time permits, to review introductory paragraphs and/or outlines to help make certain that you are on the right track.

DUE: Tuesday, December 4th. Extensions are a possibility, but if you do ask for one I can't guarantee that you'll receive your essay back much before the exam on December 10.

WORD LENGTH: 2000 words

George Elliott Clarke links

As a supplement to our reading of George and Rue, you might be interested in checking out the following links:

• The Canadian Studies Program's podcasts page has a link to a video podcast of George Elliott Clarke's reading here last fall (the podcast is in three parts).
• A review of George and Rue by Canadian writer Lawrence Hill
• An excellent interview with George by Ramona Koval of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation

George and Rue blog prompt

Many of the books we've dealt with this year have been ones in which we've looked at the connections between the works of literature and actual people and/or events. This is particularly relevant to George Elliott Clarke's George and Rue in that it retells the story of a violent murder committed by George and Rufus Hamilton and of their trial and execution for the crime. The novel, though, as Clarke tells us in the "Verdict" section of the book, is "fiction, and [Clarke has] taken prodigious and relentless liberties with 'facts,' so that psychologies, identites, genealogies, and even some place descriptions are purely imaginary" (219).

What is your reaction to these "relentless liberties"? Does an artist have a responsibility to stay as "true" to the past as he or she can, or is it in fact his or her responsibility to create a powerful work of art first that helps us to understand the past through a different lens?

In the Skin of a Lion resources

It is important to know that the places and a number of the characters described in the book were real (Ondaatje did meticulous research into the history of Toronto and its immigrant populations while writing the novel). You can find some helpful background information about these places online. One of the most fascinating webpages you'll find on the novel is this one from the City of Toronto Archives. Here you can see some of the actual photographs described in the novel, including the picture of two men shaking hands in the tunnel underneath Lake Ontario and the one of the cyclist darting across the Bloor Street Viaduct on the day it was christened and opened to the public.

You'll see a period photo of the Harris Filtration plant, the "Palace of Purification" on the City of Toronto Archives site, but this plant still exists and it has its own website where you can actually do a virtual tour of the complex. There's also an aerial shot here.

Times to meet to discuss Next Episode

I'm happy to meet with those of you who didn't get a copy of Next Episode in time for our discussions of the novel. If you did have the book, but would still like to meet to discuss the book, that's great, too.

Here are two slots where I'm available in the next few days. Please let me know if you intend to come, as I might make other plans for this time if I don't hear from anyone. If neither of these times works for you, let me know and we can set something else up. I don't expect we'll need more than one hour, but I'm making these spots 90 minutes in case we need more than that.

Thursday, Nov. 8: 1 - 2:30 pm

Friday, Nov. 9: 9:30 - 11 AM

Friday, Nov. 9: 2:00 - 3:30 pm

In the Skin of a Lion blog posting

What's your reaction to In the Skin of a Lion? What part(s) of this book did you find most interesting and/or enjoyable?

Diviners blog assignment

What do you find to be the most interesting part of The Diviners? In your response, include a passage or two from the text that illustrates what you're saying about the text.

Books now available at the bookstore

Copies of Next Episode, The Diviners, and George and Rue arrived at the bookstore this afternoon.

FINALLY! My apologies for the delays with these. I've been just as frustrated with this as you have been.

Once everyone's through catching up on Next Episode, I'll schedule a time where a small group of us (and

anyone else who'd like to talk more about the book) can meet to discuss it.

If you don't have The Diviners yet, please go and pick it up before class tomorrow and finish reading it

over the weekend.

Alternate assignment in lieu of Ottawa trip

Here's the alternate assignment in lieu of participating the Ottawa trip, which is worth 5% of your final grade.

Go to the library and locate a short story by a Canadian writer. Write a short review of the story (a minimum of 250 words) and post it here on the blog (in the comments on this post).

A couple of quick tips: While you might want to tell us what happens in the story (the plot), this should be a very small part of your review. Your main focus should be on what you think the story is about and what you found most interesting about the work.

The other tip is that when you find the short story in the library, make a photocopy of it so that the book it's from can remain on the shelves. That will be of help to your classmates.

For those who didn't get a chance to attend Sunshine and Shadows

Here's your make-up assignment. Sorry for the delay in coming up with this....

As a producer and director, James Douglas has championed new works of Canadian theatre. Given that we're focusing only on fiction in our course, I thought this would be a great opportunity for you to do a bit of research on Canadian theatre.

So, using your best internet or library research skills, search out a Canadian play and in 150 words or more tell us a bit about it. Include the URLs or publication information of the sources you use. (You could also decide to focus on a Canadian playwright)

Next Episode

What are your first reactions to Aquin's Next Episode? What did you notice most about the book? What questions do you have that you would like us to consider in our class discussions?

Ottawa itinerary

We'll be adding a few more specific details to our Ottawa itinerary in the coming week or so, but here is a pretty complete look at what we'll be up to while we're there.

Continue reading "Ottawa itinerary"

This week's blog prompt

What were your reactions to James B. Douglas' performance? Did it change the way you read or think of Leacock?

James B. Douglas performance 9/25

SUNSHINE AND SHADOWS: AN AFTERNOON WITH STEPHEN LEACOCK

Performed by James B. DouglasTUESDAY, SEPT. 25th, 4:00 PMMann Auditorium, Trinity Campus, University of Vermont

"the most vivid recreation of Stephen Leacock we have seen... hilariously funny... captures the essence of Leacock's razor sharp wit"

The renowned Canadian actor James B. Douglas will be coming to the University of Vermont to perform an abbreviated version of his one-man play based on the life and work of the Canadian writer Stephen Leacock (1869-1944). Douglas has performed Sunshine and Shadows to rave reviews in Canada earlier this fall and takes the production to England in October. In his play we see the many sides of Stephen Leacock, who remains one of Canada's best-known writers and humorists. Following the one-hour performance, Mr. Douglas will be answering questions about his play and his own thoughts on Leacock and his work.

During Stephen Leacock's lifetime, works like Literary Lapses (1910), Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town (1912), and Arcadian Adventures with the Idle Rich (1914) were international bestsellers and remain in print to this day. A famed and much-loved professor of Political Economy at McGill University, Leacock wrote over 50 books, including many collections of humorous stories, biographies of Charles Dickens and Mark Twain, treatises on Canadian history and politics, and several textbooks on economics. Since 1947, The Stephen Leacock Memorial Medal for Humor (which also includes a $10 000 prize) has been awarded annually to the best Canadian literary work of humor. A veteran of stage, screen and television, James B. Douglas has played over 150 major roles in Britain, Canada and the United States. Highlights include Bitos in POOR BITOS (Center Theater Group, Los Angeles), Sir Toby Belch in TWELFTH NIGHT (Old Globe Theater, San Diego), Paris in TROILUS AND CRESSIDA (Stratford Festival), Polo in A HATFUL OF RAIN (Princes Theatre, London) and especially the role of Pvt. Bamforth in THE LONG AND THE SHORT AND THE TALL (Montreal, Toronto and New York). He has also played roles in many television series and movies, including THE PSI-FACTOR, SOUL FOOD, ROAD TO AVONLEA (opposite Faye Dunaway), THE ASSOCIATES, DOC, THE HAIR CUT, CONSPIRACY OF SILENCE, MILLION DOLLAR BABIES, A PEOPLE'S HISTORY OF CANADA and M.A.S.H. He has received Juno and Dora nominations and starred in the Oscar nominated film AFTER THE AXE. James is also a director/producer and dramaturge. He is the former Artistic Director of The Gryphon Theatre where he premiered WAR BRIDES - THE MUSICAL and directed his own adaptation of W.O. Mitchell's JAKE AND THE KID. Sponsored by the James and Mary Brigham Buckham Scholarship Fund, the Dept. of English, and the UVM Canadian Studies Program
For more info on the location of the Mann Auditorium, read the full entry below: Continue reading "James B. Douglas performance 9/25"

The eternal human enigma

"[Emmanuel] felt an intense distress. It seemed to him that he was alone in the universe, on the edge of the abyss, holding in his hands the most fragile, tenuous of threads, that of the eternal human enigma. Which of the two, wealth or spirit, should sacrifice itself? Which of the two possessed the true power of redemption?"

Does the The Tin Flute suggest an answer to this "eternal human enigma" ? What do you think about this? If you had to choose, what would you do?

Reactions to The Tin Flute

Gabrielle Roy's Bonheur d'occasion (translated as The Tin Flute) is, I think, the most important novel written in Canada during the 1940s and it's set just 90 minutes from here in Montreal. Looking at it now, 60 years after its publication, what was your reaction to it? What do you think is the most interesting aspect of this novel?

Blog assignment for Sunshine Sketches: first reactions

What is your first reaction to Stephen Leacock's Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town?

Did anything surprise you about the book? What about it did you find most interesting?

First blog assignment: introductions

Seeing as we're all going to be reading each other's comments over the next 13 weeks, let's use the opportunity of our first blog post to get to know each other a bit better.

As I mentioned the other day, please use just your first name and last initial (the last initial is especially important if you are one of the several Emilys, Joshuas, Davids, Andrews, or Ashleys we have in this class). Do, though, tell us a bit about your background and what you're hoping to learn in this course. Do you have any connections to Canada or anything that especially intrigues you about Canada? Also, tell us a bit about your favourite writers and/or types of literature that you like to read.

Reminder about where to find the syllabus for our course

Just click on the syllabus tab at the top of this window and you'll see our full syllabus for Fall 2007.

Syllabus for English 180 - Fall 2006

Read below the break for the full syllabus from the Fall 2006 version of English 180 (the course usually changes every year)

Continue reading "Syllabus for English 180 - Fall 2006"

Fall 2007 course description and book list

I'll have a complete syllabus posted later in August, but here's the basic description of the course and a list of the books we'll be studying.

English 180: Topics in Canadian Literature

This course is a broad survey of the last hundred years of fiction in Canada, from before the First World War to the present day. We will cover novels and stories by writers from Canada’s three founding peoples (English, French, and First Nations), but our primary focus will be on texts originally written in English. Throughout the course, we will also interrogate the connection between literature, place, and identity. By covering a wide range of texts from different language and cultural communities and from different regions of Canada, we will gain some perspective of the diversity of Canada, its peoples, and its literatures. At the same time, we will also question the assumptions we inevitably make about any country and its people through reading its literature. As with any survey course covering such a large period of time and variety of literary expression, the selections of readings is not meant to be comprehensive, but rather provides you with a wide sampling of periods, genres, and authors.

Texts will include:
Stephen Leacock, Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town (Norton Critical Edition only)
Gabrielle Roy, The Tin Flute
Hubert Aquin, Next Episode
Margaret Laurence, The Diviners
Michael Ondaatje, In the Skin of a Lion
George Elliott Clarke, George and Rue
Eden Robinson, Monkey Beach

(full disclosure: I am a part owner of Northwest Passages)

Fall 2007 syllabus coming soon

I'll have the fall 2007 syllabus posted in the next several weeks. Stay tuned!

If you're signed up for the class, I hope you'll seriously consider taking part in the annual Ottawa field trip which will run this year from October 18-20. The trip is a blast and will definitely be one of your most memorable events here at UVM.