Grade 11 English Home Language 2018
You will be expected to do various tasks during the year and two formal examinations. The June
examination papers will be set by a GHS teacher and your November examination papers will be
externally set.
Paper 1:
Comprehension
Summary
Visual Literacy
Editing
30 marks
10 marks
20 marks
10 marks
Paper 2:
One unseen poem (compulsory)
2 seen poems
One contextual
One literary essay
10 marks
20 marks
25 marks
25 marks
In June you will be assessed on the first 6 poems in this booklet and “Macbeth”. The essay and
contextual will both be based on “Macbeth”.
In November you will be assessed on all 10 poems (given three/four to choose two) and “Macbeth”
and “Tsotsi”. If you write the “Macbeth” essay, you have to answer the “Tsotsi” contextual. And vice
versa.
Poems
1. Sonnet 130
2. The Second Coming
3. African Poem
4. Funeral Blues
5. Mid-term Break
6. The Child who was shot dead…
7. Housing Targets
8. The Author to her Book
9. We Wear The Mask
10. The Woman
Paper 3:
One creative essay
Two transactional texts
William Shakespeare
WB Yeats
Augustinho Neto
WH Auden
Seamus Heaney
Ingrid Jonker
Kelwyn Sole
Anne Bradstreet
Paul Laurence Dunbar
Kristina Rungano
50 marks
25 marks each
All formats for transactional texts can be found in the “Answer Series” book prescribed in grade 10.
1
SONNET 130
by William Shakespeare
My mistress' eyes are nothing like the sun;
1
Coral is far more red than her lips' red;
If snow be white, why then her breasts are dun;
If hairs be wires, black wires grow on her head.
I have seen roses damasked, red and white,
5
But no such roses see I in her cheeks;
And in some perfumes is there more delight
Than in the breath that from my mistress reeks.
I love to hear her speak, yet well I know
That music hath a far more pleasing sound;
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I grant I never saw a goddess go;
My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground.
And yet, by heaven, I think my love as rare
As any she belied with false compare.
Glossary
coral – hard, stony red, pink or white formations produced by tiny sea creatures as external skeleton. In
Shakespearean times only the bright red variety, found in the Mediterranean, would have been available.
dun – dull grey-brown
wires – hair was often compared to golden thread or wire used in lavish embroidery or jewellery
damasked – pinkish in colour – in Shakespearean times only white, red and damask roses were available
reeks – smells unpleasant
grant – admit
go – walk
rare – something wonderful, precious, unique
belied – showed that something was untrue / falsely portrayed
compare - comparisons
2
About the poet:
 1564 – 1616
 He wrote 154 sonnets and 36 plays. (The Elizabethan sonnet is also known as the Shakespearean sonnet.)
 English – born and buried in Stratford-upon-Avon.
 Married to Anne Hathaway and they had 3 children.
Summary
This sonnet (parody) compares the speaker’s love to other beauties—and never in the lover’s favour:
 Her eyes are “nothing like the sun,” (shiny?)
 Her lips are less red than coral (hard, stony red/pink/white formations produced by certain tiny sea
creatures as an external skeleton)
 Compared to white snow, her breasts are dun-coloured. (dull grey-brown)
 Her hairs are like black wires on her head. (hair was often compared to golden thread)
 In the second quatrain, the speaker says he has seen roses in damask, red and white, but he sees no such
roses in his mistress’s cheeks
 He says the breath that “reeks” from his mistress is less delightful than perfume.
 In the third quatrain, he admits that, though he loves her voice, music “hath a far more pleasing sound,” and
that, though he has never seen a goddess, his mistress—unlike goddesses—walks on the ground (she is
mortal and REAL!).
 In the couplet, however, the speaker declares that, “by heaven,” he thinks his love as rare and valuable
(precious and wonderful) “As any she belied with false compare”—that is, any love in which false
comparisons were invoked to describe the loved one’s beauty.
 The speaker shows his full intent, which is to insist that love does not need these conceits in order to
be real; and women do not need to look like flowers or the sun in order to be beautiful.
 The exaggerated ‘anti-compliments’ make the point that conventional love poems (Petrarchan sonnets) are
unrealistic.
Commentary
This sonnet, one of Shakespeare’s most famous, plays an elaborate joke on the conventions of love poetry
common to Shakespeare’s day, and it is so well-conceived that the joke remains funny today. Most sonnet
sequences in Elizabethan England were modelled after that of Petrarch. Petrarch’s famous sonnet sequence was
written as a series of love poems to an idealised and idolised mistress named Laura. In the sonnets, Petrarch
praises her beauty, her worth, and her perfection using an extraordinary variety of metaphors based largely on
natural beauties. In Shakespeare’s day, these metaphors had already become cliché (as, indeed, they still are
today), but they were still the accepted technique for writing love poetry. The result was that poems tended to
make highly idealising comparisons between nature and the poets’ lover that were, if taken literally, completely
ridiculous. (It would have read: My mistress’ eyes are like the sun; her lips are red as coral; her cheeks are like
roses, her breasts are white as snow, her voice is like music, and she is a goddess.)
In this poem Shakespeare undermines the reader’s expectations by detailing what is mistress is NOT. The reader
discovers that the usual metaphors and similes are turned upside down. Her ordinary, real qualities are
emphasised by his use of these contrasts. He refuses to indulge in cliched hyperboles to describe his subject.
Shakespeare’s refusal to use the conventional figurative language of his time to describe his beloved, ironically
emphasises her real appeal. It is not only the mistress who is ‘rare’, but also the poem itself.
Structure
 3 quatrains and a rhyming couplet – Shakespearean/Elizabethan sonnet.
 Iambic pentameter (10 syllables per line)
 Rhyme scheme – abab cdcd efef gg
 In the first quatrain, the speaker spends one line on each comparison between his mistress and something
else (the sun, coral, snow, and wires—the one positive thing in the whole poem some part of his
mistress is like.
 In the second and third quatrains, he expands the descriptions to occupy two lines each, so that roses/cheeks,
perfume/breath, music/voice, and goddess/mistress each receive a pair of unrhymed lines. This creates the
effect of an expanding and developing argument, and neatly prevents the poem—which does, after all, rely
on a single kind of joke for its first twelve lines—from becoming stagnant.
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Questions:
1. Explain three features of the Shakespearean sonnet.
2. Name the figure of speech in line 1 and discuss its effectiveness.
3. Explain the 8 comparisons in lines 1-12. What does Shakespeare say about his mistress?
4. Who is the speaker ridiculing in the poem?
5. Explain what is meant by: “My mistress, when she walks, treads on the ground.”
6. Show how the poet uses images relating to the senses to prove his argument. (Quote and explain.)
7. Do you think the last two lines make up for the rest of the things the speaker says about his mistress?
8. Quote and explain one line which proves that the speaker loves his mistress for who she is.
9. Does Shakespeare make a fair point? Do some love poems take these comparisons too far?
10. Discuss whether you think the speaker’s love is sincere.
11. Critically evaluate whether this poem is effective as a love poem.
12. Show how the last line completes his argument. Refer in particular to the word “false”.
(3)
(2)
(8)
(1)
(2)
(3)
(2)
(2)
(3)
(2)
(3)
(2)
1. Shakespeare’s sonnet 130 is a (an)
a. satire on the deficiencies of the speaker’s mistress
b. belittling of a loved one for the amusement of friends
c. playful expression of faults to irritate the lady
d. comment on the uniqueness and beauty of the speaker’s mistress
2. The last two lines of the sonnet
a. express the true feeling of the speaker
b. seem out of place in the poem
c. express a love for someone whose beauty is of the spirit
d. are an illustration of hyperbole
3. The first 12 lines of the sonnet are a (an)
a. ironic comment of female adornment
b. angry description
c. parody of love sonnets
d. a play on metaphors
4. Seemingly, all of the following are criticisms of the mistress EXCEPT
a. Coral is redder than her lips.
b. I love to hear her speak.
c. There are no roses on her cheeks.
d. She treads the ground.
e. Music has a more pleasing sound than her voice.
5. By “false compare” the speaker states that
a. the conventional praise of mistresses by poets are romantic lies
b. to win love, one must compare the charms of mistresses with the beauties in nature
c. love poetry must abound in hyperbole
d. the women whom men love must be worshipped as goddesses
6. The speaker in Shakespeare’s sonnet
a. is a complainer
b. raises the reader’s suspicions about his feelings and then tells honestly how he feels
c. envies the verbal dexterity of his fellow poets
d. engages in a poetic exercise for fun
7. The true intent of the speaker in the sonnet is revealed most by
a. the outrageousness of his metaphors
b. the rare words of praise that creep into his statement
c. his imaginative conceits
d. the contrast between the first twelve lines and the last two
4
8. An essential element of this sonnet is
a. praise of a mistress
b. finding the blemishes in a loved one
c. a lover’s compromise with reality
d. mockery of a convention in love poetry
9. The tone of the sonnet is
a. happy
b. sad
c. satirical
d. pessimistic
10. The word “false” in line 14 refers to
a. a lying woman
b. the lying speaker of the poem
c. the Petrarchan ideal
d. his mistress
11. The speaker’s mistress, based on his own description, can best be described as
a. beautiful
b. ugly
c. ordinary
d. intellectual
e. unfaithful (false)
12. The assumption in line 12 is that other women
a. do not walk
b. walk, but very slowly
c. float above the ground
d. walk on the ground
e. are carried when they need to go somewhere
13. Sonnets invariably ask a question, present a proposal, present a puzzle, make a statement in the first
eight or twelve lines; the proposal here is
a. women can never be understood
b. even though ordinary (real!), my woman is as beautiful as any other
c. even though she is ugly, I still love her
d. I really wish she had straight blond hair and blue eyes.
5
The Second Coming by William Butler Yeats
Turning and turning in the widening gyre
The falcon cannot hear the falconer;
Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;
Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,
The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere
The ceremony of innocence is drowned;
The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity.
Surely some revelation is at hand;
Surely the Second Coming is at hand;
The Second Coming! Hardly are those words out
When a vast image out of Spiritus Mundi
Troubles my sight: somewhere in sands of the desert
A shape with lion body and the head of a man,
A gaze blank and pitiless as the sun,
Is moving its slow thighs, while all about it
Reel shadows of the indignant desert birds.
The darkness drops again; but now I know
That twenty centuries of stony sleep
Were vexed to nightmare by a rocking cradle,
And what rough beast, its hour come round at last,
Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?
1
5
10
15
20
Glossary
gyre – circular or spiral pattern of movement
anarchy – chaos or disorder due to lack of government control
Second Coming – the prophesied return of Christ to earth at the Last Judgement
Spiritus Mundi – (roughly) consciousness of the world – collective consciousness of mankind
reel – lurch violently
vexed – annoyed or irritated
rough beast – the anti-Christ
slouches – moves in a lazy, drooping way
Bethlehem – the birthplace of Christ
6
About the Poet
 1865 – 1939
 His surname is pronounced ‘Yates’.
 Irish – promoted Irish literature and arts whilst serving as a senator in Ireland from 1922 to 1928.
 Modernist poet – but used traditional forms.
 Won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1923.
Historical context
The poem was written in 1919 in the aftermath of the First World War and was at first entitled "The Second
Birth". The atmosphere is post-war Europe was awful – people were dejected, poor, ill and many were
expecting an Apocalypse. This poem serves as a dirge (lament) for the decline of European civilisation. Its
nightmarish images and diction further emphasise the horrors of the post-war society.
Summary
This poem is a Biblical allusion to the return of Christ in the Book of Revelations. Yeats uses the metaphor of
sleep (lines 18-20) to compare the time between Christ’s original appearance and His second coming. He uses
the symbol of the falcon as symbol for order and civilisation, and the reference to the fact that the falcon cannot
hear the falconer indicates a disconnection between humankind and nature.
The speaker describes a nightmarish scene: the falcon, turning in a widening “gyre” (spiral), cannot hear the
falconer; “Things fall apart; the center cannot hold”; anarchy is loosed upon the world; “The blood-dimmed tide
is loosed, and everywhere / The ceremony of innocence is drowned.” The best people, the speaker says, lack all
conviction, but the worst “are full of passionate intensity.”
Surely, the speaker asserts, the world is near a revelation; “Surely the Second Coming is at hand.” No sooner
does he think of “the Second Coming,” then he is troubled by “a vast image of the Spiritus Mundi, or the
collective spirit of mankind: somewhere in the desert, a giant sphinx (“A shape with lion body and the head of a
man, / A gaze as blank and pitiless as the sun”) is moving, while the shadows of desert birds reel about it. The
darkness drops again over the speaker’s sight, but he knows that the sphinx’s twenty centuries of “stony sleep”
have been made a nightmare by the motions of “a rocking cradle.” And what “rough beast,” he wonders, “its
hour come round at last, / Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?”
Structure / Form
“The Second Coming” is written in a very rough iambic pentameter, but the meter is so loose, and the
exceptions so frequent, that it actually seems closer to free verse with frequent heavy stresses. The rhymes are
likewise haphazard; apart from the two couplets with which the poem opens, there are only coincidental rhymes
in the poem, such as “man” and “sun.” The effect of the blank verse helps to give the poem a narrative and
story-telling nature. The vivid imagery reinforces the message that Yeats wants to share with his audience. His
tone is pessimistic – Yeats realised that things were going to go from bad to worse after WWI.
Commentary
Because of its stunning, violent imagery and terrifying ritualistic language, “The Second Coming” is one of
Yeats’s most famous and most anthologised poems; it is also one of the most thematically obscure and difficult
to understand. (It is safe to say that very few people who love this poem could paraphrase its meaning to
satisfaction.)
Structurally, the poem is quite simple—the first stanza describes the conditions present in the world (things
falling apart, anarchy, etc.), and the second surmises from those conditions that a monstrous Second Coming is
about to take place, not of the Jesus we first knew, but of a new messiah, a “rough beast,” the slouching sphinx
rousing itself in the desert and lumbering toward Bethlehem. This brief exposition, though intriguingly
blasphemous, is not terribly complicated; but the question of what it should signify to a reader is another story
entirely.
Yeats believed that the world was on the threshold of an apocalyptic revelation, as history reached the end of the
outer gyre (to speak roughly) and began moving along the inner gyre. In his definitive edition of Yeats’s poems,
Richard J. Finneran quotes Yeats’s own notes:
The end of an age, which always receives the revelation of the character of the next age, is represented by the
coming of one gyre to its place of greatest expansion and of the other to its place of greatest contraction... The
revelation [that] approaches will... take its character from the contrary movement of the interior gyre...
7
In other words, the world’s trajectory along the gyre of science, democracy, and heterogeneity (consisting of
diverse elements) is now coming apart, like the frantically widening flight-path of the falcon that has lost
contact with the falconer; the next age will take its character not from the gyre of science, democracy, and
speed, but from the contrary inner gyre—which, presumably, opposes mysticism, primal power, and slowness to
the science and democracy of the outer gyre.
The “rough beast” slouching toward Bethlehem is the symbol of this new age; the speaker’s vision of the rising
sphinx is his vision of the character of the new world.
“The Second Coming” is a magnificent statement about the contrary forces at work in history, and about the
conflict between the modern world and the ancient world.
Questions
1. Identify the reason that the falcon cannot hear the falconer. Explain how this metaphor helps to explain what
is happening in modern society.
(3)
2. What does the image of the falcon losing touch with its keeper indicate?
(2)
3. Quote a phrase that signals that the speaker sees an end to a certain history.
(1)
4. What historical event might the speaker be referring to with “anarchy is loosed upon the world”? (line 5) (2)
5. Explain lines 7 – 8. What does this inversion of moral and spiritual values tell us about society?
(3)
6. What will follow?
(2)
7. Comment on the repetition on lines 9-10. What is implied?
(2)
8. Starting on the fourth line of the second stanza, describe the poet’s vision. What is the “vast image” he sees?
How do you interpret what he sees, and what it represents?
(3)
9. What does the term “Spiritus Mundi” seem to imply in Stanza 2?
(2)
10. Discuss the symbolism in the second stanza. What does the monster described there represent?
(2)
11. How does this “rough beast” feature as a direct opposite of Christ in the “rocking cradle”? Comment in
particular on the verb “slouches” in the last line.
(3)
12. How do the imagery, symbols and diction contribute to the narrative style of the poem?
(3)
13. Define the following words in context of the poem:
a. gyre
b. anarchy
c. Spiritus Mundi
d. vexed
e. slouches
f. Bethlehem
(6 x 1)
14. Comment on the tone used throughout the poem.
(3)
8
African Poem by Augustinho Neto (translated by Gerald Moore)
There on the horizon
the fire
and the dark silhouettes of the imbondeiro trees
with their arms raised
in the air the green smell of burnt palm trees
1
5
On the road
the line of Bailundo porters
groaning under their loads of crueira
in the room
the sweet sweet-eyed mulatress
retouching her face with rouge and rice-powder
the woman under her many clothes moving her hips
on the bed
the sleepless man thinking
of buying knives and forks to eat with at a table
15
On the sky the reflections
of the fire
and the silhouette of the blacks at the drums
with their arms raised
in the air the warm tune of marimbas
20
10
On the road the porters
in the room the mulatress
on the bed the sleepless man
The burning coals consuming
consuming with fire
the warm country of the horizons.
25
9
Glossary
imbondeiro – also “embondiero” – baobab tree, seen as a symbol of strength in Angola
Bailundo – town/city in the Huambo province in central Angola
crueira – by-product from processing cassava, a root vegetable
mulatress – from “mulatto” – meaning ‘mixed-blood’ – a female offspring of a white Angolan and African
woman
rouge – reddish powder or cream used for colouring cheeks or lips
marimbas – deep-toned xylophones of African origin
About the poet
 1922 – 1979
 Angola
 Neto was the first president of independent Angola.
 He studied medicine in Portugal and started a movement to celebrate traditional Angolan cultures.
 He was deemed a trouble-maker by the Portuguese rulers in Angola. (He went into exile from where he
directed the liberation struggle in Angola.)
 He died in Moscow, Russia.
About the poem
 Written in 1964
 This poem (a lyric) describes some of the qualities and groups of people that make Africa unique. However,
the poet also agonises the loss of the African culture due to Western Colonialism. Industrialisation and
Colonialism are destroying the African heritage.
 It is a celebration of Africa, its people and heritage. Landscapes and various people are described in detail.
 The speaker moves from a distanced perspective (the horizon) to a more intimate setting (bedroom).
 The tone of the poem is objective and factual – the speaker does not pass judgement on what is observed.
(Therefore the reader is left to make his/her own judgement and interpretation of Africa and the unfolding
scene.)
 The repetition of “fire” (three times in the poem) suggests the misfortune or problem which Western
Colonialism has perpetrated against Africa.
 The poem is written in free verse – there is no definite rhyme or rhythm. This ‘free’ structure stands in
opposition to the formality of European countries and their traditions. (Serves in itself as an opposition to
colonialism.)
 The diction is simple, sincere and lyrical.
Questions
1. Name the four different kinds of people mentioned in this poem.
(4)
2. How do the first four lines paint a picture of the Africa Neto is so fondly describing?
(2)
3. Explain the personification of the trees in lines 3-5.
(2)
4. Explain the effect of comparing the drummers with the trees.
(2)
5. Comment on the diction in stanza 3. How does the poet reveal his excitement about the human and natural
resources in Africa?
(2)
6. Comment on the writer’s use of language AND diction in the poem.
(4)
7. Discuss how the poet manipulates the reader through a shift in perspective and use of tone.
(4)
8. The poem is written in free verse. How does this style contribute to the meaning of the poem?
(2)
9. The poem’s title is simply “African Poem”. How does the simplicity convey so much meaning?
(2)
10. Comment on the word “warm” in the last line.
(1)
10
Funeral Blues
by WH Auden
Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone,
Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone,
Silence the pianos and with muffled drum
Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come.
1
Let aeroplanes circle moaning overhead
Scribbling on the sky the message He is Dead,
Put crépe bows round the white necks of the public doves,
Let the traffic policemen wear black cotton gloves.
5
He was my North, my South, my East and West,
My working week and my Sunday rest,
My noon, my midnight, my talk, my song;
I thought that love would last for ever: I was wrong.
The stars are not wanted now: put out every one;
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun;
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood;
For nothing now can ever come to any good.
10
15
Glossary
muffled – covered to make it sound softer
crépe – pronounced ‘crape’ – thin fabric with wrinkles used for decorations – crinkled paper
dismantle – take apart
11
About the poet

1907 – 1973

Born in York, England, he travelled widely: Iceland, Europe, China and the USA. Whilst in Spain, he worked as an
ambulance driver for the Republican Army during the Spanish Civil War. He lived and worked for many years in the
USA and returned to the United Kingdom in 1972, where he died a year later.

Most of his works focus on social ills, as well as a concern with the workings of the mind.
About the poem
 An unnamed speaker laments/mourns the death of someone close to him.
 The speaker asks for quiet. He wants to stop all clocks and telephones and to silence barking dogs and pianos. He says
to bring out the coffin of the dead beloved, and for the mourners to come.He continues on in a similar vein; and asks
the airplanes to write "He Is Dead" across the sky. He says that doves should wear white ribbons and that policemen
should wear black gloves to commemorate the death. Then things take a turn for the personal. He says that the dead
man was everything to him—all points of a compass, every day of the week, every time of the day. And the worst part
is that this experience has taught him that love won't last forever, as he once thought. That's when he starts to really
despair. He doesn't want to see the stars, the moon, or the sun. He doesn't want to see the ocean or the forest. Now that
the dead man is gone, there is no good left in the world. None at all.
 The poem is written in the style of a classical elegy – dirge/requiem/lament for a deceased person.
 It has a sad, mournful tone and expresses grief.
 4 stanzas of four lines each with a regular rhyme scheme (aabb, ccdd, eeff, gghh).
 Each stanza explores a different aspect of the speaker’s grief.
o Stanza 1 explores the domestic environment
o Stanza 2 broadens to his local/public surroundings
o Stanza 3 explains the nature of the speaker’s love for the deceased
o Stanza 4 looks beyond to elements of nature on the cosmos – a cosmic level of grief
 A slow, steady beat echoes throughout the poem – this echoes the pace of a ‘funeral march’ – muffled drum
 The poet contains rich imagery – personification and metaphors and onomatopoeia.
 The speaker issues commands to an unnamed audience. He may be actually giving a eulogy at a funeral, or he may be
talking to himself and expressing his desires. Either way, communication plays an important role in this poem – private
telephone communication, public skywriting, even traffic directing. "Funeral Blues" raises all kinds of questions about
private and public mourning. Does mourning have to be a public act? This speaker seems to think so.
 The speaker of "Funeral Blues" wants us to put out the stars and dismantle the sun. These hyperbolic statements and
the ones that follow are all about shutting down the natural world in order to demonstrate the speaker’s grief. It seems
like he knows that his commands are hyperbolic, exaggerated, and impossible, but thinks that nothing smaller than
nature itself can communicate his despair accurately.
Questions
1. Comment on the word “blues” in the title of the poem.
(2)
2. To whom does the speaker address his poem? What's the effect of this point of view?
(2)
3. Discuss the impact of the word “Stop” in line 1.
(2)
4. Do we know exactly what the relationship was between the speaker and the dead man?
(1)
5. What is the speaker implying by wanting the clocks to stop and the telephones to be cut off (line 1)?
(2)
6. Does the speaker exaggerate his love for the dead man so much that it's unbelievable? Or does his hyperbole
make the poem even more meaningful? Explain your answer.
(2)
7. Why does the speaker issue so many commands?
(2)
8. Do you see any hope in this poem? Is the speaker condemned to a sort of death-in-life after the death of his
loved one?
(2)
9. List the ways in which the speaker asks society to mourn the loss of his partner.
(4)
10. Why does the speaker want the piano to stop playing but the drum to continue?
(2)
11. Identify and explain the metaphor in line 9.
(2)
12. Comment of the use of pronouns in stanza three.
(2)
13. What does “I was wrong” reveal about the speaker’s attitude towards his loss?
(2)
14. Why does the speaker refer to nature in lines 13-15?
(1)
15. In stanza 4 the speaker uses verbs that are normally associated with housekeeping. Discuss the effect this
has on the reader.
(2)
16. Discuss the poet’s use of metre and rhyme in the poem. How does it suit the sadness evident in the tone? (4)
17. Explain the paradoxical element to the speaker’s mourning.
(2)
18. Does this poem have universal significance or is it just one man’s grief? Explain your answer.
(3)
19. Does the poem end on a negative or positive note? Explain your answer.
(2)
12
Mid-Term Break
by Seamus Heaney
I sat all morning in the college sick bay
Counting bells knelling classes to a close.
At two o'clock our neighbours drove me home.
In the porch I met my father crying—
He had always taken funerals in his stride—
And Big Jim Evans saying it was a hard blow.
1
5
The baby cooed and laughed and rocked the pram
When I came in, and I was embarrassed
By old men standing up to shake my hand
And tell me they were “sorry for my trouble”;
Whispers informed strangers I was the eldest,
Away at school, as my mother held my hand
In hers and coughed out angry tearless sighs.
At ten o'clock the ambulance arrived
With the corpse, stanched and bandaged by the nurses.
10
15
Next morning I went up into the room. Snowdrops
And candles soothed the bedside; I saw him
For the first time in six weeks. Paler now,
Wearing a poppy bruise on his left temple,
He lay in the four foot box as in his cot.
No gaudy scars, the bumper knocked him clear.
20
A four-foot box, a foot for every year.
Glossary
knelling – ringing solemnly for a death/funeral or as a warning of disaster
stanched – also ‘staunched’ – stopped from bleeding
poppy – red flower (often symbolic of the many deaths during WWI)
gaudy – tastelessly bright or showy
13
About the poet
 1939 – 2013
 Irish – born to farming parents
 He taught in America and at Oxford University in England.
 He wrote many anthologies of poetry, plays and essays.
 Won the Noble Prize for Literature in 1995
About the poem
 This sad poem relates the death of Heaney’s younger brother.
 It shows incredible restraint and in terms of diction and imagery – this emphasises the sadness in the poem.
 The tone is sombre and the themes of death, frailty of life and growing up, are elegantly conveyed.
 The conversational language helps to convey the detached observation of details. (Only in the last few lines
does the poet’s reaction to his brother’s death become clear.)
Summary
A boy sits in the school’s medical area waiting to be given a lift home – the ringing of the school bell enhances
the fact that he is waiting for something. When he finally arrives home, he sees his father on the porch, crying.
The house is packed with neighbours and strangers who offer their condolences. He notices his baby sister in a
cot laughing and cooing while his mother takes his hand – she is so overcome with anger and grief that she is
unable to cry. Later, the body of his younger brother arrives in an ambulance. The next morning, when the
house is quiet, the boy goes up to the bedroom to see his brother for the last time.
Theme
‘Mid-Term Break’ is a first-person account of the experience of facing death, perhaps for the first time. This
death is especially tragic as the dead boy was only four years old, and this is driven home as we find out, by
delving into Heaney’s past, that the incident in the poem actually happened. As he confronts death, he sees how
it affects those he loves. In the porch he meets his father “crying” and later his mother holds his hand. She is
too upset to cry, instead she “coughed out angry, tearless sighs”. There is also a sense in the poem that the boy
has been forced to grow up by what has happened. When he comes to the house we read: “…I was embarrassed/
By old men standing up to shake my hand…”
In the next stanza he tells us, “Whispers informed strangers I was the eldest, / Away at school.” As the eldest in
the family, he is treated as an adult by neighbours and seen as a comfort to the family. Since he does not shed
tears like his father, or appear severely grief-stricken like his mother, he emerges as the strongest character in
his family.
Imagery
A mid-term break is usually associated with time off school, holidays and fun. The poem’s title suggests a
holiday but this “break” does not happen for pleasant reasons as we find out that there is a death in the family.
‘Mid-Term Break’ is told over the course of three main parts:
 In the first the boy waits in the college sick bay to be brought home by a neighbour, the reason for his father
not collecting him could be due to his family not owning a car (this was in the 1950s). There is an ominous
atmosphere as the bell is “knelling classes to a close”.
 The second occurs in the family home where he meets his grieving parents, family friends and neighbours,
who have gathered for the wake. The patriarchal image of the father-figure in the 1950s is torn down here as
we see his father crying. His father, apparently always strong at other funerals, is distraught by his child’s
death, while “Big Jim” says that it was a “terrible blow”. The young Seamus is made uneasy by the baby’s
happiness on seeing him, by hand shaking and euphemisms “Sorry for my trouble”, and by people
whispering about him. Inside the house, the boy notices his baby sister lying in her pram “cooing and
laughing”; too young to understand what has happened or to realise why the house is filled with strangers.
Old men stand up to shake his hand, treating the young boy as a mature male member of the family. The
boy meets his mother who is in shock and too upset, even to cry. We learn of the cause of the tragedy: an
ambulance arrives with the bandaged body of his brother who was killed by a car:
 The final scene takes place the following morning when the boy sees his little brother’s body laid out
surrounded by flowers and candles. This is the encounter that the entire poem has been moving towards, the
climax of the whole piece. There is an almost peaceful feeling in the poet’s description of the room:
14
“snowdrops and candles” soothe the bedside scene. His brother is paler than he remembers, and the only
sign of his fatal injury is the “poppy bruise” on his left temple. The young boy sees his brother for the last
time and faces death for the first. In the final image the poet compares the small size of his brother’s coffin
with the shortness of life: “No gaudy scars, the bumper knocked him clear. / A four foot box, a foot for
every year.”
Language
The sombre mood of ‘Mid-Term Break’ is established in the opening lines as the boy sits in the college sick bay
with nothing to do but count the bells “knelling classes to a close”. Notice how the poet uses the
word “knelling” instead of ringing. This gives us a hint of the mood: the bell, which is bringing classes to an
end, reminds the boy of a church bell “knelling” for a funeral mass, and perhaps is forewarning him of the death
he is about to face.
As well as this central feeling of loss and sadness in the poem, there is also an interesting secondary mood. The
boy feels awkward and uncomfortable at being expected to behave like the “eldest” in the family and says:
“…I was embarrassed / By old men standing up to shake my hand”
His brother’s death, as well as being a great tragedy, is a rite of passage for the boy. He is treated as an adult and
perhaps as a support to his parents in their terrible grief – he is the only member of the family not crying.
In the final two stanzas the mood is heightened as the boy goes alone to see his brother’s body. Heaney’s
language now is much more poetic than it was when he referred to his brother as a corpse: note the personal
pronouns “him”, “his”, “he”– as opposed to “the corpse”. The calm mood is shown in the serene picture of
“Snowdrops/And candles soothed the bedside” – literally they sooth the young Heaney. The flowers are a
symbol in the poem, but also in reality for the family as a symbol of new life, after death. The bruise is seen as
not really part of the boy – he is “wearing” it, as if it could come off. Heaney likens the bruise to the poppy, a
flower linked with death and soothing of pain (opiates come from poppies). The child appears as if sleeping,
giving us a simile. The ugly “corpse, stanched and bandaged”, becomes a sleeping child with “no gaudy
scars” – dead, but, ironically, not disfigured. The last line of the poem is most poignant and skilful – the size of
the coffin is the measure of the child’s life. We barely notice that Heaney has twice referred to a “box”, almost
a flippant name for a coffin. The shock, sadness and confusion of the earlier stanzas give way to an almost
peaceful, calm feeling: “snowdrops/ And candles” by the bed soothe the boy. And finally, there is also a great
tenderness and intimacy as he looks at his dead brother for the last time lying in his coffin.
Structure
In stanza 5 there are instances of half rhyme (sigh/arrived) (corpse/nurses) however it is in the final two lines of
this stanza that the poet uses the only full rhyme found in the poem. This helps bring closure to the poem and
gives the ending a sense of finality, emphasising the theme of death:
“No gaudy scars, the bumper knocked him clear. / A four foot box, a foot for every year.”
Questions:
1. Contrast the reactions of the two parents – how does the reader react to this?
(3)
2. With whom, do you think, is the mother angry? Why?
(2)
3. List the siblings in this poem from oldest to youngest.
(3)
4. How does the poem contrast the fuss of the homecoming with the calmness of the scene when Seamus sees
his brother’s body?
(4)
5. What is the meaning of the poem’s last line?
(2)
6. What is the effect of the alliteration in line 2?
(2)
7. Comment on the effect of using parenthesis in line 5.
(2)
8. Identify and comment on the simile in line 20.
(3)
9. “Mid-Term Break” is a poem about death but this theme is treated indirectly and we only learn the full story
until the end of the poem. Are there any clues in the first four stanzas about the main theme? Does this
indirect approach make the tragedy more shocking and sad when we realise what happened?
(3)
10. Is the boy expected to respond differently to the tragedy given that he is the eldest? He seems uncomfortable
to be in this role and is embarrassed by people shaking his hand and offering condolences, has he grown up
in some way as a result of the tragedy?
(3)
11. Discuss the effectiveness of the title.
(2)
12. Discuss how the restraint of the speaker (in actions and words) reveals the tragedy of the poem.
(4)
15
1. This poem is about
A. a young man’s plans for his school vacation.
B. the busy scene at a hospital emergency room.
C. the sudden death of a young man’s little brother.
D. a family celebration.
2. How old was the boy when he died?
A. just a baby
B. four years old
C. college age
D. there is not enough information in the poem to tell
3. Which detail helps readers infer how the boy died?
A. “it was a hard blow” (line 6)
B. “coughed out angry tearless sighs” (line 13)
C. “stanched and bandaged by the nurses” (line 15)
D. “the bumper knocked him clear” (line 21)
4. How did the boy die?
A. He was hit by a car.
B. He suffocated in a box.
C. Big Jim Evans hit him on the head.
D. He died in his sleep.
5. The “four-foot box” mentioned in lines 20 and 22 is actually a
A. cot.
B. box of the speaker’s books from college.
C. stretcher from the ambulance.
D. coffin.
6. In line 15, the speaker refers to the body as a “corpse,” but in lines 17-21, the speaker uses pronouns such as “him” and “he.” What
does this shift suggest about the speaker’s state of mind?
A. He is fascinated by corpses.
B. He was beginning to accept that his brother had died.
C. He believes the nurses are responsible for his brother’s death.
D. He thinks his brother is only sleeping.
7. What does the second stanza imply?
A. That the speaker’s father is upset to see him
B. That it is unusual for the speaker to see his father crying
C. That the speaker’s father and Big Jim Evans had been fighting
D. That funerals are a common part of life
8. Why was the speaker “embarrassed by old men standing up to shake [his] hand” (lines 8-9)?
A. He knew they had seen his father crying.
B. He was afraid they thought the baby’s laughter was disrespectful.
C. He wasn’t used to the old men treating him like an adult instead of a child.
D. He didn’t mean to cause the old men to stand up when it was difficult for them to do so.
9. The author most likely uses alliteration of the “s” sound in stanzas three and four to create the effect of
A. a hissing snake.
B. whispers.
C. an ambulance siren.
D. rhymes.
10. What’s the MOST LIKELY reason the author describes the events in the poem using ordinary, matter-of-fact details?
A. To demonstrate that the speaker has learned about journalistic writing at college
B. To help readers share the speaker’s shock at the news of his brother’s death
C. To imply that the speaker didn’t care about his younger brother’s death
D. To prove to critics that you can write a good poem without using a single metaphor
16
The child who was shot dead by soldiers at Nyanga
by Ingrid Jonker (Translated by Jack Cope and William Plomer – 1968)
The child is not dead
the child lifts his fists against his mother
who screams Afrika shouts the scent
of freedom and the veld
in the locations of the cordoned heart
5
The child lifts his fists against his father
in the march of the generations
who are shouting Afrika shout the scent
of righteousness and blood
in the streets of his warrior pride
10
The child is not dead
not at Langa not at Nyanga
not at Orlando not at Sharpeville
not at the police station in Philippi
where he lies with a bullet through his brain
15
The child is the shadow of the soldiers
on guard with rifles saracens and batons
the child is present at all gatherings and law-giving
the child peers through the house windows and into the hearts of mothers
the child who just wanted to play in the sun at Nyanga is everywhere
the child grown to a man treks all over Africa
the child who became a giant travels through the whole world
1
20
Without a pass
Glossary
cordoned – enclosed, closed off as if with a line of police or soldiers, or with fences
saracens – armoured military vehicles
pass – permit for moving around (as a non-white person) during Apartheid
17
About the poet and poem
 1933 – 1965
 South African
 She had a very difficult childhood (parents’ divorce, poverty, rejection by her father)
 She travelled often and became an acclaimed poet before her suicide in 1965.

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




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


Ingrid Jonker wrote this protest poem in Afrikaans, in the aftermath of the Sharpeville massacre.
It was translated by Jack Cope and William Plomer.
In Afrikaans it is referred to as “Die Kind” (The Child).
Nelson Mandela read an English translation at the opening of the first democratic Parliament on 24 May
1994.
The poem reflects on the pass laws of Apartheid South Africa.
The child was killed while on his way to the doctor with his mother – the senseless of his death is a result of
the senselessness of the apartheid laws.
The repetition of “the child” throughout the poem emphasises the age and innocence of the youth and
highlights how many children were killed because of the apartheid laws.
There is a parallel structure in “not at” repeated third stanza. This rhetorical device gives examples of where
police brutality occurred. It gives an historical accuracy to the poem.
There is an allusion to the Bible (Gospel of Mark 38-43: “38 When they came to the home of the synagogue
leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. 39 He went in and said to
them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.”)
The sense of pain, outrage, loss and wasted potential filters through the poem. The poet fiercely longs for a
time when a child is able to mature, become a man and make an impact on the world, free from the
restrictions of the ‘pass’, which limits his freedom of movement.
The poem is written in free verse – there is no formal structure – it does not contain any rhyme and there is
no regular rhythm. HOWEVER – there is a pattern that the poet deliberately set for the poem, which is
evident in the repetition of phrases such as “the child is not dead”, “who shouts Afrika” and “the child”.
PLEASE NOTE: There are various translations of this poem – for the purpose of GHS studies and this study
guide, I have used the translation found in the poetry anthology prescribed by the Department of Education.
Questions
1. What is the main difference in meaning between the title of the poem and most of the poem’s lines?
(2)
2. What is the purpose of this deliberate contrast?
(2)
3. What does the child in the poem symbolise?
(1)
4. What expression in the poem defines resistance, defiance and rebellion?
(1)
5. What does the altered repetition of “The child lifts his fists against his mother / father” reveal about the
generation gap that is reflected in responding to the laws of apartheid?
(2)
6. Comment on the effect of the denials in the third stanza.
(2)
7. This poem was written in the 1960s in South Africa. Discuss its relevance for the context in which it was
written.
(4)
8. What happened at Sharpeville? (And when?)
(3)
9. Discus the effectiveness of the last, short line of the poem.
(2)
10. During the Parliamentary address, Nelson Mandel commented that “in the midst of despair, Jonker
celebrated hope.” Does this poem celebrate hope? Discuss your answer in a brief paragraph.
(5)
11. How does the speaker succeed in criticising apartheid and South African history? Quote in support of your
answer. (Write 10 lines.)
(5)
18
Housing Targets
Somewhere in our past
we believed in the future
that a better world
would discover foundation
under our feet, and we
would be forever singing,
in its kitchen.
Bricks pile up in a field.
Whether they will be enough
no one knows. How
they fit together
is anybody’s guess.
Men with darkening skins
scribbled on by weather
wait for their instructions.
From time to time
limousines miraculously appear:
there is always a somebody
in a suit willing to smile
and shake their hands
by Kelwyn Sole
1 Then the camera lights
and racing engines
turn around, shrink back
from where they came.
5 Those left behind
stare at their own hands
afterwards, puzzled
at precisely what
has been transacted, why
they are still being offered
10 bonds
squint
between gnarled fingers
pace out the hopeful distances:
– there will be a flower bowl.
15 – my bed is going here.
25
30
35
As for now the doorknobs
have no doors.
Their windows peer out
20 at no sky.
40
who lays the first stone.
Glossary:
scribbled – written in haste
limousine – large, luxurious car
transacted – agreed upon, as in a business deal
gnarled – knobbly, rough and twisted, especially with age
19
About the Poet and Poem
 1951 –
 South African (born in Johannesburg and studied at WITS and University of London’s School of Oriental
and African Studies.)
 He is one of the foremost scholars on black South African literature and his poetry is highly regarded.
 He won the Olive Schreiner Prize in 1987 and has published six volumes of poetry.
 He is currently a Professor of English at the University of Cape Town.

Sole's poetry is compelling for its combination of an acute political consciousness with a fluent, precise
lyrical voice. He began writing while an activist during the final years of apartheid, and it is perhaps partly
because of this historical context that his poetry continually seeks to register and illuminate the political
realities of the present.

As he has remarked in an interview, Sole believes that poets can still function as “interpreters – or lightning
conductors, if you like - of social change”.

This poem outlines a situation where previously disadvantaged people wait for their houses to be built.
While bureaucracy and politics go on around them, targets don’t seem to be met as their houses remain
unfinished.
Promises are made but there is no delivery!
The poem is written in FREE VERSE (no rhyme scheme) – this indicates the speaker’s vulnerability and
feelings of futility and despair.


Questions
1. Consider the first word of the poem – ‘Somewhere”. What does this word suggest about their belief in the
future? Are they optimistic or pessimistic?
(2)
2. How does the personification in lines 4-5 affect your understanding of the people’s power?
(2)
3. What do the words “forever singing” imply? Does this suggest optimism or pessimism?
(2)
4. Explain the reference to the ‘kitchen’ in line 7.
(2)
5. Are the bricks in line 8 of any use? Why/why not?
(2)
6. Quote a phrase from stanza 3 that suggests that the targets are not being met.
(1)
7. What ceremony does ‘somebody’ perform and how do ‘those left behind’ feel?
(2)
8. Who are the people in the limousines and why are they there?
(2)
9. Why are the engines “racing” in line 23? What does this say about the people who came for the photo? (3)
10. What are “bonds” (line32) and how is this reference ironic?
(2)
11. Lines 36 and 37 convey a sense of hope. Explain.
(2)
12. Explain the last two images (lines 38-41) and how the absurdity echoes the main theme of the poem.
(3)
13. Discuss the effectiveness of the title in relation to the message of the poem.
(2)
14. Discuss how the structure of the poem adds to feelings of futility and despair.
(2)
20
The Author to Her Book
by Anne Bradstreet
Thou ill-formed offspring of my feeble brain,
Who after birth didst by my side remain,
Till snatched from thence by friends, less wise than true,
Who thee abroad, exposed to public view,
Made thee in rags, halting to th’ press to trudge,
Where errors were not lessened (all may judge).
At thy return my blushing was not small,
My rambling brat (in print) should mother call,
I cast thee by as one unfit for light,
The visage was so irksome in my sight;
Yet being mine own, at length affection would
Thy blemishes amend, if so I could:
I washed thy face, but more defects I saw,
And rubbing off a spot still made a flaw.
I stretched thy joints to make thee even feet,
Yet still thou run’st more hobbling than is meet;
In better dress to trim thee was my mind,
But nought save homespun cloth i’ th’ house I find.
In this array ‘mongst vulgars may’st thou roam.
In critic’s hands beware thou dost not come,
And take thy way where yet thou art not known;
If for thy father asked, say thou hadst none;
And for thy mother, she alas is poor,
Which caused her thus to send thee out of door.
1
5
10
15
20
21
Glossary
abroad – outside, over a wide area, overseas
trudge – walk slowly and heavily, as if carrying a load (real or emotional)
brat – badly behaved child
visage – face
blemishes – marks that spoil something (as on skin)
amend – make right
defects – faults, flaws
even feet – the patterns and rhythms of sound used in poetry are grouped together and measured in ‘feet’
hobbling – walking awkwardly, as if in pain
meet – suitable or proper
trim – neaten by cutting away unwanted or irregular parts – embellish or decorate
array – dress, clothing
vulgars – an archaic way of referring to ordinary people
art - are
About the poet and poem
 About 1612 – 1672
 Born in England but moved to the United States of America with her family as part of a Puritan migration.
 She was very well educated and her work gives insight into the struggles of the women in her era.
 She was the wife of a politician, mother of eight and a full-time writer. (This went against the social norms
of the time – women were supposed to be housewives and no more.)
 Her work set a pioneering example for early feminism!
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An author writes a book, but is convinced it’s garbage. Her friends feel differently, so they steal it and get it
published. This irritates the author, who then decides that she’ll try to fix up the poems in the book since it’s
going to be published anyway. Try as she might, however, she just can’t make the poems any good. She
tries to fix the meter and clean up the defects, but all she does is make the poems worse. Finally, she starts
to worry about the reviewers and warns her little child of a book (she uses APOSTROPHE – a speaker
addresses an inanimate object directly as if it were human) to stay away from those super-critical people,
and just keep quiet. She doesn’t want anybody else to take the fall, so she tells this little book to say she
only has a mother (and a poor one at that), and no father.
The poem’s makes use of an extended metaphor – the book is compared to a child born of the author.
The diction is largely negative and this reflects the speaker’s criticism of her book.
The poem is written in that most famous of English meters: iambic pentameter. (It’s a line that contains
five (penta-) iambs. An iamb is a type of beat (sometimes called a foot) that contains an unstressed syllable
followed by a stressed syllable. If you say “allow” out loud, you’ll hear an iamb in action: daDUM.)
And take thy way where yet thou art not known. If you read this aloud, you should hear iambic
pentameter: daDUM daDUM daDUM daDUM daDUM.
While this poem is composed almost entirely in iambs, there is the occasional metrical hiccup, as in line 5:
Made thee in rags, halting to th' press to trudge.
These occasional variations, along with the poem’s strict iambic pentameter and rhymes (it is composed
entirely of couplets, with no exceptions), show that the poet is in fact very competent.
Despite all her complaining about this and that, especially in lines 15-16, this “author” does in fact possess a
remarkable command of meter. There is no line in this poem that does not contain five beats (“feet”), or
can’t be explained according to very regular rules.
The speaker describes the difficulty and violence involved in writing lines of poetry: making words fit the
meter is a kind of “stretching,” an attempt to “even” things out that doesn’t always work. Although the
speaker claims that her poems still tread on “hobbling” feet, this seems more self-deprecatory than true. In
terms of its form, this poem is a success, which underscores the possibility that all the speaker’s
complaining is for show, and not really genuine. While she’s a little on the self-deprecating side (all that
business about “defects” and feeble brains and irksomeness), she clearly knows how hard it is to write (it’s
like raising a child, in her apt metaphor) and what a huge pain revision can be.
22
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

About halfway through the poem, for example, she compares revising her poems to attempting to wash the
face of her child. No matter how hard she tries, however, she just can’t get the dirt off—just can’t get the
poems fixed up in a way she likes.
This speaker isn’t any old woman, but a smart, seventeenth-century. While she complains about not being
good enough, the fact of the matter is she is good enough. Her command of form and meter alone shows
that she knows a thing or two about poetry. Not only does she know a thing or two about poetry, she’s
familiar with the western literary tradition more generally. Remember all that business about not being good
enough? While she may really feel poorly about her work, that stuff about being no good is, or rather was, a
popular literary convention, which means lots of other famous writers used to do it in their work.
If the speaker is smart, she’s also a little bold. While at first she seems kind of modest about presenting her
work to the public (she’s not happy with her friends for stealing it, remember), near the end she kind of
changes her mind and basically says she sold it because she needed the money. Oh, and she also tells the
book to say it has no father. Think about this. In the seventeenth century, a woman with a child and no
father anywhere in sight was a BIG DEAL. That could get you in serious trouble. Granted, the speaker isn’t
being literal when she says that, but to claim that kind of self-sufficiency (“I’m smart and wrote all these
poems with no male help or input whatsoever”) would have been pretty brave. Women who talked too
much, and too boldly, didn’t always have it so easy in seventeenth-century America.
Questions
1. What is apostrophe (not the punctuation mark) and how is it used in this poem?
(2)
2. Quote two self-deprecating adjectives from line 1.
(2)
3. What does “snatch” (line 3) tell us about poet’s wish to have the book published?
(2)
4. Explain the phrase “less wise than true” (line 3).
(2)
5. Identify and explain the effectiveness of the personification in line 5.
(3)
6. Why is the poet “blushing” in line 7?
(2)
7. What does the poet feel about her book by using the phrase “unfit for light” (line 9)?
(1)
8. How does the conjunction in line 11 indicate a change in tone?
(3)
9. Name and describe the three things the poet does to the “child” / book in order to ‘fix’ it. Quote!
(6)
10. Why does the speaker judge her work so harshly? Do you think Bradstreet felt this way about her poems, or
is this just pretence?
(2)
11. Why does Bradstreet state that the book has no father?
(2)
12. The speaker compares her book to a child. What effect does this have?
(2)
13. What is the effect of the poem’s strict rhyme and meter? What does it say about the poet?
(2)
14. What does this poem say about female authorship in general, if anything?
(2)
23
We Wear the Mask
by Paul Laurence Dunbar
We wear the mask that grins and lies,
It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes –
This debt we pay to human guile;
With torn and bleeding hearts we smile,
And mouth with myriad subtleties.
1
5
Why should the world be over-wise,
In counting all our tears and sighs?
Nay, let them only see us, while
We wear the mask.
We smile, but, O great Christ, our cries
To thee from tortured souls arise.
We sing, but oh the clay is vile
Beneath our feet, and long the mile;
But let the world dream otherwise,
We wear the mask!
10
15
Glossary:
grins – smiles broadly
guile – cunning, sly, clever at tricking people
myriad – many (from the Greek word myrias meaning 10 000)
subtleties – clever and indirect methods
vile – unpleasant, morally bad, wicked
24
About the poet and the poem
 1872 – 1906
 American
 His parents were former slaves – they escaped to Canada and later returned to the USA where his father
enlisted in the segregated army. His mother was a washerwoman for the Wright family.
 Dunbar was well-educated and attended school with the Wright brothers, the inventors of the first successful
aeroplane.
 At the turn of the century Dunbar was well-known as a poet and he was the first African American to make
a living from writing.

Times were tough in America during the turn of the century. Many changes were occurring, and many
people had a difficult time coming to terms with them. Black Americans in particular found themselves
caught in a culture that appeared somewhat better than it had been before and during the Civil War. But
the fact of the matter was: things just were not better than before.

Paul Lawrence Dunbar's poem, first published in Lyrics of Lowly Life (1896), is a reaction to the racial

"We Wear the Mask" is a lyrical exploration of all that pretending and the truth that hides behind it. And
climate of the late 19th century. He talks about hypocrisy, deception, and the fact that black Americans
often resorted to seeming content with their social circumstances. But behind all that seeming, though, is
just a bunch of lies trying to cover up the fact that they were feeling awful and unable to talk about their
feelings in an honest way.
since the truth is a rather painful one, we get the sense that all of those masks aren't doing such a great job of
covering things up. However, Dunbar approached this poem objectively: he took a step back and looked at
things in a less personal, less emotional way, making "We Wear the Mask" applicable to all sorts of people
and circumstances. By doing that, he opened up the world of poetic interpretation in a much more universal
way.

This poem addresses the concealed pain and suffering of those who have been disempowered and are living
in a society dominated by a specific cultural or ethnic group. The disempowered often need to conceal
emotions such as pain, anger and frustration to ensure their safety.

As you read "We Wear the Mask," consider not only the courage that came with writing it (a black man was
not supposed to speak out about prejudice) but also the message that we can still apply to today's culture.
After all, it's not like somebody suddenly waved a magic wand and made all of the prejudices and
hypocrisies of the world disappeared. These kinds of problems are still around today, and if people don't
speak up about them, none of us can really expect to see them change.

The poem is written in the form of a rondeau / round.

The metre is mostly in iambic tetrameter and it repeats “We wear the mask” as a refrain.

The poem has a musical quality.

The theme is sad – it is a lament which has a strong connection to the blues music originating mainly among
African Americans.

Dunbar avoided including any specifics in "We Wear the Mask." He did this on purpose, perhaps with the
intention of amplifying his poetic references to masks and deception. But there's no getting around the
history and motivation for this particular poem, which is a clear reaction to the stifling racial climate of the
late nineteenth century.

In Dunbar's "We Wear the Mask" society looks cold and even a little dumb, when it comes to the realities to
which the speaker refers. And since the speaker is talking to a pretty big audience, we get the sense that he's
not limiting this poem to any one society or class. Everyone gets served up a nice dish of poetic criticism.
25
Questions
1. What words indicate the duality behind the poem, in terms of "seeming" and the reality behind the mask?(3)
2. How does the symbolism of "cheeks" and "eyes" contribute to this theme of lies and deceit?
(3)
3. How does the phrase "human guile" suggest this theme of lies and deceit in a more universal way?
(2)
4. How does the poem's refrain contribute to the theme of "seeming?" Why is it repeated?
(3)
5. How do we know that the suffering the speaker refers to is not just experienced by him alone? Which words
indicate that the suffering is felt by a larger group?
(3)
6. Which lines in accent the suffering that occurs due to the duality of the emotional conflict the speaker
addresses?
(2)
7. Why does the speaker appear more emotionally distraught in the third stanza than the previous ones? Which
words in particular heighten the severity of the speaker's suffering?
(3)
8. What's the connection between lies/deceit and human suffering? How can all the suffering be alleviated or
prevented all together?
(3)
9. Even if we didn't know the history behind Dunbar's poem, how can we still apply the speaker's messages to
issues of race and society?
(2)
10. What do you think is the endpoint of the "long mile" the speaker mentions in the third stanza? How does
this mile reflect the ultimate goal that each class strives to achieve?
(3)
11. How do symbols—like masks and smiles—help illuminate the poem's themes? Why is it necessary for the
speaker to repeat them throughout the poem?
(3)
12. Why does the speaker use a rhetorical question in the second stanza? What's he really saying here?
(3)
13. What about the ambiguity of the word "we?" Why do you think the speaker chooses to omit any specific
identifiers?
(2)
14. Quote two words from line 10 that clearly contradict each other. Discuss the effectiveness.
(3)
26
THE WOMAN
by Kristina Rungano
A minute ago I came from the well
Where young women drew water like myself
My body was weary and my heart tired.
For a moment I watched the stream that rushed before me;
And thought how fresh the smell of flowers,
How young the grass around it.
And yet again I heard the sound of duty
Which ground on me – made me feel aged
As I bore the great big mud container on my head
Like a big painful umbrella.
Then I got home and cooked your meal
For you had been out drinking the pleasures of the flesh
While I toiled in the fields.
Under the angry vigilance of the sun
A labour shared only by the bearings of my womb.
I washed the dishes – yours –
And swept the room we shared
Before I set forth to prepare your bedding
In the finest corner of the hut
Which was bathed by the sweet smell of dung
I had this morning applied to the floors
Then you came in,
In your drunken lust
And you made your demands
When I explained how I was tired
And how I feared for the child – yours – I carried
You beat me and had your way
At that moment
You left me unhappy and bitter
And I hated you;
Yet tomorrow I shall again wake up to you
Milk the cow, plough the land and cook your food,
You shall again be my Lord
For isn’t it right that woman should obey,
Love, serve and honour her man?
For are you not the fruit of the land?
1
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Glossary
weary – very tired
toiled – worked extremely hard
vigilance – careful watchfulness
27
About the poet
 1963  Kristina Rungano, poet and short-story writer, was born in Harare, Zimbabwe and grew up near Kuatama
Mission.
 She attended Catholic-run boarding schools in Selous and Harare, studied management in Britain, and is
working on a doctoral degree in computing and mathematics at South Bank University, London.
 Rungano is Zimbabwe’s first published female poet, and A Storm Is Brewing (1984) is her first collection.
 She has since contributed poems to the anthologies Daughters of Africa (1992) and The Heinemann
Book of African Women’s Poetry (1995) and written short stories.
 Although she views her poetry primarily as a means of self-release, her themes are resonant: selfexploration, aspects of womanhood, love, loneliness, alienation, and war are among her subjects.
 Her enduring strengths include her ability to capture inwardly felt experience using a variety of personae.
About the poem
 “The Woman” draws on traditional chores and roles of women in rural Africa to highlight the almost routine
abuse of rights suffered by women.
 There is a hopeless inevitability about the obedience and subservience expected on a daily basis in their
relationship.
 The simple and daily chore of fetching water from the well soon becomes a burden as the speaker describes
the fear she feels for her child and herself.
 The repetitive use of the conjunction “And” at the beginning and within lines creates a list of the abuses and
difficulties that do no end.
 The images used in the poem appeal to the reader’s senses and allow the reader to empathise with the
speaker who is not allowed to enjoy her natural surroundings.
 The last four lines serve as her ‘ceding’ to the traditional role she has to fulfil. Even though she does not like
the abuse and torment, she accepts her role as an African woman, albeit an abused and unhappy one. It
stands in stark contrast to line 30 -“And I hated you”.
 We empathise (sympathise?) with the speaker in the poem – she suffers BECAUSE she is a woman.
Questions
1. Explain how the poet is feeling physically and emotionally in line 3.
(2)
2. Identify what makes the speaker not enjoy her natural surroundings for longer.
(2)
3. What effect does the adjective “young” have in line 6?
(2)
4. Identify and explain the simile in lines 9-10.
(3)
5. Explain the irony revealed through the word “umbrella”.
(2)
6. Which three things could the “pleasures of the flesh” be?
(3)
7. Explain the “angry vigilance of the sun” (line 14).
(2)
8. Explain “bearings of my womb”.
(1)
9. Outline the relationship the speaker has with her male partner. Quote in support of your answer.
(3)
10. Explain the home situation of the speaker. Justify your response with reference to the text.
(4)
11. How does the repetition of “And” throughout the poem add to the message the poet wants to convey?
(2)
12. Discuss the tone of the final four lines of the poem. How does it stand in stark contrast to line 30? What is
the poet ultimately saying?
(3)
13. What is the purpose of the rhetorical questions in line 35 and 36?
(2)
14. Refer to line 33. Why is “Lord” capitalised?
(1)
28
UNSEEN POETRY
THE MAN
an almost forgotten acquaintance
was in town recently
i noticed that it started raining
just as he ambled in
i remember him as a simple man
growing up, we all wanted
to be doctors, lawyers & teachers
so the blood could ebb out of the village
my friend had much more sober dreams
he asked the heavens to grant him
the imposing peace of the blue-gum in his backyard
& that all the poor send him their tears
so he could be humble like the sun
so the red wax of the stars would not drip onto him
i remembered that man today
& all i think of is his unassuming radiance
like that of a blushing angel
as for his dreams
he tells us
whole forests invade his sleep at night
so that there’s only standing room
for the dreams
Seitlhamo Motsapi
1
5
10
15
20
1.1
What image is created of the man through the use of the word “ambled” (line 4)?
(1)
1.2
1.2.1
1.2.2
Refer to lines 5 – 9.
Describe the contrast between the man and his peers while they were growing up.
(2)
“… so the blood could ebb out of the village” Discuss how this metaphor shows the effect of his peers’
choices on the village.
(3)
1.3
Refer to the title of the poem. The speaker refers to this “simple man” as “The Man” and does not refer
to his professional peers in the same way. Discuss the reason for this.
(2)
1.4
By referring to lines 12-13 and 18-22, assess whether the man has achieved his childhood dreams.
(2)
29
LOVE OF HILLS
by LYNNE BRYER
Driving from Grahamstown
in the early morning
through hills that are less geography
than familiar shapes, welling deeply
out of myself like members of my own
family, figures not truly separate since relation
gives them unconditional shelter in the self –
I see a field of earth lying lilac in the light,
and on its curve a man with a tractor,
ploughing,
so that a small, far spurt of purple dust
hangs as a cloud.
Then such a rush of love and longing
fills me – joy, shards of regret,
an ancient, fierce belonging – that my breast
begins to burst, unable to contain
the pure reflection rising:
hill, field, cloud of dust,
the whole blest, well beloved
country of the heart.
1.1
1.2
1
5
10
15
20
Refer to lines 1-4: “Driving from Grahamstown… than familiar shapes”.
Explain how these words convey the speaker’s relationship with the land.
(2)
Refer to line 8: “I see a field of earth lying lilac in the light”.
Explain how this line conveys the speaker’s admiration of the land.
(2)
1.3
Why has the poet included an image of a “man with a tractor” (line 9) in her description of the land?(2)
1.4
Explain, in your own words, two of the three emotions that the poet experiences in lines
14 – 15 (“…joy, shards of regret, / an ancient, fierce belonging…”).
1.5
(2)
In your opinion, is the last line “country of my heart” a suitable conclusion to the poem? Justify your
response.
(2)
30
I feel a poem
by Don Materra
Thumping deep, deep
I feel a poem inside
Wriggling within the membrane
Of my soul;
tiny fists beating,
beating against my being
as it tries to break
the navelcord,
crying, crying out
to be born on paper.
1
5
10
Thumping
deep, so deeply
I feel a poem,
inside…
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
Consider the title of the poem– “I feel a poem” –What is implied about the process of writing poetry?(2)
Explain the effectiveness of the use of personification in lines 3 and 4.
(2)
The poet repeats certain words and phrases in the poem. Suggest what this adds to the poem as a whole.
(How does it emphasise the ‘message’ of the poem?)
(3)
The theme of the poem concerns growth and change. Explain why the poet chooses to end the poem on
an inconclusive note by using ellipsis. (…)
(3)
HOW TO EAT A POEM
Don’t be polite.
Bite in.
Pick it up with your fingers and lick the juice that may run down your chin.
It is ready and ripe now, whenever you are.
1
You do not need a knife or fork or spoon or plate or napkin or tablecloth.
For there is no core
or stem
or rind
or pit
or seed
or skin
to throw away.
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
5
10
Eve Merriam
Who is the poet addressing in this poem?
How can a person “bite” (line 2) into a poem?
Explain the extended metaphor by making reference to diction used in the poem.
Explain the effectiveness of the repetition of the word “or” throughout the poem.
Explain why the poet used the words “to throw away” (line 11) as the conclusion of the poem.
(1)
(2)
(3)
(2)
(2)
(10)
31
Those Winter Sundays
by Robert Hayden
Sundays too my father got up early
and put his clothes on in the blueblack cold,
then with cracked hands that ached
from labour in the weekday weather made
banked fires blaze. No one ever thanked him.
1
5
I’d wake and hear the cold splintering, breaking.
When the rooms were warm, he’d call,
and slowly I would rise and dress,
fearing the chronic angers of that house,
Speaking indifferently to him,
who had driven out the cold
and polished my good shoes as well.
What did I know, what did I know
of love’s austere and lonely offices?
10
(*austere – severe or strict in manner)
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
What does the word “too” (line 1) suggest about the father’s weekday routine?
(1)
What does it suggest about the father that he only calls his son to wake up when the “rooms were warm”
(line 7)?
(2)
Explain the boy’s feelings when he says that he fears “the chronic angers of the house” (line 9).
In your answer, give a possible reason for his fear.
(3)
Why would the son speak “indifferently” to his father?
(2)
Explain the poet’s opinion of the father/son relationship by referring to and explaining the last two lines of
the poem.
(2)
(10)
“Not Love Perhaps” by A.S.J. Tessimond
This is not Love perhaps – Love that lays down
Its life, that many waters cannot quench, nor the floods drown –
But something written in lighter ink, said in a lower tone:
Something perhaps especially our own:
A need at times to be together and talk –
And then finding we can walk
More firmly through dark narrow places
And meet more easily nightmare faces:
A need to reach out sometimes hand to hand,
And then find Earth less like an alien land:
A need for alliance to defeat
The whisperers at the corner street:
A need for inns on roads, islands in seas,
halts for discoveries to be shared,
Maps checked and notes compared:
A need at times of each for each
Direct as the need of throat and tongue for speech.
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
1
5
10
15
Explain the poet’s intention with this poem. (Why did he write it?)
What does the poet believe about love by saying it is “especially our own”?
Describe the tone of the poem.
What is suggested about people who are in love, in the last two lines of the poem?
Explain the effectiveness of the placement of line 14.
(3)
(2)
(1)
(3)
(1)
32
i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
by e.e. cummings
i carry your heart with me(i carry it in
my heart)i am never without it(anywhere
i go you go,my dear;and whatever is done
by only me is your doing,my darling)
i fear
no fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i want
no world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)
and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you
1
here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life;which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart
10
i carry your heart(i carry it in my heart)
15
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
5
Explain the metaphor in line 1.
(2)
Who does the poet address in this poem? Quote two consecutive words for stanza 1 to support your
answer.
(2)
How does the repetition in the third stanza link to the central message of the poem? Quote in support of
your answer.
(3)
This poem is written in free verse, contains many clauses in parentheses and unusual punctuation.
Comment on how this is effective in bringing across the poet’s feelings about love.
(3)
33
“Tsotsi”
by Athol Fugard
ABOUT THE AUTHOR - ATHOL FUGARD
 Born 11 June 1932
 South African (born in Middleburg, Eastern Cape) play writer, novelist, actor and director who writes about
South Africa.
 He is best known for his political plays opposing the South African system of apartheid.
 He was 26 years old when he started writing Tsotsi, his only novel.
SUMMARY
The novel provides insight into street gangs, crime and life in the townships (this one unnamed) of Apartheid
South Africa in the late 1950s. It tells the story of a ruthless gangster and his gang of misfits who stalk the
streets causing pain, bloodshed and fear wherever they go. This narrative takes place over a period of three days
in his life. The third person narrator (omniscient) gives us an inside view of the psyche and thoughts of each
character. We can understand and sympathise with the points of view of many characters.
Tsotsi (an informal word for a young, violent criminal) is the leader of the gang and he kills easily without
pangs of conscience. He shows no emotion and no compassion; he is ruled by instinct and the fear he instils in
others. He lives only in the present, having repressed any memory of his past life, including his name.
The story begins on a Friday evening with the gang killing a miner, Gumboot Dhlamini, for his pay packet.
They return to Soekie’s shebeen/tavern and Boston (the intelligent gang member) pressurises Tsotsi to tell the
gang his real name and something about his past. Tsotsi initially ignores Boston but eventually, after numerous
questions about his soul, Tsotsi lashes out violently. He beats and kicks Boston close to death. Tsotsi runs away,
desperately trying to escape the image of a beaten and broken Boston. Boston’s words haunt him – telling him
that one day he would feel empathy for another human being and he would not know what to do with those
feelings. When he finally stops running he finds himself in a neighbouring white suburb and chooses to rest in a
grove of bluegum trees. Tsotsi crosses paths with a woman carrying a shoebox. He plans to attack her – she
realises he is a tsotsi and pushes the box into his hands and she flees. The box contains a newborn baby.
In an ironic twist of fate Tsotsi finds himself responsible for a baby who is utterly hopeless and vulnerable. He
does not kill the baby and takes it back to his room in the township. (Tsotsi knows what it feels like to be
abandoned and alone – he was orphaned at age 10 and forced to join a street gang in order to survive.) For the
first time he begins to feel compassion and concern for the baby and realises that he cannot allow the baby to be
forsaken as he once was. He decides to keep the baby and find a way to take care of it.
Tsotsi’s journey to redemption and forgiveness begins – he does not tell anyone about the baby. At first he tries
to care for the baby on his own, feeding it condensed milk and hiding it in the ruins. But the baby is ill and
needs the care of a mother. Tsotsi forces Miriam, a woman with a baby of her own, to feed the baby. We see his
character evolving – he asks for help and places trust in another person. His determination to save the baby
overrides his rules of personal survival. He begins to distance himself for the other gang members and allows
his next victim, the crippled Morris Tshabalala, to live. He takes Boston back to his room and makes amends.
The novel focuses on the internal conflict – the story in Tsotsi’s head and heart. He changes – he takes good
care of the baby and gradually becomes humanised. Boston directs Tsotsi to God in an attempt to explain his
change in character. Tsotsi visits the Church of Christ the Redeemer and meets Isaiah who invites him to an
evening church service. Tsotsi hides the baby in the ruins. In a tragic twist the bulldozers are sent in to clear the
ruins and debris near Tsotsi’s shack, the morning after he has rediscovered himself as David Madondo. He dies
in a desperate attempt to save the baby form being crushed by the walls as they are broken down by the
bulldozers.
34
PLOT STRUCTURE
 Exposition – We meet Tsotsi and his gang on a Friday evening in an unnamed
township, probably Sophiatown.
 Inciting incident – Tsotsi chooses a victim and the gang robs and murders Gumboot
Dhlamini.
 Rising Action – Tsotsi assaults Boston; he saves the baby and Morris
 Climax – Tsotsi remembers his past – he names the baby David
 Falling Action – Tsotsi breaks all ties with the gang. He finds Boston and goes to
church.
 Resolution – Tsotsi has regained his identity. He dies trying to save the baby.
CHAPTER SUMMARIES
Chapter 1 - It is Friday evening. Tsotsi, Boston, Butcher and Die Aap sit in Tsotsi’s room drinking beer in
silence, waiting for Tsotsi to specify what job they will do that night. Boston has been passing the time with idle
talk. Tsotsi decides they will head to the train station where their unsuspecting victim, Gumboot Dhlamini,
begins to head home to his wife. (Gumboot is a mine-worker from a distant rural area. His wife is awaiting his
return with the money he has earned in the past year. He is a tall, jovial, hard-working and hopeful man.)
Butcher immediately approves of the plan but Boston seems uneasy and queries it before reluctantly accepting.
Tsotsi targets Gumboot for three reasons: he smiled, he wore a flaming red tie, and he bought his ticket with
money from his pay packet. After everyone does their part in the murder and robbery, they leave Gumboot’s
lifeless body on the train to be discovered by the other passengers.
Chapter 2 - Tsotsi, Butcher, Boston, and Die Aap head to Soekie’s tavern after the murder to have a few drinks.
As they start drinking they begin to talk about Boston vomiting after the murder of Gumboot. Boston claims that
the only reason he was sick and the others were not, was because he has decency unlike the rest of them. As the
conversation advances Die Aap and Butcher take Rosie, a girl who was also in Soekie’s tavern, outside to rape
her. When the others leave Boston begins to question Tsotsi about what he feels. This breaks one of Tsotsi’s
rules: never ask questions. Tsotsi is irritated by all the questions about his personal life. Tsotsi eventually has
enough and brutally beats Boston, leaving him in Soekie’s place beaten close to death.
Chapter 3 - After beating Boston, Tsotsi leaves the shebeen and runs through the streets. As he runs he has a
flashback, he sees a boy named Petah being taken away by the police, as he is being taken away he looks down
the street and recognizes Tsotsi as David, his name before he changed it to Tsotsi. Tsotsi does not acknowledge
the fact that Petah recognised him and just continues his game of dice. As Tsotsi lies under a bluegum tree he
begins to hear footsteps. As he hears them come closer, he moves to get a better vantage point and sees a young
woman. As he studies her more he begins to recognise the symptoms of fear and sees that she is carrying a small
parcel and keeps checking over her shoulder. Tsotsi grabs her by one arm and swings her into the darkness of
the trees. As he pins her against the tree she takes the parcel and thrusts it into the hands of Tsotsi and runs off.
The lid slips off and Tsotsi finds himself looking at the face of a young baby boy. He decides to keep the baby.
Chapter 4 - The next morning Tsotsi heads to Cassim’s shop (Ramadoola’s General Dealer) in search of milk
for the baby. Before he gets courage to go up and talk to Cassim he exits and re-enters the store multiple times
waiting for it to empty. He is awkward and embarrassed. Nervously Cassim sends his wife into the back room to
round up their children in case Tsotsi tries to mug them. Tsotsi goes up to the counter and asks to buy some
milk. Cassim sells him a tin of condensed milk and realises that the young man is unable to read the words on
the label. After buying the condensed milk Tsotsi takes the baby back to his room to clean it and feed it. He
feels awe at the realisation that a man can begin his existence in such a state of helpless dependence. After the
baby is clean and fed he takes him to the ruins to hide him. (He does not want his gang members to find it.)
After hiding the baby in the ruins (in the remains of MaRhabatse’s house) Tsotsi begins to remember the
“yellow bitch,” the dog he had when he was a young child. Tsotsi breaks one of his three rules: never ask
questions about the past. For the first time he is curious about the past that he has avoided for so long.
35
Chapter 5 - Gumboot Dhlamini is buried by Reverend Henry Ransome and the reverend is sorely troubled after
burying another man whose name no-one knows. The cemetery is surrounded by stunted trees and a broken
fence – it is a depressing place. Boston awakes painfully from his state of unconsciousness in the alley where he
was dumped and moves for the first time in almost a day. He is convinced that everything in this life is “utterly
finished”. Butcher and Die Aap begin to talk about Tsotsi beating Boston and begin to wonder what the future
holds for their gang. Tsotsi, Butcher and Die Aap find each other and begin to do what they do on any other
night, sit around and drink waiting for Tsotsi to make the decision of what job they will do. Without Boston’s
stories, conversation ends rather quickly and Tsotsi decides they will head into the city that night. When Boston
taunts a young woman passer-by who is carrying a baby, an idea dawns on Tsotsi. Tsotsi is irritated by their
presence and keeps thinking about the baby, the shoebox and the bluegums.
Chapter 6 - Tsotsi, Butcher and Die Aap wait for the shadows to become long enough so that they can head to
Terminal Place (a busy commercial hub – the bus terminus in the location). When they get to Terminal Place
Tsotsi becomes separated from Die Aap and Butcher. He steps on Morris Tshabalala’s hand – a crippled man
who lost his legs in a work accident –and decides that he will be his target that night. As Morris continues on his
way home he realises that Tsotsi is following him, he hopes that if he continues on his way he will lose Tsotsi
before he has to go through the dark part of his journey. He stops for some food at the Bantu house and then
continues on his way. As he gets to the dark part of his journey he realises that even though he feels like a “halfman” he wants to live. He leaves his money in a pile underneath a light, hoping Tsotsi will just take the money
and leave him alone. When Tsotsi kicks the money away and continues walking towards him, Morris begins to
throw rocks and shout insults in order to defend himself.
Chapter 7 - As Tsotsi follows Morris he begins to realise that he crawls like the “yellow bitch” used to,
dragging his body around since he doesn’t have any legs. Tsotsi chooses Morris because of his ugliness and
deformity. Morris epitomes the ugliness of the world. Tsotsi clearly has a nihilistic view of existence – life is
pointless and human values are worthless. Tsotsi confronts Morris in the street and tells him that he ‘feels’ for
him. After he does this, Morris tells him why he wants to live. After he tells Tsotsi all the reasons he wants to
live, he confronts him about why Tsotsi has to kill him. Tsotsi realises that he doesn’t have to kill him and that
he is able to choose to let him live. Morris tries to share the most beautiful thing he knows, which is a mother’s
love for her child. Tsotsi denies the truth of the statement. He has a long walk back to his room in the township.
He is plagued by thoughts of the baby, Boston, the bluegums and the beggar. He realises that there is no turning
back from these unprecedented experiences of feeding a baby and sparing a man’s life. Tsotsi decides he will
find out who he is and what happened in his past. Exhausted, he curls up and sleeps. Hence the meeting between
the two misfits provides each with a revelation, the dawning of new meaning in their lives.
Chapter 8 - Boston awakes to the sound of church bells and begins to think about his faith in God. Reverend
Ransome is still disturbed by not knowing Gumboot’s name – he prays to God for help. Tsotsi returns to the
ruins to find the baby covered head to toe in ants and instead of leaving it, he cleans the ants off the baby. We
are then taken to Waterworks square where a young mother by the name of Miriam Ngidi waits in the long line
to get to the tap. Miriam is a single mother because her husband, Simon, left and never returned. Her son,
Simon, is six months old. She works as a washerwoman in order to survive. Back in her room she hears a knock
at the door. Tsotsi has followed her. He threatens to kill her baby if she refuses to accompany him. Tsotsi takes
her to his room and forces her to feed the baby. At first she protests that the baby is too dirty. She says that a
bitch would care for its pups better than he has been doing with this baby. This comparison has a strong effect
on Tsotsi and sparks a clear memory of the events that turned him into what he has become. Miriam feeds and
cleans the baby. It is Sunday night and the people of the township are preparing for sleep. However, Tsotsi is
wide awake – another childhood memory has been reawakened and he is reliving the night that changed his life.
Chapter 9 - Tsotsi begins to remember his past; he begins to see his old home and how happy he was living
with his mother. Fugard paints the picture of a loving mother and a protected childhood for the young David.
His mother speaks often about the imminent return of his father, whom David imagines as a friendly, good man.
There is stern grandmother who is sceptical about his man. Eventually the flashback leads him to the events that
happened on the day that his mother was taken to jail by the police in a dompas raid – supposedly to round up
illegals. She tells him to wait at home and not move. His granny arrives and leaves shortly after, again telling
him not to move. As his father returns after being away from the family for a long time, he becomes furious
when he finds out his wife has been taken to prison. During the outrage the father kicks the family dog, breaking
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its back. The dog gives birth to a litter of pups that soon die. He sits next to the dead dogs for hours until he
cannot bear it any longer. David runs away from home where he is welcomed to the river gang which is led by a
boy named Petah. They share their scraps of food with him. He decides to abandon his identity and start his life
under the new name Tsotsi. He stays with the gang until there are dispersed in a police raid. Later he joins other
gangs of older boys and learns all the tough lessons of survival in a harsh and cruel world. Feeling the pain
inflicted on others is not permitted and memories of the past are worthless – they must be dismissed.
Chapter 10 - Tsotsi is awakened by a knocking at his door. His first instinct it to feel for the knife but then he
remembers the baby – it is still there at the foot of the bed, fast asleep. The knife does not bring the usual
reassurance – it sets off a chain of memories: the river, the street gangs, his mother and then Petah. Die Aap
visits Tsotsi to ask about their next job and to tell him that Butcher has joined another gang. Tsotsi tells him that
the gang has been disbanded and that they will no longer be doing the jobs that they used to. Die Aap leaves him
and Tsotsi hears the baby cry. Tsotsi takes out the baby. Staring at it he finally realises that the baby is helping
him remember his past. Miriam comes to Tsotsi’s room to feed the baby and later asks Tsotsi if she can have
him because she would be able to take care of him best. Tsotsi won’t let her take the baby because he is Tsotsi’s
baby. Tsotsi tells Miriam that the baby’s name is David and that he is not his father but that David belongs to
him. His thoughts keep returning to the memory of the river where he stayed with the street children and where
they played a game called “driving to hell and gone” in a rusty, derelict car that had crashed into the river one
night. When Miriam asks Tsotsi why he wants to keep the baby, he replies “Because I must find out”. Miriam
leaves and gives Tsotsi some milk for the baby. Tsotsi takes David back to the ruins. He makes the long journey
to the river where he finds the pipes and the shell of a motorcar. Now he has confirmed his memories and the
truth of all he had recalled about his past. He begins to wonder where Boston is and leaves to go and find him.
Chapter 11 - Tsotsi eventually finds Boston passed out of the floor of Marty’s shebeen. The owner, Marty,
fearlessly confronts Tsotsi and blames him for Boston’s state. She orders Tsotsi to remove the filthy, stinking,
drunk and injured Boston. Tsotsi helps him up and carries him back to his room to take care of him. Halfway
there, Boston wakes up and realises who is carrying him. He cries out in terror and staggers off into the
darkness. Tsotsi follows Boston and finds him collapsed under a sign. He takes him back to his room. He is
beginning to sense – both physically and emotionally – the extent of the pain that he has inflicted. He is
disturbed and confused. Tsotsi goes off to buy bread and milk. Fugard begins to reveal to us the life that Boston
has lead, how he was expelled from college, how he illegally sold fake passbooks to people and how a guy as
smart as he became a part of the gang. For years he has been misleading his mother into thinking he is employed
as a teacher. As Boston awakes Tsotsi begins to tell him about his experience with Morris and asks him
questions about how he is changing. Boston tells him that they are all sick of life and seek God. Boston leaves in
search of his mother.
Chapter 12 - Isaiah (the care-taker, bell-ringer and gardener at Reverend Ransome’s church) sits in the church
garden planting flowers where Tsotsi, who is on his way to seek redemption from God, finds him. Miss Marriot,
who works in the church office, is trying to get Isaiah to plant seedlings in a straight row. Isaiah and Tsotsi
strike up a conversation. He explains how he works for God and that when he rings the church bell it calls to all
the other people who believe in God. Isaiah invites him back next time the bells ring to find God. Tsotsi feels
“unnaturally light”, almost as is if is floating. Tsotsi finds Miriam again to feed the baby. As she feeds the baby
Tsotsi realises that mothers really do love their children and that in order for you to move into the future you
have to let your past go. Miriam asks him to let her have the baby again but he does not leave the baby with her
because he doesn’t quite trust her yet. After he goes to church Tsotsi decides that he will go back to his
childhood name, David Mondondo. As he heads back to the ruins he hears bulldozers taking down the walls. He
runs into the building only focused on one thing, finding the baby. He runs straight to the corner where the baby
lay, where he and the baby would be crushed by the ceiling. The workers who recover his body minutes later
agree that his smile is beautiful and strange for a Tsotsi. Tsotsi’s search for his true identity as David Madondo
and for some kind of meaning to his life ends with a final act of sacrifice, as he dies in the attempt to save his
alter ego, the baby David.
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THE SETTING
Set in an unnamed township near Johannesburg. Overcrowding, poverty, unemployment, violence, crime,
homelessness and gangsterism were rife. Gangsters spoke Tsotsi-taal – a mixture of English, Afrikaans and
other languages. People had to queue for hours at a communal tap for water. Slum demolition squads with
bulldozers instilled fear by razing shacks in the shanty town. Parts of the township had been reduced to ruins.
During this time Sophiatown was being dismantled. This was done under the guise of “slum clearance” but the
real reason was to fulfil the apartheid government’s plan to destroy mixed areas in order to enforce separate
residential areas for people of different races. The passbook system was in place to control the movement of
black people.
CHARACTERS
Tsotsi - As a boy he was innocent and content. However, when his mother was taken from him, he was left
alone to witness his father come home and upon realising the house was empty, he lashed out at the dog. Tsotsi
was scared and fled the home. He is taken in by Petah’s gang – he changes his identity and becomes the thug we
meet when the novel starts. At the onset of the novel he is the leader of the gang. He is a cold, calculating antihero. He is brutal, unscrupulous, dishonest, ruthless, cruel and indifferent. He does not do any honest work – he
is lazy and idle. He spends most days drinking at a shebeen and he ‘stalks’ his prey at night. He describes
himself as inwardly dark – he is driven by dark impulses. He represents the worst of human nature.
He creates three rules in order to survive as Tsotsi:
1. Rule of the working moment – always be able to see his knife
2. Never disturb his ‘inner darkness’
3. Tolerate no questions from others
The novel traces his journey to redemption:
 He chooses to save the baby. (The baby acts as a catalyst for his journey to self-discovery.)
 He stalks and plans to kill Morris, however he reflects and begins to feel sympathy for the crippled man.
 He alienates himself from the gang.
 He seeks Miriam’s help. (She shows him that your past cannot define your present or future.)
 He finds Boston. (He takes care of him and Boston talks to Tsotsi about God.)
 He meets Isaiah and goes to church.
 He rediscovers his identity and humanity – he becomes David Madondo again.
 He sacrifices himself in an attempt to save the baby from being crushed to death in the ruins. (The smile on
his face shows that he has no regrets and is pleased with whom he has become.)
Miriam Ngidi - Miriam is an eighteen-year old with a young baby. Like many other young women in South
Africa, Miriam has been abandoned by her husband – Simon – and left with a child to care for all on her own.
(Or was he abducted by the apartheid police on his way to work on the mines?) Tsotsi’s mom and the lady who
gave the baby to Tsotsi have been put in the same situation and Miriam is our symbol for them. Through a strict
plot context we know Miriam as the lady who feeds little David for Tsotsi. She is shown as an overall symbolic
mother, nurturing and nourishing not only baby David but her own son too. She performs these mother-like acts
to Tsotsi also and teaches him how to love again. (She shows the true qualities of Ubuntu.) She is like Mother
Mary. She shows Tsotsi that we mustn’t live in the past and need to move on in life and never give up. She
shows great concern and empathy, not only for the baby for also for Tsotsi. Her inner strength is a most
admirable quality. She is a strong, courageous woman who finally accepts that her husband is dead. She is
determined to make a life for herself and her son.
The baby “David” – He is introduced relatively early through Tsotsi receiving it in the bluegum trees by a
frightened woman who he intended to rape. The baby becomes a catalyst for Tsotsi’s self-discovery. The baby is
fragile, dependent, needy, helpless, vulnerable and ultimately a miracle of life. The baby represents innocence,
kindness, and the positives of human nature just like David, who Tsotsi was prior to becoming a thug. Tsotsi
recognises that and names the baby after his past self. The baby evokes feelings of sympathy and mercy in
Tsotsi – feelings he has denied before this. The baby helps Tsotsi towards becoming David again through
teaching him simple life lessons such as caring, nurturing and responsibility for others. Tsotsi nurtures the baby
with milk and cleans the baby which proves this new compassionate outlook. When David Mondondo sacrifices
his own life for that of the baby, he is actually saving himself. By his efforts to save the baby his instincts have
changed from violence – like a street thug – to compassion – like a mother, saving his humanity. It is the
ultimate redemption of becoming David again.
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Butcher - Like all black males living in South Africa at the time, Butcher is a victim of Apartheid. These men
take all means to survive and we see this expressed in the way Butcher lives his day-to-day life in the gang. To
them he is the killer – he never misses a strike and is the go-to man when the job needs to get done. Violence is
the way he has learned to survive because it is the only way he can. He is an angry, cold-blooded and an
impassive murderer. He enjoys tormenting Boston for his queasiness when it comes to murdering ‘decent’
fellow humans like Gumboot Dhlamini. To Tsotsi, Butcher doesn’t mean much other than a person in his gang
who is skilful and ruthless. Later Butcher decides to abandon the gang when Tsotsi’s behaviour changes.
Die Aap - Die Aap, like all the other characters, is a symbol of Apartheid in South Africa. Their personal,
actions, values and tendencies have been crafted by the oppression they have faced from the government. Die
Aap is a very loyal character – he wants the gang to stay together when Tsotsi is speaking of them to split – they
are his brotherhood and he would do anything for them. He is content to follow Tsotsi’s decisions no matter
how brutal the crime because they are all he knows. Die Aap is very strong and has long arms, reflected in his
name. He is slow of speech and thought. He doesn’t mean much to Tsotsi, he is just a gang member. Die Aap
doesn’t play a huge role in the understanding of the novel other than when he is the one who Tsotsi officially
tells that the gang is over.
Morris Tshabalala – is crippled, he lost his legs six years ago in a mineshaft collapse. He has lost his dignity
and is ashamed of the way he must get his money in order to survive – begging. He is proud, bitter and without
hope. He believes he is a half-man. When Tsotsi’s gang goes to the city, Tsotsi decides he will kill Morris;
however, he feels sympathy for the cripple because he reminds him of the ‘yellow bitch’ (a flashback to a dog in
his backyard when he was younger). Morris is a catalyst for Tsotsi to remember the dog. He is also a symbol for
South Africa, due to the fact that he is a crippled man, much like South Africa. Morris helps the reader to see the
pivotal moment within Tsotsi and the shift that Tsotsi experiences. Morris shows Tsotsi the value of the little
things in life and shows Tsotsi that he can make choices. Morris does not have any other influential moment
within the text other than the interactions that he has with Tsotsi. With his reactions he creates and helps Tsotsi
develop the ability to show decency and allows Tsotsi to make choices that affect others, rather than just
himself. He is grateful for a second chance at life when he realises that Tsotsi isn’t going to kill him.
Boston - Walter “Boston” Nguza is the “brains” of the group. He went to college but didn’t complete it because
he was accused of raping a fellow student. This sent him down his path of resorting to crime for survival as he
had no other way to make ends meet. He is a very knowledgeable character and always tells stories to the group
when they aren’t out stalking prey. After the ‘job’ on the trains (killing Gumboot Dhlamini), Boston is the only
gang member who shows any remorse. He is violently ill after the event. He constantly asks Tsotsi questions –
which go against Tsotsi’s last two rules – and these questions make Tsotsi hate Boston. Tsotsi beats Boston
because of these questions and he accuses Tsotsi of having no decency. (He is the only gang member with a
sense of decency.) This influences Tsotsi’s decisions throughout the book. At the end of the novel Tsotsi seeks
Boston out and cares for him in order to try and discover answers to similar questions that Boston was asking
earlier. Boston acts as a catalyst for Tsotsi’s search for God. He explains to Tsotsi that he must seek out God to
get more answers and tells Tsotsi that everyone is “sick from life.” Not only does he help Tsotsi understand
what he must do to seek further redemption but the exchange they have also makes Boston realise he must go
back home to seek redemption from his mother.
Isaiah - Isaiah and Tsotsi meet at a church near the end of the story and engage in a short yet life changing
conversation for Tsotsi. In the Bible Isaiah is an 8th century prophet ( inspired teacher or proclaimer of the will
of God ) and in the novel he teaches Tsotsi about God; he tells Tsotsi of what will happen because of sin and
that God is inside the church and it engages his interest of attending the church even more. Tsotsi has been
looking for God and that is why he went to Boston, Isaiah is his door to God. Tsotsi is invited back to the church
and if it wasn’t for the baby in the ruins the next day, he would have returned. Isaiah allows Tsotsi to understand
the possibilities of Christianity brings.
Gumboot Dhlamini - is a migrant worker in the Johannesburg mines. He has a sunny and positive disposition.
Ironically, it is his broad smile that is his undoing as it prompts Tsotsi to choose him as the gang’s victim.
Gumboot is also foolish because he allows himself to be complacent and opens his pay packet in full public
view. The gang members surround him on a crowded train and kill him. The last we see of Gumboot is at his
funeral when the officiating priest does not even know his name. However, he has an important role in the novel
because he is a catalyst for the disintegration of the gang and the changes that occur in Tsotsi’s life.
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MAIN THEMES
Apartheid: a system that led to moral and social decline - Tsotsi views the world as an ‘ugly place’ where
living is difficult, so people merely survive. This is a world where decent people are killed (Gumboot) and those
who question morality (Boston) are punished. The purpose of apartheid in South Africa was to segregate races
and to establish white superiority. All people of colour had to have a Passbook on their person at all times –
passbook raids were a regular occurrence. Townships had very few amenities – one tap in Waterworks Square,
no flushing toilets, no electricity. Demolition squads destroyed homes to ensure that there was a safe ‘no-man’s
land’ between the white suburbs and the townships. Characters like Morris and Gumboot represent those who
came from the rural areas in search of work. The novel exposes the true evil that flourished in the darker
purpose of apartheid. Tsotsi and the gang live impoverished lives in the township. They resort to crime to
survive; they are thugs who commit violent crimes with indifference. The poor socio-economic situation due to
the effects of apartheid is clearly portrayed. Violence, crime and poverty all form part of township life. All are
affected – some are perpetrators (Tsotsi and his gang), some are victims (Morris, Miriam, Gumboot).
Abandonment - David (Tsotsi) is forced to live on the streets at the age of ten and he adopts a life of crime in
order to survive. His abandonment is triggered by a police raid – his mother is taken away from him and he flees
his abusive, drunk father. The baby given to Tsotsi in the bluegum trees is forsaken by its mother.
Guilt - Boston feels guilt, shame and regret when the gang kills Gumboot Dhlamini. The mother who gives
Tsotsi her baby appears to feel shame and regret at abandoning her child. Tsotsi feels guilty after beating up
Boston, even though he only recognises the guilt much later.
Fear - The gang instils fear wherever they go. Isaiah describes them as “no-good loafers, scum who killed,
wicked.” Boston fears Tsotsi. Morris fears Tsotsi. Tsotsi affirms his identity by the fear he instils in others.
Hope - Boston and the baby are catalysts in Tsotsi’s life. The author shows that there is hope for a person who
is an anti-hero. Tsotsi saves the baby; he shows mercy to Morris; he puts the gang behind him and finds Boston;
he talks to Isaiah about God; he allows himself to hope for a better future and to be positively influenced.
Survival - At the beginning of the novel, survival is attained in a savage and animalistic way. To survive Tsotsi
kills innocent people in order to get money. As the story develops, so does the theme of survival. It becomes
less of a physical survival and shifts to an emotional and spiritual survival. Not only does Tsotsi save himself
but others too, he gives them hope. In saving others Tsotsi saves himself and his conscious. Examples are shown
through the secondary characters or Morris and Boston and Miriam. When Tsotsi lets Morris live after hours of
stalking him, he saved Morris from his ultimate fear of death and saves his own kind-hearted personality, taking
one step closer to becoming his old self, David. After beating him only two days before because he asked
questions, Tsotsi saves Boston from death, by nourishment, like a mother figure. Along with taking care of the
man, Tsotsi asks questions of Boston about life. Tsotsi has abandoned one of his rules that made him the thug he
is. These actions show that Tsotsi is becoming a new man, regaining and saving his soul. Fugard wants us to
understand that survival is not only your physical presence but the mental state of yourself. You can be alive but
your respect for others, positive attitude and kind-heartedness is diminished then you are dead as a soul.
Redemption and mercy - At the outset of the novel Tsotsi is in a state of sin with his gang but through
interactions with others, he can redeem himself to the young, innocent boy he once was, David. The mercy he
shows Morris is described as ‘the miracle of sharing in another man’s suffering’. He recognises that he is
moving into the light and finding compassion in the ‘halo of its radiance’. Morris reminds Tsotsi that mothers
love their children. Through caring for Boston, Tsotsi asks him questions pertaining to life in general. This
nurturing and discussion allow Tsotsi to redeem himself not only to Boston but himself. Boston now knows
Tsotsi is trying to fix himself and become a better person, therefore gaining respect for him. It is clear that the
change in Tsotsi is governed by a godly force. Since Boston told Tsotsi he is looking for God, Tsotsi goes to the
church and finds Isaiah. Through their interaction Tsotsi learns more of God and what he and Christianity can
do for a person. Tsotsi agreed to return to the church later for a session. This shows Tsotsi moving away from
his state of sin and again moving closer to becoming David. Through these interactions Tsotsi is walking the
road of redemption and becoming David. The final act of redemption is when Tsotsi attempts to save the baby at
the end of the novel. At the beginning of the novel Tsotsi was a life-taker and by the end he moves to a lifesaver showing us the full circle redemption. The author wants us to learn that although you may commit acts
that are uncivil or incorrect you can always redeem yourself if you choose so. Tsotsi made the choice to interact
with the people he did, he wanted to become David. Fugard knows if it’s possible for him, it is for anyone.
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Decency - Knowing right from wrong; upholding morals and values instilled by positive role models as a child;
living by society’s moral code; taking responsibility for one’s actions. Boston speaks about decency as having
empathy for another human being. Gumboot Dhlamini is an example of a decent person. We are first introduced
to decency at the beginning of the novel when Tsotsi beats up Boston because Boston asks him questions about
decency, referring to Tsotsi having none. Tsotsi doesn’t know how to answer and he feels insecure, which
causes him to lash out on Boston. Violence like this, along with killing, is what causes Tsotsi and his gang to
lose their decency all together. Boston later points out that they have become sick, from life, from the lifestyle
that they have participated in, lacking decency. As the story progresses Tsotsi learns he can attain decency in his
life. He learns this again through the seminal moments throughout the novel. Morris is a huge interaction for
Tsotsi. As the two talk and eventually Tsotsi allows Morris to live, Tsotsi does this because he recognises that
Morris too has a valuable life and this is an enormous step in attaining decency towards others. Tsotsi also
attains decency in his life through another important moment, remembering his past. When Tsotsi takes in the
full memory of the boy he used to be, he remembers what his life was like before he turned into a savage.
Although the memory may not have been the most positive it gives him a target of who he needs to become
again and this person is decent. Fugard wants us to learn that even the most lost, darkest human can turn their
life around and become a new person with new values.
Inner Darkness - Tsotsi is a gangster without a conscience. He shows no remorse in orchestrating Gumboot’s
murder. He feels no empathy when beating up Boston and intending to kill Morris. He is evil and driven by an
‘inner darkness’. He threatens Miriam’s child. His ‘inner darkness’ dissipates as the novel progresses.
Identity - Using the name “Tsotsi” reflects the title character’s conversion to a life of crime. The young David
Madondo blots out the personal identity originally given to him through his mother’s nurture and care. As
“Tsotsi” he represses disturbing memories of his past as a way of coping. His new identity is forged by his new
life’s circumstances and by his associates, the township gangsters. He rejects his past and allows his ‘inner
darkness’ to direct him in choosing the ‘jobs’ for the gang.
However, the baby is thrust into his arms and is a turning point in his life. The baby provides an opportunity to
rediscover his original innocent self. He even gives the baby his old name. But in order to recover the young
David, he has to discard “Tsotsi” and the inhumane way of life. He needs to forge a new path in order to become
David once again. Thus after ‘losing’ David, he rediscovers him. He needs to deal with the trauma and pain of
his youth and leave the horrible memories behind him in order to reclaim his name. At the end of the novel we
are told that he says out loud, with a joyous laugh: “My name is David Madondo.” And it is David Madondo
(not a tsotsi) who says: “Peace be with you.” in reply to the milkman’s greeting of “Peace my brother”. Finally
it seems that “Tsotsi” is no more and David is back.
Religion - Religion is a major theme throughout the entire novel. Almost every event relates back to
Christianity in some way. The baby represents the newborn baby Jesus. He brings innocence and peace to
Tsotsi. Miriam represents the Virgin Mary. She loves and cares about everyone which is why she wants to keep
David. Gumboot Dhlamini’s funeral leads the pastor to question his faith. Boston is the first person to mention
to Tsotsi that if he seeks redemption he must seek God, Isaiah plays a pivotal role in directing Tsotsi focus
towards God. Morris’s simple appreciation of nature also relates back to the creation of God. With Tsotsi’s
death we accept that his soul has been saved.
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MOTIFS
Watching - At the beginning of the novel the purpose of Tsotsi’s watching is to stalk. He is in a predator role.
As seen in his interactions with Gumboot and Morris, he watches in order to know how he must react in a
physical manner – what he must do in the situation. Watching helps Tsotsi through numerous conflicts
throughout the novel. By watching he makes his decisions on how to act to resolve the current conflict he is
facing. While watching Morris, Tsotsi is able to reflect on his current situation. He is contemplating whether or
not he should kill the cripple. His hours of watching instead of killing him earlier allows him time to thoroughly
consider what he is intending to do although the decision to not kill Morris comes once they have talked. The
watching of Morris has given him time to become sympathetic for Morris and to engage in conversation instead
of taking his money and life. While watching Miriam at the water spout as she waits to fill her flagon he is faced
with the conflict of needing to feed his baby. Through watching he is able to pick out who would be the best fit
to do this for him. He is able to pick out Miriam, who has a child of her own, who will surely be a good fit.
As the novel develops, he watches to learn, he watches to change himself internally, and it is a self-motivation
to find himself like when he watches Isaiah. While watching Isaiah Tsotsi is facing the conflict of wanting to
find God and answers. He has time to think of what he wants to ask and even though Isaiah starts the
conversation, Tsotsi has been waiting and watched him up until this point. He doesn’t leave because he is
motivated to get these answers to resolve his internal conflict which is ultimately becoming decent. Through
watching and observing others, Tsotsi takes values and beliefs from each which pushed him closer to becoming
who he really is and who he was before he became a thug that is David.
Survival - Tsotsi watches to see how others behave and how they deal with situations. This is key in the
survival of Tsotsi because with this analysis he can decide how to react in a beneficial way to himself. In the
outset of the novel Tsotsi watches so he can survive physically in order to stay alive. Near the end he watches so
he can regain his soul. (Tsotsi watches Petah’s gang steal and rob in the streets and how they act. He picks up on
this behaviour and it is an essential part in how he starts to live out his life, surviving on the streets by a rough
lifestyle of robbing and killing innocent others.)
SYMBOLS
The Dog - Represents his past, Tsotsi is the dog. It also represents the crippled apartheid system that South
Africa is faced with. The dog allows Tsotsi to compare Morris to his past and help his decision to let him live.
Light and dark - Light is the kind, compassionate, caring and thoughtful side of the story. Dark represents the
bad, murderous, ruthless and violent aspect of the text. The story begins in the darkness when Tsotsi is still a
thug who kills and robs with his gang but as the story progresses and he moves closer and closer to becoming
David, we see more light appear in his life. In the dark is where he commits acts of violence such as almost
raping the woman who gave him the baby, he stalks Morris in the dark and Rosie is raped by his gang in the
dark too. Light is shown when Tsotsi decides to let Morris live ( they are under the lamp post ), we also see it
when he confronts Boston after beating him only two days before, it is during dark when the beating occurs and
light when Tsotsi meets up with him again. Finally when Tsotsi attempts to save the baby at the end, the sun is
shining down on him when he is recovered. The transition as the novel moves from beginning to end is very
clear and we can see how the two symbols represent what they do.
Ruins - Represents South Africa and the situation as a whole for the black people under Apartheid. They have a
tougher life, with way less rights and privileges than white people. They are poor and live in run-down
townships. The white people held no care or concern for them, no desire to give them a respectable life. Just like
how no-one has care for the ruins in the novel. These black people’s lives were in ruins. They were viewed as
inferior just like if you saw a rundown building, you wouldn’t see it as a nice house standing tall, kept in a good
condition.
Water - The water supply that many people line up for in the story is a symbol of life. Water is essential in the
survival of a human being and without it you will eventually perish. It shows us how desperate black people
under Apartheid are for the most basic necessity. They line up for the ability to continue on. Lined up for life.
42
Baby - The baby is a symbol of renewal, rebirth and redemption, focused on Tsotsi. It is the catalyst to change
Tsotsi back to the person he once was, David. Tsotsi sees himself within the child and it triggers the pursuit of
cleansing and redemption within his life. The baby is Tsotsi also; it is what he represents when he is David,
innocence, kind-heartedness and youth. In attempting to save the baby at the end he is actually saving himself
from the thug life he was living.
POSSIBLE ESSAY QUESTIONS
1. Isaiah describes Tsotsi as a “no-good loafer of the street corners and shebeens, the ones you avoided at
night, the scum who killed for pennies or tickeys or no reason at all and who never did a day’s work in [his]
wicked life.”
Is the above statement a fair assessment of the title character? Examine and discuss occurrences in the novel
to justify your view.
2. The baby is the catalyst to Tsotsi recovering an identity beyond that of being a criminal and street thug.
Discuss the validity of this statement.
3. Tsotsi is a story about salvation: the main character overcomes his ‘inner darkness’, discovers his capacity
to love and rediscovers his humanity.
Critically discuss the accuracy of this statement.
4. “He was seeing Morris Tshabalala for the first time, in a way that he hadn’t seen him before, or with a
second sort of sight, or maybe just more clearly.”
What is the connection between ‘seeing’ and ‘feeling’ in Tsotsi? Justify your response with reference to
characters and incidents in the novel.
5. This novel illustrates how people can be profoundly affected by those around them. Tsotsi’s road to
redemption is not without these external influences.
In an essay of 350 – 400 words discuss how two or three characters in the novel influence Tsotsi and assist
in his journey to redemption. You may choose to discuss Miriam, Boston, Isaiah, the baby or Morris.
6. Tsotsi is more than a story about a man who finds mercy and redemption: it is a scathing attack on the
apartheid system that ruined a society.
Discuss the validity of this statement.
7. This novel illustrates how humankind can be deeply and profoundly affected by events.
Discuss this statement in light of the characters of Tsotsi and Boston.
43
QUESTIONS
CHAPTER 1
1. Identify why Tsotsi is silent for most of the chapter and how this contributes to the atmosphere.
2. What makes Tsotsi a particularly menacing brand of gangster?
3. Choose three sentences or phrases that summarise Tsotsi’s perception of the members of his gang.
4. Compare the four gang members and describe what their niche is within the group.
5. Why is Friday a good night to commit a crime?
6. How does Boston’s reaction to Tsotsi’s suggestion, that they find their next victim on the train, differ from the
reactions of the other members? What does that indicate about his character?
7. What weapon does Butcher prefer to use? Why? What does that tell is about him?
8. What indications are there that the men have a bad reputation in the community?
9. What is the purpose of the author giving a detailed description of Gumboot Dhlamini’s life?
10. Discuss the details about the life of the migrant mine workers in terms of the theme of the novel.
11. List and explain the three mistakes that Gumboot made on his last day.
12. Explain each gang member’s role in Gumboot’s murder.
13. Explain Boston’s reaction to the murder. What does it tell us about him?
14. Why does Tsotsi whisper an obscenity in Gumboot’s ear?
CHAPTER 2
1. Why does Fugard set the episode at Soekie’s after the murder? Analyse the description of Soekie’s place. How
does this relate to a theme in the novel?
2. What evidence is there is the beginning of the chapter that Boston is losing control?
3. Explain why Boston asks Tsotsi questions.
4. Describe how the murder of Gumboot affects each of the gang members.
5. What else, other than vomit, did Boston spill after the murder? Why?
6. In what way is Boston like a “cornered animal trapped in a ring of ridicule”?
7. What do Boston’s words, “everything you are not”, reveal about his opinion of Die Aap and Butcher?
8. Identify what Tsotsi’s reaction to Boston’s questions reveals about his character.
9. “Your maag can’t take it.” What does this sentence tell us about the township language Fugard has chosen for
these thugs to use?
10. Tsotsi wants everything to stay “the same as always”. Why?
11. What is the function of Rosie’s presence in this chapter? Link this to a theme in the novel.
12. Why does Soekie try to get Rosie to go home?
13. For every two drinks the other have, Tsotsi has one. Explain why he does this.
14. What does Boston mean by ‘decency’?
15. “What is that?” What is ironic about Butcher’s reaction to Boston’s used of the word ‘decency’?
16. What disturbing truth do we learn about Tsotsi’s past?
17. Evaluate Tsotsi’s description of himself as ‘meaningless as a handful of stones’.
CHAPTER 3
1. What sparks Tsotsi’s attack on Boston?
2. Describe Tsotsi’s three rules.
3. Why are the three rules significant?
4. How do the rules reflect Tsotsi’s personality? How do they protect him?
5. What is the importance of Tsotsi’s knife?
6. What is Tsotsi’s state of mind when he leaves the shebeen?
7. Why does he want to be alone?
8. What descriptions in this chapter indicate that this novel takes place in apartheid South Africa?
9. Tsotsi can’t always keep his memories at bay. Mention two events that force the concept of memory to the
surface.
10. Who is Petah?
11. What is Tsotsi trying to run from throughout the Chapter? Select a character trait this reveals about him.
12. Based on the spider anecdote, why does Tsotsi avoid all thought of the past?
13. What words seem to indicate that the woman in the bluegum grove actually chooses to give the baby away?
14. Why does Tsotsi kill neither the woman nor the baby in the bluegum trees?
44
CHAPTER 4
1. How is the narration different in this chapter?
2. Why does the author change the narration?
3. Why is Cassim in such a nervous state?
4. Cassim offers a clear insight into how the members of Tsotsi’s gang are perceived by the community. Quote two
consecutive words that incorporate a metaphor to describe the gang.
5. Mention some ways in which the author uses humour to break the tension in this chapter.
6. Explain why Tsotsi waits for the store to be empty before buying milk. What internal conflict is he facing?
7. Which two characteristics of Tsotsi are in contrast to the characteristics previously revealed?
8. Why is Tsotsi unable to see on the label that condensed milk is not suitable as baby milk? Which socio-economic
problem does Fugard introduce here?
9. Why is buying baby milk an embarrassment for someone like Tsotsi?
10. Why is MaRhabatse’s house a ruin?
11. Discuss the significance of Tsotsi caring for the baby.
12. How is the arrival of the baby in Tsotsi’s life “destructive”?
13. Tsotsi uses his knife to open holes in the condensed milk tin. Discuss the irony in this action.
14. “… a game he had never dared play and the baby was the dice, so to speak.” Explain this metaphor.
15. Give two reasons why Tsotsi uses a thin square of wood to cover his window.
16. Why are there many areas of ruins in the township?
17. What fundamental change takes place in Tsotsi at the end of the chapter?
CHAPTER 5
1. Why is Reverend Ransome so troubled?
2. Describe the symbolism of the township cemetery.
3. What socio-political point is the author making with his descriptions of the cemetery and the burial of Gumboot
Dhlamini?
4. Describe Boston’s physical and mental condition when he regains consciousness.
5. Give two reasons what the author refers to the smell of dirty rags in the room.
6. Compare Tsotsi making the “kill decisions” at the beginning of the novel to now. What has changed and how
does this reveal his overall change of character?
7. Explain the following line: “Something had tampered with the mechanism that had governed his life.”
8. What is significant (and acts as a foreshadowing) about the woman who walks past Tsotsi’s room?
9. Identify how the dynamic of the group has changed.
10. Die Aap and Butcher are both flat characters who do not have much depth. How does the author illustrate this as
they stand around waiting for Tsotsi to appear?
11. How does the author illustrate that Boston’s character is more in-depth? Refer to details in this chapter as well as
details in chapters 1-4.
12. Why is it difficult for Tsotsi to formulate a plan for their night’s operation?
13. What is the irony of Tsotsi wanting to know from the others where Boston is?
14. How does the author illustrate that there is not much loyalty between the gang members? How is this ‘good’
news for Tsotsi?
CHAPTER 6
1. How does this chapter deviate from the plot of the novel so far?
2. What is the purpose of the description of Terminal Place?
3. Describe Morris’s miserable life and WHY Fugard includes all the details about his accident and life as a
crippled man.
4. Like Gumboot, Morris Tshabalala is also a man. Discuss how these characters are different kinds of men.
5. How does Fugard use the character of Morris to criticise the unfairness of the world created by apartheid?
6. Why does Tsotsi choose Morris as his next victim? What does that say about him?
7. How does Morris become aware that Tsotsi is following him?
8. Discuss two ways in which the descriptions of the newspaper seller break the tension.
9. Discuss the significance of the newspaper headlines in terms of the setting of the novel.
10. Describe what connection Tsotsi makes with Morris and identify how that influences his view of Morris.
11. Identify the atmosphere and explain how it develops Tsotsi’s internal conflict.
45
CHAPTER 7
1. Refer to the first paragraph. What indication is there that something profound has changed in Tsotsi?
2. Why does Tsotsi step on Morris’s hand?
3. What is the effect on Tsotsi of the curse muttered by Morris? Why?
4. Why is Tsotsi alone? What does this mean?
5. Tsotsi realises that he is not after Morris’s money. Why is he drawn to following and attacking him?
6. Compare Tsotsi’s feelings towards Morris to his feelings towards Gumboot whom he stalked earlier.
7. What new ‘truth’ does Morris discover after all the years when he thought nothing mattered?
8. Why does Morris accuse Tsotsi of not wanting to live?
9. What, according to Tsotsi, is the truth about life?
10. Does Tsotsi understand Morris’s explanation about a person’s will to live? Explain your answer.
11. Why does Morris say: “Mothers love their children”? Explain Tsotsi’s response to the statement.
12. Morris makes Tsotsi realise that his power over life and death can have another meaning. What is this?
13. Explain the motif of light and dark throughout the time Tsotsi stalks Morris.
CHAPTER 8
1. Explain the link between the last section of Chapter 7 and the first section of Chapter 8.
2. Why does Reverend Ransome pray on his way to open up for the church-goers: “God help me”?
3. Boston is suffering “fear of pain and shame” – why is he in this state?
4. When Tsotsi first sees the baby he wants to run away but instead “he took a deep breath, held it in, and went to
work”. Analyse the significance of this and what it reveals about his change in character.
5. How does Tsotsi know that the baby is near death?
6. The communal water tap is “indispensable, hated at times, enjoyed at others”. Explain these descriptions.
7. Language and idiomatic expressions are a reflection of the way we live. How does the writer illustrate this in the
descriptions of the Waterworks Square?
8. The author mentions that Miriam was waiting for her husband to return, and had to accept that he was probably
dead. What incidents in the book so far confirm this suspicion?
9. What reference to the struggle against apartheid infers that Simon may have been arrested or detained?
10. List and describe two ways in which the author shows that Miriam is well brought-up and has manners.
11. How are Miriam’s social skills in sharp contrast to Tsotsi’s?
12. Assess the internal conflict with which Miriam is faced.
13. Discuss why this is significant and how it affects her first confrontation with Tsotsi and the baby.
14. How is the reader reminded of Tsotsi’s illiteracy in this chapter?
15. How does Tsotsi know the baby is close to death?
16. Why does Tsotsi threaten Miriam? Why does he not simply ask for help?
17. Why is it that Miriam finds feeding the baby deeply satisfying?
18. Why is Miriam’s remark about the bitch and her pups so significant?
19. Describe the mood on a Sunday afternoon in the township.
20. Discuss what Fugard is foreshadowing by giving the description of the church.
CHAPTER 9
1. What is Tsotsi’s real name?
2. Why does this ‘flashback’ chapter come at this point in the story?
3. What impression is created of Tsotsi’s life at home at the beginning of the chapter?
4. Why did the yellow bitch stop being friendly and playful?
5. What impression of Tsotsi’s father is created by his mother?
6. Why does Tsotsi run and hide when he hears his father’s entrance to the house?
7. Analyse why Tsotsi would “have no use for memories” and, in a relatively short period of time after losing his
mother, make the choice to become a Tsotsi.
8. Assess the impact of watching his father cripple and kill the dog in front of him as a child.
9. Tsotsi awakes from a dream of a storm and thunder. What is the dream really?
10. Why do the street children accept David into their gang?
11. The child David is clearly distressed on his first night in the pipes. How do his actions reflect this?
12. Explain the symbolism of Petah’s comment that David can ‘choose his name’.
13. David says, ‘He dead’ when referring to his real name. Explain the full impact of this statement.
14. How does David come to choose the name ‘Tsotsi’? How is this contrary to his sheltered childhood?
15. Which two survival skills did Tsotsi teach himself as a young child living in the pipes?
46
CHAPTER 10
1. Chapter 3 describes Tsotsi’s rules for survival. What indication is there now that those rules no longer apply?
2. How does the author show that Tsotsi is struggling to adjust to the fact that he has remembered his childhood?
3. How has the symbolic significance of his knife changed for Tsotsi?
4. List three of the memories that fill Tsotsi’s mind.
5. The author uses comic relief to ease the tension at the beginning of this chapter. How does he do this? Why?
6. Why has Die Aap come to Tsotsi’s room?
7. What has happened to Butcher?
8. Tsotsi’s diction and mannerisms have changed. How are they different from the way the author structures
sentences and descriptions, and what does it signify? You may quote in support of your answer.
9. Describe the significance of Tsotsi “ending it” and how this reinforces the theme of redemption and how it is a
step towards Tsotsi becoming redeemed.
10. Explain how Tsotsi’s changing psyche is also revealed in his observations of Miriam as she stands in the queue.
11. Tsotsi tells Miriam that the baby’s name is David. What does this reveal about his character?
12. When Tsotsi says that “David” never saw his father, who is he really referring to?
13. Assess why Tsotsi doesn’t want to give David to Miriam.
14. Explain why Tsotsi races to the pipes and reflect on how we all may have a moment of realisation when we see
something from our past, just as Tsotsi has once he arrives at the pipes.
15. Analyse Tsotsi’s flashback to the game he and the other ‘lost’ boys played in the dusty old car in the riverbed.
16. What is revealed about the timeline of the events in the novel?
CHAPTER 11
1. Who is Marty?
2. Why does Tsotsi need to find Boston?
3. Why is Boston afraid of Tsotsi?
4. Explain the significance of the comparison of Tsotsi carrying Boston ‘like a baby’.
5. How does is become evident that Tsotsi feels empathy for Boston?
6. Briefly summarise the tragedy of Walter ‘Boston’ Nguza’s life.
7. Why did Boston not tell his mother about his expulsion from college?
8. Who is Johnboy Lethetwa?
9. Boston notices a change in Tsotsi when he looks into his eyes. Quote the sentence and explain what he sees.
10. Differentiate Tsotsi’s feelings towards Boston and his questions at the beginning of the novel to now.
11. As Boston listens to Tsotsi telling his story, he thinks of the concept of ‘mercy’. Discuss how this word can be
interpreted in the context of this chapter.
12. Describe how this affects both Boston and Tsotsi’s characters and their relationship.
13. What does God mean to Tsotsi?
14. Describe how the concept of God would be so new to him and how it may help him become redeemed.
15. Interpret what Boston means by “we are all sick of life” and how, even now, this affects South Africans.
CHAPTER 12
1. How does Miss Marriot’s treatment of Isaiah reflect the political situation?
2. What is Isobel Marriot’s function in this chapter?
3. Has Father Ransome has been effective in his purpose as a priest bringing people closer to God? Explain.
4. Why did Fugard choose the name Isaiah for the old man at the township church?
5. Comment on Isaiah’s description of Tsotsi as looking ‘tired’.
6. Isaiah and Tsotsi have a conversation under the shade of a bluegum tree. Why is this significant?
7. Isaiah plants the seedlings in a crooked row. What else does he not get ‘straight’?
8. Why does Tsotsi’s body feel light as he walks away from the church?
9. Explain the irony of Miss Marriot’s comment that they ‘don’t allow strangers in the grounds’, and then, that ‘he
is welcome to pray’.
10. Tsotsi’s relationship with Miriam starts aggressively but over the course of the novel he comes to appreciate her.
Although he never says ‘thank you’, how does their relationship change to let us know she is appreciated?
11. Describe how the relationship between Tsotsi and Miriam has changed.
12. Comment of the image of the white linen blowing in the wind as Miriam does the laundry.
13. Identify what Miriam indirectly teaches Tsotsi about life? Identify the belief she leaves with him.
14. What is the significance of David Madondo saying ‘Peace be with you’ to a passer-by?
15. Why does Tsotsi return the baby to the ruins?
16. Why had the “slum clearance” been resumed?
17. Explain the significance of Tsotsi calling himself David Madondo. How has he been redeemed?
18. In what way is the end of the novel tragic? In what way is the end of the novel positive?
47
“TSOTSI” CONTEXTUAL 1
Read the extract and answer the questions that follow.
1 That was the Saturday street. Lots of people, come today gone tomorrow, very hot, making up now for the banshee time
around midnight when Saturday night would reach its climax.
Tsotsi saw it very quickly and closed his mind to it. He had seen it before. Free of the embarrassment and humiliation he
felt in buying the milk he was free now to hurry without a loss of pride. He slipped the tin into his coat pocket and pushed
forward. People felt safe in the daylight and that made it harder to move through the crowds on the pavement. On Fridays
they opened up and made a path for him.
2 When he reached his room he was sweating. He closed the door behind him, putting a chair against it so that no one could
enter unexpectedly. The window, or rather the hole in the wall since there was no glass, he covered up with the thin square
of wood which he used for that purpose when it was cold or raining and the wind blew. Only then, feeling safe from
inquisitive eyes or interruption, did he take the shoebox from its hiding place under the bed. He put it down carefully on the
table, pulled up a chair, sat down, and then took off the lid to examine its contents.
3 It was still alive and seemed to be sleeping. A foul acrid smell rose up from the box, but he didn’t notice it because for a
moment he was again awed by what he saw. This was man. This small, almost ancient, very useless and abandoned thing
was the beginning of a man. It had legs and arms, a head and a body, but even when he allowed for that, he could still not
see how this would one day straighten out, smooth and shape itself into manhood. Even asleep its face was cross-grained
with complaint. The head was misshapen. It looked more like an egg. The body was covered with patches of fuzzy hair.
4 When his first surprise passed, Tsotsi noticed the smell. He left the table to fetch an old coat hanging on a nail behind the
door, first bundling it up before putting it down. Then very carefully he took the baby out of the box and put it down on the
coat. He was proud of that, the idea to use the coat. The baby looked better resting on it than it would have on the bare,
bottle-stained table-top. Catching himself with the feeling of pride he frowned, pursed his lips and worked on. Apart from
the stain on the bottom the box was still all right, which meant the smell was coming from the baby. He examined it. The
smell was coming from its clothes, the rags in which it was wrapped.
[Chapter 4]
1.1 Place the extract in context.
(2)
1.2 Account for the image of the “banshee street” to describe Saturday night in the township.
(2)
1.3 Explain the reasons for Tsotsi’s fear in Paragraphs 1-2.
(3)
1.4 Why do people make a path when they see Tsotsi on a Friday night?
(1)
1.5 Refer to paragraph 2.
1.5.1 How does the author build up the picture of Tsotsi as a meticulous character?
(2)
1.5.2 “A foul acrid smell rose up from the box, but he didn’t notice it because for a moment he was again awed
by what he saw. This was man.” What is unusual about Tsotsi’s reaction here?
(2)
1.6 Comment on the effectiveness of the diction in the words: “cross-grained with complaint”. Refer to the
meaning of “cross-grained” and the sound device.
(2)
1.7 What role does the baby have here, and in the rest of the novel, in enabling the redemption of Tsotsi? (4)
EXTRACT B
1 “So Simon is dead, but I got my baby and there’s little David too. It’s hard times but I’m doing washing and my brother
gives me something each week and I manage.” Miriam stood at the door, looking out into the yard. “I mean we gotta live.
Little David – he’s got to live. Anyway, Simon must and me too. Even you. We just got to live. Isn’t that so? That’s what it
is. That’s all it is. Tomorrow comes and you got to live.
2 Tomorrow comes, Tsotsi thought, and a little boy has got no father and his mother never came back and anyway he didn’t
remember, but tomorrow taught him that he had to live. She was right.
[Chapter 10]
1.8 Why is it significant that Tsotsi names the baby David?
1.9 Refer to paragraphs 1- 2.
1.9.1 Comment on the effect of omniscient narration which gives us insight into both character’s thoughts.
1.9.2 What little boy is Tsotsi referring to in paragraph 2?
1.10 Discuss Miriam’s role in Tsotsi’s transformation. Refer to this extract and other parts of the novel.
1.11 What tragic event happens soon after this conversation?
(1)
(1)
(1)
(3)
(1)
(25)
48
“TSOTSI” CONTEXTUAL 2
Read the following excerpts from the novel and answer the questions that follow:
EXTRACT A:
‘Okay. Okay! I was sick. What’s that prove? Tell me. What’s that prove?’
1
Butcher laughed. ‘Ja. Sick man. Like a dog. Sick like a dog.’
‘So what’s it prove?’ Boston spoke with vehemence, raising his voice above the laughter. He was losing his
control. Spit bubbles had formed in the cracks at the side of his mouth. He repeated his question and then the
fifth person in the room, a woman seemingly asleep on a chair in the corner, looked up. They were drinking at
5
Soekie’s place. There were many places to drink in the township, and their number and location were never quite constant
form day to day, because the police were busy most nights and every day somebody would get a bottle
and set up shop. The choice was big. You could drink with the men or you could drink with the girls. You could
drink alone if it was that sort of day and that sort of world, you could sit down on a chair in a corner and drag out
the one tot to last all night and no one would give a damn one way or another why your mother was dead or your
10
woman gone. You could drink with a picture on the wall or no picture at all. You could drink comfortable in a
club easy, or sitting on a wooden bench, you could even drink standing up in a backyard.
Soekie’s place had a table with chairs around it, and a few more along the walls, which were bare. There was a
piece of linoleum on the floor but that counted for nothing because the floorboards were rotten. The light hung
naked above the table and on nights when the wind blew and found its way through the broken window pane and
15
the gap under the door, then the bulb swung slowly to and fro and the shadow of the filament moved in a sinister manner on
the wall. There was one door in from the street and in the opposite wall a second door which led to the second room where
Soekie lived, and slept, and ate her meals and played her gramophone and had her bottles
hidden. Tsotsi was sitting at the head of the table, rocking on the back legs of his chair. Die Aap was on his right, Butcher
opposite him. The chair on his left was empty. Boston had not yet sat down. The woman was sitting apart
20
in a corner. She had been there when they came in. She might have been there all day, with her head slumped forward, legs
outstretched, her arms swinging loose at her sides, a meaningless mumble on her lips at odd moments.
Chapter 2
2.1
2.2
2.3
2.4
2.5
Place this extract in context.
Describe the role of each of the gang members in the event preceding this extract.
Why does the author describe Soekie’s place in such detail? What effect is achieved?
Refer to lines 6-7: Why were the drinking places “never quite constant”?
Drawing from your knowledge of the novel, why does the gang prefer Soekie’s place?
(2)
(4)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(12)
EXTRACT B
‘Where is God?’
1
‘Everywhere. Mostly inside there.’ Isaiah indicated the church.
‘What does he want?’
The old man thought about this for a time. ‘For people to be good. You know. To stop stealing, and killing and robbing.’ 5
‘Why’s he want that?’
‘Because it’s a sin.’
‘What’s a sin?’
‘Robbing, stealing and killing.’
‘What happens if you do that?’
10
‘Que! Lord Jesus Christ will punish you. You done those things?’
‘What do you mean punish?’
‘Give you hell.’
‘Kill you.’
‘Maybe.’
15
The young man went away after that and Isaiah thought he was gone for good. But he came back a few minutes later.
‘When do they sing again?’
‘Tonight. I ring the bell tonight at ten minutes before seven. Why don’t you come?’
‘Me?’
‘Come man and join in the singing.’
20
‘Me!’
‘I’m telling you anybody can come. It’s the House of God. I ring His bell. Will you come?’
‘Yes.’
49
‘Listen tonight, you hear. Listen for me. I will call you to believe in God.’
His body felt unnaturally light. Walking was no longer the weight of his legs coming down on the hard, resistant
25
earth; but a sensation of drifting as if the shimmering noonday heat was running in the streets and carrying him
along with it. A warm wind came scuffling around the corners with clouds of dust. He had passed beyond even feeling the
sting as the grains of sand whipped into his flesh. He closed his eyes, but not tightly, just dropped the
lids, and then the wind passed right through him, blowing away his thoughts before he had time to recognise them. There
was no longer any weight to the baby he was carrying, wrapped up in his coat.
30
Chapter 12
2.6
2.7
2.8
2.9
2.10
Place this extract in context.
Explain the impact that the conversation with Isaiah has on Tsotsi.
Why is Tsotsi incredulous (in disbelief) about being allowed to attend church? (lines 19-21)
Explain why Tsotsi feels “unnaturally light” (line 25) at this point.
What does the author imply when he states that “there was no longer any weight to the baby he was
carrying” (line 30)?
2.11 What happens to the baby and Tsotsi after this? Is it a fitting conclusion to the novel? Explain your
answer.
(2)
(3)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(13)
“TSOTSI” CONTEXTUAL 3
Read the following extract from Chapter 1: “The street they took was crooked and buckled… men
looked the other way and women wept in the dust.” (pg8-9)
3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
3.6
3.7
What does the physical description of the street imply about life in the township?
(3)
Explain the significance of the ‘dark clouds in the east’.
(2)
Comment of the effectiveness of the simile “…township wore that hour the way a beggar wears his
rags, the cast-offs of a better time, accepted but without gratitude, worn without pride…” in conveying
the attitudes of the people.
(3)
Discuss the impact of the demolition squads on the people living in the township.
(3)
Why are Tsotsi and his gang described as the “harbingers of the night”?
(2)
How does the atmosphere change with their presence on the street?
(3)
What aspects of Tsotsi’s character are being emphasised in this extract? Quote in support of your
answer.
(4)
(20)
“TSOTSI” CONTEXTUAL 4
Read the following extract from Chapter 2: “Tsotsi rocked gently on his chair … he was dead.” (pg16)
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
4.5
Place this extract in context.
(2)
Describe the relationship between Tsotsi and the gang.
(3)
Boston “had sat down in the gutter and vomited”. Discuss the significance of Boston’s behaviour for
the gang and for Tsotsi. Refer to this extract and the novel as a whole in your answer.
(4)
Account for Tsotsi’s hatred of Boston.
(3)
What is revealed about Tsotsi’s state of mind in this extract? Quote in support of your answer.
(3)
(15)
“TSOTSI” CONTEXTUAL 5
Read the following extract from Chapter 3: “Boston! He, Tsotsi, had himself picked Boston…if he
failed to observe them the trouble started.” (pg 29-30)
5.1
5.2
5.3
Comment on the ironic use of the word “virtue” in this extract.
Critically discuss Tsotsi’s opinion of Boston.
Explain how darkness is used as a symbol.
(3)
(4)
(3)
(10)
50
“TSOTSI” CONTEXTUAL 6
Read the following extract from Chapter 4: “It was the Saturday street…It looked more like an egg.”
(pg 39-40)
6.1
6.2
6.3
6.4
6.5
Place this extract in context.
(2)
With reference to diction, explain how the setting of this extract develops your understanding of life in
the township.
(3)
Explain why Tsotsi’s “embarrassment and humiliation” is significant.
(2)
How does the image of the baby evoke sympathy/awe in Tsotsi? Quote in support of your answer. (4)
Contrast the view of Tsotsi presented in this extract with the view of him as a gangster.
(4)
(15)
“TSOTSI” CONTEXTUAL 7
Read the following extract from Chapter 4: “It had broken into his life with shattering
improbability…the baby was the dice, so to speak.” (pg 45)
7.1
7.2
7.3
7.4
What impact has the baby had on Tsotsi’s life?
(3)
Explain Tsotsi’s ambivalence towards the baby.
(3)
Comment on the effectiveness of the image: “He was chancing his hand at a game he had never dared
play and the baby was the dice…”
(3)
Give an example of where Tsotsi has had to “swallow his pride”.
(1)
(10)
“TSOTSI” CONTEXTUAL 8
Read the following extract from Chapter 5: “The simplest things started the sequence…governed his
life, inhibiting its function.” (pg 54-55)
8.1
8.2
8.3
8.4
Discuss the effectiveness of the narrative style in conveying the changing relationship between Tsotsi
and the other gang members, Dis Aap and Butcher.
(3)
Comment on Tsotsi’s perception of Boston as “an exception” in the gang.
(3)
Explain the significance of Tsotsi’s realisation that life involves making choices.
(3)
What is the next (IMPORTANT!) choice that Tsotsi makes at Terminal Place.
(1)
(10)
“TSOTSI” CONTEXTUAL 9
Read the following extract from Chapter 6: “Why did I go on? he asked himself…They were gone.”
(pg 61)
Read the following extracts from Chapter 7: “He refined the thought…the cripple was revealed.”
(pg 79-80)
AND “I want to live…man’s excitement.” (pg 84-85)
9.1
9.2
9.3
9.4
9.5
9.6
9.7
Comment on the effectiveness of the simile “the beam…had come down like a guillotine on his life…”
in conveying Morris Tshabalala’s despondency with life.
(3)
Why does Tsotsi like this new experience to “Boston being sick after the job on the trains”?
(2)
What does Tsotsi’s attitude to Morris suggest about his changing character? Substantiate your answer
with reference to the text.
(3)
Comment on the symbolism of light in this context.
(2)
Explain the significance of the four words “I want to live” to Morris and to Tsotsi.
(3)
With reference to diction, contrast the thoughts and actions of Morris as revealed in these extracts. (4)
Account for Morris’s excitement.
(3)
(20)
51
“TSOTSI” CONTEXTUAL 10
Read the following extract from Chapter 8: “The thought of that greedy, decrepit, foul-smelling
bundle…she knew enough to wait patiently and let him continue.” (pg 102)
AND Read the following extract from Chapter 10: “He knew then that she had wanted to come…it
could smell her presence.” (pg 130)
AND Read the following extract from Chapter 12: “So Simon is dead, but I got my baby…She was
right.” (pg 162)
10.1
10.2
10.3
10.4
10.5
Explain why Miriam is disgusted with Tsotsi’s baby at first.
Is the word “savagely” an accurate description of Tsotsi’s character at this point in the novel?
Comment of Miriam’s change in attitude towards the baby.
How does this change in Miriam’s attitude influence the reader’s perception of her as a symbol or
motherhood?
Describe how the relationship between Miriam and Tsotsi has evolved.
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(3)
(15)
“TSOTSI” CONTEXTUAL 11
Read the following extracts from Chapter 3: But instead be chose to remain…Where had it gone
wrong?” (pg 29)
11.1
11.2
11.3
11.4
11.5
11.6
Refer to the line: “lead him in a strange way”
Tsotsi chooses to remain sitting in this grove of bluegum trees. In what way will this decision “lead him
in a strange way”?
(2)
Refer to the line: “picked up the silken thread”
How does the metaphor of the ‘silken thread’ affect your understanding of the consequences of this
decision to stay where he is?
(3)
Refer to the line: “the violence was spent, without the madness of hate”
Identify the incident referred to here and explain what had happened.
(2)
Quote a sentence in the extract that indicates that Tsotsi regrets his actions.
(2)
Refer to the line: “the thousand lives adrift in the location streets”
Discuss the effectiveness of the image used here.
(3)
Refer to the line: “He had picked Boston because he had a virtue…he was clever”
The word virtue is repeated four times in four limes when referring to Boston, Die Aap and Butcher.
Why is the use of this word ironic in this context?
(3)
(15)
52
“Macbeth”
A tragedy
by William Shakespeare
About William Shakespeare:
 Widely considered the greatest writer of all time – more than 3 dozen plays and 150 poems
 Born in Stratford-upon-Avon in 1564.
 Attended Stratford Grammar School for 7 years – learnt English composition, Latin and studied the Bible
 At 18, he married the 27-year-old Anne Hathaway with whom he had 3 children
 Left his family and moved to London between 1587 and 1588, to pursue career in writing and acting.
 Joined the Lord Chamberlain’s Men, a drama troupe and this group financed the famous Globe Theatre on the south
side of the Thames.
 By 1600 he was earning a living as a playwright, actor and shareholder in the theatre.
 1612 he decided to retire from his plays and theatrical enterprises to his home in Stratford.
 During the 1st performance of Henry VIII in 1613 at the Globe, the firing of a cannon set the theatre on fire – theatre
was rebuilt and opened in 1614
 Spent last 2 years of his life at New Palace (an estate in Stratford) with daughter Susanna and granddaughter Elizabeth.
 Died on April 23, 1616 and was buried under the floor of Stratford Church
About the Play:
 Shakespeare’s Macbeth, possibly performed as early as 1606, was first printed in the 1623 edition of Shakespeare’s
works known as the First Folio.
 His principal source was Chronicles of England, Scotland, and Ireland (1577) by the English chronicler Raphael
Holinshed.
 Shakespeare based this tragedy on actual events that took place 600 years before he wrote the play.
 Now, after 900 years, it is still relevant, as it concerns the struggle for Power.
 The play depicts the downfall of a man who has many fine qualities, but commits murder because of his flaw of
ambition and his fallibility to the influence of others.
 Shakespeare’s Macbeth is a study of the evil that is in every human heart and of one man’s downfall as he wilfully
gives way to its temptations. Ultimately, Macbeth brings about his own downfall, deliberately yielding himself to the
destiny suggested by his prophetic encounter with the witches—fleeting kingship and eternal damnation.
 In 1847, Italian composer Giuseppe Verdi adapted William Shakespeare’s play Macbeth for the operatic stage. Verdi
revised and expanded his operatic version of Macbeth for the Paris Opéra in 1865 and went on to create two other
masterpieces based on Shakespeare plays, Othello (1887) and Falstaff (1893).
 The play is a tragedy – we mourn the loss of Macbeth at the end of the play and do not rejoice at the death of the
brutal, selfish, tyrant that he has become. (At the beginning of the play we come to know him as a fine man with good
qualities – loyal, brave, kind, capable, fearless, honourable, courageous, good husband and friend and subject to his
King.)
 It is his humanness that we identify with and we are saddened at the end that a brutal death is his fate.
The ‘story’ in a very small nutshell…
Returning from battle, Macbeth and Banquo meet three witches who reveal to them their future. The first part of the
witches’ prophecy comes true when Macbeth is made Thane of Cawdor by King Duncan. Emboldened by Lady Macbeth,
the new Thane takes the second part of the prophecy into his own hands, murdering Duncan (who is staying with Macbeth
at Inverness) and crowning himself King of Scotland. Remembering that the witches also predicted Banquo would be the
father of kings, though never one himself, Macbeth orders that he and his son, Fleance, be killed. Banquo is slain but
Fleance survives. Haunted by Banquo's ghost, Macbeth returns to the witches. They warn him against Macduff, but also tell
him that no man born of woman can kill him and that he will not be defeated until Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane.
Hearing that Duncan's son, Malcolm, has joined forces with Macduff, Macbeth slaughters Macduff's wife and children.
Lady Macbeth goes mad with guilt and commits suicide. Meanwhile, Macbeth's enemies close in on him at Dunsinane,
having covered themselves with branches cut from Birnam Wood to conceal their approach. Macbeth is slain by Macduff,
who reveals he was not born naturally but was 'from his mother's womb untimely ripp'd'. Malcolm is declared king.
53
The Characters:
 Duncan – King of Scotland, a well-liked, just and fair man, with an unsuspecting, naïve nature. He is betrayed by the
Thane of Cawdor twice. (First time – Battle against Norway, the Thane betrays Scotland and Duncan. Then Macbeth
becomes the Thane of Cawdor and betrays Duncan by killing him.) His death sets up the theme of the natural order
being disturbed, as referred to by the Old Man.
 Malcolm – Duncan’s eldest son and heir to the Scottish throne. (Prince of Cumberland) He escapes to England after
his father’s murder. He leads the revolt against Macbeth. Pronounced King after he kills Macbeth.
 Donalbain – Duncan’s second son. Escapes to Ireland after father’s murder. Does not join Malcolm in revolt against
Macbeth. After his escape to Ireland, he is not mentioned in the play again.
 Macbeth – The tragic focus of the play. A general in Duncan’s army, Thane of Glamis, becomes Thane of Cawdor and
King. (Murders the King, Banquo and Macduff’s family) Originally a loyal and honest man. His descent into murder
and betrayal is the tale of how ambition can destroy a person and his reputation. Plagued by ghosts and hallucinations.
The man who is killed at the end of the play is barely recognisable from the loyal and brave Macbeth we meet in Act
One. Killed by Macduff in a duel.
 Lady Macbeth – wife of Macbeth. Ruthless and irrational. Her ambition for Macbeth’s future exceeds that of
Macbeth’s. Urges Macbeth to kill Duncan. Willing to sacrifice her femininity to ensure Macbeth's place on the throne.
She becomes obsessed with her guilt and continues to see blood on her hands – a sure sign of her guilty conscience.
Loses all resolve and commits suicide.
 Banquo – Macbeth’s loyal friend and a general in Duncan’s army. Witches predicted his sons would be Kings. He did
not pursue the witches’ prophesies, like Macbeth did. Murdered by Macbeth. Haunts Macbeth. He serves as a
counterpoint to how one should deal with fate.
 Fleance – son of Banquo and first in line of kings prophesied by the Three Witches. Macbeth tries to have him killed,
but he escapes. Because he escapes, he represents a future Macbeth cannot bear – a line of kings following Banquo and
not his own sons.
 Macduff – Thane of Fife, Macbeth’s greatest rival in Scotland, nobleman in Scotland. He suspects Macbeth of foul
play after Duncan’s murder. His whole family is killed by Macbeth. Kills Macbeth. Born (‘unnaturally’) by caesarean
section. He is pivotal in restoring order to Scotland by ensuring that Malcolm becomes the King.
 Lady Macduff – wife to Macduff. Brutally murdered under Macbeth’s orders
 Boy – Son to Macduff. Brutally murdered under Macbeth’s orders
 Lennox – nobleman in Scotland. Seems to be on Macbeth’s side at first, but then urges Macduff to bring Malcolm
back from England as rightful heir to the throne.
 Ross, Menteith, Angus, Caithness - noblemen in Scotland. Helps Malcolm in coup d’état.
 Siward – brother of Duncan, Earl of Northumberland, general of English forces. Helps in coup d’état.
 Young Siward – Siward’s son. Killed by Macbeth in a duel. Being of natural birth, his death at Macbeth’s hands
strengthens Macbeth’s belief of invincibility. \
 Seton – (sometimes called Seyton) an officer to Macbeth
 English doctor
 Scottish doctor – diagnoses that Lady Macbeth sleepwalks because internal suffering and agony.
 Porter – provides comic relief - Imagines the gates of Inverness to be the gates to Hell
 Old Man – Talks to Ross about the strange events that occurred on the night of Duncan’s murder. Although a
peripheral character, he is important in highlighting the disruption of the Order of Being. he alludes to storms that reign
while Macbeth does.
 Three Murderers – enlisted by Macbeth to kill Banquo and Fleance
 Gentlewoman - attends on Lady Macbeth – observes her strange behaviour and enlists a doctor
 Hecate – Protector of witches and the weird sisters’ mistress – concocts potion that will lead Macbeth to his ruin. She
decides that Macbeth must be punished for his selfishness and greed. She commands and demands the respect and
loyalty of the Three Weird Sisters.
 Three Witches – weird sisters – instigators of the play, their prophesies prompt Macbeth to action – they symbolise
the evil that pervades the play and the retribution that results from sinful deeds. They are symbolic of both the
underworld and the mysticism of the 16th Century.
 Apparitions – summoned by witches – 3 forms – helmeted head, bloody child and child holding a tree
 Lords, Gentlemen, Officers, Soldiers, Attendants, Messengers
54
ACT I
Play begins with the meeting of the witches who are planning to bring about Macbeth’s downfall. Scotland is
engaged in a battle with Sweno, the King of Norway, and his army. We meet Macbeth when he has killed a rebel
Scotsman, Macdonwald and his army had defeated the traitor, the Thane of Cawdor. King Duncan of Scotland
gives Macbeth the title of Thane of Cawdor. Macbeth and Banquo meet the witches and the prophesies are heard –
Macbeth is excited about the prospect of being King Duncan to stay at Inverness, Macbeth, and his wife plot to kill
Duncan.
ACT I: SCENE I
 On a heath, three witches wait to meet Macbeth amid thunder and lightning. (representative of chaos and evil)
 Their conversation is filled with paradoxes - fair is foul…
 Themes of fate and supernatural introduced – this sets the tone for the play.
ACT I: SCENE II
 Scottish army at war with Norwegian army
 Introduces Macbeth through the eyes of other people.
 Word brought to Duncan about Macbeth’s heroism in fighting Norwegian forces and killing Macdonwald
 Ross and Angus tell Duncan that Thane of Cawdor defected to Norwegian side, was caught and executed
 Macbeth given title of Thane of Cawdor
ACT I: SCENE III
 Contact with the witches and theme of equivocation surfaces – first prophesy came true, so they reconvene at the
predetermined heath
 Sleeplessness (witch cursed a sailor’s wife) introduced as part of ‘evil’
 Macbeth and Banquo enter area – Macbeth ignores their ghastly appearances, Banquo horrified.
 Witches greet Macbeth with the three titles and tell Banquo that he will beget a line of kings, but never be a king
himself.
 After intense questioning, the witches disappear into thin air.
 Macbeth told by Ross and Angus about Macbeth’s new title – Macbeth very surprised!
 Banquo warns Macbeth that witches are evil and not to be believed
 Leave and travel towards the residence of the King.
ACT I: SCENE IV
 Duncan and Malcolm discuss execution of Thane of Cawdor – Malcolm says the man repented his sins.
 Duncan says that there is no way of determining a person’s thought, whether good or evil. Thane of Cawdor betrayed
him, although Duncan trusted him completely. IRONY!
 Macbeth enters and Duncan lavishes praise on him,
 Duncan proclaims Malcolm to be heir to the throne.
 Macbeth writes letter to wife informing her of Duncan’s visit to Inverness
ACT I: SCENE V
 Lady Macbeth reads Macbeth’s letter concerning meeting with witches and visit from King – resolves to support
Macbeth in carrying out of murders to become King. (regicide = killing of a King)
 She says Macbeth is too kind (“too full o’th’ milk of human kindness”) and gentle to commit such an act and she is
more morally courageous and daring.
 Lady Macbeth interrupted by messenger who tells her that Macbeth and King Duncan will be arriving at Inverness,
their castle, in a few moments.
 Lady Macbeth realises this is her chance to kill Duncan. Prays for confidence (“unsex me here”)
 Encourages Macbeth to be kind, hospitable and servile so that nobody will suspect their plans.
ACT I: SCENE VI
 Duncan and Banquo enter Inverness and admire its beauty and advantageous situation.
 Duncan informs Lady Macbeth that he intends to stay the night.
ACT I: SCENE VII
 Macbeth confused about course of action – wondering whether crime is worth the effort
 Realises it is host’s duty to ENTERTAIN and safeguard the King, not kill him!
 Lady Macbeth furious at Macbeth for being coward – assures Macbeth that they will not fail in their mission
 Lady Macbeth explains she will poison Duncan and guards’ wine with sleeping pills and that Macbeth must kill
Duncan in his sleep.
 Macbeth agrees with Lady Macbeth’s plans
55
ACT II
The entire act is concerned with Duncan’s murder and the discovery thereof. Macbeth (after encouragement from
his wife) goes to Duncan’s chamber and kills him. When he emerges with the bloodstained dagger, she is angered
and takes them back to Duncan’s room – she frames the sleeping guards for the murder. Macduff arrives and the
murder is discovered. Malcolm and Donalbain flee for their lives from Scotland.
ACT II: SCENE I
 Banquo and Fleance walk towards their rooms after merrymaking with other guests.
 Banquo is troubled over Macbeth’s believing of witches
 Banquo and Fleance meet Macbeth in hallway, questions Macbeth about witches – Macbeth falsely responds that he
has not given it any thought.
 Macbeth summons Lady Macbeth and finds himself clutching a dagger – sees imaginary drops of blood.
 Lady Macbeth gives Macbeth a signal and he proceeds towards Duncan’s room to kill him.
ACT II: SCENE II
 Macbeth kills Duncan and returns to chamber where Lady Macbeth waits
 Shrieks of owls and crickets – evil omens – as Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth about the murder
 Macbeth is unable to bless himself when he needed a blessing.
 Macbeth thinks he heard voice saying that he will never sleep again.
 Neither Macbeth nor Lady Macbeth able to sleep
 Lady Macbeth sees Macbeth still clutching the bloody dagger – tells him to wash up – he is frozen!
 Lady Macbeth takes over – smears blood on servants of Duncan – washes herself and tells Macbeth to be calm
 Loud knocking at south entrance to castle and couple retire fearfully to bed.
ACT II: SCENE III
 Drunken porter answers knocking at the gate
 Compares himself to devil-porter and castle is place of Beelzebub (Devil) – Inverness = EVIL!
 Macduff and Lennox enter and ask for Macbeth.
 Also ask for Duncan, as he had requested to be woken
 Macduff to Duncan’s room
 Lennox tells about raging storms – symbolic of stormy events in castle
 Macduff re-enters with news that Duncan had been murdered.
 Lady Macbeth enters, seemingly sleepy – ‘faints’ at news that Duncan murdered.
 Malcolm and Donalbain told of father’s death – no grieving – flee to England and Ireland respectively.
 Macbeth asks all to meet in hall to discuss events.
ACT II: SCENE IV
 Old man tells Ross he has never before seen a stranger night – although technically day, country still covered in
darkness – shrieks of ominous creatures pervade the land.
 Macduff enters and tells Ross that Norwegians are main suspects for the murder – to wreak revenge on Macbeth for
defeating them in battle
 Thinks Malcolm and Donalbain consorted with murderers, that’s why fled the country.
 Macduff tells Ross that Macbeth in new king and is travelling to Scone to be ordained.
ACT III
Macbeth is now King of Scotland – he feels threatened. All his subsequent actions are to retain his position and the
first thereof, is the murder of Banquo (and attempted murder of Fleance). Macbeth and his wife are drifting apart.
Macbeth sees Banquo’s ghost at a feast at Forres, near Dunsinane Hill (the King’s castle) – his odd behaviour
creates suspicion about his involvement in the murders. Macbeth decides to seek advice from the Weird Sisters. In
England, Malcolm has been joined by Macduff and they are rallying to get help from the English troops in order to
overthrow Macbeth in Scotland.
ACT III: SCENE I
 Banquo troubled by fact that witches prophesies came true – suspects foul play on Macbeth’s part
 Macbeth and Lady Macbeth enter and announce that dinner to be held, all – especially Banquo – invited.
 Banquo explains he will be late, as Fleance and he have duties to attend to.
 After Banquo leaves, Macbeth declares that Banquo is now his greatest threat – prophesies say Banquo’s sons will be
kings
 Plots to kill Banquo and Fleance when they travel through the forest that night – hires two murderers – tells them that
Banquo is the reason why they are so poor!
56
ACT III: SCENE II
 Macbeth and Lady Macbeth state of affairs in castle – Macbeth restless and anxious
 Lady Macbeth thinks plan to kill Banquo + Fleance is unnecessary
 Turn of events – Macbeth now calms Lady Macbeth and tells her to act like gracious hostess – Macbeth now
enveloped in role of murderer and evil King.
ACT III: SCENE III
 2 Murderers await Banquo + Fleance one mile from the gate to Macbeth’s castle, joined by 3rd murderer
 Father and son attacked while walking the last part to the castle.
 Banquo dies, Fleance escapes
 Murderers to report to Macbeth about failed mission
 Macbeth doomed – Fleance lives!
ACT III: SCENE IV
 Banquet – Macbeth gracious and calm host
 Murderers report to M about Fleance’s escape – Macbeth angry and afraid
 Macbeth asks assembly why Banquo not there – Banquo’s ghost enters and only Macbeth can see him – assembly
thinks Macbeth has gone mad
 Lady Macbeth tries to cover up by saying that m is prone to fits of delirium
 Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth to calm down in order NOT to be suspected of the crime/s
 Banquo’s ghost leaves banquet, but not after creating chaos in the castle
 Macbeth tells Lady Macbeth that he fears for his life now that Banquo’s ghost is roaming the castle
 Macbeth troubled that Macduff did not attend feast
 Decides to visit weird sisters next day to hear more prophesies – good or bad.
ACT III: SCENE V
 Witches meet Hecate – queen of the night and protector of witches / enchantresses
 Hecate angry that witches had not asked her for help in their dealings with Macbeth and that Macbeth has been
ungrateful to them despite all their assistance.
 Hecate decides to make potion that will lead Macbeth to his ruin.
ACT III: SCENE VI
 Lennox and other lord discuss macabre atmosphere in palace.
 Lennox notes that all in contact with Macbeth is dead or has disappeared.
 Glad that Donalbain and Malcolm not near Macbeth and thus not vulnerable to his murderous hands.
 Lennox finds out that Macduff has gone to England to ask help from Malcolm, Edward (king of England) and Siward
(Earl of Northumberland) in overthrowing Macbeth.
ACT IV
Macbeth visits the three witches who, by means of three apparitions, (beware Macduff; none of woman born shall
kill him; stay calm until Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane) lead him to believe that he cannot be overthrown or
killed. Despite this consolation, Macbeth’s fear of Macduff (The Thane of Fife) leads him to organise the murders of
Macduff’s entire family, while Macduff is in England, preparing for battle against Macbeth. Macduff is now even
more determined to destroy Macbeth – in anger and so that his family’s ghosts will not haunt him.
ACT IV: SCENE I
 Witches and Hecate preparing potion
 Macbeth enters, asks to speak to witches’ master about his future
 Apparition (helmeted head) tells Macbeth to beware the Thane of Fife – Macduff
 2nd Apparition (bloody child) tells Macbeth to be brave as “none of woman born” can kill him.
 3rd Apparition (crowned child with tree in hand) tells Macbeth he will never be vanquished until Great Birnam Wood
travels to Dunsinane Hill
 Macbeth relieved and asks witches if Banquo’s sons will ever reign Scotland.
 8 ghosts with crowns emerge – represent future sons of Banquo – mirror in Banquo’s hand represents infinite number
of descendants
 Macbeth is angry!
 Witches disappear and Lennox enters the haunt – informs Macbeth that Macduff has fled to England
 Macbeth decides to kill Macduff’s wife and children as his first step of revenge.
57
ACT IV: SCENE II
 Lady Macduff asks Ross why her husband suddenly fled to England – doesn’t realise she is in trouble – thinks he left
because he doesn’t love his family anymore
 Ross tries to comfort her and warns her that Scotland is dangerous place to be in at present.
 Lady Macduff tells her son that Macduff is dead to ease pain of his departure. – says father was a traitor
 Messenger runs in and interrupts to warn Lady and son to escape while they can
 Murderers enter and kill family under instructions of Macbeth.
ACT IV: SCENE III
 Macduff finds Malcolm in England – they lament the evil that reigns in Scotland – tyrant Macbeth
 Macduff tries to convince Malcolm to overthrow Macbeth – Malcolm wary of anyone from Scotland – lies about
himself and makes himself seem inferior to Macbeth
 Macduff convinces Malcolm – both agree to go back to Scotland and fight Macbeth
 Malcolm tells Macduff about virtues of English King – Edward – heals people by touching them – direct contrast to
Macbeth who kills people.
 Ross enters and tells Macduff about his family’s slaughter
 Macduff enraged and wrought with grief – vows to get revenge by killing Macbeth, otherwise his family’s ghosts will
haunt him forever.
 Ross, Macduff, Malcolm, Siward and 10 000 men immediately leave England to fight war against Macbeth.
ACT V
Lady Macbeth is sleepwalking and suffering from hallucinations – she is tormented by guilt and it finally driven to
suicide. Macbeth seems apathetic about his wife’s death. Macbeth prepares for battle against the approaching
English forces. When he sees Birnam Wood approaching Dunsinane, he starts to doubt the witches’ prophesies.
Macduff finds Macbeth and they duel – Macduff admits that he is ‘not of woman born’. Macbeth realises that the
witches duped him and with courage, he fights Macduff. Macbeth is killed. Malcolm is instated as the rightful King
of Scotland.
ACT V: SCENE I
 At Forres/Dunsinane, gentlewoman speaks to doctor about Lady Macbeth’s sleepwalking – somnambulism
 While they are talking, they witness Lady Macbeth sleepwalking and rubbing her hands as if trying to wash away some
stain – she weeps, mutters about Thane of Fife and Banquo
 Doctor and gentlewoman shocked – Lady Macbeth has revealed her source of stress
ACT V: SCENE II
 Menteith, Caithness, Angus and Lennox rally the soldiers – reports that Malcolm, Siward, Macduff and English army
are to join them shortly.
 Men march to Birnam Wood.
ACT V: SCENE III
 In the castle, Macbeth overconfident due to the apparitions
 Servant tells Macbeth that 10 000 English soldiers directly outside castle
 Macbeth dismisses servant’s fears and decides to ride out and fight.
 Doctor enters and tells Macbeth that Lady Macbeth is very ill – says her ailment is mental, not physical, so he cannot
treat her.
ACT V: SCENE IV
 Forces against Macbeth are ready to fight.
 Malcolm orders men to chop down trees in Birnam Wood and carry it until they come to the castle – it will hide their
true numbers until the fight starts – Birnam Wood is travelling to Dunsinane!
 Siward reports that Macbeth remains confident.
ACT V: SCENE V
 Inside the castle, Macbeth prepares for battle with Malcolm and Macduff
 Learns that Lady Macbeth has committed suicide and he hardly mourns her death – he is devoid of proper emotion and
compassion.
 Messenger tells Macbeth that he saw trees of Birnam Wood move towards castle – Macbeth does not believe him and
looks out the window – resolves to fight Malcolm and Macduff honourably.
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ACT V: SCENE VI
 Rebel army has reached Dunsinane
 Malcolm orders Siward and Young Siward to lead men on to the castle
 Malcolm and Macduff stay behind to finish everyone else off.
ACT V: SCENE VII
 Macbeth captured by soldiers and tied to a stake.
 Young Siward approaches and challenges Macbeth to a duel – Macbeth kills him
 Macduff enters castle, followed by Siward.
 Macduff wants to kill Macbeth so that his family’s ghosts will not haunt him.
ACT V: SCENE VIII
 Macbeth and Macduff meet up – they duel.
 Macbeth tells Macduff he does not fear anyone who was born of woman – Macduff informs Macbeth that he was
ripped from his mother’s womb – caesarean section
 Macduff kills Macbeth
ACT V: SCENE IX
 Macduff returns to Malcolm with Macbeth’s head lanced onto a pole
 Siward learns his son is dead
 Malcolm hailed as rightful heir to the throne
 Malcolm proclaims that he will reward all followers by making them Earls and that all who fled Scotland under
Macbeth’s rule must return.
 Invites everyone to his coronation at Scone.
THE CHARACTERS IN MORE DETAIL
MACBETH
 Loyal Scotsman who challenges and kills the traitor Macdonwald.
 Rewarded with the title of Thane of Cawdor by King Duncan.
 He has ambitious intentions, but struggles with his evil desires.
 He confuses conscience with fear – convinced he is a coward to fear killing Duncan.
 Encouraged by his wife, he kills the King.
 Once he is King, he is insecure about his position and sense of security.
 He drifts apart from his wife and stops consulting her about his plans.
 He fears Banquo – has him killed.
 He fears the future and revisits the witches for advice.
 He has Macduff’s family murdered.
 When Scotland turns against him, he prepares to fight bravely, as he feels immortal / invincible because of the witches’
prophesies and the Apparitions.
 Towards the end, he is remorseless, pitiless and guiltless – a cruel tyrant who kills at a whim and makes Scotland
‘bleed’ for his own ambitions and selfish goals.
 He recognises the emptiness and meaninglessness of his life before he duels with Macduff.
 At the end of the play, Malcolm refers to Macbeth as “this dead butcher”.
 Macbeth can be seen as a cruel tyrant, bloodthirsty and without remorse, BUT he was courageous – although he knew
he was defeated, he died fighting bravely and somehow nobly.
LADY MACBETH
 Determined to be in control, single-minded and strong-willed in her ambition for her husband to be king.
 Calls on the forces of Evil to prevent her from having any conscience or feminine tenderness.
 Cunning in her persuasion of her husband, she’s plays on his sense of manhood.
 She remains calm and controlled before the murder of Duncan.
 Only show of humanity and sensitivity was that she was unable to kill Duncan herself and needed a drink to follow
through the plan.
 She loses control over her husband, experiences a sense of futility and joylessness at what they had done – “What’s
done cannot be undone…”
 Becomes isolated and troubled, distanced from her husband,
 Her conscience drives her mad, she is haunted and plagued by hallucinations and eventually her guilt leads her to
commit suicide – a sad, lonely and troubled woman.
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BANQUO
 Like Macbeth, Banquo is a brave soldier and nobleman. Together, they defeat the Scottish traitor in the opening battle.
 He is resolute, courageous and modest about his achievements.
 He is promised great things by the witches – his heirs will be Kings in the future.
 The choices he makes after hearing the prophesies set him apart from his friend – although he is plagued by
temptation, he prays to Heaven to help him resist temptations and restless thoughts.
 He is aware of the evil and possible harm concerning the witches’ prophesies.
 He makes a clear choice not to do anything disloyal or evil.
 He is committed to justice and honesty.
 He suspects Macbeth of evil after the murder of Duncan.
MACDUFF
 He is ultimately responsible for the defeat of Macbeth.
 From very early in the play, despite being oblivious to the witches’ prophecies, he suspects foul play from Macbeth (he
discovers Duncan’s body at Inverness) and never pretends to be loyal to Macbeth as the King, in fact, he has an intense
loathing of Macbeth.
 He is noble-natured – he sees the murder of the King as an attack on the Lord’s anointed temple.
 He snubs Macbeth by refusing to attend his coronation and ignoring his invitation to the banquet at Forres. (Where
Banquo’s ghost haunts Macbeth.)
 He is very patriotic – he leaves his family unprotected to go to England in order to raise an army to defeat Macbeth.
 His ambitions are fuelled further with the news of his family’s death at the hands of the tyrant his is trying to
overthrow.
 He kills Macbeth to avenge his family’s murders.
MALCOLM
 Eldest son of King Duncan and named as successor to the throne.
 Unlike his father, Malcolm does not easily trust people – he is cautious and flees from Scotland after his father’s death.
 He tests Macduff’s loyalty and sincerity when Macduff joins him in England.
 He is very determined and single-minded.
 He is an able and competent military leader – proven by his instruction to his men to camouflage themselves in the
branches from trees from Birnam Wood.
 He is instated as King after Macduff kills Macbeth.
 He is a competent King with no doubt better judgement and discernment than Macbeth.
THE DIVINE / GREAT CHAIN OF BEING:
The Elizabethans believed very strongly in the Great Chain of Being. This was a philosophy that stated that all
creatures in the universe were arranged in a hierarchy:
1. God
2. Top Classes of Angels
3. Dominations. Powers and Virtues
4. Princes
5. Archangels and Angels
6. Man – at the top of the Human hierarchy = the King
7. Earls, Dukes and the rest of the aristocracy down to peasants and beggars.
8. Animals – Lion at the top and the worm at the bottom.
9. Plants
10. Rocks and stones
You could not rise above your state in life, no matter how hard you worked. No single entity was left out – all
had their place in the order of existence.
In Macbeth, when the natural order of “Chain of Being” is disturbed, Scotland falls into disarray. It is only when
Macbeth is killed and Malcolm becomes King, that the order of Scotland is restored.
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THEMES + MOTIFS:
Insomnia
 Sleep is referred to often in the play.
 Duncan is murdered in his sleep, while his guards sleep outside. (albeit a drug-induced sleep)
 Macbeth states: “Sleep no more! /Macbeth does murder sleep, the innocent sleep…”
 After Duncan’s murder, neither Macbeth not Lady Macbeth sleep peacefully again – they are both plagued with
insomnia and somnambulism.
 The Macbeths’ insomnia is evidence of their guilt.
 Fear of sleep represents Macbeth’s fear of his inevitable death.
Full Circle
 The play starts with the Thane of Cawdor proving to be a traitor to Scotland and he is executed.
 The play ends with the new Thane of Cawdor, Macbeth, proving to be a traitor to Scotland and his head mounted on a
stake.
Blood
 Features often and prominently in the play.
 Opening scene is bloody, final scene sees Macbeth decapitated.
 Mentioned more than a 100 times in the play – daggers, warfare, hallucinations
 Although most of the killings take place off-stage, the characters give vivid and gory descriptions of the deaths and
murders to the audience.
 Blood symbolises the Macbeths’ guilt – they feel that their crimes have stained them (their consciences) in a way that
they can never be washed clean.
Troubled Mind
 One is responsible for one’s actions.
 A saintly life puts one in harmony with nature and one’s mind remains tranquil. But just step aside from that…!
 Troubled minds are restless, trust no-one, are distraught, isolated
Hallucinations
 Visions and hallucinations recur throughout the play and serve as reminders of Macbeth and Lady Macbeth’s joint
culpability for the many murders committed – supernatural signs of their guilt.
 When is about to kill Duncan, Macbeth sees a dagger floating in front of him – the fact that the dagger is bloody and
pointing towards Duncan’s room, represents the bloody course on which Macbeth is about to embark.
 When he sees Banquo’s ghost at the feast, his conscience is pricked that he murdered his friend.
 Lady Macbeth also gives way to visions and hallucinations – she is permanently trying to get ‘blood’ off her hands – a
sure sign of her guilt over the crimes.
 Lady Macbeth also sleepwalks.
Equivocation
 Use of ambiguous words to hide the real meaning – to prevaricate (be deliberately misleading).
 Where there is a very thin line between truth and deception – to lie by saying something that sounds fair, but which has
a hidden, foul meaning.
 Porter speaks of equivocation at great length when he has to go open gate to Macduff who has arrived to awaken the
King. He pretends to be porter of Hell – putting souls of the dead on trial and sentencing them to eternal damnation for
their equivocation.
 He also says alcohol is the greatest equivocator.
 Macbeth is ultimate victim of equivocation – witches’ prophesies – mislead
Superstitions
 Ancient people believed there was direct link between nature and the goodness of one’s actions.
 Darkness before Duncan’s murder, Macbeth believes to be ‘sign’.
 Hallucinates – sees dagger, hears noises – owl, wolves, blood – all evil omens
Witches and Witchcraft
 Played a natural role in medieval society.
 Probably skilled in magic, both good and evil – could place and remove curses.
 Superstitions played great roles in their ‘treatments’ and ‘diagnoses’.
 Believed to be able to see into the future.
 That’s why Macbeth was not hesitant in believing them
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Appearance and Reality
 False appearances belie the true reality beneath the surface.
 Throughout the play, there are many situations and characters’ conflicts which are paradoxical.
 The witches’ prophesies seem good and well, but are evil and aimed at the destruction of Macbeth.
 The Thane of Cawdor betrays the King and although Macbeth seems to be a good and loyal servant, he too betrays the
King and his country.
 Inverness LOOKS hospitable and welcoming, but is in fact a murderous place, filled with evil.
 Both Macbeth’s are deceitful in their appearances versus their real natures. She instructs Macbeth to “look like the
innocent flower, but be the serpent under it”
 Much of the theme of Appearance vs. Reality relies on the equivocation of the witches – their double meanings.
 “when the battle’s lost and won” – I,i,4
 “fair is foul and foul is fair” – I,i,13
 “Lesser than Macbeth, and greater” - I,iii,65
 “So foul and fair a day I have not seen” – I,iii,38
 “they doubly redoubled strokes upon the foe” – I,ii,42
 “the service and the loyalty I owe in doing pays itself.” – I,iv,25-26
 “I have thee not, and yet I see thee still” – II,i,46
 “double, double, toil and trouble” – IV,i,10
Chance versus Choice
 Was Macbeth responsible for his own downfall or was he the victim of manipulation by supernatural powers?
 Banquo, other than Macbeth, decides to choose NOT to be evil and not to pursue the witches’ prophesies.
 Macbeth chooses to do something about the prophesies.
The Struggle between Good and Evil
 This theme is prevalent in most of Shakespeare’s tragedies.
 Macbeth's soul struggles between good and evil.
 Disorder and chaos versus organised Kingdom.
 Macbeth’s ambitions are fuelled by evil.
 Lady Macbeth purposefully asks the powers of evil to possess her soul; there is no struggle for her at first.
 However, good does triumph over evil at the end of the play.
Darkness
 Many scenes take place in darkness or at night – mostly evil.
 The Macbeths call upon actual darkness (forces of evil) to hide their own evil ambitions and deeds.
 Witches are associated with evil and darkness.
 Darkness also associated with fear and foreboding – Banquo and Fleance scared, then killed in darkness.
 Darkness also indicative of disorder and turmoil.
 Each murder is accompanied by a number of unnatural occurrences in nature – thunder, lightning, storms.
The Corrupting Power of Unchecked Ambition
 In “Macbeth”, destruction is wrought when ambition goes unchecked by moral constraints.
 Macbeth is courageous and not naturally inclined to commit evil deeds, yet he deeply desires power and advancement.
He kills Duncan against his better judgement and afterwards, stews in guilt in paranoia. Yet, towards the end of the
play, the guilt and paranoia are gone and replaced by boastful madness due to no moral constraints.
 Lady Macbeth pursues her goals with great determination, yet she is incapable of living with the repercussions on
calling on the forces of darkness and evil. Although she spurs her husband to be calm and collected after the murder,
she is unable to be so herself.
 The play suggests that once one decides to use violence to further one’s quest for power, it is very difficult to stop. As
Macbeth saw – after Duncan was dead, Banquo, Fleance, Malcolm and Macduff became potential threats that had to be
eliminated. Violence had to be used to try and dispose of them.
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The Relationship between Cruelty and Masculinity
 Characters in “Macbeth” frequently dwell in issues of gender ambiguity.
 Lady Macbeth manipulates her husband by questioning his manhood, when he has doubts about killing Duncan.
(“When you durst do it, then you are a man” – I,vii,48)
 She wishes to be ‘unsexed’ and agrees with her husband when he says a woman like her should only give birth to boys.
 Macbeth provokes the murderers (hired to kill Banquo and Fleance) by questioning their manhood. (Nifty trick he
learned from his wife?)
 These acts show that both the Macbeths equate masculinity with aggression and violence and soon thereafter, chaos.
 Women in “Macbeth” are sources of evil – the witches, Hecate, Lady Macbeth – they manipulate him into doing their
dirty work.
 Although the males in the play are violent and aggressive, the females go against prevailing expectations of how
women ought to behave.
 Women can be just as ambitious and cruel as men! (She uses manipulation and deception to achieve her goals…)
The Difference between Kingship and Tyranny
 In the play, Duncan is always referred to as the King and Macbeth is soon known as the “tyrant”.
 Malcolm explains the difference in Act IV when he tells Macduff (whilst they are in England) that Macbeth has a thirst
for personal power and a violent temperament.
 The model king, according to Malcolm, should have ‘justice, verity, temp’rance, stableness, bounty, perseverance,
mercy and lowliness”.
 The model King should offer his subjects (and country) order and justice, comfort and affection.
 A King should be loyal and reward his subjects according to their merits.
 Macbeth’s reign is symbolised by the bad weather and bizarre supernatural events that pervades.
 He offers no justice and murders whomever he sees as a threat.
 Macbeth is the embodiment of tyranny and justice is restored when Malcolm becomes the King after his death.
Metaphor + Theme Analysis:
“Fair is Foul and foul is fair”
 Act 1, scene 1, line 10 – part of witches’ conservation
 Fair appearances hide Foul realities.
 Phrase is a metaphor that describes the state of affairs within Macbeth and Scotland
 Macbeth views the witches’ prophesies to be “fair” and Banquo considers them to be “foul”. (their intentions are foul)
 To the Weird Sisters, what is ugly is beautiful and what is beautiful is ugly,
 Although Macbeth and Lady Macbeth play the gracious hosts (fair), their intentions are evil (foul) – KILL Duncan.
 Inverness seems hospitable (fair) but is playing ground of Beelzebub (foul) – porter scene
 Evil and sinister – Macbeth is tyrant who consorts with evil – Macbeth + Lady Macbeth are evil and suffer from
illusions and paranoia
 Throughout the play, fair appearances hide foul realities.
 This theme illustrates the central theme of appearance versus reality.
“And oftentimes, to win us to our harm / The instruments of darkness tell us truths…”
 Act 1, Scene 3 – Banquo to Macbeth about the witches.
 Comparison of witches to instruments of darkness reveal their truly foul nature
 Shakespeare is implying through Banquo that the honeyed prophesies of the weird sisters will only bring about M’s
downfall.
 In addition, since M listens to the witches, he can be considered an instrument of darkness himself.
“Upon my head they placed a fruitless crown / And put a barren sceptre in my grip / Thence to be wrenched with an
unlineal hand, / No son of mine succeeding”
 Act 3, Scene 1 – Macbeth about the witches’ prophesies
 Macbeth laments that although the witches prophesised that he would become King, they also said that Banquo’s
posterity would possess the throne as well.
 His jealousy from this statement induces him to kill B and attempt to kill Fleance.
“There the grown serpent lies; the worm that’s / fled / Hath nature that in time will venom breed, / No teeth for
th’present.”
 Act 3, Scene 4 – M to himself about Banquo and Fleance
 M likens dead Banquo to a deceased serpent and his son, Fleance, to a young snake
 Metaphor NB because it implies that M still considers Fleance a threat, even though Banquo is dead.
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Macbeth as the Tragic Hero
 Tragic hero is a character that the audience sympathises with despite his/her actions that would indicate the contrary.
 Macbeth, despite his horrible deeds, is a pitiable man.
 Macbeth, the play’s chief protagonist, is a tragic hero. He is a man of noble birth and he is a great warrior at the start of
the play.
 His great fault/flaw is his unfulfilled desire – his evil ambition and secret desire to be King, lead to his demise.
 When Macbeth achieves the fulfilment (he is King), his fortunes and morals begin to decline rapidly. He is tortured
with anxiety and seeks to get rid of all who he sees as threatening. Fear, paranoia, exhaustion and sleeplessness plague
him, despite his sovereignty
 He starts to lose control of himself and the situation. He deteriorates into becoming a blood-thirsty tyrant who murders
even innocents.
 He is destroyed and the situation is restored to order – Malcolm takes his rightful place as King of Scotland.
 His redeeming quality is the fact that he DID NOT want to kill Duncan initially but changed his mind after listening to
his wife. Also – when realising that he had been duped by the witches, he fights Macduff bravely.,
Lady Macbeth as a Tragic Hero
 The reader does not get to know Lady Macbeth before she reads the letter from her husband. We do not know whether
she is a good person before being introduced to the mastermind behind Duncan’s murder.
 She is courageous, at first and most determined.
 Her initial courage and daring do not last long and she quickly deteriorates into a delusional, hapless somnambulist.
 She broke down mentally and physically because of the strain of the crime.
 Like her husband, a pitiable character – reader can follow their every thought and action
 BUT CAN WE REALLY SYMPATHISE WITH THEM?
Indecision and internal conflict
 Macbeth was indecisive up until the very night of the murder about whether or not to kill Duncan
 Afterwards, he was unsure of a course of action
 He rashly decided to kill Banquo – visited witches and remained confident when castle was besieged
 Lady Macbeth initial lack of indecision is what brought about the pair’s downfall – later she becomes tentative about
the potential benefits of Banquo’s death – by end of play, she has become a delusional recluse that is almost entirely
ignored by her husband.
COMPARING AND CONTRASTING:
MACBETH
LADY MACBETH
BEFORE THE MURDER OF DUNCAN
ambitious
ambitious
open to evil influence, but tries briefly to avoid it
actively opens herself to evil influence
hesitates, has doubts, wavers in making a decision, fears
single-minded, determined, convinced their plan will work
failure
AFTER THE MURDER OF DUNCAN
distraught, hears voices
calm and in control
shocked and repulsed by blood
doesn’t mind the blood
thinks blood will never be washed away
thinks blood will easily be washed away
AT THE DISCOVERY OF THE MURDER
kills again immediately, own plans take effect
shows signs of strain, plan to show grief fails
feels fear and insecurity
feels a sense of despair and futility
FROM HERE ON THEY DRIFT APART
plots murders alone – fear of enemies and what may
alone, haunted by guilt. fears what has happened – drives
happens – drives him to more murders
her mad
spills more and more blood
can’t rid herself of the smell of blood
despairs about life – dies in battle – has one last courageous
despairs about life – commits suicide
stand
Originally ‘partners of greatness’, they are not partners in their suffering. Each one
drifts to his or her end in a state of lonely isolation.
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Quiz 1:
1.
What does Macbeth do to Macdonwald after he defeats him?
a Takes his family crest and title
b Takes him prisoner and brings him to Duncan
c Cuts off his head and places it on the battlements
d Rips out his heart
2.
What new title does Macbeth receive early in Act 1?
a King of Scotland
b Earl of Northumberland
c Thane of Glamis
d Thane of Cawdor
3.
The Weird Sisters greet Macbeth as …
a Thane of Glamis, Thane of Cawdor and King hereafter
b Thane of Cawdor, Thane of Lochaber, and Thane of Glamis
c Thane of Cawdor, Thane of Fife and King hereafter
d Thane of Glamis, Thane of Fife and the father of Kings
4.
How do the Weird Sisters greet Banquo?
a “O valiant cousin!”
b “Thou shalt be king of Scotland!”
c “Thou shalt get kings, though thou be none.”
d “Hail, king hereafter!”
5.
Whom does Duncan name as his successor?
a Banquo
b Macbeth
c Macduff
d Malcolm
6.
Lady Macbeth calls on the supernatural power to…
a “beguile the time”
b “hover through fog and filthy air”
c “sleek o’er your rugged looks”
d “unsex me here”
7.
Whom will the Macbeths frame as Duncan’s murderer?
a Banquo
b Macduff
c Duncan’s bodyguards
d Donalbain
8.
Lady Macbeth tells Macbeth “When you durst do it, then…”
a ‘twere well it were done quickly
b wilt thou be king
c you were a man
d will I love you
9.
What does Lady Macbeth say she would do with her child if she had to?
a abandon it
b give up her life for it
c dash its brains out
d cut off his head
10. What does Banquo think about the witches’ predictions?
a he doesn’t believe them
b he wishes they would not come true
c he will try to make them come true, no matter what it takes
d he dreams that they will come true, but he will do nothing about them
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11. What does Macbeth think he sees floating in front of him as he goes to kill Duncan?
a a bloody head
b a bloody child
c a bloody sword
d a bloody dagger
12. What can’t Macbeth say when he hears the bodyguards praying?
a “Avaunt thee”
b “God bless us”
c “Sleep no more”
d “Amen”
13. Where does the porter imagine he is guarding the gate?
a the castle at Fife
b the gate to Heaven
c the palace at Dunsinane
d the gate to Hell
14. Who discovers Duncan’s body?
a Macbeth
b Macduff
c Malcolm
d Ross
15. What do Malcolm and Donalbain decide they will do when Duncan in murdered?
a flee to England and Ireland
b avenge his death
c kill Macbeth
d kill the bodyguards
16. Who is proclaimed king after Duncan is murdered?
a Banquo
b Macbeth
c Macduff
d Malcolm
17. Who will kill Banquo?
a The three witches
b Macbeth
c Two murderers
d Duncan’s bodyguards
18. The two murderers are joined by…
a a third murderer
b Seyton
c the three witches
d Macbeth
19. What is going on at Macbeth’s castle while the murderers are killing Banquo?
a Macbeth’s coronation
b a feast
c Plans for killing Lady Macduff
d Duncan’s murder
20. What vision does Macbeth see at the table?
a Duncan’s head
b A bloody child
c Banquo’s ghost
d A bloody dagger
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21. What does the first apparition tell Macbeth?
a Beware Banquo
b Beware Siward
c Beware Macduff
d Beware Malcolm
22. What does the second apparition tell Macbeth?
a None of woman born shall take Dunsinane
b None of woman born shall become king
c None of woman born shall beware thee
d None of woman born shall harm Macbeth
23. What does the third apparition tell Macbeth?
a that he should attack Macduff
b that he is safe as long as he stays at Dunsinane
c that he should travel from Dunsinane to Birnam Wood
d that he will fall when Birnam Wood comes to Dunsinane
24. What is the last vision that the witches show Macbeth?
a a procession of bloody corpses
b a procession of eight kings
c a stain on his hand
d Macduff’s head
25. Who warns Lady Macduff to leave her house?
a Macduff
b Malcolm
c A weird sister
d Ross
Quiz 2:
1. Who was the rebel that Macbeth killed in the battle at the start of the play?
2. What was Macbeth’s title before he is given the title of Thane of Cawdor?
3. Who first warned Macbeth about the dangers of listening to the promises of the witches?
4. What title is given to Malcolm, the King’s son?
5. Whom did Lady Macbeth plan to blame for the murder of the King?
6. Whom, according to Lady Macbeth, did Duncan resemble as he slept?
7. Who was the first to discover the body of Duncan?
8. To where did Malcolm and Donalbain flee after their father’s murder?
9. What was the name of Banquo’s son?
10. Who upset Macbeth so much as his banquet?
11. About whom did the first of the three apparitions warn Macbeth?
12. Why did Macbeth think he was invincible?
13. Who promised Macduff that he would send an army to rescue Scotland from Macbeth’s tyranny?
14. Why was Macduff’s family murdered?
15. What did Lady Macbeth have to have with her at all times, according to her gentlewoman?
16. How did Lady Macbeth eventually die?
17. Who was the soldier who led the assault on Macbeth’s castle?
18. What was the name of Macbeth’s castle?
19. Who killed Macbeth?
20. Who became the new King of Scotland?
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Quiz 3:
1. Who kills Macbeth?
a Macduff
b Lady Macbeth
c Malcolm
14. Who kills Lord Siward’s son?
a Macbeth
b Macduff
c Ross
2.
How many men reign as King of Scotland in the play?
a 1
b 2
c 3
15. Where are the Scottish Kings crowned?
a Edinburgh
b Scone
c London
d Dunsinane
3.
Whom does Lady Macbeth frame for the murder of Duncan?
a Duncan’s bodyguards
b The porter
c Macbeth
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Who kills Banquo?
a Fleance
b Macbeth
c hired murderers
Which of the following describes Lady Macbeth’s death?
a dies offstage
b sleepwalks off the palace wall
c stabs herself
Who discovers Duncan’s body?
a Lennox
b Ross
c Macduff
Whom does Macbeth see in his chair during the banquet?
a Macduff
b Banquo’s ghost
c Duncan’s ghost
What vision does Macbeth have before he kills Duncan?
a a floating head
b an axe lodged in Duncan’s head
c floating dagger pointing to Duncan’s chamber
With whom are the Scots at war at the beginning of the play?
a Norway
b Denmark
c Poland
10. Which nation’s army invades Scotland at the end of the play?
a Norway
b France
c England
11. Who is the goddess of witchcraft in the play?
a Aphrodite
b Hecate
c Minerva
12. Who kills Donalbain?
a Macbeth
b murderers hired by Macbeth
c no one
13. What happens to Lady Macbeth before she dies?
a she sleepwalks
b haunted by Duncan’s ghost
c sees her children killed in battle
16. Why is Macduff able to kill Macbeth despite the witches’
prophesies?
a he receives a charm from Hecate
b he is a powerful warlock
c he was born by caesarean section
17. Where is Duncan killed?
a Norway
b Dunsinane
c Inverness
18. Who flees Scotland to join Malcolm in England?
a Donalbain
b Ross
c Macduff
19. What was the weather like the night Duncan was murdered?
a stormy and violent
b calm and placid
c foggy and ominous
20. Who kills Lady Macbeth?
a Macbeth
b Lady Macduff
c Lady Macbeth
21. Who flees Scotland immediately after Duncan’s death?
a Macbeth
b Malcolm and Donalbain
c Banquo and Fleance
22. Who jokes that he works at “hell gate”?
a Macbeth
b Macduff
c The Porter
23. What title is given to Macbeth after his victory in Act I?
a Thane of Cawdor
b King of Scotland
c Prince of Cumberland
24. Who tells Macduff that his family has been killed?
a Donalbain
b Macbeth
c Ross
25. How does Birnam Wood come to Dunsinane?
a magic
b it doesn’t
c Malcolm’s army hides behind cut-off tree branches
68
Questions on various scenes:
ACT I: SCENE I
a. What is the effect of starting the play with a witch scene?
b. What effect would it have had in Shakespeare’s time?
c. How many contradictory words can you find in the opening scene?
d. What are the witches planning to do?
e. What does the atmosphere in this scene suggest about the play to follow?
f.
Write two or three lines explaining the action in this scene.
ACT I: SCENE II
a The sergeant describes a battle in the war between which two countries?
b Who are the heroes in that battle?
c The Captain, in reporting the battle to King Duncan, uses the image of swimming. Explain this image.
d Comment on the effectiveness of “Till he unseamed him from the nave to the chops.”
e What is meant by “Or memorise another Golgotha”? Explain fully.
f What two decisions does Duncan make after hearing of the defeat of the enemy? Quote a line to support your answer.
g Comment on the dramatic irony in the words, “No more that Thane of Cawdor shall deceive / Our bosom interests.”
h. What do we learn about Macbeth's character in this scene?
ACT I: SCENE III
a What do the witches predict for Macbeth?
b What do they predict for Banquo?
c Do the witches have good or bad intentions for Macbeth? How do you know?
d Explain the dramatic irony in the witches' first prediction
e Explain the irony in Macbeth’s opening words.
f Explain why Banquo says, “What, can the devil speak true?”
g Explain the differences in the ways Macbeth and Banquo receive the witches’ prophesies.
h When the prediction comes true immediately, what does Macbeth think about the other predictions
i. What does Macbeth plan to do about the possibility of becoming king?
ACT I: SCENE IV
a What promise does Duncan make to Macbeth?
b To whom does king Duncan give the title Prince of Cumberland?
c How does Macbeth respond to the announcement that Malcolm will he heir to the throne? Why?
d What are Macbeth’s “black and deep desires” and what do these words reveal about his intentions at this point?
ACT I: SCENE V
a What does Macbeth’s letter to his wife suggest about the nature of their relationship?
b What is Lady Macbeth’s reaction to the prophesies of the witches?
c What (in her husband’s character) does the fear will prevent Macbeth from becoming King?
d Explain what it is that Lady Macbeth wishes the spirits to do to her. Why?
e What message does the servant give to Lady Macbeth?
f Explain Lady Macbeth's plan for Duncan.
g Is there evidence that Macbeth has doubts about the murder? Explain.
h What advice does Lady Macbeth give her husband?
ACT I: SCENE VI
a How is the effect of this scene influenced by what you know of the Macbeths’ plans at this stage?
b Explain the dramatic irony in this scene.
ACT I: SCENE VII
a List the four reasons why Macbeth thinks he shouldn’t kill Duncan.
b Name the only reason why he feels he should kill Duncan.
c On which emotions does Lady Macbeth play in order to persuade him to kill Duncan?
69
ACT II: SCENE I
a Why is Banquo uneasy?
b Under what conditions does Banquo say he will listen to Macbeth?
c Macbeth imagines a dagger in front of him. What does this suggest about his state of mind?
d Explain Macbeth's soliloquy and his feelings as he goes to commit the murder.
e What does the ringing of the bell mean?
ACT II: SCENE II
a Which words of Lady Macbeth’s suggest that she has not lost her humanity completely?
b What does Macbeth, upon his entering the room, tell his wife he had just experienced? What does this tell us about his
state of mind?
c After Macbeth murders King Duncan he agonises over three things. What are they?
d What is Lady Macbeth’s advice to him and how is it ironic?
e Notice the different responses to the blood on their hands. What does each response reveal about their character?
f What is Macbeth's attitude to Duncan at the end of this scene?
g As a soldier, Macbeth certainly has killed before. Why is he so disturbed now?
ACT II: SCENE III
a Why did Shakespeare include the Porter-scene?
b Explain how comic relief is provided by the porter's speech.
c What does Lennox tell Macbeth about the night that has just passed and why do you think these things happened?
d Explain the irony when Macbeth says “Twas a rough night.”
e Explain which additional killings took place and why.
f What does Banquo suggest they should all do and what does he promise to do with God’s help?
g What might be the consequences of Malcolm and Donalbain fleeing?
h Explain the dramatic irony when Macduff says: "0 gentle lady! "'Tis not for you to hear what I can speak...
i What does Banquo decide to do, and why do you think he does not accuse Macbeth of the murder?
ACT II: SCENE IV
a What are the various ‘unnatural’ events that have taken place in the countryside?
b What does this scene foreshadow?
b Who is believed to have killed Duncan, according to Macduff?
c What suggests that Macduff has his doubt and suspicions about Macbeth?
d The orderly scheme of nature is strangely affected by the murder. Shakespeare skilfully lets nature correspond to man's
acts. How is this revealed by the conversation in this scene?
e Who is named successor to King Duncan? Why?
f Where is the coronation to be held?
ACT III: SCENE I
a Does Banquo suspect Macbeth? Explain
b Why does Macbeth refer to Malcolm and Donalbain as “our bloody cousins”?
c In his soliloquy, we see Macbeth is afraid of someone – who? Why? What does he do?
d COMPLETE THE FOLLOWING PARAPHRASE OF MACBETH'S SOLILOQUY:
To be king means nothing unless I am secure in the position. I have deep _______________ about Banquo and his
________________ and_________________ Banquo is not only daring and courageous, but he has ________________ to
guide him to act in _______________. Banquo is the only one I ______ and my own ________________ (conscience) is
________________(scolded) by him just as __________
________________ was by Caesar. He Challenged the
________________ when they put the name of ________________ upon me, and told them to ____________
__________; then they like a _________ hailed ___________ as the father to ____________ _____
______
__________. The
________________ said that I would become _________, but have no successor of my own blood. If this is true, then I
have defiled my _____________, murdered the ______________
_______________ and my __________
______________ disturbed all of my
__________(soul) I have given to the common _____________
_____
_________ (devil). I did all of this to make way for the _____________ of ________________ to be kings. __________.
Rather than let that happen I will fight against ___________ (witches' prophecy) to the death!
70
ACT III: SCENE II
a Explain the image of the ‘snake’ in this scene. Whom does Macbeth refer to and why? Explain.
b Why does Macbeth envy the late King Duncan?
c Are the Macbeths still ‘partners in crime’? Explain.
d Quote the lines that show that Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have reversed roles in their relationship as compared to Act
One when King Duncan's murder was planned.
e “Things bad begun make strong themselves by ill.” What does Macbeth mean by this?
ACT III: SCENE III
a Why does Macbeth send a third murderer along to kill Banquo and Fleance?
b What is significant about Fleance’s escape?
ACT III: SCENE IV
a What details reveal the bloodthirsty nature of the murderers?
b How does Macbeth console himself for a moment after hearing the news about Fleance?
c When does Macbeth see Banquo’s ghost? How does he react? Why?
d How does Lady Macbeth try to cover up?
e Are the Macbeth’s sleeping well?
f What two things does Macbeth now plan to do? Why?
ACT III: SCENE V
a Who is Hecate?
b Explain the insights that Hecate has about Macbeth.
c What reveals the witches’ intentions to destroy Macbeth?
d How does this scene reveal Macduff as the possible nemesis of Macbeth?
ACT III: SCENE VI
a Describe Lennox’s tone in his words to the nobleman. What point does he make about Macbeth?
b What information does the lord give concerning the whereabouts and intentions of Malcolm and Macduff?
c What does this mean for Macbeth and Scotland?
ACT IV: SCENE I
a Explain the three apparitions as they appear to Macbeth.
b How does this make Macbeth feel?
c What does Macbeth's intention to kill Macduff reveal about his character at this point?
c What angers Macbeth about the ‘show of eight kings’?
d What is Macbeth’s reaction to the news that Macduff had fled to England?
e Explain the irony in the following statement by Macbeth; "Infected be the air whereon they ride / And damn'd all those
that trust them! ..."
ACT IV: SCENE II
a How does Ross’s view of Macduff’s flight to England differ from that of Lady Macduff’s?
b What reveals that Macduff’s young son believes his father was not a traitor?
c What happens to them?
ACT IV: SCENE III
a Malcolm is not sure whether he can trust Macduff – why? In addition, how does he test Macduff? Why?
b What help has England offered Scotland?
c What news does Ross bring to England?
d How does Shakespeare convey the depth of Macduff’s grief at the news of his family’s slaughter?
e What does he vow to do?
f What does Malcolm encourage Macduff to do with his grief?
ACT V: SCENE I
a Why is the gentlewoman reluctant to report what she has heard Lady Macbeth saying while sleepwalking?
b What is ironic about the fact that Lady Macbeth permanently has a light with her?
c Why is she rubbing her hands?
d What change do we see in Lady Macbeth in spirit and stature?
e What is the diagnosis for Lady Macbeth? What does she need? can she get it?
f How does Lady Macbeth's condition differ from Macbeth's at this time?
71
ACT V: SCENE II
a Who are the men in this scene, awaiting the arrival of the English Forces? Explain their conversation.
b What is Macbeth doing in response to the latest rebellion against him?
c What is the ultimate intention of these men?
ACT V: SCENE III
a How would you describe Macbeth’s mood at the start of the scene?
b What does Macbeth's opening speech reveal to us?
c What other aspect is there to his mood, however?
c What is Macbeth asking the doctor to do?
d In what does Macbeth trust at this point?
e What does Macbeth resolve to do? Why?
ACT V: SCENE IV
a Explain Malcolm’s instructions to his men.
b From what you see in this scene, and knowing the prophesies, who are most likely to be victorious? Why?
ACT V: SCENE V
a What news does Seyton bring Macbeth?
b Explain why Macbeth is confident in the face of the approaching armies.
c Why is Macbeth not startled by the cry of the women? Has he changed since the start of the play?
d Explain his reaction to the news of his wife’s death.
e Macbeth’s final soliloquy is one of the most famous passages of this play. List 4 things to which Macbeth compares life.
f How does Macbeth express the span of life? Name and explain three things.
g How does he express the futility of life?
h Despite his feelings of despair and hopelessness, Macbeth still manages to remain determined and courageous in the
face of the attack. What reveals this?
ACT V: SCENE VI
a Why did Shakespeare put in such a short scene at this stage of the play?
ACT V: SCENE VII
a In what is Macbeth trusting as he goes into battle?
b Who kills Young Siward?
c Why is it important to Macduff that HE kills Macbeth?
d What, according to Siward and Malcolm, has made their task of defeating Dunsinane so easy?
ACT V: SCENE VIII
a Why does Macbeth say he has avoided Macduff so far?
b Explain the final trick the witches played on Macbeth.
c What does Macbeth finally realise about the witches and what they have done to him?
d What is Macbeth’s final attitude as he fights Macduff?
ACT V: SCENE IX
a Ross is the bearer of bad news again. What does he tell Siward?
b Malcolm is hailed as the rightful king of Scotland. What does he plan to do as King?
TRUE- FALSE—Mark each statement either true (T) or false (F).
01.
02.
03.
04.
05.
06.
07.
08.
09.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
___At the end of the play, Malcolm becomes king.
___Lady Macbeth takes part in Banquo’s murder.
___Even though she is warned of treachery, Lady Macduff is killed
___The thanes are loyal to Macbeth to the end.
___Macbeth’s chief fear is punishment after death.
___The witches predict Banquo’s heirs will be kings.
___Banquo faints after the killing of Duncan.
___Lady Macbeth does not see Banquo’s ghost.
___Malcolm knows Macbeth better than Duncan does.
___The witches have human form.
___The doctor says Lady Macbeth suffers from a fatal illness.
___Macbeth and his wife love each other deeply.
___Macbeth’s explanation of Duncan’s death satisfies the kings’ sons.
___Duncan is suspicious of Macbeth.
___Remorse ruins Lady Macbeth’s enjoyment of success.
72
POSSIBLE ESSAY QUESTIONS:
1.
Both Macbeth and Banquo are promised greatness by the Weird Sisters. However, they make very different decisions
and choices regarding their reactions. Both men pay for their choices with their lives. Contrast the choices made by
them. Explain what is revealed about each of their characters. In your opinion, who pays more dearly for his choice,
and why?
2.
One can only blame the witches for the evil things which take place in “Macbeth”. Discuss the idea of guilt and
responsibility in the play, indication with reasons whether you agree or disagree with the above statement.
3.
Macbeth and Lady Macbeth appear to be the ideal couple: they are in the king’s favour, they have good friends and a
happy marriage. Yet they both suffer from a serious flaw: ambition that destroys their lives. To what extent do you
agree with this statement?
4.
“Fair is Foul and Foul is Fair” – explain this paradox as it appears in “Macbeth”.
5.
Discuss the role played by the witches in determining the course of events in the play.
6.
Discuss the effect of conscience on Macbeth and Lady Macbeth.
7.
Banquo warned Macbeth against the “instruments of darkness”. Show how he was proved right in the end.
8.
Write an account of the manner in which Macbeth's downfall is brought about, beginning with the flight of Macduff to
England.
But ‘tis strange
And oftentimes, two win us to our harm
The instruments of darkness tell us truths,
Win us with honest trifles, to betray’s
In deepest consequence.
9.
Discuss the characters of Banquo and Macbeth and show how their reactions to the ‘instruments of darkness’ help
direct the course of action in “Macbeth”.
10. “Macbeth” is a study of tyranny, which still holds relevance for governments of countries in today’s world. Discuss to
what extent you agree with this statement, supporting your answer by close reference to the play.
“Yet do I fear thy nature:
It is too full o’ the milk of human kindness
To catch the nearest way. Thou wouldst be great,
Art not without ambition, but without
The illness should attend is.”
11. Is this assessment of Macbeth by Lady Macbeth a valid one? Explain your answer in a well-argued essay.
12. As the director of a short film on “Macbeth”, you have been told to save money by cutting out some of the scenes of
the play. Choose any six (6) scenes from the play and explain in an essay why you think that they should be included
in the film. Your answer should focus on the dramatic impact of the scene as well as what it shows about the main
characters.
13. Write an essay on The Corrupting Power of Unchecked Ambition, by making close reference to events and characters
in the play.
14. Explain the dramatic importance of the Porter’s scene in “Macbeth”. Has it any other significance?
15. “Macbeth” is ultimately the study of the forces of evil against the forces of good. By referring to specific characters
and their actions, discuss the validity of this statement and explain which force triumphs in the end.
16. The Matric Setwork Committee has decided to remove “Macbeth” from the set works for study in 2018. Write an
essay for this committee in which you present an argument for the RETENTION of “Macbeth”. Your essay should pay
close attention to the relevance of the themes in “Macbeth” and well as to “Macbeth” as a dramatic work.
73
“Macbeth” Contextual 1
MACBETH
(aside)
Two truths are told,
As happy prologues to the swelling act
Of the imperial theme. (to ROSS and ANGUS) I thank you, gentlemen.
(aside) This supernatural soliciting
Cannot be ill, cannot be good. If ill,
Why hath it given me earnest of success,
Commencing in a truth? I am thane of Cawdor.
If good, why do I yield to that suggestion
Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair
And make my seated heart knock at my ribs,
Against the use of nature? Present fears
Are less than horrible imaginings.
My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical,
Shakes so my single state of man
That function is smothered in surmise,
And nothing is but what is not.
I:iii
1.1 “Soliciting” is described in the dictionary as “incitement to do something wrong”. In your own words,
explain what Macbeth has been solicited to do. By whom?
(2)
1.2 What are the two truths that are told?
(2)
1.3 What is the “imperial theme”?
(1)
1.4 Why does Macbeth say, “This supernatural soliciting / Cannot be ill, cannot be good”?
(2)
1.5 What physical reactions does Macbeth have when he thinks of the prophesy?
(1)
1.6 Macbeth is struggling to make sense of the witches’ prophecy. Explain.
(2)
1.7 “If good, why do I yield to that suggestion / Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair / And make my seated
heart knock at my ribs.” What is the “horrid image” that makes Macbeth uneasy?
(2)
1.8 Has Macbeth already thought of murdering Duncan? Give evidence from the speech.
(2)
1.9 What line in this extract suggests a link to the theme of appearance versus reality?
(1)
(15)
“Macbeth” Contextual 2
MACBETH
Be innocent of the knowledge, dearest chuck
Till thou applaud the deed. Come, seeling night,
Scarf up the tender eye of pitiful day;
And with thy bloody and invisible hand
Cancel and tear to pieces that great bond
Which keeps me pale! Light thickens; and the crow
Makes wing to the rooky wood:
Good things of day begin to droop and drowse;
While night’s black agents to their preys do rouse.
Thou marvell’st at my words: but hold thee still;
Things bad begun make strong themselves by ill.
So, prithee, go with me.
III:ii
2.1 Who is Macbeth addressing in the opening line?
2.2 What does Macbeth mean in the opening sentence of the extract?
2.3 How is this different from his previous behaviour?
2.4 What is the significance of this?
2.5 He calls for darkness to cover up his actions. Why?
2.6 When has this been wished for elsewhere in the play? Quote to substantiate.
2.7 There are many words used in this extract that have negative, evil connotations. Quote and explain.
(1)
(2)
(3)
(1)
(2)
(2)
(4)
(15)
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“Macbeth” Contextual 3
Macbeth (Aside) Glamis, and Thane of Cawdor!
The greatest is behind. (To Ross and Angus)
Thanks for your pains
(To Banquo) Do you not hope your children shall be kings,
When those that gave the Thane of Cawdor to me
Promis’d no less to them?
Banquo
That, trusted home.
Might yet enkindle you unto the crown,
Besides the Thane of Cawdor. But ‘tis strange:
And oftentimes, to win us to our harm,
The instruments of darkness tell us truths,
Win us with honest trifles, to betray’s
In deepest consequence. (To Ross and Angus)
Cousins, a word, I pray you.
Macbeth (Aside)
Two truths are told,
As happy prologues to the swelling act
Of the imperial theme. (Aloud) I thank you, gentlemen
[Aside] This supernatural soliciting
Cannot be ill, cannot be good; if ill,
Why hath it given me earnest of success,
Commencing in a truth? I am Thane of Cawdor:
If good, why do I yield to that suggestion
Whose horrid image doth unfix my hair
And make my seated heart knock at my ribs,
Against the use of nature? Present fears
Are less than horrible imaginings;
My thought, whose murder yet is but fantastical,
Shakes so my single state of man that function
Is smother’d in surmise, and nothing is
But what is not.
Banquo
Look, how our partner’s rapt.
Macbeth (Aside) If chance will have me king, why chance
may crown me, without my stir.
1
5
10
15
20
25
30
Act 1 Scene 3
3.1 Place this extract in context.
(2)
3.2 Who are the ‘instruments of darkness’ referred to in line 11?
(1)
3.3 What promise was made to Banquo?
(1)
3.4 Name the two truths that have already been told by the ‘instruments of darkness.’
(2)
3.5 Briefly describe two other prophecies that become truths later in the play.
(2)
3.6 (Aside) This supernatural soliciting / Cannot be ill, cannot be good; (lines 18-19)
3.6.1 What does the word ‘aside’ mean?
(1)
3.6.2 In your own words explain the above line. (Explain both “ill” and good”.)
(4)
3.7 “Nothing is but what is not” (lines 29-30) In your own words explain the meaning of this line and identify
the theme which relates to this line.
(2)
(15)
75
“Macbeth” Contextual 4
Macduff
Bleed, bleed, poor country!
Great tyranny, lay thou thy basis sure,
For goodness dare not check thee! wear thou thy wrongs;
The title is affeer’d! Fare thee well, lord:
I would not be the villain that thou think’st
For the whole space that’s in the tyrant’s grasp,
And the rich East to boot.
Malcolm
Be not offended:
I speak not as in absolute fear of you.
I think our country sinks beneath the yoke;
It weeps, it bleeds, and each new day a gash
Is added to her wounds: I think withal
There would be hands uplifted in my right;
And here from gracious England have I offer
Of godly thousands. But, for all this,
When I shall tread upon the tyrant’s head,
Or wear it on my sword, yet my poor country
Shall have more vices than it had before,
More suffer, and more sundry ways than ever,
By him that shall succeed.
Macduff
What should he be?
Malcolm
It is myself I mean; in whom I know
All the particulars of vice so grafted,
That, when they shall be open’d, black Macbeth
Will seem as pure as snow, and the poor state
Esteem him as a Lamb, being compar’d
With my confineless harms.
1
5
10
15
20
25
Act 4 Scene 3
4.1 Which country is referred to in line 1?
4.2 Explain the meaning of line 1 “Bleed, bleed poor country!”
4.3 Quote and explain one example of personification from lines 2-13 and how it relates to the state of the
country mentioned in question 6.8.
4.4 To whom does Malcolm refer in line 20 and how does this relate to his plan to save his country?
4.5 ‘Black Macbeth will seem as pure as snow’ (lines 24) Why does Malcolm refer to Macbeth as ‘Black
Macbeth’? Also – explain the line in context of Malcolm’s statement in lines 24-27.
(1)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(3)
(10)
“Macbeth” Contextual 5
Enter Macbeth
How now? What news?
LADY MACBETH
He has almost supped. Why have you left the chamber?
1
MACBETH
Hath he asked for me?
LADY MACBETH
Know you not he has?
MACBETH
We will proceed no further in this business
He hath honoured me of late; and I have bought
Golden opinions from all Sons of people,
Which would be worn now in their newest gloss
Not east aside so soon
5
LADY MACBETH
Was the hope drunk
wherein you dressed yourself? Hath it slept since?
And wakes it now to look so green and pale
At what it did so freely? From this time
10
76
Such I account thy love. Art thou afeard
To be the same in thine own act and valour,
As thou art in desire? Wouldst thou have that
Which thou esteem’st the ornament of life,
And live a coward in thine own esteem,
Letting ‘I dare not wait upon I would’,
Like the poor cat i’the adage?
MACBETH
Prithee peace.
I dare do all that may become a man:
Who dares do more, is none
15
20
LADY MACBETH
What beast was’t then
That made you break this enterprise to me?
When you durst do it then you were a man:
And to be more that what you were, you would
Be so much more the man. Nor time nor place
Did then adhere, and yet you would make both.
They have made themselves, and that their fitness now
Does unmake you. I have given suck, and know
How tender ‘tis to love the babe that milks me:
I would, while it was smiling in my face,
Have plucked my nipple from his boneless gums
And dashed the brains out, had I so sworn as you
Have done to this,
MACBETH
If we should fail?
LADY MACBETH
We fail?
25
30
35
Act 1 Scene 7
5.1 Who is the “He” that Lady Macbeth and Macbeth are referring to in lines 2 –5?
(1)
5.2 “We will proceed no further in this business.” (line 6)
5.2.1 Which ‘business’ does Macbeth not want to proceed with?
(2)
5.2.2 How may Macbeth benefit if they proceed with the business;’
(2)
5.2.3 In a paragraph plot the events leading up to the ‘business being referred to.
(4)
5.3 Macbeth says, “He hath honoured me of late, … “(line 7). Which honour was bestowed on him?
(2)
5.4 Lady Macbeth calls Macbeth a coward in line 19. Give two reasons why you would disagree with her. (2)
5.5 In this extract Lady Macbeth is ______Macbeth. Explain your anwer.
A
praising
B
taunting
C
encouraging
D
forgiving
(2)
5.6 In the extract, two differences between Macbeth and Lady Macbeth become evident. In a short paragraph
explain what these two differences are. (Remember, do not quote directly from the extract)
(4)
5.7 Transcribe the following question into modern English so that it retains its original meaning.
“Art thou afeard / To be the same in thine own act and valour / As thou art in desire? (lines 15-16) (2)
5.8 What is the ‘ornament of life” that Lady Macbeth refers to in line 17’?
(2)
5.9 Refer to line 36. ‘We fail’?
5.9.1 The tone of Lady Macbeth’s in this question is one of … Explain your answer.
A
sadness
B
amusement
C
scorn
D
amazement
(2)
5.10 From your knowledge of the play, does Lady Macbeth and Macbeth’s long term plan fail?
(1)
5.11 Give any two facts from the play that support your answer to 5.10.
(4)
(30)
77
“Macbeth” Contextual 6
Enter ROSS
MACDUFF
MALCOLM
MACDUFF
MALCOM
ROSS
MACDUFF
ROSS
MACDUFF
MALCOLM
ROSS
MACDUFF
ROSS
MACDUFF
ROSS
MACDUFF
ROSS
MACDUFF
ROSS
MALCOLM
See who comes here.
My countryman; but yet I know him not.
My ever-gentle cousin, welcome hither
I know him now. Good God betimes remove
the means that makes us strangers.
Sir, amen.
Stands Scotland where it did?
Alas poor country.
Almost afraid to know itself. It cannot
Be called our mother, but our grave; where nothing
But who knows nothings is once seen to smile;
Where sighs, and groans, and shrieks that rent the air,
Are made, not marked; where violent sorrow seems
A modern ecstasy- The dead man’s knell
Is there scarce asked for who, and good men’s lives
Expire before the flowers in their caps,
Dying or ere they sicken
O relation
Too nice, and yet too true!
What’s the newest grief?
That of an hour’s age doth hiss the speaker.
Each minute teems a new one.
How does my wife?
Why well
And all my children?
Well too.
The tyrant has not battered at their peace?
No. they were well at peace, when I did leave ‘em.
Be not a niggard of your speech. How goes’t?
When I came hither to transport the tidings
Which I have heavily home, there ran a rumour
(if many worthy fellows that were out;
Which was to my belief witnessed the rather,
For that I saw the tyrant’s power a-foot.
Now is the time of help; your eye in Scotland
Would create soldiers, make our women fight,
To doff their dire distresses.
Be’t their comfort
We are coming thither. Gracious England hath
lent us good Siward, and ten thousand men
An older and a better soldier none
That Christendom gives out.
Would I could answer
This comfort with the like. But I have words
Thai would he howled out in the desert air,
Where hearing should not latch them
1
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
6.1 What is Malcolm’s title?
6.2 Of what importance is this title?
6.3 Explain how it is, then, that Macbeth is king of Scotland?
6.4 Explain the figurative meaning of the words ‘Stands Scotland where it did?’
6.5 “The tyrant has not battered at their peace?”(line 27)
6.5.1 Who is the tyrant Macduff is referring to’?
6.5.2 Ross’s answer (line 27) could be ambiguous. Explain two possible meanings.
6.6 What does the alliteration in “dire distresses” emphasise about the state of the people of Scotland?
6.7 Why are the people in Scotland in such a state?
6.8 Ross says he has “heavily borne tidings”(line 31).
6.8.1 What are the tidings he brings?
6.8.2 At the end of the play Macduff has his revenge. Briefly explain how he does this.
6.9 Explain why Macbeth would be afraid of Macduff. Refer to the witches in your answer.
6.10 Whose “eye in Scotland (line 34) would create soldiers?
6.11 Explain what Ross means when he says he saw the “tyrant’s power afoot”
(1)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(4)
(2)
(3)
(2)
(2)
(5)
(1)
(2)
78
“Macbeth” Contextual 7
DUNCAN
Is execution done on Cawdor? Are not
Those in commission returned yet?
MALCOLM
My liege,
They are not yet come back. But I have spoke
With one that saw him die; who did report
That very frankly he confessed his treasons,
Implored your highness pardon, and set forth
A deep repentance. Nothing in his life
Became him like the leaving it He died
As one that had been studied in his death,
To throw away the dearest thing he owed
As ‘twere a careless trifle.
DUNCAN
There’s no art
To find the mind’s construction in the face.
He was a gentleman on whom I built
An absolute trust.
Enter Macbeth, Banquo, Ross and Angus
O worthiest cousin!
The sin of my ingratitude even now
Was heavy on me. Thou an so far before,
That swiftest wing of recompense is slow
To overtake thee. Would thou hadst less deserved
That the proportion both of thanks and payment
Might have been mine! Only I have left to say,
More is thy due than more than all can pay.
MACBETH
The service and the loyalty I owe,
In doing, pays itself. Your highness’ part
Is to receive our duties; and our duties
Are to your throne and state, children and servants;
Which do but what they should, by doing everything
Safe toward your love and honour.
DUNCAN
Welcome hither.
I have begun to plant thee, and will labour
To make thee full of growing. Noble Banquo,
Thou hast no less deserved, nor must be known
No less to have done so, let me enfold thee,
And hold you to my heart.
BANQUO
There if I grow,
The harvest is your own.
DUNCAN
My plenteous joys,
Wanton in fullness, seek to hide themselves
in drops of sorrow. Sons, kinsmen, thanes,
And you whose places are the nearest, know,
We will establish our estate upon
Our eldest, Malcolm, whom we name hereafter
The Prince of Cumberland;
1
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
40
45
8.1 Why has the former mane of Cawdor been sentenced to death (line 1)?
(1)
8.2 This execution has great significance for Macbeth. Explain why this is so by referring to:
8.2.1 the witches’ prophecies
8.2.2 who gets the title (Thane of Cawdor)
8.2.3 Macbeth’s reaction to these prophecies.
(3)
8.3 The description of Cawdor’s death inevitably leads to a comparison with Macbeth’s death. State:
8.3.1 who meets his death more nobly;
8.3.2 what the main differences between these two deaths are.
(1)
(2)
79
8.4
Malcolm says that Cawdor “throw(s) away the dearest thing he owed4 and later in the play Macbeth
laments that he has given his “eternal jewel” to “the common enemy of man” (Act 3/1/67-68). State:
8.4.1 what this ‘dearest thing” is for Cawdor;
8.4.2 what Macbeth threw away for a chance to be king;
8.4.3 what this decision reveals about Macbeth’s character.
(1)
(2)
(2)
8.5 Read the following lines carefully and answer the questions which follow:
‘There’s no art / To find the mind’s construction in the face. / He was a gentleman on whom I built
An absolute trust.” (lines 11-14)
8.5.1 About whom is Duncan talking?
(1)
8.5.2 Explain why it could be said that Duncan does not learn from his mistake. Refer to the irony of these
lines.
(3)
8.6.1 Write down only the letter of the correct answer.
Duncan makes use of an agricultural metaphor when addressing Macbeth (lines 28-29): 1 have begun to
plant thee, and will labour To make thee full of growing”
A.
metaphor
B.
simile
C.
innuendo
D.
truth
(2)
8.6.2
Why would Macbeth be justified in expecting great rewards after hearing these words?
(2)
8.7 Compare Duncan’s greeting of Macbeth with his greeting of Banquo. What do we learn about Duncan
from this?
(2)
8.8 What is meant by, ‘My plenteous joys ... seek to hide themselves! In drops of sorrow” (lines 33-35)?
(2)
8.9 Refer to lines 38-40, ‘We will establish our estate upon’ Our eldest, Malcolm’
8.9.1 Explain why it would cause considerable tension if there were a long pause between the word “upon’
and “Our eldest Malcolm’
(2)
8.9.2
Explain why this could be seen as a turning point in the play.
(2)
(30)
80
“Macbeth” Contextual 9
LENNOX
May it please your highness sit?
1
MACBETH
Here had we now our county’s honour roofed,
Were the graced person of Banquo present;
Who may I rather challenge for unkindness
Than for mischance
5
ROSS
His absence, sir,
Lays blame upon his promise. Please’t your highness
To grace us with you royal company?
MACBETH
The tables full.
LENNOX
Here’s a place reserved, sir.
10
MACBETH
Where?
LENNOX
Here, my good lord … What is’t that moves your highness?
MACBETH
Which of you have done this?
LORDS
What, my good lord?
MACBETH
Thou cans’t not say I did it. Never shake
15
Thy gory locks at me.
Lady Macbeth rises
ROSS
Gentlemen, rise, his highness is not well.
LADY MACBETH (Coming down) Sit, worthy friends; my lord is often thus,
And has been from his youth. Pray you, keep seat.
The fit is momentary. Upon a thought
20
He will again be well. If much you note him,
You shall offend him and extend his passion.
Feed, and regard him not. (Aside to Macbeth) Are you a man?
MACBETH
(Aside to Lady Macbeth) Ay, and a bold one, that dare look on that
Which might appall the devil
25
LADY MACBETH (Aside to Macbeth) O proper stuff!
This is the very painting of your fear:
This is the air-drawn dagger which, you said,
Led you to Duncan.
9.1 Macbeth and Lady Macbeth are giving this banquet for two reasons. What are these reasons?
[2]
9.2 Two people (lords) are not present at the banquet. Name these two lords and state why each has not
attended the banquet.
[4]
9.3 Macbeth tries to turn opinion against Banquo by stating that he would “rather challenge (him,) for
unkindness than for mischance (lines 43-44). Why is it necessary to turn people against Banquo?
[4]
9.4 What causes Macbeth to start back in horror (lines 48-49)?
[1]
9.5 What is the meaning of “gory” (line 52)?
[1]
9.6 The words “my lord is often thus” (line 54) are bound to have an effect on the thanes.
What could they be expected to think of Macbeth after hearing his wife say this?
[4]
9.7 Why, in a stage production, would Lady Macbeth draw her husband off to the side of the stage when she
says the words “Are you a man?” (line 59)?
[2]
9.8 Lady Macbeth has used this argument (“Are you a man?’) once before.
What was the previous occasion and how successful was that argument then as opposed to now?
[2]
(20)
81
“Macbeth” Contextual 10
MACBETH
If it were done when ’tis done, then ’twere well
It were done quickly. If the assassination
Could trammel up the consequence, and catch
With his surcease success; that but this blow
Might be the be-all and the end-all here,
But here, upon this bank and shoal of time,
We’d jump the life to come. But in these cases
We still have judgment here, that we but teach
Bloody instructions, which, being taught, return
To plague th' inventor: this even-handed justice
Commends the ingredients of our poisoned chalice
To our own lips. He’s here in double trust:
First, as I am his kinsman and his subject,
Strong both against the deed; then, as his host,
Who should against his murderer shut the door,
Not bear the knife myself. Besides, this Duncan
Hath borne his faculties so meek, hath been
So clear in his great office, that his virtues
Will plead like angels, trumpet-tongued, against
The deep damnation of his taking-off;
And pity, like a naked newborn babe,
Striding the blast, or heaven’s cherubim, horsed
Upon the sightless couriers of the air,
Shall blow the horrid deed in every eye,
That tears shall drown the wind. I have no spur
To prick the sides of my intent, but only
Vaulting ambition, which o'erleaps itself
And falls on th' other.
Enter Lady Macbeth
How now! What news?
LADY MACBETH
He has almost supp’d: why have you
Left the chamber?
MACBETH
Hath he asked for me?
LADY MACBETH
Know you not he has?
MACBETH
We will proceed no further in this business:
1
5
10
15
20
25
30
10.1 Place this passage in context.
(2)
10.2 What is the “it” that Macbeth is referring to in lines 1 and 2?
(1)
10.3 Refer to line 7: “We’d jump the life to come.” Explain Macbeth’s greatest reason against committing the
murder.
(2)
10.4 Refer to lines 10-20. Macbeth proceeds to give three more reasons why he should not commit the murder.
List them in order.
(3)
10.5.1 Name the figure of speech in line 21.
(1)
10.5.2 Explain this figure of speech by examining lines 21-25.
(2)
10.6 Quote two words that he uses to name his weakness.
(2)
10.7 Show how the last four lines of this extract introduce a new atmosphere. Name the atmosphere and then
explain HOW it is achieved.
(2)
10.8 Shakespeare uses a certain verse-form in this extract. What is it? Give evidence to prove your answer. (2)
AND
82
BANQUO
Thou hast it now: king, Cawdor, Glamis, all,
As the weird women promised, and I fear
Thou played’st most foully for ’t. Yet it was said
It should not stand in thy posterity,
But that myself should be the root and father
Of many kings. If there come truth from them—
As upon thee, Macbeth, their speeches shine—
Why, by the verities on thee made good,
May they not be my oracles as well,
And set me up in hope? But hush, no more.
1
5
10
10.9 Refer to lines 1-2. Discuss the different reactions of Macbeth and Banquo to the “weird women”.
10.10 Refer to line 3: “Thou played’st most foully ” Show how these words reveal Banquo’s state of mind.
10.11 Refer to line 8. Give a synonym for the word ‘verities’.
10.12 Refer to line 10. How would Banquo be “set …up in hope”?
10.13 Banquo is addressing the audience. What name is given to this technique?
(2)
(2)
(1)
(2)
(1)
(25)
GENERAL QUESTIONS – DISCUSSIONS
THE NATURE OF EVIL
1. How does the play portray evil as a perversion of human nature? Show how Macbeth and Lady Macbeth have to
go against their own natures in order to kill Duncan. Trace the effect the betrayal of human nature has on each of
them.
2. How does the imagery of disease function in “Macbeth”? Trace the way in which evil works on Macbeth and on
Scotland like a sickness. Find imagery to support the idea that Malcolm and Macduff “heal” the country by
overthrowing Macbeth.
3. What makes Macbeth susceptible to evil? Explore the nature of Macbeth’s ambition, and show how it overrides
his sense of right and wrong.
4. Evil within vs. evil without. Is evil an outside force, or does it come from within a person? Find instances in the
play to support either theory, or both.
5. How is Macbeth destroyed by evil? Trace the path of Macbeth’s downfall and show how it happens as a
consequence of his murdering Duncan.
6. As Macbeth becomes more evil, how do his feelings change? Start by exploring how his feelings at the beginning
of the play are much like anybody else’s. Trace the way in which his feelings about people and his responses to
events become twisted and abnormal.
7. Trace how Lady Macbeth is destroyed by evil. Show how she renounces all human feeling in Act I and seems to
be successful. After the murder, follow her downward course into madness and death.
8. How does evil work by deception? Contrast what Macbeth and Lady Macbeth believe they are gaining through
murder with what they actually get. Do they deceive themselves, or are they deceived by others?
9. How can evil be avoided? Macbeth gives in to temptation. Take several characters who maintain their integrity
and investigate what the play says about how they do it.
10. How does Shakespeare establish the atmosphere of evil which pervades “Macbeth”? Start with the witches, and
show how their presence reflects on all the events of the play. Give examples of how the imagery in the language
creates a feeling of evil. Also examine the setting.
OTHER ELEMENTS
1. How does the setting contribute to the play? Describe the settings of the various scenes. Show how the text
indicates where a scene takes place. Discuss how the imagery of light and darkness is reflected in the setting.
2. How does the fact that “Macbeth” is one of Shakespeare’s shortest plays contribute to its effectiveness? Discuss
the economy of the writing. Show how each detail contributes to the advancement of the plot; and how Macbeth
seems to plunge to his destruction at a sickening pace.
3. Discuss the use of dramatic tension in “Macbeth”. Chart what Shakespeare lets us know and what information he
withholds from us in order to maintain suspense.
4. Social structure: How is the Scottish society of Macbeth’s time ordered? How is peace maintained? Evaluate how
Macbeth affects the social structure and what happens to it after Malcolm takes over.
83
THE SUPERNATURAL
1. How does Macbeth’s changing attitude toward the supernatural reflect the change in his character? Contrast
Macbeth’s reaction to the witches when he first sees them with his attitude toward them in Act IV.
2. Supernatural events occur throughout the play. Discuss their dramatic function. Each time Macbeth encounters
something supernatural—the witches, the floating dagger, a ghost—he moves more deeply into evil. List the
supernatural events and comment on how each marks a step in Macbeth’s downfall.
3. Do the supernatural events really occur, or are they projections of Macbeth’s inner state? Some readers believe
that the floating dagger, Banquo’s ghost, and even the witches are products of Macbeth’s imagination. Explore
that possibility. Point out in what way, if any, the meaning of the play is changed by accepting or rejecting the
reality of the supernatural.
4. How do the witches’ predictions influence Macbeth’s actions? Analyse what they tell Macbeth at the beginning
of the play. How do they win his confidence? Why do those particular prophecies have such an effect on him?
Do the same for the second set of predictions.
5. Nature itself reacts to some of the events in a super-natural manner. Explore how the theme of good vs. evil is
supported by such occurrences. “Good” in the play is not relative; it is absolute. Give examples in which nature
itself seems to be condemning an evil action.
THE CHARACTERS
1. Describe the way Macbeth and Lady Macbeth influence each other in the play. What effect does Lady Macbeth’s
determination to kill Duncan have on her husband? After the murder, how does Macbeth change, and how does
that affect Lady Macbeth?
2. Contrast Macbeth’s imaginative nature with Lady Macbeth’s pragmatic nature. Compare their attitudes toward
Duncan’s murder, both before and after the deed. Throughout the play, give instances of his poetic description of
feelings and situations and her prosaic, practical way of thinking and expressing herself.
3. Compare Malcolm, the rightful king, with Macbeth. What motivates each of them? Does Malcolm care about his
people? Does Macbeth? Compare the way Macbeth manipulates the two murderers for his own purposes and the
way Malcolm temporarily deceives Macduff for the good of their country.
4. How does Shakespeare establish that Macduff is a good man? Show how Macduff’s character is revealed through
his actions and reactions. Focus on how he handles himself after Duncan’s murder and after hearing that his wife
and children have been killed.
5. Does Macbeth’s character determine his fate? How does Macbeth’s nature make him a prime target for the
witches’ temptations? Why does he choose to ignore the inner voices that tell him not to murder Duncan?
6. Is Macbeth a good man at the beginning of the play, or is he already plotting to be king? Macbeth’s quick
response to the suggestion that he will be king could be interpreted as proof that he has already been plotting, or
it could simply show that the forces of evil have been clever in choosing their temptation.
Using Macbeth’s soliloquies and his scenes with Lady Macbeth, take a stand on the question and defend it.
7. Would Macbeth have murdered Duncan without Lady Macbeth’s influence? The discussion will be a matter of
opinion, of course. Use the scenes between Macbeth and his wife to develop and defend your view.
MOTIFS
1. How does the imagery of light and darkness work through the play? List instances of characters calling upon
darkness to hide their evil deeds. Through light-dark imagery, trace the contest between good and evil.
2. Trace the theme of honour and loyalty throughout the play. Show how “noble Macbeth” betrays the trust placed
in him, and what the consequences are.
3. Discuss why references to loyalty and honour disappear in the middle of the play and come back at the end.
4. Fate and destiny: what is man’s proper relation to them? Explore what the play is saying about this question by
dividing the characters into two groups—those who trust their fate to a higher power, and those who take destiny
into their own hands. Which group fares better?
5. How does the imagery relating to time work in the play? Show how Macbeth tries to compress time. Contrast his
effort to “jump the life to come” with the way the honest characters let things happen as nature intends for them,
in their own time.
84
Language,
Editing,
Summaries,
Comprehensions,
Visual Literacy,
Advertising
85
JUNE 2017 EXAMINATION – KwaZulu Natal GRADE 11 EHL PAPER 1 :
SECTION A: COMPREHENSION
QUESTION 1: READING FOR MEANING AND UNDERSTANDING
Read TEXTS A AND B below and answer the questions set.
TEXT A
Expert on Nazism explains the shocking similarities between Trump and
Hitler’s propaganda tactics
1.
Nicholas O’Shaughnessy is Professor of Communication at Queen Mary, University of London and currently
Visiting Professor at King’s College London. His book “Selling Hitler: Propaganda and the Nazi Brand” has just been
published by Hurst in the UK and distributed by Oxford University Press in the USA.
2.
Much has been made recently of alleged parallels between the authoritarian taint of current political events in
the USA and the rise of European fascism in the inter-war period of the 20th century. One Oxford researcher, Dr Kevin
Dutton, has even declared that Donald Trump exhibits ‘more psychopathic’ traits than Hitler. Is fascism arising from its
mausoleum? (...)
3.
There definitely are similarities in communications methods between the US today and the fascist era in
Europe, and all draw from the same bold, evangelical script. (...)
4.
Let us look at Donald Trump critically: this candidate, and the hold he has on millions of Americans, did not
emerge from nowhere. The blogosphere shakes with their rage. This is indeed parallel to Weimar Germany. The
Third Reich was also a culture war. It was not that a majority of Germans wanted Nazism, but they didn’t want
democracy and there was no real political center left in Germany, just communist, socialist and fascist. Trumpery
flourished in part because of Obama’s failure to sell a counter narrative and his drily intellectual approach to
leadership—and similarly with Hitler’s Weimar predecessor Chancellor Heinrich Bruning, who rejected calls to use the
media and give Germans a powerful story.
5.
In terms of evangelical methods there is an obvious parallel between Hitler’s use of the living theatre of
politics—the rhetorical assault before a live audience—and Trump’s dramatic sideshows. For Trump has revived the
mass rally, sidestepping until late in the day, established methods of political marketing such as advertising and direct
mail.
6.
He knows that the media will relay his impassioned performances into every home. As did Hitler, who
ensured that Germans were able to buy a very cheap state produced radio (Volksempfaenger VE 301) that could only
be tuned into the regime programs. For both men, the theatre of politics was just as important as its instrumentality. In
the view of one respected academic, a Hitler rally in the early 30s was ‘well worth it’ for the entertainment value.
Crowds thrill to Trump’s bullying combative manner; his playing to the gallery and demonization of opponents, his
egocentric fictions; his huge lies which go so far beyond anything seen before in American politics—what he says is
largely imaginary. That is part of the show, part of the entertainment.
7.
The key similarity is the emotional strategy and, specifically, the way in which both maestros of rhetoric
exploited the primal emotions of Pride, Fear and Anger.
8.
Emotion: Pride. Firstly there is the manufacture of a benevolent, proud past which the current order has
violated as expressed in the phrase, Make America Great Again. The slogan Make America Great Again is both the
core rhetorical idea of the Trump campaign and also evokes the loss of the American dream. And, as with the Nazis,
there is a truth buried amid the boundless morass of lies. The Versailles treaty was indeed a disgrace, as the Nazis
consistently claimed; and it is also objectively the case that the material substance of the American idea is now
elusive for many Americans. (...)
9.
The second similarity lies in the manipulative tactics which both employed—the manoeuvres, the remedies,
the frauds. (...)
10.
But Donald is not Adolf.
11.
In fact there are many parallels between Trump and Hitler, which would explain their shared talent for
outraging public opinion while simultaneously manipulating it. Trump’s incitement is legitimated by a colossal fame in
the USA that long predates his candidacy. His popular media profile via The Apprentice is huge and it is easy for
voters to forget this. Like Hitler (who did not found the NSDAP but joined it and rapidly became its propaganda
director) he had a long exposure to media and therefore training in it. And like Hitler, he had never held political office
before running for the highest one.
12.
And both men, curiously, also theorized extensively about persuasion and its psychology—Hitler for the
whole of chapter five in “Mein Kampf”, and Trump in “The Art of the Deal”: “The final key to the way I promote is
bravado. I play to people’s fantasies. People may not always think big themselves, but they can still get very excited
by those who do. That’s why a little hyperbole never hurts. People want to believe that something is the biggest and
the greatest and the most spectacular.” And then again “I call it truthful hyperbole. It’s an innocent form of
exaggeration—and a very effective form of promotion.”
Adapted from an October 2016 article in ‘rawstory’ – www.rawstory.com
86
TEXT B
QUESTIONS: TEXT A
1.1
1.2
1.3.1
1.3.2
1.4.1
1.4.2
1.5
1.6.1
1.6.2
1.7
1.7.1
1.7.2
1.8
1.9
Does the author of the article hold suitable qualifications to discuss the issues in this article? Motivate
your answer.
[2]
Discuss the meaning of the neologism ‘blogosphere’ (paragraph 4).
[2]
Paragraph 4: Explain the similarity between Barack Obama and Hitler’s predecessor Chancellor
Heinrich Bruning in your own words.
[2]
Discuss why this similarity would be the difference between winning and losing an election.
[1]
Explain what the author means by ‘the living theatre of politics’ in paragraph 6.
[1]
What figure of speech is this?
[1]
Critically comment on the significance of Hitler’s ensuring that each German household could afford a
radio that could only be ‘tuned into the regime programs’. (Paragraph 6).
[2]
Explain what the words ‘combative’, ‘bullying’ and ‘demonization’ (paragraph 6) imply about the
character of Donald Trump (according to the author of the article).
[2]
Quote two words/phrases as evidence that Trump does not necessarily adhere to the truth.
[2]
Refer to paragraph 11: The author mentions that the voters forget that Trump’s profile was initially
created through the TV programme “The Apprentice”:
Considering the diction and tone of this paragraph, do you think the author is implying that Trump would
have had less support if the voters did realise this? Explain your answer.
[3]
State one more quality that Trump and Hitler have in common, mentioned in paragraph 11.
[1]
Critically discuss the part that persuasive technique played in Hitler and plays in Trump’s approach to
winning over the masses.
[3]
To what extent does the author of this article believe that there are shocking similarities between Hitler
and Trump? Motivate your answer with reference to the passage.
[3]
QUESTIONS: TEXT B
1.10
Who is the man depicted in this cartoon?
1.11
Briefly describe how the cartoonist hints at stereotyping in this cartoon.
1.12
Explain the pun in the caption “Donald Trumps world”.
[1]
[2]
[1]
QUESTIONS: TEXTS A AND B
1.11 North America has a label pinned on it that says ‘me’. Find and quote ONE word in paragraph 6 of TEXT
A that reflects the same notion as this label.
[1]
TOTAL SECTION A:
[30]
87
SECTION B: SUMMARY
QUESTION 2: SUMMARISING IN YOUR OWN WORDS
The article below (TEXT C) discusses the steps that are usually taken in running for
president in the USA. Summarise the criteria and the steps required to become the
party nominee for the Presidential race in the United State of America.
NOTE:



Your summary must include seven points in one fluent paragraph of 80-90 words.
You are not required to provide a title for the summary.
Indicate word count at the end of your summary.
[10]
TEXT C
HOW TO BECOME THE PRESIDENT OF THE US
A politician with presidential ambition usually forms an exploratory committee to test the
waters and raise money. This can begin up to two years before the election. The US
constitution requires only that a person be a "natural born citizen" of the US, at least 35 years
old, and a resident of the US for 14 years.
If the candidate attracts significant favourable notice from the news media, party officials,
prospective campaign strategists, and donors, he or she formally declares his or her
candidacy and launches campaigns in key early states.
Not just anyone can credibly stand for election: In the last 70 years, every non-incumbent
major party presidential nominee has been either a sitting or former US senator, governor,
vice-president or five-star general and now notable business man. After declaring, the
candidates begin vying for their party's nomination for the presidency. Typically - but not
always - they spend the next several months campaigning heavily in the early primary and
caucus states of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.
Those states hold the first contests of the campaign in the January before the election, and
good performances there can make or break a candidacy. Voters in each of the 50 states,
plus Washington DC and some US territories, select party delegates who in most cases
pledge to support a particular candidate. Some states use a caucus - a local meeting system
- rather than primaries.
The primary election campaign lasts until about June, by which point one candidate has
amassed enough delegates to win the nomination or has driven every other contender from
the race. The parties formally nominate the candidates chosen by party voters in the state
primaries and caucuses. Before or at the convention, the nominee picks a running-mate,
sometimes from among the defeated rivals.
Because the nominee is almost always known before the start of the convention, the
conventions are mostly geared toward promoting and celebrating the nominee and laying out
the party's message and agenda.
Adapted from http://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-15824409
SECTION C: LANGUAGE STRUCTURES AND CONVENTIONS
88
QUESTION 3: ANALYSING ADVERTISING
Study the advertisement (TEXT D) below and answer the set questions.
QUESTIONS: TEXT D
3.1
At whom is this advertisement aimed? Justify your response with close
reference to the pictures in the advertisement.
[2]
In the original advertisement, “PRESIDENT TRUMP’S” is printed in red ink.
Comment on the appropriateness of the different colour font.
[2]
Discuss the effectiveness of punctuation in and tone of “Free and Open to
the Public. No RSVP Necessary. Questions?”
[2]
3.4
What is the meaning of the abbreviation RSVP?
[1]
3.5
Critically discuss the effectiveness of this advertisement.
3.2
3.3
[3]
[10]
89
QUESTION 4: UNDERSTANDING OTHER ASPECTS OF MEDIA
Study the cartoon (TEXT E) below and answer the set questions.
TEXT E: CARTOON
https:2020/2016/02/11/BostonGlobe.com/EditorialOpinion
QUESTIONS: TEXT E
4.1 Refer to frame 1 and 3.
4.1.1
Discuss Hillary’s body language and facial expression.
[3]
4.1.2
What do these frames suggest about Hillary’s confidence to attain the
position “held by Bill”?
[1]
4.2.1 Name the punctuation mark used in frames 1, 2, 4 and 5.
[1]
4.2.2 What is the function of the punctuation mark in this context?
[1]
4.3.1 Account for the cartoonist’s use of the dollar sign ‘$’ in place of the ‘s’ in ‘speeches’ in
frame 5.
[2]
4.3.2 Which word in frame 5 reinforces the notion mentioned in 4.3.1? Explain your
answer.
[2]
[10]
90
QUESTION 5: USING LANGUAGE CORRECTLY
Read TEXT F, which contains some deliberate errors, and answer the set questions.
TEXT F
The top 25 Bushisms of all time ~ by Jacob Weisberg
1
People often assume that because I've spent the past nine years collecting Bushisms,
I must despise George W. Bush. To the contrary, Bushisms fill me with affection for the man.
It helps his case that Bush, like Yogi Berra, is in on the joke. "Our enemies are innovative
and resourceful, and so are we. They never stop thinking about new ways to harm our
country and our people, and neither do we."—Washington, D.C., Aug. 5, 2004.
2
"Rarely is the question asked: Is our children learning?"—Florence, S.C., Jan. 11,
2000.
3 "You teach a child to read, and he or her will be able to pass a literacy test.''—Townsend,
Tenn., Feb. 21, 2001.
4 "I'm the decider, and I decide what is best. And what's best is for Don Rumsfeld to remain
as the secretary of defense."—Washington, D.C., April 18, 2006.
5 "We ought to make the pie higher."—South Carolina Republican debate, Feb. 15, 2000.
6 "There's an old saying in Tennessee—I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee—that
says, fool me once, shame on—shame on you. Fool me—you can't get fooled again."—
Nashville, Tenn., Sept. 17, 2002.
7 "And there is distrust in Washington. I am surprised, frankly, at the amount of distrust that
exists in this town. And I'm sorry it's the case, and I'll work hard to try to elevate it."—
speaking on National Public Radio, Jan. 29, 2007.
8 "They misunderestimated me."—Bentonville, Ark., Nov. 6, 2000
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics
5.1
5.2
5.3
5.4
5.5
5.6
5.7
What is the purpose of the commas around ‘like Yogi Berra’ in paragraph 1?
Identify and explain the ambiguity in paragraph 1.
Identify and correct the error of concord in paragraph 2.
Identify and correct any PRONOUN error in the passage.
Rewrite in the passive voice:
I must despise president George W. Bush because I record all his mistakes.
Rewrite the direct speech in paragraph 4, into indirect (reported speech).
Start your answer with President Bush said that...
Correct the malapropism in paragraph 7.
[1]
[2]
[1]
[1]
[2]
[2]
[1]
[10]
TOTAL SECTION C: 30
GRAND TOTAL: 70
91
QUEENSTOWN GIRLS’ HIGH SCHOOL
ENGLISH HOME LANGUAGE – GRADE 11 – PAPER 1
May/June 2014
Examiner: Mrs C. Buss



70 Marks
2 hours
Moderated by: Mrs L. Shone
Use your OWN words as far as possible, unless you are asked to quote.
Be guided by the number of marks allocated to each question as you answer it.
Start EACH section on a NEW page.
Section A: Comprehension – 30 Marks
Read the following texts (Text A and Text B) and answer the questions that follow.
TEXT A
History of Coffee
1 The history of coffee goes at least as far back as the thirteenth century with a number of myths surrounding its first
use. The earliest credible evidence of coffee drinking or knowledge of the coffee tree appears in the middle of the 15 th
century, in the Sufi monasteries of Yemen. By the 16 th century, coffee had reached the rest of the Middle East, Persia,
Turkey and northern Africa. Coffee then spread to the Balkans, Italy and to the rest of Europe, Indonesia and the
Americas.
2 The word ‘coffee’ entered English in 1582 via Dutch koffee, borrowed from Turkish kahve, in turn borrowed from
Arabic qahwa, a truncation of qahhwat al-bun ‘wine of the bean’.
3 There are several legendary accounts of the origin of the drink itself. One account involves the Yemenite Sufi mystic
Ghothul Akbar Nooruddin. When travelling in Ethiopia, he observed birds of unusual vitality, and, upon trying the berries
that the birds had been eating, experienced the same vitality.
4 Other accounts attribute the discovery of coffee to Sheik Omar. Omar, who was known for his ability to cure the sick
through prayer, was once exiled from Mocha to a desert cave near Ousab. Starving, Omar chewed berries from nearby
shrubbery, but found them to be bitter. He tried roasting the beans to improve the flavour. They became hard so he tried
boiling them to soften the bean. This resulted in a fragrant brown liquid. Upon drinking the liquid Omar was revitalised.
5 Another possibly apocryphal (being of questionable authenticity) account involves a 9 th century Ethiopian goat-herder,
Kaldi, who, noticing the energising effects when his flock nibbled on the bright red berries. His exhilaration prompted him
to bring the berries to a monk in a nearby monastery but the monk threw them into the fire. The enticing aroma brought
the monks out to investigate. The roasted beans were quickly raked from the embers, ground up and dissolved in hot
water, yielding the world’s first cup of coffee.
From: Wikipedia
TEXT B
Wake Up And Smell The Coffee
by Rofhiwa Madzena
1 If you’re anything like me, one of the first things you do when you get up in the morning is prepare a fresh pot of
coffee. Again, if you’re like me, you don’t really think about the process involved in bringing you the coffee: who grew the
coffee beans, where they were processed and who exactly benefits from you buying coffee.
2 Producers of coffee beans don’t get much. In fact, every kilogram that they produce is sold to companies for a cheaper
price than it is to buy one cup of coffee from your favourite café, but you didn’t know that, did you?
3 I didn’t either, and when I did become aware of the role coffee plays in our lives, I thought it imperative to shed some
light on the fact that this beverage that we take for granted, provides the basis of life and survival for a country like
Ethiopia.
4 After the Second World War, much of the world was in dire need of economic, social and political assistance. The
United States of America (USA) was prepared to lead the reconstruction process by establishing organisations, such as the
World Trade Organisation (WTO).
92
5 These organisations are primarily focused on trade and, although their intentions may be good in terms of support for
weaker countries, the reality might be different.
6 By providing agricultural subsidies to farmers and limiting agricultural exports, countries of the Global South (the
nations of Africa, Central and Latin America and most of Asia) were given the opportunity to protect themselves from
excessive exporting and exploitation.
7 This sounds rather good, but here’s the hiccup: not all of the countries in the Global South qualify for the subsidy and,
conveniently enough, countries such as Ethiopia, which are resource rich, do not qualify.
8 You see, in the instance of Ethiopia, the WTO encourages them not to entertain such subsidies and to open up their
markets for free trade to occur effectively, to the benefit of the West.
9 Ethiopia is one of the greatest exporters of coffee and over 60% of its export revenue comes from coffee.
10 Believe it or not, coffee is the second biggest commodity in the world, so assuming oil is the first biggest commodity,
that makes coffee a pretty good second and that also implies that Ethiopia should be amongst one of the richest countries
in the world. Sadly, this is not the case.
11 The price of coffee is not decided upon by the Ethiopian producers, but by the New York and European markets.
Although we herald ‘free market’, the reality is that it is far from ‘free’. It is dominated by some big players who can twist
the price to their benefit.
12 Starbucks Coffee has a turnover of $13,3 billion and some 150 000 employees. Look up Starbucks. Although they have
a ‘Fair Trade’ policy, they are at war with Ethiopia. But that is for another time.
(A ‘Fair Trade’ policy means that the company supports Third World producers.)
Text A
Refer to paragraph 1
1.1
Quote a 5-word phrase that proves that the earliest knowledge about coffee may be dated to the 13th century.
1.2
What does the word ‘credible’ suggest about the evidence regarding the origin of coffee?
(1)
(2)
Refer to paragraph 2
1.3
State the origin and meaning of the word ‘coffee’.
(2)
Refer to paragraphs 3-5
1.4
Why are three accounts of the discovery of coffee described?
1.5.1
Which one of the three accounts seems most fanciful or implausible (fictional)?
1.5.2
Justify your choice in 1.5.1 by referring to the text.
(3)
(1)
(1)
Text B
Refer to paragraph 1
1.6
What is the writer’s attitude towards coffee? Justify your answer.
(2)
Refer to paragraphs 3
1.7
…“the role that coffee plays in our lives”. What is the role of coffee in your life?
(1)
Refer to paragraphs 4-6
1.8
State the reason for the establishment of the WTO. Quote a 4-word phrase in support of your answer.
1.9
What does the writer mean by saying that the reality ‘might be different’ instead of ‘is different’?
(2)
(2)
Refer to paragraphs 7-11
1.10
Give a synonym for the word ‘revenue’ (used in paragraph 9). Write down only one word.
1.11
Explain why Ethiopia is not one of the richest countries in the world. USE YOUR OWN WORDS!
(1)
(3)
Refer to paragraph 12
1.12
Explain what the writer means when he says: “Look up Starbucks”.
1.13
Does Starbucks Coffee (the company) adhere to Fair Trade policies? Quote in support of your answer.
(2)
(2)
Refer to the title of the passage
1.14
Do you think the title is appropriate in light of the passage as a whole? Explain your answer.
(2)
Consider Text A and Text B
1.15
How do the texts differ in terms of style and diction?
1.16
Where would you be likely to find Text B?
(2)
(1)
93
Section B: Summary – 10 Marks
Read the following text and then follow the instructions below.
Extensive scientific research has been conducted to examine the relationship between coffee
consumption and an array of medical conditions. The general consensus in the medical community is that
moderate regular coffee drinking in healthy individuals is either essentially benign or mildly beneficial.
In 2012, such a study analysed the relationship between coffee drinking and mortality. They found that
the amount of coffee consumed correlated negatively with risk of death, and that those who drank coffee
lived longer than those who did not.
Researchers involved in an ongoing 22-year study by the Harvard School of Public Health stated that “the
overall balance of risks and benefits of coffee consumption are on the side of the benefits”.
Findings have also been contradictory as to whether coffee has any specific health benefits, and results
are similarly conflicting regarding the potentially harmful effects of coffee consumption.
Coffee consumption has generally been shown to have little or no impact on cancer development.
Other studies suggest coffee consumption reduces the risk of prostate cancer, Alzheimer’s disease,
dementia, Parkinson’s disease, heart disease, diabetes mellitus type 2, non-alcoholic fatty liver diseases,
cirrhosis and gout.
The fact that decaffeinated coffee also exhibits preventative effects against diseases such as prostate
cancer and type 2 diabetes suggests that coffee’s health benefits are not solely a product of its caffeine
content.
The presence of antioxidants in coffee has been shown to prevent free radicals from causing cell damage.
Evidence suggests that roasted coffee has a stronger antioxidant effect than green coffee.
Coffee is no longer thought to be a risk factor for coronary disease.
Caffeine acts as an acute antidepressant. A review, published in 2004, indicated a negative correlation
between suicide rates and coffee consumption. It was suggested that the action of caffeine in blocking the
inhibitory effects of adenosine and dopamine nerves in the brain reduced feelings of depression. Coffee
consumption is also associated with improved endothelial function. Coffee extracts have been shown to
inhibit that enzyme which converts cortisone to cortisol and is a current pharmaceutical target for the
treatment of diabetes type 2 and the metabolic syndrome.
GLOSSARY:
Endothelial – inner lining of blood vessels.
Metabolic syndrome – combination of medical disorders that increase the risk of developing cardiovascular disease (heart disease)
Cortisone and cortisol – certain hormones
Antioxidants – man-made or natural substances that may prevent or delay some types of cell damage
Adenosine or dopamine – neurotransmitters (helps the brain send messages throughout the body)
Instructions
1. Summarise the health benefits of coffee put forward in the article.
2. You must write ONE fluent paragraph which will be used for an information insert for a lifestyle magazine.
3. Provide a title for the summary.
4. Your summary should be 80 – 90 words.
5. Use your own words! (You may, however, use scientific terms as they appear in the text.)
6. Indicate your word count at the end of the summary.
94
Section C: Language in context – 30 Marks
Question 3: Advertisement
Study the following advertisements (marked A and B) and answer the questions that follow.
A
B
IF YOUR COFFEE ISN’T PERFECT
WE’LL MAKE IT OVER.
IF IT’S STILL NOT PERFECT
MAKE SURE YOU’RE IN A
STARBUCKS.
WE’VE ALWAYS BEEN CRAZY
ABOUT COFFEE. NOW WE’RE CERTIFIED.*
IT’S NOT JUST COFFEE. IT’S STARBUCKS.
IT’S NOT JUST COFFEE. IT’S STARBUCKS.
Copy:
*100% OF OUR ESPRESSO BEANS ARE FAIRTRADE
CERTIFIED.
Refer to advertisement A:
3.1
What is implied about the Starbucks brand and product in the text (copy) of the advertisement?
(2)
Refer to advertisement B:
3.2
Explain the pun used in the text (copy).
(2)
Refer to both advertisements:
3.3
Starbucks is a famous company in the USA. Comment on the slogan: It’s not just coffee. It’s Starbucks.
(2)
Refer to the ‘Nespresso’ advertisement on the left:
3.4
3.5
The person in the advertisement is internationallyknown actor, George Clooney. Why would the
company use a celebrity to advertise their product?
(2)
Explain what the slogan “What else?” implies about
the coffee machine being advertised.
(2)
Copy:
Nespresso. What else?
95
Question 4: Cartoon
4.1
What is the patient’s symptom? Mention TWO visual clues
in your answer.
(2)
4.2
What tone of voice would you expect the doctor to use in this
situation? Explain your answer.
(2)
4.3
Explain the humour in this cartoon.
(2)
4.4
(2)
4.5
Explain the pun in the copy of the cartoon.
Explain the humour in this cartoon.
(2)
96
Question 5 – Using Language Correctly
Refer to the extract by Rofhiwa Madzena and answer the questions that follow.
So, how does the coffee leave Ethiopia? Well, a number of coffee producers gather with their produce at a common area. It is here
1
where the buyers of coffee from around the world come to buy the produce. What’s frustrating about this scenario is that some
coffee producers do not manage to sell their beans. The produce is auctioned (auction price desided upon by US markets) and naturally,
only the finest produce will be sold, and the rest, well… it is just not good enough.
The world trade regime that has since developed post World War 2, has brought along with it various positives which contribute to the
5
many economic privileges that we enjoy today. However, while we reap the benefits of this regime, Ethiopia and her people, which are
a pivotal driving force in this regime, continue to suffer.
Ethiopia is plagued by large scale poverty, vast unemployment, compromised education systems and miserable people because a vast amount
of Ethiopian soil is only able to produce coffee and the drug CAT, which is extremely lucrative.
So when there is desperation for a decent income, there’s no moral argument as to what farmers are going to grow. Do you blame them? 10
I mean, what would you decide to do if you were getting a mere $0.25 per kilogram for coffee that you produce, while a cup is being sold
for $2.90 in the USA? Something to think about…
What remains now is the persistent call for Fair Trade by African economies on the West, and while this call often falls on deaf ears, there
is hope that morality will one day tramp greed and those who work the hardest will enjoy the fruits of their labour.
So, next time you inhale that yummy aroma of a fresh cup of coffee, think about the hardship, the greed, the level of fairness involved in 15
the coffee making process… hopefully you’ll appreciate it just that little bit more.
Adapted from: Hola Mahigh School, Volume 2 Issue 1 2013.
5.1
Change the following into reported speech:
It is here where the buyers of coffee from around the world come to buy the produce. (lines 1-2)
Begin your sentence with: Madzena wrote…
(2)
5.2
What is the purpose of the apostrophe in line 2?
(1)
5.3
Correct the spelling error in line 3.
(1)
5.4
Write the following in the passive voice: We reap the benefits of this regime. (line 6)
(1)
5.5
Give the noun form of the word ‘miserable’ (line 8).
(1)
5.6
Correct the malapropism in line 14.
(1)
5.7
Is the following extract a phrase or a clause? Give a reason for your answer.
…the level of fairness involved in the coffee making process… (lines 15-16)
(2)
Replace the word ‘yummy’ (line 15) with a standard English word.
(1)
5.8
97
COMPREHENSION and EDITING test – 40 marks – Grade 11 English Home Language
Read the following text from Gareth Cliff’s Gareth Cliff on Everything and answer the questions that follow.
15 minutes of fame
‘Who do you want to win Idols?’ The woman who asked was middle-aged and friendly, with very big teeth. It
was the hundredth time I had been asked that question, just on that night, but she deserved the truth: ‘I don’t
really care who wins… It’s not really that important. It’s a result, but the winner is not the point.’ She was
aghast. It was like I had just told her that the conspiracy to kill JFK was headed by Jackie. After a few, drawnout seconds of uncomfortable silence, she turned and walked away, fairly devastated.
It was the truth. The poor winner of Idols is only really there as the winner for the last five minutes of the last
episode of a six-month season of the show. It is both the beginning and the apex of their music career. They
can’t really get bigger or better than that. They’ll never have so many people invested in their singing than at
the moment they win. That’s what makes winning Idols so hard. It’s like winning the lottery and being told you
have an hour to live.
So, if the show isn’t about the winner, what is it about? I suppose it’s a journey. The laughs, the emotion, the
songs, the judges, the mishaps and the performances. Actually the show is about you. It’s about the audience.
That’s why it gets such good ratings. Everyone sitting at home is a self-appointed judge at every step of the
journey. You choose a favourite, become distraught when he or she is voted off the show, and then pick a new
favourite. This process repeats itself until only two are left and you back one of them. Along the way you get
some really good entertainment. Do you see now why the winner doesn’t matter?
While we’re talking Idols, it needs to be said that the best singer doesn’t always win. In American Idol two
seasons ago, Adam Lambert was clearly the most talented, the best performer, and the hungriest for success.
He lost to the other guy. The other guy won because the audience is the most important thing about the show.
They choose what happens. It isn’t so much a talent show as it is a popularity contest. And that is OK. I know
some people who have been so fired up by Idols that family feuds have broken out when a contestant is
eliminated or saved. That’s hysterical, but it’s what really counts – we get roped in.
American Idol is the biggest show in the history of television. More people watched the last season than voted
for Barack Obama and John McCain put together. The advertising space during the finale is the most expensive
commercial time in the world. Coca-Cola spent more on their minute-long ad than they did on manufacturing
their product last year. The show really is immense. Here in South Africa, our audience is substantially smaller,
but Idols has raked in the highest ratings for any show on M-net. Many of the winners have hardly been
runaway successes once the show ended, but the ratings continue to rise.
I love hearing how Idols has become part of people’s lives. It’s very special to be part of something like that. I
just wish people would stop asking me to audition them in airports, shops or public lavatories. And please, if
you really love your kids, even though they are tone-deaf, don’t make them cannon fodder for TV ratings.
JFK and Jackie – John F Kennedy was an American president who was assassinated. Jackie was his wife.
apex – peak of a mountain (for example)
cannon fodder – The term is generally used in situations where soldiers are forced to fight against hopeless
odds.
98
Paragraph 1
1.1 Choose a synonym for the word ‘aghast’ from the following options:
a) afraid
b) horrified
c) awestruck
d) amazed
(1)
1.2 Justify your choice in 1.1 – explain the context in which the word is used in the paragraph. (2)
Paragraph 2
2.1 Explain what Cliff means by saying that winning Idols is “the beginning and the apex of their
music career.”
(3)
2.2 Explain the literal AND figurative meaning of “invested” as used in THIS context.
(2)
2.3 Explain Cliff’s use of the “lottery” simile in the last line of this paragraph.
(3)
Paragraph 3
3.1 Explain what is meant by “self-appointed judge” by referring to the text.
(2)
3.2 Why does Gareth Cliff believe that the winner of Idols does not really matter? Use your own
words!
(2)
Paragraph 4
4.1 What point does Cliff make by referring to Adam Lambert’s competitor as the “other guy”?
4.2.1 Why does he call Idols a popularity contest rather than a talent competition?
4.2.2 Quote 3 consecutive words that prove Cliff’s acceptance of the statement in 4.2.1 .
4.3 Explain the metaphor – “we get roped in”.
(2)
(2)
(1)
(2)
Paragraph 5
5.1 Why is the Coca-Cola advertisement so expensive?
5.2 Why does South African Idols have a much smaller audience than the USA has?
(2)
(1)
Paragraph 6
6.1 Explain what it means to “audition” somebody.
6.1 Explain “cannon fodder” in the context of the paragraph.
(2)
(3)
99
EDITING
Read the following extract taken from Gareth Cliff’s Gareth Cliff on Everything and answer the
questions that follow. (The text has been edited for this test’s purpose.)
You’re not Gordon Ramsay
People behave very strangely when they eat in public. From the time comunal cave-eating began, I’m
sure people found reasons to enjoy and become annoyed with each other. Louis XIV used to dine in
public, mostly to keep his etiquette-obsessed nobility on their toes with new tricks, but also to teach
the ordinary people how to properly eat. My grandparents never let my father and uncle eat with
them until they learned respecting table manners. Evidently they only got this right at about age 14.
These days, we all get together in each other’s homes or at restaurants.
People will ask for a doggy bag if they didn’t manage to finish their meal. Ordinarily you’d think how
sweet it was of them to consider their hungry German Shepherd at home. The reality is that its for
them to finish at some later date, and their greed won’t let them leave even the tiniest of leftovers to
be sent back to the kitchen.
What we know about going out for dinner is that it can be, at any given time, either a life-affirming
pleasure or a terrible ordeal. It comes down to who you’re with and where you go and seldom what
you eat.
Paragraph 1
7.1
Correct the spelling error.
(1)
7.2
Rewrite “Louis XIV” in standard English.
(1)
7.3
Correct the split infinitive. Rewrite only the corrected part of the sentence.
(1)
7.4
The word “respecting” has been used incorrectly here. Give the correct form of the word. (1)
Paragraph 2
7.5
Insert a word into the first sentence in order to remove the generalisation.
(1)
7.6
Explain the function of the apostrophe in “you’d”.
(1)
7.7
A common error was made in sentence 3. Correct this error.
(1)
Paragraph 3
7.8
Explain the use of the commas in the first sentence.
(1)
7.9
Explain the function of the hyphen in “life-affirming”.
(1)
7.10 Correct the error of redundancy.
(1)
100
Queenstown Girls’ High School
Grade 11 English Home Language
Comprehension and Language Test
July 2017
Set by: Mrs C. Buss
Time: 70 minutes
Moderator: Mrs L. Shone
Read the following texts and answer the questions that follow
TEXT 1 (Source: www.theguardian.com 3/11/16)
Brexit named word of the year, ahead of Trumpism and hygge
1.
“Brexit” has emerged ahead of “Trumpism” and “hygge” to be named the word of the year by Collins after seeing an
“unprecedented surge” in use.
2. The dictionary publisher said that Brexit saw its first recorded usage in 2013, but has since increased in use by more
than 3,400% this year as the referendum approached in June, and as the ramifications have played out since. Such an
increase, said Collins, is “unheard of” since it began monitoring word usage.
3. “‘Brexit’ is arguably politics’ most important contribution to the English language in over 40 years, since the
Watergate scandal gave commentators and comedians the suffix ‘-gate’ to make any incident or scandal infinitely
more compelling,” said Helen Newstead, Collins’s head of language content.
4. According to Newstead, Brexit is “proving even more useful and adaptable” than Watergate. As well as its obvious
definition as “the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union”, and its spawning of words including
“bremain” and “bremorse”, the term has also inspired “a lot of wordplay”, said Collins. She pointed to “BrexPitt” or
“Bradxit”, referring to the end of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s marriage, “Mexit”, for the footballer Lionel Messi’s
retirement, and “Bakexit”, about the BBC’s loss of The Great British Bake Off. It was added to the current print
edition of Collins Dictionary earlier this year.
5. Other contenders for Collins’s word of the year included Trumpism. “Trump is not the first politician to have had his
name co-opted by language: ‘Thatcherism’ and ‘Reaganomics’, for example,” said Newstead. “However, the longevity
of ‘Trumpism’ as a word may depend on his success in the forthcoming election.”
6. Collins’s 10-strong list of final contenders for the top spot, which will appear in Collinsdictionary.com, also included
“snowflake generation”, which it defines as “the young adults of the 2010s, viewed as being less resilient and more
prone to taking offence than previous generations”, and the Danish concept of “hygge”, or “creating cosy and
convivial atmospheres that promote wellbeing”.
7. The phrase “throw shade”, which Collins said was made popular in gay communities in late 1980s America, and which
it defines as “to make a public show of contempt for someone or something, often in a subtle or non-verbal manner”,
also made Collins’s list, as did “sharenting” (“the habitual use of social media to share news, images, etc. of one’s
children”).
8. “Most of this year’s words are used by or relate to the generation born towards the end of the last century. They are
the drivers of ‘dude food’, quickest to ‘throw shade’ or ‘mic drop’. They may be referred to by some as the ‘snowflake
generation’, but they are the most likely to rail against ‘Brexit’ and ‘Trumpism’. Their contribution to the constant
evolution of the English language should not be overlooked,” said Newstead.
Collins’s words of the year, with full definitions
9. Brexit (ˈbrɛɡzɪt) noun: the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union
10. dude food (ˈduːd ˌfuːd) noun: junk food such as hot dogs, burgers, etc considered particularly appealing to men
11. hygge (ˈhyɡə) noun: a concept, originating in Denmark, of creating cosy and convivial atmospheres that promote
wellbeing
12. JOMO (ˈdʒəʊməʊ) noun acronym: joy of missing out: pleasure gained from enjoying one’s current activities without
worrying that other people are having more fun
13. mic drop (ˈmaɪk ˌdrɒp) noun: a theatrical gesture in which a person drops (or imitates the action of dropping) a handheld microphone to the ground as the finale to a speech or performance
14. sharenting (ˈʃɛərəntɪŋ) noun: the habitual use of social media to share news, images, etc of one’s children
15. snowflake generation (ˈsnəʊfleɪk dʒɛnəˌreɪʃən) noun: the young adults of the 2010s, viewed as being less resilient
and more prone to taking offence than previous generations
16. throw shade (ˌθrəʊ ˈʃeɪd) verb: to make a public show of contempt for someone or something, often in a subtle or
non-verbal manner
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17. Trumpism (ˈtrʌmpɪzəm) noun: (1) the policies advocated by the US politician Donald Trump, especially those
involving a rejection of the current political establishment and the vigorous pursuit of US national interests (2) a
controversial or outrageous statement attributed to Donald Trump
18. uberization (ˌuːbəraɪˈzeɪʃən) noun: the adoption of a business model in which services are offered on demand
through direct contact between a customer and supplier, usually via mobile technology
TEXT 2 (Editorial -- adapted -- from The Times 7/11/16)
At last, something we can thank the Guptas for
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
WE DON’T have much to thank the Gupta family for. Well, some of us clearly do, but not the vast majority of the
population of this great land. In fact, we wish they’d just pack their bags and Gupta off.
And therein lies the one small way this clan will enrich us: they have given us a word to imaginatively conjure with as
we express anger and frustration at the devious, self-enriching machinations of the rich and powerful.
“Gupta” has entered the South African lexicon with a flourish and the name is destined to remain an expression of
peril for many a long year.
Yesterday, minister of higher education and SA Communist Party bigwig Blade Mzimande gave Gupta grammar
another quick twist when he created a new word (based on the verb form, “Guptarise”).
“We need to fight both monopoly capital and the Guptarisation of our state with ferocity and vigor,” Nzimande
roared at the SACP’s Red October rally in Sebokeng (in November, but that’s not the point).
This way of creating neologisms is known as “verbing” and is generally frowned upon by English language purists. As
a witty one has remarked: “Verbing weirds language”.
But many a noun has been transformed into a verb — from host, to highlight, to salt and pepper. We still frown on
verbing the word impact, but if someone says, “Can I beer you?”, we bite our lip and nod.
The point is, the country that gave the world the linguistic delight of “tenderpreneur” has another brilliant offering.
(Mzansi is also where bakgat, bliksem, haibo and heita; toyi-toyi, ubuntu, kiff, zef, tsotsi, windgat and sharp-sharp
came from).
Its unusual to see a surname get verbed. We know all about brand names such as Google and Taser, but not many
family names crack it. Maybe we’ll one day be using the name of one of our politicians as a verb.
TEXT 3
TEXT 4
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Refer to Text 1:
1. The inverted commas in “Brexit”, “Trumpism” and “hygge” perform a different function from the
inverted commas in “unprecedented surge”. Explain the difference between the two functions.
(2)
2. In your own words, explain what was “unheard of” regarding the use of the term “Brexit”
(paragraph 2).
(1)
3. Give your own example of a word using “-gate” (paragraph 3) as a suffix and show how the suffix
contributes to the meaning of the word. (You may make up a word, or refer to a word that has already
been in use.)
(2)
4. Refer to paragraph 4:
a. Explain the wordplay in “BrexPitt”.
(2)
b. The words highlighted in bold in this paragraph are portmanteau words. Deduce what a
portmanteau word is, and provide a definition for the term.
(2)
5. Discuss the connotations of the expression “snowflake” and suggest why the word was chosen to
describe “young adults of the 2010s” (paragraph 6).
(3)
6. In what situation(s) might you be the “quickest to throw shade” (paragraph 8)? Take into account
the meaning of the expression (given in paragraph 7) and explain your answer.
(2)
7. a) What neologism (new word or expression) would you suggest should be included on this list?
Write a dictionary entry for this word, giving its part of speech and meaning.
(2)
Refer to Text 2:
8. What do you think is the intention of this editorial? Give a reason for your answer and quote from the
text to substantiate your answer.
(3)
9. The word “Guptarisation” (paragraph 5) is derived from the verb, “Guptarise”. What part of speech is
“Guptarisation”?
(1)
10. Refer to paragraphs 6 and 7:
a. What is unusual about the way in which “weirds” has been used?
(1)
b. Use “pepper” in a sentence so that it acts as a verb.
(1)
11. Use one of the words from Mzansi (paragraph 8) in a sentence that shows its meaning.
(1)
Refer to Texts 3 and 4:
12. In your view, is “texters” (text 3) an example of a neologism? Explain your answer.
13. What observation about human behaviour is being made in Text 3?
14. What part of speech is “Google” in Text 4?
(2)
(2)
(1)
Editing: Refer to text 2.
15. Name the grammatical error in the first sentence of paragraph 1.
16. Explain the function of the colon in the first sentence of paragraph 2.
17. Explain the function of the hyphen in paragraph 2.
18. Correct the error of the split infinitive in paragraph 2.
19. Identify and correct the Americanism in paragraph 5.
20. Explain the function of the brackets in paragraph 5.
21. Identify and correct the common error in the first sentence of paragraph 9.
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
[35 marks]
103
QUEENSTOWN GIRLS’ HIGH SCHOOL
ENGLISH HOME LANGUAGE
JANUARY 2014
GRADE 11
TIME: 70 minutes
MARKS: 35
Read the following text (adapted from Fair Lady – August 2013) and answer the questions that follow.
Crying in the rain
I’m on deadline. It’s late. And very dark. Nevertheless, I have selflessly stopped off on my way home to buy food for
supper: my husband is at a meeting, and I am a Good Mother, and the teens need to be fed. ALL THE TIME.
At home I sit in the car for a minute, trying to work out how I can carry everything into the house in one shot, because of
course it is pouring with rain, and I suspect that if I get completely soaked I might just fall into a trough of such self-pitying
martyrdom that I will never be able to dig myself out again. So – out of the car; laptop and handbag over my shoulders
and at least one hundred shopping bags heaving with good, nutritious food in each hand. Because I am a Good Mother.
No pre-cooked anything for my growing children.
I am staggering across the grass towards the front door when one of my heels sinks into the mud. It won’t come out. I
start to pivot around it slowly in the rain.
“Ssup, Mum?” I hear.
Interrupting my solitary circuit to look up, I see the Teens standing at the top of the stairs, golden in the warm, dry, light
spilling out the open front door. Somehow they have a soundtrack attached to them: they are quite clearly giving off tinny
celestial music. Perhaps I have actually died from martyrdom, which is disappointing only because it means I won’t be
able to sink my head into that soup tureen of wine I’ve been fantasising about.
“What are you doing?” says Twelve, disapprovingly. “Come inside – it’s raining!”
“Listen to this song,” says Thirteen, holding his cellphone aloft. “It’s the best song I have ever heard. You don’t
understand how much I love this song.”
My fingers are white and bloodless; the weight of the packets has stopped the blood supply and they are about to fall off.
If I can make it to the pool of light before they do, I might be able to find some of them later. And perhaps they can be
sewn on again, so I can carry on typing and earning a living for my children. I could try with the stumps, of course, but
keyboards are so small these days. I am blinking up at these very same children, still selflessly pondering their welfare as I
quietly sink towards Australia in the rain. I am waiting patiently for them to notice that I might need some help.
“What’s for supper?” says Twelve. “We are sta-a-a-a-a-ar-ving. Why are you so late?”
“Be quiet,” says Thirteen. “She can’t hear the song. Now I have to start it again. How long to supper? Can I invite
someone? Can we watch TV? It’s cold out here.”
It strikes me that it’s extremely hard work, this martyrdom business, particularly when dealing with people who have no
frontal lobe and therefore couldn’t care less. It’s like the old tree falling in the forest: are you still a martyr if nobody else
notices your suffering? And – more to the point, for those of us who are competitive martyrs – does it count if you’re the
Champion Martyr if you have no competition? In fact, can you even be the Champion Martyr, or does winning
automatically disqualify you, since you would have had to place your own interests above someone else’s in order to get
there in the first place? (Come one, keep up.)
“Thirteen and Twelve,” I say briskly, firmly ripping my heel out of the lawn. “Get down here at once and carry this stuff in.
Yes, I know it’s raining. Then you can run me a hot bath, Twelve, while Thirteen makes me a cup of tea. And then I’ll talk
you through supper.”
In matters of teen parenting, Genghis Khan trumps Gandhi… at least when my husband isn’t around to vie for first place in
the martyrdom stakes – in which case I’d still be pivoting in the rain, obviously.
Glossary
Martyr – A person who suffers or dies for a cause.
Celestial – Heavenly, spiritually or saintly
Frontal lobe – The front part of the brain that regulates emotions like sympathy, empathy and sadness.
Genghis Khan – 12th century Mongol leader who is legendary for his brutal and inhumane treatment of his subjects and
family members.
Gandhi – An Indian leader who practised and preached non-violence and cooperation.
104
Paragraph 1
1.1 Why does the writer use capital letters in “Good Mother”?
1.2 Read the glossary at the end of the text and then explain the following clause: “I might just fall into a
trough of such self-pitying martyrdom that I will never be able to dig myself out again”.
1.3 Why does the writer say that her children will not be given any pre-cooked food?
(1)
(2)
(2)
Paragraph 2
2.1 What does the word “pivot” mean? Explain the mother’s action when explaining the word.
2.2 Rewrite the child’s question (“Ssup, Mum?”) in colloquial language.
2.3 Who are the Teens?
2.4 Why is Twelve speaking to her mother with a disapproving tone?
(2)
(1)
(1)
(2)
Paragraph 3
3.1 The first sentence of this paragraph is an example of:
a) metaphor
b) hyperbole
c) personification
3.2 Explain your choice in 3.1
3.3 What does the writer of the article do for a living? Quote 5 consecutive words to prove your answer.
3.4 What characteristic of teenagers does the writer aim to emphasise in the last part of the paragraph?
(1)
(2)
(2)
(1)
Paragraph 4
4.1 Why does the writer say that her children have no frontal lobes and don’t care about her?
4.2 Explain the writer’s aside (Come one, keep up.) at the end of the paragraph.
(2)
(2)
Paragraph 5
5.1 Explain the writer’s statement “In matters of teen parenting, Genghis Khan trumps Gandhi”.
5.2 Is the following true or false? Quote one word to substantiate your answer.
The writer’s husband has no interest in being seen as a martyr.
(2)
(2)
105
EDITING
Read the following text (adapted from Fair Lady – August 2013) and answer the
questions that follow.
Spring Clean Your Mind
A hundred years ago, burning wood fires and kerosene lamps throughout winter meant that, come spring,
homes were covered in a layer of soot and grime. As soon as the whether allowed, doors and window
would be flung open and curtains, rugs and bedding dragged outside for a good beating, while floors,
windowsills and furniture was meticulously scrubbed.
No doubt the result was a sparkling home that had a cheering effect on its inhabitants, which is why this
is still a perfect and ideal time of year to fully extend the ritual inwards and spruce up our inner space. It
is, after all, a time of renewal.
So – when do we feel most renewed? Usually, it’s after a holiday, or a trip. When we change our
enviroment (by visiting another country, for example, or even the local museum), we step out of our daily
routine and, by extension, ourselves. We feel stimulated, moved, challenged. By seeking out the
extraordinary, one wakes up the parts of ourselves that might have fallen dormant in the daily grind.
This certainly isn’t to suggest that you should quit your job and move to an ashram (though if that is your
bliss, follow it), but rather, that there are ways to seek out the new and unfamiliar in our everyday lives –
ways that are simple and sustainable.
Paragraph 1
6.1 A word has been incorrectly used. Find the word AND supply its correct homophone.
6.2 Correct the error of concord.
(1)
(1)
Paragraph 2
6.3 Correct the error of redundancy.
6.4 There is a split infinitive in this paragraph. Rewrite the relevant section without this error.
(1)
(1)
Paragraph 3
6.5 Correct the spelling error.
6.6 State the function of the brackets in this paragraph.
6.7 Correct the inconsistent use of the pronoun.
(1)
(1)
(1)
Paragraph 4
6.8 State the function of the apostrophe in “isn’t”.
6.9 State the function of the dash in the last sentence.
6.10 Write down the main clause of the last paragraph.
(1)
(1)
(1)
106
Queenstown Girls’ High School
Grade 11 ENGLISH HOME LANGUAGE
Comprehension Test
24 July 2012
30 Marks
Read the following text and answer the questions that follow.
Use your OWN words, unless asked otherwise.
OLIVER TWIST
The kitchen is a dickens of a place for men.
Shakespeare said that the first thing we must do is kill all lawyers. If he were alive today I suspect the second group on his
1
hit list would be celebrity chefs. There was a time when, as a culinarily challenged male (and weren’t we all?), if you could fry
and egg and find the salt in the cupboard you were considered a miracle of liberated masculinity. Especially when compared
to our fathers.
Well, mine, at least, who never so much as made a piece of toast, and thought the kitchen was merely the place he passed
5
through en route to the garage. For many years I basked in accolades for my creditable evolution from that extremely low base
into someone who could, on occasion, feed the kids a passably healthy and edible meal that I didn’t buy or braai. My
‘trademark’ butternut soup was, I believed, an achievement worthy of Escoffier. (George Escoffier was a legendary chef)
Then along came The Food Channel.
At first it was just old Keith Floyd, who never really threatened us men. But then trouble arrived in the shape of Jamie
10
bloody Oliver. A cuddly family man who threw together a healthy yet succulent three-course dinner for 25 people while
implying that he also did the school lifts, half the homework and the rewiring of the house while helping his son with his
footwork to leg spinners.
And he kept telling us it’s easy. ‘Just’ do this, add a dash of that, grate a bit of something you’ve never heard of and it will all
turn out like a ‘pan-seared Thai masterpiece’. All of which assumes you can find the ingredients in the first place. Thanks to 15
Jamie, if a man can’t tell his pancetta from his pecorino, he is inadequate. And everything must be fresh, organic and
untrammelled by any of the considerable scientific advances of the last three centuries. If you’re going to make butternut
soup, for instance, then it’s compulsory to have grown the butternut yourself and have its bloodline certified for several
generations. And if you really must be so unsound as to actually buy the vegetable, then it’s only acceptable to use Ye Olde
Organique Markette, where there’s no parking, everything reeks of incense and costs twice as much as it does as Spar. As for 20
pasta, regular supermarket stuff won’t do any more. You purchase a stainless steel device that resembles an instrument of
torture from the Spanish inquisition and then spend hours hand-making the dough. As I put myself through this strange
process recently, I survived only by imagining with every crank of the handle that I was actually feeding Jamie through the
machine. The humble salad has become the classic expression of this foodie madness. What began, quite adequately, as
lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers and carrots (and, if mum insisted, some beetroot), with some olives and feta added along
25
the way, has exploded into a cascade of rocket, chard, wilted spinach, red onion, bell peppers, seeds, coriander, Tuscan raw
artichoke, sundried this and roasted that along with watermelon, hydrangeas, St John’s Wort, stinging nettles and anything
else from the lawnmower catcher. Oliver, in all seriousness, in a book of ‘everyday nosh’, provides a recipe
for a salad of Japanese moolis, mustard cress, crème fraîche and grilled lemon dressing (how do you grill a dressing, for
goodness’ sake?). Should you have any clue what a mooli is or where to find one, it then must be ‘thinly sliced lengthways in 30
a mandolin’. That sounds like something else I’d like to do to Jamie.
Words by Mike Wills - Taken from “Fair Lady” - April 2009
1.1
1.2
1.3
1.4
1.5
1.6
1.7
1.8
Explain the phrase “culinarily challenged male” (line 2) as used in the text.
(2)
The author asks the question “and weren’t we all?” (line 2). Who does “we” refer to? Explain.
(3)
What point is the author making about his father’s cooking abilities?
(2)
Explain the phrase “en route” (line 6) in your own words.
(2)
The author uses a word in line 7 that identifies him as a South African. Identify the word.
(1)
Explain what the author believes about his butternut soup, as described in lines 7-8.
(3)
Explain why the author put line 9 on its own, apart from the other paragraphs.
(2)
Can you deduce how the author feels about chef Jamie Oliver, by calling him “Jamie bloody Oliver”?
Explain.
(3)
107
1.9
1.10
1.11
1.12
1.13
1.14
1.15
Explain what the author implies by saying that “if a man can’t tell his pancetta from his
pecorino, he is inadequate.”
By referring to lines 19-20, can you infer how the author feels about Food Markets? Use your own
words.
The author refers to modern salad ingredients as products “from the lawnmower catcher”.
Explain what the author is saying by using this analogy.
Quote the British word for ‘food’ as used in line 28.
Does the author know what a moolis is? Explain your answer.
The tone of this passage is: (Choose the correct answer below)
a)
Factual and informative
b)
Subjective and ironic
c)
Objective and fact-based
Justify your choice in 1.14.
Comprehension, Language + Editing
TOTAL: 20
(2)
(2)
(2)
(1)
(2)
(1)
(2)
{30}
TIME: 45 Minutes
1 Johannesburg – It took News24’s sister newspaper
8 When City Press went on a “reconnaissance mission”
City Press just 30 minutes to buy a matric certificate this
week and is cost only R350.
2 A City Press investigation has found that while more
than 600 000 learners studied hard to pass matric exams
each year, a Nigerian syndicate operating from an
Internet café in Hillbrow, Johannesburg, was selling matric
certificates at a cost of R350.
3 The fake certificates have been on sale for the past five
years with an average of 10 to 20 issued a day, according
to sources close to the syndicate.
4 After buying a fake certificate, City Press, sent it to the
administration unit of the University of Johannesburg for
analysis.
5 This was to check if a student could be admitted to
study at a tertiary institution with this document.
6 University of Johannesburg Kingsway campus
certificate expert Gerrie Du Preez was shocked by the
quality of the fake certificate.
7 “The certificate looks legitimate at first glance, but as I
look at it carefully I see alot of mistakes,” said Du Preez.
earlier this week, a motley group of six people were
queuing to buy the fake certificates.
9 Upon our return the following day, it took just a few
minutes to choose the best symbols.
10 When City Press asked for all the symbols to be on
the higher grade, the man said: “I’ve been doing this for a
long time. You should not worry.”
11 Inside the shop, another man shouted on the phone
about someone who made him lose R7m. Once the first
version was done, it was handed over to this reporter to
carefully check.
12 Our handler then demanded the R350, which he then
put in his back pocket. No receipt was given.
13 As the “original” fake certificate was printed out, a
notice on the wall contradicted the practice: “This is a
legal business. Any illegal activity will be penalised.”
14 The major fault on the fake certificate appeared to be
the font used for the wording “South African Certification
Council” which, on genuine certificates, is/are in italics,
and that the certificate had no Department of Education
stamp.
www.News24.co.za / City Press
1. Is “News24” a newspaper? Justify your answer.
2. What does the phrase “sister newspaper” mean?
3. Refer to paragraph 8. Suggest two reasons why “reconnaissance mission” are in inverted commas.
4. Identify an example of irony in the passage.
5. Explain why the irony mentioned in question 4, is also paradoxical.
6. Identify one example of an oxymoron from paragraph 13. QUOTE the relevant phrase.
7. Can the ‘evidence’ in paragraph 3 be considered 100% reliable? Justify your answer.
8. Rewrite paragraph 6 in the active voice.
9. There is a common spelling error in paragraph 7. Write down only the correction.
10. Correct the error of a split infinitive in paragraph 11.
11. Choose the correct form of the verb (is/are) in paragraph 14 and explain your choice.
12. Refer to paragraph 11. Replace the phrase “this reporter” with a suitable pronoun.
13. There is an error of redundancy in paragraph 12. QUOTE the redundant word.
14. What does the ‘za’ stand for in www.News24.co.za?
(2)
(1)
(2)
(1)
(2)
(1)
(2)
(2)
(1)
(1)
(2)
(1)
(1)
(1)
108
Comprehension Test
24 July 2012
30 Marks
These extracts are taken from “Under the Tuscan Sun” by Frances Mayes. It is about a Californian woman (and her
boyfriend, Ed) who buys and restores a villa in Tuscany, Italy. The book describes her travels, experiences and emotions
during the 10-year restoration period. It was subsequently turned into a film, starring Diane Lane and Sandra Oh.
Extract 1
“Market day falls on Thursdays in Camucia, the lively town at the bottom of Cortona’s hill and I’m there early before
1
the heat sets in. Tourists pass right through Camucia; it’s just the modern spillover from the venerable and dominant hill
town above it. But modern is relative. Among the frutta e verdura shops, the hardware and seed stores, you happen on a
couple of Etruscan tombs. Near the butcher’s shop are remnants of a villa, an immense curly iron gate and swag of garden
wall. Camucia, bombed in World War II, has its share of chestnut trees, photographable doors, and shuttered houses. On 5
market day, a couple of streets are blocked to traffic. The vendors arrive early, unfolding what seems like whole stores or
supermarket aisles from specially made trucks and wagons. One wagon sells local pecorino, the sheep’s milk cheese that
can be soft and almost creamy, or aged and strong as a barnyard, along with several wheels of parmigiano. The aged
cheese is crumbly and rich, wonderful to nibble as I walk around the market. I’m hunting and gathering food for a dinner
for new friends. My favorite wagons belong to the two porchetta maestros. The whole pig, parsley entwined with
10
the tail, apple – or a big mushroom – in its mouth, stretches across the cutting board. You can buy a panino (a crusty roll)
with nothing on it but slabs of porchetta to take home, lean or with crispy, fatty skin. One of the lords of the porchetta
wagons looks very much like his subject: little eyes, glistening skin, and bulbous forearms. His fingers are short and porky,
with bitten-down nails. He’s smiling, extolling his pig’s virtues, but when he turns to his wife, he snarls. Her lips are set in
a permanent tight half smile. I’ve bought from him before and his porchetta is delicious. Scarves (bright Chanel and
15
Hermès copies) and linen tablecloths float from the awnings; toilet cleaners, tapes, and T-shirts are stacked in bins and on
folding chairs. Besides buying food, you can dress, plant a garden, and stock a household from this market. There are a few
local crafts for sale but you have to look for them.
Extract 2
En route to Massa Marittima, we detour to Populonia, simply because it is close and sounds too ancient to miss. Every
little pause makes me want to linger for days. In a café where we stop for coffee, two fishermen bring in buckets of fish, 20
their night’s catch. Lunch is not for hours, unfortunately. A woman from the kitchen starts writing up the menu of the day
on a blackboard. We drive on into town and park under an immense fortress, the usual castle and wall like those in old
books of the hours. Ah, another Etruscan museum and I must see every object. Ed is through, for now, with anything that
happened before the last millennium, so he goes off to buy honey from bees that have buzzed around in the coastal shrubs.
Extract 3
The Italian Ed is a list maker. On the dining room table, the bedside table, the car seat, in shirt and sweater pockets, I
25
find folded pieces of notepaper and crumpled envelopes. He makes lists of things to buy, things to accomplish, long-range
plans, garden lists, lists of lists. They’re in mixed English and Italian, whichever word is shorter. Sometimes he knows only
the Italian word if it’s a special tool. I should have saved the lists in the restoration and papered a bathroom with them, as
James Joyce did with his rejection slips. We’ve exchanged habits; at home, he rarely makes even a grocery list – I make
lists there, letters to write, chores, and especially of my goals for each week. Here, I usually don’t have any goals.
30
1. In your OWN words, explain why the author states that tourists do not generally visit Camucia.
2. Choose a suitable explanation for “venerable” as used in line 2.
a.
b.
(2)
run-down and untidy
respected and ancient
hidden and small
c.
(1)
3. By referring to the text (but put in your own words), justify your choice in the above question.
(2)
4. Explain what the author means by saying: “Modern is relative.” (line 3)
(2)
5. Explain the simile in “strong like a barnyard” as used in line 8.
(2)
6. Quote one word from Extract 1 that proves that the author is in no rush to eat the parmigiano quickly.
(1)
7. Explain the almost primeval image created by the phrase “hunting and gathering”. (line 9)
(2)
8. Explain what an Americanism is by referring to the word “favorite”, as used in the text.
(1)
9. Identify and explain the figure of speech in “His fingers and short and porky” (line 13)
(3)
10. Quote a clause from Extract 1 that proves that this is not the author’s first visit to the market in Camucia (2)
11. Would you say the market is aimed at locals or tourists? Justify your choice.
(3)
12. Explain what the phrase “En route” means. (line 19)
(1)
13. How do you know that the café in extract 2 serves only what is caught by the fisherman on a daily basis? (2)
14. Why would it seem that Ed is not interested in the museum spotted by the author?
(2)
15. Why does the author refer to her partner as “The Italian Ed” in the third extract?
(2)
16. What does it say about the author that she has gone from a “list maker” in California, to a person who does not
usually have any goals, in Italy?
(2)
109
ENGLISH HOME LANGUAGE
GRADE 11
JANUARY 2013
TIME: 50 minutes
COMPREHENSION TEST
MARKS: 30
Read the following text (adapted from Fair Lady - December 2012) and answer the questions that follow.
TOUGH LOVE – In which we discover how to survive the teen years, and the tactical application of
‘tough love’ (it’s not what you think).
By Suzy Brokensha
Teen Boy slouches at the table, somehow contriving to sit on his back as opposed to his butt. He is forced to lower 1
his face to his fork because his elbow is apparently glued to the table, poor thing. He moves very, very slowly, this
teenage incarnation of our son. It is like watching a glacier eat breakfast, if the glacier spoke with its mouth full.
“Swallow first,” I say encouragingly. Well, almost encouragingly. It’s just that in the very last second my gritted
teeth may have got in the way a bit. But Teen Boy doesn’t notice in any case. He turns his head towards me,
5
centimetre by agonising centimetre. “Wha?” he says, mouth full. Maybe he’s conserving his energy for a massive
growth spurt. Maybe he’s quietly reviewing Newton’s Third Law in his mind. And maybe he’s just trying to irritate
me to the point where I can feel my very soul being sucked through my ears.
I believe this is fairly typical teenage behaviour, although ‘behaviour’ seems a very active word for it. I even accept
that it is not sheer bloody-mindedness on his part, but rather a physical condition: evidently his prefrontal cortex 10
has yet to form properly. As neuroscientist Frances Jensen puts it, “[teens] aren’t yet at that place where they’re
thinking about – or capable, necessarily, of thinking about – the effects of their behaviour on other people. That
requires insight. And insight requires a fully connected frontal lobe.”
Even so, there are times when I catch myself wondering whether a swift rabbit punch to the side of the head might
not encourage his prefrontal cortex to hurry up. I’m not alone in this shameful thought… While I naturally
15
wouldn’t advocate physical violence in any way, I did once loudly threaten to ‘klump’ Teen Boy, an unfortunate
heat-of-the-moment combination of ‘thump’ and ‘klap’ (an Afrikaans word which means “slap”), which made him
laugh so much that it briefly created a rather heartwarming illusion of animation. “Fail,” he said, eventually. And
then, almost a century later, he felt moved to speak further: “Epic fail,” he clarified. ‘Klump’ is now part of the
family lexicon – it means ‘to threaten 100% ineffectually’.
20
My real fantasy is actually not about administering klumps, it is that raising a teen could be less real life and more
like the food channel. In my fantasy, we all rollick along happily until things become a bit sticky or boring. Then we
smile brightly, bundle the teen into the cupboard, pull a well-mannered, self-supporting adult out from under the
counter and say “here’s one we prepared earlier. Doesn’t it look gorgeous?” Then we prod it a bit to check that it’s
ready and send it off to work.
25
Fantasies aside, my husband and I have accepted that we actually need a mechanism to survive the teen years if we
are not to resort to klumps or strong drink. This could have become a big issue, had we not already stumbled upon a
solution quite by accident. We call it ‘tough love’, but it’s not what you think. One morning, while dropping the
children off at school, I absent-mindedly leaned through the open door as they gathered their bags and said clearly.
“See you later, guys – I love you.” I know – what was I thinking? But the response was electric and identical: they 30
both whirled around as one. “I heard that!” hissed my daughter, who may not yet be an actual teenager, but is
already manifesting all the symptoms. “Shut up! How could you?” It was totally thrilling.
“Teen Boy”, I now say mildly, as I survey the damp and faintly aromatic pile of clothes littering his bedroom floor,
“I want you to know that I love you in spite of the fact that you are incapable of hanging up your own bath towel. I
love you so much that I may have to leap out of the car when I drop you off at school tomorrow and give you a
35
big, fat hug in front of everyone.” Or, “Pre-Teen Girl, that cup of hot chocolate you left congealing on the
windowsill? That might dismay some mothers. But not me. To prove it, I’m going to pop into class and give you a
kiss at break.” It has transformed our lives.
1. Refer to paragraph 1:
1.1 A synonym for “tactical” (as used in the subheading) is:
A unplanned
B involuntary
C strategic
D malicious
(1)
110
1.2
The author uses capital letters for “Teen Boy” and “Pre-Teen Girl” throughout the text.
Explain why she does this.
1.3 Identify and explain the figure of speech “…like watching a glacier eat breakfast…” (line 3)
1.4 Explain what the author is feeling when she states that “…gritted teeth may have got in the way…”
(lines 4-5). Why is she feeling this way?
2. Refer to paragraph 2:
2.1 Which area of the human body is a neuroscientist’s area of expertise?
2.2 Is the following True or False? Frances Jensen’s theory of prefrontal cortex development been
proved. Quote ONE word to substantiate your answer.
2.3 Explain Frances Jensen’s theory in your own words. Use one concise sentence.
3. Refer to paragraph 3:
3.1 Why does the writer want her son’s “…prefrontal cortex to hurry up…” (line 15)?
3.2 What does it imply about the son’s manner of doing things when the author states “… almost a
century later, he felt moved to speak further.” (line 19)
3.3 Explain the family’s definition of ‘klump’ (“to threaten 100% ineffectually” – line 20) in your own
words.
(2)
(3)
(3)
(1)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
4. Refer to paragraph 4:
4.1 Explain what the author means by using the food-channel analogy.
(3)
5. Refer to paragraph 5:
5.1 Why would the author and her husband need a ‘mechanism’ to raise their children properly?
5.2 How old is Pre-Teen Girl? (Hint: She is not yet a teenager.) Give an approximate age bracket.
(2)
(1)
6. Refer to paragraph 6:
6.1 Explain how the parents managed to find a way of ‘managing’ their teenagers.
7. What does “it” refer to in the last sentence of the text?
(3)
(1)
111
Visual Literacy
2.1 What do Madam's facial expression and body language reveal about her feelings in frame 1?
2.2 Refer to frame 2. What do the idiomatic expressions, 'I've had it' and 'being fleeced', convey about
Madam's attitude towards crime?
2.3 Explain how humour is created in this cartoon.
(2)
3.1 Refer to frame 2. Why does the mother-in-law accuse Andy of 'sarcasm'?
3.2 The cartoonist does not show the mother-in-law in any of the frames. Do you think that this is an
effective technique? Motivate your response.
(2)
Look at Madam’s facial expressions as she watches Loving on the TV.
4.1 In Frame 1: Is she bored, absorbed, angry or happy? Motivate your answer.
4.2 In Frame 4: Is she bewildered, curious, shocked or angry? Motivate your answer.
4.3 Why would ‘Loving’ be broadcast in eleven different languages?
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(2)
(1)
112
5.1 Explain the pun in the Doctor’s surname.
5.2 What is the aim of this cartoon?
5.3 Explain how this cartoon can be seen as a gross generalisation.
(2)
(2)
(1)
Editing
Read the extract below and answer the questions that follow.
It’s hard to believe that a young girl, named Sindi, could change the world’s understanding of
1
history. This is how it happened: Sindi’s father enjoyed exploring caves on the family’s farm in Northern
Province and Sindi sometimes accompanied him. One day in 2003, she made a discovery of cave art
that dated back to the Ice Age, which was the coldest period in the
history of the earth. Sindi’s father was too tall to see the cave’s low ceiling, but fortunately,
5
Sindi was short enough to view the life-like animals painted there. The animals were painted
in a variety of colours. Furthermore, the artist had used uneven surfaces to give them a threedimensional quality. The photographs taken of the new findings were important as these
paintings had remained hidden for all of recorded history.
Sindi’s discovery at the cave, now called Alta Mera, has led to much debate. Sientists believe 10
that the paintings are about 15 000 years old. Philosophers is reflecting on the timeless question “What
purpose did this spectacular art serve in the lives of prehistoric people?”
5.1
5.2
5.3
5.4
5.5
5.6
5.7
Explain the differences in the use of the apostrophe in the words “It’s” (line 1) and “family’s” (line 2)
Apart from the meaning of the word “hard” (line 1), what other meaning does this word have?
Identify the part of speech of the word “cave” (line 4).
Supply a synonym for the word “period” (line 4)
Choose the correct answer from the given alternatives:
The clause, “…which was the coldest period in the history of the earth” (line 4-5) is a/an
A
adverbial clause modifying “Sindi”
B
noun clause, subject of “discover”
C
subordinate clause qualifying “Ice Age”
D
subordinate clause qualifying “one day”
Refer to the last paragraph.
5.6.1
Correct the spelling error
5.6.2
Insert the punctuation mark
5.6.2
Correct the error of concord
Refer to line 13: “What purpose did this spectacular art serve in the lives of prehistoric people?”
Rewrite the above words in INDIRECT speech. Begin as follows: Learned men have asked…
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(1)
(2)
(10)
113
Language in Action
Nando's not chickening out over 'Julius' ad
CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA Apr 24 2009 12:09
Fans of Nando's can look forward to new humorous TV adverts while tucking into their
chicken wings on Saturday night, it emerged on Friday.
1
Nando's agreed during a meeting with the ANCYL on Thursday to can its television and radio adverts featuring a puppet
named Julius.
5
They agreed "to resolve the disagreement, by disassociating the ANCYL brand Julius Malema in the current Nando's
television campaign", the company said in a statement.
Nando's national marketing manager Sylvester Chauke said the brand would take into consideration and address all the
allegations from the ANCYL while still retaining the Nando's edge and personality.
The meeting was a "true mzansi" meeting with high spirits and humor along the way.
"We are pleased that the ANCYL sees the humour in the advertising, however, understand their sensitivity around using
their leader, Julius," Chauke said.
10
Senior brand manager Lara Easthorpe said the advert was not aimed at poking fun at Malema, but rather about providing
a lightheartedness during this serious time of elections.
Chauke said the campaign was all about bringing a fun element to the elections. "We have done that and are happy with the
energy it has created".
15
"But Nando's is not chickening out. Stay tuned to your TV screens tomorrow night for more."
4.1
4.2
4.3
4.4
4.5
4.6
4.7
Identify and explain the pun in the title of this newspaper article.
To whom does “Julius” refer in the title?
Explain “a true mzansi meeting” as used in the article.
Why has the last line of the article been quoted?
What does ANCYL stand for?
A word in line 9 has been written in an American way. Identify the word and give the correct spelling.
Explain the meaning of the colloquial term “to can” as used in line 3.
(3)
(1)
(2)
(1)
(2)
(2)
(2)
{13}
Dictionary Work
request [ri kwést] n. or v.
transitive verb (3rd person present singular requests, present participle requesting, past and past
participle requested)
1. ask politely for something: to ask formally or courteously for something to be given or done
2. ask somebody for something: to ask somebody to do something
5.1
5.2
5.3
What is the function of [ri kwést] ?
Use the word REQUEST as both a noun and a verb, in two separate sentences of your own.
What does “n. or v.” stand for in the first line of the dictionary extract?
(2)
(2)
(2)
{6}
114
4. Read the following text and answer the questions below.
Review: District Nine
Published in Cinemarolling by crigga, on September 4, 2009
As a sci-fi buff I had been looking forward to District 9 (D9 from now on) ever since I first set intrigued eyes
1
upon a trailer some months ago, and I must say that Neill Blomkamp’s film—produced by Peter Jackson—certainly lives
up to the hype. Set it Johannesburg, this film combines extraterrestrial life form and inner city urban politics, filmed partly
in documentary style with a sizeable assortment of so-called experts voicing their opinions in the style
of a Michael
Moore flick. It’s not long before you understand exactly what the situation is in D9; the first 35 minutes 5 are certainly
the toughest to get through, but it’s not long before you notice your body tense up as the story lurches forward at a
scintillating pace in which you can’t help but show interest.
The introduction to the lead character, Wikus van der Merwe, doesn’t take long, but
his atitude during the opening scenes might lead you to think that D9 is in
fact a
comedy, not an action sci-fi. But rest assured, the tone of the film changes 10 swiftly
and the journey for our protagonist takes a very sombre turn. Wikus
works for
MNU, a hartless corporation far more interested in alien weaponry
than of their
guests’ wellbeing and living conditions, and with one-track ambitions like this I’m
surprised the film isn’t set in the USA.
The special effects are stunning enough; the aliens are computer generated and
15
their unfamiliar dialect are subtitled to give them more of a personality. The majority
of the prawn race (as they are dubbed) seem unintelligent and single minded, but we’re
then introduced to Christopher who has a plan of action that involves travelling to his
hovering mothership and getting back to his home
planet. Suffice it to say his plans
get compromised, to which he is forced to turn 20 to an unlikely source for help,
unbeknown to both parties that a unique bond is forming. I urge you to now watch
District 9. You will leave the cinema feeling happy.
4.1
What is a ‘sci-fi buff’? (line 1)
(2)
4.2
Explain why District Nine has been underlined in this passage.
(1)
4.3
There are two spelling errors in the second paragraph. Identify and correct them.
(2)
4.4
Correct the concord error in the 1st sentence of the 3rd paragraph. Rewrite the clause.
(1)
4.5
A slang word is used in line 3. Identify and replace it with an acceptable (formal) term.
(2)
4.6
Name the function of the dashes in the second line.
(2)
4.7
How does the accompanying graphic succeed in promoting the movie?
(2)
4.8
Give a synonym for the word ‘dubbed’ (line 17).
(1)
4.9
Correct the split infinitive in the last paragraph.
(2)
115
Question 8: Editing
Read the following text (error filled!) and answer the questions that follow. The text is
taken from “The Herald” online blog page, 24 September 2012.
Each question number relates to the line number in the text.
Healthy lifestyle helps wallet, too
1. If the higher number on your bathroom scale doesn't convince you its time to lose weight, perhaps the lower numbers on
your bank statement will.
2. George Washington University researchers recently found that obesity put a drag on the wallet as well as health -especially for women.
3. Doctors have long known that medical bills are higher for the obese, but that's only a portion of the real-life costs,
according to the Associated Press.
4. Researchers added in things like employee sick days, lost productivity, even the need for extra gasoline -- and found the
annual cost of being obese is $4,879 for a woman and $2,646 for a man.
5. That's far more than the cost of being merely overweight -- $524 for women and $432 for men, concluded the report
released Tuesday, which analyzed previously published studies to come up with a total. Why the difference between the
sexes? Studies suggest larger women earn less than thinner women, while wages don't differ when men pack on the
pounds.
6. Also consider that obesity is linked to earlier death. While that's not something people usually consider a pocketbook
issue, the report did average in the economic value of lost life. That brought women's annual obesity costs up to $8,365,
and men's to $6,518.
7. The report was financed by one of the manufacturers of gastric banding, a type of obesity surgery. Two-thirds of
Americans are either overweight or obese, and childhood obesity has tripled in the past three decades. Nearly 18 percent
of adolescents now are obese, facing a future of diabetes, heart disease and other ailments.
8. We acknowledge that eating healthy food takes time to prepare and tends to really cost more -- as can owning a gym
membership and taking time to work out. We also understand that today's hectic, fast-paced society sometimes makes it
challenging to make eating right, exercising regularly and living a healthy lifestyle a top priority.
9. But as evidenced by this report, the alternative could be thousands of dollars in medical bills down the road or lost pay,
which in the long run, would likely cost much more than buying different groceries each week.
10. Thus, we hope that seeing how living a healthy lifestyle will also help keep bank accounts in upmost health -- down to the
dollar amount, something especially important in this economy -- will help people prioritize making healthy choices.
8.1
Identify and correct the apostrophe error in this sentence.
(1)
8.2
Correct the error of concord in this sentence.
(1)
8.3
Account for the use of capital letters in “Associated Press”.
(1)
8.4
Rewrite the Americanism (“gasoline”) in Standard South African English.
(1)
8.5
The second sentence in this point is incomplete. Rewrite it correctly to form a full sentence.
(1)
8.6
“Average” is used as a verb in this sentence. Write a sentence of your own in which you use it as a
common noun.
(1)
8.7
Account for the use of the hyphen in this sentence.
(1)
8.8
Identify and correct the split infinitive in this sentence.
(1)
8.9
Explain the use of the commas in this sentence.
(1)
8.10
Identify and correct the malapropism in this sentence.
(1)
(10)
116
Summary writing
General remarks
Why do you think you are asked to study summary writing? Because summarising is a skill that you use all the time in
daily life. Can you think of examples?
When a friend sees you and asks how you are, what is your reply?
(a) I am not feeling too well, as my knee is sore.
Or
(b) Well, yesterday I knocked my knee against the door and it started to bleed. I went to the medicine cupboard and took out
the antiseptic cream. I then found the plasters — you know, the ones with the pretty colours on them — and stuck one on
my knee. It ached all day and I told my mother.
If (b) is your answer then people will get bored very quickly. Often we simply summarise content and detail.
Everyone practises summarising every day. If you can transfer this skill to your school work, you will find it easier to learn
for examinations especially in subjects like Business Economics, History and Science.
Basic information about the summary examination
Your summary skills can he tested in two broad ways; you might be asked to:
(a) find all the relevant details according to the question or
(b) (ID) identify just the main ideas or themes.
Find all the relevant details according to the question
You may be asked to:
• read a passage with the purpose of finding certain information only.
• read more than one passage, compare and contrast the information, and find out the similarities or differences.
• read more than one text, e.g. a poem, picture and passage, and find out what ideas link or separate them.
Identify just the main ideas or themes
You will be asked to:
• write a title for the passage you have to summarise.
• find the main idea in the passage or in a paragraph of the passage, and write it out in a phrase or a sentence.
• reduce the length of a passage to a given number of Words.
• reduce the length of a passage by identifying the main ideas.
• interpret pictures, and summarise the ideas represented.
Words that you should know for the summary examination
list:
Name the things required; do not discuss them
explain:
Sometimes used to mean ‘summarise’.
summarise:
Reduce the length by writing only the important facts; leave out the
unimportant or irrelevant facts. Re-state exactly what is written in the
passage, using your own words. This is not summary because you are
expected to restate everything in the passage — nothing must he left out.
précis:
Sometimes examiners use the word ‘précis’ when they want you to summarise.
compare:
Find the similarities.
contrast:
Find the differences.
117
How you are expected to answer summary questions
Identify which points to include and which to leave out
Tip 1: Read each sentence in the passage and decide:
• Is this a general comment or introduction? (if so, we do not need it)
• Is this relevant to the question?
• Is this a new point or main idea?
• Is this an explanation? (we do not need this either, unless it is specifically asked for)
• Is this an example? (we do not need it)
• Is this a repetition, that is, a similar point to one already made, just using different words? (we do not need it)
Tip 2:
It is not what you think of a topic that will score marks, but rather writing down the facts as they are given in a
particular passage. So remember: Don’t give your own opinions when asked to summarise. Be brief.
Tip 3:
Remove examples
Young people love to dance to the latest music such as Kwaito, disco and rave.
becomes: Young people love to dance to modern music.
Tip 4:
Remove all repetitions
.... lived happily ever after — eternal bliss’
becomes: ... very happy life’
Tip 5:
Use few words in place of many
‘one of the most popular ideas of modern times is
becomes: ‘a popular idea of today is …’
Tip 6:
Combine several related ideas into one sentence
‘What are most pop songs about?’ How do most fairy stories end? ... The same is true of most popular movies
and fictional romances ...
becomes: ‘Most pop songs, fairy stories, movies and fictional romances…’
Pay attention to the form of the summary
Tip 1:
Sometimes you are asked to write your summary in paragraph form. What does it mean to write a paragraph?
This usually means writing one sentence after the other.
Tip 2:
Sometimes you are asked to write your summary in point form.
This does not mean just writing down key words and phrases. You must always write proper sentences, but in a
point-form summary you must number your sentences. For example:
1. You should not take horoscopes seriously because …
2. There is no ...
3. There usually …
4. and so on.
Keep to the specified number of words
Tip 1:
You must not use more than the specified number of words. Most examiners take away marks if you do.
Remember, in the summary examination, you have to reduce a passage to a stated number of words.
Tip 2:
Always count your words, and record the number correctly at the end of the summary. Contractions such as it’s or
‘they’ve’ usually count as two words. Examiners count your words, and are not happy if you try to fool them by
saying you have written fewer words than you really have.
Tip 3:
When you write more than the required number of words, you will probably lose one mark for every five words
over the required number. So, if you write 20 words too many, you will lose 4 marks.
118
Manage your time
Tip 1:
Tip 2:
Always pay attention to the time allocated. Usually about 20 minutes is allocated for this section.
You will need to reduce the number of words in your summary but find that you have run out of time at the end,
just cross out the last sentence. This way you may lose only the marks allocated to that point (1—3 marks), and
will not be penalised for using too many words.
Steps to follow
Step 1: Begin by looking at the question. The question in is that part of the summary section that gives you instructions on
what to do. It sometimes also gives you a context (situation) or reason for doing the summary. Read the question
carefully, and ask yourself, ‘What am I supposed to do?’ Underline on your question paper time key words and
phrases in the question.
Step 2: Underline the important points in the passage for summary – it will be information relating to the key words and
phrases you underlined in Step 1. Use pens of different colours if you are asked for different kinds of information,
e.g. differences, of similarities.
Step 3: Write a rough draft, using the points you underlined in Step 2. Use full sentences. Remember to use all the tips
given in this section.
Step 4: Count the number of words in your rough draft. How close are you to the required number of words? What can
you cut out or summarise further? Do not cut out important information, as marks are given for content.
Step 5:
Write your final version. Count the number of words. If the number is still too high, look for words to delete
without losing any important points. Write the final number of words in brackets at the end of your summary.
Step 6:
Draw a line through your rough draft.
119
LIST OF SOURCES:
1. Kozain, R. Poems From All Over Oxford University Press, 2015
2. Krone, B. Shuters English Home Language 10 Poetry Anthology, Shuter&Shooter, 2015
3. www.shmoop.com
4. www.sparknotes.com
5. www.wikipedia.com
6. www.study.com/academy/practice/quiz-worksheet-shakespeare-s-sonnet-130.html
7. https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/43290
8. www.poemhunter.com/poems/africa/
9. www. homepages.wmich.edu/~cooneys/poems/auden.stop.html
10. www.sheerpoetry.co.uk/gcse/seamus-heaney/notes-on-selected.../mid-term-break
11. https://elessarsc.wordpress.com/2010/01/21/mid-term-break-seamus-heaney/
12. https://www.ru.ac.za/.../What%20is%20this%20thing%20called%20poetry
13. https://www.poets.org/poetsorg/poem/author-her-book
14. http://www.lostinwords.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Tsotsi-Novel-Plot-Summary.pdf
15. Rice, M.C. Macbeth – The De Jager-Haum Student Series De Jager-Haum, 1979
16. www.teachenglishtoday.org/
17. Bradley, A. C. Shakespearean Tragedy. New York: St. Martin’s Press, 1964. A good summary of
nineteenth-century criticism.
18. Byrne, M. St. Clare. Elizabethan Life in Town and Country. London:
19. Methuen, 1954.
20. Charlton, H. B. Shakespearean Tragedy. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press, 1948.
21. Curry, Walter Clyde. Shakespeare’s Philosophical Patterns. Binghamton, N.Y.: Vail-Ballou Press, 1937.
Applies Renaissance concepts to theology and demonology to Macbeth.
22. Eliot, George Ray. Dramatic Providence in Macbeth. Princeton, N.J.:
23. Princeton University Press, 1958. Includes a detailed, scene-by-scene study.
24. Foakes, R. A. “Suggestions for a New Approach to Shakespeare’s Imagery,” in Shakespeare Survey, 5
(1952).
25. Hazlitt, William. Characters of Shakespeare’s Plays. London: Oxford University Press, 1970. A classic
study of Shakespeare, first published in 1817.
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