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

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