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Project Overview
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11-12
Canadian Writers
Project type: Project
Related topic:
Leonard Cohen: Canada's Melancholy Bard
Subjects
English Language Arts
Summary
Students will examine Canadian literature by viewing the following topics on the CBC Radio and Television Archives Web site: Mordecai Richler Was Here, Michel Tremblay: L’enfant terrible of Canadian Theatre, Margaret Laurence: Canada’s Divine Writer, and Leonard Cohen: Canada’s Melancholy Bard. Partners brainstorm what they know about these writers and their works, then list inquiry questions and choose a few of those questions to form a thesis statement. Students will read one literary work by each author and research the author through the clips on the Web site. Possible research topics include the influence of the writer’s life on his or her work, the role of the author as social commentator, or the similar themes that run through the different authors’ works. Students may choose from a variety of genres, and will keep reader-response journals as they work. Based on their research, students will write a comparative literary essay of approximately 1500 words.
Duration
2 to 3 weeks
Purpose
To make comparisons and see connections among authors and their works; to research and write a literary comparative essay following necessary methods of organization and writing conventions; to select, use, and cite compelling evidence from sources to support critical analysis
PDF
canadianwriters.pdf
Lesson Plan
Before Exploring
Launch this project by doing the following:
  • Introduce the Canadian writers Leonard Cohen, Margaret Laurence, Mordecai Richler, and Michel Tremblay. Ask students to work with a partner and briefly recount what each name is known for or represents. Have them brainstorm together and record individually some inquiry questions related to the authors and their works, such as, How did the authors’ lives influence their writing? What themes do their works share? What does their writing have in common?
  • Invite students to choose one literary work by each author.
    • Outline the Opportunity
    Present the project outline (download sheet Canadian Writers) to students. Clarify any questions that they may have.

    In addition to the CBC Radio and Television Archives Web site files, students can consult the Resources section of the project. Encourage students to find other resources as well.

    This project includes the following worksheets that outline the task and provides tools for assessment and evaluation. You may wish to use all or only some of these sheets, which you can adapt to suit your needs and those of your students. For each sheet that you use, be sure that students understand how it is to be used to support their work on this project.

    1. Project Outline
      Hand out this sheet after completing the project launch and review it carefully with students.
    2. Inquiry Questions/Proposal About Canadian Writers
      Students use this tool to outline the inquiry questions that may form the basis of their research as they review the CBC Radio and Television Archives Web site files about each author.
    3. Reader-Response Journals
      Ask students to keep a section of their binders for their research notes, reader-response journal, outline, drafts, and list of works consulted. Encourage them to reflect on their topic as they conduct their research. Have them record at least three important, relevant quotations from each work and one from each Web site and keep notes on secondary sources related to their topic.
    4. Group Quotations Assignment
      Do this activity after students have read their primary sources and completed their reader-response journals. Before distributing this handout, group students as closely as possible according to one of their literary selections. Students have prepared for this activity through the quotations they recorded and analyzed in their reader-response journals.
    5. Essay Outline
      Students can use this handout to prepare an outline and to form the foundation for a conference with the teacher.
    6. Comparative Literary Essay Checklist
      Students can use this checklist for self-assessment.
    7. Essay Rubric
      If you are using this rubric as part of your assessment procedure, review it with students early in the project so that they understand clearly how they will be assessed.
    Revisit and Reflect
    Lead a class discussion about what “Canadian” literature is. Enlarge the discussion to include other Canadian writers. Encourage students to read these Canadian authors.

    External sites

    Other activities for this topic
    All Grades
    9-10
    11-12
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