ENGLISH EXAM REVIEW Gr.11
ENG 3UE Exam Review
Canadian Literature
Three Eras
1. Pre-Confederation (1867)
2. Post-Confederation
3. Post-WWII
Pre-Confederation
Writing as a tool for subduing wilderness
Writing as a tool for emotional adjustment
Writing to secure political organization
Fur trade, colonization, war of 1812
Post-Confederation
“Indians”
Building the CPR
New dominion
Cultural matters
Post-WWII
Greater inclusion of new Canadian and immigrant writers
Rohinton Mistry
Michael Ondaatje
Joy Kogawa
Rise of female writers
M. Lawrence
Margaret Atwood
Alice Munro
Shields
Major Themes of Canadian Literature
Survival
Isolation
Search for identity
French vs. English
Immigrants
Females
In Canada—1930s-70s—symbol is survival
Types of Survival
Bare survival: against hostile elements of nature
Grim survival: against a crisis, disaster, hurricane, or wreck
Cultural survival; particularly French vs. English
Spiritual survival: against external or internal obstacles
The U.S. Symbol: The Frontier
Both a flexible idea and a place where old order is discarded
Protestant Puritans in favour of American Revolution
A line that expands and conquers virgin territory, such as The West or outer space or the rest of the world
A hope—never fulfilled but always promised—of utopia
American literature is about the perfect human society but much is about the gap between the promise and reality
Promise: The American Dream
Reality: Squalid Materialism
The Handmaid’S Tale
Themes
The power of communication
The dangers of extremism
The psychological impact of isolation
The impossibility of utopia
The capacity of savagery within oneself
The impact of non-conformism
The destruction of self in dystopian isolation
Messages
A dysfunctional society is one that lacks communication
Extremes are always detrimental to society
Without social interaction, humans will suffer and have difficulty with survival
To achieve a utopian society is impossible—there will always be
Canadian Literature
Three Eras
1. Pre-Confederation (1867)
2. Post-Confederation
3. Post-WWII
Pre-Confederation
Writing as a tool for subduing wilderness
Writing as a tool for emotional adjustment
Writing to secure political organization
Fur trade, colonization, war of 1812
Post-Confederation
“Indians”
Building the CPR
New dominion
Cultural matters
Post-WWII
Greater inclusion of new Canadian and immigrant writers
Rohinton Mistry
Michael Ondaatje
Joy Kogawa
Rise of female writers
M. Lawrence
Margaret Atwood
Alice Munro
Shields
Major Themes of Canadian Literature
Survival
Isolation
Search for identity
French vs. English
Immigrants
Females
In Canada—1930s-70s—symbol is survival
Types of Survival
Bare survival: against hostile elements of nature
Grim survival: against a crisis, disaster, hurricane, or wreck
Cultural survival; particularly French vs. English
Spiritual survival: against external or internal obstacles
The U.S. Symbol: The Frontier
Both a flexible idea and a place where old order is discarded
Protestant Puritans in favour of American Revolution
A line that expands and conquers virgin territory, such as The West or outer space or the rest of the world
A hope—never fulfilled but always promised—of utopia
American literature is about the perfect human society but much is about the gap between the promise and reality
Promise: The American Dream
Reality: Squalid Materialism
The Handmaid’S Tale
Themes
The power of communication
The dangers of extremism
The psychological impact of isolation
The impossibility of utopia
The capacity of savagery within oneself
The impact of non-conformism
The destruction of self in dystopian isolation
Messages
A dysfunctional society is one that lacks communication
Extremes are always detrimental to society
Without social interaction, humans will suffer and have difficulty with survival
To achieve a utopian society is impossible—there will always be