English for Life Reader Grade 7 Home Language. Elaine Ridge
a)
| Pre-reading | |||
| The poem is told through the voice of a San hunter. Their language uses many click sounds and the words and sounds in the poem try to show this. Read the poem aloud to enjoy its sounds. Please note that Sydney Clouts wrote this poem in 1966 before the word “Bushman” was generally replaced by the word “San”. | |||
| During reading | |||
| 1. | Jot down in point form what happens during the poem | ||
Firebowl
Sydney Clouts
Kalahari Bushman fires flowing
in the hollows of the desert
click all night
stick stuck upright
click
click
of starlight
bowstring
toes of the eland
thk thk big raindrops
tk tk tk the sandgrains
drinking.
Sssskla!
sparks of honey
arrowheads
we who dance
around the circle
around the circle
spoor him
find him.
my arrow clings to the thick thick
grunt of darkness
my arrow sings through fire.
we who dance we find
the
fire
of the fire.
| Post-reading | ||
| 2. | There are only two punctuation marks in this poem. Why did the poet use the exclamation mark? | |
| 3. a) | Which of the senses does this poem appeal to most? Quote from the poem to support your answer. | |
| b) | What other sense does the poem appeal to? Quote words from the poem to support your answer. | |
| 4. a) | What do you think the words “sandgrains drinking” mean? | |
| b) | What visual image is created by the words “sparks of honey”? | |
| 5. | What do you think a “firebowl” is? Suggest another title for the poem. | |
| Pre-reading | |
| 1. | When do people usually sleep beneath the stars? |
| During reading | |
| 2. | What is the name of this shanty town (township)? |
Shantytown
Anonymous
High on the veld upon that plain
And far from streets and lights and cars
And bare of trees, and bare of grass,
Jabavu sleeps beneath the stars.
Jabavu sleeps.
The children cough.
Cold creeps up, the hard night cold,
The earth is tight within its grasp,
The Highveld cold without soft rain,
Dry as the sand, rough as a rasp
The frost rimmed night invades the shacks.
Through dusty ground
Through rocky ground
Through freezing ground, the night cold creeps.
In cotton blankets, rags and sacks
Beneath the stars Jabavu sleeps.
One day Jabavu will awake
To greet a new and shining day:
The sound of coughing will become
The children’s laughter as they play
In parks with flowers where dust now swirls
In strong-walled homes with warmth and light.
But for tonight Jabavu sleeps.
Jabavu sleeps. The stars are bright.
| Post-reading | |
| 3. | The word “cold” is used three times in the first stanza to bring home to us how hard life is in Jabavu township in winter. What other words make us feel sorry for the people in Jabavu? |
| 4. | The coldness in this poem is described as though it were a living person or creature (personification). What do the words “creeps” and “invades” tell you about how the people experience the cold? |
| 5. | The second stanza is a message of hope. List the differences between Jabavu now and Jabavu as it will be in the hoped-for future. |
| Pre-reading | |
| 1. | How would a boy who is bullied feel about the bully? |
My parents kept me from children who were rough
Stephen Spender
My parents kept me from children who were rough
And who threw words like stones and who wore torn clothes.
Their thighs showed through rags. They ran in the street
And climbed cliffs and stripped by the country streams.
I feared more than tigers their muscles like iron
And their jerking hands and their knees tight on my arms.
I feared the salt coarse pointing of those boys
Who copied my lisp behind me on the road.
They were lithe, they sprang out behind the hedges
Like dogs to bark at our world. They threw mud
And I looked another way, pretending to smile.
I longed to forgive them, yet they never smiled.
stripped – took off their clothes
salt coarse – “salt” may refer to salty taste of tears or the expression to rub salt into an open wound; “coarse” to be rude
lithe – strong, able to move easily
| Post-reading | ||
| 2. | Explain what is meant by “children who are rough”. | |
| 3. a) | Write out the common rhyme that starts, ‘Sticks and stones …’ Does the rhyme express the same view as the poem? Consider the simile in the poem “throwing words like stones”. Refer to the poem to explain your answer. | |
| b) | List in point form the other things the boy fears. | |
| 4. | Copy the table below into your books then fill in the columns, using information from the poem. The first row has been done for you. Add more boxes if you need them: | |
| The speaker's clothes, strength, words he uses | The clothes, appearance, strength, words used by the boys who were rough |
| ClothesSmart clothes, clean and never torn | ClothesRagged clothes |
| Behaviour | Behaved rudely |
| Way he spoke | Way |