Using the built-in movie- or video-making app on your computer, or the audio-recorder on your smartphone or your laptop, make either a YouTube-style video of no more than three minutes (per participant) or an audio podcast of no more than four minutes (per participant), in which you briefly introduce one of the following figures from CanLit, or English-Canadian Literature(s): Tanya Tagaq, Jan Zwicky, Lillian Allen, Tim Lilburn, Roo Borson, Miriam Toews, Mavis Gallant, Charles G. D. Roberts, Archibald Lampman, Larissa Lai, Wayde Compton, Duncan Campbell Scott, Thomas King, Dorothy Livesay, Margaret Atwood, George Elliott Clarke, Robert Bringhurst, Carmine Starnino, Nyla Matuk, Ken Babstock, Karen Solie, Austin Clarke, Anne Carson, Lynn Coady, Michael Redhill, Esi Edugyan, Dennis Lee, A. J. M. Smith, Leonard Cohen, Christine Fellows, E. J. Pratt, P. K. Page, Northrop Frye, Ethel Wilson, Stephen Leacock, Margaret Atwood, bpNichol, Derek Beaulieu, Sina Queyras, Amanada Jernigan, Rob Winger, Tanis MacDonald, Catriona Strang, Nancy Shaw, Cadence Weapon, Cold Specks, A. M. Klein, Anne Simpson, Fred Wah, George Bowering, Jamie Reid, Daphne Marlatt, Nicole Brossard, Elise Partridge, Stephanie Bolster, bill bissett, Roy Miki, Lawrence Hill, John Richardson, Jeff Lemire, Chester Brown, Adam Dickinson, Michael Crummey, Lisa Moore, Mary Dalton, Don McKay, Ralph Gustafson, F. R. Scott, Irving Layton, Phyllis Webb, Steven Collis, Leanne Besamoke Simpson, Thomson Highway, M. Travis Lane, Basma Kavanaugh, Margaret Avison, Gord Downey, Tim Bowling, Daniel David Moses, David Adams Richards, Stephen Leacock, David Solway, Gwendolyn MacEwan, Milton Acorn, Joe Rosenblatt, Alden Nowlan, Jordan Abel, Billy-Ray Belcourt, Ian Williams, Linda Svendson, Kenneth Oppel, Jen Sookfong Lee, Bill Gaston, Amber Dawn, Elee Kraalji Gardiner, David Chariandy, Elizabeth Hay, or a writer of your choosing (provided you clear it with me). What are the defining characteristic of this writer's life and work? Cite an very briefly analyze or critique at least one key passage from their body of writing. Ask a question to the class or to yourself about something that catches your attention about this writer, and then offer a very brief response to that question.
These videos or audio podcasts may be produced individually or collaboratively. If you choose to collaborate, the time-frame of the piece will change (according to the guidelines above). Co-creative and collaborative work will receive the same grade for each participant. Note that this assignment is not about fancy video or audio production. I will be focusing on grading the critical content that you present to the class.
Please either upload your assignment to Canvas, or forward me a copy, so that it can be viewed or listened to by the rest of the class. Make sure that your name appears somewhere on screen. We will work with up to six assignments per week, in order to support or provoke discussion for those classes. You will be invited to comment, or to respond to any questions we might raise in class.
Please sign up for a particular week to submit your video: it's important not to leave all of these assignments until late in the term, so we will all have a chance to see your thinking on screen or hear it through our earbuds.