Define the Individual and Negotiate the Community & Shift Centers, Blur Margins
In this unit of study, we will be exploring a text from Vancouver-based writer Chelene Knight. Dear Current Occupant is a creative non-fiction memoir about home and belonging set in the 80s and 90s of Vancouver's Downtown Eastside.
Using a variety of forms, Knight reflects on her childhood through a series of letters addressed to all of the current occupants now living in the twenty different houses she moved in and out of with her mother and brother. From blurry non-chronological memories of trying to fit in with her own family as the only mixed East Indian/Black child, to crystal clear recollections of parental drug use, Knight draws a vivid portrait of memory that still longs for a place and a home.
Peering through windows and doors into intimate, remembered spaces now occupied by strangers, Knight writes to them in order to deconstruct her own past. From the rubble of memory she then builds a real place in order to bring herself back home.
We will consider the following questions in order to develop a deeper understanding of the course content:
- How can we ensure that all perspectives and voices are seen, listened to, read, and celebrated?
- What perspectives have been dominant or privileged in Canada? Why?
- What perspectives have been and are marginalized? Why?
- Why is equitable representation of voices and all perspectives important for every Canadian and for Canada?
- How are the multi-cultural perspectives in Canada captured and represented by its artists and authors?
- What does it mean to be Canadian and what is our Canadian identity?
- Is being Canadian an individual or a community enterprise?
- What is the relationship between the individual and the community in Canada?
- How do individuals shape a community and the country, and how do the community and the country shape their citizen?
- What contributions have Canadian individuals made to the character of the Canadian community? To the global community?
- How do Canadians navigate their local, regional, national, and global communities?
ELA Goals/ Outcomes (Unit of Study):
- CC A30.1-Create a range of visual, multi-media, oral and written texts that explore:
- Identity
- Social Responsibility
- Social Action
- CC A30.4-Create a variety of informational and literary texts that are appropriate to a variety of audiences and purposes, including informing, persuading, and entertaining.
- CR A30.1-View, listen to, read, comprehend, and respond to a variety of grade appropriate FNMI, Saskatchewan and Canadian texts that address:
- Identity
- Social Responsibility
- Social Action
- CR A30.4-Read, demonstrate comprehension of, and apply knowledge from grade appropriate informational literary texts from FNMI, Saskatchewan, and Canadian authors as a basis for understanding self and multiplicity of voices and perspectives that make up Canada.
