Kadine Pretorius

69274002

Kadine Pretorius

Student number: 69274002

Course code: ENG1516

Assignment 02

Unique number: 838616

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Contents
Question 1 ........................................................................................................................................ 3
Question 1.1..................................................................................................................................... 3
Question 1.2..................................................................................................................................... 3
Question 1.3..................................................................................................................................... 4
Question 1.4..................................................................................................................................... 4
Question 1.5.1 ................................................................................................................................. 4
Question 1.5.2 ................................................................................................................................. 5
Question 2 ........................................................................................................................................ 6
Question 2.1..................................................................................................................................... 6
Question 2.2..................................................................................................................................... 6
Bibliography of references .......................................................................................................... 7
DECLARATION ................................................................................................................................... 8

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Question 1
Question 1.1
Foundling: Is an infant (Nonkhosi) that has been abandoned by its parents and is
discovered and cared for by others, in this case Monya the python.

Twine: is a strong thread or string consisting of two or more strands of hemp or cotton
twisted together but, in the case, of the river maiden it refers to the python’s body that
he winds around the young girls body.

Coils: is a length of something wound in a joined sequence of concentric rings. In the

river maiden however, it will refer to the shape (of a coil) the pythons body makes
when he wraps himself around the girl’s body.

Immortality: is the ability to live forever or eternal life. Referring to the river maiden it
indicates that Nomkhosi is immortal as she does not drown in the silent pool instead,
she lives, breathes, and plays in the water.

Maid: is a female domestic servant but can also be an unmarried girl or young woman.
When referring to the story it means young woman/girl

Mesmerized: to capture the complete attention of someone or to hypnotize someone.

In the story mesmerized means that the python hypnotized/bewitched the young girl.

Pined: suffer a mental and physical decline, especially because of a broken

heart/miss or long for, in the case of the river maiden Somate longed for or missed her
big sister dearly.

Peered: look with difficulty or concentration at someone or something, in the river

maiden Somate peered/looked deep onto the silent pool.

Question 1.2
Folk tales are stories that are usually set in a time far away from now, in the case of
the river maiden the story starts by saying “it is a long time ago” which refers to it being
a time far away from now. A second element of a folk tale is that it contains talking
animals, in the river maiden Monya the python speaks and some of the other animal
characters have humanlike abilities such as the crocodile wo started to love Nomkhosi.

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Another element of a folk tale is that stories originate orally, in the case of the river
maiden though it has been taken out of a book it states on page 2 that Zulus have
relied on the spoken word to pass their folk tales from one generation to another and
these are stories that was once been told around a fireside. In folk tales there are little
character development this can be seen in the river maiden by the fact that the
characters do not change or grow personally, the father still has no place in his hart
for his first born even though he went to fetch her out of the silent pool he did this to
please Somate. Somate still loves her sister deeply and Nomkhosi accepts her fate
and does not develop a hate for her father or sister as would be expected, thus none
of this character have developed throughout the tale. Folk tales include everyday life
events, and this can be seen in this tale as it mentions that the girls played together,
and the women went to draw water at the river. All of these examples suggest that his
is a folktale.

Question 1.3
Fantastical features are elements in a story that are unreal or magical. For instance,
when animals or non-humans are given human like abilities. In the river maiden we
can see these features in the fact that the river was angry when he found out that he
had lost its maiden. In reality a river cannot be angry.

Question 1.4
Anthropomorphizing animals means that animal have human like characteristics,
examples of this can be seen in the river maiden where the snake speaks, loves and
thinks, the crocodile loves, the fishes and crabs play with a human.

Question 1.5.1
An allegory is a picture/poem/story that can be interpreted to convey a hidden meaning
or a moral

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Question 1.5.2
I agree that this story is an allegory as it is full of morals and hidden meanings. This
can be seen in the fact that one takes a python to be an animal that has its best
inters and hunger at heart, whereas in the story Monya leaves its animal instincts
behind and puts the needs of his beloved foundling above his instincts, this shows us
that one should not judge a book by its cover. Nomkhosi’s kind and loving
personality even after the wrongdoings of her father show us that one can rise above
one’s circumstances and not be bitter about the things in the past.

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Question 2

Question 2.1

Color: the illustrator uses blue, red/orange and yellow. Blue can be associated with
being cool and calm. The red/orange and yellow colors convey a feeling of warmth,
happiness, excitement, and love.
Perspective: The teacher and many of the students are at an eye-level view. There
is also a teacher and students at the top of a pile of books where we the audience
sees them from a lower angle.
Shapes: The shapes of the teachers, students, books, flag, desk, I pad in this picture
are organic shapes as it is asymmetrical and has irregular outlines, whereas geometric
shapes are rigid which this picture is not.
Space: the illustrator uses space to create a feeling of uneasiness, chaos, confusion
and anxiety as the picture is busy and full, with verry little empty spaces.
Composition: This refers to the way a picture is put together that will evoke feelings
in a reader. When looking at this picture one must take in a few things into
consideration such as the layout and position of objects. Some objects are more
important than others in this picture as its position is highlighted examples are the
teacher and the books, they are bigger and, in the foreground, which emphasizes
them.

Question 2.2
The cover of the book focuses on the teacher, students and books around them, this
gives insight to what we can expect the book to be about. This picture makes use of
the colors blue, red/orange and yellow, blue makes me feel cool and calm even
though I do not know what the content of the book may have in store for me. The
yellow and orange creates a warmth that makes me feel invited to come and enjoy
this book. I feel the composition of this picture tells a deeper story, this is because it
is organized in such a manner that it makes the teacher with arms wide open and the
books the center of attention. This signifies that learning literature will be the main
aspect of this book and the teachers indicate that the content will be warm and
inviting. There is an African flag in the cover photo which indicates that this book has
a south African audience, the skin tones of the people/children also hint on a more
diverse audience all of this will spark the interest of more than one group. One of the
books in the background’s name is “folktales from Africa” which can also hint that the
targeted audience might be of an African descent.

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Bibliography of references

Oxford Languages and Google

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DECLARATION

Name and student number: Kadine Pretorius

Assignment topic: Educators and Children’s Literature; Visuals
I declare that this assignment is my own original work. Where secondary material
has been used
(either from a printed source or from the Internet), this has been carefully
acknowledged and
referenced in accordance with departmental requirements. I understand what
plagiarism is and
am aware of the department’s policy in this regard. I have not allowed anyone else to
borrow or
copy my work.
Signature……………………………………...…Date 2021/06/13