In “What a visionary once said” Thomson Highway uses descriptive language to describe North Canada. His choice of words like “inumerable islands, and sudden explosion of color helps the reader imagine the scenery. He brings the essay to life by describing the landscape, the weather and the wildlife. Tomsons essay shows the pride and admiration he feels for his country . Tomsons potrayal of the land shows his pride and admiration of the countyr but alo suggests the land may not belong to us. As a Canadian the pride and admiration should be admired by all.
The characterization of nature is detrimental in shift of 20th century modernist writing to impressionist truths of Canadian landscapes. Al Purdy and Archibald Lampman were two significant Canadian writers who both possessed similar impressionist ideals on Canada’s nature. Both Purdy’s “Trees of the Arctic Circle” and Lampman’s “Heat” display not only negative judgments on Canadian landscape but demonstrate a shift from a frustrated outlook to an appreciative perception on nature.
Lister Sinclair’s pamphlet Change Comes to Canada was distributed at the Canadian Government Pavilion during Expo 67. Sinclair looks at the meaning of the name Canada. She analyses common points in people’s daily lives such as the meaning of ‘our home and native land,’ Canadian history, Canadian resources, transportation, climate and culture that tie each Canadian together. She claims that “every Canadian who thinks about Canada has his own idea about the meaning of that dream.” She argues that there is no actual national identity but individual identities that made up our national identity. She challenges the questions related to a national identity. It is interesting that something that questions the national identity would be distributed at Expo 67; but, it provides in...
Canada became an emerging country after the Second World War. There was a need for Canada to identify themselves as a distinct nation from Britain and the United States. The Trans Canada Highway became a visible nationalistic figure that set apart Canada from other countries. The Trans Canada Highway was a significant structure built in 1949 through 1961 that emerged as a result of a newfound unity and nationalistic view in Canada. Although there were many different political, personal and economical standpoints on the building of the highway, the finalization of the construction of the highway brought a unique unity that could be appreciated by all Canadians.
The younger Trudeau reminds the audience how his father came back to politics after his retirement from it for the Lake Meech and Charlottetown Accords, and again ties it to reminding Canadians of their incredible capabilities. But he passes the torch of responsibility on regular Canadians when he says, “But he won’t be coming back anymore. It’s all up to us - all of us - now”. By including himself as a current holder of this responsibility, he invites other Canadians to stand alongside him to continue the revolution of love. His final words on his father, quoting Robert Frost’s poem, is a beautiful final image, inspiring the audience to follow in Trudeau’s devoted footsteps.
Frye, Northrop. Preface. The Bush Garden: Essays on the Canadian Imagination. By Northrop Frye. Toronto: House of Anansi, 1971. i-x.
Smith’s and Bradford’s individual descriptions are simply two categories; fiction and nonfiction. Smith’s intention for his audience is that the new land is everything you can wish for without a single fight. Smith starts by describing the content and pleasure that risking your life for getting your own piece of land brings to people. He is luring his audience in by telling that it is a wonderful world of vast food and gratification. Smith wants his audience to be more of the joyful individuals who look for the good in everyt...
Lampman, A. "The City of the End of Things." Canadian Poetry: From the Beginnings Through the First World War. Ed. Gerson, C and Davies, G. Toronto: McClelland & Stewart, 1994. 259-262.
Artistic ideals in Canada are often difficult to combine into one concise understanding given their changing nature. The colonial era as well as the late nineteenth century was significantly shaped by Pastoralism, a style that often depicted paintings of the countryside (Davis 36). The Homer Watson painting, After the Rain in 1883 is a pastoral style that depicts “nature reach[ing] its highest stage of picturesque beauty [that only occurs] when forests [have] been cleared, meadows or fields created or cultivated and farms established” (36). After the Rain shows a farmer’s field, where the land has been cleared of trees following what looks to be a major storm (38). Watson represents early Canada by placing emphasis on a secure, eerily comfortable, agrarian based society in a photographic-like piece of work. Homer Watson believed in his w...
In 1876, James Cleland Hamilton travelled from Lake Ontario to Lake Winnipeg and published the descriptive narrative of his travels. Entitled The Prairie Province: Sketches of travel from Lake Ontario to Lake Winnipeg, and an account of the geographical position, climate, civil institutions, inhabitants, productions and resources of the Red River Valley; with a map of Manitoba and part of the North-West territory and the District of Kewatin, plan of Winnipeg, and of the Dawson route, view of Fort Garry, and other illustrations, Hamilton’s work promotes the settlement into Manitoba through the same language, themes, and promises present in promotional literature from this period. Focusing on the idealistic visions and optimistic enthusiasm present in Hamilton’s extensive work, the colonial nature of Hamilton’s writing becomes evident. Hamilton’s work mimics that of promotional literature of both Canada and the United States; also, this narrative promotes Canadian expansionists ideals through its discussions of types of settlers, motives for colonization, descriptions of landscape and
Bryson creates figurative language in the form of personification to describe the majesty of the Appalachian Mountains and support his argument that nature is underappreciated. By personifying the formation of the continents, Bryson highlights the alluring geological cycles of the Appalachians. “The continents didn’t just move in and out…but spun in lazy circles, changed their orientation, went on cruises to the tropics and poles, made friends with smaller land masses and brought them home” (272). Bryson uses phrases like “spun in lazy circles,” “went on cruises,” and “made friends…and brought them home,” to make the process more relatable. These expressions are easily recognized and allow the reader to imagine this complex scene in simple
In Thomas King’s “Totem”, he uses all kinds of objects to satirize that the Canadian Government is not treating First Nations fairly and all they do is to push them aside. The story starts with a paradox. The author combines “Prairie Museum” with “Seaviews” show- terms that are totally unrelated- in order to satirize the staffs which symbol the Canadian government not knowing the history. In addition, the totem poles make different sounds which refer to the different languages First Nations speak and which also are causes of misunderstandings between the First Nations and the Canadian government. However, the government never tries to solve the misunderstandings by negotiating with the First Nations just like the staffs never try to understand the sounds that the totem poles make.
Thompson, John Herd, and Mark Paul Richard. "Canadian History in North American Context." In Canadian studies in the new millennium. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2008. 37-64.
The mention of the “one” Vermont poem is especially significant, as it implies that all of their poems are essentially the same, suggesting a uniformity of experiences among travelers, that the vast majority of travelers experience the same tranquility. Yet, the speaker’s experiences with nature are uniquely different, as her experience is tainted by racism that is inescapable even in the beauty of Vermont nature. Thus, because of her position in society, she isn’t allowed the same access to nature as every other traveler, making it impossible for her to write that “one Vermont poem” while still staying true to her
In Linda’s work she talks about identity and Canada. She clearly states “Distinctly Canadian identity in the face of a colonial past,” which connects to Thomas King’s work where he is distinctively describing the “Indian” that people have engraved into their minds. He repetitively says “I’m not the Indian you have in mind,” as well as “he may well have a secret song, a dance he’ll share, a long lost chant,” which in turn connects to Linda also speaking on culture in Canada.
The poem concerns a bus traveling to Boston through the landscape and towns of New Brunswick. While driving through the woods, the bus stops because a moose has wandered onto the road. The appearance of the animal interrupts the peaceful hum of elderly passengers' voices. Their talk—resignedly revolving itself round such topics as recurrent human failure, sickness, and death—is silenced by the unexpected advent of the beast, which redirects their thoughts and imparts a "sweet sensation of joy" to their quite ordinary, provincial lives.