Hello! My name is Claire Taylor and I am in my third year at UBC in Vancouver as an English Literature major and family studies minor. After this, I hope to earn my Bachelors of Education and become an elementary school teacher. I’m from Kelowna, BC, and love exploring the beauty BC has to offer!
I took this photo on a day trip to a provincial park called Kentucky-Alleyne this past summer!
During my work towards an English Literature major, I have taken many English courses, however, English 222, or Canadian Literature was a course that I thoroughly enjoyed. I hadn’t read many novels by Canadian authors, more just by chance than anything else, but I realized how interesting some of the novelists’ topics are to me. Some of my favourite novels from Canadian authors are ‘Medicine Walk’ by Richard Wagamese, ‘The Boat People’ by Sharon Bala, and ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ by Margaret Atwood, but, of course, I have only surveyed a few and look forward to finding more favourites in Canadian Literature.
I took this photo at Big White Mountain! Canada is gorgeous!
This course is all about literature in Canada, so I’m very excited to delve into the course readings and topics this semester!
In this course I hope to read many more novels by Canadian authors in topics such as residential schools, of which I have particular interest in because my mother attended one (by choice), the clean water issue in some parts of rural Canada, stories of immigration, and historical and current perspectives or examples in regards to racism in Canada. The past course I took on Canadian literature encouraged me to explore other titles by Canadian authors that I have really enjoyed, and I’m hoping this course does the same, as well as introducing me to a number of Canadian authors or works about Canada through the course readings! Anyhow, I’m excited for this course!
Works Cited
“A History of Residential Schools in Canada,” CBC News, May 2008. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/a-history-of-residential-schools-in-canada-1.702280
Gerster and Hessey. “Why some First Nations still don’t have clean drinking water – despite Trudeau’s promise,” Global News, September 2019.
Hi Claire! I love your two pictures, Big White is so pretty!
I found it super interesting that you included the remark that your mother attended a residential school by choice, as I have read a lot about how many of those who attended were forcefully separated from their families to go. I think that Canadian authors have a unique perspective they can use in their writings due to our history. Clean water is a big issue, as you mentioned. CTV (https://www.ctvnews.ca/politics/can-pm-trudeau-keep-drinkable-water-promise-to-first-nations-1.3736954) has a really fascinating article on it, and they mention how there are at least 40 water-quality advisories that have been in place for more than a decade on First Nations land. I would be curious to know what your thoughts are on how the water crises is being reported, and how the government is working to solve it. Do you think that more could be done?
Hi Nicole! Thanks for replying to my blog! I definitely think that more could be done to help solve the water crisis on the government’s part, mainly allocating more funds towards the cause and at least beginning the process of bringing clean water to remote communities. At the least, by bringing clean water to these communities.In addition, I have only heard about the water crisis through classes and not mainstream media or news coverage, which is also concerning.
Hi Claire,
Right off the bat, I also really love Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. It truly is a riveting story about women and their role in society. I’m a double major in English and History currently applying to the BEd for secondary school, and I often find it difficult to connect what I’ve learned at UBC into the current public school curriculum. So I’m interested in knowing how you believe English Lit and Family studies can be incorporated into being an elementary school teacher. I guess what I really should be asking is what is your teaching philosophy, do you think what we have learned will be able to be applied to the career paths that we choose in the future?
-Steph
I find family studies extremely useful for a future career in teaching, as a lot of it is about child development. I find learning anything can be applied for teaching, as we discover better ways to learn, we discover better ways to teach in the process. We can look to our professors as an example and ask ourselves what we want to imitate from their teaching practices and what we want to avoid. I have found the English program at UBC to be widely diverse, so while studying literature I have also learned about history, cultures, and common criticism such as post-colonial and feminist.
Hi Claire,
I really enjoyed reading your blog. I’ve always wanted to visit Kelowna. My friend is from Kelowna and she said that they have the best wine in Canada! Also, I think it is nice that you decided to take this course from reading your blog, I know that you like reading and you would want to learn more about Canadian Literature. I think the beautiful photos that you posted really match your blog and the information of literature you described. Why did you choose those particular books as your favorite from Canadian literature?
I think for me, novels that spark an interest in a new topic such as immigration or Indigenous issues that I haven’t necessarily read about in-depth before! I also believe literary techniques such as metaphor are also very impactful to me when thinking about my favourite novels, as well as if I like the general storyline. The novels I chose encouraged me to think about the world in a new light