Syllabus for English 180 (Fall 2005)

English 180: Topics in Canadian Literature

For a country of just 30 million people stretched over a vast territory and comprised of two major language groups, Canada has produced a remarkable number of world class writers, such as Margaret Atwood, Alice Munro, Michael Ondaatje, and Rohinton Mistry to name but a few. In the past two decades, in particular, Canadian literature has increasingly been seen by the world literary community as one of the hotbeds of new and innovative writing.

In this course, we will focus on Canadian writing from the last twenty years or so to gain some perspective on the remarkable variety and quality of writing produced by our neighbors to the north. By focusing on novels and short fiction from writers spread across Canada, we will also examine questions of Canadian identity and the influence of the history of Canada on its present state.

One of the challenges and also the pleasures of studying contemporary literature is that there is little consensus among critics as to what will be considered some day to be the "Great Works" of our time. In fact, courses that focus on very recent work are a fairly new development in the history of literary studies; it is a privilege and an exciting challenge to study the literature written in our time but from another place. The study of literature will be one of the areas we will continue to discuss throughout the course. We will spend some time looking at how courses get constructed and how this connects to questions of the literary institution and the literary canon. This will culminate in you helping to choose one of the books that we will study.

This course will also allow you the opportunity to participate in the annual (and legendary) Canadian Studies field trip to Ottawa from October 20-22. I am not requiring participation from the students in English 180, but I strongly encourage you to participate. This is a terrific chance for you to explore Canada's capital and to learn much more about the cultures and places about which we will be reading.

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:
Margaret Atwood, The Handmaid's Tale
Michael Ondaatje, Running in the Family
Guy Vanderhaeghe, The Englishman's Boy
David Adams Richards, Mercy Among the Children
Eden Robinson, Monkey Beach
Thomas and Harms, Eds. The Turn of the Story: Canadian Short Fiction on the Eve of the Millennium
ONE ADDITIONAL BOOK CHOSEN BY YOU!

Assignments

• First essay – 15% (1500 words), due October 12
• Second essay – 25% (2000 words) due November 21
• Group presentation and blog entry on a recent Canadian book – 10%
• Blog contributions – 10%
• Participation and attendance 10%
• Final exam 30% (will include questions on all books and stories read for the course)

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. Extensions are available, but must be requested in writing one week in advance of the original due date.

Tentative Schedule

August 29th: Introduction
31/08/05: Canadian literary history (blog introductions due)
02/09/05: Canadian literary history
05/09/05: Labor Day Holiday
07/09/05: Running in the Family
09/09/05: Running in the Family
12/09/05: Running in the Family
14/09/05: Running in the Family
16/09/05: Group work
19/09/05: Feminist writing in Canada, The Handmaid's Tale (group blog assignment due)
21/09/05: The Handmaid's Tale (voting on final book begins)
23/09/05: The Handmaid's Tale
26/09/05: The Handmaid's Tale (Essay topics posted)
28/09/05: Short stories
30/09/05: Short stories
03/10/05: The Englishman’s Boy
05/10/05: The Englishman’s Boy
07/10/05: The Englishman’s Boy
10/10/05: The Englishman’s Boy
12/10/05: Short stories;
14/10/05: Fall Recess
17/10/05: Mercy Among the Children (READING QUIZ)
19/10/05: Mercy Among the Children
October 20 – 22: Ottawa Trip. No class October 21, first essay due Oct 22
24/10/05: Mercy Among the Children
26/10/05: Mercy Among the Children
28/10/05: Mercy Among the Children
31/10/05: First Nations writers, short stories
02/11/05: short stories
04/11/05: Monkey Beach
07/11/05: Monkey Beach
09/11/05: Monkey Beach
11/11/05: Monkey Beach
14/11/05: Monkey Beach
16/11/05: TBA
18/11/05: TBA
21/11/05: Book TBA (second essay due)
November 23 – 25th: Thanksgiving Recess
28/11/05: Book TBA
30/11/05: Book TBA
02/12/05: Book TBA
05/12/05: Book TBA
December 7: Last day of class, review

December 9, 4 pm Final Exam (180B)
Dec 13th, 12 pm Final Exam (180A)