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English Speaking Countries Today - Canada > Unit 4 > Objectives

Welcome to Unit 4! This time we will be taking a look at arts and culture, including pop culture and various forms of entertainment. The unit also discusses the Canadian character and identity, which may help to resolve which features of culture and manner tend to be true of most North Americans and which are uniquely Canadian.

The articles in this unit emphasize contemporary arts and media such as comedy, TV and film, pop music and recent literature. You will learn about the favorite pastimes and sports of Canadians as well as the characteristics of those who have been successful in their field. You will have a chance to learn about Canadian broadcasting media. As well, you will be exposed to the issue of government subsidies for culture, the advantages and disadvantages of this kind of government intervention and how it occasionally becomes an issue in international trade. Perhaps by the end of the unit you will be able to spot not only famous Canadians but also distinguish not-so-famous-ones from other westerners according to certain traits.

It's time to move on to a brief listing of your objectives for the unit. Knowing what these objectives are should help you to extract the main points from the unit.

These are the primary objectives for Unit 4:

getting a feeling for various aspects of the Canadian identity
learning about the factors that have influenced Canadian culture
learning about Canadian food and festivals
understanding the rationale behind cultural protection measures
gaining a sense of the Canadian pop culture and media scene
being able to identify some Canadian authors and literary themes
learning about the national sports.