ENGL 3863 Canadian Literature II Winter 2010, Room 2041, Wednesdays, 6:30-9:30 pm
Instructor: Professor Elizabeth Davey Office: Rm. 2098 Phone: 416-226-6620 ext. 6713 E-mail: [email protected] Office Hours: Tuesdays, Thursdays; 10:00-11:00; Wednesdays 1:00-4:00; or by appointment.
Commuter Hotline: 416-226-6620 ext. 2187 Class cancellations due to inclement weather or illness will be announced/posted on the commuter hotline.
Mailboxes: Every student is responsible for information communicated through the student mailboxes. A mailbox directory is posted beside the mailboxes. For more information contact the Registrar's office.
COURSE DESCRIPTION: This course is an introduction to Canadian literature emphasizing writers of the 1970s to the present. It explores the development of post-modern, post-colonial and post-national literature.
COURSE OBJECTIVES: • That you will be exposed to some significant modern and post-modern Canadian writers as you read the assigned poems, short stories, and novels.
• That you will grapple with issues these writers raise; to name a few. . . . What it means to be a Canadian What it means to be both Canadian and part of another cultural group What it means to be powerless in our society What it means to be responsible in our society More important, what it means to be human.
• That you will think through your response to the issues identified in our discussion and be able to articulate that response in oral and written (and perhaps visual?) forms.
• That you will respond to the creativity of these writers with creativity of your own.
REQUIRED TEXTS: Rudy Wiebe, Peace Shall Destroy Many Michael Ondaatje, In the Skin of a Lion Anne Michaels, Fugitive Pieces Yann Martel, Life of Pi (additional photocopies will be given in class to cover shorter readings and poetry selections)
COURSE EVALUATION:
10% Attendance/participation/attention is expected at all sessions. See comments below regarding appropriate involvement in class.
25% Take home midterm examination. Due March 3
15% Attendance and response (in written form) to some Canadian cultural event, such as a poetry reading or a play written by a Canadian. Possibly we can do this together as a field trip, or you can arrange it on your own. I will keep you abreast of current events. 3-4 page reflection paper. Due any time up to March 31
25% A 12-15-hour creative project reflecting your thinking on our course objectives. It may (and probably will) include writing, but I am particularly interested in your use of other art forms—the visual arts, photography, drama, music (in all its forms). It could take the form of a notebook/collage of visual and written impressions/reflections; it could be a multi-media presentation; it could be … Let your imagination take you to some new places. Part of the project will include a log/journal of the process and a five-minute presentation of the project in the final two classes of the term. Due March 31 or April 7
25% Final Exam Exam Week
Attendance: • Attendance, promptness, and attentiveness are expected at all class sessions. Attendance and active participation in class discussion will be reflected in your participation grade. If you must be absent, please let me know; further, you must take the initiative for obtaining material you missed. More than two absences jeopardizes your successful completion of the class. Please see the Academic Calendar for detailed attendance policy.
Classroom etiquette It is a matter of courtesy and consideration to all of us that you observe some basic behaviours: • Come to class on time. • Do not leave the classroom during the class hour except for extreme emergency. • Turn off cell phones. • Limit your computer use to note-taking.
Canadian Literature II ENGL 3863 Winter 2010 Syllabus 2 of 5 Assignments: • All assignments must be completed to pass the course, due on the day indicated. No assignments will be accepted after the last day of the term unless you have followed the procedure outlined in the Academic Calendar. • Inclusive language is expected in all writing assignments—a particularly sensitive issue in current Canadian academic writing. • Please make sure your mail box number and name appear on all assignments. • As a general rule I do not accept assignments in electronic form. • You are advised to keep copies of your work until you have received your assignment back from your professor. (Your take-home examination will be marked and returned as a formal essay.) • All sources of information used for essays must be fully documented according to MLA guidelines. If you are uncertain how to follow these guidelines, please visit the Writing Centre. See the Academic Calendar for Tyndale’s official policy on documentation and plagiarism.
OUTLINE AND SCHEDULE
January 13 Introduction to course Selected poetry
January 20 Rudy Wiebe, Peace Shall Destroy Many
January 27 Rudy Wiebe, Peace Shall Destroy Many
February 3 selected poetry; Margaret Laurence, “To Set Our House in Order”
February 6 Michael Ondaatje, selected poetry Ondaatje, In the Skin of a Lion
February 10 Michael Ondaatje, In the Skin of a Lion
February 17 excerpts, Joy Kogawa Rohinton Mistry, short story
February 24 READING WEEK – No class
March 3 Margaret Atwood, “The Age of Lead” (begin) Anne Michaels, Fugitive Pieces Take home midterm Due March 3
March 10 Anne Michaels, Fugitive Pieces
March 17 Mordecai Richler, “The Summer My Grandmother Was Supposed to Die” Alice Munro, “Something I’ve Been Meaning to Tell You”
Canadian Literature II ENGL 3863 Winter 2010 Syllabus 3 of 5 March 24 Yann Martel, Life of Pi
March 31 Selected poetry and essays Presentation of projects+ last day to turn in report from attendance at “cultural event”
April 7 Presentations of projects
Finals Week Take home exam. Due April 16 by 5:00 pm
SELECT BIBLIOGRAPHY
Journals and Reference Works Canadian Literature Canadian Poetry English Studies in Canada Oxford Companion to Canadian Literature . 1997. Canadian Writers Oxford Literary Guide to Canada
Atwood, Margaret. Alias Grace. 1996. ---. The Blind Assassin. 2000. ---. The Edible Woman. 1999. ---. The Handmaid’s Tale. 1998. ---. Moral Disorder. 2006. ---. Oryx and Crake. 2004. ---. Surfacing. 1973. ---. Survival: A Thematic Guide to Canadian Literature. 1972. Bennett, Donna and Russell Brown, eds. A New Anthology of Canadian Literature in English . Toronto: Oxford University Press, 2002. Besner, Neil. Introducing Alice Munro’s Lives of Girls and Women: A Reader’s Guide. Toronto: ECW Press, 1990. Cooke, Nathalie. Margaret Atwood: A Critical Companion. Westport: Greenwood Press. Gadpaille, Michelle. The Canadian Short Story . Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1988. Heath, Jeffrey, ed. Profiles in Canadian Literature, Vols 1- Howells, Coral Ann. Alice Munro . Manchester, NY: Manchester University Press, 1998. Hutcheon, Linda. The Canadian Postmodern: A Study of Contemporary English-Canadian Fiction . Toronto: Oxford University Press, 1988. ---. A Poetics of Postmodernism: History, Theory, Fiction . New York: Routledge, 1988. Keith, W. J., ed. Voice in the Land: Essays by and about Rudy Wiebe . Edmonton: NeWest Press, 1981. Klinck, Carl, ed. Literary History of Canada: Canadian Literature in English. Laurence, Margaret. A Bird in the House . 1974. ---. The Diviners. 1984. ---. The Fire-Dwellers . 1969. ---. A Jest of God . 1974. ---. The Stone Angel . 1964. Lecker, Robert, Jack David, Ellen Quigley, eds. Canadian Writers and Their Works , Vols 1- . Toronto: ECW Press. Lennard, John. The Poetry Handbook. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1996. Martin, W. R. Alice Munro: Paradox and Parallel . Edmonton: University of Alberta Press, 1987.
Canadian Literature II ENGL 3863 Winter 2010 Syllabus 4 of 5 Messenger, Cynthia. “Canadian Poetry,” in Roberts. 304-317. Moss, John. A Reader’s Guide to the Canadian Novel . Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1987. Munro, Alice. Love of a Good Woman: Stories , 1998. ---. Open Secrets: Stories , 1995. ---. Runaway: Stories , 2004. Ondaatje, Michael. Anil’s Ghost. 2001. ---. The English Patient . 1992. ---. Running in the Family . 1993. Powers, Lyall. Alien Heart: The Life and Work of Margaret Laurence. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2003. Reynolds, Margaret. Margaret Atwood: The Essential Guide to Contemporary Literature: The Handmaid’s Tale, Bluebeard’s Egg, The Blind Assassin . Vintage, 2002. Richler, Mordecai. Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz , 1989. ---. Son of a Smaller Hero, 1965. Roberts, Neil, ed. A Companion to Twentieth Century Poetry. Oxford: Blackwell, 2003. Smith, A. J. M., ed. Masks of Fiction: Canadian Critics on Canadian Prose. Solecki, Sam. Ragas of Longing: The Poetry of Michael Ondaatje. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2003. Staines, David, ed. Margaret Laurence: Critical Reflections. Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press, 2001. Wiebe, Rudy. Blue Mountains of China . 1975. ---. Of This Earth: A Mennonite Boyhood in the Boreal Forest , 2006. ---. Scorched Wood People. 2005 ---. Temptations of Big Bear . 1973. Williams, David. Confessional Fictions: A Portrait of the Artist in the Canadian Novel . Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 1991. Wilson, Sharon Rose, ed. Margaret Atwood’s Textual Assassination: Recent Poetry and Fiction. Columbus: Ohio State University Press, 2003. Woodcock, George, ed. The Canadian Novel in the Twentieth Century. Toronto: McClelland and Stewart, 1975. ---. Introducing Mordecai Richler’s ‘The Apprenticeship of Duddy Kravitz’: A Reader’s Guide . Toronto: ECW Press, 1990. ---. ed. A Place to Stand On: Essays by and about Margaret Laurence. Edmonton: NeWest Press, 1983.
Canadian Literature II ENGL 3863 Winter 2010 Syllabus 5 of 5