Assignment 3.7: Decoding King 

For this assignment, I will decode the first 10 pages of Green Grass Running Water. I used an online version so page numbers might be different, but it is the first 10 pages of the story.  I liked discussing different creation stories in this course, so there is no better place to start than at the beginning of this story. I decided to focus on characters and on symbols in the story and the things they can reference. 

Prologue (Pages 1-2)

“So. In the beginning, there was nothing. Just the water” (1). In the prologue, it is Coyote’s dream where Dog mistakes himself as GOD.  In the first line King already referenced creation stories by talking about what was there at the “beginning”. The water in the very beginning is important too because water is one of the most important symbols in indigenous culture. Water is the base of life and Indigenous cultures see water as sacred. King says there was “nothing. Just the water” at the start and this is a “contrary” (see Flick,144) because water is not seen as useless for Indigenous people. Water is connected to women in Indigenous culture, because they give birth like mother nature gives water. Later in GGRW, the characters are connected to female characters from indigenous traditions. “There is water everywhere”, “so there is” maybe is referencing indigenous movements where women want to get involved in the governance and protection of water as a material and spiritual resource. 

King calls the Dream “silly”, “loud” and “noisy” in contrast to Coyote who calls himself “smart”, “important” and has things “under control” (2). This is to satirize erasure of Indigenous spiritual ways of knowing and stories, because it is actually Coyote who becomes confused and gets things “backwards” (2), alluding to colonialism dismissing stories and dreams as invalid. Dreams and imagination are famous parts of many cultures. Flick says in her reading notes, dreams are an important part of indigenous culture and spirituality, and are used to determine where best to hunt and to make predictions of the future (143). Setting up the story in a dream sequence resists the western way of understanding the world that is dependent on empirical knowing by introducing spirituality and dreams as lenses through which our perspective of reality is created. This reminds me of the importance of imagination in my own culture’s creation story of Nu Wa, and an important text Dream of the Red Chamber that includes NuWa. 

The capitalisation changes several times (dream→ Dream; Dream eyes→ Dream Eyes; coyote→ Coyote; Coyote’s dream→ Coyote Dream; etc.(1,2)), challenging the assumption that reality can be captured objectively by language/spelling. Resisting capitalization rules resists colonial projects such as Residential Schools, that stripped Indigenous children of their right to learn and maintain their native languages, cultures, beliefs, worldviews and religions. 

Part 1 

Page 4

In the beginning of Part 1, we are introduced to the characters Lionel and Norma. Norma choosing her carpet colour is important. The two colours are connected to the Earth and carpet is what humans put on the floor. Lionel, who Norma accuses of being “white” and “sounding just like those politicians in Edmonton. Always telling us what we can’t do”, and saying a carpet mistake “you got to live with it for a long time” (4). Here, King references land treaties between the government and First Nations (telling them what they can’t do/can’t own) and lots of disputes between the government and Indigenous people, about environmental and land concerns with oil sands in Alberta. Indigenous knowledge is often not prioritised in large economic projects like oil sands. 

Pages 4-9

The four characters are fighting to tell the story right. Lone Ranger restarts many times, the others say that he should not tell the “wrong” story. King is satirizing western emphasis on truth and fact, and disrupting western narrative traditions where the story should be written smoothly. Disrupting western traditions of storytelling reminded me of when we discussed “The Truth About Stories”. We are reminded of the importance of listening and learning from Indigenous ways of knowing. 

Alberta is teaching about the US government project in 1874. No one is really listening. Alberta’s character is a clear allusion to the province, to the land of Alberta. Alberta is teaching about historical injustices toward indigenous people and most of the students are not paying attention. King is referencing how in Canada the government and people continue to ignore or push aside Indigenous issues. Also, Alberta’s last name is Frank, so she is always frank (Flick, 144), and so what she is teaching is important and true, even if it is dismissed by the others. 

Pages 9-12

Sergeant Cereno is questioning Babo. Outside Babo notices there is water. The sergeant insists on calling Babo by her last name, Ms. Jones, while the narrator keeps using Babo. The Sergeant insists on linear storytelling with facts, and gets frustrated when Babo’s story is not linear and when she adds details and other thoughts. Babo is connected to slavery and ships, so it is another symbol of resistance to colonisation (Flick, 145). The more she resists this western storytelling way that Cereno wants, the more the water comes up outside. As I mentioned, water is sacred in Indigenous culture, and connected to women and their importance in Indigenous society. The water rises as Babo resists Cereno’s insistence on telling her story his way, and as he finally accepts the way she is telling it. This can be a symbol for Indigenous women’s movements to regain governance rights of water resources. 

King makes so many references and allusions in GGRW. All the connections in GGRW remind us that Indigenous history, culture and storytelling is important and should be heard in Canada. 

References

Cave, Kate and Shianne McKay. “Water Song: Indigenous Women and Water”. The Solutions Journal. Volume 6, Issue 6. 64-73. November 2016. Web. Retrieved from https://www.thesolutionsjournal.com/article/water-song-indigenous-women-water/

“Dream of the Red Chamber”. Wikipedia. Nd. Web. Retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream_of_the_Red_Chamber#Plot_summary

Flick, Jane. “Reading Notes for Thomas King’s Green Grass, Running Water.” Canadian Literature 161/162 (1999). Web. April 4th 2013.

Hanson, Erin. “The Residential School System”. Indigenous Foundations UBC. 2009. Webpage. Retrieved from https://indigenousfoundations.arts.ubc.ca/the_residential_school_system/

Hussey, Ian, Nicole Hill and Angele Alook. “Ten things to know about Indigenous people and resource extraction in Alberta”. Parkland Institute. June 21 2017. Blog post. Retrieved from https://www.parklandinstitute.ca/ten_things_to_know_about_indigenous_people_and_resource_extraction_in_alberta

King, Thomas. Green Grass Running Water. (1993). Toronto: Harper Collins, 1994. 

“The Fort Marion Prisoners”. Native American Netroots. February 24 2012. Web. Retrieved from http://nativeamericannetroots.net/diary/1269

“Treaty No. 6 Recognition Day”. City of Edmonton. 2019. Webpage. Retrieved from https://www.edmonton.ca/attractions_events/schedule_festivals_events/treaty-six-recognition-day.aspx

King’s story Earth Driver in The Truth About Stories is about a pregnant lady, Charm that falls from the sky. She has twins and together they make the world and create the earth. The twin daughter is a left handed girl who creates the mountains and the valleys. The twin brother is right handed and he has created the wind, rivers and flowers. He also creates things that are moving.

One of the most famous Chinese creation stories is about Nu Wa. She is the mother goddess and she created humans and repaired heaven. There are a lot of different versions of the story. However, I remember from when I was a kid, I used to hear it from my parents for bedtime stories. Nu Wa created humans and she teaches humans the meaning of marriage and how to have kids. She created humans with soil and she shapes them into boys and girls. Nu wa is kind and generous. When the humans fight and make a hole in the sky, she repairs it and fixes heaven. 

Nu Wa is still an important figure in Chinese culture and mythology. I remember as a kid, the story was told to me many times, and it was culturally important that we learn this creation story. Today, the story is even popularized and shared overseas. For example, the famous (and very controversial!) performing arts group Shen Yun published about Nu wa in their resources about Chinese culture, and the story of Nu wa is sometimes performed. In this post, Nu wa is discussed and it is highlighted how important her story is in connection to balance in society, creativity and family.

Both creation stories (Earth Driver and Nu wa) have made women the creator of the world and they have both created men and women. This is different from Western creation stories like Genesis, where the almighty God is male, and where Eve is born from Adam’s rib. Earth Driver and the story of Nu Wa portray the creation of the world as a peaceful and happy environment. I guess the reason that they use mother figures is that they are kind and generous. In this post about Nu Wa, she is described as a “badass goddess”- a strong and important female figure in mythology! 

While both stories portray the world as peaceful, harmonious, happy and beautiful, King’s creation story highlights more the idea of collaboration and balance. The twins have different characteristics and thus create different aspects of the world, that together complete it. The twins work with their mother and with the earth to create the world, rather than a single authority creating the world single handedly. Meanwhile in Nu Wa, the ideas of creativity and wisdom is more emphasized, with Nu Wa crafting humans out of soil, fixing heaven, and teaching humans about living. However, balance is also emphasised because when the humans fight too much, they create a hole in the sky that Nu Wa must fix, showing how the world is in a delicate balance. In this post, the importance of harmony and balance in connection to Nuwa is explore further. 

Both these stories are written in a more gentle manner than say the Genesis story, which is very authoritarian. This involves the reader more and gives less of a prescriptive tone to the stories, further emphasizing the ideas of balance, collectivism and sharing rather than authoritarianism, rules and facts. In Nu Wa, the humans are not punished for fighting, rather Nu Wa works to help restore the sky and teach humans how to live better in harmony. In Earth Driver, there is also no punishment of the characters, compared to in Genesis, when Eve is punished. 

I think it is interesting how creation stories shed light on the values that are emphasized in different cultures. In Earth Driver, an indigenous creation story, collaboration and harmony with the Earth are highlighted as important values. Meanwhile in Nu Wa, an Asian creation story, the values of family, social unity and collectivism are presented. In Genesis, the values of authority, truth, order and individualism are more emphasized. 

I think we can find many similarities and differences across creation stories, and finding these can help us better understand our values, worldviews, and help us situate ourselves in our cultural contexts.

References

Chan, Monica. “Nuwa: a Chinese Creation Myth”. Re(orient)ing. December 7 2017. Retrieved from https://medium.com/reorienting/nuwa-a-chinese-creation-myth-b7722eeb15ac

Goldberg, Carey. “East and West: Seeing the world through Differerent lenses”. New York Times. March 4 2008. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/04/health/04iht-6sncult.1.10695876.html

Indigenous Peoples Worldviews vs Western Worldviews. Indigenous Coprorate Training Inc. January 26 2016 Retieved from https://www.ictinc.ca/blog/indigenous-peoples-worldviews-vs-western-worldviews

King, Thomas, “The Truth about Stories: A Native Narrative.” CBC Massey Lectures. House of Anansi Press, 2003.

Nu Wa, Creator of humans 女娲補天. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://storykingdom.org/nu-wa-creator-of-humans/

Shen Yun Performing Arts. “Mighty Mom of Mythistory”. May 1st 2017. Retrieved from https://www.shenyunperformingarts.org/explore/view/article/e/pbzszw3x17w/mythistory-nuwa

The Myth of Nu Gua Chinese Snake Goddess. January 19 2013. Acutonics Institute of Integrative Medicine. Retrieved from https://acutonics.com/news/the-myth-of-nue-gua-chinese-snake-goddess/

(Multiculturalism Act 1989)

Canada is a country with a strong reputation of being open minded and welcoming people with warm hands. Many stereotypes suggest that Canada encouraged people to immigrate to their country and to be Canadian citizens. Canada has always been famous for being a diverse country (Department of Canadian Heritage, 2002). However, there will always be conflict or racism when going through the process of officialising multiculturalism. If we look closer at the Multiculturalism Act of 1989, we see it is still selective in who is included in the nationalism it puts forward. The government has tried to play an important role to make sure that racial and ethnic divisions are reduced and that Canadian nationalism treats everyone with respect and equality. The goal of the act was to legislate multiculturalism as an official value, reduce discrimination and acknowledge the diversity of Canadian Heritage. The Multiculturalism act is also related to the Official Languages Act (Department of Canadian Heritage, 2002). 

In his argument about white civility, Coleman suggests that projects and policies about nationalism are made to maintain the status quo of a white society, and maintain white power. He says that these either explicitly or implicitly prevent specific other non-white groups from having social mobility in order to keep the nation-building idea of Canada as a white nation. It is also about “civilizing” non-white people to adhere to the status quo of white power. On one hand, Coleman’s argument can apply to the Multiculturalism Act because it seems to be more focused on acknowledging racial and ethnic minorities, but those who are immigrants. The relationship between First Nations and Canadian nationalism is not mentioned, and First Nations languages are not included in the language act, suggesting the idea of Canada as an originally white nation with diversity arriving later is strong. So the status quo is still maintained with white people as majority and immigrant minorities included but not so much First Nations and Métis. 

However, I don’t really agree with Coleman’s theory because I believe that multiculturalism has de-racialised Canadian nationalism to an extent. It is not a one way road. Even though minorities like First Nations are routinely silenced, other non-white groups have brought more diversity to Canada. After they share with each other it creates a whole new culture. For instance, we see many fusion foods becoming popular in Canada. Multiculturalism doesn’t necessarily mean that white culture is prescribed onto another one. Other races and ethnicities have brought their own culture and brought it to Canada. 

All in all, I think Coleman’s argument about white civility is somewhat applicable to the Multiculturalism Act, but not in such a clear cut way as his argument. There is still room for minorities to be included in a multicultural nationalism. 

References:

CanLit Guides. “Reading and Writing in Canada, A Classroom Guide to Nationalism.” Canadian Literature. Web. April 4th 2013.

Department of Canadian Heritage. “Annual Report on the Operation of the Canadian Multiculturalism Act”. Web. 2002. Retrieved from: https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/16ee/f3493653a9af2d8bc6c539fc93aa423aadee.pdf

Here are my three favourite blogs:

How Evil Came Into the World

https://blogs.ubc.ca/cocohanengl372/2020/01/23/assignment-15-how-evil-came-into-the-world/

My sense of home

https://blogs.ubc.ca/cocohanengl372/2020/01/28/assignment-22-my-sense-of-home/

Assignment 2:6

https://blogs.ubc.ca/cocohanengl372/2020/02/20/21/

In Sparke’s article (1998), he refers to Chief Justin McEachern’s statement: « we’ll call this the map that roared ». This statement was from a trial regarding a conflict between the Canadian government and two First Nations, who had a conflict about land sovereignty and ownership issues. The First Nations wanted to use a map the western government would understand to claim their sovereignty and to show their rightful territory.

Maps are not a traditional way of knowing for these first nations, but in a trial against a colonizing western government, maps, a western way of knowing, were used to claim legitimacy and land rights. More traditional storytelling methods (oral) would not have « roared » as loud and effectively as a map because they are not widely accepted as legitimate ways of  knowing in the western tradition. So the map was drawn to show people that as first settlers they are the ones who belong here. The map proves that this is where they belong. The first nation created a map of their territory to show that they have rights to the land. 

Thus, the author Sparke (1998) uses the map to show people that the first nation is roaring, fighting for their rights fiercely like a « paper tiger ». The map is a way to show that the First Nations people have a voice, and they needed to use a map to make people understand. A map is more clear than using oral storytelling because it resonates more with western ways of knowing, and the westernized government was the target audience.  

Sparke’s analysis shows that maps are not just paper because depending on who makes the map, it will be different. Maps show what people’s view of the truth is. We can say that map making is another way of storytelling, because it tells the stories of those making it, because they make decisions on what information to include, leave out, and how to present it. It also must be interpreted by the reader, just like a story. First Nations « roared » against colonialism and stolen land issues by drawing, and then showing people the map. Maps are also a way to show power and legitimacy. 

Therefore, we can conclude from Sparke’s analysis that maps are « paper tigers » rather than mere inanimate objects. They are very much living representations of what a certain group has perceived to be « reality ». Even if the map itself is not edited, its interpretation could change over time, so just like oral storytelling it is also interactive with those who interpret it. 

References

Matthew Sparke (1998) A Map that Roared and an Original Atlas: Canada,

Cartography, and the Narration of Nation, Annals of the Association of American Geographers,

88:3, 463-495, DOI: 10.1111/0004-5608.00109

I think that these are two extremely different stories about how the earth was created. I think King showed such different stories to highlight different cultural backgrounds. One is about religion, about showing that God is the almighty, and how the bible was passed down. The other one might be passed down by oral storytelling and has probably been modified more in the details because it is more collaborative and less authoritarian. Indigenous people have always been working together as a group and as a family. There is much more of a community focused perspective on life than Western ways of knowing and living. They recognise that they need each other in life and they have always been a community. That might be the reason why the earth was told to be made by Charm and other animals collaborating with the earth. They need to feel the power of being united. On the other hand, in the western story God has created the earth. They have a religious background and they have followed it for the past century. It is their belief and how a lot of Western people were taught about the world. I think King showed these two very contrasting stories because it creates a very black and white effect; only one story can be the ‘right’ one, the ‘believable’ one. But when we start to analyze the stories and compare how they teach us different values and worldviews, we can begin to realize how misleading it is to think so black and white. When we read both stories consecutively, we can start to reflect on what our beliefs are, and why they may be so different from others’, which makes us also understand and appreciate different worldviews more. If we can look at the two stories, and we choose which one is more believable to us, we must consider why we think it is more believable. Is it because the story is inherently more true, or because it is more aligned with what we were taught as children growing up in  certain cultural context? 

References 

King, Thomas. The Truth about Stories: a Native Narrative. House of Anansi Press Inc., 2010.

These are the common threads I noticed when reading others’ blogs:

Family:

In all the blog stories that I read, I found that they all mentioned “family”. Whether they mentioned blood related families or chosen families (friendship), the stories referred to family as people that they share life challenges with. I believe that people are social animals. We always needed someone to be there for us and to share joy and happiness in life with. Without that, life would be meaningless, which is why my blog story also included family as the most important sense of home. 

Relations with people:

I also noticed that the blogs I read mentioned relating to people. This is kind of similar to family but, it’s more about the relationship we have with people and what that interaction brings us that makes a home. We need to share our life with someone and there are lots of blog stories that posted family photos when they were kids. I believe that it is really important to them. Even though we are in university many of us still think of our childhood as a warm and memorable place.

Experience in university:

There are many stories that I read that included their experience in UBC. In my own blog story, I also wrote about friends that I made in UBC that have become family. University is an important step in life and it is the last station in life before going into the real world and facing all the challenges. It is about getting prepared for the real world and to learn as much as we can. Moreover, it is to build relations and connections with people because this is like a second home. We spend time and energy at university and hope to get a better future.

From these three common things I noticed, I think it is clear that it is a common assumption that we feel a sense of home based on how we relate to others and interact with them. Under this is the valuing of what our community thinks, and forming an identity for ourselves through being a part of a community and through relating to others. This includes exploring ourselves by sharing life challenges, joy, ideas and relationships with other people. I was surprise that home as a physical place was not mentioned as much as I expected. Ultimately, the sense of home that is created by our relationships helps us to carve identities by creating safe spaces for us to begin to understand who we are.

To me, the sense of home is a kind of feeling. It is not a kind of furniture, not a specific location. It is a feeling that makes you feel relaxed and comfortable. It is a feeling of belonging and you can never have at other places. 

To me, people are the key point of home. Surrounded by people who you love and trust will make you feel like you are at home the most. 

I am an international student from Taiwan. When I first came to Vancouver, I felt really lonely and depressed. It rains a lot and I know nothing about the city. I grew up in Taiwan until I’m 19 years old. All of my friends and family are back ‘home’. To me it is difficult to get used to somewhere else than my hometown because to me it is my only home that is irreplaceable. It is also difficult to get used to living somewhere people speak a different language, have different lifestyles, values, education background and tastes. 

However,  I started school in Canada and I started to make friends. Moreover, me and my neighbor in my residence became best friends. We take the same class and we have lots of fun together. The group of friends that I have will go out and eat or cook together during the weekend. We share our different traditions from our homes, instead of our differences separating us. One Saturday night there were five people in the car on our way back to school. At that moment I felt like this is home. I learned that home is with people that make you feel like you belong and you have someone to go to when you are upset. They are people that you can trust and want to spend time with. When you have all that, it is home, it is family. No matter where you are, even in a car you can feel it. 

I love cooking. I started cooking when I am in highschool and I know what I enjoy the most. When I came to Vancouver, I brought my favorite kind of noodles and mix it with a simple sauce that I invented back home. Everytime when I am homesick I would cook a bowl of noodles and eat it and watch a movie. So a sense of home could be a taste that is familiar and when you eat it it can always remind you with “the place” in your head. So home can be tied to ingredients, food ways and lifestyle, habits, which are connected to specific places, like Taiwan for me, but now becoming more globalised too. 

To me, a sense of home could also be a kind of smell that you love and are used to. I am always a big fan of collecting essential oils. I believe that it is relaxing and good for your body. There are different kinds for different needs. When I want to sleep well I would use lavender essential oil. I like to use rose essential oil for bath because it is good for the skin. Moreover Mint is helpful to treat headaches. I have an oil diffuser at home and I would choose a different type of essential oil depending on my mood. It makes me relax and to me it is one of the benefits when I go home. 

A sense of home is what we need in life. It is what motivates us to work hard and fight in the world we live in today. It is one of the best things in life as a human. We all need a place that makes us feel belonging and feel like we are needed. It could be where our family is, or where the people who are like family. It could be a sense of smell and taste and most importantly it is something personal that are subjective. Of course it is tied to certain cultures and these are tied to certain places, but it is also mobile and can be reimagined in new spaces.  The most important thing is feeling like you belong and are free from being judged, so sometimes this means it’s tied to a place where people share your cultural values and lifestyle, where you fit in. You get to decide what it is to you. Home is where the heart is, and I would say home is where the heart is safe. 

Once upon a time, there were only pure and nice people on the planet. They were living a simple life and all they wanted was to fill their stomachs and get a good sleep. Both males and females would go hunting and fishing. When they got back home, they would share meals together. The people who stayed at home or in the village would help cook what they got and also pick up fruits. They also made jams on their own with fresh strawberries and other wild berries. They lived a fine life and they were all happy.

Because of their lifestyle and how collaborative it was they improved rapidly. One day there came an evil witch from a different land. She was always alone and she has been living like this for over a hundred years in her cave and she only eats antlers. She would eat antlers as cereal in the morning with milk and raw antlers as lunch and dinner. If she was hungry during the day, dry antlers would be her snack because it tastes like cookies when it’s dry. She is an evil witch and what she sees in the world is all nasty and dark. 

She was jealous of how these people lived a healthy, happy and fulfilling life as a community. At first, they welcomed her with a warm attitude and they did not mind sharing what they have with someone else, even though she is a witch. To them, they just have to save the antlers for her when they are back from hunting. 

At first, the witch was flattered. She had never been treated like this in her whole life. It was a new experience, so she decided to live her life with them. She tried to cook and help them. She tried to live as a human being, share and care for people. She tried to look at the bright side of things.

After decades, she started to realize that it was never going to happen. When she realized that the people have a better life than her she started to get jealous. They had a community. They were all helping each other and they all had shared goals. They were closer to each other than to her, and she could not stand it. She was not okay when someone else gets more food even though she doesn’t even eat the same food. 

At the end of the day, she decided that she would rather turn people into her than living with a bunch of animals that live so against her natural instinct. She decided to turn 1% of people into witches like her and to see what happens next, and selfishly, to feel less alone. To turn them into witches she told them the story of the witch before her, who went to live in a different village and brought evil there. The people who heard the story wanted to be strong and powerful like witches. Afterwards she went back to her cave and observe them to see what happens. People started to change. They no longer thought in terms of the group and began to act in their own interests. They started competing for the most food and biggest hunting bounty and began to isolate each other into groups and exclude the weaker ones and the different ones. The witch cackled as she ate her antlers and said;

“Once you have told a story, you can never take it back. So, be careful of the stories you tell, and the stories you listen to.” (King, 10)

 Reflection on storytelling:

I believe that people are all kind and warm naturally. There must be something that changes them. When I look back at our history, I still wonder what got us here. Writing this story, I was thinking about how isolation and not understanding others can create fear, selfishness, and evil, like it did for the witch and the people she turned in this village. With King’s last line, I think we can think about the stories we hear about ourselves, our land, our people, and the ones we choose to believe or not, and how this is tied to understanding and fear of differences. It was hard to create a clear story because I had so many ideas but wanted it to be short. This is also true in storytelling, the reader has to finish the world being created for themselves. The story is not the whole picture, we must fill in the blanks with imagination, which Chamberlin mentioned in our readings last week. That’s why we must be careful about which stories we tell, how we tell them, and which ones we listen to. We must first understand why, how and from where they came to be!

References

Chamberlin, Edward. If This is Your Land, Where are Your Stories? Finding Common Ground. AA. Knopf. Toronto. 2003. Print.

King, Thomas. The Truth About Stories: A Native Narrative. House of Anansi, 2003.

Because of the improvement of technology, there have been huge changes in literature. Before, if you wrote a book and you want to publish it to become an author, you need to find a publisher that is willing to take you on, and hire someone to do the technical work (editing, formatting, printing, etc.). Nowadays anyone can publish anything. With social media, anyone can post there writing in public anytime, without having to be selected, and for free. There are blogs for literature as well, and can be published and accessed for free.

Articles have shown that the computer technology is changing rapidly and it affects the job opportunities that we have. They also mention that the changes are not always for the good. There are a lot of benefits to include hyperlinks in the writing. First of all, it makes your writing easier to read and you get to make sure that the readers would understand what kind of message you want to deliver. They can learn more about certain things without you having to explain. Also, due to the improvement of technology, people are getting lazier. So hyperlinks could help them finish the research work and make sure they understand the right information by quickly accessing related sources.

However, the fact that anyone can publish anytime has also made literature and media equalizing. Voices that would otherwise be silenced and ignored by traditional publishers can publish on social media, blogs, Internet, etc. In Canada, maybe this means we will see more Indigenous literature and storytelling being published and accessed by people, or more literature on very specific topics, or written by other marginalized groups (LGBTQ2+, racial minorities, etc.).

These examples show how technology has affected us in many different ways. Such as publishing literature and writing online. Before when people are writing they can concentrate and just focus on their writing and look for extra information on books or from other places. However, now we get to use different tools on the Internet all the time to make our writing more interesting. Personally I think it brings out a negative effect for our writing because when I read ancient literature I feel like they are really pure. Compared to the writing nowadays they look alike and more shallow (I am guessing it is because of all the extra technology support that we use).

Also, when people are writing online they can use hyperlink to make their writing more clear. Before you can hire a publisher to check your writing and grammar also making footnote at the end of the writing when there are difficult or unfamiliar vocabulary. However the creation of hyperlinks has made more connections to the reader because the author gets to decide what kind of explanation, information they want to link to the reader. Moreover, hyperlink can make the reader get to the point faster and it is really useful when they are reading complicated literature.

All in all the world is changing rapidly, we need to make sure that we are also improving. We need to be used to the changes that is happening around us. We also need to be prepared that technology might be responsible for unemployment. Technology has made our life more convenient but has also brought up positive and negative impacts such as in literature. Literature nowadays is, different it is more mechanized in a way.

References

Rotman, David. “How Technology Is Destroying Jobs.” MIT Technology Review, MIT Technology Review, 1 Sept. 2016, www.technologyreview.com/s/515926/how-technology-is-destroying-jobs/.

“BLOG.” Global Copywriting, www.globalcopywriting.com/5-good-reasons-to-include-hyperlinks-in-your-content-marketing/.