Lesson plan

First Statement

First Statement was a Canadian literary magazine published in Montreal, Quebec from 1942 to 1945. During its short life the magazine, along with its rival publication Preview with which it often shared contributors, provided one of the few publication avenues for modernist Canadian poetry at a time when Canadian literature tended to be dominated by a more conservative aesthetic. John Sutherland and his sister Betty Sutherland (both half-siblings of the actor Donald Sutherland) established First Statement after a group of John Sutherland's poems was rejected by Preview, edited by Patrick Anderson. What began as a mimeographed publication of a few stapled sheets grew within three years into a larger magazine of tentatively national significance (it had editorial representatives in Vancouver although its core circulation was small—about 75 copies per issue). A year into its history, Canadian poets Louis Dudek and Irving Layton joined the magazines editorial board; both would go on to become major figures in Canadian literature. The so-called First Statement Group aligned itself with the cosmopolitan aesthetic in Canadian poetry, drawing inspiration from such avant-garde American poets as Ezra Pound and William Carlos Williams. This placed the editorial policy of First Statement somewhat in opposition with that of Preview, which tended to favour such British anti-modernists as W.…

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Article summary

First Statement was a Canadian literary magazine published in Montreal, Quebec from 1942 to 1945. During its short life the magazine, along with its rival publication Preview with which it often shared contributors, provided one of the few publication avenues for modernist Canadian poetry at a time when Canadian literature tended to be dominated by a more conservative aesthetic. John Sutherland and his sister Betty Sutherland (both half-siblings of the actor Donald Sutherland) established First Statement after a group of John Sutherland's poems was rejected by Preview, edited by Patrick Anderson. What began as a mimeographed publication of a few stapled sheets grew within three years into a larger magazine of tentatively national significance (it had editorial representatives in Vancouver although its core circulation was small—about 75 copies per issue). A year into its history, Canadian poets Louis Dudek and Irving Layton joined the magazines editorial board; both would go on to become major figures in Canadian literature. The so-called First Statement Group aligned itself with the cosmopolitan aesthetic in Canadian poetry, drawing inspiration from such avant-garde American poets as Ezra Pound and William Carlos Williams. This placed the editorial policy of First Statement somewhat in opposition with that of Preview, which tended to favour such British anti-modernists as W.…

Key claims

  1. publication date: 1942 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
  2. publication date: 1940 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
  3. publication date: 1936 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95

Discussion questions

  1. Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
  2. The record states that the publication date is "1942". What evidence would count against this claim?
  3. The record states that the publication date is "1940". What evidence would count against this claim?
  4. The record states that the publication date is "1936". What evidence would count against this claim?
  5. Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
  6. If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?

Bibliography

  1. Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1240402012

Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.