Welcome to English First Peoples 11 (Spoken Language) with Mr. Kertes. In this course you will how to construct narrative to explore the themes of “loyalty and betrayal,” “creation and destruction,” and “birth and death,” and “fearlessness and courage”.
You will learn about oral transmission of culture, from both a local Indigenous perspective and an indigenous global perspective. You will also learn ways to tell stories orally, the history of writing down orally transmitted narratives, and traditional orally transmitted narratives of North Coast First Nations and other Indigenous societies in Canada and other parts of the Americas.
You will also learn to hone your textual analysis and literary studies skills. You will write two essays and study several texts. You will learn the conventions of the pre-university expository essay, narrative essay, and textual analysis essay. You will read one novel, several essays, and learn theory of narrative and learning from a Haida scholar.
Schedule
- Regular Days (Mon/Wed/Fri): Focus on spoken language
- Long blocks (Tues or Thurs): Focus on literary studies
Units
- Unit 1 – Literary Studies
- Novel Study – Three Day Road (Boyden) and related other novel (choice of three)
- Textual Analysis
- Narrative Structure
- Writing Process
- Literary Devices
- Textual Analysis Essay
- MLA Format
- Project Board
- Presentation
- Unit 2 – “Don’t be fooled…”
- Oral Traditions
- Storytelling
- Unit 3 – Storycrafting
- Storycraft Project
- Unit 4 – Exploration of Theme
- Literature Circle
- Expository Essay
- Unit 5 – “Potlatch as Pedagogy”
- Book Study
- Narrative Essay
Assignments and Assessments
- “DON’T BE FOOLED…” Tell a story about yourself and listen to others share their stories. Reflect on how this relates to The Truth About Stories: A Native Narrative (King) and Ceremony (Silko).
- EXPLORATION OF THEME Write a short expository essay on a theme that is related to “Lying in Bed Together” and “Summoners” (Van Camp) (from Moccasin Square Gardens) or “The Laundry Basket” (L. Maracle). Then lead a discussion on your thesis. Participate in the discussions led by other students.
- WRITING PROCESS EXAM Complete an exam that demonstrates that you know how to research, write, revise, and publish. This exam includes explaining key concepts related to narrative theory, literary scholarship, production of knowledge, transmission of knowledge, documentation, and synthesis.
- STORYTELLING Learn and perform a storytelling and share this at the Storycrafting Day, or create a short claymation or shadow play and perform this at the Storycrafting Day.
- CHILDREN’S BOOK Write a children’s book and share it with a class of young students.
- TEXTUAL ANALYSIS Write a major textual analysis essay on Three Day Road (Boyden) that includes connections to Hiroshima (Hersey), 1984 (Orwell), or A Child in a Prison Camp (Takashima) and includes connections to The Power of Story: On Truth, The Trickster, and New Fictions for a New Era (Johnson).
- STORYCRAFT Create a major “storycraft” that expresses something that matters. Document the process that you used to create this storycraft and give a presentation on the development process itself and that describes what you learned by going through this process. Share your storycraft at the Storycrafting Day.
- NARRATIVE ESSAY Write a narrative essay on how you learn and that includes connections to Potlatch as Pedagogy (Florence Davidson and Davidson) and to traditional North Coast First Nations narratives and narrative theories.
- MLA FORMAT EXAM Complete an exam that demonstrates how to correctly apply MLA format (including correctly formatted in-text citations and a correctly formatted works cited page).
Marks and Grades
- You must at least “attempt” all assignments and assessments to achieve an overall grade of 50 or higher. A mark of 30 or higher indicates that you have at least “attempted” the assignment or assessment.
- You must at least “complete” all assignments and assessments to achieve an overall grade of 60 or higher. A mark of 60 or higher indicates that you have at least “completed” the assignment or assessment (satisfactory quality).
- You must demonstrate very good, good, excellent, or outstanding quality on all assignments or assessments to achieve an overall grade of 75 or higher. Good is indicated by a mark of 70 or 72. Very good is indicated by a mark of 75, 80, or 85. Excellent is indicated by a mark of 86-90 and outstanding is indicated by a mark of 91-100.
- For overall grades of 60 and higher, your grade is based on the highest level of quality demonstrated for each key skill or concept assessed at least twice. For example, to achieve an overall grade of 85, you must demonstrate 85 or higher on all key skills and concepts at least twice during the term. Application of skills and demonstration that you understand concepts must be done in class. Work done outside of class is not considered for assessment and evaluation. You must also meet the requirements above.
- You may achieve an overall grade of 50 or 55 by at least attempting all assignments and assessments and by demonstrating overall minimal quality understanding of the course concepts and skills.
Texts
- 1984 (Orwell) or A Child in a Prison Camp (Takashima) or Hiroshima (Hersey)
- A Child in a Prison Camp (Takashima) or 1984 (Orwell) or Hiroshima (Hersey)
- A Story as Sharp as a Knife: The Classical Haida Mythtellers and Their World (Bringhurst)
- Battle of Arras 3 (NFB)
- Canadians Advance Near Cambrai 3 (NFB)
- Ceremony (Silko)
- Dancing With Our Ancestors (Florence Davidson and Davidson)
- Forgotten Warriors (Todd)
- Front Lines (Guilmain)
- Hiroshima (Hersey) or 1984 (Orwell) or A Child in a Prison Camp (Takashima)
- Jigging for Halibut With Tsinii (Florence Davidson and Davidson)
- “Łgu Sgyen” (Robinson)
- Łuutigm Hoon (Campbell)
- Learning to Carve Argillite (Florence Davidson and Davidson)
- “Lying in Bed Together” and “Summoners” (Van Camp) (from Moccasin Square Gardens)
- Magical Beings of Haida Gwaii (Williams-Davidson)
- Our Story: Aboriginal Voices on Canada’s Past (Cardinal)
- Potlatch as Pedagogy (Florence Davidson and Davidson)
- Returning to the Yakoun River (Florence Davidson and Davidson)
- Secret of the Dance (Spalding and Scaw)
- Shi-shi-etko (Campbell)
- Shin-Chi’s Canoe (Campbell)
- “The Laundry Basket” (L. Maracle)
- The Power of Story: On Truth, The Trickster, and New Fictions for a New Era (Johnson)
- The Trenches (Cloutier)
- The Truth About Stories: A Native Narrative (King)
- Three Day Road (Boyden)
- “Ts’ilaaykdis Txeemsm Sm’ooygit Dildaalt” (Tate) (retold by Helin)