Hello everyone!
Welcome to my blog! I hope you enjoy reading my posts over the course of this semester. My name is Chloë and I am a fourth year student studying English literature at UBC Vancouver. I spent my first years of university at UVic and Langara and transferred to UBC in my third year. Since arriving at UBC I have enjoyed distance education courses because I am often too shy to raise my hand in class. I like meeting new people and I am definitely not shy once you get to know me, but in a classroom environment I tend to become anxious.
I was excited for English 470 when I signed up for the course because I enjoy learning about Canada as it is the place I call my home. When I discovered we would be writing blog posts each week I became even more excited because I have realized that writing is the only outlet that allows me to feel comfortable enough to share my thoughts, feelings and really any strange ideas that come to my mind.
My initial thoughts on the course are that it will explore through history, literature and culture, how Canada was born. From the description of the course I believe this exploration will be done by reading and analyzing Canadian stories, as well as the relationships between Canadian history and culture with literature, just as these blogs will act as our individual stories. I am looking forward to reading more Canadian Indigenous literature and to learning more about Canadian Indigenous history and culture.
I have taken some Canadian studies courses before and one that I particularly enjoyed was a course on Jewish Canadian identity. In the course we also focused on stories but the stories were told from the point of view of Jewish Canadians. Two of my favourite stories “Jewish Christmas” and “The O-Kay Store” were written by a Jewish Canadian author, teacher and journalist, Fredelle Bruser Maynard. I love both of these stories because they show the perspective of an immigrant experience which is very different from my own experience of Canada. Both stories have a theme of identity and explore how different cultures can come together and individual cultural differences and values can be celebrated. Here is a website that has more information on Fredelle Bruser Maynard with a voice recording of her as well.
I am excited for this course as I think it will provide me with more knowledge about Canadian identity and the multitudes of voices and experiences that Canada has been formed upon. I hope the course will also help me to learn more about my own Canadian identity and challenge me to look at Canadian identity from many different perspectives.
Works Cited:
“Fredelle Bruser Maynard 1922 – 1989.” Cabbagetown People Fredelle Bruser Maynard Comments. The Cabbagetown Preservation Association, www.cabbagetownpeople.ca/person/fredelle-bruser-maynard/. Accessed 9 Sept 2016.
Lukas, George. “Childhood Memories of Freidele Bruser.” CMFreideleBruser, www.marilynfelt.com/ECPDFs/CMFreideleBruser.pdf. Accessed 9 Sept 2016.
Maynard, Rona. The Envelope, Please. Digital image. Ronamaynard.com, www. ronamaynard.com/print.php?the-envelope-please. Accessed 9 Sept 2016.
HannahWagner
September 14, 2016 — 10:49 pm
Hi Chloë. I am Hannah.
This is my first time taking an online course but I am hopefully that this format will allow for more open discussion. I definitely know what you mean about getting anxious while sharing the classroom setting!
That story, “Jewish Christmas,” is so adorable I really loved it. Thanks so much for sharing! It is a good example of how many people from other cultures, religions and traditions can feel in a country that has one mainstream narrative. My sister-in-law is Sikh and she describes her childhood in a very similar way, as being full of “isolation and difference.”
Like you I grew up in an “average” Canadian family, and I feel very bless to get the opportunity (through education) to be exposed to other people’s stories and experience, which help me improve and evolve my perspective of Canada and what it means to be Canadian.
I believe indigenous influences are so important to Canadian identity. I am hopefully that this course will allow me to better understand the unheard or hushed voices of Canada. I am also looking for an opportunity to challenge my Canadian identity and learn more about indigenous stories and history.
Looking forward to experiencing this with you and reading more of your thoughts!
Chloë
September 15, 2016 — 11:06 am
Hi Hannah!
Thank you for your lovely comment! Welcome to the online world! I definitely feel like online classes allow for more open discussion. I’m glad you loved the story. “Jewish Christmas” is one of my favourites and I feel lucky that I have gotten to read other stories like it as well that portray how identity can be difficult to find in Canada. I think you put that perfectly that we are blessed to have the opportunity to learn about what it means to be Canadian and I wish that I started exploring Canadian identity at a younger age.
Thank you again for your comment and I look forward to reading your thoughts as well this semester!
– Chloë
erikapaterson
September 19, 2016 — 9:15 am
Hello Chloe;
Welcome to our course of studies together, I am looking forward to working with you and learning more from your perspective and engaging with your insights. Thank you for a great introduction and interesting hyperlinks. Enjoy.
Erika
Chloë
September 19, 2016 — 4:47 pm
Thank you very much Erika!
MichaelPendreigh
September 20, 2016 — 1:40 pm
Hi Chloë,
I’m coming into this class late (and new to Distance Education), so I hope you can forgive my late comment–and offer any advice that you can think of!
Your delving into the Jewish Canadian identity feels so appropriate for a class like this, despite its initially assumed distance from Aboriginal studies & literature, because I feel that identity is at the core Canadian storytelling, especially contemporary First Nation storytelling. Overcoming history, shifting populaces in certain geographies, tensions between cultures, all grind against each other in Canada.
Is there any particular phrase or concept that you think might be relevant to our current studies from your Jewish Canadian course?
Our ideals of multiculturalism, painted on our flags and Government programs, fall short of the complex reality that is the Canadian life. Acknowledging identities such as Jewish, Aboriginal, Sikh, Iranian, etc., and working at the narratives behind these identities will help us explore our complexity, and possibly find more cohesive living.