REMEMBERING THE KOMAGATA MARU MINI-ESSAY

The Mini-Essay Topic

Assess the place of the "Komagata Maru" in B.C., Canadian, and Indian history and memory.

Due Date

Friday, November 27 (23% of Final Grade)

Recommended Length

Approximately 1000 words (do not hesitate to write a longer paper if you choose to do so)

Instructions

You should write a short research paper exploring how the story of the "Komagata Maru" has been presented and remembered in both British Columbia and India.  Note that this is not the same thing as just telling the story of what happened in 1914.  You will indeed want to familiarize yourself with that story and you can include some of that in your essay.  But the focus of the paper should be on how that story has been commemorated.  How has the Komagata Maru been in the news in recent years?  How have Canadians revisited and re-told the story?  Where and how has Komagata Maru been publicly acknowledged?  How have Indians framed the meaning of the story?  How, if at all, does the meaning of the story change when it is told from a distinctly Sikh perspective?

Your paper should include a bibliography with at least six sources and should also include references throughout.  I recommend using either Chicago-style or APA-style references.  However, I will not be grading you based upon your reference formatting and am much more interested in you devoting your attention to the substance of your paper so long that I can tell what sources you used for the mini-essay (the bibliography) and where specific quotations came from within the body of your paper (in-text references or footnotes).

The Remembering The Komagata Maru Discussion Topic is intended as the main research archive, though you are welcome to search for other resources as well.  You may find some relevant Punjabi resources on-line.  I have not found much Indian source material, but I encourage you to seek that out yourself if possible.

You should take detailed and organized Notes in preparing your mini-essay.  I will look at these notes when I evaluate your paper but then they will also become a significant component in your Second-Half Note-Taking Assignment.  I do expect to see substantial notes since this will help to take me behind the scenes and give me a better sense of how you put your essay together.

Some Questions To Consider (Please do not think that you need to answer all these questions but addressing some of these may help you with the planning for your mini-essay)

What has the Komagata Maru story meant to different groups of people and how have they told the story and framed its meaning?

To what extent is the Komagata Maru not just a B.C. story but a Canadian story?  A North American story?  An Indian story?  A Punjabi and Sikh story?  A story of the British Empire?  How has the story been told in Vancouver?  In Surrey?  In Canada?  In India?

What have various prominent politicians had to say about the Komagata Maru?

How and where has the Komagata Maru been commemorated?  Where have memorials been put up to the Komagata Maru and what is the history behind these memorials.  What, for example, is the story of the Komagata Maru Memorial at Budge Budge near Kolkata?

Describe the events surrounding the 2014 centennial of the Komagata Maru?  What was most interesting about this commemoration?

How have the events associated with the Komagata Maru been represented in museums?

What movies and plays have been produced that feature the Komagata Maru?

Who was Mewa Singh and what is interesting about how he is remembered?

What is the history of the Ghadar Party, how was it connected to the Komagata Maru, and how is it commemorated and remembered today?

What connection points are there between the story of the Komagata Maru and how it is remembered with the indigenous history of British Columbia?

Are there events or issues from B.C.'s past that are not directly about the Komagata Maru but that you nonetheless think can be related in some ways to Komagata Maru memory?

Some Terms To Consider (All of the following terms can be connected to the theme of Remembering The Komagata Maru)