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)

English 180: Topics in Canadian Literature

ENGS 180 A 08:00 AM - 09:15 AM, TR, LAFAYE L411
ENGS 180 B, 11:00 AM - 12:15 PM, TR, LAFAYE L300

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 xx-xx. 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. 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:
Margaret Atwood, Alias Grace
Dionne Brand, What We All Long For
George Elliott Clarke, George and Rue
Gil Courtemanche, A Sunday at the Pool in Kigali
Eden Robinson, Monkey Beach
Guy Vanderhaeghe, The Englishman's Boy
plus one novel or short story collection chosen by the class

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

Assignments

• First essay – 20% (1500 words), due October ??
• Term paper – 30% (2000 words) due December 7
• Group presentation and blog entry on a recent Canadian book: 10%
• Blog contributions (minimum of one per week): 25%
• Participation and attendance 10%
• Participation in Ottawa trip or alternate assignment 5%

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 no later than one week in advance of the original due date. There are no exceptions.

Tentative Schedule

August 29: Introduction
August 31: Canadian Literary History (first blog posting due)
Sept. 5: Atwood, Alias Grace
Sept. 7: Alias Grace
Sept. 12: Alias Grace
Sept.14: Alias Grace
Sept. 19: First Nations writing, Stories by Tom King, Richard Van Camp, and Eden Robinson
Sept. 21: GROUP WORK, stories continued
Sept. 26: Monkey Beach
Sept. 28: Monkey Beach
Oct. 3: Monkey Beach EDEN ROBINSON VISIT!
Oct. 5: Courtemanche, A Sunday at the Pool in Kigali
Oct. 10: A Sunday at the Pool in Kigali
Oct. 12: Vanderhaeghe, The Englishman's Boy
Oct. 17: The Englishman's Boy
Oct. 19: OTTAWA TRIP
Oct. 24: The Englishman's Boy (FIRST ESSAY DUE)
Oct. 26: Brand, What We All Long For
Oct. 31: Brand, What We All Long For
Nov. 2: Clarke, George and Rue
Nov. 7: Clarke, George and Rue; VISIT BY GEORGE ELLIOTT CLARKE!
Nov. 9: George and Rue

Nov. 14: Brand, What We All Long For

Nov. 16: Brand, What We All Long For
Nov. 20 - 24: Thanksgiving Recess
Nov. 28: 180A: Brand, What We All Long For
Nov. 30: 180A: Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw/ 180B: Alligator
Dec. 5: 180A: Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw/ 180B: Alligator
Dec. 7: 180A: Beauty Tips from Moose Jaw/ 180B: Alligator; Last day of classes. Term paper due

NO FINAL EXAM FOR THIS CLASS