Columbus+Did+Whhaaat?+-Text+ideas

This posting is regarding my presentation on Deborah Appleman's //Critical Encounters in High School English//. I've created a page with suggestions of post-colonial texts you can use in the classroom. Note: most of them overlap with other lenses/perspectives.

__**Post-Colonial Caribbean Lit.: Short Stories** Dionne Brand //Blossom//__-This text can also be looked at under the **gender/feminist** **lense**. The text features a strong female character who uses what is referred to in the West Indies as "Obeah" to find strength to walk away from her oppressive situation (you could look at **social power/class lense** here as well) and achieve independance and freedom. This also takes place in TORONTO! __Louise Bennett //Anancy an Ticks//__- Anancy is a classic trickster and uses the policies and legal system of the colonizers to trick Ticks into doing his work and supporting him. This text is funny and makes light of a serious sitation (the poverty and lack of employment for the colonized groups (**social power/class lense**)). Students may have difficulty reading the "dialect" and understanding it. I suggest that it be read aloud. __Jean Rhys //I Used to Live Here Once//__- The narrator is ghost-like and recalling the home that was once hers. She sees the white kids playing where she once did. This is a short, short story (approx. 1&1/2 pages). __Austin Clarke //The Man//__-This story also takes place in Toronto and refers to streets and areas in Toronto (each area represents a certain demographic, racial and socioeconomic, so this could be used for **social power/class lense**). The character in the text or The Man is from a former colony. The text deals with the concept of diaspora, masculinity (**gender/feminist lense**), class, etc. __Samuel Selvon //Brackley and the Bed//__-This is a funny short story of Brackley moving to England and looking for employment. His distant cousin, Teena, moves to England shortly after Brackley arrives. The two eventually get married so Brackley is allowed to sleep in the bed, instead of the floor. This text overlaps with **social power/class lense** and **gender/feminist lense.** __Samuel Selvon //Turning Christian//__-This story is heavy in symbolism. It looks at crossings or movement/intregation of culture, religion and class (**social power/class lense**). __V.S. Naipaul //B. Wordsworth//__-This text overlaps with **social power/class lense.** __Willi Chen //Assam's Iron Chest//__-This is a clever, funny story that plays on racial stereotypes. This text overlaps with **social power/class.** __Olive Senior //The Boy Who Loved Ice Cream//__-This text overlaps with **social power/class** and **gender/feminist lenses** __Jamaica Kincaid //On Seeing England for the First Time//__

Derek Walcott //Ruins of a Great House// Fred D'Aguiar //Home// Mervyn Morris //To an Expatriate Friend// Lorna Goodison //Survivor//
 * __Poems__**

__V.S. Naipaul //A House for Mr. Biswas//__-Reading this text is good for your biceps and triceps. The book is quite long. It is a maturation novel. The text follows Mr. Biswas from his birth until after his death. __Shanti Mootoo //Cereus Blooms At Night//__-I will warn you this text is extremely graphic and disturbing in parts. The text overlaps with **gender/feminist, pyschoanalysis** and **social power/class** __Jean Rhys //Wide Sargasso Sea//__-The easiest way to explain this is "Bertha's story". This text turns Jane Eyre on her head by giving Mr. Rochester's crazy ex-wife a voice. This text also overlaps with **gender/feminist**, **social power/class, and pyschoanalysis**. It is a must read!
 * __Novels__**


 * __Other post-colonial novels (non-Caribbean lit.):__**
 * J.M. Coetzee//-Disgrace// (see my comment on the post-colonial lit. page for more information on this text) **gender /feminist, social power/class**
 * Shyam Selvadurai-//Funny Boy// and //Cinnamon Gardens// (Funny Boy is my all time favourite and could fall under **gender/feminist and social power/class**)