• 1. The portray of a political figure
• 2. Cultural background of Zulus
• 3. Vocabulary and sentence structures

• I. Pre-reading questions

• 1. What kind of king Shaka was.
• 2. How Shaka became the king of the
Zulus.
• 3. How Shaka ruled his people.
• 4. If Shaka was loved by his people.
• 5. If Shaka had any warfare against other tribes.
• 6. If Shaka had good councilors to help him to rule over the Zulu nation.

• The Zulu are the largest South African ethnic group of an estimated 10-11 million people who live mainly in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

• The Zulu formed a powerful state in
1816 under the leader Shaka. Shaka, like all the Zulu chiefs before him, gained a large amount of power over the tribe.

• Shaka, who had a genius for war and politics, built the Zulu nation; but, had it not been for the courage of a minor chieftain, he would have destroyed it himself.

•
in Europe he too might well have altered the course …
• … he would have destroyed it
for the courage of … Gala

• If Shaka had been born in Europe …
• … if it had not been for the courage of … Gala
• More examples:
• Were your sister here , I would ask her to explain the whole matter.
• I would go to help them out, should it be necessary .
• We would have had a terrible drought, had it not been for the timely rain .

• What really happened was that he built the Zulu nation. The clause
is used to indicate that an event really took place.

• personal tragedy took place and affected (Shaka) severely / personal tragedy dealt a heavy blow to (Shaka).
• personal disaster / an earthquake / lightning / an illness

…
• he announced his orders … only after this had been done ” .
• When only is in the front position and when it is not qualifying the subject, the sentence is in inverted order.
• Only with the full support of each and every member of the committee can we hope to succeed in our plan.

• almost an order (given by the judge) that the whole nation be starved to death
• You are
a villain if you encourage a ten-year-old boy to smoke and play cards.

• quite a few --- many
• not too good --- bad
• not bad --- not good either
• hardly the right thing to do --the wrong thing to do
• nothing more or less than --- just the same as

• Brooding – sad; thoughtful
• After his mother ’ s death, he became gloomy, sad and mournful. He was always in low spirits, preoccupied with his own painful thoughts rather than spending time sharing activities with others.
• Shaka now became more and more gloomy, mournful and sorrowful each day.

’
• to question the rightness of the
King ’ s wishes.
• No one
the Theory of
Relativity.
• The sentry blue.
the man in

• pull yourself together : control yourself/your feelings, get a grip on oneself
• Pulling himself together, he dismissed the matter from his mind.
• Stop acting like a baby. Pull yourself together!

…
•
is always connected, implicitly or explicitly, with such words as: horror, terror, surprise, fear, shock .
• There was a
of horror from the pedestrians when a heavy lorry narrowly missed the little toddler.

…
’
• and Gala would probably die instantly / and Gala ’ s life hung by a thread.
• Tourists from various parts of the country come to visit the Great
Wall
large numbers.
• The area of a city is measured square kilometers.

• This passage is mainly a narrative that records a turning point in the life of the character being portrayed --- Shaka, King of the
Zulus. The writer uses description and analysis to narrate the events and to emphasize the historical importance of the character.

• 1. The writer deliberately confines the narration to two persons but centers on one only – the leading character, Shaka.

• 2. Shaka ’ s historical importance is established in the opening paragraph through a comparison with
Napoleon; thus the reader is impressed from the very beginning.

• 3. The last two sentences in
Paragraph 1 arouse a strong desire on the part of the reader to read on. He is eager to know how the story will deal with the building of a nation and its rescue from destruction by an act of great courage.

• 4. To introduce the chief character to the reader, the writer goes very swiftly through the methods Shaka employed to build up his army and his power, citing vivid examples of his iron-handed leadership.

• 5. After having set the scene, the writer moves on to the key incidents by supplying the reader with ample, significant, and concrete details, by means of which the writer portrays Shaka as a severe and relentless ruler and describes the scale of his exaggerated grief and its devastating effects on the prosperity of his kingdom. (Paras. 4, 5,
6)

• 6. The dramatic events at the end of the passage are made even more vivid and memorable by the use of direct speech. The reader can almost hear the words said by the king and by Gala. In this way the reader ’ s feeling is heightened.

• 7. The writer powerfully builds up tension by delaying Shaka ’ s reply to
Gala ’ s brave speech of protest; thus the likely effect of Gala ’ s words on Shaka is described in the attitudes and actions of the onlookers: “ Gala ’ s life seemed to be measured in seconds ” . This delay makes the ending gain in unexpectedness and power.

• 8. Finally the writer gives us a strong ending which is meant to remain in the reader ’ s memory. The last scene is vivid and concrete, and the reader will read it with a sigh of relief.

• 1. How do you understand the saying
“ It is the master ’ s eye which makes the cow grow fat ” ?
• (Suggestion:
here may be understood as
. What Shaka did bears out this saying fully.)

• 2. What do you think are the virtues of the short, heavy stabbing spear compared with the old light one?
• 3. Why did Shaka order his soldiers not to wear their sandals?
• 4. Do you think Shaka was cruel to his soldiers? Why or why not?

• The Courageous Gala

• A short biography on a man with incredible vision Shaka, Zulu King.

• The estimated year of Shaka's birth was
1785. He was born to Nandi, daughter of a previous chief of the eLangeni tribe.
His father, Senzangakona was the chief of the then small Zulu tribe. The marriage of his parents, after his conception, did not last, and although
Nandi returned to her tribe, she was made to feel unwelcome. She returned to the Zulus, who tolerated her, but was nevertheless not treated well. Shaka was teased and ridiculed and made to feel like an outsider.

• He understandably grew up to be bitter and angry, hating his tormentors and listening carefully to his mother's tales about his royal blood on both sides. He was a young man in his early twenties when he became a warrior for the Mtetwa tribe, fighting for his people and for six years he proved to be an outstanding soldier. He firmly believed in being the conqueror, never the conquered and would hate it when another, weaker tribe surrendered before war could take place. He created a dangerous weapon called the iKlwa.

• Dingiswayo, the chief of the Mtetwas saw
Shaka's potential and decided to train him as a future chief of the Zulus, a tribe that the
Mtetwas had conquered during Shaka's first battle. Dingiswayo reasoned that Shaka and the
Zulus would act as a buffer against invading forces. Shaka rose through the ranks of the
Mtetwa army and soon became the leader. He carefully and meticulously planned and formatted brilliant battle strategies and altered, where needed, the weapons used during battle.
• When the Zulu chief, Senzangakona died, Shaka became the new chief.

• The era of Shaka, Zulu king had started. Shaka started to build up a mighty army of Zulu warriors. He demanded total loyalty and obedience. Death was the reward for those who hesitated in carrying out his commands. He drilled his warriors, fine-tuning them into a slick warring machine. He devised new, unheard of till then, battle tactics. He built up divisions within his army - certain divisions concentrated on making weapons. He was one of the warriors, living as they did without the trappings that he was entitled to as a chief.
Shaka, king of the Zulus and his warriors, called "impis" were invincible. He believed in total annihilation and only spared those tribes and people who had shown kindness to
Nandi, his mother and the young Shaka.

• He never married but had over 1200 concubines. In 1817 Shaka and
Dingiswayo decided to move in the
Southeast of Africa.
• Dingiswayo died and the different tribes warred against each other to dominate the Mtetwa Empire. Shaka
Zulu won the battles and was king of all the territories in Natal and
Southeast Africa in 1820.

• The white man arrived in Natal in
1824 and immediately sought out
Shaka who held them in high regard
- they had treated him medically after an enemy had stabbed him. To show his gratitude he signed over land for next to nothing - the
Europeans had tricked him, although he was unaware of it. They helped him conquer other parts of South
Africa.

• It was during a hunt with the white man that he received a message that Nandi, his mother, was dying. Shaka was demented with grief and ordered a few thousand people executed in memory of his mother. Somehow 7000 people were slaughtered. He furthermore, demanded that his tribe go on a fast to commemorate Nandi and only after three months, when many were near to death, did he lift the fast.

• Madness seemed to take hold of Shaka and his impis started to lose ground. On 22
September 1828 Shaka, king of the Zulus was murdered by two half brothers on his father side. The one half brother was
Dingaan who immediately claimed kingship.
• Shaka the Zulu king had a mystic about him that still lives on today. His brilliant battle tactics were revolutionary for those days and his thirst for revenge frightening. He is one of the most famous South Africans ever to have lived.