Directions: Read the following excerpt from Cry the Beloved Country. As you
read, make notes in the margins about your reactions to what Paton is saying,
as well as how he is saying it. In addition, underline or highlight examples of
the elements listed on the back of this paper in the passage.
(6 points)
“Yes, there are a hundred, and a thousand voices crying.
But what does one do, when one cries this thing, and one cries
another? Who knows how we shall fashion a land of peace where
black outnumbers white so greatly? Some say that the earth has
bounty enough for all, and that more for one does not mean less
for another. They say that poor-paid labour means a poor nation,
and that better-paid labour means greater markets and greater
scope for industry and manufacture. And others say this is a
danger, for better paid labour will not only buy more but will also
read more, think more, ask more, and will not be content to be
forever voiceless and inferior.
Who knows how we shall fashion such a land? For we fear
not only the loss of our possessions, but the loss of our superiority
and the loss of our whiteness. Some say it is true that crime is
bad, but would not this be worse? Is it not better to hold what we
have and to pay the price of it with fear? And others say, can such
fear be endured? For is it not this fear that drives men to ponder
these things at all?
*
*
*
We do not know, we do not know. We shall live from day to
day, and put more locks on the doors…and hold our handbags
more tenaciously; and the beauty of the trees by night, and the
raptures of lovers under the stars, these things we shall
forego…We shall be careful and knock this off our lives, and knock
that off our lives, and hedge ourselves about with safety and
precaution. And our lives will shrink, but they shall be the lives of
superior beings; and we shall live in fear, but at least it will not be
a fear of the unknown. And the conscience shall be thrust down;
the light of life shall not be extinguished, but be put under a
bushel, to be preserved for a generation that will live by it again, in
some day not yet come; and how it will come, and when it will
come, we shall not think about at all…
*
*
*
Cry, the beloved country, for the unborn child that is the
inheritor of our fear. Let him not love the earth too deeply. Let
him not laugh too gladly when the water runs through his fingers,
nor stand too silent when the setting sun makes red the veld with
fire. Let him not be too moved when the birds of his land are
singing, not give too much of his heart to a mountain or a valley.
For fear will rob him of all if he gives too much.” (Paton 79-80)
Honors English 9
Cry the Beloved Country: Modeling
12 points
Overview: Throughout the novel Cry the Beloved Country, Paton returns again
and again to the ideas of brokenness and mending. In the excerpt on the back
of this page he talks about how fear contributes to the brokenness of the
people—particularly white South Africans. Paton employs repetition and
parallelism1, as well as juxtaposition2 and rhetorical questions3
Writing Directions: Choose a feeling such as fear, sadness, anger, elation,
hope, love, etc. and write about it a style similar to Paton’s. You should write
about a page. Include the following elements in your writing
 Choose a phrase to repeat at least three times in your writing.
 Include a piece of dialogue, interior monologue, or a quote from an
external source.
 Start one sentence with “and” and one with “but.”
 Include two sentences with semicolons.
 Include at least one rhetorical question.
 Include a sentence containing parallelism.
o Ex. Let him not love the earth too deeply. Let him not laugh too
gladly when the water runs through his fingers, nor stand too
silent when the setting sun makes red the veld with fire. Let him
not be too moved…
Bonus:
 Include at least one example of juxtaposition.
Parallelism: the state of being parallel or of corresponding in some way.
The use of successive verbal constructions in poetry or prose that correspond
in grammatical structure, sound, meter, meaning, etc.
2 Juxtapose: v. place or deal with close together for contrasting effect : blackand-white photos of slums were starkly juxtaposed with color images.
3
Rhetorical question: asked in order to produce an effect or to make a
statement rather than to elicit information.
1