1

INDEX

NUMBER STORY TITLE WRITER PAGE

Welcome Anastasia 3
Bester
Introduction Anastasia 4-5
Bester
Can 6-13
1 Forbidden love
Themba
Mariama Ba 14-18
2 Rejection
James 19-27
3 Eveline
Joyce
Agnes Sam 28-34
4 A bag of sweets
Namhla 35-40
5 Class act
Tshisana
Bessie Head 41-47
6 The wind and a
boy
48-53
7 The girl who can Ama Ata
Aidoo
Kedibone 54-58
8 Triumph in the
face of adversity Seku
Additional order 59-61

form
 3

WELCOME!
This is not a study guide intended as a workbook. It contains no questions or model
answers. I have written a separate study guide containing contextual and essay
questions with model answers and can be ordered at the contact number given below.

The text of the short stories is not provided in this study guide. They are contained in:
“Changes – An Anthology of Short Stories” by B. Walter. This study guide will guide
you through each of the eight prescribed short stories to help you consider elements
such as the context, setting, characters, plot, literary devices, and themes.

Not all students of Maths are good or passionate mathematicians. Not all students of
literature are necessarily avid readers and book lovers. However, we should be willing
to expose ourselves to all the opportunities life has to offer. Stories let us share
information in a way that creates an emotional connection. They help us to understand
that information and each other, and it makes the information memorable. Because
stories create an emotional connection, we can gain a deeper understanding of other
people's experiences.

Have an open mind, you must sit through your lessons. You might as well pay
attention and learn a few things. I can guarantee you that this helpful guide will make
the daunting task of the looming monster in the form of exams and tests seem much
less frightening.

However, don’t forget that this is just as the name suggests: a guide. It is vitally
important for you to engage with the text of the short stories often. Reading through
the short stories once is not enough engagement! Each time you interact with the text,
a new light bulb of understanding would go on.

Enough talk! Let’s light up the area by starting to get our teeth into the stories. Who
knows, we might even become a new source of light and energy to be utilized by
Eskom?

Wishing you well, Anastasia Bester.

Enquiries/orders – phone or WhatsApp 0832156319 (Order form at back of guide)

 4

INTRODUCTION

Literary analysis looks critically at a work of fiction to understand how the parts
contribute to the whole. When analysing a novel or short story, you’ll need to
consider elements such as the context, setting, characters, plot, literary devices, and
themes. Remember that a literary analysis isn’t merely a summary or review, but
rather an interpretation of the work and an argument about it based on the text.

Begin by summarizing the basic plot. This will help ground you in the story.

Research the author’s background and other work. This can give insight into the
author’s perspective and bias and tell the reader what they might be commenting on.

When and where a story takes place (Setting) can be profoundly significant.
Consider where the author’s story is placed and why the author made that decision.
Remember, many stories would be completely different if their settings were
different, therefore, setting is integral for interpreting the story’s meaning.

Story lines usually follow patterns like those in the example below. Identifying
essential plot points will help you to analyse, interpret, and explain the story.

• Main Problem (Conflict): The plot hinges on some major problem, often a
conflict between characters or an obstacle that must be overcome.
• Climax: The high point of the action when the conflict or problem could either
be resolved or cause a character’s downfall.
• Resolution: The conflict or problem is solved and normalcy or a new order is
restored.

Characters are the driving force behind stories, both major characters and minor
ones, and authors use them to broadcast their most important messages. You won’t
be able to analyse every character, but pick out several important ones to consider

First, describe the character for yourself; next, consider why the character was
portrayed in that way.

Various literary devices help convey meaning or create a mood. Look for these in a
story to identify key points and their contribution to the author’s overall meaning.

Themes are big ideas that authors comment on throughout a work using tools such
as context, setting, and characters. Common themes are good vs. evil, human
 5

nature, religion, social structure, authority, coming-of-age, human rights, feminism,

racism, war, education, sex, friendship, love, compassion, and death. Most stories
deal with multiple themes, some more obvious than others. It gives you a general
topic. However, a theme is general. You must dig a little deeper to identify the
author’s statement or attitude about that topic.

The analysis of the eight prescribed Short Stories for this prescribed cycle, will be
done following the above order of analysis.
 6

FORBIDDEN LOVE BY CAN THEMBA

1. SUMMARY
The South African government’s prohibitions on mixed relationships were often
reflected in social tensions, creating “Romeo and Juliet” situations where
people were involved with members of other races against the wishes of family
members.

This story reflects such a situation. In the background the reader can also
discern the apartheid government’s practise of classifying people according to
race, sometimes finding more than one race in the same family.

This story illustrates how racist attitudes often stem from fear or from self-doubt.
Dora’s family live their life in fear. An irrational fear of having any involvement
with black South Africans. It is through their beliefs and the actions of their peers
that they consider black South Africans to be beneath them. To be less human
than them.

2. CONTEXT

Can Themba (Canodoise Daniel) was born 1924 in Marabastad, Pretoria as a

Black South African in a country where his race comprised him of opportunities
and equality. Themba was constantly on the receiving end of the prejudices,
hostility, and control the White people of South Africa directed towards the
Blacks in that country.
 7

Despite this, Themba was able to get an education. He went to high school in
Polokwane and was the first to get the Mendi Memorial Scholarship to the
University of Fort Hare.

Themba's life was shaped by the legislation of segregation and apartheid in

South Africa. His attempts to deal with the indignities of apartheid are revealed
in some of his works.

Growing frustrations with the restrictions of apartheid, caused him to move to

Swaziland where he worked as a teacher. In 1966, he was declared a "statutory
communist", which led to his works of literature being banned in South Africa.
In his stories, he described the frustrations of the university-educated urban
black people; unable to realise their true potential because of the racial
restrictions of apartheid and trying to balance their modern urban culture with
the historical rural tribal one.

He died at the age of 63 of Coronary thrombosis (blood clot to the heart) in his
flat in Manzini (Swaziland) on 8 September 1967
.
The world must not forget the men like Can Themba. The men who lived,
laboured and died fighting this battle without ever getting to witness the light at
the end of the tunnel.

3. SETTING
This story takes place during the apartheid years in South Africa in the 1950’s
when ‘colour and ‘race’ was defined and given legal credibility. Michael is from
the ‘black’ race and Dora is a ‘coloured’. Once your ‘race’ was ascribed in
apartheid era South Africa you were provided with a designation. This ascription
was not only marked on your identity document, but it also affected where you
lived, whom you could marry and socialize with and your voting rights. In fact,
Dora alludes to this when she says:
“Why wasn’t it I Mike? Why wasn’t I dark, instead of fair. Then you might not
have been so afraid of my love.”
 8

4. PLOT POINTS
• Exposition – We meet the lovers who are the main characters and are
informed of the hopelessness of their situation with the immorality act
and fear of society forbidding this love to come to fruition.
• Conflict – Davie confronts a group of black men in front of the cinema
and challenges Michael because of his ‘audacity’ to have relations with
his sister. Davie attacks Michael by kicking him in the stomach after he
had placed Dora safely behind him. Others join in and the conflict is only
relieved after the arrival of the police.
• Rising action – The look on Salome’s face when she learns about this
alert the reader to the fact that something is brewing. Her promise to
visit Davie once Michael is healed has an ominous ring to it. The reader
suspects that she has information that can give her the upper hand in
this situation.
• Climax – Salome reveals that she and Davie had an inter-racial
relationship themselves. She further produces proof in the form of the
letters he had written her when it is denied. She then produces the final
blow by telling him that he is indeed the father of her child with his whole
family surrounding him.
• Falling action – despite the astonishment of all the reaction of Davie’s
mother seems to neutralise it all. Her total acceptance of a grandchild
despite the circumstances gives Dora and Michael the hope that the fear
might now slowly dissipate and allow for change.

5. CHARACTERS
In this story Themba depicts three humanistic woman characters, and one
young man, who stand against the fear and hatred that causes people to gang
together and bully others.
Dora: Dora’s character is immediately revealed as fearful. She has become
indoctrinated by the system and the opinions of others. This causes inner
conflict in her when it is directly opposed to the love she feels for Michael.
 9

However, she is also revealed as a strong woman who is willing to follow her
dreams, loves and desires by continuing the relationship with Mike despite the
implications it might bring.

She puts her loved ones before herself. This is revealed in her words: “Why
wasn’t it I, Mike? Why wasn’t I dark instead of fair? Then you might not have
been so afraid of my love.” She is willing to be the one bringing the sacrifices.
At the end of the story Dora also reveals an insightful facet to her character
when she is the one to voice that this acceptance of her mother towards her
mixed-race grandchild has finally brought cause for them all to bury their fear.

Mike: Michael is revealed as a character with a high emotional intelligence and

understanding of how fear has shaped the community into segregation. He is
the first character in the narrative to suggest this to Dora.

He is furthermore revealed as being authentic, genuine, and loving. He is brave

and protective of those he loves. He immediately shields Dora when he realizes
that danger of an attack is eminent. A true deep-felt love for Dora is engraved
in his character in contrast to the relations that Davie had with Salomie, which
most probably was just a moment of lust and passion.
Davie: In “Forbidden Love” Davie reveals himself as a liar, hypocrite, and cruel
man. He is selfish and sees life as being divided into two sets of rules: special
rules to bend and shape to fit his own selfish needs, and strict rules which he
helps enforcing with aggression and force for all the rest. Though ironically
Davie has had a relationship with Salome in which a child was conceived, he
still considers it appropriate to beat Mike up due to him having a relationship
with Dora. Which suggests that Davie, like many white South Africans at the
time, is a hypocrite.

He furthermore is revealed as a cold, hard and calculating man who can live
with a good conscience in the knowledge that he has fathered a child without
even wondering about him or contributing to his financial welfare.
 10

Davie and Meneer are the two characters that the reader finds the most
revolting.
Salomie: Salomie is a brave and courageous character. She unflinchingly
decides to expose her own transgressions overstepping the morality act of not
only having a relationship, but a child with a man from another race.
It seems as if Salomie shares the character trait of her mother in which family
is everything to her. She is willing to make her this sacrifice to protect her
brother and is an attempt to fight for his happiness. She is proven as a truthful
character who can produce proof for all her accusations.

Meneer: Although he does not feature much in the narrative, Meneer is a mean
and self-indulgent character. He is driven by selfish reasons. Meneer believes
it to be appropriate to tell others in authority that Dora is in a mixed-race
relationship despite the headmaster’s advice to remain quiet about it. We as
readers know, however, that Meneer is driven by bitterness after being rejected
by Dora.
Dora’s mother: She is a motherly character who lives for her family and
children. Their welfare and happiness are her top priorities. The other political
and social nuances seem like white noise when compared to the welfare and
survival of her family.

That is why her acceptance and even excitement to learn that she has a
grandchild and her immediate resolve to be involved in his life comes as no
surprise.
Dora’s father: a very conservative man in his political views and general view
of life. To him the idea of inter-racial relationships with coloured, white, and
black South Africans mixing or forming personal relationships with one another
is unimaginable. He calls Salome a liar when she suggests that Davie is the
father of her child. It is as if he is of the mindset that it is not at all biologically
possible.
 11

6. LITERARY DEVICES
• METAPHOR – the author makes use of striking metaphors throughout
the narration of this story. A metaphor is a direct comparison without the
use of the words 'as' or 'like’:

“… his dark form swam towards her…” also: “… then the flames went
out of them, settling into a low glow …” describing their passionate
meeting after not seeing each other for a long time.

• SYMBOLISM – throughout the story Themba uses objects, people and

situations to symbolise a deeper meaning and often is a foreshadow of
what is to come.

The story starts off with a description of the “… stream that separated
Noordgesig from the Western areas.” In this case the stream has
become a symbol of the deeper political trouble of the area: apartheid
and segregation.

• SIMILE – the use of direct comparisons (containing the words ‘as’ or

‘like’ are also strikingly put to the use to make the story alive and vivid to
the reader:
“A ghost-like figure flew out of Noordgesig like a tongue flicked out of a
mouth mockingly.”

7. THEMES
In “Forbidden Love” by Can Themba we have the theme of fear, love, apartheid,
hypocrisy, defiance, and acceptance

• FEAR – The reader realises from the beginning of the story that Themba
may be exploring the theme of fear. Dora’s family live their life in fear.
An irrational fear of having any involvement with black South Africans.
Davie lives his life in fear of his secret of his love affair with Salome and
resulting parenthood might be exposed one day. He acts on this fear by
 12

living a life of hypocrisy in which he condemns such inter-racial

relationships strongly.
• LOVE – love is a very strong theme that winds throughout the story. It
is written in a style that reminds a lot of the star-crossed and tragic lovers
of William Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet”. Fortunately, the outcome
in this story is not as tragic.

In this story Themba suggests that eventually love can conquer all, if
fear, apartheid, hypocrisy, and defiance can be laid aside and be
replaced by love and acceptance.
• APARTHEID – a writer can never be separated from his reality in which
he lives and operates. Therefore, the theme of apartheid and the
hardships it brought to him and his community winds through all of his
literature, as we observe in this story. His writing became an educational
tool and a peaceful means of protest.

In “Forbidden Love” we see Themba exploring deeply interwoven

challenges of the apartheid system. We as readers enjoy his engaging
storytelling and then also begin to reflect on the social issues addressed
and revealed as we progress.

• HYPOCRICY – Though ironically Davie has had a relationship with

Salome in which a child was conceived, he still considers it appropriate
to beat Mike up due to him having a relationship with Dora. Which
suggests that Davie, like many white South Africans at the time, is a
hypocrite. He believes in his sister living her life one way while he turns
his back on the same ideology which results in him being afraid that he
will be exposed for the fact that he has a child of mixed race.

• DEFIANCE AND ACCEPTANCE – the story ends on a hopeful note with

Mike’s mother’s unconditional acceptance of her grandchild and her wish
to see him and be involved in his life. Through this act she defies all the
taboos and fears of her community.
 13

Listen to Can Themba reading from his writings about his escapades in
Sophiatown. He articulates the scenery of Sophiatown before the government
demolished it. You see the quality of the writer as he explains his relations with
a white woman called Janet while at the same time grappling with his own
identity in white man’s world where everything significant to him is forbidden.
Click on the link below or copy and paste it into the search engine of Google or
YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtbGcXJN1CM
 14

REJECTION BY MARIAMA BA

1. SUMMARY
The Short Story “Rejection” was published in 1998 as an extraction from the
novel “So long a letter” by Mariama Ba. The story is written in the form of a
letter to a dear friend and starts off with her announcement of a crisis she is
going through.

The style of her writing and the words she chooses suggests that she is
writing to someone who has recently experienced a crisis of her own,
suggesting that to women in that part of the world crises was quite common.

2. CONTEXT
A young Mariama Ba at around 25 and an older image:

Mariama Ba was one of the pioneers of Senegalese literature. Born in Dakar

in 1929, she lost her mother soon after, and was raised by her maternal
grandmother, who was of Muslim confession and strongly attached to
traditional culture. Through the insistence of her father, an open-minded
politician, the young Mariama attended French school, obtained her school-
leaving certificate, and won admission to the École Normale for girls in
Rufisque, from where she graduated as a schoolteacher in 1947.
 15

Throughout her life, she tried to reconcile her grounding in her culture, her
Muslim faith, and her openness to other cultural horizons. She also threw
herself into the women’s movement to fight for greater recognition of
women’s issues.
Mariama Ba died in Dakar, Senegal in 1981 after a long battle with cancer.
A prestigious school on the island of Goree in Senegal is named after her.

3. SETTING
The world that is described in this narrative is a country in the North-West
of Africa, Senegal. For a long time, Senegal was under French rule, resulting
in most of the inhabitants speaking French together with their mother
tongue, Wolof.

In North Africa, Islam is the most prominent religion, and it has a strong
cultural influence on their daily social lives. In the Islamic community, men
have more rights, privileges, and freedom than women. It is not uncommon
for a husband to take more than one wife, under certain conditions.

4. CHARACTERS
NARRATOR (UNNAMED IN THE SHORT STORY – BUT NAMED
RAMATOULAYE IN THE NOVEL:
Despite the idea that common practices like polygamy and gender inequality
prosper in Senegal, Ramatoulaye expresses that she detests these
practices. Through the brave Ramatoulaye’s feelings and actions, Ba
highlights that a mother must abandon social norms and act independently
to effectively support her children.

She is a proud woman who does not want others to feel sorry for her.
Despite the huge shock of learning about the second wife she does not let
others see this. Instead, she holds herself firmly and does not allow for
circumstances to negatively affect her in public. Even though it is clear to
the narrator that she has been rejected by Modou after twenty-five years of
marriage. A rejection that in private and in the narrative cuts the narrator to
the bone.
 16

The narrator proves herself as an intelligent character – she immediately

sees through Modou’s plan and realizes that she would only be the first wife
in name. In all other aspects the new young bride would be the one calling
the shots. She will have a different role to play than Binetou who gets all of
Modou’s affections. This would not be a happy circumstance for the
narrator.

At the end of the story the narrator’s inner strength is matched with her outer
strength when she finally finds her voice, even though it is only after Modou
dies. She refuses to marry Tamsir and seeks to be independent of any man.
It is as though she has been once bitten (by Modou) and is twice shy. She
is also for the first time in her life financially independent thanks to Daba and
her husband’s investments. She does not need to worry about another
husband looking after her.

If anything, the narrator has found freedom after Modou dies. She is reliant
on no one who will abuse of mistreat her. Where once she was the victim of
Modou’s marriage to Binetou. This is no longer the case.

MODOU:
Modou’s relationship with Binetou is inappropriate (going by western
standards) and if anything, Modou is taking advantage of Binetou. He is over
twice the age of Binetou and his daughter Daba is a friend and the same
age as Binetou. However, Modou sees nothing wrong with his relationship
with Binetou, hence his desire to marry her.

Modou is expressing the characteristics of an opportunist when he bribes

the young Binetou with new clothes and gifts and make promises to her
parents of new houses and trips to Mecca.
 17

DABA:
Daba demonstrates the same strong characteristics of her mother. She is
just as shocked and disgusted in her father’s choice of her dear friend as a
second wife. She advises her mother to divorce herself from him.
She also shares her mother’s intelligence and insight when she soon
realises the effect this second marriage would have on their own places in
the family hierarchy.
The narrator represents a more conservative, pull-yourself-up-by-your-
bootstraps view of self-reliance. Daba, who is younger and more fiery,
seems to favour confrontation and protest in the face of injustice.

TAMSIR:
Tamsir is portrayed as an unlikable selfish character who is preying on the
hardships of others for personal gain. He pretends that he is looking after
the narrator’s interests and is willing to bring the huge ‘sacrifice’ of marrying
her for her to be ‘looked after’ when indeed he appears to be using the
narrator for his own advantages and never even considering her feelings in
this proposal of marriage so soon after her husband’s death.
He is an opportunist who strikes while the iron is hot, before any other suiters
might slip in before he does.

5. THEMES
So Long a Letter deals with multiple themes, which includes motherhood,
feminism, community life, Islam and polygamy, and modernity and progress.
Modernity and progress – The Senegal depicted in this narrative is a
country on the threshold, passing between two historical eras. The people
of Senegal have cast off the bonds of colonial rule. No longer beholden to
colonial demands of assimilation, they can reimagine and/or reassert a
national identity. Yet colonial rule has left an indelible mark on Senegalese
society.
The inhabitants are caught between the ambiguity of belief and nostalgia for
their old customs and traditions and the influence of modernisation and the
Western way of life.
 18

Especially for a woman as intelligent as the narrator, it is easy to see how

confusing her traditional and customary upbringing and her insight in what
a life of freedom can offer.
The narrator constantly faces the conflict between tradition versus
modernism as she transforms into an independent mother, and disregards
others' thoughts. Despite the idea that common practices like polygamy and
gender inequality prosper in Senegal, she expresses that she detests these
practices.

ISLAM AND POLYGAMY:

One of the major themes in this story is the practice or custom to be allowed
to have more than one wife simultaneously. The main issue of this theme
is not so much a criticism of polygamy as a prescribed law of God, but rather
men’s polygamous nature and instincts that result in the abuse of this
Islamic law, which leads to betrayal, infidelity, trust issues and abandonment
and ultimately the disgrace and disrespect of women.

FEMINISM:
Feminism is a strong theme in the short story. Much of the narrator’s
character development over the course of the book involves her growing
ability to see women, including herself, as fully autonomous humans
deserving of independence and equality.

MOTHERHOOD:
The narrator is a devoted mother to her twelve children. When Modou
abandons her for Binetou, and then eventually dies, she must redouble her
efforts as a mother and face with courage the prospect of being a single
parent.

Watch this interesting video in which one of her daughters are interviewed:

Click on the link below or copy and paste it into the Google or YouTube search engine:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwoF5-mHbQw
 19

EVELINE BY JAMES JOYCE

1. SUMMARY
Eveline is a young woman living in Dublin with her father. Her mother is
dead. Dreaming of a better life beyond the shores of Ireland, Eveline plans
to elope with Frank, a sailor who is her secret lover (Eveline’s father having
forbade Eveline to see Frank after the two men fell out) and start a new life
in Argentina. With her mother gone, Eveline is responsible for the day-to-
day running of the household: her father is a drunk and only reluctantly tips
up his share of the weekly housekeeping money, and her brother Harry is
busy working and is away a lot on business (another brother, Ernest, has
died).

Eveline herself keeps down a job working in a shop. On Saturday nights,

when she asks her father for some money, he tends to unleash a tirade of
verbal abuse, and is often drunk. When he eventually hands over his
housekeeping money, Eveline must go to the shops and buy the food for
the Sunday dinner at the last minute. Eveline is tired of this life, and so she
and Frank book onto a ship leaving for Argentina. But just as she is about
to board the ship, Eveline suffers a failure of resolve, and cannot go through
with it. She wordlessly turns round and goes home, leaving Frank to board
the ship alone.

2. CONTEXT
 20

"Eveline" is a short story by the Irish writer James Joyce. It was first
published in 1904 by the journal Irish Homestead and later featured in his
1914 collection of short stories “Dubliners.”

The Irish-born author James Joyce [1882 – 1941] was one of the greatest
literary innovators of the 20th century. His best-known works contain
extraordinary experiments in language and in writing style.

When he was in his early twenties, Joyce left Ireland to live in continental
Europe. Although he divorced himself from both his homeland and his
Jewish church, the major source of his literary inspiration was his early life
in Dublin and the years he spent in its Jewish schools.

He developed a technique of writing called “stream of consciousness.”

Using this technique, he ignored orderly sentence structure and attempted
to reproduce in words the rambling thought processes of the human mind.
In contrast to other Irish poets and writers such as W.B. Yeats who
portrayed the mythical and faery like qualities of Ireland, James Joyce
wanted to bring the reality of Ireland into the modern world of writing.

3. SETTING
The story takes place in early 20th-century Dublin, James Joyce’s place of
origin. At the time, Great Britain occupied Ireland, and Irish Nationalists
supported Irish independence.

On a more specific level, most of the story takes place in Eveline’s family
home. The story opens with her looking out the window. However, the
setting of the short story "Eveline" goes far beyond the physical
characteristics. The setting goes past being in Dublin, Ireland in an old room.
Nothing in Eveline's life ever seems to change. Most of the story takes place
with Eveline sitting by the window in a very dull room. The setting entraps
Eveline in this short story. Like the room, Eveline's life is very plain. Eveline
is a product of her environment. She is trapped in this setting and does not
know any other way except the way things are now for her. Like the room,
 21

Eveline's life is very plain. Eveline is a product of her environment. She is

physically and mentally trapped in this setting and does not know any other
way except the way things are now for her.

4. PLOT POINTS
• Exposition – Evelina is a young girl living with her father in Dublin.
Dreaming of a better life beyond the shores of Ireland she dreams
about eloping with Frank, her secret sailor lover.
• Conflict – she experiences inner conflict when she has to make a
choice between running away with Frank or staying behind with her
familiar life.
• Rising action – staring out of the window she remembers a happier
past when her mother and brother had still been alive. Her mind then
wanders to her present situation where she has to work two jobs and
are ill-treated by her remaining brother and abusive father.
• Climax – Evelina makes the final decision about going with Frank
and finds herself standing among the swaying crowd in the station at
the North Wall, where eventually she denies going with Frank.
• Falling action – Evelina watches Frank leaving the ship without her.
• Resolution – Frank sails away to start his new life without Evelina
and she stays behind to continue her life of entrapment and abuse.

5. CHARACTERS:
Eveline Hill:
Eveline, the protagonist or title character of James Joyce’s, “Eveline” is a
young woman who is internally conflicted which results in her being
indecisive. Eveline longs for freedom and happiness, but her anxiety and
doubt make her wary and fearful of change. Nevertheless, Eveline is a
woman who wants to have control of her own life and takes steps that she
believes are in her best interest.

Eveline’s main motivation for being with Frank is escaping her hard life.
Frank is also a source of excitement for Eveline, with his stories and songs
 22

she becomes comfortable with him, but she doesn’t love him. She isn’t
concerned with getting love from him but the fact that he would take her
away is his biggest draw to her: “He would give her life, perhaps love, too”.

Eveline is confident about her decision until she has a solid plan. That is
when she starts really weighing the pros and cons of her decision. Eveline
is nervous and doubt creeps upon her, but she doesn’t know what or how
to tell Frank, she wonders if she can “draw back after all he had done for
her”. Frank was nice to her, and Eveline liked the possibility of being married
and treated with respect.

She wonders how her co-workers at the Stores would gossip about her and
how fast they would fill her position, possibly with an advertisement in the
newspaper. Eveline also wonders how her father would fare without her “He
would miss her”, although she feared him to the point of having
“palpitations”, she couldn’t help but remember the rare times he could be
nice and she feels a sense of belonging.

Frank, in her mind is her saviour and her ticket to freedom. Eveline envisions
her new life with him: “She was about to explore another life with Frank …”
“People would treat her with respect then”. She then starts to have
contrasting thoughts on the uncertainty that the new move would bring and
reflects on the security she has in Ireland, her home; “In her home anyway
she had shelter and food”. It becomes evident that her doubt and
apprehension has come to a head as she feels Frank’s hand grip hers tightly
as they are walking to the ship and she feels more than distressed, she feels
death and a complete loss of control looming.

The possible freedom she once saw now only seems like a life of
uncertainty. Frank, once with hands that Eveline could see folding her in a
loving embrace, has now turned into a man she could only see drowning
her with “all the seas of the world”. Eveline loses any sense of affection or
care for Frank the instant all her fears take over.
 23

Frank:
Originally from Dublin, but currently a sailor with a home in Buenos Ayres,
Frank meets Eveline on a visit to Dublin. Eveline describes him as “kind,
manly, open-hearted” and likes hearing his stories about his travels. Frank
begins walking Eveline home after she is finished working at the Stores and
eventually starts courting her. He likes music and singing.

Eveline’s father disapproves of Frank and one day after they quarrel, he and
Eveline are forced to start seeing each other in secret. Frank proposes to
Eveline to become his wife in Buenos Ayres.

Joyce implies that Frank may be of a higher social and financial status than
herself since he takes her to the theatre, and they sit in a section that Eveline
is “unaccustomed” to. Aside from that, not much is known about Frank’s
thoughts or intentions.

Eveline is not in love with Frank, or at least not yet, but it is unknown
whether or not Frank loves her. They have only been seeing each other for
what seems to Eveline like a few weeks.

Eveline’s father:
Eveline’s father was abusive towards her siblings and mother, but spared
Eveline when she was young since, she was a girl. He used to go searching
in the field for her and her siblings with a blackthorn stick to call them inside
and appears to be a figure feared by all the neighbourhood kids.

He also seems to take pride in showing off the photo of his old friend, a
priest who moved to Melbourne. He has recently begun to threaten Eveline,
now that she is older and there is no one else around to protect her. He
squabbles about money with Eveline on Saturdays, worried that she will
waste it. He also forbids Eveline from seeing Frank, assuming that he is
unfaithful because he is a sailor.
 24

He does not have the best intentions for his children’s futures in mind. The
reason he forbade the relationship between Eveline and Frank was not with
her best interests in mind, but rather out of selfish fear that he might lose
her – a means of income and free help around the house.

Eveline’s mother:
Eveline’s mother made a lot of sacrifices for her husband and family, and
according to Eveline, didn’t receive respect from her peers and perhaps had
a shameful reputation for having a violent husband. She died of an
unspecified illness and was driven mad by her “life of commonplace
sacrifices,” although it is unclear if her mental state is related to her death.

The Children:
The relationship between Eveline and the children she cares for is never
stated, but she is their caretaker, and she oversees feeding them and
making sure they go to school. They seem to have been part of the family
since before her mother died and went along on the family picnic, although
it is difficult to differentiate if the narrator is talking about the children she
cares for, and when she is talking about her siblings when they were young.

6. LITERARY DEVICES
• Allusion - As Eveline daydreams about a future life with her love
interest, Frank, the story alludes to The Bohemian Girl. Eveline
remembers a time when Frank:
“[…] took her to see The Bohemian Girl and [Eveline] felt elated as
she sat in an unaccustomed part of the theatre with him.”
• Imagery – James Joyce makes use of descriptive words and imagery
that involves the senses of the reader. Before Eveline goes to meet
Frank at the station, the story uses auditory imagery to describe the
sound of a street organ that Eveline hears playing outside her
window: “Down far in the avenue she could hear a street organ
playing. She knew the air. Strange that it should come that very night
 25

to remind her of the promise to her mother, her promise to keep the
home together as long as she could. She remembered the last night
of her mother’s illness; she was again in the close dark room at the
other side of the hall and outside she heard a melancholy air of Italy.”
• Metaphors – James Joyce makes use of direct comparisons (not
containing the words ‘as’ or ‘like’, figure of speech that compares two
different things by saying that one thing is the other. Although
Eveline longs to escape Dublin, the sight of the boat that is to take
her away to a new life in Buenos Ayres fills her with fear and causes
her to suddenly panic. But instead of describing this simply, Joyce
uses a metaphor: “A bell clanged upon her heart. She felt [Frank]
seize her hand.”
• Mood - The mood of “Eveline” is overall apprehensive and
melancholic. The titular character, Eveline, must decide whether to
escape her confining circumstances in Dublin for a life in Buenos
Ayres with her love interest, Frank. The story follows Eveline’s
evolving thoughts and emotions leading up to the moment she must
make this decision. As such, the mood throughout the story—its
general atmosphere—reflects Eveline’s anticipation, fear, and
desperation
• Personification – James Joyce makes use of figurative language in
which non-human things are described as having human attributes.
“Eveline” opens with an instance of personification: “She sat at the
window watching the evening invade the avenue.”
• Stream-of-consciousness - Joyce’s use of perspective and his
characteristic stream-of-consciousness style or technique of writing
that tries to capture the natural flow of a character's extended thought
process, by incorporating sensory impressions, incomplete ideas,
unusual syntax, and rough grammar. allows the reader to see
Eveline’s thought progression clearly as she contemplates running
away to Argentina with her lover, Frank: “stood in a sudden impulse
of terror. Escape! She [Eveline] must Escape! Frank would save her.
 26

He would give her life, perhaps love, too. But she wanted to live. Why
should she be unhappy? She had a right to happiness.”

7. THEMES:

• Paralysis and inaction:

Eveline has a logical thought process as she considers her options. She
observed her father’s violence toward her mother and brothers growing up and
resolves to leave so she will not end up in the same situation.

Despite this logic, her emotions kick in and she begins to feel guilty for leaving
them. She is also influenced by her fear of the unknown. Nostalgia (thinking
back into the past with happy memories) plays a large role in Eveline’s decision
to stay as well. She is attached to the past, and even though the people from
her past are long gone, she cannot bring herself to leave the city that she
associates with them.

Eveline’s paralysis is also caused by her sense of powerlessness. She

continually looks to two things to save her from her situation: Frank, or men in
general, and religion/God. She is constantly either praying to God or thinking
about how Frank would help her.

She is unable to claim ownership of her own fate. Her sense of powerlessness,
together with her emotions and nostalgia, prevent her from making a decision
based on logic and perspective.

• Escapism and the exotic

“Eveline” has a desire to escape from the drab, brown Dublin life. Frank
becomes her actual plan to escape to Argentina. She also has an opportunity
to gain respect through marriage by distancing herself from the bad reputation
her family seems to have, escaping the limitations of her current social status.

Eveline takes interest in Frank not only because he is offering her an escape,
but also because she finds him exotic. He tells her stories about faraway places
and people and exposes her to music and culture that she has never
 27

experienced before. Frank takes her to see the play “The Bohemian Girl,”
which although the music is written by an Irish composer, deals with “gypsies”
in Austria and other Eastern European countries.

For Eveline, anything outside of Dublin most likely seems exotic, since she
seems to have lived on the same quiet street, surrounded by the same people,
her whole life. Even the fact that Frank is a sailor is a bit exotic, at least to the
extent that because of this Eveline’s father forbids her from seeing him.

• Women and society

Many of Evelina’s thoughts and desires are influenced by her role as a woman
in 20th Century Dublin. Whether or not she is aware of it, her decisions are
greatly affected by outside social forces. Society has told her she is powerless,
and so she feels powerless.

Eveline sees marrying Frank as a means to gain respect, so she is aware that
she is somewhat helpless without a husband. As a woman, she does not have
a lot of mobility (ability to move up and down) when it comes to her status.

Her constant need to justify her own desire to be happy is also a result of social
oppression. Eveline is the caretaker of her father and two children, and she
feels guilty leaving for the sake of her own happiness, knowing that they are
relying on her. This is because society has told her that as a woman, she is a
caretaker and should be driven by satisfying the needs of others, not by her
own desires or pursuit of happiness.

Eveline’s role as a woman also affects her views and experiences with violence.
Eveline feels like she is becoming her mother and thus the new outlet for her
father’s violence. However, since she grew up in this environment, she has
been exposed to violence and is somewhat used to it. Eveline has seen her
mother sacrifice her well-being, and eventual sanity, and it is only natural that
she does not question that she should do the same. She has seen her mother
put her health at risk for a man and it doesn’t seem unnatural for her to do the
same
 28

A BAG OF SWEETS BY AGNES SAM

1. SUMMARY:
In this story we meet an Islamic family in Port Elizabeth. Once again, we
are faced with a crisis in this narrative, only this time the crisis had already
occurred before the story is told.

The narrator (storyteller) is Kaltoum who has not forgiven her sister, Khadija
for marrying a Christian. But a new crisis or turning point has just popped
up in the shop, involving a bag of sweets.

What makes this story particularly interesting, is the fact that the main
character or protagonist, Kaltoum, is resisting change while her sister or
antagonist, Khadija, is the one who is seeking change.
2. CONTEXT:

Agnes Sam is an Anglo-Indian (English speaking of Indian descent) Catholic

author. She was born in 1942 in Port Elizabeth. Under apartheid she was
not allowed to join a public library and she never entered a bookshop.

She studied Zoology and Psychology at the Catholic university in Lesotho,

then in Rhodesia, and at York University. After briefly teaching science in
Zambia, she went into exile in 1973 in England, bringing up three children
there while also attempting to take a further degree.
 29

Culture, tradition, and religion, and how they combine to shape people’s
lives and relationships are important themes that she develops in her
writings.

3. SETTING:
It is significant that the writer of the story, Agnes Sam, has chosen the
setting of her story to be the one where she grew up and lived in. It takes
place in an Indian village in Port Elizabeth where many of the Indian people
made a living as shopkeepers. It makes you wonder how much of the story
is really fiction and how much of it based on her own personal reality and
experience.

Religion has traditionally been a great divider among the Indian people as
the Islamic faith might be seen as the traditional faith. Notwithstanding that
fact, the reader should not be blind to her Christian upbringing in the Roman
Catholic church. However, the reader should never fall into the trap of
assuming that the narrative is necessarily autobiographical in nature.

4. PLOT POINTS:

• Conflict – most of the conflict had already been established before the story is
being told. Kaltoum who has not forgiven her sister, Khadija for marrying a
Christian. But a new crisis is developing in the shop, involving a bag of sweets.
• Rising action – Khandija keeps coming back to the shop every single Friday
and Kaltoum keeps treating her with hostility, hoping she would pick up on the
clue and never return.
• Climax – when Kaltoum is reminded how much her sister resembles their
mother, and how both their parents died as a result of the heartache of Khandija
marrying outside of her religion and tradition. She pushes her. The irony is
that in that moment Khandija had a moment of full realization that she did not
want to lose her sister but was unable to voice it. That moment started the
divide between them permanently, even though Kaltoum reacted as if she was
not hurt. Because of her own hurt Khandija delivered the final blow of
humilitation – offering her sister a handful of cheap sweets as if she was a
pestering child to get rid of.
 30

• Falling action – Kaltoum keeps turning up at the shop on Fridays.

• Resolution – then one Friday she never turns up at the shop again. The
narrative ends on a sad reflection of Khandija about the fact that the relationship
was damaged beyond repair and that she had never seen her sister again
since.

5. CHARACTERS:

• Kaltoum is the narrator (storyteller) and protagonist in the story. Kaltoum says
very little if anything to Khadija when she visits the shop. Kaltoum is unable to
let go of what happened in the past .when Khadija married a Christian with all
the social implications that brought for the family.

Important to note that she still has deep rooted feelings for her sister, especially
when she thinks back to the past and when she comes to realize how much her
sister resembles their mother who has passed away.

The fact that she is unable to voice it, gives the reader an idea of a trait of
stubbornness in Kaltoum. She is resentful and unforgiving. Instead of being
empathic and able to place herself in the shoes of her sister, realizing that her
sister is the one going through a tough time, having forsaken her religion,
traditions and family and struggling to adapt to a new one where she is also not
fully accepted, Kaltoum plays the victim herself. She expects an apology from
her sister. In her mind Khadija has hurt the family as a result of all the gossip
and ridicule the family had to endure as a result. This is an indication of a selfish
flaw in Kaltoum’s character.

Kaltoums is portrayed as an orthodox young muslim woman who is set in her

ways and strongly resists any change. She holds on for dear life onto her
religion, culture and traditions – even to the price of losing a sister that the
reader can clearly read between the lines was much loved and cherished by
Kaltoum.
 31

• Khadija
Khadija never gives up on attempting to restore the family relations. The reader
senses a vulnerability in her and an honest love for her family and people whom
she desperately works hard at restoring the bonds.

Even when she is coldly received, she swallows her pride and turn up every
Friday for a quick visit at the shop. The fact that she particularly chooses a
Friday for these visits can be an indication that she misses her old routines,
traditions, and religion. To Muslims Fridays are their day of going to the mosque
and spend the afternoon in prayer. It might be an indication that her routine
return has a lot to do with her missing her family members, but also her religion
and social interactions with the people of her tribe.

In contrast to her sister Katoum, she is less set in her ways and not stubborn at
all. She was open-minded enough to move away from the village, traditions
and religions that bound them when she fell in love with a Christian man.

She shows great resolve and perseverance in the way she keeps turning up
despite the cruel and cold way in which she is received. Even after the insult
of the cheap sweets handed to her, her face is the only place where her deep
hurt is reflected. She keeps coming back.

But even Khadija can only try so much before she has to face that fact that her
family has not forgiven her for marrying a Christian Man. She comes to realize
that to her family religion and the standing they have in the community are
more important than getting to know the character of her husband and the love
of family.

In this narrative Khadija is a well-developed and round character who moves

the full circle of development, opposed to the stagnant (staying the same)
character of her sister and brother who resist any change, inside of themselves
or externally.
 32

7. LITERARY DEVICES:
IRONY – although the fact that Kadija has broken the tradition of the family
by marrying a catholic husband, she keeps to most of the other traditions a
“good Muslim woman” would adhere to, like tucking her hair under the scarf
and wearing a very dull colour of lipstick. However, as the description
continues the reader comes to realize that Kadija had merged the two
worlds – the Muslim one in which she was raised and the Christian one in
which she now lived: “… - but her legs were bare. She had discarded the
traditional trousers Muslim women wear with their dress.”

SIMILE – the writer makes use of a simile (comparison using the words ‘as’
or ‘like’) when she describes her torrent of words: “… as if a hand clamped
over her mouth the past three years had been removed.”

Another simile is used to describe how relaxed Kadija’s hands had seemed:
“Her hands … were like a bird’s wings, relaxed.”

SYMBOLISM – to her sister, Kadija’s hands have become the symbol of the
instruments that enabled her to escape the traditional life of an Indian
Muslem woman helping her family to keep a shop afloat. She imagines
those hands playing across the piano or operating the keyboard of a
computer. This is a reference to Kadija’s skills and talents she has
developed, and these are the very things that Kaltoum feels has robbed the
family of their family member.

The significance of the offering Kaltoum gave Kadija, a cheap bag of sweets,
(and the fact that it was a cheap bag of sweets repeated) is that it was given
with the intention to humiliate her. It was the custom to give a child a sweet
when they visited a shop to keep them quiet and out of the way. To prevent
them from being a nuisance.

7. THEMES:

In A Bag of Sweets by Agnes Sam we have the theme of change, animosity,

bitterness and letting go.
 33

CHANGE – Kaltoum, her brother and the rest of the family and community are
orthodox in their way and set on resisting any change. They are even willing to
pay the ultimate price of sacrificing a beloved family member to keep change
from their door. To them change and any deviation from the tradition and
routine they have been raised in fills them with fear.

Kaltoum clearly has a higher emotional intelligence and is open to change. She
has allowed herself to move out of the village and marry a man of Christian faith
and change her customs, traditions, and beliefs. The reader is left in the end
to feel that it is not really Kaltoum who is the victim whom we should pity – but
rather her family members who are so narrow minded.

Yes, she will miss her family and culture, but in the long run she will be exposed
to much more development and exposure living her life outside of the confining
boundaries of her religion and faith as a Muslim woman in a small village.

ANIMOSITY – Kaltoum and her brother feels animosity and hostility towards
their sister Kadija. They cannot forgive her for marrying the Christian man who
is so far removed from their social, cultural, and religious norm.

It becomes clear to the reader early on that one of the reasons for this is the
selfish reason that it had brought about a change in their own social standing
in the community. They find the gossip and stories of the people annoying and
it troubles them that they are now regarded in a lesser way.

BITTERNESS – Despite memories of earlier happier times together, and even

the fact that Kaltoum sees the image of her late mother in her sister Kadija, she
pushes those tender feelings aside because of the bitterness. She feels
betrayed by her sister choosing the freedom from all the ties that are keeping
her in bondage there due to custom, religion, and tradition.

LETTING GO – the theme of letting go is demonstrated in this narrative in a

two-fold way. On the one hand, Kadija was able to let go of the feelings of
rejection that she had been abandoned by her family due to her choice in
marriage. She was able to venture back and try tirelessly to heal the
relationship. On the other hand, her sister Kaltoum was not able to let go of her
feelings of selfish rejection and ridicule that she felt when her sister married her
 34

Christian husband. Both these forces of letting go were working in opposite

directions against each other, which resulted in the final break that made a
reconciliation impossible.
 35

CLASS ACT BY NAMHLA TSHISANA

1. SUMMARY:
Narrated in the first person by a young twelve-year-old girl the reader
realises after reading the story that Tshisana may be exploring the theme of
bullying. The narrator is having a difficult time in school due to her
appearance with many of her fellow students calling her Sister Mary
Clarence.

The story deals with how she attempts to solve and overcome her problems.
Bullying can have a very negative effect on a child. She reaches out by
asking help and guidance from her mother, aunt, and sister.

2. CONTEXT:
Namhla Tshisana was born in 1984 in Mdantsane township in East London
in the Eastern Cape. She attended university in Port Elizabeth and then
completed her studies at the university of Stellenbosch.

She worked as a journalist (newspaper reporter) at the Sowetan in

Johannesburg. She also attended and completed a Creative Writing
programme at Rhodes University.

3. SETTING:
Most of the story takes place in the black township where the narrator lives
with her mother, aunt, and sister when she is home from university. The
reader is indirectly made aware that she has previously attended a small
school in the township where the other learners were all black like her and
the same language was used as medium.

Now that she has progressed to high school she attends much larger school
– a coloured school where Afrikaans is used as medium - a language she
is not fluent in.
 36

4. PLOT POINTS:
Conflict:
There is a building up of internal as well as external conflict as the story
begins and progresses. The inner conflict that the narrator is experiencing
is since she feels unhappy and humiliated by the persistent taunting and
bullying at the school.

The external conflict is caused by the fact that she is perceived to be

‘different’ from all the other class mates and are therefore singled out to be
bullied. This bullying gets worse and worse as time progresses.

Further conflict is demonstrated in her failed attempts to get help from her
mother and aunt, who either do not have the time or the correct cotton thread
to fix her tunic. Her sister’s attempt proves to make the situation even
worse.
Rising action:
This bullying gets worse and worse as time progresses. Her attempts to
have her tunic shortened leads to worse taunting and laughter.

Further conflict is demonstrated in her failed attempts to get help from her
mother and aunt, who either do not have the time or the correct cotton thread
to fix her tunic. Her sister’s attempt proves to make the situation even
worse.
Climax:
On the day after her sister had finally managed to shorten her tunic to prove
once and for all that she isn’t like Sister from the movie “Sister Act”, she
experiences the worst bullying and ill treatment than ever before. A boy
peeps up under her short tunic and calls her out on the fact that she is
wearing yellow underwear. Another notices the white cotton thread and
implies that they are arrows pointing to her body parts under her dress.
Another called her out on the big hem that was hidden under the tunic. They
point at her blackened knees and suggests that it was caused due to her
constantly scrubbing floors, suggesting she should tell her mother to invest
in a mop.
 37

Falling action:
Although the narrator is humiliated and hurt to breaking point, at no stage
does she attempt to defend herself. She simply does not have the self
confidence and belief in herself.
Resolution:
She does not come up with practical workable resolutions for her problem.
This may be since she knows those practical lanes have already been tried
and proved to fail - it doesn't help to speak to her family members, they don’t
understand. In fact, they make it worse.
She considers wearing the grey boy’s pants, but knows her mother would
‘freak out’ having to spend one more cent on her uniform.
The only solution and resolution she can come up with fills the reader with
sadness: she will give up her identity and become the character from the
movie that they have alluded to. From now on she would lose her
individuality and hide behind a fictitious movie character.

5. CHARACTERS:
THE NARRATOR:
She is a young girl with many insecurities and lack of self-confidence. This
may partly be due to her young age but also due to the lack of a support
system and enough advice from her family members who don’t seem to
have much time to spend with her.

The reader gets a sense that her problem does not necessarily stem from
the fact that she does not like or enjoy school, as she willingly and without
any complaints does her homework at home. Her dislike for school might
rather stem from the fact that she feels herself afraid to attend classes due
to the taunting and bullying.

The narrator is insecure within herself. She is at a tender age in life where
not being accepted by her peers is something that can have a devastating
effect on her. At no stage does the narrator attempt to defend herself.
 38

The narrator does not have the intellectual or emotional ability yet to think
ahead and realise that her high school life is only transient. For this she
would need advice and inputs from older and wiser individuals who can lead
her through the pitfalls of growing up. Grown ups which sadly seem to be
lacking in her life.

AYANDA, THE SISTER:

Early in the story it is clear that the narrator has a great admiration for her
sister and looks up to her as a role model. She admires everything about
her sister and envies her for the fact that she has completed her school
career and now enjoys the freedom of education at university where there
are no rules and school uniforms that can lead to conflict.

It is Ayanda who shortens the tunic for the narrator and who appears to have
more liberal views than her mother when it comes to the length of the tunic.
However, Ayanda cannot always be there for the narrator. Which may be
the point that Tshisana is attempting to make. She may be suggesting that
the narrator must face the loneliness she feels on her own. Though
conflicted the narrator must face up to the realities of her situation and try to
persevere.

The reader gets a sense that Ayanda is a good and caring character and
older sister, but due to the fact that she has left the village and had been
exposed to a modernised way of life at university has lost track of the small-
village way of thinking. She is no longer able to fully identify with the
problems of her younger sister. The age gap and the gap in life experiences
between them have just become too wide to cross.

6. LITERARY DEVICES:

Simile: In a simile (comparison containing the words ‘as’ or ‘like’ the

narrator describes how the overwhelming laughter sounded when the
teacher made fun of her overly long tunic: “The class’s laughter sounded
like thunder in my ears …”
 39

7. THEMES:
Acceptance:
To be accepted into a group is one of the main forces driving any human
being. Especially at the age of the narrator, peer acceptance is very
important as we judge our own self-worth according to the worthiness we
receive from our peers.

The fact that she is not accepted stems from many reasons – her difference
in race, social stand, affluence, language and customs and traditions. She
has everything working against her.

Appearance:
Judging others by the criteria of appearance is superficial. We should all
know that. But it is one of the criteria that most people are still judged on.
How the world around us sees us. If we don’t blend in, look the same, wear
the same, speak the same, like the same things, we easily become an
outcast. This is a very sad truth about modern life where everything is
improved and ‘upgraded’ except for the inner core values of decency.

The narrator is doomed from the start. She has everything going against
her from the beginning. Coming from the small village school she has not
gained the life skills to be able to hold her own ground amongst these street-
smart peers. She speaks a different language, is of a different race and does
not have the same financial status as her peers. The reader feels empathy
for the narrator as the realization dawns that it is a battle that she needs
support with, but sadly lacks.
Insecurity:
At this stage the narrator has not yet reached the emotional intelligence to
figure her situation out for herself. She has not built up a sense of who she
is or where she has come from to believe in herself and feel pride in who
she is.

She needs external factors from outside people for reassurance to build
security and belief in herself. She sadly does not get it, not from the adults
 40

in her family who should provide it, nor from her peers, who rather ridicule
her and destroys the little security she has.
Identity:
It is not uncommon for young people the age of the narrator to be unsure of
who and what they are. Identity is not yet fully established at this age. But
it she continues on this path, her identity will be destroyed to such an extent
that she will suffer from identity issues throughout her adult life as well.

With the narrator suggesting that she should accept that she is Sister Mary
Clarence, a fictional character in a movie is interesting as it highlights to the
reader how influential popular culture can be on a young person. Rather
than formulating or developing her own identity, the narrator feels as though
her life would be easier should she be Sister Mary Clarence. This highlights
to the reader just how difficult things are for the narrator in school.
 41

THE WIND AND A BOY BY BESSIE HEAD

1. SUMMARY:
The story “The wind and a boy” revolves around the strong bond between a
grandmother and her grandson. Friedman has a typical difficult phase he
goes through, but he experiences an inner change and soon learns about
life and his responsibilities. This is partly because of his grandmothers never
failing influenced and stories.
But the village is also exposed to another change – an exterior change from
the outside of themselves. Modernisation has brought about changes that
would eventually have tragic consequences on their lives when the boy is
killed in an accident which leads to the decline and eventual death of the
grandmother within days of the young boy’s accident.

2. CONTEXT:

Bessie Amelia Head was born at Fort Napier Hospital in Pietermaritzburg,

Natal (now KwaZulu-Natal), South Africa, this was a mental hospital where
her mother was committed at the time. Her mother came from a wealthy
family of Scottish descent. No information on her father exists other than
that he was a black man who worked as a groom on the Emery estate. The
relationship between Head’s parents was forbidden according to South
Africa’s Immorality Act at the time.

This outlined the hard life that was waiting for Bessie Head. With a pregnant
mother declared insane because of her ‘immoral’ relationship with a black
man, Head soon fell into the foster care system.
 42

Initially raised as a white foster child, she soon was declared too “coloured”
and was placed with a poor coloured foster family, the Heathcotes. Head
described her childhood as a haphazard and self-reliant one, juggled
between various child welfare organizations. She attended a Catholic
church and school and remained ignorant of the Heathcotes not being her
biological parents throughout her primary school years. When her foster
father died unexpectedly her mother was put under strain to support the
family, and Head was sent away to attend high school at Santa Monica’s
Home, an Anglican Mission Orphanage in Durban.

Bessie Head wrote about black life in South Africa during some of the
harshest years of apartheid. A failed marriage with the journalist Harold
Head (with whom she had a son), a deep depression and the repressive
South African regime led her to flee Botswana in 1964.She lived much of
her life in great poverty as a writer in exile in Botswana, a nation that
bordered on South Africa.

The energy and power contained in Bessie Head's writing come from the
conflicts in her life: from the issues of identity (always being too white for the
black community and too coloured for the white) in her tragic childhood
during the years of Apartheid. She wrote out of the vision of a better world
for black and coloured people, but her crusade for gender and social justice
included whites and blacks, men, and women. She especially concerned
herself with the victimization of women in Africa and created situations
where women could be seen as equal partners in relationships.

Bessie Head was 49 years old and working on her autobiography when she
died in Serowe, Botswana, in 1986.

3. SETTING:
A small village in Africa where they lead and live traditional lives close to
the earth that feeds them. It is a simplistic setting deliberately described
as idyllic to stand in contrast with the development and modernisation that
it was about to endure.
 43

The message Bessie Head wishes to deliver with this theme is that
change, and modernisation may help improve the quality of life of the
traditional people of the land, but it does not necessarily go hand in hand
with making them happier or more fulfilled.

4. PLOT POINTS:

• Exposition – the description of the grandmother and her grandson’s special

bond and how it was admired by all in the village.
• Conflict – the first indication of conflict is suggested by the writer herself in
describing how Friedman received special treatment and how he was put
upon a pedestal above all the other children. Friedman began to view himself
in this light and the reader grasps that this would have a negative impact on
the outcome.
Exterior conflict in the form of all the changes and modernisation that took
place also alerts the reader to the building up of tension in the story.
Friedman also experienced interior conflict as he grew older. His concern to
do more and more chores for his grandmother as she aged, prompted his
request for a bicycle.
• Rising action – the bicycle is the start of the rising action that would finally
culminate in the climatic tragic death of the boy
• Climax – the build-up of the story comes to a horrid and tragic end in the
climactic moment of the fatal bicycle accident of Friedman.
• Falling action – the description of the villagers who had to bear witness to the
broken Sejosenye – how she wished the words informing her of Friedman’s
death could have been taken back, how she moved as an old woman which
she indeed was for the first time.
• Resolution – In this narrative there is no positive resolution, but only a
description of the ondoing and demise of the protagonist or main character,
Sejosenye, who died of a broken heart two weeks later.
 44

5. CHARACTERS:

• Sejosenye:
Sejosenye is a strong woman who does not necessarily abide by traditional
rules. Not only is she physically strong and the only woman who appears to be
able to plough the land, but she is also strong in character and spirit as she
does not care what others in the village think about her. She is her own strong
independent woman. Even in the light rain Sejosenye ploughs the field much to
the admiration of the other women in the village.
She is a loyal and loving grandmother who goes over and beyond in providing
a loving home for her grandson. The reader soon comes to realise that her
world centres around this young boy.
• Friedman:
Friedman is a loyal and loving grandson to his grandmother. He is helpful and
willingly help her with chores and to work the land. He has a natural curiosity
to him which suggests that, like his grandmother, he does not merely adapt to
norms and traditions but has an enquiring mind and intelligence about him.

He also illustrates his loving and caring nature when he is ordered to kill the
mice that invaded the huts after the storm, he exclaimed that the mice had come
to them for help. He would not hear about killing them and rather suggested to
carry them out in boxes into the fields.

Sadly, it is this natural need to explore and discover that places him on the road
where the accident would take his young life.
• The Civil Servant (driver):
Although not much character development or information is gained about him,
it is significant that there are a lot of symbolism attached to this character.
The fact that the driver of the car was a civil servant (working for the
government) may also have some significance and Head may be using the
civil servant as symbolism for the government and the lack of care that they
may have for the people in the village (country).
 45

A young boy’s life needlessly cut short by the ignorance of others (civil
servant). Though it is not clearly stated there is also a sense that the car
driver has no remorse. He may care very little for a young boy who is beneath
his class.

8. LITERARY DEVICES:
• Irony – Bessie Head makes use of irony to underline how tragic the young boy’s
death is at such a young age. In the beginning of the narrative, it is described
how Friedman is a “… gift to keep her heart warm…” before she dies of old age.
It is ironic that exactly the opposite is about to happen. He indeed will be the
one to die and it would break her heart.

• Metaphor – The story begins with a striking metaphor: “… Friedman had a long
wind blowing for him … filled the whole world with magic.” This denotes the
beautiful future and opportunities the young boy had waiting for him. This
opening metaphor makes the ending with his resulting death at such a young
age even more tragic.

Another metaphor that is used is when Friedman is described as a “small dark

shadow who toddled beside his tall grandmother’s side”. This is an indirect
comparison without the use of words like ‘as’ or ‘like’. He WAS her shadow
beside her every day.

Friedman is also metaphorically described by the others as her “handbag” as

she carries him around with her all day, just as a woman does with her handbag.

• Symbolism - Symbolically the bicycle represents the freedom it grants

Friedman. Not only does it allow him to do chores for his grandmother, but he
also has the means and time to travel further than the village and explore.
However, it may be important to remember that the bicycle is the instrument
that leads to Friedman’s death. Though the bicycle can give Friedman freedom
it can also take it away from him.
 46

The fact that the driver of the car was a civil servant (working for the
government) may also have some significance and Head may be using the civil
servant as symbolism for the government and the lack of care that they may
have for the people in the village (country).

7. THEMES:

• Gender roles - from the beginning of the story the reader realises that Head
may be exploring the theme of gender roles. Both the boys and girls in the
village do different things, things which would mostly be associated with their
sex. The boys hunt while the girls do household chores. It is also noticeable
when the rain comes the boys have easy prey. Life is that little bit easier on
them. The young boys also appear to live their life as they see fit, unlike the
girls.

Women were only allowed to work outside of the home if they were able to
travel and leave their children (or child) with a relative as in the case of
Sejosenye’s daughter.

The women (and girls) in the village are not expected to have an education,
unlike the boys. There would be no sense to it as woman were expected to get
married and look after the home and children. There is no sense of equality
between the sexes.

• Love and loyalty - The fact that Sejosenye takes Friedman everywhere with
her, unlike the other people in the village also suggests that there a closer bond
between grandmother and grandchild than the usual and traditional one.

There is no doubting that Friedman is loyal to his grandmother. Something that

is noticeable when he travels with her to her lands twenty miles outside the
village. Just as Sejosenye is there for Friedman, Friedman likewise is there for
his grandmother, working the land.
 47

• Change and modernity - Though the village still needs wooden ploughs to
plough the land the cities have grown larger, and more and more people have
cars and trucks. It is ironic that this very modernisation is the cause of the boy’s
death and his grandmother’s eventual demise.

The car that killed Friedman was driven by a man who did not hold a driving
licence. Head suggesting that such is the pace of growth or change that the
man never had time to get a license. The pace of technological development
had not allowed law enforcement to keep track and enforce its safe use.

It is these changes that have brought a cruel change to Sejosenye life. Her
beloved grandson has been killed and she has been sent to hospital with shock.
A shock that will end up killing her.

• Class difference - here may be two classes of people in the country. The poor
in the village and the wealthy who live by no rules and live in the city governing
the country. There is no real connection between the two classes. The only
connection that occurs between them in the story is the fact that Friedman has
lost his life to a civil servant who was driving an unlicensed car. Though it is not
clearly stated there is also a sense that the car driver has no remorse. He may
care very little for a young boy who is beneath his class.
 48

THE GIRL WHO CAN BY AMA ATA AIDOO

1. SUMMARY
‘The Girl Who Can’, like its name suggests, is about a girl who did what she
wanted that proved her mettle. The story’s protagonist (main character) is
Adjoa, a little African girl who resides in the village in Ghana along with her
mother and her Nana, her grandmother. The story depicts Adjoa’s struggle
to find her rightful place in their society, it’s her story of seeking answers to
the needs and issues.

2. CONTEXT:

Ama Ata Aidoo was born as Christina Ama Aidoo into a royal Fanti (group
of people/tribe mainly located in the Central and Western coastal regions of
Ghana) family in Ghana in on 23 March 1942. She is a Ghanaian author,
poet, playwright and academic She was the Minister of Education under the
Jerry Rawlings administration. In 2000, she established the Mbaasem
Foundation to promote and support the work of African women writers.

Over the seven decades of her career, Ghanaian writer Ama Ata Aidoo has
published award-winning novels, plays, short stories, children’s books, and
poetry, and influenced generations of African women writers.
 49

Her father was an advocate of Western education and sent her to the
Wesley Girls’ High School in Cape Coast from 1961 to 1964. When she was
in form three, the headmistress asked her what she planned to do with her
future. Aidoo replied that she wanted to be a poet. “Poetry doesn’t feed
anyone, Christine,” the teacher told her.

She surely proved that teacher wrong, as during her illustrious writing
career, Aidoo has become well attuned to the challenges of balancing
writing, mothering, and work for pay.

Throughout her career, Aidoo has been unabashedly feminist. Women in

general, and mothers and daughters in particular, figure prominently in her
work.

Ama Ata Aidoo will no doubt continue to inspire future generations.

3. PLOT PATTERN:
• Exposition - Adjoa, a seven-year-old girl introduces herself as an African child
born in the village of Hasodzi, which is a fertile land compared to the rest of
Africa. She naively questions the constraints society place on a child, especially
a girl when uttering a word in public. Her mind is constantly engaged in issues
and concerns too difficult for a girl of her age to fully understand, which leads
to the three generations in the story – Adjoa, Maami (mother) and Nana
(grandmother) facing a conflict of opinions on a usual basis.

• Conflict – The father is not in the picture but a sense that he is not a good
man or possibly abandoned them shadows the plot. Nana is authoritative
and holds a firm view about a woman’s role in society - to be physically fit
to rear healthy children. On the other hand, Maami (addressed as Kaya by
Nana) often comes out as a speechless character who is incapable of
raising her voice against her mother. All of these factors give cause to
interior (inner) as well as exterior (outside) conflict in the narrative.
.
 50

• Rising action – Adjoa is a complex mix of the two. She harbours questions
about the workings of the society she grows up in but chooses to keep them
safe in the treasure of her mind for two reasons - primarily to avoid causing
distress to her grandmother and to prevent herself becoming the object of
jokes and ridicule. Adjoa’s thin legs trouble Nana for she stresses about
their incapability to hold a solid figure of a pregnant woman giving birth in
her future. Coupled with her concerns about her granddaughter’s physical
imperfections that might prevent her from fulfilling her role as a woman
giving birth to children one day, she is also concerned about Adjoa’s social
movements and interests like going to school and being inquisitive which
Nana also looks down on. On all this constant criticism about Adjoa, Maami
only occasionally pluck up the courage andattempt to argue in support of
Adjoa.
• Climax – the build-up of the story comes as a change of perceptions creeps
in when Adjoa reveals her decision for participating in a district race. Nana’s
behaviour suddenly changes, and she puts in efforts to wash her
granddaughter’s uniform and iron it neatly. She accompanies Adjoa for the
entire week of the race in new clothes which she wears only for special
occasions. When Adjoa wins the trophy, she shows it around the
neighbourhood like a proud grandparent with tears of joy.
• Falling action – Adjoa’s change of heart, her tears of joy and the pride in
which she shows her granddaughter around to everyone.
• Resolution – The story concludes with a happy realisation for both Nana and
Adjoa that legs serve more purposes to a woman than just giving birth. A
woman’s identity should not restrict itself to being a mother and a wife. It should
also include, acknowledge and affirm all her achievements, in this case as an
athlete.

4. SETTING:
The setting of the story “The girl who can” takes place in a little village in
Ghana. It is not surprising that the writer has chosen the setting of her story
to be in a rural village deep within Africa. Ghana had also been her place
 51

of birth. The themes she develops in most her work deals with issues that
derived from the tribalism and traditions of Africa.
Africa is famous for its various tribes and communities and the cultural unity
they stick to. But these cultures and traditions are also flawed and Aidoo
uses her literature and stories to underline and educate. The author also
employs African English and dialogic writing to pen her story.

5. CHARACTERS

• ADJOA – She is a seven-year-old girl who is also the narrator (storyteller). Her
view of their society differs from her elders, and she questions certain
ideologies handed down for generations in her own innocent way.
As a runner and a winner at a district-level race organised by her school, she
facilitates (brings about) a change in the perception (outlook) of her
conventional (traditional) grandmother who until then looks down on her for
having thin legs. She is a bright and intelligent child whose education becomes
a medium to introduce a changed mindset in her matriarchal (where an elder
woman is at the head and leadership) household.
• MAAMI – Throughout the narrative, she occupies the least space due to her
being such a hesitant and speechless character. She loves her daughter Adjoa
and supports her in her dreams of becoming an athlete. However, when it
comes to protecting her from discouraging comments from her own mother
Nana, she turns timid (weak) and lacks courage. She is a static (unchanged)
character who undergoes no change.
• NANA – The matriarch (rule-maker and leader) of the house, she is a strong
and authoritative (making all decisions and laying down the rules) woman who
loves to silence people around her in her own distinct style. She speaks from a
place of great experience and therefore feels herself to be superior and the
most knowledgeable in the house. Adjoa and Maami often stand in opposition
to her views, but she is a dynamic character who experiences a change after
learning about Adjoa’s skills as a runner and her subsequent win. In the end,
she does realise that a woman’s body has more to its existence than just giving
birth to children. Thereby making her a more fully rounded character who did
not stay stagnant like the character of her daughter. We see a great deal of
character development in her when she gains insight.
 52

5. LITERARY DEVICES
PERSONIFICATION – early in the narrative the write makes use of the
metaphor in which the continent of Africa is personified (given human
qualities): “… when all of Africa is not choking under a drought…” illustrates
the harsh weather conditions sometimes experienced in Africa when it
seems to choke to death without a morsel of water.

SYMBOLISM – to Nana, a sturdy pair of legs symbolises a woman’s ability

to carry the weight of a pregnancy and giving birth – to her the only
worthwhile task for any woman to walk the earth. In this way the issue with
Adjoa's thin spriggy legs has become a great point of contention in their
household.

7. THEMES

• GENERATIONAL CONFLICT – Three generations operate in the story. Adjoa,

the narrator is the youngest and Nana, the grandmother is the oldest. Adjoa
has questions and doubts which at this stage she cannot put to words – “there
are things I can think in my head, but which, maybe, I do not have the proper
language to speak them out with.” There is communication anxiety with her
grandmother due to a differing set of beliefs. The grandmother holds a
traditional worldview that sees a woman in the light of motherhood alone
compared to Maami and Adjoa who wish to add more layers. Nana’s
conventionality can be linked to her lack of education and orthodox (traditional)
upbringing. However, Adjoa is born in a postcolonial era which is venturing
toward modernity and thus it is evident for the two worlds to clash. But the clash
results in a positive outcome surprisingly with a change of heart in Nana after
realising the real capabilities of a woman.
• RUNNING – Running symbolises freedom and with freedom comes the power
of choice as the narrator possesses certain choices that her mother and
grandmother didn’t have access to. Adjoa not only runs to build an identity as
an athlete but also to move away from the rigid rules and structures of her
society. Thus, she runs towards an optimistic and bright future by running away
from a traditional and stereotypical past.
 53

• FEMALE EMPOWERMENT – In “The girl who can” Ama Ata Aido expresses
her concern regarding the lack of education opportunities for women in Africa
of her time. Being an education administrator, she believed in the liberating
force of education to give a new identity to all women. As a woman born in post-
independent Ghana, she embarked on a journey to fight for the rights of women
to mirror their progress with the development of the new nation.
 54

TRIUMPH IN THE FACE OF ADVERSITY BY KEDIBONE SEKU

1. SUMMARY:
In Triumph in the Face of Adversity by Kedibone Seku we have the theme
of hardship, struggle, fear, ambition, and opportunity. Narrated in the first
person by a young teenage girl called Thulisile the reader realises from the
beginning of the story that Seku may be exploring the theme of struggle.

The story is written in the form of a flashback on her past at her mother’s
grave during her funeral. She reflects on the hardships they had suffered
at the hands of her father. She is filled with sorrow for the waste of the
potential her mother’s life had but came to nothing due to circumstances
and choices.

2. CONTEXT;

Kedibone Seku was born in Pimville, Soweto in 1974. After matriculating

she worked and studied part-time, working her way up to become an Adult
Basic Education and Training (ABET) specialist. She presently holds the
position as Assistant Director: Administration ABET Institutional
Development & Support (IDS) in Johannesburg.

She had always shown a love for literature, reading and writing. This story
was published shortly after she attended a Creative Writing workshop
associated with the Caine Prize for African Writing.
 55

3. SETTING:
The whole story is written in the form of a flashback of memories flooding
the thoughts of the narrator at her mother’s grave-side on the day of her
funeral.

She takes the reader to other settings of her past, like the shanty town that
Thulisile lived in.

4. CHARACTERS:
Thulisile (narrator) – she shows herself as a strong and ambitious woman
who strives to rise above her hardships and circumstances early in the
narrative. When Thulisile does badly in school she decides to set up her own
business. Eventually settling on selling sweets and then working in the local
fish and chip shop. This may be significant as Thulisile not only shows
ambition but drive too. She wants to be independent of her family.

She is an intelligent woman with a high emotional awareness. She has

learnt from the mistakes of others that life had pointed out to her. She has
been educated at the university of life and hardships. There is a sense that
Thulisile is happy that she has reached her potential and is living her life for
her mother. She knows not to make the same mistakes as her mother as by
doing so she would only lose herself and her business.

Thulisile’s father:
He is exposed as a pathetic and weak character who from the beginning of
his marriage was too weak and without backbone to stand up for the rights
and demand respect to be shown to his wife, who was abused by his own
mother.

Things never improved, in fact – it got worse. He lost his job and was never
able to draw himself up again on his shoelaces. He gave up and allowed
his family to live a life of poverty and depend on charity.
 56

As if this had not been enough, he became a drunk and he violated his wife
and children physically. He was supposed to be the breadwinner but
instead lay around drinking all day, beating up on his wife and children.
When eventually Thulisile takes the lead and start up her own business, he
robs her of her money, once by stealing from her and the second time by
defrauding her of part of her pay check from her boss.

Thulisile’s mother:
The tears that Thulisile cries over her mother’s death are because her
mother never really reached her potential. Despite being beaten by her
husband she was a dutiful wife. She did not deserve the treatment she
received, and her mother-in-law was less than helpful. Scorning the fact that
her son married her. If anything, Thulisile’s mother lived in fear of her
husband and was somewhat paralysed by the fear.

The reader does detect resentment and an unability from the side of
Thulisile to understand why her mother never fought back or left her father.
She might not have been aware at the time of the ‘beaten wife sydrome’ in
which the wife becomes paralysed to the point of an inability to find escape.

Typical of abused women, Thulisile’s mother is ashamed of what is

happening to her and for this reason isolates herself and her family from her
own parents. This of course plays into the hands of the abuser, as it isolates
the victim from any possible help from others. It cannot have been easy for
her. Trying to keep the family together and at the same time hiding the fact
that she is being beaten by her husband.

The old unnamed woman:

The generosity of the old woman is also important as she may symbolise
Thulisile’s faith in humankind. If anything, the old woman gives Thulisile
hope again and a direction in life very much like how her grandmother does.
When she lends Thulisile the money. Thulisile realises that there are good
natured people in the world who have her best interests at heart. Even if her
parents are unable to due to her father’s addiction to alcohol.
 57

5. THEMES:
In Triumph in the Face of Adversity by Kedibone Seku we have the theme
of hardship, struggle, fear, female empowerment, ambition, and opportunity.

HARDSHIP/STRUGGLE – The shanty town that Thulisile lives in may

symbolise how dire Thulisile’s position is. The shanty town is full of ill-willed
people and is not safe for a young girl. Seku possibly suggesting that the
shanty towns need to be bulldozed down and real homes built.

AMBITION - The theme of ambition is self-evident in the story. When

Thulisile does badly in school she decides to set up her own business.
Eventually settling on selling sweets and then working in the local fish and
chip shop. This may be significant as Thulisile not only shows ambition but
drive too. She wants to be independent of her family.

FEMALE EMPOWERMENT:
Part of the reason that thulisile’s mother became a helpless victim was due
to the traditional view demonstrated by her mother-in-law early on in their
marriage. It was never questioned whether her son was a ‘good catch’ and
good choice of husband for her mother. But it was immediately decided by
his mother that he could have landed a better choice in a wife.

The place of a woman in the home creating a happy home for her husband
and children does not ask the question whether the husband is fulfilling his
part of the contract by providing financially for his family or treating them
with love and respect.

The fact that thulisile’s mother felt guilt and shame about her hopeless
situation is a further indication that within the culture, tradition and society
the fault can never be sought at any place other than the wife who has failed.
 58

OPPORTUNITY:
Thulisile shows her mettle of character when she chooses not to become
the same pathetic character her mother had become, but fight to rise above
it all. She is driven with ambition, strengthened by the empathy and input
of the old woman in her situation.

Sometimes that is all individuals need – that one lucky break, that one
person who cares and is willing to get involved. But, as we have read in
some of the other narratives from these prescribed stories, not all individuals
are emotionally intelligent enough to see opportunity and take it.
Opportunity unfortunately is not a door that opens by itself – it has to be
knocked on.
 59

Compiled, researched and written by Anastasia Bester (B.A.; H.Ed.; (Northwest

University) B.A. (honns – English Literature); (UNISA) Post Graduate Diploma in
Adult Education and Learning (UNISA)
(More than 30 years’ teaching experience in English First Additional Language and
English Home Language Grades 12 with a 100% pass rate)

ORDER AND PAY NOW Contact: Anastasia Bester

083 2156319(Phone/whatsapp)

riaanbester55@gmail.com
ORDER FORM FOR PDF STUDY GUIDE 2023/2024
NUMBER NEEDED TITLE PRICE
Poetry Study guide R400
Short Story Study R400
guide
Both Poetry and R580
Short Story
Workbook: model R120
questions and
answers for Poetry
Workbook: model R120
questions and
answers for Short
Stories
 60

POETRY
Hard to find Sinesipo Jojo
On the grasshopper and cricket John Keats
Sonnet 73 William Shakespeare
Reciprocities Cathal Lagan
What life is really like Beverly Rycroft
You laughed and laughed and laughed Gabriel Okara
The Lake isle of Innisfree William Butler Yeats
The slave dealer Thomas Pringle
Iversnaid Gerard Manley Hopkins
The night-jar and Inkosazana Chris Mann
Yesezulwini

SHORT STORIES
Forbidden love Can Themba
Rejection Mariama Ba
Eveline James Joyce
A bag of sweets Agnes Sam
Class act Namhla Tshisana
The wind and a boy Bessie Head
The girl who can Ama Ata Aidoo
Triumph in the face of adversity Kedibone Seku

DESCRIPTION
Full poetry text, background- and poet introduction, line-by-line colour coded
analysis. Short Stories will include a full analysis of each short story – no questions
and model answers. Workbooks with model questions and answers will be available
from the end of January, at a special price of R120 each.
Full student interaction with interesting links and leads to other genres and
discoveries.

Payment method: Direct bank payment or EFT transfer

Banking details: Anastasia Bester
ABSA
Savings Account
Account number: 9308207989
Branch Code: 632005
 61

The early bird catches the worm. You will find that not much is available on these
prescribed short stories and poems prescribed for 2023/2024 on the internet in the
form of previous research and/or information.

PROCEED TO ORDER FORM, COMPLETE AND SEND TO

THE AFOREMENTIONED EMAIL ADDRESS
(riaanbester55@gmail.com) TOGETHER WITH PROOF OF
PAYMENT

FIRST NAME: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

LAST NAME: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Email address: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Contact number: -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Second contact
number if above fails: -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Method of Payment: Direct Bank Deposit ------------------
(Tick please) EFT transfer -----------------------------
REMEMBER to send the proof of payment together with the form!
In what capacity is this order? Private -----------------
School -------------- (Which School?)-------------------------
Date of completion of order form: -----------------------------------------------
Date of payment: --------------------------------------------
Bank from which payment was made (for admin purposes) -----------------------------
62
63
64