Canadian Race and Racism

Tonight, we have three presentations, and I thought we would begin with those. We can go in any order.

(Suggested:45 minutes)

• Presentation 1 (10 minutes)

o Discussion (Suggested: 5 minutes)

• Presentation 2 (10 minutes)

o Discussion (Suggested: 5 minutes)

• Presentation 3 (10 minutes)

o Discussion (Suggested: 5 minutes)

Break

1)      If you did not present today, your two-page paper proposal for the short paper is due.

Class Discussion: (Suggested: 10 minutes)

Let’s begin now by talking about what we are thinking about addressing in these papers and how we are thinking about completing this work.These papers will be due in two-weeks time.

Poetry Discussion

So, last time, we were talking about poetry and what it is and what it does. What did we say? Do we remember?

Group Discussion: (Suggested: 5-7 minutes)

Your reading assignment for this week was to read five poems by two of the Confederation Poets and to consider the themes that were being addressed in these works.

Let’s begin the conversation by getting into small groups and discussing the poems and what we found.

Class Conversation: (approximately 20 minutes)

So, we are going to be reading some of these poems as a group tonight and discuss their apparent themes and motifs, also any apparent symbols that we may come across in the writing. The question we are going to be asking ourselves is this: “What do these poems have to say generally, and also about course-related topics?”

Some Canadian Poems (Suggested: 20 minutes)

Consideration of two specific poems: (Suggested: 25 minutes)

I also want to spend some time this evening with two poems in particular, Charles G.D. Roberts’
“Canada” (again) and Archibald Lampman’s “The City at the End of Things.”

These are really perfect works that represents where we are going and where we have been

It seems to me that these works very illustrate the social tensions we have been considering so far this semester, and I’d like to have an extended discussion and conversation about that for a time this evening. Think of this as a “summing up” as we get ready to move forward. Let’s read them, and then discuss them (25 mins). I’d like to use this as a model for our upcoming conversations about the five novels.

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So, to move forward, we need to become familiar with a new concept. I’ll introduce the phrase in a moment, but first I want to introduce the idea, and we’ll do that with an a writing prompt and a group discussion.

In-class writing: (Suggested: 10 minutes)

Okay, so: here is the question: What does it mean to be part of a minority? What does it mean to be a member of a minority group? What are the hallmarks of a minority “existence?”

Group Discussion: (Suggested: 5 minutes)

Class Discussion: (Suggested: 5 minutes)

In-class writing: (5-7 minutes)

One fairly common concept that is associated with the minority is the concept of the “other.” The “other” is the minority group you are not part of. It represents another or different aspect of society that you are aware of but also generally ignorant of. What are some groups that you might associate with the status of the “other?” At the town, state, and national levels?

Group discussion: (5-7 minutes)

Class Discussion: (Suggested: 5-7 minutes)

In-class  writing:(Suggested: 5-7 minutes)

Okay. Now I want you to think about a slightly harder question. Some groups in society are more tolerated than others, but they are not granted equal status. They exist in-between the majority and in the minority. These are what we might call “hybrid groups.” Can we identify any hybrid groups that we are aware of, either at the town, state, or national level?

Group discussion: (5-7 minutes)

Class Discussion:

Group Discussions: (Suggested: 5-10 minutes)

Okay, now let’s take our conversation on “others” and “hybrids” and apply it to the works we have read so far this semester. Who are the “others?” who are the hybrids?

What we have been discussing a social theory that is commonly called “post-colonial theory.” It generally begins with the premise that minority and majority populations have disordered or inaccurate understandings of one another.

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