Think About History: By Canadian Streams

About This Book

‘By Canadian Streams’ was first published in 1909. Each short chapter describes notable historic events that took place on one of Canada’s most well-known rivers. The author’s affection for waterways shines through his writing. As a result, reading this book makes for a gentle and interesting introduction to many famous names and places in Canada. In addition to Burpee’s own writing, most chapters begin with a short poetic excerpt by a renowned Canadian poet. Although this is a history book, the overall effect is to peak the curiosity and enthusiasm of the reader, and introduce them to some of Canada’s remarkable landscapes and historic moments.

Contents

This book was originally written in 8 chapters, with an introduction. For study purposes, it has been divided into 11 short sections, each no more than 5 pages long. After every section there are 10 reading comprehension questions about the text, which the student may answer as they read or after reading the previous section. These questions are meant to help the student to remember and understand important facts. There are also at least two questions under the heading ‘Examining the Details’. These ask that the student find a specific small segment of the text which has been put in italics (page numbers are also given) and answer pointed questions about that small piece of writing. These questions focus on writing style, word choice, intent and tone. Their purpose is to encourage the student to think critically about how history is written.

After the main text and assignments, there is a blank map of Canada, which should be used by the student to make a visual representation of what they have learned from reading and thinking about ‘By Canadian Streams’. There are also two ‘study sheets’ that can be used to do simple research about a handful of Canadian poets (those whose work is sampled here) and the origins of the names of a few of Canada’s waterways.