Quick Quiz:1)What ‘S’ is a comparison using the words ‘like’ or ‘as’?

2) How is a metaphor different from a simile?

3) In the poem Island Man what is the man dreaming of at the start of

the poem?

4) In the poem Blessing how do we know that the people are poor?

5) In the poem What Were They Like what is the poet describing when

she says the ‘bombs smashed those mirrors’?

6) In the poem What Were They Like, what jobs did most of the

Vietnamese people have before the Vietnam War?

7) What is the posh name for the verses in a poem?

8) Name at least three things that the poems we have read have in

common?

9) What is onomatopoeia?

10) Create a challenging question of your own about one of the poems

we have studied.

Lesson Objectives: To understand what apartheid was in South Africa To understand the relationship between racism and segregation

Activities: Watch 2 short videos about apartheid in South Africa 15-20 minutes

Read the poem Nothing’s Changed and discuss the themes of racism and segregation. 5-10 minutes

To answer a series of questions on the poem 10-20 minutes

Plenary – to be able to name three things that you have learnt about apartheid and South Africa.

South Africa

Up until 1990 South Africa was an Apartheid country. This means that white people kept themselves separate from people of other races. They did not go to the same schools, ,live in the same areas or even use the same buses.

Nelson Mandela argued publicly against this and was sent to prison for it. He is still leading the fight against apartheid with extraordinary vigour and resilience after spending nearly thirty years of his life behind bars. He has sacrificed his private life and his youth for his people, and remains South Africa's best known and loved hero.

As you watch the video clips try to answer these questions:

1)What is ‘apartheid’? 2) What is segregation? 3) Why were the black citizens of South Africa so angry?

What is racism?1. the idea that one's own race is superior

and has the right to rule others.

2. hatred or intolerance of another race or other races.

What is segregation?What is segregation?

1. 1. to separate or set apart from others or from the to separate or set apart from others or from the main body or group; to isolate: main body or group; to isolate:

2. 2. to require, often with force, the separation of (a to require, often with force, the separation of (a specific racial, religious, or other group) from the specific racial, religious, or other group) from the

general body of society. general body of society.

We need to work through the poem now answering the following questions:

What happens? What are his feelings? How does the mood of the speaker change during the poem?

Activity:

Now write the story of the poem – using one sentence per stanza. Be prepared to read these aloud!

ContextThis is an autobiographical poem. Tatamkhulu Afrika (1920-2002) lived in Cape Town's District 6, which was then a thriving mixed-race inner-city community. People of all colours and beliefs lived together peacefully, and Afrika said he felt 'at home' there.

In the 1960s, as part of its policy of apartheid the government declared District 6 a 'whites-only' area, and began to evacuate the population. Over a period of years, the entire area was razed to the ground. Most of it has never been built on.

The poem was written just after the official end of apartheid. It was a time of hope - Nelson Mandela had recently been released from prison, and the ANC was about to form the government of South Africa.

District Six

Tatamkhulu Afrika: December 7, 1920 - December 23, 2002

The writer and poet -- now known as the Grandfather of Afrika -- was truly African and symbolised the pan-African ideal of a free Africa. He was born in Egypt and died in South Africa.

His life story itself is a story racism and exploitation and also a story of one man's quest for his and our humanity.

His parents died shortly after coming to South Africa in 1923 and he was raised by an English Methodist family under a new name John Charlton. (He did not know his family background) At 17 he wrote his first novel, Broken Earth.

In his life he had to face many obstacles that forced him to make a stand, resulting in him changing his "race" and even his religion.

After working in Namibia for at least 20 years doing different jobs, and living with Afrikaner foster parents where he got the name Jozua Joubert, he settled in District Six in Cape Town where he reverted to Islam and had himself classified as "coloured" as he did not want to be white, and wanted to continue living in his township.

He dedicated his life to speaking out about the racial problems faced by many people in South Africa and is regarded as one of the greatest South African writers.

“Nothing's Changed is entirely autobiographical. I can't quite remember when I wrote this, but I think it must have been about 1990. District Six was a complete waste by then, and I hadn't been passing through it for a long time. But nothing has changed. Not only District Six... I mean, we may have a new constitution, we may have on the face of it a beautiful democracy, but the racism in this country is absolutely redolent. We try to pretend to the world that it does not exist, but it most certainly does, all day long, every day, shocking and saddening and terrible.Look, I don't want to sound like a prophet of doom, because I don't feel like that at all. I am full of hope. But I won't see it in my lifetime. It's going to take a long time. I mean, in America it's taken all this time and it's still not gone... So it will change. But not quickly, not quickly at all.”

The poet

Tatamkhulu Afrika

The Cape FlatsThe Cape Flats

One of the ways in which the poet shows the differences between the two sets of people is to compare the places where they eat.

Which of the following characteristics do you think belong to the white’s restaurants and which belongs to the

black’s restaurant?•Port Jackson trees

•Haute cuisine

•Guard at the gatepost

•Crushed ice

•White glass

•Linen falls

•The single rose

•Take it with you

•Bunny chows

•Plastic table’s top

•Wipe your fingers on your jeans

•Spit a little on the floor

One of the ways in which the poet shows the differences between the two sets of people is to compare the places where they eat.

Which of the following characteristics do you think belong to the whites restaurants and which belongs to the blacks

restaurant?•Port Jackson trees White

•Haute cuisine

White•Guard at the gatepost

White

•Crushed ice

White

•White glass

White•Linen falls

White

•The single rose

White

•Take it with you

Black

•Bunny chows

Black

•Plastic table’s top

Black

•Wipe your fingers on your jeans

Black

•Spit a little on the floor

Black

The opening of the poem introduces us to the area that the poet lived (and now returning to) in and tells us how he feels about it.

Small round hard stones click

Under my heels,

Seeding grasses thrust

Bearded seeds into trouser cuffs, cans,

trodden on, crunch

In tall, purple flowering,

Amiable weeds.

‘Amiable’ means to feel friendly towards someone or something. Why do you think the author has included

this word in his description?

What impression do we get of District Six from the first

stanza of the poem?

What words stand out as important in

he poet’s description of

the area?

Can you find any poetic

devices that the poet uses?

The opening of the poem introduces us to the area that the poet lives in and tells us how he feels about it.

Small round hard stones clickUnder my heels,

Seeding grasses thrust

Bearded seeds into trouser cuffs, cans,

trodden on, crunchIn tall, purple flowering,

Amiable weeds.

The words

‘click’ and

‘crunch’ are

examples of

onomatopoeia.

This is where

the poet uses

words which

are spelled the

way they

sound.

In the final line of the stanza, the poet uses another poetic devices called

personification. This is where

someone makes

something which isn’t

human seem like they are

human.

Why do you think the poet has used these poetic

devices?

District Six.No board says it is;But my feet know

And my hands,And the skin about my bones

And the soft labouring of my lungs,And the hot, white inwards turning

Anger of my eyes.

In the second stanza of the poem, the poet goes on to describe how he feels being back in his home environment.

What does the poet

mean when he says ‘no

board says it is?’

Why do you think the

poet includes so many parts of the body? What is he

trying to say about his

feelings now he is back?

Have another look at the last two lines of the stanza. What can we tell about the poet’s feelings from these two lines?

District Six.No board says it is;

But my feet know

And my hands,

And the skin about my bonesAnd the soft labouring of my lungs,

And the hot, white inwards turning

Anger of my eyes.

In the second stanza of the poem, the poet goes on to describe how he feels at being back in his home environment.

The full stop at the end of the first line

creates a very blunt and

sharp tone. The poet

wants us to think about

the name and remember the

details.

What does he mean when he says ‘but my feet know?’

White is the hottest part of any flame – the poet is suggesting that his anger cannot get

any greater. His anger has to be ‘inwards turning’ as he cannot speak or write

anything negative.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english/poemscult/afrikarev2.shtml

Lesson 2

The poet uses the structure ( the way the poem is set out ) to help make his point.

New, up market haute cuisine,

Guard at the gatepost

Whites only inn

No sign says it is

But we know where we belong.

I press my nose

to the clear panes, know,

Before I see them …

Why do you think these lines have

been placed on their own when all the

other stanzas are much longer?

What is the effect of

having these lines stand out on their own? What do we

do as readers?

What sort of tone do you think these lines might be read in?

The poet uses the structure ( the way the poem is set out ) to help make his point.

New, up market haute cuisine,

Guard at the gatepost

Whites only inn

No sign says it is

But we know where we belong.

I press my nose

to the clear panes, know,

Before I see them …

The poet wants these lines to

stand out. He is saying that, even though nothing tells

them that this is District Six, he

knows it is from the look and feel of the

place.

The poet wants the reader to

take a pause at this point in the

poem. It is almost

confrontational – he is trying to make us think

about his situation.

These lines might be read in an angry and frustrated tone – the poet is annoyed that the situation has not changed for people

like him.

The final lines of the poem tell us how the poet feels about the future.

I back from the glass,

Boy again,

Leaving small mean O

Of small, mean mouth.

Hands burn

For a stone, a bomb to shiver down the glass.

Nothing’s Changed.

What does the poet tell

us about how he feels now he is an

adult.

What words can you find to suggest

that the poet is still angry and

frustrated at the

situation?

Why do you think the poet says that his ‘hands

burn’? What do we have

to remember about the

situation that the poet

finds himself in?

What do we notice about the punctuation in the last few lines of the poem. What does

this suggest about the future?

The final lines of the poem tell us how the poet feels about the future.

I back from the glass,

Boy again,Leaving small mean O

Of small, mean mouth.

Hands burn

For a stone, a bomb to shiver down the glass.

Nothing’s Changed.

The poet tells us that he still feels

the same way as he

did when he was a boy

and that his feelings of anger have

not changed.

The poet desperately wants to do

something to protest about the situation

but he cannot as he has

been banned from

protesting.

The final line of the poem is punctuated with a full stop. It is as if there will never be any improvement in the situation. It is

a pessimistic end to the poem.

Now that you have studied the poem and have analysed the language, create a storyboard which will help you to

remember the key details of the poem.

Make sure that you have included:

•Key quotations from the poem

•Illustrations which will help you to remember what the poem is about.

Bunny Chow

On the next page there is a chart of quotations.

You must work in pairs. Discuss each quote with your

partner and identify what the significant aspects of language are.

How do these relate to the cultural/ social situation in South Africa?

Quotation Significant features of language

How it relates to the cultural/ social

situation in South Africa

‘. . . Cans/ trodden on, crunch/ in tall, purple-flowering,/ amiable weeds.’

The cans suggest it is littered. The weeds show that it is unkempt. The phrase ‘amiable weeds’ draws the reader’s attention to it because of the unusual combination of friendly & weeds

District Six has not been fully redeveloped. It appears neglected. The blacks were forced to move out and the land is now derelict.

‘the hot, white, inwards turning/ anger of my eyes’

‘new, up-market, haute cuisine/ guard at the gatepost,/ whites only inn.’

‘crushed ice white glass,/ linen falls,/ the sungle rose.’

‘spit a little on the floor:/ it’s in the bone.’

‘leaving small mean O/ of small, mean mouth.’