Essay #1 (English 182 Spring 2006)

Here is your first essay assignment...

Topics for first essay

1. With respect to one of the works of fiction we have read, examine the theme of “the truth about stories.”

2. Many of the texts we have read so far involve a tension between the needs and/or behavior of the individual and the demands of the community. This tension is also frequently connected to an apparent disjunction between the modern and traditional way of life for Native peoples.

Choosing one of the texts we have studied in class, examine the presence of this theme, perhaps with regard to a single character or aspect of the plot. What does the text seem to suggest in the end? Can there be a balance between the needs of the individual and the community, between modernity and tradition? What is at risk if such a balance is not achieved?

3. Create your own topic. This must be presented to and approved by me by no later than March 31.

Essay length: 1500 words
DUE Tuesday, April 4

PLEASE NOTE: If you find yourself in a situation where you have too many papers due on the same day or all your midterms the day before the essay is due, I do permit extensions. There are a few ground rules though: you need to give me a written request for an extension no later than one week before the essay is due with a firm deadline as to when you will have your essay in. I will also have to agree on that deadline and will sign your letter to indicate that I have approved the extension. Any late papers that do not have my prior approval will be penalized one grade increment per day late, including weekend days. This, of course, excludes papers that are late due to sickness or family emergency. In such cases, the usual rules about doctor's notes apply.

Syllabus (Spring 2008)

English 182
(Colonial & Post-Colonial World Literature)
Spring 2008

English 182A: T/Th 9:30 - 10:45 Perkins 200
English 182 Z1: Tuesday 5-8 PM, Lafayette 400

"The Truth About Stories":
Recent fiction by First Nations Writers from Canada

In this course we'll focus on recent fiction by First Nations writers in Canada. Over the past thirty years especially, Canada's First Nations population has generated a sizable, fascinating body of literary work, much of which grapples with the lingering effects of colonization. The legacy of displacement, attempts at forced assimilation such as the residential school system, genocide, and racism remains ever present in the lives of First Nations peoples. Furthermore, the rates of poverty, suicide, imprisonment, infant mortality, and disease are still vastly higher in First Nations populations than they are in mainstream Canadian society. At the same time, the indomitable spirit and the strength of traditions such as storytelling are helping to bring about a renewed strength in First Nations peoples and their cultures across Canada.

One of the most vital forces in this cultural renewal has been the work of First Nations writers who use the written word, and most frequently the language of the colonizer, as a site of resistance, activism, and as a means of exploring the connections and ruptures between their traditional and contemporary ways of life. Using Tom King's Massey Lectures The Truth About Stories: A Native Narrative as a launching point for this course, we'll read and discuss novels, short stories, and essays by of some of the best known First Nations writers in Canada today, including Lee Maracle, Tomson Highway, Maria Campbell, Thomas King, Eden Robinson, and Richard Van Camp.

Our primary goals in this course will be to read and examine an extensive, though not exhaustive, selection of First Nations literature and to gain a better understanding of the histories and cultures of First Nations peoples in Canada and the issues facing them today. Continually being mindful of our status as non-Native readers, we will also be interrogating our own biases, assumptions, and attitudes and how they affect our readings of these texts and our understandings of these cultures.

Required Texts

• Joseph Boyden (Métis), Three Day Road (Penguin)
• Tomson Highway (Cree), Kiss of the Fur Queen (U of Oklahoma Press)
• Thomas King (Cheroke), The Truth About Stories (Anansi)
• Thomas King, Green Grass, Running Water. (Bantam Doubleday)
• Lee Maracle (Stó:lō), Ravensong (Press Gang/Raincoast Books)

• Beatrice Culleton Mosioner (Métis), In Search of April Raintree

• Eden Robinson (Haisla), Monkey Beach
• Additional primary and secondary readings to be distributed by the instructor (all mandatory, unless otherwise indicated)

An important note about distributed readings for the course

As part of a trial project here at UVM, I will be distributing the additional readings via iTunes University rather than by (or perhaps in addition to) the library online reserves service. To reach our iTunes U page, go to http://www.uvm.edu/itunesu and log in. From there, look for the English 182 page in iTunes U. The readings are PDFs to download. While you can read them online, I recommend that you print them and have them with you in class.

N.B. All of these PDFs and audio files are copyrighted material that I am distributing to you under the auspices of the TEACH Act. This material is for use in conjunction only with our course. You may not copy and/or redistribute any of this material.

Assignments

• First Essay – 15% (1500 words), DUE 3/18
• Second Essay - 25% (2000 words), DUE 4/24
• Blog contributions 20%
• Final exam 30%
• Participation and attendance 10%

N.B. Our final exam for English 182A is on the very last day of exams. Schedule your travel plans accordingly. I will not allow you to take the final exam on another date unless it is for medical or emergency reasons. Such cases also need to be cleared with the Dean's office)

Tentative Schedule for 182A
(see below for 182 Z1)

Jan. 15: First day of class, introduction; The First Nations in Canada: History
Jan. 17: King, "Godzilla vs. Post-Colonial"; Armstrong, "The Disempowerment of First North American Native Peoples" (iTunes U)
Jan. 22: Basil Johnston "One Generation from Extinction" and "Is That All There Is? Tribal Literature" (iTunes U); King, The Truth About Stories (have entire book read by today)
Jan. 24: King, The Truth About Stories
Jan. 29: Lee Maracle, Ravensong
Jan. 31: Lee Maracle, Ravensong
Feb. 5: Tomson Highway, Kiss of the Fur Queen
Feb. 7: Kiss of the Fur Queen
Feb. 12: Kiss of the Fur Queen
Feb. 14: Kiss of the Fur Queen
Feb. 19: Beatrice Culleton Mosioner, In Search of April Raintree
Feb. 21: In Search of April Raintree
Feb. 26: In Search of April Raintree
Feb. 28: In Search of April Raintree

March 4: town meeting day (no class)

March 6: In Search of April Raintree
March 11& 13: Spring recess
March 18: Thomas King, Green Grass, Running Water First essay due
March 20: Green Grass, Running Water
March 25: Green Grass, Running Water
March 27: Green Grass, Running Water
April 1: Eden Robinson, Monkey Beach
April 3: Monkey Beach
April 8: Monkey Beach
April 10: Monkey Beach
April 15: Joseph Boyden, Three Day Road
April 17: Three Day Road Second essay due
April 22: Three Day Road

Tentative Schedule for 182 Z

Jan. 15: Introduction; the First Nations in Canada; King, "Godzilla vs. Post-Colonial";

Jan. 22: Basil Johnston "One Generation from Extinction" and "Is That All There Is? Tribal Literature" (iTunes U); Armstrong, "The Disempowerment of First North American Native Peoples" (iTunes U); King, The Truth About Stories (read the whole book)

Jan. 29: Lee Maracle, Ravensong

Feb. 5: Tomson Highway, Kiss of the Fur Queen

Feb. 12: Tomson Highway, Kiss of the Fur Queen

Feb. 19: Beatrice Culleton Mosioner, In Search of April Raintree;

Feb. 26: In Search of April Raintree;

March 4: Town Meeting Day (no class)

March 11: Spring recess

March 18: Thomas King, Green Grass, Running Water; First essay due

March 25: Green Grass, Running Water

April 1: Eden Robinson, Monkey Beach

April 8: Monkey Beach

April 15: Joseph Boyden, Three Day Road

April 22: Three Day Road (second essay due)

April 29: Richard Van Camp, "Mermaids"; Eden Robinson, "Contact Sports"

May 8: FINAL EXAM (7-9 PM, Lafayette 400)

LATE POLICY:
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.

In the news: Swedish museum returns totem pole taken decades ago from B.C. natives

Macleans.ca | Top Stories | Swedish museum returns totem pole taken decades ago from B.C. native
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) - Members of British Columbia's Haisla First Nation took possession of a 134-year-old totem pole Tuesday that disappeared from their land decades ago and ended up on display at a Swedish museum.

To the sound of drum beats and chants, the nine-metre totem pole honouring the forest spirit Tsoda was lifted onto a truck outside Stockholm's Museum of Ethnography.

[. . .] The Haisla people erected the totem pole in 1872 at the mouth of the Kitlope River to honour their forest spirit for saving the tribe from a smallpox epidemic.

It disappeared from the region in the 1920s after Swedish consul Olof Hansson took possession of it under mysterious circumstances and donated it to the museum.

This story from today's Globe and Mail provides more background on the history of the totem pole and it's long journey back to the Haisla people.