Assignment: Samuel Hearne

• After reading through I. S. MacLaren’s and T. D. MacLulich’s articles in Canadian Literature to get the gist, have a look at I. S. MacLaren’s Samuel Hearne’s Accounts of the Massacre at Bloody Fall, 17 July 1771 from ARIEL to find out how (and why) Hearne’s accounts of the episode change over time. Also download and read Robin McGrath’s Samuel Hearne and the Inuit Oral Tradition from Studies in Canadian Literature.
• The three articles that you have read on Hearne show how a single critical viewpoint can be complicated by other convincing arguments. Where these critics disagree, whose argument do you trust? Can you explain how the critic has won you over? Why are you less willing to trust the position of the other critics on this point?

Works Cited

• MacLaren, I. S. Samuel Hearne & the Landscapes of Discovery. Canadian Literature 103 (1984): 27–40. Print. (PDF)
• MacLaren, I. S. Samuel Hearne’s Accounts of the Massacre at Bloody Fall, 17 July 1771. ARIEL 22.1 (1991): 22–51. Print. (PDF)
• MacLulich, T. D. The Explorer as Hero: Mackenzie and Fraser. Canadian Literature 75 (1977): 49–74. Print. (PDF)
• McGrath, Robin. Samuel Hearne and the Inuit Oral Tradition. Studies in Canadian Literature 18.2 (1993): n. pag. Web. (Link)