Complete Poetry Olympiad Course Pack

Everything you need to ace the 2012 Poetry Olympiad (SA).

Nick Molver, Chirag Patel & Marc Robson

Produced in conjunction with

031 261 3177/ elet@elet.org.za

NPO # 1357/8701507

This product can be freely used in classrooms, at homes and in communities – Any person may use as much or as little of it as they want, and adjust it to suit their operational needs. The material herein may also be distributed to anyone who needs it and will make use of it.

Designed for the Olympiad, butusuable as an introduction to poetry and guide to poetry exams

Index

Index 2

Tutor outlines 3

Poetry Olympiad day 1 : What are poems? 3

Section 1 : meter 3

Section 2: intonation and voice 3

Poems 3

Section 3: guessing from context 4

Section 4: homework 4

Poetry Olympiad day 2 : Who are these guys? 1

Section 1 : What makes Durban Durban? 1

Section 2: who are these guys? 1

Section 3: How to lie convincingly about Grahamstown 2

Section 4: knowing the poets and reading the poems 2

Poetry Olympiad day 3 : What are the assessors looking for? 3

Section 1 : Close reading 3

Section 2: 3

Section 3: Essay Questions 4

Section 4: the difference between brainstorming and essay planning 4

Poetry Olympiad day 4 6

Section 1: The urban/ rural debate 6

Section 2: New country, old country 6

Section 3: modes of speech 6

Section 4: practicing spontaneity 6

Day 5: mock exam 7

Materials for sessions 8

Session 1: poems 8

Chris Mann 10

Harry Owen 11

Don Maclennan (Donald Alasdair Calum Maclennan) 13

Guy Butler (Frederick Guy Butler) 14

A short history of Grahamstown 15

Verbal reasoning tests 16

2009- SECTION A 18

2008- SECTION A 19

2010- SECTION A 20

2007- SECTION A 21

ELET materials (used for homework assignments, comparison, etc.) 22

Day 1: When Urban Meets Rural 22

Sakhile Wilberforce Mavundla (Mann) 23

The Language of Hooligans (Harry Owen) 24

For Guy in the Monument 24

Day 2: Preparing for an Interview 25

Interviewing Harry Owen 25

Tutor outlines Poetry Olympiad day 1 : What are poems?

Section 1 : meter Intro Divide the overall group into 3 sub-groups.

In sub-groups (of 4) Write a haiku. Explain that a haiku is 5/7/ 5 syllables) Activity 1: Read out your haiku within your group. 2: Write a collaborative haiku in your group about…

Elect a speaker The speaker reads the haiku out to the class.

Discussion Introductions- What we are doing, and how it relates to the Olympiad. (pp. 3–4, 61-76 for info.) Poetics Syllable count, basic rhythm and rhyme. Look for poetic devices to introduce. These devices will be

introduced in the next section, but if examples pop up, highlight them and point out they will be explained further in the next section.

Section 2: intonation and voice

Intro Sit up straight and read this drinking song off the board.

One fat hen / A couple of ducks / Three brown bears/ Four grey hairs Five fiesty females fixing for a fight /six Sicilian sailors sailing the seven seas

Seven seasick sardines secretly swimming south / Eight angry actors eating Eaton's eggs Nine nude nymphs nibbling on nails

Activity Students read provided poems (x4). Each student chooses a different poem, reads it to themselves

and then reads it out aloud within their groups. Discussion (The poetics section is the tutors guide for the discussion.)

What is the mood of each poem? How do the poems build their mood through the words and sounds? Why did Thomas choose such a difficult style (Villanelle – as described in the handout) for his poem? (His choice of style reflects his inner turmoil.)

Poetics Assonance (same sounds (phonemes) eg. Hid Lid, Fall Wall etc.),

Alliteration (same sound (phonemes) at the beginning (eg. Gate Guardian), Sibilance (Alliteration in ‘s’ eg. Soothing sweetly), Meter (Pattern – iambic pentameter is five meter ‘units’ of two syllables per unit) Rhythm (Syllable count between lines – Haiku’s are 5, 7, 5. Limirics are 8, 8, 5, 5, 8. This alternation makes the rhythm.) Mood (See notes on The Two). Enjambment (using a line break mid-sentence to set up a juxtaposition between the beginning and end), Syllable count and end rhymes for mood and tension.

Poems Do Not Go Gentle Iambic pentameter (alternating emphasis on syllables and ten syllables per line – thus two

ways of reading anything, e.g. Soft, strong; soft, strong or strong, soft; strong, soft).

Ice And Fire End lines and differences in syllable count (Enjambment [using a line break in the middle of a sentence to set up a juxtaposition]. The use of syllables builds rhythm). Quietly but happily melancholic. An eloquent way of shrugging your shoulders and saying, “Whatever”.

The Second Coming Assonance, sibilance and alliteration and metaphor. Poem is written around the troubles in

Ireland ((1917 and the civil war around Irish independence.)

The Two Real poetry; you must go with the flow, as it does not have a particular meaning but is about the tension, disconcertion and similar sensations it evokes. Use of metaphor e.g. ‘Scissors man’; Not what he is, but what the ‘idea’ and sound make you feel.

Section 3: guessing from context

Intro Alice In Wonderland and how Carroll/The Reverend Dodgson (Carroll’s real name) loved puzzles, word games and logic games. And that is what is in his writing. Put selected words on the board. Ask them to read the Jabberwocky to themselves. Read out Jabberwocky

Activity Meaning: Bandersnatch, Uffish, Frumious, Frabjous

Pronunciation Slithy, Manxome, Gyre, Gimble. Saying what they think words mean. Are the following words good or bad? What kind of words are they, and what do they describe?

Discussion Think of two other words that could go in each space (one real and one made up). With the

pronunciation words, does a different pronunciation change the meaning of the word. Poetics Word types, use of sound (phonics) to denote meaning

Section 4: homework Intro How would you describe Durban to a stranger? What if they were from far away? When

would you recommend people come, and why? Activity Discuss intro questions within your group and arrive at a conclusion. Discussion For homework. Write a haiku each day until our next session about the day, trying to make

sure you catch the mood of the city; how does Durban feel different in the sun, how do people act differently, what do you feel? For example, consider the recent weather. How did you feel in the heavy rain as opposed to the sweltering humidity. I would wager the haiku’s written on those days would have differed immensely.

Poetics Revise terms used over the day.

Poetry Olympiad day 2 : Who are these guys?

Section 1 : What makes Durban Durban? (1h, 30 min break)

Intro Read out homework haiku within your group Material Homework haikus Activity Within their groups, they read all their haiku’s to one another. As a group they pick the best

poem from each student (those that best and most completely exemplify the spirit of Durban). Each student will then read their chosen haiku aloud. As a class they will vote for four which they think best exemplify the spirit of Durban.

Discussion what makes this group of poems speak about Durban? Work in the rural/urban issue. Poetics Trimming the fat - conciseness and editing as the heart of good writing.

Section 2: who are these guys? (45m, 10m break)

Intro Hand out poet bios – 1 per student. (The three poets + Guy Butler). Interview Topics

What qualifies your voice as special, compared to locals or non- middle class white guys? Why Grahamstown? What makes it special, as a physical place and as a vibe/spiritual place?

What person should we write in, and why? Remember, the poet’s job is to express; that doesn’t mean the speaker of the poem and the poet are the same person, any more than Arnie is actually some kind of superhuman killing machine (though he might be, you never know.) See poetics section for detail.

Material Short bio of each poet. Pp. 3-4 & p.65 (Grahamstown history). Activity Read your bio and prepare a one minute talk introducing your poet to your group. 4 x 1m talks – keep people exactly to time. Prepare interview questions. Discussion Two of the ‘poets’ answer the question, third poet takes notes, Butler moderates.

2nd discussion, the 2 speaking poets swap with note taker and Butler. Poetics First, second, and third person; relative advantages and disadvantages. Each allows a

different relationship with the reader and subject – unpack this relationship. Person Singular Plural 1st I We 2nd You You 3rd He/she/it They

Section 3: How to lie convincingly about Grahamstown (45m, 45m break for lunch)

Intro Why Grahamstown, and what’s the urban/rural ideal? Material p.3, p.65 (Urban/rural material), Grahamstown history handout. Activity Each student must write a 6 – 12 line poem about Grahamstown in the style of one of the

poets. Read completed poem aloud to group.

Point out the sections in the book (p.66 & p.73) where it demands that Olympiad participants must toe the line of a specific style of ‘creativity’ (spit venom about this). They want you to accurately pretend to be someone else, not be yourself. There is a good chance that one of the questions in the Olympiad will ask them to do just what we had them do. After each poem has been read, as a group discuss whether or not the students poem sounds authentic. How and Why.

Discussion Talk about the things that make Grahamstown (p.3, p.65 & handout for info) unique and

generic. Compare the poems you have about Grahamstown with the ones about Durban; what things are similar, and what are significantly different?

Poetics Forms of idealisation, juxtaposition & contrast

Section 4: knowing the poets and reading the poems (1h + 15m wrapup)

Intro Tell them to read Sakhile. Explain that even if I was unaware of who the writer was, I would have come to the conclusion that he was white and Upper middle class, probably an academic, and possibly foreign. Is this the voice he is trying to write in, or is he badly faking another speaker? This is a specific image, but building these images is an essential exercise in reading poetry– try it with every poems you read. Ask the class if they understand why I would come to this conclusion.

Activity Read Hooligans (p.37 Harry Owen), Sakhile (p.10 Chris Mann), Non-dog (p.36 Harry Owen).

What voice are they trying to speak in? Now that you know the backgrounds of the poets, do you think they succeed?

Discussion Ways you can get better over the holiday. The kinds of question that will be asked, and what they want them to say about them. Poetics Practice methods – self editing, essay planning, brainstorming, structure. All in the guide. Wrap-up Introduce and hand out the guide.

Poetry Olympiad day 3 : What are the assessors looking for?

Section 1 : Close reading (1h, 30 min break)

Intro Do the first test as a class. Give 3 minutes to read, then start asking. Material Verbal reasoning tests. Activity Doing the test and in-group discussion. Should take approx. 5 minutes per test – that means 3m read, 2m answer MAXIMUM. Discussion Feedback and answers. Focus Close reading, timekeeping.

Section 2: (45m, 10m break)

Intro Read material Material Pages 64 - 73 Activity Note taking exercise: For general guide, theme, language usage and format, each group

writes 2 bullet points per which extracts useful information from them. For pages 67 – 73: For each example write 3 notes about the example. For instance the first one is clearly a ‘smart alec’ answer. It contains no real reference to education but carries itself with a certain ‘cool’ attitude and a line of self-criticism. The markers always love the line of self-criticism. For the comments, you are to write 3 notes as well. Get an idea of what the markers a looking for in an essay. Reference the anthology without being too direct etc.

Example For theme: emphasise urban/rural juxtaposition and contrast. For language usage: Identify

poets slang vocab. For format: Appreciation not analysis (Work on your ability to ‘appreciate’ the poets without sounding fake).

Discussion Feedback Focus Forming a ‘crib’ sheet; what kind of notes are useful and which aren’t? Also, understanding

implicit or weakly stated (but critical) marking criteria from given notes and examples.

Section 3: Essay Questions (45m, 45m break for lunch)

Intro What are section A and B? Section A will be analytic and section B will be poetic. Material Past papers handout Activity Look at the past papers (one year per group). Within your group, chat about the what

makes them good or bad. What questions would you pick to do, and why? Remember to avoid to obvious ‘trap’ questions – (obviously, go through what makes something a trap, such as being too easy, not calling for knowledge of the text, giving too many instructions).

Discussion Write two questions each for A and B (4 questions total per student). Pick the best one from

each student for each section (Group produces 4 ‘A’ questions and 4 ‘B’ questions). Focus Identifying what makes a ‘good’ question.

Section A: be ‘write a discussion between x, y and z about theme n’ : 60 marks. Answer ONE question. There is no “ideal length” for a response to Section A. However, the better candidates generally write between 3 – 5 foolscap pages. Section B: “Write about X in the style of Y”. 40 marks - Answer ONE of the following questions. There is no “ideal length” for a response to Section B. However, the better candidates generally write between 2 – 4 foolscap pages.

Section 4: the difference between brainstorming and essay planning (1h + 15m wrapup)

Intro Redistributing essay questions that students created in sec 3. Material Notes from question 2 and material from section 3. Activity Using your notes from section 2, write an essay plan for two section A questions and two

section 2 questions. Discussion What do the markers want to see in the answers. Focus Creating usable essay plans that tick all appropriate boxes (and knowing what those boxes

are).

Verbal reasoning test answers

**these answers assume the options are true, or reasonable to assume, false, or unreasonable, and can't say with accuracy. In practice, it is better to make the criteria stricter (i.e. stated/ stated to be false/ no specification).

The answers to this test are not confidential and are as follows:

1. Until the nineteenth century, most people could only read with difficulty. Can't Say 2. In ancient times, literature was intended to be read aloud. True 3. Classical histories were passed on orally and never written down. False 4. Only people with literacy problems now read aloud. True

5. Most illnesses in developing countries are caused by vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Can't Say 6. Micronutrients provide inadequate nourishment to maintain a healthy life. False 7. Vitamin A, iodine and iron are the only micronutrients that people need in their diet. Can't Say 8. Correcting micronutrient deficiencies would cost about $2 per person per year. False

9. Only mild cases of asthma can be helped by anti-inflammatory therapy. False 10. Use of bronchiodilators has been increasing since 1991. False 11. Doctors are reluctant to treat asthma with inhaled steroids for fear of potential side-effects. Can't Say 12. Bronchiodilators are the single most prescribed treatment for asthma. True

13. Political changes in Eastern Europe led to a change in relations between Sweden and the European Community. True 14. The European Community rejected Sweden's application for membership because of its neutrality. Can't Say 15. After abandoning its policy of neutrality, Sweden applied to join the European Community. Can't Say 16. Sweden applied for membership of the European Community after other neutral countries had joined. Can't Say

17. Buddhism was adopted by the court nobility at the urging of the emperor. False 18. The introduction of Buddhism to Japan led to great political unrest and social confusion. False 19. Buddhism replaced the Shinto religion which had previously been followed in Japan. Can't Say 20. Japanese arts and culture were greatly enriched by the introduction of Buddhism. True

21. Japanese men do not share household chores and childcare with their wives. True 22. A quarter of all part-time workers in Japan are female. Can't Say 23. Part-time workers hold a low status in Japanese companies. True 24. Women in Japan are unwilling to work overtime. Can't Say

25. There is no clear cause for abdominal pain in children. True 26. Abdominal pain in children may be psychosomatic in nature. True 27. Drinking milk may help to prevent abdominal pain in children. Can't Say 28. Children who have problems sleeping are more likely to suffer from abdominal pain. Can't Say

29. After the fall of the Roman Empire, most people who had previously spoken Latin stopped using it. True 30. Latin continued to be used in church services because of the continuing influence of Rome. False 31. Priests spoke a different language from the common people. True 32. Prior to the fall of the Roman Empire, Latin had been established by law as the language of the Church in western Europe. False

Poetry Olympiad day 4

Section 1: The urban/ rural debate (1h, 30 min break)

Intro Picking and detailing a preference for either the urban or the rural, even if you don’t care. Material None Activity All students individually write a short essay on the urban and rural, using at least three quotes from

the book. Two students per group talk up the urban, the other two talk up the rural. Discussion Swap papers, read, and debate. After this, work out a synthetic position that talks about why

Grahamstown is the ideal place to be without mentioning it directly. Focus It’s not about what the students actually like, but rather about creating an authentic sounding

preference which they don’t actually believe in.

Section 2: New country, old country (45m, 10m break)

Intro Compare Richards Bay/ Grahamstown/ London Material None Activity One person from each group picks one of those places and builds a rough description of how the

rural meets the urban in those places. Discussion Each present their findings and as a group decide which place best represents the urban rural divide

Section 3: modes of speech (45m, 45m break for lunch)

Intro What are the main modes of speech you use and know? Jock, geek, princess, stern teacher, wannabe ‘cool’ teacher, emo.

Material Each group chooses two poems, and each person picks a persona for someone else. Activity Spend ten minutes working out the perspective of the person you have chosen Discussion Talk about the two poems from the point of view of your chosen personae. (What does their chosen

character think about the chosen poems). Focus

Section 4: practicing spontaneity (1h + 15m wrapup)

Intro A haiku in 120 seconds about an empty house. Material One selected poem from the anthology Activity In groups get the students to read the selected poem (several times and closely) and jot down some

ideas based on the previous sections work. From the notes the students must produce a short poetic response to the poem they read.

Discussion Swap the poems, read, and discuss what they have written and why. Focus Getting the students prepared for the kind of creative tasks they will be expected to do in the

Olympiad whilst working with the themes.

Day 5: mock exam

On this day, the students did a mock exam, which would serve as the basis for the final session. The questions in this case were written by ELET, but adapted versions of the questions in the past papers (see final section) can be used instead.

Materials for sessions

Session 1: poems Do Not Go Gentle

Do not go gentle into that good night,

Old age should burn and rave at close of day;

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Though wise men at their end know dark is right,

Because their words had forked no lightning they

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright

Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,

And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight

Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,

Curse, bless, me now with your fierce tears, I pray.

Do not go gentle into that good night.

Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Dylan Thomas

Background for Do Not Go Gentle May 1951 - "Addressed to the poet's father as he

approached blindness and death. The relevant aspect of the

relationship was Thomas's profound respect for his father's

uncompromising independence of mind, now tamed by

illness.

In the face of strong emotion, the poet sets himself the task

of mastering it in the difficult form of the villanelle. Five

tercets are followed by a quatrain, with the first and last line

of the stanza repeated alternately as the last line of the

subsequent stanzas and gathered into a couplet at the end of

the quatrain.

And all this on only two rhymes. Thomas further compounds

his difficulty by having each line contain 10 syllables".

(from Dylan Thomas: Selected Poems, W. Davies (ed.))

Ice And Fire Some say the world will end in fire,

Some say in ice.

From what I've tasted of desire

I hold with those who favour fire.

But if it had to perish twice,

I think I know enough of hate

To say that for destruction ice

Is also great

And would suffice.

Robert Frost

The Second Coming 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 convictions, 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 around 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?

WB Yeats

The Two You are the town and we are the clock.

We are the guardians of the gate in the rock.

The Two.

On your left and on your right

In the day and in the night,

We are watching you.

Wiser not to ask just what has occurred

To them who disobeyed our word;

To those

We were the whirlpool, we were the reef,

We were the formal nightmare, grief

And the unlucky rose.

Climb up the crane, learn the sailor's words

When the ships from the islands laden with birds

Come in.

Tell your stories of fishing and other men's wives:

The expansive moments of constricted lives

In the lighted inn.

But do not imagine we do not know

Nor that what you hide with such care won't show

At a glance.

Nothing is done, nothing is said,

But don't make the mistake of believing us dead:

I shouldn't dance.

We're afraid in that case you'll have a fall.

We've been watching you over the garden wall

For hours.

The sky is darkening like a stain,

Something is going to fall like rain

And it won't be flowers.

When the green field comes off like a lid

Revealing what was much better hid:

Unpleasant.

And look, behind you without a sound

The woods have come up and are standing round

In deadly crescent.

The bolt is sliding in its groove,

Outside the window is the black removers' van.

And now with sudden swift emergence

Come the woman in dark glasses and humpbacked surgeons

And the scissors man.

This might happen any day

So be careful what you say

Or do.

Be clean, be tidy, oil the lock,

Trim the garden, wind the clock,

Remember the Two.

WH Auden

Section 4: Jabberwocky by Lewis Carroll (from Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There, 1872) ‘Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe:

All mimsy were the borogoves,

And the mome raths outgrabe.

"Beware the Jabberwock, my son!

The jaws that bite, the claws that catch!

Beware the Jubjub bird, and shun

The frumious Bandersnatch!"

He took his vorpal sword in hand:

Long time the manxome foe he sought --

So rested he by the Tumtum tree,

And stood awhile in thought.

And, as in uffish thought he stood,

The Jabberwock, with eyes of flame,

Came whiffling through the tulgey wood,

And burbled as it came!

One, two! One, two! And through and through

The vorpal blade went snicker-snack!

He left it dead, and with its head

He went galumphing back.

"And, has thou slain the Jabberwock?

Come to my arms, my beamish boy!

O frabjous day! Callooh! Callay!'

He chortled in his joy.

`Twas brillig, and the slithy toves

Did gyre and gimble in the wabe;

All mimsy were the borogoves,

And the mome raths outgrabe.

Chris Mann

Born: Port Elizabeth in 1948

Education: (primary) Bishops

BA English and Philosophy (Wits)

MA English Language and Literature (Oxford).

Languages: English, Zulu, Afrikaans, Italian and Xhosa.

Experience: Administrative Director of the Valley Trust (1980 to 1992), just outside Durban. Working in rural development and poverty alleviation and setting up innovative projects in low-cost water-supply and sanitation, small-scale agriculture and labour-intensive public works.

Detail: This was a time fraught by a violent period of the struggle in the valley. The area was the first to move from Apartheid and offer a fully democratic provision of services.

Other work: Teacher of English in a rural black school.

Junior Lecturer in the Department of English at Rhodes.

Founder and Chair of the Teacher Development Foundation 1982 – 2002.

Co-founder and song-writer of Zabalaza (a cross-culture band performing in English and Zulu).

Current: Lecturer at the Institute for the Study of English in Africa at Rhodes University in Grahamstown.

Founder and convenor of Wordfest (a national multi-lingual festival of South African languages and literatures with a developmental emphasis)

Other: Convened an international conference on the economic benefits of the arts (this prompted the cultural economics activities of the Rhodes University Economics Department).

Publications: His poems have appeared in books, newspapers, magazines, journals, textbooks and in various anthologies in South Africa and abroad. He writes and presents prolifically drawing on the daily use of different South African languages and his varied experience of people and life in that country.

Additional: His nickname ‘Zithulele’ (Xhosa/Zulu) means a taciturn person.

He married the artist Julia Skeen in 1981 and lives with their two children in Grahamstown.

Also once or twice a year he travels and performs work at arts festivals, schools, universities and conferences around the country as part of a life-long passion to promote poetry in the public domain. Lifelines, for example, has been performed fifty times to date.

Information on Chris Mann Extracted from: “Chris Mann” at (literarytourism.co.za) and Chris Mann’s personal website (www.chrismann.co.za)

Harry Owen

Born: Unknown, somewhere in England

Education: Harry Owen never attended University.

Experience: Reader and workshop facilitator; particularly for the University of Chester.

Has performed in a wide range of venues, including schools, universities, libraries, arts centres, theatres, gardens, community centres, churches, cathedrals - even a monastery, and a prison.

For several years he hosted the popular open-mic event Poems & Pints in Congleton, Cheshire.

He also wants it known that he remains open to further suggestions.

Details: A private man, he prefers to let his work speak for itself.

He has travelled extensively with the poetry performance group The Band of Fives.

In 2003 Mr Owen was the inaugural Poet Laureate for Cheshire (UK).

Currently: Teaches poetry and English at Rhodes University.

Hosts the open-mic at the popular Poetry @ Reddits venue in Grahamstown.

Publications: Poetry collections -Searching for Machynlleth (2000), The Music of Ourselves (2004), Five Books of Marriage (2008), Non-Dog (2010), and Worthy: poems for my father (2011).

Q&A with Harry Owen (interview by Janet van Eeden)

Harry, you start off this collection is about your father with an introduction which explains why you always felt unworthy of him. When he converted to become a Jehovah’s Witness in 1958 it seemed to provide him with the certainty he desired. He subsequently imposed this religion on your mother and all of you children. Can you explain to the readers how his religion impacted on you in those formative years?

I hadn’t actually thought that I felt unworthy of my father, but perhaps that is so. Certainly my father felt unworthy of his faith, of his God, and he constantly reminded his children, of whom I was the eldest, of their unworthiness too. He was a great believer in the “fallen” nature of humankind, of the “imperfection” of everyone and their consequent desperate need for redemption. But he applied the greatest emotional pressure to himself, so that now it seems to me he lacked self-esteem and was perpetually striving for a “worthiness” that was by definition beyond him or anyone.

You’re aware that his desire for all of you to stick to what he saw as “The Truth” came about only because he loved you so much. How does one survive such a blinkered love? And what were the consequences for your development into adulthood? Could you ever shake off his disappointment in you or himself, in that he thought he had failed as a parent by not converting you to his faith?

Let me say at the outset that my father was an eminently good man. He had been brought up in a strongly Christian working-class family and had been influenced greatly by this. My father could never tolerate unfairness or discrimination of any kind, and when he found himself in India during World War II he aligned himself firmly with his men rather than with fellow officers who he felt often behaved with arrogant superiority, even though they professed to be Christians.

When, therefore, he eventually found a Christianity – the Jehovah’s Witnesses – that chimed with these attitudes and which promised an eventual redemption that he could believe in, he grabbed it with both hands. Unfortunately, his absolute devotion (and his conviction that Armageddon would happen in 1975) meant that his family had to toe the same line, or risk almost certain destruction at God’s hands.

For years as an adult I struggled to come to terms with what he called my “wilful blindness” and we had a strained relationsh ip for a very long time. Although I don’t consider myself stupid, I never went to university (because, with Armageddon due so soon, what was the point?) and this fact in itself helped determine the course of my life. It was only after my mother’s death in 1999 that Dad and I managed to come to terms with each other and we learned to see the real Truth of each other.

Such a poetic memoir must have been painful to write. Did it put your relationship into perspective, though? And could you write it only after he’d died?

I knew for a couple of years before he died that I would put this collection together; indeed that I had to. And I knew the title: Worthy. This worthiness was and is Dad’s, not mine. It’s my assertion that the man who castigated himself as “unworthy” for so long would live in my memory as the opposite of unworthy, that I would remember the genuinely good man, not the well-meaning but mistaken religious zealot. And a number of the poems (as with the one you quote) were written over a long period, hiding away and only finding a home at last here.

Do you think going through the unpleasant ritual of watching parents deteriorate allows us to embrace our own humanity more fully?

Yes, I do. And if this book manages to achieve anything I hope it will be to celebrate just this humanity, this glorious fleeting humanness of being alive.

Information on Harry Owen extracted from Poet Harry Owen in conversation with Janet van Eeden about his new collection, Non-Dog on

(www.litnet.co.za) and Harry Owen’s personal website (www.harry-owen.co.uk)

Don Maclennan (Donald Alasdair Calum Maclennan)

Born: London in 1929 – Died: Port Elizabeth in 2009 (79)

Education: (primary) St John’s College in Johannesburg

BA Philosophy (Witwatersrand & Edinburgh University)

MA (Hons)(Edin) MA (Witwatersrand)

Experience: After graduating, taught philosophy and English at Wits and UCT.

1966 – 1994 Lectured in English at Rhodes University in Grahamstown.

1995 – 2008 Tutored first-year students at Rhodes on a voluntary basis.

Detail: He travelled extensively in Europe, North America and Africa, and only stopped teaching when the degenerative motor neurone disease from which he suffered in the last decade of life affected his speech.

Other work: With Guy Butler, pioneered the inclusion of African and South African literature in South African university English syllabuses.

Late 1960s MacLennan helped in founding and fostering a township drama group in Grahamstown, the Ikhwezi Players.

1970s to ’80s Developed the innovative English in Africa course at Rhodes.

Comments: A popular and inspirational teacher, both stimulating and demanding, he was well known for his developed sense of and ability with language.

Maclennan excelled as a tutor of small groups of students (as does everyone).

A master of the Socratic method of philosophy, which he used extensively when teaching. This basically works by asking precise questions to refine what you actually think; it starts from the vague and works to the exact.

Other: A late comer to poetry, it was only in his final years that he self-published his poetic works; still some think it is for his poetry that he will be remembered. However, his work has been almost ignored, apart from a handful of reviews.

Publications: Was a friend of Athol Fugard (writer of Tsotsi, 2005), and wrote several plays, including The Third Degree (published with Fugard’s The Coat in 1973), “The Wake,” “A Winter Vacation,” and An Enquiry into the Voyage of the Santiago (published in Contemporary South African Plays, 1977).

Also published several short stories and scholarly works.

Additional: Came to South Africa as a child in 1938 (at age 9) with his family.

Whilst studying at Edinburgh he met his American-born wife, Shirley Knapp.

Four children (Ben, Joe, David, and Susan).

Information on Don Maclennan extracted from In memoriam of Prof. Don Maclennan (www.ru.ac.za) and Don Maclennan’s Wikipedia page

Guy Butler (Frederick Guy Butler)

Born: 1918 (Cradock, Eastern Cape)

Died: 2001 (Grahamstown)

Education: (primary) Cradock

BA and MA English (Rhodes University) 1947 PhD English Literature (Brasenose College, Oxford University)

Honorary doctorates from Natal, Witwatersrand, and Rhodes.

Experience:

1947 – 1951 Junior lecturer of English at Wits.

1951 – 1952 Senior lecturer of English at Rhodes University.

1952 – 1987 Professor and Head of English at Rhodes University.

1987 Appointed as Emeritus Professor and Honourary Research Fellow.

Detail: In 1940 he left his wife and put his studies on hold to fight in World War II.

Other work: Directed his own play Cape Charade in 1967

1952 – 1968 Directed plays including: Julius Caesar, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Othello, Hamlet, Henry IV Part 1, Everyman and Dr Faustus. His final production Noye’s Fludde (1970) in the Cathedral of St. Michael and St. George was well received by all.

1980s Founded the Shakespeare Society during the turmoil.

Comments: Butler promoted the culture of English-speaking South Africans, which led to the charge of racism/separatism from some critics, although he argued for integration rather than exclusivity.

In his poetry he strove to bring together (i.e. find a synthesis of) European and African elements into a single voice.

Other: With long-time friend Don Maclennan, he was influential in achieving the recognition of South African English Literature as an accepted discipline.

Publications: Essays and Lectures: 1949-1991, published 1994.

Autobio. Karoo Morning (1977: Childhood autobiography).

Bursting World (1983: student years and experiences in World War II).

A Local Habitation (1991).

Poetry Stranger to Europe (1952). First poetry collection, includes war poems.

Selected Poems (1975), updated with additional poems (1989).

Pilgrimage to Dias Cross (1987) is on racial conflict, incorporating voices from various groups.

Plays Richard Gush of Salem (1982) and Demea (1990).

Additional: After graduating he married Jean Satchwell in 1940

A deeply questioning man, he was always uneasy with his Christian faith.

His sister, Dorothy Eyre Murray, was also a poet.

Information on Guy Butler extracted from Guy Bulter’s Wikipedia page and In Memoriam of Guy Butler (www.ru.ac.za)

A short history of Grahamstown

Founded: 1812 by Lieutenant-Colonel John Graham, as a military outpost and part of the effort to secure the eastern

frontier of British influence in the then Cape Colony against the Xhosa.

Growth: Grahamstown grew during the 1820s as many 1820 Settlers and their families left farming to establish themselves in more secure trades.

1833 Described as having "two or three English merchants of considerable wealth, but scarcely any society in the ordinary sense of the word. The Public Library is a wretched affair."

1904 Rhodes University College was established in Grahamstown through a grant from the Rhodes Trust.

By 1950s Cape Colony's largest city after Cape Town.

1952 Cathedral of St. Michael and St. George commissioned.

Traditionally the capital and cultural centre of the Albany area, a former traditionally English-speaking district with a distinctive local culture.

1951 RUC becomes a fully-fledged University, Rhodes University.

Institutes: South African National Library for the Blind, the National English Literary Museum, the South African Institute for Aquatic Biodiversity, the International Library of African Music (ILAM), and the Institute for the Study of English in Africa (founded by Don Maclennan, Guy Butler, and others).

Today Grahamstown’s primary industries are educational and cultural; although, it continues to struggle to bring this quality education to previously disadvantaged and rural areas, despite on-going efforts.

The Grahamstown Foundation (they organise the Olympiad, so this is important).

Based the 1820 settler’s monument, it exists to promote English (although a very specific kind of English, as the poets show). It is involved in many projects, including; the National Arts Festival, SA National Science Festival, the National Schools Festival and eight regional schools Festivals, the English Olympiad, and the Shakespeare Society of South Africa.

Festivals: Two large festivals take place annually in Grahamstown; the National Arts Festival (June/July) and SciFest Africa (April/May/March) which can attract 50,000 people. The National Arts Festival is the largest Arts festival in Africa attracting leading talent from the South African and international art scene to Grahamstown for a celebration of cultural and artistic expression.

These festivals are run by the Grahamstown Foundation.

Press: Grahamstown is home to the oldest surviving independent newspaper in South Africa, Grocott's Mail. Founded in 1870 by the Grocott family, it is currently operated by the School of Journalism and Media Studies at Rhodes University, and still retains its name.

Information on Grahamstown extracted from Grahamstown’s Wikipedia page and Grahamstown Foundation’s profile at

(www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk)

Verbal reasoning tests

Example –

Cardiovascular disease is so prevalent that virtually all businesses are likely to have employees who suffer from, or may develop, this

condition. Research shows that between 50-80% of all people who suffer a heart attack are able to return to work. However, this

may not be possible if they have previously been involved in heavy physical work. In such cases, it may be possible to move the

employee to lighter duties, with appropriate retraining where necessary. Similarly, high-pressure, stressful work, even where it does

not involve physical activity, should also be avoided. Human Resources managers should be aware of the implications of job roles for

employees with a cardiac condition.

A) Physical or stressful work may bring on a heart attack.

B) The majority of people who have suffered a heart attack can later return to work.

C) Heart disease may affect employees in any type of business.

D) Heart disease can affect people of any age.

A) So much of the literature of the western world, including a large part of its greatest literature, was either written for actual

speaking or in a mode of speech, that we are likely to deform it if we apply our comparatively recent norm of writing for silent

reading. It is only that so much of this work is drama or oratory (the latter including the modern forms of sermons, lectures and

addresses which as late as the nineteenth century play a most important part). It is also that through classical and mediaeval times,

and in many cases beyond these, most reading was either aloud or silently articulated as if speaking: a habit we now recognise

mainly in the slow. Most classical histories were indeed quite close to oratory and public speech, rather than silent reading of an

artefact, was the central condition of linguistic composition.

1. Until the nineteenth century, most people could only read with difficulty

2. In ancient times, literature was intended to be read aloud

3. Classical histories were passed on orally and never written down

4. Only people with literacy problems now read aloud. B) Millions of lives around the world could be saved, and the quality of life of

hundreds of millions markedly improved - very inexpensively - by eradicating three vitamin and mineral deficiencies in people's

diets. The three vitamins and minerals are vitamin A, iodine and iron - so-called micronutrients. More than 2 billion people are at

risk from micronutrient deficiencies and more than 1 billion people are actually ill or disabled by them, causing mental retardation,

learning disabilities, low work capacity and blindness. It costs little to correct these deficiencies through fortification of food and

water supplies. In a country of 50 million people, this would cost about $25 million a year. That $25 million would yield a fortyfold

return on investment.

5. Most illnesses in developing countries are caused by vitamin and mineral deficiencies

6. Micronutrients provide inadequate nourishment to maintain a healthy life

7. Vitamin A, iodine and iron are the only micronutrients that people need in their diet

8. Correcting micronutrient deficiencies would cost about $2 per person per year

C) The clinical guidelines in asthma therapy have now moved towards anti-inflammatory therapy - and away from regular

bronchiodilator therapy - for all but the mildest asthmatics. This is now being reflected in prescribing patterns. In the U.S., combined

prescription volumes of the major bronchiodilators peaked in 1991 (having risen slowly in the preceding years), though they still

account for around half of the 65 million asthma prescriptions there. During the same period, prescriptions for inhaled steroids have

doubled, but still account for less than 10% of asthma prescriptions in the U.S.

9. Only mild cases of asthma can be helped by anti-inflammatory therapy

10. Use of bronchiodilators has been increasing since 1991

11. Doctors are reluctant to treat asthma with inhaled steroids for fear of potential side-effects

12. Bronchiodilators are the single most prescribed treatment for asthma

D) Relations between Sweden and the European Community had always been restricted in scope by Sweden's traditional neutrality

and for many years any suggestion of Community membership was out of the question. But the upheavals in Eastern Europe in the

early 1990s gradually led to the conclusion that membership of the EC was no longer incompatible with its neutral stance. People

came to the conclusion that Sweden has already taken over a large part of the Community rules and began to weigh up the pros and

cons of membership along the lines sought by Austria.

13. Political changes in Eastern Europe led to a change in relations between Sweden and the European Community

14. The European Community rejected Sweden's application for membership because of its neutrality

15. After abandoning its policy of neutrality, Sweden applied to join the European Community

16. Sweden applied for membership of the European Community after other neutral countries had joined

E) Buddhism was introduced to Japan from India via China and Korea around the middle of the sixth century. After gaining imperial

patronage, Buddhism was propagated by the authorities throughout the country. In the early ninth century, Buddhism in Japan

entered a new era in which it catered mainly to the court nobility. In the Kamakura period (1192-1338), an age of great political

unrest and social confusion, there emerged many new sects of Buddhism offering hope of salvation to warriors and peasants alike.

Buddhism not only flourished as a religion but also did much to enrich the country's arts and learning.

17. Buddhism was adopted by the court nobility at the urging of the emperor

18. The introduction of Buddhism to Japan led to great political unrest and social confusion

19. Buddhism replaced the Shinto religion which had previously been followed in Japan

20. Japanese arts and culture were greatly enriched by the introduction of Buddhism

F) In Japan, companies generally expect their employees to put in long hours of overtime. But it is difficult for women, who also

have household chores to do and children to take care of, to work at the same pace as men, who are not burdened with such

responsibilities. Many women inevitably opt for part-time jobs, which enable them to combine work and domestic duties. At

present, 23% of all female salaried workers are part-timers and the ratio has been on the rise in recent years. Part-time work places

women at a disadvantage. The wages of part-time workers are considerably lower than those of full-time employees, and part-time

work tends to involve menial labour. Moreover, because salary and promotion in Japanese companies are often based on seniority,

it is extremely difficult for women either re-entering the labour force or switching from part-time to full-time work to climb the

ladder.

21. Japanese men do not share household chores and childcare with their wives.

22. A quarter of all part-time workers in Japan are female.

23. Part-time workers hold a low status in Japanese companies.

24. Women in Japan are unwilling to work overtime.

G) Abdominal pain in children may be a symptom of emotional disturbance, especially where it appears in conjunction with phobias

or sleep disorders such as nightmares or sleep-walking. It may also be linked to eating habits: a study carried out in the USA found

that children with pain tended to be more fussy about what and how much they ate, and to have over-anxious parents who spent a

considerable time trying to persuade them to eat. Although abdominal pain had previously been linked to excessive milk-drinking,

this research found that children with pain drank rather less milk than those in the control group.

25. There is no clear cause for abdominal pain in children

26. Abdominal pain in children may be psychosomatic in nature.

27. Drinking milk may help to prevent abdominal pain in children

28. Children who have problems sleeping are more likely to suffer from abdominal pain

H) When Christianity was first established by law, a corrupt form of Latin had become the common language of all the western parts

of Europe. The service of the Church accordingly, and the translation of the Bible which was read in churches, were both in that

corrupted Latin which was the common language of the country. After the fall of the Roman Empire, Latin gradually ceased to be the

language of any part of Europe. However, although Latin was no longer understood anywhere by the great body of the people,

Church services still continued to be performed in that language. Two different languages were thus established in Europe: a

language of the priests and a language of the people.

29. After the fall of the Roman Empire, people who had previously spoken Latin returned to their original languages

30. Latin continued to be used in church services because of the continuing influence of Rome.

31. Priests spoke a different language from the common people.

32. Prior to the fall of the Roman Empire, Latin had been established by law as the language of the Church in western Europe

2009- SECTION A 1. Keeping in mind the material you have read in the anthology, write Act I Scene i of “Motivation: The Musical”.

2. Thomas Gray, Billy Bragg and D H Lawrence are invited onto a talk show to discuss “Poverty and the Poor”. Write the discussion in

dialogue form. You can include a talk show host in the discussion as well, if you wish. (It is recommended that your discussion is

serious and NOT frivolous.)

4. Write the introduction for a self-help book titled The Dummies’ Guide to Making the Best of a Mindless Job.

5. See Appendix B. This gives you an example of a page layout from a modern magazine, with a main article and additional side bars.

Create a double page spread for a magazine such as SL (aimed at those living the Student Life). The main article must be headlined

Who’s To Blame For The Mess We’re In? (In order to do justice to your ideas, you can continue the columns on further pages.)

7. “My education has failed me.” Respond to this statement in any appropriate manner.

8. Bob has completed his education and is stuck in a dead-end job, but his imagination is still very active. Create an extract of at

least 2 pages from a comic book or graphic novel in which he has a showdown with his boss. NB: This is not an art exercise, so focus

on plot and creative dialogue. An example of comic book / graphic novel format is shown in Appendix D.

9. Barack Obama, the President of the United States of America, has ex-pressed concern at the poetry content being taught in

schools. He has commissioned a poetry anthology called Yes, We Can. Select 5 poems from the anthology which you believe should

be included and motivate your choice.

11. Thomas Gray refers to an anonymous man in stanzas 12 – 15 of Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard who never achieved great

fame, despite his potential. Imagine that this man could read the entire anthology. How would he feel about his life, the way Gray

depicted him and the anthology as a whole. Write your response in the first person.

12. Hire teenagers while they still know everything! What do you think YOU know that would be helpful to an adult in the

workplace?

SECTION B 1. Mick Jones (Career Opportunities – page 45) apparently did spend time working for the post office in a job that required him to

inspect letters that may have contained letter bombs. Design two print advertisements, aimed at school leavers, to advertise the

following careers• checker for letter bombs• tea maker AND Write a short letter of application for one of these positions from

someone who believes he/she is ideally suited for the post.

2. Write two reviews of the anthology. The first written by the anonymous author of It’s all in the state of the mind and the second

by Mick Jones. (See page 9 and pages 26 and 45.)

3. Rewrite stanzas 4 – 8 of Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard as Billy Bragg would have written them. OR Rewrite Stay Free as D

H Lawrence would have written it.

4. You have finished your final examinations and are heading for a “party time” away from home. You are on Matric Rage. Write the

following: • A card from your grandmother containing advice for your future• 3 motivational bumper stickers for your car • The text

message you send to your mother when you receive your results• A graffiti wall at your campsite.

6. Robert Herrick (see page 7) is invited to give a lesson at a girls’ school in which he encourages the girls to marry as soon as

possible. Write the text of his short address, as well as two questions from the girls and his responses.

8. Merle Haggard’s wife (see page 17) has tea with Robert Herrick’s wife (see page 7). Write the text of their discussion in dialogue

form.

9. “Butch” Weldy (page 24) is denied compensation after an accident at work. Imagine that John Lennon (page 20) hears about the

case and decides to publicise it. Write the press statement he would make to the media when he takes on the cause, and the lyrics

of the song he would compose to draw public attention to Butch’s fate.

2008- SECTION A

1. Judge Albie Sachs, a well-respected South African judge, was recently called upon to make a judgement in a case where a

Rastafarian was denied the opportunity to enter the legal profession because of a conviction for smoking cannabis. As part of his

judgement, Sachs noted that:

“The right to believe or not to believe, and to act or not to act according to his or her beliefs or non-beliefs, is one of the key

ingredients of any person’s dignity. Yet freedom of religion goes beyond protecting the inviolability of the individual conscience. For

many believers, their relationship with God or creation is central to all their activities. It concerns their capacity to relate in an

intensely meaningful fashion to their sense of themselves, their community and their universe. For millions in all walks of life,

religion provides support and nurture and a framework for individual and social stability and growth. Religious belief has the

capacity to awake concepts of self-worth and human dignity which form the cornerstone of human rights. It affects the believer’s

view of society and founds the distinction between right and wrong. It expresses itself in the affirmation and continuity of powerful

traditions that frequently have an ancient character transcending historical epochs and national boundaries.” (Case: Prince v

President of the Law Society, Cape of Good Hope and Others, 1998.)

With this in mind, how would Judge Sachs have ruled in the court case between Antonio and Shylock? Write his judgement,

including the outcome of the trial.

2. In an episode of the TV drama “Boston Legal”, one of the lawyers shoots a homeless man with a paintball gun after the homeless

man had thrown a rock at him. The homeless man then arrives at the firm with his own lawyer and threatens to sue the man who

shot him. The lawyer who fired the paintball responds by saying the following to the homeless man’s lawyer:

“Let me tell you something about the practice of law, son. It all comes down to money. I’ve got it. He hasn’t. I’ll win.”

Using the cases from the anthology, write an essay in which you discuss whether the outcome of legal matters depends on justice

or money today.

3. Imagine that Shylock decided to appeal the decision in his case. Write the script of the retrial in play form. You must use relevant

witnesses from the original trial and allow Shylock to use Sir Robert Morton as his advocate. It is not necessary to write your scene

in Shakespearian English.

5. Experienced advocates often try to settle a case out of court as this saves time and allows them to be involved in more cases. You

are Sir Robert Morton and have been asked to defend Shylock, the accused in “Twelve Angry Men” and Tracy Green. Write a

motivation to your immediate superior in which you outline which one case you have decided to take to court and why, and also

argue why you would settle the other two cases out of court.

8. Antonio and Stephanie Rogers could both feel that they are “victims”. Write a piece in which you discuss your feelings towards a

crime you have experienced. In your writing, you should explain why you think that their feelings are frivolous.

9. Fyodor Dostoevsky wrote a famous novel called “Crime and Punishment.” Write your own piece on this title in which you explore

the nature of these two concepts.

10. “A Lawyer Learns His Lesson”. Write this fairytale.

SECTION B -40 MARKS - Answer ONE of the following questions. 1. Create a Facebook profile for Shylock. Your profile should include such information as: screen-name, interests, favourite

movies/books, messages on your wall, “friends”. Label each part clearly. You may add other entries if you choose. AND Write the

email which Shylock sends just before the case against Antonio comes to court. You may decide to whom this email is addressed.

2. A shark and a lawyer meet in a psychologist’s waiting room. Write a dialogue of their conversation while they wait.

3. Exodus 21 vs 23 and 24: “...if there is serious injury, you are to take life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for

foot, burn for burn, wound for wound.” (Old Testament. This is part of the Torah, a holy book of the Jewish faith.)

Matthew 5 vs 38 – 40: “You have heard it was said “Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.” But I tell you, do not resist an evil person. If

someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn him the other also, And if someone wants to sue you and take your tunic, let him take

your cloak as well.” (New Testament. This passage forms part of Christ’s Sermon on the Mount.)

Despite Portia’s appeal to the “the quality of mercy”, it could be argued that most of the Christians at the court case do not embody

this characteristic. You are a Life Orientation teacher. Create a lesson on religious tolerance using these texts and referring to the

play.

5. Why do people commit crime? Imagine that the accused in “Twelve Angry Men”, Tracy Green in “The It Girls” and Ronnie in “The

Winslow Boy” ARE guilty. Write diary entries for each of these characters in which they explore what motivated them and their

feelings after they had been apprehended.

2010- SECTION A 1. An Almighty Chat: God and the Devil are sitting, talking about Niklaas Dampers, when Koba Nooi enters and sits down to join

them…Write this dialogue. You may wish to bring other characters mentioned in the anthology into the discussion.

2. The Blame Game: Timi, of “The Suitcase”, is sentenced to time in jail for his actions. His wife sends a letter to him when he is sent

away. Write this letter, as well as Timi’s response to her.

3. He’s Just Not That Into You: After Martha (“The Little Pet”) is dumped by Francis Senior, she reads the book “He’s Just Not That

Into You”. Some weeks later she meets with her friends Polly Mooney and Toonje Dampers. After some serious shopping, they stop

to have cocktails and talk about men.

Write this discussion.

5. Love Story: Write a chapter of a “bodice-ripper” or Mills and Boon-type novel which tells part of Andries van Reenen and Toonje’s

story. A definition of “bodice-ripper” has been supplied below. Please ensure that your writing is not overly explicit and that you

focus on character development.

(bodice-ripper /noun/ Also written as bodice ripper A romantic novel or film, especially one with an historical setting, with the plot

featuring the seduction of the heroine. Adapted from: The Oxford Dictionary of New Words)

6. Legal Eagles: imagine the bachelor of “The Story-teller” is a lawyer, who is called in to cross-examine the characters in “The

Suitcase”. He examines the old

man from the bus, Timi and the mother of the deceased child (imagine she has been arrested) in court. Write up this legal scene in

the form of a short story.

7. The Answer Is At The End: The day of the party arrived. Madame Loisel was a success.” Imagine that Mathilde had not lost the

necklace. Create a new ending for the story, with Schalk Lourens as the story teller, telling the story in his own style.

8. I’ll Meet You On The Road: Write a short story in which Mr Doran, who has run away from Dublin to South Africa, meets Niklaas

on the Platkops – Philipdorp road, just after Niklaas has read the letter from Toontjie. Both men must remain in character.

9. I Dropped In To Tell You A Story: Francis senior grows uneasy at the bond between his son and the rabbit. He asks his older

brother, who is a bachelor renowned for his ability to tell “improper stories” to speak to Francis junior. Write the story that the

bachelor would tell Francis.

10. Under Discussion: An interviewer from a top class arts programme interviews the author of one of the stories from the

anthology. His opening question is, “What were you trying to achieve by writing this story?” Write the text of the interview.

12. The Child Speaks: Francis Junior is now seventeen years old and finishing his education at a Juvenile Detention Centre. Write the

first chapter of his biography, which is headed “I knew you didn’t like your baby.”

13. A Different Point Of View: The Suitcase is written from the omniscient point of view, but we only see into the mind of Timi.

Write three relevant passages in which you observe the events through his eyes of the woman who left the suitcase on the bus, the

old man who accused Timi of stealing it and the arresting officer.

SECTION B 2. Life Beyond the Page: Create a life for the bachelor beyond the few facts and impressions we gain of him in “The Story-teller.” This

answer can take any form you choose, but remember to place him in a likely and detailed context. Possible formats include: FBI

report, another short story or a long poem.

4. Mrs Mooney’s Guest House – your home away from home: Write two comments in the guest book of Mrs Mooney’s guest house,

in which two characters from other stories in the anthology write down their opinions after staying at the house. Choose from:

Martha (“The Little Pet”), Koba Nooi (“The Sinner”), Schalk Louwrens (“Willem Prinsloo’s Peach Brandy”) and the bachelor (“The

Storyteller”). AND Design a brochure for Mrs Mooney’s guest house.

6. It’s In The News: Write the following two newspaper reports. A “gutter journalism” style report on the story of Niklaas leaving

his wife for Koba AND an editorial style comment, written by Dominee Welthagen, after Niklaas’s return.

7. Healthy Advice: Niklaas Dampers has been invited by Men’s Health magazine to be a guest writer. Produce his double page article.

You may add any other

details or items which you feel relevant.

8. In The Sandpit: Francis junior (“The Little Pet”) and Cyril (“The Story-teller”) meet in the sandpit at playschool. Write their

conversation in dialogue form, titled Grownups are stupid.

9. The “Not So Secret” Diary Of…:Write the following three diary entries:

a. Mathilde, the night before the ball

b. Polly, the morning after Mr Doran proposed marriage

c. Grieta, after the dance.

2007- SECTION A 1. Many articles in the anthology deal with “political correctness”. Write an article for a magazine titled “PC: it now means Political

Cowardice”.

2. Place Johnny Haynes, George Best, Paul Gascoigne and David Beckham in conversation in a Pub. The topics they discuss should

include the salaries earned by sports stars, personal appearance and celebratory status. Write your response in dialogue form.

3. As a typical South African learner, you have been invited to address SADTU at their National Conference. What do YOU want and

what do YOU think is in the best interests of South African education? Write the text of your speech.

4. Write an article for young South African teachers in which you motivate the necessity of always being politically correct.

5. 50 Cent has been invited to address the learners and parents at Speech Night at a top South African school. Write the text of his

address.

7. The Pope, Guy Fawkes and a talking Piggy Bank appear on a chat show to discuss tolerance. Write the text of their discussion in

dialogue form.

8. It is November in the year 2105. A television channel is doing a review on what happened 100 years previously. Motivate which

FIVE articles from the anthology you believe should appear on the programme because of their historical significance.

9. Create newspaper cartoons for any FIVE articles from the anthology. For each cartoon, write a short paragraph in which you

explain your work. The emphasis in this question is more on concept than artwork.

10. Schools can be rated in several ways, for example their academic results, the strength of their first rugby team or even their

cultural contribution. Refer to the article, “School sex table storm”. In this article, schools are rated in a different way altogether.

How should we rate schools? Write two editorial comments, one for a British newspaper and one for a South African newspaper, in

which you address this issue.

12. Our heroes aren’t what they used to be. Write a discussion between Rosa Parks (pg 7), Private Harry Farr (pg 46), Homer

Simpson (pg 26) and Eric Midgley (pg 36) as they talk about this issue.

14. Cellphones are a ubiquitous part of daily life.

14.1 Write the text of a talk that a primary school teacher would deliver to a class of ten-year olds on cellphone usage. AND

14.2 The Human Resources Manager of a large company issues the employees with guidelines on cellphone etiquette, both in and

out of the workplace. Write these guidelines.

SECTION B

1. Refer to the articles on pages 35 and 36 of the anthology. The “yobs” mentioned have been arrested and are waiting in custody.

Both Bernard Sharp and Andrew Kleissner are given the opportunity to speak to the culprits. Write a short speech for each man.

2. George Best died shortly after November 2005. Provide the following pieces of writing.

2.1 A short obituary

2.2 A death notice from his son

2.3 An SMS sent by George Best to his son, shortly before he died.

2.4 Three short pieces of graffiti, sprayed on walls near Old Trafford (Manchester United’s home ground) by fans and/or critics.

2.5 An e-mail, sent by Angie Best to her mother, after hearing about his death.

4. Write the horoscopes for any THREE of the six people mentioned below and on the following page. (Use different star signs for

each person.) AND Write the diary entry that each one of the three you have chosen would have written at the end of the week.

a) Natalie Scanlan (b) Janet Booth (c) Francis Tresham (d) Martin Lan (e) Sarfaraaz Peerbhay (f) David Blunkett

5. Write two editorials on morals, one for a liberal South African newspaper and the other for a conservative British newspaper.

6. Write the following two letters on the state of South African education.

6.1 Write a letter to the press in which you focus, positively, on how far we have come over the last fifteen years. AND

6.2 Write a business letter to Ms Pandor, The Minister of Education, in which you suggest solutions to the chaos in our schools.

7. Two films are reviewed in the anthology. Rewrite them in the following ways.

7.1 Rewrite the review of Downfall from the perspective of a writer who believes that we should forget about the past and move on.

AND

7.2 Rewrite the review of Zorro so that it is shorter and is aimed at a younger readership. The review should be overwhelmingly

positive. For both reviews you may invent necessary details.

13. Refer to the article “The End Of Britishness”. Forsyth feels that the essence of “Britishness” is under threat. Write a similar article

titled, “The End Of South Africanness”.

ELET materials (used for homework assignments, comparison, etc.)

English Olympiad: 2011 – 2012 Tutor’s Guide

Day 1: When Urban Meets Rural

Time Topic/ Activity Resources Method

08:30 – 08:40

Registration and welcome registers pen labels

08:40 – 09:30

Activity 1 Icebreaker (one of A difficult choice / candy introduction/ Desert island

Handout

Explanation by facilitator Questions and answers

09:30 – 09:50

Activity 2 Voices that influence us?

Handout Refer to model

Brainstorming the topic. Focus on key factors like: culture peers schools How is the effect measured?

09:50– 10:10

Activity 3: Voices that influence us?

Silent reflection (10 min) Group work (10 min)

10:10 10:30

Activity 4: Feedback (20 min)

10:30 – 10:45

Break Refreshments

10:45 11:15

Activity 5: The Olympiad Programme Notes from the Study Guide

Aims

Approach

Exams

format

Text – pages 61-65 Discussion led by facilitator

11:15 – 12:30

Activity 6:Theme: When Urban Meets Rural Introduction to the poets

Small town; Big voice Pages 65 -66

Discussion led by facilitator

13:15- 13:30

Break

13:30- 14:45

Activity 7: 3 poems Discuss the contrasts in each of the poems: Urban / rural divide

Sakhile Wilberforce

Mavundla (Mann)

The Language of Hooligans (Owen)

To Guy on the Monument (Macclennan)

14;45 15:00

Homework (1) Homework 2

Maintaining a diary Write a paragraph on a childhood experience which you might not have understood at the time.

Record all thoughts and preparation you do for the Olympiad on a daily basis. Include the poems read on a daily basis, etc.

Some questions on two poems

Challenges of Youth The anthology reflects different voices and attitudes to life. After reading Sakhile Wilberforce Mavundla (Mann) and The language of Hooligans and answering the questions based on them, you should look at the major challenges that many youngsters face in this day and age.

Sakhile Wilberforce Mavundla (Mann)

Stanza 1: What seemed to be the focal point of his life? Stanza 2 Does the word “boulder” capture Sakhile’s problems adequately? Stanza 3 How does what happened six generations ago influence his thinking and feelings? Stanza 4 Identify the word or phrase which you think is most powerful. Give reasons for your choice.

Stanza 5 Point out some of the contradictions in this stanza.

Stanza 6 Is there any indication that there are deep-seated conflicts which Sakhile has? Stanza 7 Why does he build an initiation lodge?

Stanza 8 How is knowledge transmitted across generations? Stanza 9 Comment on the contrasts in this stanza.

Stanza 10 Discuss the reference to “second matric”. What is the tone of this stanza?

Stanza 11 Comment on the word: migrant

Stanza 12 Does Sakhile have a bright future ahead of him?

What type of life do you think Sakhile will have? What does the writer think about the forces influencing Sakhile’s life? Who do you think needs to become aware of the problems and challenges that people like Sakhile face?

Write a paragraph outlining the major challenges you face in your quest to realise your potential.

The Language of Hooligans (Harry Owen) List the reference to language in this poem. What do these words tell you about the hooligans? Stanza 1: Describe the typical behaviour of the group of people. Comment on the words which show

best the poet’s feelings.

Stanza 2: What imagery does the poet use in describing these hooligans?

Stanza 3: Does the poet think that these hooligans are deprived of living a good life?

How do the subjects of this poem differ from Sakhile?

For Guy in the Monument

Look at the subtitle of the poem. What does this mean?

Why do you think Guy (Butler) has become a subject for poetry?

Do you think that the writer admires Guy Butler?

Re- Lines 1-5: Where was the poet?

Re: “I could only see...coming weather” Comment on the significance of these lines.

Day 2: Preparing for an Interview

Interviewing Harry Owen Objectives:

By the end of this session learners should be able to prepare a series of questions to ask Harry Owen based on his poetry.

Learners will role play an interview between a journalist and Harry Owen.

Learners will take interview notes as the interview progresses.

Learners write a report of the interview as for a magazine or newspaper article. Activity: Ask learners to prepare questions on the poems that confuse them, etc. Get them to role play the situation. Divide the learners into pairs, where one person is the interviewer and the other the poet. Possible areas for discussion and setting of questions:

Choice of topics or themes for poems.

Trends that the writer is exploring that you notice.

Why this particular medium?...etc When reading Harry Owen’s poems, several questions come to mind. For instance, does he know South Africa sufficiently well to discuss some of the complex issues that he examines and comments on? Is he sufficiently informed on these issues to express his ideas in a public domain? Is there a possibility that the issues he raises are very slanted and unbalanced? It is one thing being an outsider and therefore being able to see the South African society differently but another to pose them as though the viess are novel. Yet others feel that his poems bring a refreshingly different perspective on South African society, a view that the only an outsider can see. What are your thoughts on this? Poet 1: Harry Owen

Time Topic/ Activity Resources Method

08:30 – 08:35

Registration and welcome registers

08:35 08:50

Activity 1

Reflection on Day 1

Poems read on a daily basis

Exchange of poems learners wrote as part of their tasks.

Learners own work

Tutor asks learners to share their comments/ efforts.

08:50 – 09:10

Activity 2 Interviews

Brainstorming. Examples of interviews. ( Bio notes on Harry Owen.

09:10 – 10:00

Activity 3: Poem

Questions to ask in South

(Prepare questions that you think are relevant)

Learners jot down questions that they need to ask.

Africa

10:00- 10:30

Activity 3: Two poems on Dogs:

Non –dog

The Language of Hooligans

(Prepare questions that you think are relevant)

Lecture / group work

10:30 -10:45

Break

10:45 -11:15

Activity 3: Two poems on Dogs (contd)

Non –dog

The Language of Hooligans

Group work and feedback after tutor’s input

11:15 12:00

Activity3:

3 poems: Here and there

Lecture / group work Learners record their questions

12:00 – 12:15

Activity 4

The Second Test

Lecture / group work Learners record questions

12:15- 12:45

Break

12:45- 14:45

Activity 5: Preparation of Interview questions with partners. (30 minutes)

Review of questions

Trialling the questions with each other –

Role play

Changing roles- interviewer becomes interviewee.

Text Discussion led by facilitator

14;45 15:00

Homework (1) Homework 2

Maintaining a diary Write a report of the interview you had with the poet.

Record all thoughts and preparation you do for the Olympiad on a daily basis. Include the poems read on a daily basis, etc.