UNIT 1 AN EXPLORATION OF IDENTITY

UNIT 1AN EXPLORATION OF IDENTITY

/99

Correspondence Study Program

UNIT 1AN EXPLORATIONOF IDENTITYINTRODUCTION

“Know thyself.” So it is written in Apollo’stemple at Delphi. And yet, knowing your-self is one of the most difficult tasks youcan undertake. Ironically, the greatestobstacle to self-knowledge is yourself asyou struggle between your desire to under-stand who you are and your reluctance toaccept the less flattering truths along withthe good ones.

In this unit, you will read literaturewhich explores the condition of the self,sometimes in transition as it moves fromone state-of-being to another, sometimesas viewed by others. You will consider theimpact that stereotypes and being theoutsider has on identity. As you read theselections and do the activities, thinkabout yourself and the person you thinkyou are. At the end of the unit, ask yourselfwhether you came to any newunderstandings about who you are andwhether you know yourself any better.

SELECTIONS

Literary Experiences 1 anthology,Unit One: The Real You

“Eighteen” (poem)by Maria Banus, page 2

“Red Dress - 1946” (short story)by Alice Munro, page 8

“X” (short story)by Lois Gould, page 28

“Me as My Grandmother” (poem)by Rosemary Aubert, page 53

“My Stepmother, Myself” (essay)by Garrison Keillor, page 55

“Cowboys and Indians” (essay)by Basil Johnston, page 70

“God is Not a Fish Inspector” (short story)by W. D. Valgardson, page 80

English 11 Manual

“Ulysses” (poem)by Alfred, Lord Tennyson, page 9

/99


ENGLISH 11

GETTING TO WORK

You will be required to do two differenttypes of assignments.

Short Answers - Many of the assign-ments are short answer requiring fromone paragraph to one page answers orresponses. These assignments will have avalue from 5 to 10 points. When youcomplete these assignments, use completesentences and refer appropriately to thequestion or direction in your response oranswer. Do not recopy the question; in-stead, include the necessary portions ofthe question in your answer so that yourmarker knows which question you areanswering.

EXAMPLE: PROPER SHORT ANSWER FORM

Question: How important areAnne’s friends to her? Explain briefly.

Answer: Anne’s friends are moreimportant to her than her family. She will goout of her way to see her friends and dothings for them, but she won’t do the same forher family. When her mother was feeling illand wanted her to help her with the house-work, Anne wouldn’t stay home. She hadmade plans to go skating with her friendsand wasn’t interested in helping her sickmother.

Extended Responses - Some of theassignments require more thought and alonger response. For each of these assign-ments the length requirement will be

clearly indicated. These assignments haveassigned values of 20 to 40 points.

HOW TO COMPLETEYOUR ASSIGNMENTS

When you complete your assignments, youmust:

√ use looseleaf paper (if handwritten)or plain white paper (if typed)

√ double-space between the lines

√ use blue or black pen or type yourassignments. If you type your as-signments, double-space betweenlines, put two spaces after endpunctuation, and put one spaceafter commas and semi-colons.

√ clearly identify each assignmentwith the Assignment Number andTitle. In cases where you have achoice in assignments, please stateclearly which choice you haveselected.

√ complete all the required assign-ments in this unit and completethem in order. The selections aregrouped according to issue ortopic; you should, therefore, com-plete all the work relating to theissue or topic before moving on tothe next issue.

√ complete all the required assign-ments in this unit before you mailyour work to your marker (do notmail partial assignments).

AN EXPLORATION OF IDENTITY

Page 1910/99

UNIT 1


ASSIGNMENT 1:SELF-PORTRAITCOLLAGE(THE BEGINNING)As you work through the selections in thisunit, find pictures or words which reflectthe person you think you are. You cancollect these images from magazines,newspapers, photos, the internet, or youcan sketch or draw your own. Start collect-ing your materials right away and keepthem safe and in good condition in some-thing like an envelope or file folder. Atthe end of this unit, use the items you havecollected to create a collage which makes astatement about who you are.

ASSIGNMENT 2:GROWING UP

A lot of growing up is trial anderror: experimentation. It is feelingvulnerable as you grow into a new bodyand try it out in public. It is feeling fearfulwhenever you step into a new social situa-tion for which you feel very unprepared.Regardless of all the pitfalls of growingup, most teenagers survive it and moveinto adulthood more or less successfully.

1. Read the poem “Eighteen”(page 2 in your anthology).

a) Write a response to thepoem (see page 4 in this manual onwriting responses).

b) Explain

i) the simile in the line “My mindcharges the world like a bull.”

ii) the metaphor for “life” con-tained in the last three lines of thepoem. (See page 5 in this manualon similes and metaphors.)

10 15

drawings

carto

ons/

doodlin

gs

photosobjects (cloth, feathers, whatever...)

Words/phrases

newspaper clippings

/99


ENGLISH 11

2. Read the short story “RedDress - 1946” (page 8 inyour anthology). Write aresponse to this story. Focus on thedifference between the world thenarrator inhabits and the world adults,such as her mother and her teachers,inhabit.

ASSIGNMENT 1:SELF-PORTRAITCOLLAGE (ADD-ON)Create one metaphor andone simile about yourself toadd to your collage. That is,compare yourself to something else, orcompare something you do to a processdone by something else. Print or type yourmetaphor and simile and keep them in asafe place with the other visuals and wordsyou have been collecting. At the end ofthis unit create your collage with all theitems you have collected.

HOW TO WRITE A PERSONAL RESPONSE

A personal response records yourthoughts/ideas about what you’ve read.When your marker reads responsesyou have written, s/he will be lookingfor evidence that you have thoughtabout what you have read and what yougot out of the selection. Study thefollowing points before you begin yourfirst response.

☯ Did you like the selection? How didit make you feel?

☯ What did you think about thecharacters or situations?

☯ Did the characters or situationsremind you of anything you’ve seenor heard before in your own world?

☯ Does anything in the selectionremind you of something else youhave read (or perhaps viewed ontelevision)?

☯ What do you predict will happen?

Do not simply summarize what youhave read in the selection; however,you should refer to those parts of theselection which illustrate the ideas youare developing in your response. Youmight also quote short sections whichyou find particularly interesting. Eachpersonal response should be at least¾ of a page in length.

A personal response is not a polishedpiece of writing. Your marker will notbe assessing sentence structure, punc-tuation, or spelling. You should, how-ever, write neatly.


Page 2110/99

UNIT 1


SIMILES AND METAPHORS

You will be required to identify andexplain similes and metaphors in anumber of selections in this course.Read the following information so thatyou understand these figures ofspeech.

SIMILE: a comparison of two unlikeobjects using the words “like” or “as” inthe comparison.

Example: “O my love’s like a red,red rose,” by Robbie Burns. In thissimile, Burns compares the beauty ofthe woman he loves to the beauty of ared rose, commonly accepted as one ofthe most beautiful of flowers.

Example: “When he gets angry, heis as prickly as a porcupine.” The quillson a porcupine are sharp and danger-ous. In this statement, the persondescribed is equally dangerous whenangered. While he doesn’t have quills,his attitude signals people to stay away.

METAPHOR: a comparison of twounlike objects in which the comparisonis made by stating that something is theother thing.

Example: “Jack is an ostrich whenit comes to his children.” In this state-ment, the metaphor compares Jack toan ostrich. One of the traits of ostrichesis that they hide their heads in thesand when confronted with danger: ifthey can’t see the danger, then itdoesn’t exist. The comparison suggeststhat Jack is unwilling to face some sortof reality about his children.

EXTENDED METAPHOR: portrays anumber of similarities between twoobjects in order to create an effect andoccurs over an extended, or perhapsthe entire, length of the poem.

Example: “Fog” by Carl Sandburg

The fog comeson little cat feetIt sits lookingover harbour and skyon silent haunchesand then moves on.

In this fine example of an extendedmetaphor, the fog is compared to a cat.What qualities do cats have in commonwith fog? The words “on little cat feet”and “it sits looking . . . on silenthaunches” suggest the actions of a cat,an animal that moves very quietly andcan remain in a motionless sittingposition. Thus, we understand the fogto be similar to the cat in that it issilent and hovers over a place before it“moves on.” The point is not to portraythe fog as similar to a cat, but to use thecat image to create a vivid idea of whatfog might be like.

Metaphors and similes are verymuch alike, the difference being thatthe metaphor is more subtle andsophisticated than the simile. Thesimile says that “something” is likesomething else, whereas the metaphorsays that “something” is somethingelse. Figures of speech like theseenrich our language and make read-ing a more pleasurable and graphicexperience.

/99


ENGLISH 11

ASSIGNMENT 3:THE GENERATIONS

The “generation gap” is a conceptthat has received a lot of notoriety over thelast thirty years or so. How different arepeople in different generations? Can wesee ourselves in family members fromother generations, either older oryounger? Is there any truth to the notionthat there is always conflict between thegenerations?

1. Read “Me as My Grandmother”(page 53 in your anthology). Write

a response to this poem. Be sureto focus on the last six lines ofthe poem in your response.

2. Read “My Stepmother,Myself” (page 55 in youranthology).

a) How do we know this is in-tended to be a humorous essay?Support your answer from the firsttwo pages of the essay.

b) Respond to the idea that thestepmother/stepchild relationshipis ill-fated from the very beginning.

c) Keillor uses well-known fairy talesto make his point. In the process,he offers a different point of viewand reading of those tales. Choosea fairy tale other than any of theones used in this essay and rewritethat fairy tale so that the story linecomes from a different point ofview. (See shaded area below forinformation on point of view.)

Point of view refers to the position orperspective that a story’s narrator takesin a novel, short story, or even a poemthat has a narrative structure to it.Often the narrator is one of the charac-ters in the selection (called first personnarrator). Sometimes the narrator(called third person narrator) is notpart of the sequence of events, butseems to be looking over the shouldersof the characters when he or she istelling the story. Regardless of thetype, the narrator has a point of viewfrom which s/he views the events of thestory. Imagine that you and your girl-friend/boyfriend are each telling thestory of your first big argument. Wouldthe stories be exactly the same? No,because you each have a different pointof view about what happened.

25


Page 2310/99

UNIT 1


ASSIGNMENT 4:AGING

What is it like to not be able todo all the things you could do in youryouth? How do we treat our elderly? Howdo the elderly in our society want to betreated?

1. Read the short story “God is Not a FishInspector” (page 80 in your

anthology). You can also listento a reading of the

story on the tape thatcomes with the course.

a) Write a response to this story. Besure to include comments about bothFusi’s and Emma’s behaviour.

b) Re-read the story carefully and notethe clues throughout that what Emmatells Fusi at the end of the story aboutthe fish inspectors is true. You will haveto draw inferences from the cluesbecause the story doesn’t state outrightthat the fish inspectors were lettingFusi get away with his fishing ventures.Make a list of the clues you find.

25Inference: Authors expect you to dosome of the work in reading; there-fore, they don’t always tell you every-thing outright. They expect you toread between the lines, to put two andtwo together from the clues that theygive you. This is called making infer-ences. By interpreting the actions andwords of a character you can infer, orcome to a conclusion, about that char-acter’s thinking, personality, or moti-vation. Drawing inferences is a veryimportant part of the reading processif we want to fully understand what weare reading.

Example: Joe comes home from work.His daughter Mary meets him at thedoor and asks, “What did ya bringme?” Joe replies, “Nothing today,sweetheart. I had an appointment afterwork and couldn’t get to the storebefore it closed.” Mary stamps her footand begins crying. “You’re mean!” sheshouts. “You never get me anything!”She runs up the stairs to her room andslams the door.

In this example, we infer that Joe (andprobably his wife too) has spoiled Maryso that she expects him to bring hersomething every time he comes home.We infer that she is self-centred and hasnot learned to control her anger. Inshort, she’s not a pleasant child. Wecome to these conclusions as we readthe descriptions and actions in thepassage about Joe and Mary.

/99


ENGLISH 11

“ULYSSES”English 11 has several long poems whichyou will have to work hard to interpret.“Ulysses” is the first one. To help you, weare going to give you tips on how to readpoetry and teach you how to interpretpoems. We will walk you through “Ulysses”sentence by sentence, asking you questionsto show you the kind of questions youshould ask yourself when reading a poem.We will fill in background you may beunfamiliar with and assist you in makingsense of the figures of speech.

BACKGROUND TO “ULYSSES”

“Ulysses” is a dramatic monologue inwhich the speaker is the character Ulysses.Ulysses is the Roman version of the Greekname, Odysseus, the hero of Homer’s TheOdyssey. The Odyssey takes place after theTrojan War which the Greeks win, partlythrough Odysseus’s cunning in thinkingup the wooden horse trick that helped todefeat the Trojans.

When Odysseus tricked the Cyclopsand put out his eye, he upset the god ofthe sea, Poseidon. In retaliation, Poseidoncursed Odysseus and his men to wanderover the Mediterranean Sea looking fortheir homeland of Ithaca where Odysseuswas king. In his absence, Odysseus’s wife,Penelope, has been trying to keep orderand fend off the men who want to marryher because they believe Odysseus to bedead and they want his kingdom. At justthe right moment, Odysseus returns and

scatters his wife’s suitors. He takes up hisrule again and proceeds to govern Ithaca.

If you are interested in knowing moreabout Homer’s Iliad and Odyssey, you willfind good books about Greek and Romanmythology in your school or local library.

Dramatic monologue: this poetic formhas several characteristics

! a single person, not the poet,speaks at a critical moment.

! this person addresses anotherperson, or other people, who donot speak. It is rather like hearingone end of a telephone conversa-tion.

! the main focus of the monologueis on the interesting character ortemperament revealed by thespeaker. It gives an insight intothe personality of the speaker.

2. Read the poem “Ulysses”(pages 9-10 inthis manual) once through in its

entirety. Check out How toRead Poetry on page 11 in thismanual. Listen to a reading of

the poem on the cassettetape that comes with thecourse. Read along with thespeaker, paying attention to the breathstops the speaker takes and the naturalrhythm of the poem. Note where thesentences end and mark them on yourcopy for further study.


Page 2510/99

UNIT 1


ULYSSES

Alfred, Lord Tennyson

It little profits that an idle king,By this still hearth, among these barren crags,Matched with an aged wife, I mete and doleUnequal laws unto a savage race,That hoard, and sleep, and feed, and know not me. 5I cannot rest from travel: I will drinkLife to the lees: all times I have enjoy’dGreatly, have suffer’d greatly, both with thoseThat loved me, and alone: on shore, and whenThro’ scudding drifts the rainy Hyades 10Vext the dim sea: I am become a name;For always roaming with a hungry heartMuch have I seen and known; cities of menAnd manners, climates, councils, governments,Myself not least, but honour’d of them all; 15And drunk delight of battle with my peers,Far on the ringing plains of windy Troy.

I am part of all that I have met;Yet all experience is an arch wherethro’Gleams that untravell’d world, whose margin fades 20For ever and for ever when I move.How dull it is to pause, to make an end,To rust unburnishe’d, not to shine in use!As tho’ to breathe were life. Life piled on lifeWere all too little, and of one to me 25Little remain; but every hour is savedFrom that eternal silence, something more,A bringer of new things; and vile it wereFor some three suns to store and hoard myself,And this gray spirit yearning in desire 30To follow knowledge like a sinking star,Beyond the utmost bound of human thought.

This is my son, mine own Telemachus,To whom I leave the sceptre and the isle—Well-loved of me, discerning to fulfil 35This labour, by slow prudence to make mildA rugged people, and thro’ soft degreesSubdue them to the useful and the good.Most blameless is he, centred in the sphere

/99


ENGLISH 11

Of common duties, decent not to fail 40In offices of tenderness, and payMeet adoration to my household godsWhen I am gone. He works his work, I mine.There lies the port; the vessel puffs her sail:There gloom the dark broad seas. My mariners, 45Souls that have toiled and wrought and thought with me—That ever with a frolic welcome tookThe thunder and the sunshine, and opposedFree hearts, free foreheads—you and I are old;Old age hath yet his honour and his toil; 50Death closes all; but something ere the end,Some work of noble note, may yet be done,Not unbecoming men that strove with Gods.The lights begin to twinkle from the rocks:The long day wanes: the slow moon climbs: the deep 55Moans round with many voices. Come, my friends,‘Tis not too late to seek a newer world.Push off, and sitting well in order smiteThe sounding furrows; for my purpose holdsTo sail beyond the sunset, and the baths 60Of all the western stars, until I die.

It may be that the gulfs will wash us down:It may be we shall touch the Happy Isles,And see the great Achilles, whom we knew.Tho’ much is taken, much abides; and tho’ 65We are not now that strength which in old daysMoved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;One equal temper of heroic hearts,Made weak by time and fate, but strong in willTo strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield. 70


Page 2710/99

UNIT 1


Then carefully follow the interpreta-tion of the poem, line by line, on pages12-15 in this manual.

Respond to your reading of “Ulysses.”Be sure to consider what light this mono-logue sheds on the character of Ulyssesand give your opinions of his intendedactions.

HOW TO READ POETRY

Poetry is different from prose(short stories, novels, essays) in manyways. But, when it comes to readingpoetry, there are some ways you cantreat the two the same. Just rememberthe following things:

Read from sentence to sentence,that is, from one period (or otherend punctuation) to the next onebefore pausing.

Within the sentences, pause verybriefly when you come to acomma.

Don’t pause when you reach theend of a line unless there is someform of punctuation, such as acomma, a semi-colon, or a period.

When trying to determine mean-ing, do not try to interpret line byline; instead, work with the mean-ing of an entire sentence, even ifit involves two or three lines orpart lines.

Look up words whose meaningsyou don’t know.

As a rule, poetry uses figurativelanguage more than prose does,so you have to interpret meta-phors and similes in order toarrive at the best possible inter-pretation.

Poetry tends to compact a lot ofmeaning in a few words; there-fore, expect there to be a lot moremeaning than the number ofwords might signify. Think ofpoems as if they were zippedcomputer files which have to beopened up through your inter-pretation.

/99


ENGLISH 11

Read Lines

1-5

6-middle 11

Unfamiliar Language?

idle - doing little ornothing

barren crags - the roughand rocky nature of hisisland

mete and dole - deal out,give out

hoard - gather posses-sions

lees - sediment in thebottom of a cask of wine

scudding - the appear-ance of clouds/shower ofrain driven by a strongwind

Hyades - a constellationof stars noted for rain

vext (vexed) - annoyed,caused trouble for

Meaning?

How does Ulysses feel about his presentlife? It is a waste of time for him (an idleking) to sit there where nothing ishappening on that barren island, withan old woman for a wife. He governsand dispenses justice to his savagepeople, who know nothing more thaneating and sleeping and gatheringcheap possessions, people who knownothing about who Ulysses is and thethings he has seen in his travels. Ulysseshas had so many experiences in hislong years of travel that he is far beyondhis subjects and his family who havegone nowhere.

Ulysses cannot rest in his idle life andgive up the adventure of travel. Theline, “I will drink life to the lees,” is apowerful metaphor in which the act ofliving is compared to drinking a cup ofwine, not stopping until the cup hasbeen drained and only the sediment isleft at the bottom. Ulysses will live life toits fullest. He has both enjoyed hisadventures and suffered from them,both by himself and with his compan-ions, both on shore and at sea.

INTERPRETING “ULYSSES”

As the poem starts, Ulysses is speakingto his family (his wife and son) and hissubjects. He has remained in Ithaca gov-erning his people since returning fromhis travels after the Trojan War. Now he isgetting ready to leave because he has hadenough of such an idle life and he knowshis life is nearly over. In this monologue,he tells his subjects his reasons for leaving.

To help you interpret “Ulysesses,”below is a line-by-line exploration of thepoem. We have explained any words ormythological references you may notknow, discussed the metaphors used, andexpanded on the meaning of some of thecompressed expressions.


Page 2910/99

UNIT 1


What has resulted from Ulysses’ widetravels? “I am become a name”: Ulysseshas become well-known and respectedin his travels. He has seen and learnedmuch as he travelled because of histhirst to know (“hungry heart”). He hasseen new cities, different societies, andother ways of governing, and he washeld in honour in these cities. He alsofought with his equals on the battlefieldsof Troy.

“I am a part of all that I have met.” Thisis a wonderfully compact way of sayingthat Ulysses has left a bit of himselfeverywhere he has been, but thoseplaces and experiences have become apart of him as well. Look at the meta-phor in the next lines: “. . . all experi-ence is an arch” through which he cancatch a glimpse of the worlds he has notyet travelled, worlds that keep just farenough ahead of him so that he cannotfully make them out (“whose marginsfade/for ever and for ever when Imove”).

How do these lines express the restlessdiscontent Ulysses experiences? He sayshow dreary it is to stop doing things, tobring one’s active life to an end, to “rustunburnish’d.” What does this metaphormean? What is Ulysses comparinghimself to? “As tho’ to breathe werelife.” As if the mere act of taking breathswere living, and he means living in thelargest sense of the word, living life toits fullest. How do you as the readerrelate to this when you think about yourown life?

manners - the behaviourof a polite society

Troy - the city in AsiaMinor that the Greeksdestroyed

There should be nounfamiliar language here

unburnish’d - unpolished

11-17

18-21

22-24

Read Lines Unfamiliar Language? Meaning?

/99


ENGLISH 11

24-middle26

26-32

33-38

39-43

44-45


eternal silence - death

vile- horrible, evil

three suns - the threeyears he has been home

yearning - strongly wish-ing

sceptre - wand of office

discerning - perceptiveenough

prudence - wisdom

rugged - uncivilized

meet - appropriate,suitable

adoration - worship


“Life piled on life” - the one life we aregranted is not enough, and Ulyssesknows the life he is living is not going tolast much longer.

Every hour he lives brings him some-thing new and joyous to experience.How does Ulysses regard the years hehas spent at home? He considers it aterrible thing to have spent the lastthree years doing nothing in the safetyof his kingdom, while his “gray spirit”has been aching to “follow knowledgelike a sinking star” as it disappearsbeyond the horizon, always a step aheadof the pursuing Ulysses.

At this point, Ulysses introduces his son,Telemachus, who will govern after heleaves. He gives him a good recommen-dation, as “well-loved” by Ulysses, andhaving the perception and wisdom togovern this uncivilized, yet gentle,people and bring them closer to the waypeople in other parts of the world live.What do you think he thinks of his son?

Continuing in his recommendation ofTelemachus, Ulysses describes him as“most blameless,” a man who knows hisduty and does it, one who will worshipUlysses’ household gods properly whenhe is gone. “He works his work, I mine,”says Ulysses. He does the kind of thinghe is suited to. What kind of work isUlysses best suited for?

Ulysses turns his attention now to theport and the ship that lies there withsails waiting and the “dark broad seas”with mystery and adventure awaitinghim.



Page 3110/99

UNIT 1


45-53

54-56

56-61

62-64

64-end

mariners - sailors

toiled - worked hard

wrought - worked

strove - fought with

wanes - fades, comes to anend

deep - the sea

smite - hit

furrows - waves

Happy Isles - the Isles ofthe Blest, Elysium, a placeof happiness in theafterworld

Achilles - a great Greekhero of the Trojan War

abides - remains

Ulysses addresses his sailors who areabout to set sail with him. What thingsdoes he say to them? He recognizestheir adventures together, the men whoworked with him and planned with him,who met everything good and bad withthe same enthusiasm. He acknowledgesthat they are all old, but says that eventhe old can do honourable work beforethey die (“death closes all”). Before theirdeaths they might yet perform somenotable deeds that are worthy of them,men who battled with the Gods.

Ulysses turns his attention to the fadingday. What could this also be a metaphorfor?

He invites his companions to go withhim, to sail purposefully forward, “be-yond the sunset, and the baths of all thewestern stars, until I die.”

Ulysses acknowledges that this venturemay bring them to their deaths (thegulfs will wash us down), but maybe theywill arrive at the Happy Isles and meettheir old friend Achilles.

Ulysses acknowledges that they have lostmuch as men, but among them they stillhave much of their old spark left. Theyare not as strong as they used to be but“that which we are, we are.” They areweakened by “time and fate” but “strongin will” and will push forward and notgive up.


/99


ENGLISH 11

b) Read Johnston’s essay,“Cowboys and Indians.” Thedifficulties experienced bythe movie producer occurred becauseof his woeful ignorance of modernNorth American First Nations people.What stereotypes caused him to decideto use the Crow in his movies in thefirst place? Discuss.

c) Consider the tone of this essay.Would you describe it as angry? neu-tral? humorous? Support your answerwith ideas and quotes from the essay.

d) Write a brief re-telling of this essayfrom the point of view of the chief.

Tone - refers to the attitude an authorhas toward his/her subject. In writing,just as in speaking, your tone can behumourous, serious, light, formal,sarcastic, ironic, sad, angry, friendly,etc. Authors create the tone throughtheir choice of words. In formal writ-ing, for example, you would tend tostick to the facts, use conventionalvocabulary and be more impersonalwith your reader. In informal andfriendly writing, you might choose touse slang or casual expressions andaddress your readers as “you.” If youwere angry or being sarcastic, youmight choose strong and passionatelanguage.

25ASSIGNMENT 5:STEREOTYPES

Stereotypes can put serious limi-tations on people’s identities. Ifsociety accepts as fact certain things aboutyou based solely on the ‘outer’ you (i.e. youare a member of a particular gender, race,ethnicity, or ability group), then how youare treated, what opportunities are avail-able to you, and how you can live your lifemay be significantly affected.

Stereotypes can be either positive ornegative. For example, if you have a greatmeal that happened to be prepared by anItalian chef in an Italian restaurant, youmay decide that all Italians are greatcooks. Not necessarily true. On the otherhand, if one teenaged youth with longhair insults you, you might assume that allteenaged youths with long hair are goodfor nothing (a common belief in the late‘60s when long hair became popular foryoung men).

1. a) Turn to page 70 in your anthologyand read the title of the selection

only. Write a brief response tothis title. Turn to page 475 andread the note on the author,

Basil Johnston. Do you have anythingto add to your response?


Page 3310/99

UNIT 1


2. Read the short story “X”(page 28 in your anthology).Write a response to thestory. Be sure to consider the follow-ing:

the premise expressed in the storyabout gender and children

the fairy-tale style of narrative andits purpose

your personal ideas/attitudes to-ward the story

ASSIGNMENT 6:END OF UNITACTIVITIES

Do two of the following activities. Eachactivity should be 300-500 words inlength.

1. We often refer to certain times in aperson’s life—when a person startsschool, gets a driver’s license, or retiresfrom the workforce—as “coming ofage” or “rites of passage” experiences.“Red Dress - 1946” could be consid-ered such a story because it focusses onone of the points at which we pass fromone stage in our lives to another. Writean essay in which you explore “RedDress - 1946” as a rites of passage story.Quote from the story and includepersonal observations as well.

2. “Red Dress – 1946” is told from thepoint of view of the unnamed femalenarrator and presumably reflects thepoint of view of a lot of young womenat that age. Write another narrative/story about this dance and tell the storyfrom the point of view of RaymondBolting, the narrator’s rescuer. Putyourself in his shoes and imagine whatit would be like to go to an importantdance and be afraid to ask a girl todance. Be sure to develop Raymond’scharacter so that he is realistic.

3. The two selections, “Cowboys andIndians” and “X,” concern stereotypescommonly held about two groups ofpeople—First Nations people andchildren. Stereotypes exist about othergroups of people and are based onnotions for which there is little or nobasis. Complete one of the followingassignments:

EITHER

a) Write a narrative essay or shortstory in which you explore a commonlyheld stereotype that you are familiarwith.

OR

b) Create a brand new stereotype andwrite a humorous essay about it.

4. Compare Ulysses in “Ulysses” with Fusiin “God is Not a Fish Inspector.”Think about the attitudes Fusi has

40

/99


ENGLISH 11

about his age and level of activity andcompare them with what Ulysses re-

veals to us in his monologue to hissubjects. Complete a chart like the onebelow:

Attitudes about Aging and How One Should Behave as One Ages

Fusi Ulysses

1.

2.

3.

etc.

Now, using the information you haveorganized, write an essay in which youcompare the two men’s attitudes. Look atthe tips on Comparison Essays below. Besure to give your essay an interestingintroduction and a good conclusion. Payattention to the transitions from one pointto the next. Be sure to use quotations fromthe two selections to support your points.

5. Invent a character who has reached amajor turning point of his/her life andwrite a monologue (in prose, notpoetry) in which the narrator explainsto an audience why s/he is taking thedirection s/he is. Some examples ofpossible situations:

Character has decided to do anillegal drug

COMPARISON ESSAYS

Write about the similarities and the differences between (among) two or moreobjects, people (or groups of people), concepts, or processes.

Balance is important. For every point you raise about one of the comparedobjects, you must raise a similar point for the other one, whether they aresimilar or different in that regard.

Begin with a good and interesting introduction.

Finish with an interesting and thought-provoking conclusion.


Page 3510/99

UNIT 1


Character has decided to quit agang

Character has decided not to marrythe person s/he is engaged to

Character has decided to leavehome for good

You may choose a different situation;remember that your monologue mustfulfill the characteristics listed on page 8in this manual. You may make it humor-ous; do make it interesting.

ASSIGNMENT 1:SELF-PORTRAIT COLLAGE(THE COMPLETION)Now that you have had theopportunity to explore someideas about identity: growing up, aging,prejudices and stereotypes, and suchhuman emotions as love, jealousy, ambi-tion and revenge, you should have col-lected enough words and images to com-plete your self-portrait collage from As-signment 1.

Your collage should be at least one-half a piece of bristol board in size. (Youcan fold it to send to your marker if youwish.) When you arrange the pieces youhave collected on the paper, considerwhat images and words connect with oneanother, what message you want to getacross or what mood you want to create,

and what colours, shapes and sizes workwith one another.

Please remember the following thingsabout making collages:

cut the pieces carefully

cover all the spaces on the bristolboard

overlap the pieces to make the collageeffect

plan the location of each piece, per-haps grouping them according tosimilar ideas

glue the pieces carefully so they don’tcome loose

put a borderaround thecollage, if youwish

give yourcollage a title,if you wish

/99


ENGLISH 11

When you have completed Unit 1, send the following assignments toyour marker.

Assignment 1: Self-Portrait Collage ................. Value: 10 points

Assignment 2: Growing Up .............................. Value: 15 points

Assignment 3: The Generations ....................... Value: 25 points

Assignment 4: Aging ......................................... Value: 25 points

Assignment 5: Stereotypes ................................ Value: 25 points

Assignment 6: End of Unit Activities ................ Value: 40 points

Assignment 7: End of Unit Reflection .............. Value: 10 points

Total: 150 points

Do not wait to get Unit 1 back from your marker. Go on to Unit 2right away.

10ASSIGNMENT 7:END OF UNITREFLECTION

Now that you have completed this unit,write one or two paragraphs (about 150-200 words) in which you reflect on thethings you have learned about:

· identity

· literature and literary devices

· writing processes

REFLECTIONREFLECTION

© G

. MA

CK

AY

UNIT 1 AN EXPLORATION OF IDENTITY

Documents

Transcript of UNIT 1 AN EXPLORATION OF IDENTITY