Unit 3 · 7 lessons
Reading Contemporary Indigenous Literature
How First Nations, Métis and Inuit writers use form and style to make meaning, how literature about residential schools centres survival and resilience, and how Indigenous futurism imagines what comes next.
- 66 practice questions
- 64 flashcards
- 1 interactive lesson
Lessons
- 1Text Forms in Contemporary Indigenous LiteratureThe forms First Nations, Métis and Inuit writers work in — novel, short story, poetry, drama, memoir, graphic novel and spoken word — how each form shapes what a text can say, and a reading strategy matched to each one.9 questions
- 2Stylistic Elements: Humour, Language, Time, Dreams and Point of ViewFive stylistic elements that appear often in contemporary Indigenous writing — humour and irony, words from Indigenous languages, non-linear time, dreams and multiple worlds, and shifting point of view — how to spot each one and explain its effect.9 questions
- 3Close Reading Indigenous PoetryA method for reading poems slowly and precisely: imagery, the line break and white space, the speaker's voice, code-switching between English and Indigenous languages, and erasure and found poetry, with reference to poets such as Louise Bernice Halfe, Marilyn Dumont, Billy-Ray Belcourt and Jordan Abel.10 questions
- 4Reading and Staging Indigenous DramaHow to read a play as a script for performance: dialogue and subtext, stage directions, dramatic irony and the staging choices that create it, with reference to playwrights Tomson Highway and Drew Hayden Taylor, and how to prepare a readers' theatre performance.10 questions
- 5Reading Non-Fiction and ArgumentHow to read essays, editorials, investigative books and reports as arguments: finding the claim, judging the evidence and reasoning, separating fact from interpretation, and recognizing counterarguments and loaded language, with Harold Cardinal's The Unjust Society (1969) and Tanya Talaga's Seven Fallen Feathers (2017) as models.10 questions
- 6Residential Schools, Survival and Resilience in LiteratureReading texts about residential schools and their legacy with a focus on Survivors' strength: the history behind the literature, how writers use point of view and structure to handle trauma, and how to read and respond responsibly.Interactive9 questions
- 7Indigenous Futurism and Speculative FictionHow Indigenous futurism and speculative fiction imagine futures that comment on the past and present, the themes of language, land and community in two important Canadian novels, and how to reflect on the reading strategies you use.9 questions