Round 2 (approximately 10 minutes): everyone shares their close reading. Round 1 (approximately 5 minutes): everyone shares their first impressions of the novel–likes, dislikes, etc. Because of the pandemic, I’m currently teaching all my courses remotely and synchronously over Zoom, so I made good use of the breakout rooms to put people in small discussion groups.Įach structured discussion went like this: I floated between groups, popping in to listen, but not to participate in the discussion. The day after the pre-discussion assignment was due, I put students into groups of 4-5 and they had a structured discussion, with a volunteer acting as facilitator to keep everyone on track and keep an eye on the time. DISCUSSION: After the students had read the first half of the book, they completed a pre-discussion written assignment where they had to write a close reading on a (self-chosen) significant passage from the first half of the book, then create a discussion question. Next, I showed this video about systemic racism in Canada, and we had a great discussion about it:Ģ. BACKGROUND TO THE NOVEL: I started by providing students with a backgrounder describing the basic plot and main characters. There is one scene that, while brief and not gratuitously violent, actually made me gasp out loud when I read it.ġ. (At least, I don’t think it is.) Content warning: the novel deals with racism, violence, death, grief, and mental illness. 
It’s moving, topically and thematically relevant to life in Canada in 2021, beautifully written, and although serious, not completely bleak. It’s an excellent piece of literature, but as we know, that doesn’t always mean it’ll be a good teaching text…however, this one is both. Students really engaged with it and produced good discussion and writing.
So far, one class has finished it and I think it was a success. I have two sections of Provincial Upgrading English (basically, an equivalent to Grade 12 English for adults). This is the first semester I’ve used David Chariandy’s novel Brother as a teaching text.
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