Aloha my new amigos!
I have little to no experience with blogs – this being my first one – so please bear with me through this process!
I am thrilled to be enrolled in Professor Paterson‘s English 470 class, Canadian Studies: Canadian Literary Genres (or “Oh Canada… Our Home and Native Land?”). This course focuses on the historical context of Canadian literature looking at European and Indigenous studies (Paterson 2013). The salience of storytelling will be examined, along with the stereotypes that accompany Canadian literature. As an upper level English course, emphasis will be put on analyzing these stories and presenting the material in an intellectual and insightful fashion. Since this class is held online, the web will be a key component in expanding our discussions through an endless supply of internet resources.
I am a proud Canadian, yet I am embarrassed to admit that my education regarding Canadian literature (and general knowledge about my own country) is very limited. After the completion of this course, I hope to be able to retract this previous statement. I tend to be quite reserved with regards to in-class participation, so I am thrilled to be involved in this active online learning environment. I will attempt to keep the core material of my posts formal and professional. However, based on the disturbingly vast amount of humorous material on the internet, these attempts may be futile. Take, for example, this brother-sister pairing that greatly represents the relationship I currently hold with my sibling.
I am currently in my 3rd year of schooling at the University of British Columbia, and I work with school aged children as a supervisor at a local community centre. I spend my free time playing competitive ice hockey and recreational fast-pitch softball. Along with my Harry Potter obsession, I also enjoy fast food, bathroom humour, and taking long walks on the beach with my multiple husbands Kevin Bieksa (pictured for your pleasure) and Zac Efron.
I look forward to getting to know all of you throughout the course of the semester!
Works Cited:
“Canucks Pictures Thread – 09/10.” Canucks Community. Web. 10 Jan. 2014. <http://forum.canucks.com/topic/243479-official-canucks-pictures-thread-0910/page__st__660>.
“Chieuse De Boussoles.” Chieuse De Boussoles. Web. 10 Jan. 2014. <http://chieusedeboussoles.tumblr.com/post/72617153370>
Paterson, Erika. ENGL 470A Canadian Studies: Canadian Literary Genres. University of British Columbia, 2013. Web. 10 Jan. 2014. <https://blogs.ubc.ca/engl470/>
Hi Deanna, I am not sure I know what a Muggle is – so I goggled it and to my surprise I discovered there is whole Harry Potter language genre completely unfamiliar to me. I have never gotten engaged with fantasy — and these novels were published after my children were raised. So, a Muggle, according the Wikipedia, is “a person who lacks any sort of magical ability and was not born into the magical world. Muggles also do not have any magical blood. It differs from the term Squib, which refers to a person with one or more magical parents yet without any magical ability, and from the term Muggle-born (or the derogatory and offensive mudblood), which refers to a person with magical abilities but without magical parents.” What I find interesting here is the relation to blood/ancestry and powers. Too bad fantasy does not seem to be able to hold my attention. In some ways your lack of knowledge about Canadian history and First Nations stories will be a benefit because in many cases there is so much “unlearning” to be done before we can begin to “hear” stories that contradict what we all already know. What you will probably discover is that much of your knowledge about Canada is based on stereotypes and misrepresentations. I look forward to working with you as well. Thanks for the mysterious word and opening up a new landscape of Potterisms for me.
Hi Dr Paterson,
Yes, the Harry Potter series provides an entirely new vocabulary for the reader. It’s interesting that you focused on the idea of blood and ancestry having never read any of the books, seeing as they are both important themes. In the books, the characters ancestry and families they are born in define them. Those born in a non-magical family but (by chance) have magical powers are looked down upon, and even have vulgar words used to describe them. Fully “pure-blooded” witches and wizards are considered a much higher class. These ideas can be related to our own society, where in the past, having certain “blood” immediately placed you in a social group filled with stereotypes.
Hi Deanna,
I’m also new to the blogging landscape, and this is my first upper level English class, so you’re not the only one in that boat! I’m pretty excited to be learning about different story telling style; especially lesser know stories told from First Nations and non-“settler” perspectives. Just like you I’m also looking forward to this online blog class format since it’s so out of the norm for me.
Seems like you’re quite the athlete. I used to play junior football in Victoria and more recently with UBC, while playing at UBC I was lucky enough to workout with one of your husbands (Bieksa). The Hogwarts login on your cover page is awesome. I’m a huge fan too and have had more Harry Potter movie marathons than I’d like to admit.
I look forward to more course discussion with you and the rest of our online classmates!
Hi Samuel,
I’ve always wanted to try out for the UBC Women’s Ice Hockey team… playing at a varsity level would be very exciting! How was your experience playing on the football team? What position did you play? I am EXTREMELY jealous that you worked out with my numero uno husband. He held a charity game last year called “Bieksa’s Buddies”, and my friend won an auction for a signed game-worn jersey from him! Lucky her!
Yes… I clearly enjoy my Harry Potter. I think I’ve incorporated my obsession in almost every blog response so far! I broke my leg a couple years ago and re-read every book over 10 times each… let the judgement begin!
Hi Deanna!
I appreciate the wonderful levels of hilarity throughout your post. Honestly I think that maybe we should become best friends, but only if you don’t mind double dating with me and my totally beautiful husband, Jason Garrison.
Anyway, I too am super excited about having the internet quite literally at our fingertips throughout this class. I think that, while the internet can supply us with many wonderful, chuckle-invoking images (I would also love to pull that tape prank on my brother!), it can also provide us with limitless amounts of information. I think it’s so cool that the internet is essentially a dumping ground for all our generation’s knowledge – a giant record of all our thoughts and creations. That being said, that doesn’t necessarily mean that that information has any quality whatsoever, but I’m sure there are a few gems out there. Hopefully we can find a few that are relevant to this class!
I’ll definitely be apparating back to read more, so keep up the laughs!
Shannon
Hi Shannon,
I read your blog post and thought the exact same thing! We are very similar… you have good taste :D. I will most definitely accept an invitation for a double date with you and Garrison — but I’ll need to clear it up with Kevin…
I fully agree that the information you find on the internet is not always of the best quality. Some people are skilled and able to make websites look legitimate, when indeed they are not. For example, I am guilty for falling for an e-mail banking scam. Lets just say I’ve learned my lesson the hard way when it comes to trusting proper sources.