“Write a blog that hyper-links your research on the characters in GGRW according to the pages assigned to you. Be sure to make use of  Jane Flicks’ GGRW reading notes on your reading list.” (Paterson, Lesson 3.3)

From page 191 (229 in 2010 edition): “ Okay,” I says. “Let’s get started” …. To page 205 (244 in 2010 edition): “Latisha lay in bed with her eyes closed and listened to Elizabeth climb out of her crib” ….

Characters mentioned (bold indicates characters focused on in this post) in this literature-opsy are:

John Wayne             Lionel Red Dog             Coyote             Dr. Hovaugh             Babo         Ishmael

Border Guard            Robinson Crusoe             Hawkeye                    Lone Ranger             Thought Woman

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“9. King’s “preoccupation with mapping” (Goldman) is interrelated with the constant returning to Fort Marion. For the Women who fall from the sky, all roads lead to Fort Marion. Goldman suggests that King selected this episode in history because the Ledger Art of the Fort Marion Indians consists of “drawings [that are] acts of Native self-representation” (26). With this in mind, discuss why all roads lead back to Fort Marion in the novel, and be sure to consider the possible parallels between Dr. Hovaugh’s fictional institution in Florida and the historical Fort Marion.”

(Paterson, “Lesson 3.2”)

Electronic Superhighway: Continental U.S., Alaska, Hawaii, Nam June Paik (1995)

Reading this book was a trip, in every sense of the word. The closest books that I have read that come close to a similar unconventional boundary bending, literary convention squashing style are Italo Calvino’s If on a winter’s night a traveler and, to a lesser extent, Mark Haddon’s  The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. That being said, Thomas King’s Green Grass, Running Water is a very different book than either of the aforementioned. Through his literary project, King is telling a story that I view as more politically minded (for lack of a better word) than either Calvino’s or Haddon’s novels.

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“2]… For this blog assignment, I would like you to research and summarize one of the state or governing activities, such as The Royal Proclamation 1763, the Indian Act 1876, Immigration Act 1910, or the Multiculturalism Act 1989 – you choose the legislation or policy or commission you find most interesting. Write a blog about your findings and in your conclusion comment on whether or not your findings support Coleman’s argument about the project of white civility.” (Paterson, “Lesson 3.1”)

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“3] In order to address this question you will need to refer to Sparke’s article, “A Map that Roared and an Original Atlas: Canada, Cartography, and the Narration of Nation.” You can easily find this article online. Read the section titled: “Contrapuntal Cartographies” (468 – 470). Write a blog that explains Sparke’s analysis of what Judge McEachern might have meant by this statement: “We’ll call this the map that roared.” “

(Paterson,    “Lesson 2:3”)

Maps are interesting items. We place a lot of trust in them, in their constellations of datum points and in the mathematical certainties of the Cartesian grid system. Given the nature of land claims cases, maps and geographical knowledge are of paramount importance.  However, once maps become political, they are subject to interpretation, which is what Sparke explores in his article – specifically the power dynamics of these interpretations among different groups.

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Question 1:  “…So, why does King create dichotomies for us to examine these two creation stories? Why does he emphasize the believability of one story over the other — as he says, he purposefully tells us the “Genesis” story with an authoritative voice, and “The Earth Diver” story with a storyteller’s voice. Why does King give us this analysis that depends on pairing up oppositions into a tidy row of dichotomies? What is he trying to show us?” (Paterson, “Lesson 2:2”)

Many of us have heard the saying “The world is not black and white – it’s grey”, or another variation on that theme, with truth replacing world.

Duck Rabbit Illusion by Joseph Jastrow.

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“Write a short story (600 – 1000 words) that describes your sense of home; write about the values and the stories that you use to connect yourself to, and to identify your sense of home.” (Paterson, ENGL 470 Course Website)

The lady had been trying to get my attention for sometime. It was the commercial break during the big game, and my mother’s side of the family had gathered to watch. The buffet table was heaped with the traditional Filipino food that I only ate at such events, a handful of times a year.

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In the beginning were the walkers. They looked just like you and I – some were short, some were tall. Most were young, though there were a few who were old. Their skin was coloured in varying shades of bronze and gold. The walkers traveled with the sun, and the sun was bright and warm.

They followed the sun. To stop, to rest, was not a need known to them. The walkers never tired of walking – it was what they did, it was their life. For the walkers, walking was the same as breathing is to you or I. They followed the sun and traveled around the world. They knew not what nighttime was. They had never seen the great big silvery moon, nor the multitude of twinkly stars that are night’s treasures. The sun beat their skin into gold and bronze. They traveled with the sun, and the sun was bright and warm.

One of the walkers – let’s call them the Young One – walked with the sun and traveled around the world the same as the rest. It never occurred to the Young One that they were actually walking around in a circle across the Earth. All that mattered was that they traveled with the sun, the sun that was bright and warm. Continue reading →

“1. Explain why the notion that cultures can be distinguished as either “oral culture” or “written culture” (19) is a mistaken understanding as to how culture works, according to Chamberlin and your reading of Courtney MacNeil’s article “Orality”.” (Paterson, “Lesson 1:2”)

Both Chamberlin and MacNeil underline how conceptualizing culture as binary – culture here being either oral/written or barbarian/civil – can be dangerous, and can prevent us from accessing the gains that come from understanding culture as pluralistic. Continue reading →