Summer Reading Assignment:
Cry, The Beloved Country
by Alan Paton
Honors English 4/Peters
Unit learning goals:
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4.
To visualize the geographical and linguistic evolution of South Africa.
To identify the author’s purpose, style, tone and intended audience.
To examine the impact of the setting upon the novel.
To analyze the relationship between a literary work and its historical period and cultural
influences.
5. To investigate the novel's recurring themes and recurring symbols.
6. To compare the character development of both Kumalo and Jarvis as they undergo
revelations throughout the novel.
7. To engage in critical and reflective discussions--both written and verbal--on topics related to
the book.
Unit-based vocabulary:
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8.
Anglican
imagery
personification
apostrophe
epithet
tribe
irony
parable
9. metaphor
10. paradox
11. repression
12. suppression
13. Shanty Town
14. Republic
15. Apartheid
16. allusion
Text-based vocabulary:
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2.
3.
4.
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6.
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8.
veld
kloof
titihoya
Umfundisi
Zulu
Afrikaans/Afrikaner
reformatory
Inkosikazi
9.
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14.
tributary
retribution
revitalize
vitality
adherent
voracious
Fictional reading selections:
Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton (1948)
Short Stories by Nadine Gordimer (1975)
Poetry by Jeremy Cronin (1997) and Keorapetse Kgositsile (2002)
Non-fictional reading selections:
Excerpts from Leonard Thompson’s A History of South Africa
Excerpts from Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane (1986)
Excerpts from Nelson Mandela’s Long Walk to Freedom (1995)
Excerpts from Archbishop Desmond Tutu’s Becoming More Fully Human (1998)
Film selections:
Selected scenes from Cry Freedom (1987)
Art/music selections:
Peter Gabriel’s Biko (song, 1980)