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erature
a p e r 2 : L it
P
Language
A d d it io n a l
st
E n g li s h F ir

hort Stories
S

Study Guide

Grade

12

© Department of Basic Education 2015

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This content may not
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Copyright © Department of Basic Education 2015
222 Struben Street, Pretoria, South Africa
Contact person: Dr Patricia Watson
Email: watson
...
gov
...
education
...
za
Call Centre: 0800202933

Acknowledgements
The Department of Basic Education gratefully
acknowledges the permission granted to reproduce
extracts from the original short stories in this CAPS

Extracts from Manhood by John Wain are
reproduced by permission of Will Wain for the
Estate of John Wain, the copyright holder
...
Somerset
Maugham are reproduced by permission of AP
Collected
Short Stories by W
...

Extracts from The Soft Voice of the Serpent by
Nadine Gordimer are reproduced by permission of

originally published in The Soft Voice of the Serpent
and Other Stories, Simon and Schuster, 1952
...
Copyright
Chris van Wyk
...


published in 2014, aligned these titles to the
Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS)
and added more titles to the series, including the CAPS
Mind the
Gap study guide for Short Stories
ISBN 978-1-4315-1944-6
Mind the Gap team
Series managing editor: Dr Patricia Watson
Production co-ordinators for CAPS edition:
Authors:
Expert readers:
Editor:
Proof readers: Catharina Minervini and Pat Tucker
Designer: Nomalizo Ngwenya
Illustrators: Michele Dean, Ivan Keir, Vusi Malindi,
Khosi Pholosa, Kenneth Tekane
Series cover illustration: Alastair Findlay
Onsite writers’ workshop support: Wayne Cussons

Extracts from The Dube Train by Can Themba (from
The Will to Die collection, Heinemann Educational
Books, 1972) are reproduced by permission of the

Extracts from The Secret Life of Walter Mitty are
from My World – And Welcome to It, by James
Thurber
Thurber and The Barbara Hogenson Agency, USA
...

Extracts from The Sisters by Pauline Smith are
from ‘The Little Karoo’ collection, reproduced by
permission of Special Collections, University of
Town
...

The study guides have been written by teams of exerts comprising teachers,
began in 2012, has shown that the Mind the Gap series has, without doubt, had
a positive impact on grades
...

The second edition of Mind the Gap is aligned to the 2014 Curriculum and
Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS)
...

The Mind the Gap CAPS study guides take their brief in part from the 2013 National
Mind the Gap
offers simple explanations and examples of the types of questions learners can
expect to be asked in an exam
...
education
...
za
...
These are Short Stories, Poetry, To Kill a Mockingbird,
A Grain of Wheat, Lord of the Flies, Nothing but the Truth and Romeo and Juliet
...



...
viii
How to use this study guide
...
x
On the exam day
...
xii
What is a contextual question?
...
xiii
Question words
...
1
1
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1
2
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2
3
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3
4
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3
4
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3
4
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3
4
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4
4
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4
4
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5
4
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5
4
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5
Activity 1
...
9
Short Story 2: The Luncheon by W
...
11
1
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11
2
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12
3
...
12
4
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13
4
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13
4
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13
4
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14
4
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15
4
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15
4
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15
4
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16
Activity 3
...
20
Short Story 3: The Soft Voice of the Serpent by Nadine Gordimer
...
Summary
...
Title
...
Themes
...
How is the story told?
...
1 Setting
...
2 Structure and plot development
...
3 Characterisation
...
4 Style
...
5 Narrator and point of view
...
6

...
7 Tone and mood
...
30
Activity 6
...
35
1
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35
2
...
36
3
...
36
4
...
37
4
...
37
4
...
37
4
...
38
4
...
38

© Department of Basic Education 2015

4
...
39
4
...
39
4
...
39
Activity 7
...
44
Short Story 5: The Coffee-cart Girl by Es’kia Mphahlele
...
Summary
...
Title
...
Themes
...
How is the story told?
...
1 Setting
...
2 Structure and plot development
...
3 Characterisation
...
4 Style
...
5 Narrator and point of view
...
6

...
7 Tone and mood
...
55
Activity 10
...
60
1
...
60
2
...
61
3
...
61
4
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62
4
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62
4
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62
4
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63
4
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63
4
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63
4
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64
4
...
64
Activity 11
...
69
Short Story 7: The Secret Life of Walter Mitty by James Thurber
...
Summary
...
Title
...
Themes
...
How is the story told?
...
1 Setting
...
2 Structure and plot development
...
3 Characterisation
...
4 Style
...
5 Narrator and point of view
...
6

...
7 Tone and mood
...
79
Activity 14
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82
1
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82
2
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83
3
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83
4
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84
4
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84
4
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84
4
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84
4
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86
4
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86
4
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86
4
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87
Activity 15
...
92

© Department of Basic Education 2015

Dear Grade 12 learner
This Mind the Gap study guide helps you to prepare for the end-of-year

Mind the Gap study guides which cover Papers
1, 2 and 3
...
A Mind the Gap study guide is available for each of the prescribed
literature titles
...
Manhood by John Wain
2
...
Somerset Maugham
3
...
Relatives by Chris van Wyk
5
...
The Dube Train by Can Themba
7
...
The Sisters by Pauline Smith

© Department of Basic Education 2015

viii INTRODUCTION

Mind the Gap English First Additional Language: Paper 2 Literature

© Department of Basic Education 2015

How to use this study guide
There is one chapter for each of the short stories
...

More detail is given on how the story is told by examining:

Tone and mood
...
Use
these notes to hold the eight short stories clearly in your mind
...


You can test your understanding of each short story by completing the
activities, and using the answers to mark your own work
...

PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION

NB

chapter
...
g
...
g
...
Make notes,
exams
draw pictures and
EG - worked examples
highlight important
ideas
...

2
...


3
...
It helps your brain hold on to the information
...


Try these
study tips to
make learning
easier
...
This will help
your brain to focus
...


Your brain learns well with colours and pictures
...


5
...
Keep going over the work until you can recall it with ease
...


Teach what you are learning to anyone who will listen
...


Sleeping for at least eight hours every night, eating healthy food
and drinking plenty of water are all important things you need to
do for your brain
...


© Department of Basic Education 2015

x INTRODUCTION

Mind the Gap English First Additional Language: Paper 2 Literature

© Department of Basic Education 2015

On the exam day
1
...

3
...
Make sure you bring your ID document and
examination admission letter
...


waste valuable time going to the toilet during the exam
...


4
...
If you don’t answer the question properly you won’t

pages xiv and xv of this study guide
...


6
...


Manage your time carefully
...
Check how many marks are allocated to each
question so you give the right amount of information in your
answer
...
If you feel stuck, move
on and come back if time allows
...


GOOD
LUCK!

Take care to write neatly so the examiners can read your answers
easily
...
Choose the two sections that you know best:
Section A: Novel
Section B: Drama
Section C: Short stories
Section D: Poetry
A total of 70 marks is allocated for Paper 2, which means 35 marks for
each section you choose
...


Here is a summary of the Paper 2 Literature exam
paper:
Question
Title of novel
Type of
Number of
number
question
marks
Section A: Novel If you choose Section A, answer ONE question
...

1
...

Lord of the Flies
Contextual
35
3
...
Choose the
question for the play you have learnt
...

Romeo and Juliet
Contextual
35
5
...
You
will not know exactly which short stories are included until the exam
...
Answer the questions set on BOTH short stories
...
1
Short story
Contextual
17 or 18
6
...
You will
not know exactly which poems are included until the exam
...
Answer the questions set on BOTH poems
...
1
Poem
Contextual
17 or 18
7
...
You then have to answer questions based on the extract
...
Some questions ask for your own opinion about the
short story
...
You
need to identify information that is clearly given in the short story
...
For example,
you may be asked to summarise key points, or state the similarities
or differences between two characters
...
This
of speech affects your understanding of the short story, explaining
themes or comparing the actions of different characters
...
This process is called evaluation
...

Your ability to respond to the characters in the short story and how
it is written on an emotional level
...
For
example, you may be asked how you think a certain character feels,
or what you would have done if you were in their situation
...


© Department of Basic Education 2015

Mind the Gap English First Additional Language: Paper 2 Literature

INTRODUCTION xiii

© Department of Basic Education 2015

Question words
Here are examples of question types found in the exam
...

characters, places, etc
...

Give two reasons for/why …
Write two reasons (this means the
same as ‘state’)
...

Describe the place/character/what
Write the main characteristics of
happens when …
something, for example: What does
a place look/feel/smell like? Is a
particular character kind/rude/
aggressive …
What does character x do when …
Write what happened – what the
character did
...

Who is/did …
Write the name of the character
...

Reorganisation: Questions that need you to bring together different pieces of
information in an organised way
...

Group the common elements …
Join the same things together
...

Write the main points, without a lot of
detail
...
This process involves thinking about
understand the text
...

Describe how something affected …
State how you know that character x is …
What did character x mean by the
expression …

Identify the links to the theme
...

State what you think the meaning is,
based on your understanding of the
text
...

Explain why the character used those
particular words
...

Complete
in the missing words …
Quote a line from the extract to prove your
answer
...
You must give a
reason for your answer
...
Write only the letter (A, B, C or D)
next to the question number
...

Write the relevant line of text using the
same words and punctuation you see
in the extract
...


Evaluation
knowledge and understanding of the text and your own experience
...

a conclusion
...

Do you agree with …
In your opinion, what …
Give your views on …
Appreciation Questions that ask about your emotional response to what happens,
the characters and how it is written
...

Discuss your response to …
Do you feel sorry for …
Discuss the use of the writer’s style,
To answer this type of question, ask
yourself: Does the style help me to
…
feel/imagine what is happening/what
a character is feeling? Why/why not?

© Department of Basic Education 2015

Mind the Gap English First Additional Language: Paper 2 Literature

INTRODUCTION xv

Short Stories 1
Manhood
by John Wain

John Wain was born in England in 1925 and became a university lecturer
before he became a writer
...

He mainly wrote about ordinary people and their problems
...
He died in 1994
...
Summary
There are three characters in the story: Mr Willison, Mrs Willison and their
become good at sports and develop his body, because he never had that
chance when he was young
...


John Wain

The story begins when the father and son are going for a bike ride and the
father pushes his son to cycle further, even though the boy is tired and wants
to rest
...
The boy is exhausted when they return home
...


team has already been chosen and he has not been selected
...
The mother is very angry that her husband wants the
boy to box, as she feels that it is a dangerous sport
...
He puts all his energy into training his son every day
...


© Department of Basic Education 2015

Mind the Gap English First Additional Language: Paper 2 Literature

SH ORT STORIES 1

1

1 Short Stories

vocab
Manhood: The state
of being an adult man,
rather than a boy
...


2
...
Different versions of
masculinity are offered in the story
...

Contrasted with that is the version that the father was offered when he

her husband is not “manly” and thinks that her son should not be pushed
so hard physically as he is still only a boy
...
Themes
Besides the theme of ‘manhood’, another theme is how people’s failure
to communicate openly and clearly can lead to unfortunate events
...

Another main theme in the story is that the boy is dominated by the power
of his father
so he tried to please him, even though he is deceitful in doing so
...
How is the story told?
4
...

of the story takes place in the home of the Willisons, where the tension
between Mr and Mrs Willison rises
...
2 Structure and plot development
From the start of the story it is clear that Mr Willison has an inferiority
complex (feels that he is a failure) because of his lack of training in sports
when he was young, and that he was not able to develop his physique
become a man by being good at sports
...


does not like it
...
This
creates the rising tension in the story
...
An example
of this is when each of the parents talks of “my big night”
...
This contrasts with the father, whose “my big night”
means the night his son will take part in a boxing tournament and make
him proud
...

The climax
he is suffering from appendicitis (infection of the appendix)
...
The words
“hesitated” and “slowly” tell us clearly of his disappointment when he
realises that his son has been lying to him
...
3 Characterisation
There are three characters in the story:
Mr Willison is the protagonist in the story, as he is the central character
and controls the actions that take place
...

to deceit and telling lies in the end, even though he tries to please his
but knows he will get support from his mother against his father’s plans
...


a more mature and sensitive father he might have understood his son
better and not pushed and manipulated him
...
His attitude could be said to have
made the boy submissive and ultimately dishonest
...

Throughout the story Mrs Willison is opposed to her husband’s behaviour
towards and treatment of their son
...


4
...
An example of how the dialogue shows
the tension between the characters is when Mr and Mrs Willison have a
“What nonsense
...


© Department of Basic Education 2015

4 SHORT STORIES

Mind the Gap English First Additional Language: Paper 2 Literature

Manhood 1

4
...
The narrator refers to the characters as he, she
or they
...


The “narration”
or “narrative”
means the story
...


4
...
For example, Mr Willison’s enthusiasm for training
“Don’t lie there,” said his father
...
”
“I’m all right
...
”
“Come and sit on this
...
I want to lie here
...
”
“Your back needs strengthening, that’s why it aches
...
”

“Take a punch at it,” Mr Willison urged
...
”
“Go on
...
I haven’t seen you hit it yet
...


what his father wants him to do, without being able to negotiate
...


eyes brimming with angry tears”
...
He also realises that he

4
...
Then you get your second wind and your second endurance
...
”
“No boxer ever went into a big fight without spending an hour or
two in bed, resting
...


Notice how
the word ‘Boxing?’
is in italics
...


The angry and worried tone of Mrs Willison’s words to the father also adds
to the unease and tension in the story:
Grace Willison put down the teapot, her lips compressed, and
looked from one to the other
...

“Boxing,” Mr Willison replied calmly
...
“That’s one sport I’m
definite that he’s never going in for
...
“Just go right away and don’t come near me until it’s all over
...
Please leave me alone
...
”

The tone of the last line of the story contrasts with how Mr Willison is
characterised earlier in the story:
He put down the telephone, hesitated, then turned and began
slowly to climb the stairs
...
The story ends with a
gloomy tone
...
Title
“Manhood” points to the question being asked: what is manhood and
masculinity?

2
...
How is the story told?
3
...

3
...
The conflict between his parents is also unresolved
...

3
...

Antagonist: Mrs Willison (Rob’s mother) opposes Mr Willison’s actions
...

3
...

3
...
6 Diction and figurative language
Rob lay like a sullen corpse
Simile
He looked horribly like the victim of an accident
Simile

© Department of Basic Education 2015

Mind the Gap English First Additional Language: Paper 2 Literature

SH ORT STORIES 7

1 Short Stories

summary
A slender shadow
Metaphor
With lead in his heart and ice on his fingers
Imagery stressing Mr Willison’s shock as he realises his dream has
failed
3
...

Mood: How does this story make you feel? Happy, sad, angry or
indifferent? Give reasons for your answer
...
“I should have
thought they’d have done it by now
...
He bent down to pick up his
socks from under a chair
...

Mr Willison opened his mouth, closed it again, and stood for a
moment looking out of the window
...
“Bad luck,” he said quietly
...
To which sports team is Mr Willison referring in line 1?
2
...

Choose the correct word to show Mr Willison’s feelings when he
says
...

A Pleased
B Disappointed
C Furious
D Disinterested
3
...

2
...


The rugby team
B Disappointed
He wants his son to be a strong man
...


(1)
(1)

(2)
[4]

Activity 2

Extract B
Mrs Willison did not lift her eyes from the television set as he
entered
...
“He’s going to
rest in bed now, and go along at about six o’clock
...
” He sat
down on the sofa beside his wife, and tried to put his arm round
her
...
“Don’t spoil my big night
...
“What about my big night?” she asked, her voice
harsh
...
”
“Well, what about it?” Mr Willison parried, uneasily aware that
the television set was quacking and signaling on the fringe of his
attention, turning the scene from clumsy tragedy into a clumsier
farce
...
“Why did you let me
have a son if all you were interested in was having him punched to
death by a lot of rough bullet-headed louts who —”
“Take a grip on yourself, Grace
...
”
“You’re an unnatural father,” she keened
...
Where are Mr Willison and his son planning to go at six o’clock? (1)
2
...

(2)
3
...

your answer
...

a reason
for your answer?
Mr Willison’s big night is successful
...

2
...

4
...


They are planning to go to the boxing tournament at his son’s
school
...
He wants his son to be a good
sportsman
...

The father is right because it is important for boys to do sports if
they want to be proper men
...


e
...


EG - worked examples

6
...
Somerset Maugham
William Somerset Maugham was born in 1874 in Paris
...
He
novel, Liza of Lambeth, was so successful that he took to writing full-time
...
He was a very popular writer
in his time and one of the most highly-paid writers during the 1930s
...
Many of his novels
and stories, such as Being Julia and The Painted Veil, have been made into

1
...
Somerset Maugham

When the story begins a writer is at the theatre one night where he meets
a woman whom he has not seen for 20 years
...

The writer thinks back to that time, when he was poor and he had to
make very little money last for a whole month
...
The luncheon
took place at Foyot’s, a very expensive restaurant
...

Therefore, he was relieved when his guest said that she only ever ate one
thing for luncheon
...
The more food she ordered, the more the writer
got into a panic
...

As the meal proceeded he began to imagine how he would react if the bill was
too large for him to pay
...
Then he thought that he would leave his watch at the restaurant
and come back later and pay
...

Now, 20 years later, the writer tells us that he had “revenge at last” because
the woman now weighs 21 stone (the equivalent of 136 kilograms)
...
Title
The story title, The Luncheon highlights the importance of that particular
event for the writer
...
By remembering
this luncheon the writer remembers how young and immature he was at that

of restaurant, her choice of food – as he was too immature to oppose her
...


3
...
At the restaurant
the woman repeatedly says that she only eats one thing for lunch, but she
contradicts herself by ordering more food
...
The reality is that she
had suggested that the writer “give her a little luncheon at Foyot’s”
...
He even lied about
never drinking champagne, so that he could save some money
...
How is the story told?
4
...


4
...
This
literary device is known as a

...


hint

A flashback
HINT!

At that time, 20 years before, the young writer knew the restaurant was
menu
...

The complication is that the young writer was too afraid to stop the woman
ordering more food, even though he knew he could not afford it
...
g
...

The writer experienced a great deal of anxiety and panic about how he
would pay the huge bill at the end of the meal
...

First he thought of claiming that someone had picked his pocket, then he
thought that he would leave his watch at the restaurant and pay later to
get it back
...

resolution as it ends with an
ironic ‘twist in the tale’
...


A “twist
in the tale” is also known
as an ironic twist or a plot
twist
...


activity

activity

Step by step

© Department of Basic Education 2015

Mind the Gap English First Additional Language: Paper 2 Literature

ACTIVITIES bo
and girl-left a
right of page

SHORT S TORIES 13

commen

2 Short Stories

4
...
The writer is the
protagonist, the main character
...
The young
writer is very scared of the forty-year-old woman so he allows himself to be
manipulated into buying her an expensive meal
...
His youth and inexperience contrast with the woman’s
admired his writing:

vocab
Flattery:

“she seemed inclined to talk about me”

The writer says he was “prepared to be an attentive listener”
...

In the story we only see the woman from the writer’s point of view
...
”

She seemed to have a big mouth and more teeth than she needed and he
is repulsed by the sight of her eating the asparagus:
“I watched the abandoned woman thrust them down her throat in
large voluptuous mouthfuls”

Apart from the fact that the woman is not truthful, she is also bossy, as
she constantly tells him that he is wrong to eat what she refers to as a
sensitivity, as she does not see that one chop is not a “heavy luncheon”, in
contrast to what she has eaten
...

When he leaves only a small tip for the waiter (which is the only money he
has left), she thinks he is mean
...
At the end of the story we see that the woman has
never admitted the truth to herself about her eating habits, because after
20 years of excessive eating she is now obese
...
He is not, as he admits
a “vindictive” man, as he did not do anything to her, or say anything
to show how unfairly she had treated him
...
Now he can look at her without fear or anger, but with
“complacency” (self-satisfaction), because clearly years of eating so much
have resulted in her being very overweight
...
The writer
feels that he is “ingratiating” and “false”, which makes him seem as if
he only wants to please the woman
...
It seems that the young man was in such a
panic about paying the bill that he thought the waiter was working against
him by encouraging the woman to order expensive food
...


4
...
The higher the
bill, the bigger the tip
would be
...
The repetition of her words: “I never
eat more than one thing” or “I never eat anything for luncheon” are used
eat
...
The more
food she ordered, the more he began to panic
...
The contrast between the two characters and what they
eat highlights the differences in their experience of the meal
...

The more food the woman orders the more anxious the writer becomes
...
5 Narrator and point of view
The story is narrated from a
perspective
...
He

The writer
uses “I” to indicate
point of view
...


4
...
Irony is when
the narrator suggests that the situation appears to be the opposite
of what it really is
...

though all he ate was one chop
...
Ironically, this is one time when he is telling the truth, but she
Similes
The descriptions of the food in the story are very vivid because of the
In one effective simile the writer compares the effect of the smell of

© Department of Basic Education 2015

Mind the Gap English First Additional Language: Paper 2 Literature

SHORT S TORIES 15

2 Short Stories
the asparagus on him to the effect of the delicious smell of temple
The smell of the melted butter tickled my nostrils as the nostrils
of Jehovah were tickled by the burned offerings of the virtuous
Semites
...
”
Cliché
A cliché is an expression that is unoriginal and is so often repeated
that its original effect is lost
...
In this story they are used effectively to express
the writer’s emotional state during the luncheon
...
”
The prices were “beyond my means”
...

“My heart sank”

4
...
The
narrator is feeling generous and encourages the woman to order food at
the restaurant
...
”
“I fancy I turned a trifle pale
...
”

The tone lifts again in the last paragraph of the story when the narrator tells
us that the woman, 20 years later, has become very overweight
...

Mood: How does this story make you feel? Happy, sad, angry or indifferent?
What are the reasons it makes you feel this way?

© Department of Basic Education 2015

16 SHORT STORIES

Mind the Gap English First Additional Language: Paper 2 Literature

The Luncheon 2

summary
The Luncheon
by W
...
Title
By calling it The Luncheon the author highlights the importance to him
of that lunch date
...
Themes
Conflict between truth and lies
Contrast between appearance and reality

3
...
1 Setting
Mainly in Foyot’s the expensive restaurant in Paris
3
...
3 Characterisation
Protagonist: The writer is the main character
...

The waiter: Serious and “false”
3
...

Contradiction: Her words (above) contradict her actions
...

3
...
6 Diction and figurative language
“I’ll eat nothing for dinner tonight
...
”
Simile
“They had the blush of an innocent girl; they had the rich tone of an
Italian landscape
...

Clichés

© Department of Basic Education 2015

Mind the Gap English First Additional Language: Paper 2 Literature

SHORT S TORIES 17

2 Short Stories

summary
3
...

Mood: How does this story make you feel? Happy, sad, angry or indifferent?
Give reasons for your answer
...
]
I was startled when the bill of fare was brought, for the prices were
beyond my means
...

“I never eat anything for luncheon,” she said
...

“I never eat more than one thing
...
A little fish, perhaps
...
”
Well, it was early in the year for salmon and it was not on the
bill of fare, but I asked the waiter if there was any
...
I ordered it
for my guest
...

“No,” she answered, “I never eat more than one thing
...
I never mind caviare
...
I knew I could not afford caviare, but I could
not very well tell her that
...
For myself I chose the cheapest dish on the menu and that
was a mutton chop
...
Describe the events that lead to the narrator and his guest having
lunch together
...

a) Explain what the word “startled” suggests about the kind of
restaurants the narrator usually visits
...
(1)
c) Choose the correct answer to complete the following
sentence:
The real reason that the narrator agrees to take the guest
out for lunch is because he is …
B forced
...

D kind
...

From your knowledge of the story as a whole, explain why the
guest is NOT reassuring
...
Complete the following sentences by using the words provided
in the list below
...
The narrator
is a) … while his guest is b) …
(2)
5
...

The narrator does not order asparagus for himself because he
hates it
...

If you were the narrator, what would you have done in this
situation?

(2)

6
...


[17]

Answers to Activity 3
1
...


The guest said that she had read his book and wanted to
discuss it
...

a) The narrator never visits any restaurant because
he cannot afford to
...


b)
3
...

5
...


7
...

Menu/price list

She keeps ordering more expensive dishes causing the
narrator to become more anxious
...
(He loves it but) he cannot afford it
...

a) metaphor
b) The writer shows that the fear/panic the narrator
experiences is similar to a sinking man/ship
...


NB

(2)
(1)
(1)

e
...


(2)

NB

(2)
(2)

hint

e
...

Mind the Gap English First Additional Language: Paper 2 Literature

EG - worked examples

PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION

(2)
(1)

[17]

© Department of Basic Education 2015

HINT!

exams

(2)

PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION

exams

activity
HINT!
ACTIVITIES boy
and girl-left and
right of page

activity

EG - worked examples

Step by step

SHORT S TORIES 19

comment

2 Short Stories

Activity 4

Extract B

“You see, you’ve filled your stomach with a lot of meat” – my one
miserable little chop – “and you can’t eat any more
...
”
The bill came and when I paid it I found that I had only enough for
a quite inadequate tip
...

But when I walked out of the restaurant I had the whole month
before me and not a penny in my pocket
...
”
“I’ll do better than that,” I retorted
...
”
“Humorist!” she cried gaily, jumping into a cab
...
I do not believe that I am a
vindictive man, but when the immortal gods take a hand in the
matter it is pardonable to observe the result with complacency
...


5

10

15

1
...

2
...

snack…”? Explain your answer
...

Why does the narrator become even more anxious when his guest
takes a peach, in particular? State TWO points
...
Why does the narrator feel the tip he leaves for the waiter is
“inadequate”?
(1)
5
...

State TWO points
...

Using your own words, explain the following:
a) How the guest understands these words
(1)
b) What the narrator means
(1)
7
...

(1)
b) Explain why the narrator’s desire for revenge is “pardonable”
...
From your knowledge of the story as a whole, do you think the
narrator is a “mean” person? Explain your answer
...
The narrator is to blame for what happens at the restaurant
...

10
...


(2)
(2)
(1)
[18]

Answers to Activity 4
1
...

3
...

5
...
She orders salmon, caviar, giant asparagus, champagne,
a peach, ice cream and coffee, amounting to a full meal
...

It is only three francs
...

/She glances at it suggesting that it is inadequate
...

She goes against what she says
...

She suffers from obesity because she followed her own example
...


6
...


7
...


No
...

Yes
...


NB

PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION

NB

PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION
HINT!

hint

e
...


(2)
(1)

hint

(1)
(1)

EG - worked examples
HINT!

exams

b)

8
...

She brought it upon herself/the immortal gods had a
hand in it/it was fate
...
He should not punish the waiter for his guest’s
behaviour, he should have returned with a better tip
...
g
...
g
...
He was trying to be polite to his guest by not stopping
her from ordering all the expensive dishes
...
The title is suitable because the entire story is about the luncheon
...

(1)
[18]

in questions 8 and 9 are
Step by
activity step

ACTIVITIES bo
and girl-left a
right of page

commen

activity
Step by step

ACTIVITIES bo
and girl-left a
rightcommen
of page

activity

Step by step

© Department of Basic Education 2015

Mind the Gap English First Additional Language: Paper 2 Literature

SHORT S TORIES 21

commen

2 Short Stories

words to know

bill of fare
caviare
effusive
airy gesture
mortifying
succulent
voluptuous
discoursed
ingratiating
intimidating
contradict
manipulative

menu, price list
enthusiastic
light-hearted wave of the hand
humiliating, make feel ashamed
self-indulgent
discussed, talked
trying to please
scary, frightening
go against, oppose
feeling pleased after being complimented

humorist

© Department of Basic Education 2015

22 SHORT STORIES

Mind the Gap English First Additional Language: Paper 2 Literature

Short Stories 3
The Soft Voice
of the Serpent
by Nadine Gordimer

many short stories and novels
...
She often spoke out against apartheid and
censorship
...
She won many international prizes for
her work
...
Summary
A 26-year-old man has lost his leg
...
As he sits in the
garden he thinks about his missing leg
...


Nadine Gordimer

In the garden one morning, when his wife gets up to fetch some tea, she
accidently knocks a locust
...
He feels that he and the locust are
experiencing the same situation – they both have to cope without a leg
...

about the fact that they both have a leg missing
...


© Department of Basic Education 2015

Mind the Gap English First Additional Language: Paper 2 Literature

SHORT S TORIES 23

3 Short Stories

2
...
The use of alliteration in the title (the repetition of “s”)
reminds us of the hissing sound that snakes make
...
Just as Adam makes
a mistake by believing in the serpent, so the man makes a mistake in
believing that the locust can help him cope
...


© Department of Basic Education 2015

24 SHORT STORIES

Mind the Gap English First Additional Language: Paper 2 Literature

The Soft Voice of the Serpent 3
In an allegory the characters and events become symbols because they
also express a deeper, often spiritual or moral, meaning
...
The garden in which the man sits is like
Eden as it is a peaceful, beautiful place where he can think and come to
terms with his disability
...
Themes
The man who has lost his leg is struggling to come to terms with his situation
...
At the end of the story the man realises that he
must not depend on others, but must learn to cope on his own
...

Hope and the loss of hope: The locust’s struggle to walk and its
persistence gives him hope
...
How is the story told?
4
...

The garden reminds us of Eden
...


4
...
Sitting out in the garden in a wheelchair every
day gives him a lot of time to think about his missing leg
...

The tension rises in the story through the man’s mental struggle to get
used to the loss of his leg
...
She caused the locust to lose its leg, and so he
uses the locust’s dilemma to make fun of her
...


4
...

The man is the main character or protagonist in the story
...
Mostly, he shares
The wife is the antagonist in the story
...
She does not speak to her
husband directly about the loss of his leg
...
He has to face his loss alone again
...
The writer emphasises this by
the way the other characters refer to the locust:
It looked like some little person out of a Disney cartoon
...
By talking about the
locust the man and his wife are able to talk indirectly about the man’s loss
...
4 Style
The writer does not give the characters names or describe what they look
like, because the main focus is on the complication – the man trying to
cope with the loss of his leg
...
The man’s distress is internal – he tries to come to terms with
his condition in his mind
...

After a couple of weeks the man starts to take more notice of his
surroundings in the garden: the trees, the birds
...
The description of the locust in the story is very detailed
...

The only dialogue between the man and his wife is about the locust
...
The man says:
“I’ve been watching it, and honestly, it’s uncanny
...
” She looked
round at him and smiled
...
“The two of us
...
”

The writer emphasises the link between the man and the locust by
repeating the line “The two of us
...
5 Narrator and point of view
The narrator is not one of the characters in the story
...
The narrator refers to the characters as “he”, “she”
or “they”
...
6 Diction and figurative language
The writer uses descriptions of nature to show the man’s internal feelings
...


Here, the writer uses the metaphor of a sail on a boat opening in the wind,
to describe his feeling of hope
...


The locust’s movements are compared to a man’s in another simile:
Just as a man might take out a handkerchief and pass it over his
brow
...
He does not want her pity and his
irritation becomes clear in his use of sarcasm in response to her comments
about the locust :

vocab
Sarcasm:

“Don’t encourage it to self-pity”
“Get another little chair made for him and you can wheel him out
here with me
...
”

© Department of Basic Education 2015

Mind the Gap English First Additional Language: Paper 2 Literature

SHORT S TORIES 27

3 Short Stories

4
...
The garden is
seen as a good place for the man to recover:
the tender human adjusting himself to himself in the soothing
impersonal presence of trees and grass and earth

it is for the wife to push the man’s wheelchair into the garden, indicating
mental and emotional struggle the man faces, the tone becomes gloomy
...
His tone of speech becomes more hopeful
...
This tension rises until, at the end of
There was a moment of silence
...

Mood: How does this story make you feel? Happy, sad, angry or indifferent?
What are the reasons it makes you feel this way?

summary
The Soft Voice of the Serpent
by Nadine Gordimer

1
...

Alliteration: The repetition of “s” sound reminds us of a snake
...
Themes
Loss and how we deal with it
Hope and the loss of hope

3
...
1 Setting
In a garden, which reminds us of the Bible’s Garden of Eden
3
...
3 Characterisation
Protagonist: The man is the main character in the story
...

The locust: Represents the suffering of the man
3
...

3
...
6 Diction and figurative language
“A first slight wind lifted again in the slack, furled sail of himself”
Metaphor
“flimsy paper stretched over a frame of matchstick, like a small boy’s
home-made aeroplane
...
”
Simile
“Shame, isn’t he a funny old man”; “The poor old thing”
Personification
“Or maybe he could be taught to use crutches
...
7 Tone and mood
Tone: Begins with a gentle and calm tone; changes to a gloomy tone
as the man struggles with his loss; becomes hopeful when the man
sees the locust; ends with a hopeless and harsh tone when the locust
flies away
...


© Department of Basic Education 2015

Mind the Gap English First Additional Language: Paper 2 Literature

SHORT S TORIES 29

3 Short Stories

Activity 5

Extract A
[The lady wheels the man into the garden
...

So she wheeled him along, pushing hard and not particularly well
with her thin pretty arms – but he would not for anything complain
of the way she did it or suggest that the nurse might do better, for
he knew that would hurt her – and when they came to a spot that
he liked, she put the brake on the chair and settled him there for
the morning
...
He read a lot, but his attention was arrested sometimes,
quite suddenly and compellingly, by the sunken place under the
rug where his leg used to be
...
Then looking, he felt his leg not there; he
felt it go, slowly, from the toe to the thigh
...
After a few minutes he went back to his book
...
He felt it pressing up, coming, coming,
dark, crushing, ready to burst – but he always turned away, just in
time, back to his book
...

The man is being pushed in a (a)
...
He spends much
time (c)
...
Sometimes he thinks about the (d)
...

(4)

3
...
The man does not complain about how the woman pushes him
...

loss
...


7
...


2
...


4
...

6
...


(a) wheelchair
(b) wife
(c) reading
(d) leg
(a) metaphor

(4)
(1)
(2)

She has to push hard
...
/Her
arms are thin
...

He is sensitive
...

He is patient
...

It emphasises the impact the loss has on him
...

He is extremely hurt
...
It is better for him to share his feelings
...

Yes
...
/He must accept
his loss before anybody else can help him
...
g
...
g
...
]
“Get another little chair made for him and you can wheel him out
here with me
...
“Only for him it would have to be a kind of
little cart, with wheels
...
I’m sure the
farmers would like to know that he was being kept active
...
And
reaching back somewhere into an inquisitive childhood she picked
up a thin wand of twig and prodded the locust, very gently
...
” She looked round at
him and smiled
...
“The two of us
...
”
She was laughing and just then she flicked the twig more sharply
than she meant to and at the touch of it there was a sudden flurried
papery whirr, and the locust flew away
...
What happened
...

“Don’t be a fool,” he said irritably
...


1
...

(a) Why does the locust need a chair?

15

20

(1)

(c) Do you think he is being serious when he suggests that the
woman should wheel the locust around? Explain your answer
...
What point is the man making in his statement in lines 5–6
when he says, “I’m sure the
...

(2)
3
...

A man and the locust
...

C man and the woman
...

(1)
(a) Explain how the man’s mood changes
...

In the title of the story the serpent refers to a real snake in the
garden
...
Consider the story as a whole
...
What are these feelings?
(2)
7
...

(2)
8
...
How can disabled people be helped to come to terms with
their loss? Discuss your view stating at least TWO points
...


(a) The locust has lost its leg
...

possible
...
He is using the locust to point out/emphasise his own
(2)

3
...


happy that the locust was kept busy elsewhere
...

(a) His mood changes from happiness to irritation
...
g
...


5
...
The serpent refers to the locust
...

(False hope for the man)
...


8
...

She feels sorry for the locust and then becomes afraid of the
locust
...
She takes good care of her husband
...

No
...

They should be helped
...

They should be counselled
...


PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION

NB
(2)

(2)

(2)

activity
Questions 7 and
HINT!

hint

ACTIVITIES bo
and girl-left an
right of page

activity

e
...


EG - worked examples

[17]

Step by step

commen

exams

activity

ACTIVITIES bo
and girl-left an
right of page

activity

© Department of Basic Education 2015

Mind the Gap English First Additional Language: Paper 2 Literature

Step by step

SHORT S TORIES 33

commen

3 Short Stories

words to know

fervently
furled sail
arrested
compellingly
unobtrusive
annealment
lugubrious
hypnotic
dread
armour
kinship
pulsations of a heart
effaced
aperture
reproachfully
loathed
compassion
solemn
inquisitive
unnerved

eagerly
sail that is folded up
stopped, put on hold
forcefully, powerfully
not noticed, not obvious
strengthening, healing
sad
making somebody feel controlled, unable to get
away or look away
fear
metal clothing worn in battle
connection, similarity
beating of a heart
withdrawn
hole, opening
disapprovingly
hated
sympathy, pity
serious
curious
afraid

© Department of Basic Education 2015

34 SHORT STORIES

Mind the Gap English First Additional Language: Paper 2 Literature

Short Stories 4
Relatives
by Chris van Wyk
Christopher van Wyk (1957–2014) wrote poetry, stories and
autobiographical works
...
As in Relatives, many of Van Wyk’s stories are based on family
relationships and the community he came from
...
Summary

Chris Van Wyk

In the story a 21-year-old writer goes down to the Cape
...
After two weeks he gets
bored and decides to return by train to Johannesburg
...
When they leave the train the writer is left in the compartment with
two brothers who are not friendly
...
The writer
is afraid of them as they discuss how they will kill their brother’s murderer
when they get to Johannesburg
...
They tell him that he is related to them
...

Three years later the writer reads in the newspaper that the brothers have

© Department of Basic Education 2015

Mind the Gap English First Additional Language: Paper 2 Literature

SHORT S TORIES 35

4 Short Stories

The title
also makes us think
about what would have
happened to him if he
had not been related
to the boys!

2
...
They no longer seem like enemies
to him, as he has a connection to them
...
Themes
The main themes of the story are:
The importance of memories and family: The writer tells us that
in Carnarvon his relatives spend a lot of time together, having long
meals and discussions about family history
...

The power of stories to entertain and teach us about life
...

Coincidences:
brothers’ story) that are told on the train concern murder
...

Crime and gang violence: The brothers are clearly already involved in
crime as they are in a reformatory
...
The cycle of
gang violence tragically results in their own death
...
But it is the unplanned
meeting with the gangster
brothers, his distant
relatives, that this story
is really about
...
How is the story told?
4
...


4
...
He wants to write a “family saga”
(history of his family)
...

On the train back to Johannesburg he meets:
Three friendly carpenters or builders, laughing and drinking beer
(“their conversation was full of the hammers and nails of their

the conversation
...

He believes that the story is excellent because he feels that it has all the
necessary basic features of a good story, passing what he calls his litmus
test
...

The comic ending and anti-climax

company
...
As the writer puts it:

© Department of Basic Education 2015

Mind the Gap English First Additional Language: Paper 2 Literature

SHORT S TORIES 37

4 Short Stories
But then my journey took an unexpected turn
...
The writer is left in the compartment with the two unfriendly brothers
...
Suddenly their behaviour changes and they begin to act aggressively
– they start talking loudly, swearing, spreading their luggage all over the
compartment and littering
...
They are on their way to attend his funeral
and swear to take revenge on his killer
...

The

The brothers
may be the writer’s
relatives, but they are
clearly planning violence
...

They start looking at him straight in the eye, scaring him even more
...


The tension within the writer is now so great he cannot even eat
...
Their
grandmothers were sisters, so in fact the writer and the two brothers are
The resolution to the main story and the story told by the brothers comes
three years later, when the narrator reads in the newspaper about
Coronationville”
...


4
...
He is the protagonist, as he is the main character
...

The brothers contrast with the writer in every way
...

In a train compartment (which is the main setting for the story) the different
passengers also form a contrast to one another
...
4 Style
The story makes use of the stylistic device of “a story within a story”
...
This is the outer frame of the story
...


4
...
The story is told from the

4
...
For
example, at the beginning, when the narrator is visiting his elderly uncle,
the description of the old men emphasises the slow pace of their lives:
conversations consisting of long, trailing life histories that made
the old men in their elbow patches stammer and squint into the
past from behind their thick spectacles

The conversational, chatty tone of the characters when telling their stories
together with the use of dialect is very effective
...
” The Cape Coloured use of a
combination of English and Afrikaans is very effective, as it gives us a sense
of the rhythms and pronunciation of this speech
...
For example:
I began to worry
He knows what I’m thinking, I thought
...

I had no appetite
...
”
The reader is given insight into the characters through the vivid descriptions
of their appearance
...
Here, a metaphor is used to compare the short, bristly quality of
their hair to italic writing
...
”, a metaphor is used to compare
the train to a snake sliding along the ground
...
7 Tone and mood
In the story the writer uses dialogue and descriptions to show how the tone
changes in the story
...
punctuated with laughter and inane
arguments
...


The light-hearted tone at the beginning of the story changes to a dark and
sombre tone as the story goes on
...
The death of the
young brothers highlights the tragic waste of life that is the result of gang
violence
...
Title
The writer no longer feels threatened once he knows he’s related to the
juvenile delinquents
...
Themes
The importance of memories and family
The power of stories to entertain and teach
Coincidences
Crime and gang violence

3
...
1 Setting
Mainly the compartment of a train
3
...

Conflict: The increasingly vulgar and loud behaviour of the two
brothers
Tension: The writer becomes so anxious he cannot even eat
...

Resolution: Newspaper article about the death of the two brothers in
gang crime
3
...

Antagonists: The two brothers (the relatives)
The three young men: Their friendliness contrasts with the behaviour
of the brothers
...
4 Style
Stories within a story: The outer frame of the story is the trip to
Carnarvon
...

The centre frame is Georgie’s story
...
5 Narrator and point of view
First person
3
...
”
Short sentences for dramatic effect
“sandy hair that had been cut so short that the hairs grew in sharp italic
spikes”
Metaphor
“the train slithered out”
Metaphor
3
...

Mood: How does this story make you feel? Happy, sad, angry or
indifferent? Give reasons for your answer
...
]
Then followed an hour’s drive to Carnarvon by way of long, hot,
dusty, potholed roads past waving, poor people on foot or pushing
bicycles, and carrying bundles of wood or things wrapped in
newspaper
...
Simple breakfasts, lunches and suppers were linked
together by chains of cigarettes and conversations consisting of
long, trailing life histories that made the old men in their elbow
patches stammer and squint into the past from behind their thick
spectacles, as they dredged up anecdotes from the dry riverbeds
of history
...
But after two weeks I was bored out of my wits
...
The train from Cape Town – the very same one
that had brought me there two weeks before – slid into the station
...

When the train slithered out, I turned to the passengers in the
compartment with whom I was going to spend the next sixteen
hours or so on the way to Johannesburg
...

the missing words
...

The narrator (person who is telling the story) is visiting Carnarvon
because he wants to write a novel about his family (a) … Before
going to Carnarvon, he spends a week in (b) …
(2)
2
...

a)
b) E
4
...
State TWO ways in which
these men make him feel like an old friend
...
Explain how the narrator feels about the other two passengers in the
compartment at this point in the story
...

(2)
6
...

7
...


(2)

© Department of Basic Education 2015

42 SHORT STORIES

Mind the Gap English First Additional Language: Paper 2 Literature

Relatives 4
8
...

Before they tell him, the narrator is certain that the two boys are
brothers
...
The narrator in this story researches his family history
...


(2)
(2)
[18]

Answers to Activity 7
1
...

3
...

a) Metaphor

NB

PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION

(2)
(1)
(1)

in a dry riverbed
...


hint

e
...


He wanted to convey/emphasise/show that historical facts are

HINT!

EG - worked examples

(2)
4
...


exams

They listen to his conversation with real interest
...


5
...


7
...

9
...

He is scared of them
...

He is worried that they might harm him
...

He feels indifferent
...

They realise the narrator is scared
...

They are bullies, exploiting the fact that he is young and
scared
...

He is afraid that they will know why he is going to the
conductor
...
They look exactly alike/identical
...

Yes
...
You might
come across family members you never knew
...
You may discover some disturbing facts
...


(2)

activity
(2)

(2)

ACTIVITIES bo
and girl-left a
right of page

activity

Step by step

(2)
(2)
(2)

(2)
[18]

© Department of Basic Education 2015

Mind the Gap English First Additional Language: Paper 2 Literature

SHORT S TORIES 43

commen

4 Short Stories

Activity 8

Extract B
[The narrator tells his fellow passengers about Georgie Abrahams
...
When the conductor questioned
the whereabouts of the missing man, Georgie merely shrugged and
uttered a melodious “How should I know? Nobody asked me to take
care of him
...
Georgie
was in fact warning me to stay clear of his luggage! And the story had
quite an amusing ending
...

“Ses maande en djy skryf niks, phone niks, not a blerry word van
djou!”

5

10

15

20

1
...


(2)

compartment have different reactions
...

Why is the narrator not surprised by the boys’ reaction?

(2)
(1)

2
...


4
...

The two boys are on their way to their a) … funeral
...

(2)
5
...

a) How does this fact change his feelings towards them?
b) How does the boys’ behaviour change because of this
new-found relationship?
(2)
6
...

Write only the answer (A–D)
...

B sibling rivalry
...

D greed
...
Explain what makes the ending of the story sad
...
Discuss your views on the following statement:
Family background does not determine what you will become
in life
...


He had been away from home for 6 months/a long time
...
/She never heard
from him
...


hint

HINT!

(2)

4
5

6
...


8
...

The young writer is actually telling the story to the other
three/is trying to ignore the boys
...
/He becomes more
relaxed/ at ease
...

b) They invite him to share their supper/meal
...


(2)
(1)
(1)
(1)

e
...

exams

(1)

They become friendly
...

They are still very young/not even 21
...

The support of family strengthens one and often makes
success easier to achieve
...


activity

(2)

Your background does not necessarily determine your success
or failure in life
...


EG - worked examples

PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION
ACTIVITIES bo
and girl-left a
right of page

NB

activity

hint

HINT!

Step by step

(2)

e
...


commen

EG - worked examples

[17]

exams

© Department of Basic Education 2015

Mind the Gap English First Additional Language: Paper 2 Literature

activity
SHORT S TORIES 45

ACTIVITIES bo
and girl-left a

4 Short Stories

words to know

family saga
meandering
dredged up anecdotes
prominently
exuberant
inane
supercilious
undertones
conniving
fugitives
elementary
vulgarities
juvenile delinquents
caterer
rampant
futility

family history
rambling, winding
remembered old stories
importantly
energetic, full of life
foolish, silly
arrogant, proud
quiet talk
plotting, scheming
people running away from the law
vivid, colourful
basic
swear words
young criminals
person who serves food
out of control
uselessness

© Department of Basic Education 2015

46 SHORT STORIES

Mind the Gap English First Additional Language: Paper 2 Literature

Short Stories 5
The Coffee-cart Girl
by Es’kia Mphahlele
Es’kia Mphahlele (1919 – 2008) was born in the slums of Pretoria and
went on to become a world famous writer, educationist, artist and activist
...
As a result of his protests against Bantu Education he
Drum magazine in
1955, where he made a name for himself as a serious writer
...


Es’kia Mphahlele

Mphahlele went on to get his doctorate from the University of Denver, USA,

celebrated as being the Father of African Humanism
...
Summary
The story takes place in the industrial part of a city during apartheid, where
a young woman called Zodwa works at a coffee-cart
...
One day there is a strike at the
in the street where Zodwa’s coffee-cart stands
...


© Department of Basic Education 2015

Mind the Gap English First Additional Language: Paper 2 Literature

SHORT S TORIES 47

5 Short Stories

helps to move Zodwa’s coffee-cart away from danger of the crowd
...
This is the start

vocab
Cheapjack:

shoe factory
...
Naidoo clearly likes Pinkie and he starts coming to her cart for
coffee
...
She thinks he is
going to kill her
...
He

© Department of Basic Education 2015

48 SHORT STORIES

Mind the Gap English First Additional Language: Paper 2 Literature

The Coffee-cart Girl 5
apologises to her and leaves
...
When China comes back to visit her she is gone
...


2
...

Although the title is about Pinkie, everything that happens to her is caused
by the realities of the apartheid system
...


3
...
It is because
of the strike that the two young people meet
...

Violence against women/women’s powerlessness: Pinkie is the only
female character
...
She has no control over her own life and is pushed around by
individuals like China, and by the apartheid state
...

Jealousy: When another man, Naidoo, shows an interest in Pinkie,

vocab
Impoverished:

vocab
Vulnerable: Helpless to

becomes an obstacle in his relationship with Pinkie
...


4
...
1 Setting
The story is set in an industrial area in a city during apartheid
...

We are constantly aware of the poverty in the city and the fact that the
lives of the people are worth little
...


© Department of Basic Education 2015

Mind the Gap English First Additional Language: Paper 2 Literature

SHORT S TORIES 49

5 Short Stories

4
...
The writer’s description of
the march already gives a sense of tension
...
It is only when one of the coffee-carts gets knocked over that she
reacts
...
” China helps to move Pinkie’s coffee-cart before it gets
damaged
...
China is shy and is not able openly to tell Pinkie that he loves her
...
She says Naidoo gave it
becomes so great that he accuses Pinkie of being in love with Naidoo
and threatens her with a knife
...

China then realises that he is scaring Pinkie, and he apologises to her
...

The story does not have a clear resolution as Pinkie is forced by apartheid
laws to leave the area three days later
...


4
...

Pinkie is the main character or protagonist in the story
...
This is ironic,
because apartheid oppressed black people on the basis of the colour of
their skin, and yet here is a black woman with light-coloured skin
...

Pinkie is a shy and gentle woman and seems to accept the harshness of
her life
...
The writer uses descriptions of
small creatures when describing her:
looking like a bird frightened out of its nest
She panted like a timid little mouse cornered by a cat
...
He too has had a hard life
...
He seems to feel that
causes him to threaten Pinkie
...

He is sorry for frightening her and says to her:
© Department of Basic Education 2015

50 SHORT STORIES

Mind the Gap English First Additional Language: Paper 2 Literature

The Coffee-cart Girl 5
“I pray you never in your life to think about this day
...
This is mainly because of the cruelty and hardships
of the apartheid city in which they live
...

From the start, Pinkie is a bit afraid of China – he attracts and repels
(drives her away) her at the same time:
She felt “a repelling admiration”
...


vocab
Dumb:

The seriousness of China and Pinkie’s relationship is contrasted with
Pinkie off into peals of laughter”
...

Naidoo also gives some comic relief to the story, as he mispronounces
words for comic effect
...
4 Style
The relationship between Pinkie and China is explored through the use of
dialogue and descriptions
...
Another technique that the writer makes use of is
contrasts
...

In addition, the writer also contrasts aspects of their personalities
...

There was something she felt in his presence: a repelling
admiration
...
It is typical of her character that she would buy
something pretty such as “a beautiful long bodkin, a brooch, and a pair
of bangles”
...

Note the contrasting images and
in the description which
follows, which shows the many emotions China and Pinkie feel for each
other:

vocab
Ellipsis:
dots… either at the end

Within, heaven and earth thundered and rocked, striving to meet;
sunshine and rain mingled; milk and gall pretended friendship; fire
and water went hand in hand; tears and laughter hugged each
other in a fit of hysterics; the screeching of the hang-bird started
off with the descant of a dove’s cooing; devils waved torches
before a chorus of angels
...

“And still he sat in the coffee-cart which was once Pinkie’s all through
the lunch hour …” Here the ellipsis emphasises that we, like China,
do not know whether they will ever see each other again
...
5 Narrator and point of view
The writer uses a third person point of view to tell the story
...

It also allows us to appreciate how the political setting explains so much
about them
...
6 Diction and figurative language
The way the writer uses words and descriptions helps to convey meaning in
devices in the story:
Similes and metaphors
the striking marchers: “The crowd moved like one mighty being, and
swayed and swung like the sea
...


Oxymoron:
oppositing ideas are

“She sensed a gathering storm” (in this metaphor, China’s anger is
compared to a coming storm)
...
”

52 SHORT STORIES

Mind the Gap English First Additional Language: Paper 2 Literature

vocab

© Department of Basic Education 2015

The Coffee-cart Girl 5

brandishing batons”
...

Oxymoron
The writer uses oxymorons for effect in the writing, especially when
writing about the confused feelings that China and Pinkie have for
each other
...


4
...

The tone created by the strike is one of confusion and danger:
The crowd moved like one mighty being, and swayed and swung
like the sea
...


We are constantly aware of the poverty and grime in this part of the city
...


At the end of the story the coffee-carts are empty and deserted
...
Yet the story ends on a
hopeful tone as we read that China hopes that one day he will see Pinkie
again:
We’ll meet in town some day, China thought
...
Title
Focuses the story on Pinkie, the coffee-cart girl, surviving in apartheid
South Africa

2
...
How is the story told?
3
...
2 Structure and plot development
Complication: Pinkie has two admirers
Rising tension: China’s jealousy of Naidoo
Climax/crisis point: China threatening Pinkie with a knife
Resolution: None; the reader is left wondering what happens to the
characters next
...
3 Characterisation
Protagonist: Pinkie is the main character
Antagonist: China opposes her
Naidoo: A source of tension (China’s jealousy) and comic relief
3
...
5 Narrator and point of view
Third person
3
...
”
Two similes

© Department of Basic Education 2015

54 SHORT STORIES

Mind the Gap English First Additional Language: Paper 2 Literature

The Coffee-cart Girl 5

summary
“She panted like a timid little mouse cornered by a cat
...
7 Tone and mood
Tone: Begins with a tone of despair and danger in the strike; tone of
fear increases at the point of Pinkie being threatened by China; ends
on a hopeful note as China imagines meeting up with Pinkie again
Mood: How does this story make you feel? Happy, sad, angry or
indifferent? Give reasons for your answer
...
]
“Oh!” She gave a gasp and her hand went to her mouth
...
My name is Ruben Lemeko
...
Yours?”
“Zodwa
...

As he ate hungrily she shot a side-glance at him occasionally
...
There
was something she felt in his presence: a repelling admiration
...


5

10

15

1
...

2
...
Choose the correct answer to complete the following sentence
...
” His tone in this line is
one of:

© Department of Basic Education 2015

Mind the Gap English First Additional Language: Paper 2 Literature

SHORT S TORIES 55

5 Short Stories
A happiness
...

C annoyance
...


(1)

beret”)
...
In lines 11–14 of extract A (“There was something sly
...
What are
these feelings?
(2)

NB

PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION

NB
7
...
g
...

10
...
In your

(2)

[17]

exams

Answers to Activity 9
1
...
g
...
The strikers destroy some of the
carts
...

(3)
2
...
/He is older than Pinkie
...
C/annoyance
(1)
activity
4
...
/She appears to be undernourished
...

(2)
6
...
Pinkie leads a poor life
...
China is
comment
Step by step
comment
underpaid
...

EG - worked examples

(2)
She is compassionate
...

/ She is grateful
...


laws of the city to keep it clean
...
/
(2)

(2)
[17]

© Department of Basic Education 2015

56 SHORT STORIES

activity

Mind the Gap English First Additional Language: Paper 2 Literature

The Coffee-cart Girl 5

Activity 10

Extract B
[China attacks Pinky in her coffee-cart
...
Against the back
wall she managed to speak
...
Go
ahead and kill me; I won’t cry for help, do what you like with me
...
He
couldn’t finish the job he had set out to do
...
They had tried to fight, but this
creature wasn’t resisting at all
...

After a moment he stood up, looking away from Pinkie
...
”
She looked at him, mystified
...
” She nodded twice
...

The following day China did not visit Pinkie; nor the next
...
Things were all in a barbed wire
tangle in his mind
...
He would just
go and hug her; say nothing but just press her to himself because
he felt too mean even to tell her not to be afraid of him any more
...
Complete the following sentences by using the words in the list
below
...
He is (b)
...

2
...

Pinkie accepted the gift from Naidoo as a token of his love
...


(2)

more”)
...
Pinkie and China do not meet again
...


(2)
[18]

Answers to Activity 10
1
...


e
...

NB

e
...


False
...

A cat is ferocious and a mouse is timid
...

EG - worked examples
PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION

exams

hint

(4)
(1)

NB

3
...

6
...


HINT!

activity examples
EG - worked

8
...


Step by step

comment

activity
ACTIVITIES boy
and girl-left and
right of page

She has no chance against China, as he is much stronger than
she is
...

(1)
NB
She is puzzled /does not understand that his aggressive behaviour
has changed to that of being apologetic
...
/He still loves her
...

He is not being realistic
...

(2)
Yes, Pinkie forgives China
...

No, Pinkie has not forgiven China
...

(1)
It is an effective conclusion to the story because it shows how
uncertain their lives are and keeps us guessing about what happens
next
...
The writer should have
been clearer about the outcome
...
He studied at Fort Hare University and later
on Drum magazine
...
This was a mixedrace suburb which was very vibrant during the 1950s, but it was later
destroyed by the apartheid government
...


1
...
All his descriptions of the station
and people emphasise his depression, which he feels is shared by all the
people around him
...
When the train
gets to Phefeni Station a young woman enters the carriage and sits next
to the narrator
...
When the girl reaches her stop and wants to
get off the train the tsotsi prevents her and slaps her
...

No one dares to say anything to stop the tsotsi, until an older woman starts
shouting at the men and calling them cowards
...
This angers the huge man sitting opposite the
narrator and he gets up and moves towards the tsotsi
...
The big
tsotsi and lifts him
up
...

the morning Dube train
...
Title
The title focuses on the train journey rather than on any characters in the

them
...
It soon becomes:
Just an incident in the morning Dube train
...
Themes
The main themes of this story are:
Violence, crime and gangsterism
People’s passive attitudes to these issues
...
Nobody stops the tsotsi from harassing the
girl, or prevents the tsotsi from stabbing the big man, or stops the man
tsotsi out of the window
...

Perhaps the writer is saying that violence has become so common that
people no longer see it as a problem:
too many passengers had seen too many tragedies to be rattled
by this incident
...
They consider them as a break in their dull lives
...


4
...
1 Setting
Remember
that this story was
written during
apartheid
...


The story takes place at the Dube station and on the Dube train
...

The narrator links the train trip with life in general:
the prospect of congested trains filled with sour-smelling
humanity, did not improve my impression of a hostile life directing
its malevolence plumb at me
...
2 Structure and plot development
At the beginning of the story the narrator gives a description of the
environment at the station and the people who, like him, feel depressed
on that Monday morning
...

When the narrator gets on to the train he describes the passengers more
individually
...

The tsotsi’s harassment of the girl is the complication in the story
...
When the tsotsi draws a knife it creates panic in the carriage:
the woman shrieked and men scampered on to seats
...
The man then picks the tsotsi
train window
...
The narrator of the story comments at the end
of the story:
Odd, that no one expressed sympathy for the boy or the man
...
3 Characterisation
The main characters in the story are people who are part of the crowd on
the train:
A huge man who sits opposite the narrator
...
His presence feels
“obtrusive” because he is so large and it feels as if he is blocking the
narrator’s view and he can’t see past him
...
She is young
but acts more mature than she is
...


Did you
notice that it was an
up to the tsotsi? What do
you think this says about
the men who chose to
be passive?

The men in the carriage “winced
...
It is only when the tsotsi swears at
the woman, that the huge man becomes offended and takes action
...

In the story the huge man, the girl and the shouting woman act as
protagonists
...

It is the tsotsi’s actions that drive the events that take place on the train
...
4 Style
The narrator of the story notices what is going on with the tsotsi and
carriage are viewed between station stops
...

The writer uses township slang and dialect as ways to indicate the
atmosphere of the life he is describing
...
In the
story slang is used by the tsotsis to communicate with each other
...
The narrator says of their
exchange of words:

vocab
Slang:

The gibberish exchange was all in exuberant superlatives
...
5 Narrator and point of view
The narrator tells the story in the


...


© Department of Basic Education 2015

Mind the Gap English First Additional Language: Paper 2 Literature

SHORT S TORIES 63

6 Short Stories

4
...

For example, the description
helps us build up a picture of him:
a hulk of a man
...


With this metaphor of the man’s chest being an enormous live barrel we
have an image of how huge he was and don’t question his ability to lift up
and throw the boy later
...

Can Themba
uses language very
powerfully to question
whether humanity can
remain caring in the
“hostile life” of urban
apartheid
...

Metaphor
The woman who shouted at the tsotsi used “barbed words” – her
words are compared to barbs, which could mean insults or sharp
thorns
...
“Anticipation”
is usually associated with looking forward to something positive
...


4
...


The tone of gloom and despair is continued when the narrator is seated on
the train:
the other passengers, looking Monday-bleared, had no enthusiasm
about them
...


The writer emphasises how bored and depressed the passengers on the
train usually are by contrasting this with how they behave at the end of the
story:
[They] break out into a cacophony of chattering
...
”

© Department of Basic Education 2015

64 SHORT STORIES

Mind the Gap English First Additional Language: Paper 2 Literature

The Dube Train 6
The writer emphasises the fact that people are so used to violence, that
they are not so much shocked as excited by what happened on the train
...

Mood: How does this story make you feel? Happy, sad, angry or indifferent?
What are the reasons it makes you feel this way?

summary
The Dube Train
by Can Themba

1
...
Themes
Violence, crime and gangsterism
Peoples’ passive attitudes to these issues

3
...
1 Setting
At the Dube Station and on the train
3
...
3 Characterisation
Protagonists: The big man, the girl and the shouting woman
Antagonist: The tsotsi
3
...
5 Narrator and point of view
First person
3
...
7 Tone and mood
Tone: Mainly a gloomy, despairing and depressed tone; except
when the violence breaks out, when the tone becomes excited
Mood: How does this story make you feel? Happy, sad, angry or
indifferent? Give reasons for your answer
...
]
The morning was too cold for a summer morning, at least to me,
a child of the sun
...
It debilitates my interest in the whole
world around me
...
Despairing
thoughts of every kind darted through my mind: the lateness of the
trains, the shoving savagery of the crowds, the grey aspect around
me
...
I suppose it had something to do with the peculiar
chemistry of the body on Monday morning
...

Yet, by one of those flukes that occur in all routines, the train I
caught was not full when it came
...
So it was on that
Monday morning when I hopped into the Third Class carriage
...

the missing words
...

In lines 1 and 2 “a child of the sun” is an example of
The a) … is being described as the b) … of the narrator
...

a)

consecutive words from the

Consecutive:

b)
on a Monday morning
...

In your view, why does he feel this way? State TWO points
...

4
...


(1)

c)
3
...
Choose the correct answer to complete the following sentence:
In line 13, the word “
” refers to …
A unfortunate accidents
...

C unlucky coincidences
...

6
...

7
...

8
...

a)
State TWO points
...
State TWO points
...

2
...
g
...
”
He feels sick/ill/bad
...
/ He shivers
...


(2)

(1)

He is not interested in anything
...

exams
He feels irritable
...

He feels scared
...
/He is faced with a bleak
prospect of the coming week
...

NB
NB
ACTIVITIES boy
The
and girl-left and thought of getting on the Dube train scares him/sends shivers
right of pagedown his spine
...

He is faced with his dismal surroundings
...
“sour-smelling humanity”
HINT!
“its malevolence”
“hostile life”
in question 3 is
“Despairing thoughts”
comment
Step by step
comment
4
...
D
(1)
EG - worked examples

hint

e
...

NB

exams

hint

HINT!

activity

e
...


a girl, and then the tsotsi being thrown out of the train by a strong
man
...
The narrator is showing how unfriendly and dirty his world is
...

(2)
8
...

She is arrogant
...

(2)
b)
ACTIVITIES boy
and girl-left and
She panics
...
/She hopes the other passengers
will come to her aid
...

She whimpers
...

(2)

PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION

EG - worked examples

activity
exams

Step by step

comment

comment

[18]

activity
68 SHORT STORIES

ACTIVITIES boy
and girl-left and
right of page

© Department of Basic Education 2015

Mind the Gap English First Additional Language: Paper 2 Literature

The Dube Train 6

Activity 12

Extract B
[The narrator describes the reactions of the passengers
...
The girl wanted
to get off, but the tsotsi would not let her
...
She flung a leg over me and rolled across my lap in
her hurtling escape
...

To steady himself, he put a full paw in my face
...
Then he ploughed through the humanity of the train, after the
girl
...

She burst into a spitfire tirade that whiplashed at the men
...
Fancy, he grabs at a girl in front of you – might be your
daughter – this thing with the manner of a pig! If there were real
men here, they’d pull his pants off and give him such a leathering
he’d never sit down for a week
...
And all you do is whimper,
‘The children of today have never no respect!’ Sies!”

5

10

15

1
...

2
...

What caused the “caveman” to reel?
3
...

Using your own words, explain why the woman calls the men
“poltroons”
...

4 of the extract
...

(1)
5
...

What does the use of the word “Sies!” suggest about the woman’s
feelings?
(1)
6
...

How do the following people react when they see the knife?
a) The woman
(1)
b) The male passengers
(1)
7
...


PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION

NB

hint

e
...


HINT!

questions 7 and 9 are

EG - worked examples

© Department of Basic Education 2015

Mind the Gap English First Additional Language: Paper 2 Literature

SHORT S TORIES 69

6 Short Stories
a) Why, do you think, does he not react when the tsotsi attacks
the young girl? State TWO points
...

probably killed? Explain your answer
...
The passengers on the Dube train choose not to get involved when
the tsotsi
the train
...

(2)
[17]

Answers to Activity 12
a) The tsotsi/the man who is attacking the girl
...

(1)
c) “paw”
(1)
2
...

(1)
3
...
/They do not help the girl
...
/They should have given him a beating
...
/He is one and they are many
...
“might be your daughter”
(1)
PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION
5
...

(1)
6
...

(1)
b) They move out of the way
...
a) He is used to incidents like this
...

He probably thinks the two young people know each other
...

(2)
PAY- SPECIAL examples
EG worked ATTENTION
NB
NB
b) The disrespect shown to the older woman
...

ACTIVITIES boy
The tsotsi wounds him with a knife
...


hint

e
...


hint

e
...


exams

and girl-left and
right of page

HINT!

hint activity

e
...
activity

EG - worked examples

Step by step

exams

activity

from the train
...
/No, he got what he deserved because he was so violent
himself
...
Violence is part of their daily lives /they are used to it
...

There is no respect for women
...

They do not wish to get involved in other people’s lives/
business
...
For many years he worked for The New Yorker, a literary
magazine
...
To pass the time he would escape into a rich
fantasy world
...
He often illustrated his
stories with his own drawings
...
Summary
The story takes place on a snowy day during World War 2 (1939-1945) in
an American town called Waterbury
...

As Walter Mitty drives his wife into town, does his errands and waits for
fantasy worlds of his “secret life”
...
In his real life his wife shouts at him for driving his car too
fast
...
In his real life he drives past a hospital, which
triggers his fantasy
...
In
his real life he walks past a boy selling newspapers who is shouting
the headlines about a famous trial called the Waterbury trial
...
In real life he is waiting outside a shop for his
wife and it begins to rain
...
Title
The title includes the words “secret life”, which encourages the reader to
read the story in order to discover what this life is, and why it is “secret”
...
Themes
A main theme in the story is the
between fantasy and reality
...

Another theme is the power of fantasy and imagination
...
Walter Mitty represents all of us who aspire to a life of
glamour and heroics to brighten up our everyday reality
...
How is the story told?
4
...
Although
much of the action takes place in a car, we also follow Walter Mitty as he
goes shopping and waits at the hotel for his wife
...
2 Structure and plot development

vocab
Nagging:

The story is structured so that it has two layers:
In the
Walter Mitty has a rich and imaginative fantasy
life in which he is a daring and respected hero
...

of his wife and the boredom of the real world
...

In his fantasies, however, Mitty has a number of problems and complications
to solve
...

In each of the fantasies Mitty is faced with a situation that is at crisis point
or has reached a climax:
In fantasy 1 he fearlessly guides a hydroplane safely through a huge
storm
...

In fantasy 3 he tells the court about his amazing skills with a gun –
hand
...

In fantasy 5
proud and disdainful”
...
Not all his fantasies reach a resolution as they are often interrupted
and he has to return to the real world
...

The end of the story is an anti-climax as Mitty is left standing in the rain
waiting for his wife
...


4
...

Walter Mitty is the protagonist or main character in the story
...
She constantly nags
him and reminds him to do things, which leaves him feeling weak and
inadequate
...

She nags him to wear his gloves
...

At the end of the story she makes him wait for her in the rain
...
You’re not a young man any longer
...
”
The character of Mrs Mitty is a good example of a caricature, which is an
exaggerated representation of a type of person
...
She is also an example of a stereotype
...


vocab
Stereotype:

By contrast, all the characters in Mitty’s fantasies are distinguished by
their youth, inexperience or reverence for Mitty:
In fantasy 1 the crew of the hydroplane believe that, “The Old Man’ll
get us through … The Old Man ain’t afraid of Hell!”
In fantasy 2 the doctor, Mr Pritchard-Mitford, in the operating theatre
compliments him on a book he has written, saying it was a “brilliant

situation in the theatre is beyond his control, so he asks Mitty to take
over
...

In fantasy 4
even though the sergeant believes it is too hard a task
...
This is why
many of Mitty’s
fantasies have war
references
...
These are:
The parking attendant
The young garageman
The passerby who laughs at him
...
4 Style
The strength of the story lies in the writer’s use of contrasts
...
By contrast, his wife
has an attitude of certainty and control
...

She often treats him as if he were a child
...
”

She gives the impression that it is she who will get him home, but in reality
it is he who will drive
...
Here, at least, he is the brilliant, brave and dependable hero who
saves the day and whom everyone admires
...
5 Narrator and point of view
The narrator is not one of the characters in the story
...


4
...

The story can be read as a satire revealed to us by the fantasies that Walter
Mitty has about himself
...
In his fantasies he is always respected and admired
for his bravery and ability to save others in dangerous situations
...

Onomatopoeia (words that imitate real-life sounds) is always used in the
fantasies
...
It indicates the sound of the hydroplane and the

vocab
Ellipsis:

throwers used by bomber pilots
...

In order to add humour to the story the writer makes use of a number
of malapropisms (words that sound like the correct one but are wrong)
and neologisms (made-up words)
...
The
gun in the courtroom fantasy is called by the neologism “Webley-Vickers
50
...


© Department of Basic Education 2015

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The Secret Life of Walter Mitty 7

4
...
The
tone in this fantasy is excited and optimistic, conveyed by the writer’s use
of multiple exclamation marks:
“We’re going through!”
“Rev her up to 8500!”
“Full strength in No
...

This contrasts with the tone Mitty’s wife uses when she speaks to him
...
This creates a tone of
sadness – we feel pity for poor, clumsy Mitty as he tries to create a richer
squad, because at least he is strong and brave even though he is facing
death
...
Title
“Secret life” makes the reader want to read the story to find out about
the “secret”

2
...
How is the story told?
3
...
Much of the action occurs in the
car
...
2 Structure and plot development
First story layer: Walter Mitty’s fantasy life

© Department of Basic Education 2015

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7 Short Stories

summary
Second story layer: Walter Mitty’s boring life and nagging wife
Crisis points/climaxes: Occur in each of his five fantasies, although
not all reach a resolution
Complications: Occur in Walter Mitty’s real life because he is forgetful
and inadequate
Anti-climax: The end of the story, as Walter Mitty is left standing in the
rain waiting for his wife
3
...
She is
presented as a caricature and a stereotype
...
4 Style
Contrasts: Between the characters of Walter Mitty and his wife;
between Walter Mitty’s fantasy life and real life
3
...
6 Diction and figurative language
Satire: The irony in the complete contrast between Walter Mitty’s
character in his fantasy life and his character in real life
“pocketa-pocketa”, “rat-tat-tatting”
Onomatopoeia
“Obstreosis of the ductal tract”, “streptothricosis”
Malapropisms
“Webley-Vickers 50
...
7 Tone and mood
Tone: In Walter Mitty’s fantasy life the tone is excited and optimistic,
serious, confident and proud
...
The anti-climax at the end creates a sad tone
...


© Department of Basic Education 2015

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The Secret Life of Walter Mitty 7

Activity 13

Extract A
[Walter waits for his wife
...
He
picked up an old copy of Liberty and sank down into the chair
...

… “The cannonading has got the wind up in young Raleigh, sir,”
said the sergeant
...
“Get him, to bed”, he said wearily
...
I’ll fly
alone
...
Where is Walter Mitty and why is he there?
2
...
What grammatical signs do we have to show that he
begins to fantasise?
5
...
Choose the correct words from the list below
...

2
...


4
...

6
...


He is in a hotel waiting for his wife
...

It is the headline of the article he is reading
...

The ellipsis and inverted commas
...


(2)
(2)
(2)
(3)
(4)
[16]

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7 Short Stories

Activity 14

Extract B
[Walter and his wife drive in to town
...
She put her mirror back into
her bag
...
“You’re not a young man any longer
...
“Why don’t you wear your gloves? Have you lost your gloves?”
Walter Mitty reached in a pocket and brought out the gloves
...
“Pick it
up, brother!” snapped a cop as the light changed, and Mitty hastily
pulled on his gloves and lurched ahead
...


5

1
...
What evidence does this passage give to show that Mitty tries to
do things his way
...
What else does he usually do to escape his wife?
4
...

5
...

2
...

4
...

6
...

(2)
He takes the gloves off as soon as she has gone
...

(2)
He thinks or fantasises that he is a famous surgeon who will operate
well and help the other doctors
...

(4)
aimlessly
(1)
False, because he races the engine and does not move fast
enough when the lights change
...
Her father was a British doctor who came to South Africa
in the hope of curing his ill-health
...

Although she never lived permanently in South Africa again, she visited
many times over the next 40 years
...


1
...
Their mother has recently died of a disease of
the heart caused, in part, by their father’s “water-cases”
...

In his last attempt to get water their father loses more money than ever

owes, he gives the neighbour some of his land with the intention of buying
it back when he has money again
...

assures her that it is the right thing to do – it will save their father’s farm
...

around all day and show off his new wife to everyone – “the wife that
Burgert de Jager sold to me”
...
His body is found six days after Marta dies
...
Sukey, however,

2
...


3
...


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8 Short Stories
In this quiet rural world the most important source of wealth is land
...


father keep it
...


4
...
1 Setting
The setting of the Little (Klein) Karoo is important, even though there are
few descriptions in the story
...
These are also important themes in
the story
...
2 Structure and plot development
The complication in the story arises from the fact that Burgert de Jager

of money on legal fees
...

The

between the two farmers creates the tension in the story
...
Sukey is very
unforgiving towards her father and blames him for the deaths of both her
her father
...
Sukey comes to understand the goodness of Marta, and
“Do now as it seems right to you
...
3 Characterisation
The main characters in the story are the sisters, Marta and Sukey, and
their father, Burgert de Jager, who are the protagonists
...

The two sisters are very different from one another, but they have great
affection for each other
...
She
tells Sukey:
“if I do right, right will come of it, and it is right for me to save the
lands of my father
...
Who am I to judge Jan
Redlinghuis?”

Sukey

him that he is at fault
...
Did not my
mother die for it? And was it not for this that we sold my sister
Marta to old Jan Redlinghuis?”

Note how
much of the dialogue
sounds biblical
...


about him
...
”

Burgert de Jager’s obsession with getting water for his farm leads to the
death of his wife and his daughter Marta
...

Sukey
...
However, near the end
of the story they both seem to realise they have been wrong and feel sorry
about it
...
It is blood that I have led on
my lands to water them, and this night will I close the furrow that I
built from the Ghamka river
...
”

Jan Redlinghuis becomes remorseful when Marta is at the point of death
...


© Department of Basic Education 2015

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8 Short Stories

4
...
We are not
told by the writer what the characters look like, or what the land looks like,
or how they view their surroundings, because the focus is on the attitudes
and reactions of the characters to the troubles that they experience
...
An example of this is: “this night will
I” instead of ‘tonight I will’ as the writer wants to follow the Afrikaans word
order, namely ‘sal ek’
...
5 Narrator and point of view
The

, Sukey de Jager, is a young girl living on a farm

of view
...
6 Diction and figurative language
The way the writer uses words and word order emphasises the meaning
she wants to convey to the reader
...
Even between my parents at last came bitterness and
sorrow
...


back, Sukey emphasises the growing pressure by saying:
And from that day Jan Redlinghuis pressed him, pressed him,
pressed him, till my father did not know which way to turn
...
”

This emphasises the idea of loyalty and what is appropriate behaviour
...
For
example, when he says:
“Is it not wonderful, Sukey, what we have done with the water that
old Jan Redlinghuis lets pass to my furrow?”

Sukey answers:
“What is now wonderful? It is blood that we lead on our lands to
water them
...


A symbol:

The writer also uses an idiom (a clichéd saying) in the story:
“my father’s back was up against the wall”

This means that the father has no options left, he has nowhere to turn
...


Sukey’s heart is compared to lead
...
‘Blood’ here could

4
...
For example, when Sukey refers to Marta,
she remembers her only as having a “still, sad face”
...
It is as if Sukey and her father are entering an
emotional night-time
...
Burgert de Jager

father, but says what her sister Marta would say:
“Who am I that I should judge you?”

Mood: How does this story make you feel? Happy, sad, angry or indifferent?
What are the reasons it makes you feel this way?

© Department of Basic Education 2015

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8 Short Stories

summary
The Sisters
by Pauline Smith

1
...
Themes
Land, patriarchy and tradition
Devotion, obedience and submission
Female self-sacrifice
Compassion and bitterness
The meaning of sin
The right to judge

3
...
1 Setting
The Little (Klein) Karoo
3
...
3 Characterisation
Protagonists: Marta, Sukey and Burgert de Jager are the main
characters
Antagonist: Jan Redlinghuis opposes their actions
3
...
5 Narrator and point of view
First person narrator (Sukey de Jager)
3
...

Even between my parents at last came bitterness and sorrow
...
”
Repetition

© Department of Basic Education 2015

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The Sisters 8

summary
“What is now wonderful? It is blood that we lead on our lands to water
them
...
”
Simile
“It is blood that I have led on my lands to water them
...
7 Tone and mood
Tone: Mostly a tone of sorrow, bitterness and despair; ends with a
more hopeful tone
...


They were
also very religious
and patriarchal
...


This tragic
story shows us
some of their culture
and the challenges
they faced
...
]
And she said again: “Sukey, my darling, listen now! If I marry old
Jan Redlinghuis he will let the water into my father’s furrow, and the
lands of Zeekoegatt will be saved
...
”
I cried to her: “Marta! Old Jan Redlinghuis is a sinful man, going
at times a little mad in his head
...
Afterwards it will be too late
...
Think now, Sukey,
my darling! There is not one of us that is without sin in the world
and old Jan Redlinghuis is not always mad
...

The next day I went alone across the river to old Jan
Redlinghuis’s farm
...


5

10

15

1
...
Write only the words next to the question numbers (1a)
– 1d))
...
river in a place called b)
...
and her father is d)
...

3
...
Choose the correct answer to complete the following sentence
...

A arrogant
...


© Department of Basic Education 2015

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The Sisters 8
5
...


7
...


(2)

b) Identify the theme which is shown here
...


3
...

5
...


a)
b)
c)
d)

Platkops
Sukey
Burgert de Jager

(4)

repay Jan, who, in turn, demands to marry Marta
...

(2)
She wants to help her father/save the farm
...

She wants to spare her father the humiliation of poverty/being
treated like a poor white
...

(2)
They love each other dearly
...

AND
Examples: Sukey is willing to take Marta’s place with Jan
...
/They share everything
...
/Marta calls Sukey “darling”
...
/
Sukey cried in Marta’s arms
...
g
...


8
...

She is obedient
...


(2)
(2)
(1)

e
...

exams

EG - worked examples

activity

ACTIVITIES bo
and girl-left a
right of page

ended up killing her
...


activity
(2)
[20]

activity
Step by step

© Department of Basic Education 2015

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SHORT S TORIES 91
activity

ACTIVITIES bo
commen
and girl-left a
right of page

8 Short Stories

Activity 16

Extract B
[Marta has died
...
And still
they could not find Jan Redlinghuis
...
God knows
what madness had driven old Jan Redlinghuis to the mountains
when his wife lay dying, but there it was they found him, and at
Bitterwater he was buried
...
It is blood that I have led on my lands to water
them, and this night will I close the furrow that I built from the
Ghamka river
...
”
It was in my heart to say to him: “The blood is already so deep
in the lands that nothing we can do will now wash it out
...
I do not know how it was, but there came before me
the still, sad face of my sister, Marta, and it was as if she herself
answered for me
...
“Who am I
that I should judge you?”

5

10

15

1
...

Mrs de Jager died of cancer
...


(1)

(b) Explain the meaning of this line in the context of the story
...


Quote a sentence which proves that Sukey is submitting to
her father
...
In your opinion, who is to blame for Marta’s death? Explain your
choice
...

2
...


She was a very gentle/peace-loving/sensitive person
...
She died of a broken heart
...

Marta had died
...

4
...

He knows that he is responsible for Marta’s illness
...

He does not want to be present when Marta dies
...
a) Metaphor
(and his wife)
...
g
...


exams
be a better/kinder person
...


(2)

“Do now as it seems right to you
...

Burgert sold her to him knowing he was cruel, and Jan humiliated her
so much it killed her
...


words to know

tent-cart
inspanned

HINT!
activity

hint

ACTIVITIES bo
and girl-left an
right of page

(3)
[15]

water-cases
water-rights
furrow
cashmere
bond

PAY SPECIAL ATTENTION

NB

legal cases involving the right to use water
permission to use water from a river or from another farm
a channel for water

activity examples
EG - worked

e
...

exams

Step by step

activity

ACTIVITIES bo
and girl-left an
right of page

instead of paying with money land has been used to
goes to the person who lent the money
wagon with a hood
harnessed the wagon to horses so that they could pull it

activity

Step by step

© Department of Basic Education 2015

Mind the Gap English First Additional Language: Paper 2 Literature

commen

SHORT S TORIES 93

commen

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...

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