Cultural Notes: 1.Margaret Laurence (1926-1987):a Canadian novelist and short story writer,one of the major figures in Canadian literature.She was also a founder of the Writers'Trust of Canada,a non-profit literary organization that seeks to encourage Canada's writing community.The text is from Laurence's 1976 book of essays Heart of a Stranger. 2.Canadian prairies:a region in western Canada,which may correspond to several different definitions,natural or political.Notably,the Prairie provinces or simply the Prairies comprise the provinces of Alberta,Saskatchewan,and Manitoba,as they are partially covered by grasslands.In a more restricted sense,the term may also refer only to the areas of those provinces covered by prairie.Prairie also covers portions of northeastern British Columbia, though that province is typically not included in the region in a political sense. 3.The Goths:were an East Germanic people,two of whose branches,the Visgoths and the Ostrogoths,played an important role in the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Medieval Europe. 4.Methuselah:is the man in the Hebrew Bible reported to have lived the longest.He died on the 1Ith of Cheshvan of the year 1656 at the age of 969,seven days before the beginning of the Great Flood.The name Methuselah,or the phrase "old as Methuselah",is commonly used to refer to any living thing reaching great age. 5.Belson:a notorious Nazi death camp. 6.For a mess of plastic Progress:allusion to Genesis 25,in which the hunter Esau sells his birthright to his brother Jacob for a mess of"pottage." 7.The War Measures Act:is a statute of the Parliament of Canada that provided for the declaration of war,invasion,or insurrection,and the types of emergency measures that could thereby be taken.The act was brought into force three times in Canadian history:the First World War.the Second World War and the 1970 October crisis. Background Research Questions: 1.Laurence in paragraph 14 mentioned that Canada was once under the huge shadows of the UK and the United States.Find the relevant materials to see whether her argument is right or wrong.You can consider one of the following aspects of life:computer software,eating habits, fashions,film distribution,popular music,foreign policy,and social services. 2.What happened in October 1970 that forced Canada to enact the War Measures Act? Comprehension Exercises: Answer the following questions based on the text. 1.Why does Laurence begin her essay with pairs of opposites? 2.What are the specific qualities of Laurence's hometown?What feelings do you think Laurence cherish about her hometown? 3.In making her point,does Laurence mostly compare or contrast her small prairie town to the nation as a whole? 4.What is the organizational importance of paragraphs 12 to 14 to Laurence's overall argument? 5.Summarize the central idea of the essayCultural Notes: 1. Margaret Laurence (1926-1987): a Canadian novelist and short story writer, one of the major figures in Canadian literature. She was also a founder of the Writers’ Trust of Canada, a non-profit literary organization that seeks to encourage Canada's writing community. The text is from Laurence’s 1976 book of essays Heart of a Stranger. 2. Canadian prairies: a region in western Canada, which may correspond to several different definitions, natural or political. Notably, the Prairie provinces or simply the Prairies comprise the provinces of Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba, as they are partially covered by grasslands. In a more restricted sense, the term may also refer only to the areas of those provinces covered by prairie. Prairie also covers portions of northeastern British Columbia, though that province is typically not included in the region in a political sense. 3. The Goths: were an East Germanic people, two of whose branches, the Visgoths and the Ostrogoths, played an important role in the fall of the Roman Empire and the emergence of Medieval Europe. 4. Methuselah: is the man in the Hebrew Bible reported to have lived the longest. He died on the 11th of Cheshvan of the year 1656 at the age of 969, seven days before the beginning of the Great Flood. The name Methuselah, or the phrase "old as Methuselah", is commonly used to refer to any living thing reaching great age. 5. Belson: a notorious Nazi death camp. 6. For a mess of plastic Progress: allusion to Genesis 25, in which the hunter Esau sells his birthright to his brother Jacob for a mess of “pottage.” 7. The War Measures Act: is a statute of the Parliament of Canada that provided for the declaration of war, invasion, or insurrection, and the types of emergency measures that could thereby be taken. The act was brought into force three times in Canadian history: the First World War, the Second World War and the 1970 October crisis. Background Research Questions: 1. Laurence in paragraph 14 mentioned that Canada was once under the huge shadows of the UK and the United States. Find the relevant materials to see whether her argument is right or wrong. You can consider one of the following aspects of life: computer software, eating habits, fashions, film distribution, popular music, foreign policy, and social services. 2. What happened in October 1970 that forced Canada to enact the War Measures Act? Comprehension Exercises: Answer the following questions based on the text. 1. Why does Laurence begin her essay with pairs of opposites? 2. What are the specific qualities of Laurence’s hometown? What feelings do you think Laurence cherish about her hometown? 3. In making her point, does Laurence mostly compare or contrast her small prairie town to the nation as a whole? 4. What is the organizational importance of paragraphs 12 to 14 to Laurence’s overall argument? 5. Summarize the central idea of the essay