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apartheid: system of racial segregation
and repression of non-white people in predemocratic South Africa. Apartheid means
'separate development'.
“Small round hard stones click
under my heels”
The power
of three- 3
adjectives
describing
the stones
Onomatopoeia-a word,
which imitates a sound.
“seeding grasses thrust bearded
seeds into trouser cuffs”
Creates image of
Abandoned land,
no-one lives
there, it has
been neglected
“cans, trodden on, crunch
in tall, purple-flowering, amiable
weeds.”
“District Six.”
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An area in Johannesburg, which used to be vibrant,
multicultural and happy place, but was bulldozed down
with the promise to be rebuilt. Unfortunately the promise
was not kept so the area was left as a slum.
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No board says it is:
But my feet know,
And my hands,
And the skin about my bones,
And the soft labouring of my lungs,
And the hot, white, inwards turning
Anger of my eyes.”
Repetition – use of the same word
for effect.
“Brash with glass,
name flaring like a flag”
Simile- compare one thing to
another using as or like
“it squats
in the grass and weeds,
incipient Port Jackson trees
“new, up-market, haute cuisine,
guard at the gatepost,
whites only inn
 Just for rich
white people
“No sign says it is:
but we know where we belong.”
“I press my nose
on the clear panes, know,
“before I see them, there will be
crushed ice white glass,
linen falls,
the single rose
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All shouts CLASS, EXPENSIVE,
RICH, EXCLUSIVE
“Down the road,”
“working man’s café sells
bunny chows”
Bunny chow is a
cheap meal, eaten by
the poor people, as it
was the thing they
could afford
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“take it with you, eat,
at a plastic table’s top.
Wipe your fingers on your jeans,
spit a little on the floor:”
“It’s in the bone.”
“I back from the glass,
boy again,
leaving small, mean O
of small, mean mouth.”
The poet is really ANGRY at what has
become of the place where he used to
live and despite change of laws in the
country, nothing has changed really for
the black people.
Alliteration-two or more
words starting with the
same sound or letter.
“Hands burn
for a stone, a bomb,
to shiver down the glass.
There is a unsaid
connection between anger
and rage and terrorism,
sadly some young people
turn to it as they feel
frustrated with how they
have been treated by
authorities or individuals.
“Nothing’s changed.”
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1920- 2002
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Tatamkhulu Afrika ("old
man of Africa")
born in Egypt, the family
immigrated to South
Africa,
lost his parents very
early, he was raised by a
white family,
took part in WW II,
worked as a copper
miner,
lived in District Six,
opposed to Apartheid.
What is the poem
about?
Structure
Voice in the
poem/narrator
Poetic devices used
Tone of poem
What is the
effect/purpose of the
poem?
What is the poem about?
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The poet returns to the wasteland that was once his home, and
relives the anger he felt when the area was first destroyed.
He sees a new restaurant: expensive, stylish, exclusive, with a
guard at the gatepost.
He thinks about the poverty around it, especially the working men's
café nearby, where people eat without plates from a plastic
tabletop.
This makes him reflect that despite the changing political situation,
there are still huge inequalities between blacks and whites. Even
though South Africa is supposed to have changed, he knows the
new restaurant is really 'whites-only'. He feels that nothing has
really changed.
The deep anger, he feels, makes him want to destroy the restaurant
- to smash the glass with a stone, or a bomb.
Structure
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the poem is set out in six stanzas
(stanzas are lines of poetry that make
up a unit; verses.), each of eight fairly
short lines.
Use of poetic devices:
Onomatopoeia,
Simile
Repetition
Tactile imagery
Alliteration
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work through the poem, answering the
following questions:
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What happens? What is it that the poet tells
us?
What are his feelings?
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write the story of the poem – using one
sentence per stanza.
Quotation
‘. . . Cans/ trodden on, crunch/ in
tall, purple-flowering,/ amiable
weeds.’
‘the hot, white, inwards turning/
anger of my eyes’
‘new, up-market, haute cuisine/
guard at the gatepost,/ whites
only inn.’
‘crushed ice white glass,/ linen
falls,/ the single rose.’
‘spit a little on the floor:/ it’s in
the bone.’
‘leaving small mean O/ of small,
mean mouth.’
Significant features of
language
The cans suggest it is littered.
The weeds show that it is
unkempt. The phrase ‘amiable
weeds’ draws the reader’s
attention to it because of the
unusual combination of friendly
& weeds
How it relates to the cultural/ social
situation in South Africa
District Six has not been fully redeveloped.
It appears neglected. The blacks were
forced to move out and the land is now
derelict.
1.
2.
3.
4.
1.
2.
Tactile imagery
Repetition
Harsh sounds
Alliteration
Sharp images
Contrasts
1.
Small hard round stones
‘and’
3. Brash/ glass
4. Flaring flag –
expresses contempt,
Mean mouth
1. ‘the single rose’
2. Whites only inn/
Working man’s café
2.