1
Evaluation
South
Africa sheet
– The3 Rainbow Nation
After you have tested your skills in the mock exam on pages 66 – 67 in your textbook, fill in the self-assessment
evaluation sheet for each part (the poem and mediation). If you think you need further practice, have a look
at the pages that follow. They will provide you with additional exercises for self-learning.
Freedom in mah soul
A Understanding the text
Descriptive writing
I have no difficulty finding my own words to describe feelings, thoughts or actions that
are portrayed in a poem/text.
I got the general gist of the poem but had difficulty understanding the language or
certain details.
My description included the requested information but I found it difficult to express
myself in my own words.
I generally have difficulty dealing with poetry and therefore couldn’t complete the task.
B Text analysis
Analysing a poem
I have no difficulty analysing the structure and language of a poem or identifying stylistic
devices and elements supporting the writer’s ideas and intent.
I discovered lots of examples for my analysis but had difficulty presenting them
meaningfully.
It was difficult to find relevant elements to support my analysis of the poem.
Analysis is generally not my strong point and I struggled with the task at hand.
Poetry is generally not my strong point and I struggled with the task at hand.
C Writing
Writing a report based on an (imaginary) interview
I have no difficulty considering questions and answers for an imaginary interview and
writing a report based on these.
I had enough ideas on which to base my report but I had a problem with the structure
(e.g. organising the information sensibly and/or finding a good beginning and ending
for my report).
I generally have no problem writing a report. However, I couldn’t think of enough
questions and possible responses for the interview, so I found it difficult to write this
particular report.
I generally have a problem using a text/poem to develop related ideas and writing reports
is a real challenge for me.
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1
Evaluation sheet 3
Violence was their answer
Mediation (p. 67)
Note-taking for a summary
I understood the text fully and was able to take notes in English for a summary in German
without any major problems. I included all the necessary points.
I got the general gist of the text, but it took me a long time to decide which points should
be included in a summary.
My summary included all the necessary information but I found it difficult to express
myself in German.
I missed some important aspects or my notes included unnecessary information.
I couldn’t understand the text and therefore had a problem summarising it.
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2
Exam training 3
Freedom in mah soul (p. 66)
A Understanding the text
a) Write the poem in prose form (in full sentences and using Standard English instead of dialect). Start like this:
I’m going to get forty acres of land, just for myself! And with that – freedom in my soul!
b) Highlight the words or phrases in your prose version of the poem that suggest the speaker is optimistic.
Can you find any pessimistic references to the past, present or future in the poem? If so, mark these, too.
B Text analysis
a) Consider the structure of the poem – number and length of stanzas. How are the speaker’s thoughts divided up
and thus reflected within this structure?
b) What does the language of the poem suggest about the speaker’s background? What effect does this have on
the reader/listener?
c) Examine the poem for rhyme, rhythm, tone, exclamation, repetition, etc. Write down your examples. What do all
these stylistic elements evoke in the reader/listener?
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3
Exam training 3
4
C Writing
Writing a report based on an (imaginary) interview:
1. Before you write your report: Make a mind map about what we find out about the speaker in the poem to
develop his/her character.
speaker
2. Collect ideas in note form about what the speaker hopes and fears might be for the future of African
Americans.
TIP:
Keep to the speaker’s language, style, tone and character when inventing the answers.
Violence was their answer
Mediation (p. 67)
1. Read the introduction and consider who is meant by “their” in the heading. Who was for peaceful means?
2. What do we learn about Alabama? What was King’s response to the status quo there?
3. What did this response lead to and how did it come to a head?
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Solutions Exam training 3
Poetry (p.66)
A Understanding the text
a) – b)
I’m going to get forty acres of land, just for myself! And with that – freedom in my soul! With high pines,
hickories and oaks which can touch the sky, and with that – freedom in my soul! I can already see it: forty
acres of land, with mule and plough, and cabin for four people, with a garden in front of my door, and with
that – freedom in my soul! Then we’ll dig a deep well, which we’ll fill up with cool water, after that we’ll
build a church and a school. This vision is great so let us head for the Promised Land. And with that – freedom
in my soul.
B Text analysis
a)
There are three stanzas. The first one has got five lines, the second one six, the third one seven. The content
of the stanzas and the increasing number of lines correspond very well. It is as if the speaker paints a picture
with his vivid language. He starts with the background and adds more and more detail so that it gets much
more complex.
The first stanza describes the place where the speaker wants to live. Each of the two statements is followed
by the exclamation ‘And freedom in mah soul!’.
In the second stanza the speaker portrays other things that are important for his life (a house, a garden,
animals, etc.). Again he ends with ‘And freedom in mah soul’.
Finally, he talks about bigger plans like building a church and school. The climax is reached
(l. 16 – 17) in his praise of God for leading him to the ‘promised land’. He finishes again with ‘Freedom in mah
soul!’. This time, however, it is not an exclamation which could be interpreted as a wish, but it is a simple
statement. It seems as if he has found peace at last. Freedom to him is not much more than having a home, a
place to live in peace and freedom in his soul which possibly suggests that he doesn’t want to feel hatred or
revenge in his heart because of his hard life.
b)
The whole poem is written like a Black spiritual, a kind of song which was sung by the slaves who worked in
the fields praying to God to release them from their hard destiny and dreaming of the ‘promised land’ where
they would be as free as illustrated in the text. This is why the language the speaker uses is not Standard
English. Instead he writes as he speaks because these songs were spread orally. Quite a number of letters are
left out: ‘fo’ty (forty), fo’(for), an’ (and), lickin’ (licking), plow (plough), goin’ (going), do’ (door). There are also a
number of spelling variations: jes’ (just), mah (my), de (the), enuf (enough), foah (four), den (then), dis (this),
Lawd (Lord). Instead of writing ‘we have to’ the speaker says ‘we gotta’; instead of ‘is not’, ‘ain’t’. If he used
Standard English, the message of the poem would possibly not be as intense as intended.
c)
The poem is like a spiritual, the last line of each verse repeated like a refrain. It consists of three stanzas in all.
It has an unusual layout: The first one has got five lines, the second one six, the third one seven. It does not
follow a clear rhyme scheme. The arrangement of the rhyme is abccb deeffg hijikkl. A number of lines do not
rhyme at all. The poet aims to express the message of the speaker poetically. The vocabulary is quite simple;
the words mainly belong to the word field of a prayer. The repetition of the phrase ‘freedom of mah soul’
creates an atmosphere of hope. The speaker repeats the phrase three times as an exclamation which could
be interpreted as a wish. The fourth time it is a simple statement: He seems to have found peace at last. Also
‘fo’ty acres’ is repeated, underlying his need for his own land and freedom. The tone of the poem is joyful and
intense.
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5
Solutions Exam training 3
6
C Writing
Lösungsvorschlag
1.
optimistic
church
provident
believes in God
speaker
school
‘promised land’
hard-working
2.
‘cabin big enuf
fo’ foah’
‘freedom in ma
soul’
– future will be better
– a start towards equal opportunities (e.g. a piece of land for sustenance)
– education for everyone
– peaceful live, freedom, acceptance
– living in freedom is not easy in the beginning
Mediation (p. 67)
1.
W.E.B. Du Bois, Malcolm X and their supporters are meant. By “their” Martin Luther King was against violence
and pleaded for a non-violent movement.
2.
Alabama was the US state which experienced the most violent attacks during the civil rights movement.
King called Birmingham “the most thoroughly segregated city in the United States.” The civil rights movement
challenged a statement made by the state’s governor, George Wallace, in which he promised that there will
always be segregation in Alabama. King’s dream was to see black and white children hold hands and play
together, even in Alabama.
3.
This response led to violent attacks during peaceful marches. Black homes and churches were firebombed,
demonstrators were sent to jail. The police fired tear gas on them, unleashed police dogs on children and
used fire hoses to stop the marches. All this culminated in a bomb attack on the Sixteenth Street Baptist
Church during a Sunday morning mass, murdering four young girls.
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ist die Vervielfältigung für den eigenen Unterrichtsgebrauch gestattet. Die Kopiergebühren sind abgegolten.