English 4050F
Huron University College
(Fall 2013)
Representing Aboriginality:
Aboriginal Literature and Film from the Post-Settler Colonies
Instructor:
Dr. Teresa Hubel
Phone – 438-7224, ext. 219
Email: [email protected]
Office Hours:
Mondays from 2:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. and Wednesdays from 1:30
p.m. – 2:30 p.m. and by appointment (A306)
Classes:
Mondays from 6 p.m. until 9 p.m. in HC-W104
Prerequisites:
Students must be in their fourth year of an English program
(Honours or Combined Honours) to take this course.
Two of English
2200F/G, 2210F/G, 2220F/G, 2230F/G, 2235A/B (Huron), English
2240F/G, 2250F/G, or permission of the Department.
DESCRIPTION
This fourth-year seminar course in English will explore mostly writing but also some
filmmaking by aboriginal people located in such post-settler states as Canada,
Australia, New Zealand, and the U.S. As a class we will examine a number of works
of literature and film as well as some academic essays, endeavouring to come to
some understanding and knowledge about both the global and local significance of
such texts. Because this is a research-based learning course, students will also be
expected to conduct their own research, which will involve locating poems, films,
and short stories by aboriginal authors that have not yet been subject to scholarly
analysis and developing original interpretations of them. This course will take
students through the full process of research: from the discovery of the research
text through to the publication of the research outcomes.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
By the end of the course students should be able to identify key issues that
galvanize global aboriginal communities today; to comprehend some of the
aesthetic and political underpinnings of aboriginal literature and film; to
understand the current research methodologies associated with academic work on
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topics that involve aboriginal people; to determine a research topic; and to conduct
online as well as library research for the purposes of pursuing a critical analysis of
that topic. Students should also be able to construct a coherent argument (i.e. a
thesis) about the texts they have read and to write logically and persuasively in
fluent, standard English using the appropriate MLA conventions for scholarlycritical writing. They should demonstrate the ability to locate and engage with
secondary critical readings and to balance and integrate those readings into their
own analysis of the primary texts.
DESCRIPTION OF CLASS METHODS
This is a seminar course. For it to function ideally, class discussion is essential. For
this reason, students should read (and, whenever at all possible, re-read) the
assigned material prior to coming to class. Students will be graded on their
individual contributions to the class and on their individual assignments.
REQUIRED BOOKS
Wright, Alexis. Carpentaria. Simon & Schuster
Grace, Patricia. Mutuwhenua. Penguin, NZ.
King, Thomas. Green Grass Running Water. Perennial
ON THE COURSE WEBCT SITE (OWL)
 Olive Senior’s online essay “Literature is Political because we are political
animals” from The Guardian
 Lynn Gehl Gii-Zhigaate-Mnidoo-Kwe’s essay from rabble.ca, “Genocide,
racism and Canada Day: An Algonquin-Anishinaabekwe love letter”
 “The Maori Tradition” Introduction to The Penguin Book of New Zealand
Verse, pp. 53-61
 5 poems by Hone Tuwhare in The Penguin Book of New Zealand Verse, pp.
277-283
 2 poems by Rowley Habib in The Penguin Book of New Zealand Verse, pp.
391-393
 Chief Dan George’s “Lament for Confederation” in Native Poetry in Canada,
pp. 1-3
 4 poems by Beth Cuthand in Native Poetry in Canada, pp. 121- 134
 Wu Jing’s essay, “Carpentaria: Creating a Contemporary Indigenous World”
from US-China Foreign Language, pp. 173-177
 Alison Ravenscroft’s essay, “Dreaming of Others: Carpentaria and its
Critics” from Cultural Studies Review, pp. 194-224
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 Patricia Monture Angus’s “Native America and the Literary Tradition” in
Native North America: Critical and Cultural Perspectives, pp. 20-46
 Thomas King’s lecture “’You’ll Never Believe What Happened’ Is Always a
Great Way to Start” in The Truth about Stories: A Native Narrative
 Thomas King’s essay, “Godzilla vs. the Postcolonial”
 Terry Goldie’s chapter “The Natural” in his Fear and Temptation: The Image
of the Indigene in Canadian, Australian, and New Zealand Literatures, pp. 1940
 Len Findley’s essay “Always Indigenize” in Ariel: A Review of International
English Literatures, pp. 307–326
 Linda Tuhiwai Smith’s book, Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and
Indigenous Peoples, selected excerpts, pp. 1-19, pp.34-39, pp.94-96, pp. 112116, pp. 174-184
 Selina Tusitala Marsh, selected poems and youtube clips
 Review of Thomas King’s latest book by Huron grad Julie McGonegal (Course
Website)
Method of Evaluation:
Essay ........................................................................................................................................ 35%
Seminar (with outline) ......................................................................................................... 25%
Discussion Questions ............................................................................................................ 10%
Attendance and Participation ............................................................................................ 30%
Schedule of Classes and List of Readings
Dates
Topics
September 9
Introduction
Film – The Sapphires (written
by Tony Briggs and directed by
Wayne Blair)
September 16
Film Discussion, Pow Wow
Impressions, Reading
Literature Politically
Assigned Readings
 It’s highly recommended that students spend
some time in attendance at the Traditional
Pow Wow and Harvest Festival. The Pow Wow
is being held at the Museum Of Archeology in
London, Ontario on Saturday, September 14th
and Sunday, September 25th.
 For details about the Pow Wow and how to
get there, see http://museumpowwow.ca/
 Olive Senior’s online essay “Literature is
Political because we are political animals”
from The Guardian (Course Website)
 Terry Goldie’s chapter “The Natural” in his
Fear and Temptation: The Image of the
Indigene in Canadian, Australian, and New
Zealand Literatures (Course Website)
The First Nations of North
America
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
Discussion Questions from
Students (1, 2, & 3)





September 23
Thomas King’s North American
Approach
Discussion Questions from
Students (4, 5, & 6)


Lynn Gehl Gii-Zhigaate-Mnidoo-Kwe’s essay
from rabble.ca, “Genocide, racism and Canada
Day: An Algonquin-Anishinaabekwe love
letter” (Course Website)
4 poems by Beth Cuthand in Native Poetry in
Canada, pp. 121- 134 (Course Website)
Chief Dan George’s “Lament for
Confederation” in Native Poetry in Canada, pp.
1-3 (Course Website)
Patricia Monture Angus’s “Native America and
the Literary Tradition” in Native North
America: Critical and Cultural Perspectives,
pp. 20-46 (Course Website)
Thomas King’s lecture “’You’ll Never Believe
What Happened’ Is Always a Great Way to
Start” in The Truth about Stories: A Native
Narrative (Course Website)
Review of Thomas King’s latest book by Huron
grad Julie McGonegal (Course Website)
Thomas King’s essay, “Godzilla vs. the
Postcolonial” (Course Website)
Thomas King’s novel Green Grass Running
Water

Linda Tuhiwai Smith’s book, Decolonizing
Methodologies: Research and Indigenous
Peoples, selected excerpts, pp. 174-184
September 30
October 7
Patricia Grace and the
Maori/Pakeha divide in New
Zealand
Discussion Questions from
Students (7, 8, & 9)


Maori and Pacific Island Poetry
Discussion Questions from
Students (10, 11, & 12)


(Course Website)
Patricia Grace’s novel Mutuwhenua
Len Findley’s essay “Always Indigenize”
(Course Website)
Linda Tuhiwai Smith’s book, Decolonizing
Methodologies: Research and Indigenous
Peoples, selected excerpts, pp. 112-116




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(Course Website)
“The Maori Tradition” Introduction to The
Penguin Book of New Zealand Verse, pp. 53-61
(Course Website)
5 poems by Hone Tuwhare in The Penguin
Book of New Zealand Verse, pp. 277-283
(Course Website)
2 poems by Rowley Habib in The Penguin Book
of New Zealand Verse, pp. 391-393 (Course
Website)
Selina Tusitala Marsh, selected poems and
youtube clips (Course Website)
Linda Tuhiwai Smith’s book, Decolonizing
Methodologies: Research and Indigenous
Peoples, selected excerpts, pp. 1-19, pp. 3439, pp. 94-96 (Course Website)
October 14
October 21
Thanksgiving
No class scheduled
How to Do Advanced Research:
a Visit from a Librarian


Alexis Wright’s Carpentaria: An
Intriguing Perspective from
Aboriginal Australia
Discussion Questions from
Students (13, 14, 15, & 16)
October 28
November 4
November 11
November 18
November 25
December 2

Alexis Wright’s novel Carpentaria
Wu Jing’s essay, “Carpentaria: Creating a
Contemporary Indigenous World” from USChina Foreign Language, pp. 173-177 (Course
Website)
Alison Ravenscroft’s essay, “Dreaming of
Others: Carpentaria and its Critics” from
Cultural Studies Review, pp. 194-224 (Course
Website)
Research Week
No class scheduled
 During class time I will
hold office hours.
Research Week
No class scheduled
 During class time I will
hold office hours.
Seminars Presentations 1, 2, 3,
4
Seminar Presentations 5, 6, 7, 8
Seminar Presentations 9, 10, 11,
12
Seminar Presentations 13, 14,
15, 16
REQUIREMENTS:
1) Attendance/Participation — Because this is a seminar course, it requires the
active and regular participation of all its members if it is to work. For this reason,
30% of your final grade will be based on your record of attendance and your
contribution to discussions. Furthermore, in order for you to be able to offer
significant contributions, it is important that you arrive at each class having
already done the reading and the thinking that is necessary for you to come up
with appropriately useful comments and interpretations. For every class you attend
you will get a 1, but if, in addition to your attendance, you also participate in the
discussion in interesting and meaningful ways, you will get a 2. If you do not attend
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a class, you get a zero. At the end of the course, these marks will be added up and
your grade out of 30% will be calculated.
2) Individual Students’ Discussion Questions — You will be asked to compile a
list of three questions for class discussion for one particular class during the
course of the term. You should also ensure that you have enough copies of your
sheet of questions to distribute to the other members of the class. These
questions will be worth 10% of your mark, and this assignment will be judged
according to the calibre of the questions you create in relation to the assigned
readings. Although we may not be able to answer all three questions during the
class, students should nevertheless be prepared to speak to any of their
questions.
3) Seminar — This is an experiential learning course. Consequently, you will be
required to select a short literary or filmic text (poem, short film, or short story)
by an aboriginal writer or director. There must be no available scholarship on your
primary text. After conducting considerable research on your text – during which
you will identify who the author/director is, where she or he is based, what his or
her politics are, the theme of the text and then develop an interpretation and
analysis of it – you will be required to give a seminar presentation in one of the
four final classes of the term. During this seminar you will describe your research
findings and discuss how you intend to interpret your text. This will be worth 25%
of your mark.
Please ensure that you photocopy your text and give it to me a week ahead
of your seminar date so that I can make an electronic copy of it and put it up on
our course website. (Alternatively, you can scan your text and send me the file.)
Or, if your primary text is a short film, please send a copy to me or make it
available well before your seminar date to the other students. All students in the
class will be required to read or watch your text before class so that they can
offer you useful insights during your seminar presentation.
Although you may choose any number of possible presentation styles and a
variety of subjects (you don’t necessarily need a coherent argument in a seminar),
you should plan on taking control of the class for 20 minutes to a half hour only.
The point of a seminar is for you to present to the class your ideas, garnered from
your research and thinking, regarding the poem or short story.
The presentation of your ideas is important, but just as important is your
ability to elicit meaningful discussion on the topic from your listeners. Such
discussion will help you to further expand and complicate your own interpretation.
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There are many ways to elicit discussion; you might, for instance, consider posing
questions at the end of your seminar in an effort to get your listeners to think
beyond the bounds of what you’ve already presented. (But keep in mind that only a
carefully constructed question can initiate good discussion.) Some seminar
presenters, however, manage to get students talking before they even get to the
end of their presentation. This can be a successful strategy too; the only thing you
should remember is that you must be responsible for facilitating the discussion. (If
the discussion gets away from you, and you find that you’ve run out of time, this is
your problem, and it will negatively affect your overall grade for the seminar.)
Each seminar must be accompanied by a typed, single-spaced, point-by-point
outline of the content plus a brief bibliography of the books you’ve used (2 – 4
pages in total). You should ensure that you have photocopied enough outlines (with
the bibliography) to distribute to all the members of the class. I will photocopy any
outline I receive by 12 noon on the Monday before the seminar. (You can slip your
outline under my door if I’m not in my office at the time you arrive, or you can email me a copy of your outline.)
You must use your seminar topic as the basis for your essay, though
obviously you’ll need to come up with a thesis (not something that is necessary in
the seminar), construct a coherent argument, and do some fine tuning of your
points. In other words, don’t simply regurgitate your seminar content!
4) Essay — A single 10 - 15 page (typed) essay is required for this course; it’s
worth 35% of your overall grade.
This is a research essay in an advanced English course; as such, it must
contain significant evidence of research. Your Works Cited list should, therefore,
list at the very least 5 secondary sources (this is the bare minimum), not
including the bibliographical citation(s) for your primary text (the poem, short film,
or short story about which you have constructed an argument and an
interpretation).
The deadline for your essay depends on the date of your seminar
presentation. All essays are due exactly one week after the date of your seminar.
Please submit your essays to me electronically by e-mail.
You should use standard MLA documentation style in your essay, and you
should endeavour to get this style right. In marking your essay, I will take into
consideration the calibre of you arguments and analysis as well as the correctness
of your grammar and the aptness of your writing. You will lose marks if your use of
MLA documentation style is sloppy.
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Concerning Essays and Other Assignments
Essays should conform to current MLA format; this documentation style is
described in detail in The MLA Handbook , which is available both in the library
as well as on the Internet (see the course website). Essays and assignments
not submitted to me in class should be left in the essay drop box across from
the Info Desk. Always keep a copy of any work you submit, and PLEASE DO
NOT SLIDE ESSAYS UNDER MY OFFICE DOOR.
The English Department’s policy is that late assignments will be penalized at
the rate of 2 marks per calendar day to a maximum of seven days. After
seven days the assignment will not be accepted and a mark of 0% will be
awarded. Essays will be marked and returned to you usually within three weeks
of my receiving them; however, any essays or other assignments submitted after
its deadline will in most cases be returned late with no detailed commentary – so
it is in your interest to get your work in on time.
Appendix to Course Outlines
Prerequisite Information
Students are responsible for ensuring that they have successfully completed all course prerequisites.
Unless you have either the requisites for this course or written special permission from your Dean to enrol
in it, you may be removed from this course and it will be deleted from your record. This decision may not
be appealed. You will receive no adjustment to your fees in the event that you are dropped from a course
for failing to have the necessary prerequisites.
Conduct of Students in Classes, Lectures, and Seminars
Membership in the community of Huron University College and the University of Western Ontario
implies acceptance by every student of the principle of respect for the rights, responsibilities, dignity and
well-being of others and a readiness to support an environment conducive to the intellectual and personal
growth of all who study, work and live within it. Upon registration, students assume the responsibilities
that such registration entails. The academic and social privileges granted to each student are conditional
upon the fulfillment of these responsibilities.
In the classroom, students are expected to behave in a manner that supports the learning environment of
others. Students can avoid any unnecessary disruption of the class by arriving in sufficient time to be
seated and ready for the start of the class, by remaining silent while the professor is speaking or another
student has the floor, and by taking care of personal needs prior to the start of class. If a student is late, or
knows that he/she will have to leave class early, be courteous: sit in an aisle seat and enter and leave
quietly.
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Please see the Code of Student Rights and Responsibilities at:
http://www.huronuc.ca/CurrentStudents/StudentLifeandSupportServices/StudentDiscipline
Technology
It is not appropriate to use technology (such as, but not limited to, laptops, PDAs, cell phones) in the
classroom for non-classroom activities. Such activity is disruptive and is distracting to other students and
to the instructor, and can inhibit learning. Students are expected to respect the classroom environment
and to refrain from inappropriate use of technology and other electronic devices in class.
Academic Accommodation for Medical/Non-Medical Grounds
For UWO Policy on Accommodation for Medical Illness and a downloadable SMC see:
http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/handbook/appeals/accommodation_medical.pdf
[downloadable Student Medical Certificate (SMC): https://studentservices.uwo.ca under the Medical
Documentation heading]
Students seeking academic accommodation on medical grounds for any missed tests, exams, participation
components and/or assignments worth 10% or more of their final grade must apply to the Academic
Counselling office of their home Faculty and provide documentation. Academic accommodation will be
determined by the Dean’s Office in consultation with the instructor.
For non-medical grounds or for medical grounds when work represents less than 10% of the overall grade
for the course, the student must submit a request to the instructor in writing prior to the due date of an
assignment, and immediately in the case of a test. (Or as soon as possible following a medical emergency)
Students are protected under the Official Student Record Information Privacy Policy and so written
requests need only include a broad and general explanation of the situation, and the approximate length
of time required. At the discretion of the instructor, the granting of extensions and re-scheduled tests may
require the student to submit supporting either medical or non-medical documentation to the Academic
Counsellor, who will then make the determination as to whether accommodation is warranted.
Statement on Academic Offences
Scholastic offences are taken seriously and students are directed to read the appropriate policy,
specifically, the definition of what constitutes a Scholastic Offence, at the following Web site:
http://www.uwo.ca/univsec/handbook/appeals/scholastic_discipline_undergrad.pdf .
Statement on Academic Integrity
The International Centre for Academic Integrity defines academic integrity as "a commitment, even in the
face of adversity, to five fundamental values: honesty, trust, fairness, respect, and responsibility. From
these values flow principles of behaviour that enable academic communities to translate ideals to action."
(CAI Fundamental Values Project, 1999).
A lack of academic integrity is indicated by such behaviours as the following:
Cheating on tests;
Fraudulent submissions online;
Plagiarism in papers submitted (including failure to cite and piecing
together unattributed sources);
Unauthorized resubmission of course work to a different course;
Helping someone else cheat;
Unauthorized collaboration;
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Fabrication of results or sources;
Purchasing work and representing it as one’s own.
Academic Integrity: Importance and Impact
Being at university means engaging with a variety of communities in the pursuit and sharing of knowledge
and understanding in ways that are clear, respectful, efficient, and productive. University communities
have established norms of academic integrity to ensure responsible, honest, and ethical behavior in the
academic work of the university, which is best done when sources of ideas are properly and fully
acknowledged and when responsibility for ideas is fully and accurately represented.
In the academic sphere, unacknowledged use of another’s work or ideas is not only an offence against the
community of scholars and an obstacle to academic productivity. It may also be understood as fraud and
may constitute an infringement of legal copyright.
A university is a place for fulfilling one's potential and challenging oneself, and this means rising to
challenges rather than finding ways around them. The achievements in an individual’s university studies
can only be fairly evaluated quantitatively through true and honest representation of the actual learning
done by the student. Equity in assessment for all students is ensured through fair representation of the
efforts by each.
Acting with integrity at university constitutes a good set of practices for maintaining integrity in later life.
Offences against academic integrity are therefore taken very seriously as part of the university’s work in
preparing students to serve, lead, and innovate in the world at large.
A university degree is a significant investment of an individual’s, and the public’s, time, energies, and
resources in the future, and habits of academic integrity protect that investment by preserving the
university’s reputation and ensuring public confidence in higher education.
Students found guilty of plagiarism will suffer consequences ranging from a grade
reduction to failure in the course to expulsion from the university. In addition, a formal
letter documenting the offence will be filed in the Dean’s Office, and this record of the
offence will be retained in the Dean’s Office for the duration of the student’s academic
career at Huron University College.
All required papers may be subject to submission for textual similarity review to the commercial
plagiarism detection software under license to the University for the detection of plagiarism. All papers
submitted for such checking will be included as source documents in the reference database for the
purpose of detecting plagiarism of papers subsequently submitted to the system. Use of the service is
subject to the licensing agreement, currently between The University of Western Ontario and
Turnitin.com.
Computer-marked multiple-choice tests and/or exams may be subject to submission for similarity review
by software that will check for unusual coincidences in answer patterns that may indicate cheating.
Personal Response Systems (“clickers”) may be used in some classes. If clickers are to be used in a class,
it is the responsibility of the student to ensure that the device is activated and functional. Students must
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see their instructor if they have any concerns about whether the clicker is malfunctioning. Students must
use only their own clicker. If clicker records are used to compute a portion of the course grade:


the use of somebody else’s clicker in class constitutes a scholastic offence,
the possession of a clicker belonging to another student will be interpreted as an attempt to
commit a scholastic offence.
Policy on Special Needs
Students who require special accommodation for tests and/or other course components must make the
appropriate arrangements with the Student Development Centre (SDC). Further details concerning
policies and procedures may be found at:
http://www.sdc.uwo.ca/ssd/?requesting_acc
Attendance Regulations for Examinations
A student is entitled to be examined in courses in which registration is maintained, subject to the
following limitations:
1) A student may be debarred from writing the final examination for failure to maintain satisfactory
academic standing throughout the year.
2) Any student who, in the opinion of the instructor, is absent too frequently from class or laboratory
periods in any course will be reported to the Dean of the Faculty offering the course (after due warning
has been given). On the recommendation of the Department concerned, and with the permission of the
Dean of that Faculty, the student will be debarred from taking the regular examination in the course. The
Dean of the Faculty offering the course will communicate that decision to the Dean of the Faculty of
registration.
Class Cancellations
In the event of a cancellation of class, every effort will be made to post that information on the Huron
website, http://www.huronuc.ca/AccessibilityInfo (“Class Cancellations”).
Accessibility
Huron University College strives at all times to provide its goods and services in a way that respects the
dignity and independence of people with disabilities. We are also committed to giving people with
disabilities the same opportunity to access our goods and services and allowing them to benefit from the
same services, in the same place as, and in a similar way to, other customers. We welcome your feedback
about accessibility at Huron. Information about how to provide feedback is available at:
http://www.huronuc.ca/AccessibilityInfo
Mental Health @ Western
Students who are in emotional/mental distress should refer to Mental Health @ Western
http://www.uwo.ca/uwocom/mentalhealth/ for a complete list of options about how to obtain help.
Program and Academic Counselling
English students registered at Huron who require advice about modules and courses in English should
contact Dr. T. Hubel, Chair – [email protected] Students should contact Academic Counselling on
other academic matters. See the Academic Counselling website for information on services offered.
http://huronuc.ca/CurrentStudents/StudentLifeandSupportServices/CounselorsCounsellingServices
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