Language

In many poems, language draws attention to itself - either as topic for reflection or as the material out of which the poem is made. Please choose two or more Canadian poems that focus on and/or foreground language and describe their similarities and differences.

You may (but you don't have to) consider the conditions (historical, cultural, philosophical, political, social, etc) under which the poems of your choice were written in this context.

You can also share your own poem that thematizes or plays with language here.

Image from: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1d/A_LAKE_A_LANE_A_LINE_A_LONE_-_bpNichol.jpg

Poetry and Music

From the beginning of poetic expression on, poetry has always bee closely linked to music. Please select two or more Canadian poems in which music and/or sound are foregrounded and/or become an important topic.

Alternatively, play with this topic yourself and post your creative piece.

Image from: http://pixabay.com/p-104602/?no_redirect

Seeing and Sight

Photographs and paintings - as well as sight in general, including vision and imagination - have intrigued many poets, storytellers, and novelists in Canada and elsewhere. Please choose two (or more) poems or fictional texts that focus on the seen world in some way or another and comment on them in detail.

If you prefer, you can write a poem or short story yourself instead (or in addition) in which sight plays an important role and publish it as comment.

Image from: http://pixabay.com/p-161558/?no_redirect

Laws, Rights, and the Freedom to Choose Your Life

Margaret Atwood's poem "Marrying the Hangman" and Afua Cooper's poem "Confessions of a Woman Who Burnt Down a Town" seem to have some similarities despite all their differences. Please read and compare the two poems with each other.

Links:

Margaret Atwood:
http://www.poetryfoundation.org/poem/177287

Afua Cooper:
http://www.library.utoronto.ca/canpoetry/cooper/poem6.htm

Alternative: write a more creative/fictional response to the poem(s) or to the topic(s) raised in them if you feel inspired to do so.

Image from: http://pixabay.com/p-311363/?no_redirect

Perspectives on History and/or Society

When different people describe the same event, we usually get many different stories about "what happened." The same holds true for the writing of history, of course - as well as for the analysis of social and/or political situations.

Please choose one or two poems that deal with Canadian history or society and discuss the historical/ political/ social events in question - as well as the perspective(s) from which these events are described.

If you like, please comment also on the truth of poetry (and fiction) in comparison to the "truth" you find in history books and media reports.

Image from: https://aleris.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/elephant.gif

Depiction of the Natural World in Poetry

The depiction of the natural world has been one of the most popular topics in mainstream Canadian poetry since the first Europeans set foot on the North American continent. Please read some of these early - and/or more recent - poems that deal with the Canadian landscape and comment on them.

Feel free to compare the poems to paintings with similar topics, for instance, to paintings by Emily Carr or by the Group of Seven if you wish.

Alternatively, feel free to illustrate one of the poems yourself and post a picture of your illustration - or write a poem or a piece of music about your favourite Canadian landscape or landscape painting and share it with us. Enjoy!

Jack Pine by Tom Thomson

Image from: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_Canadian#mediaviewer/File:The_Jack_Pine,_by_Tom_Thomson.jpg

Myths Told by the First Nations of Canada

Just a few hundred years ago, what is now called Canada has been the home of many different First Nations Cultures. And each of these Cultures had a variety of stories and/or myths. Please do some research about at least one of these First Nations and find out more about this particular culture's mythology. Please share here what you have learned from your research - in particular, what you think contemporary Canadians/ North Americans should learn from these earlier cultures.

Bill Reid's The Raven and the First Men - at MOA