Form 3 English Language

Chapter 8: The Return

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8.1. Introduction
8.2. Oral instructions
8.3. Tone and mood
8.4. Reading - the return
8.5. Guided composition
8.6. Word formation and spelling
8.7. Summary
8.8. Expected/Possible answers

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8.1. Introduction

You have practised a variety of listening and speaking skills in the chapters you have been working on. In this chapter, the listening skill you will work on focuses on oral instructions which will be in the form of announcements. In order to carry out the exercises correctly, you will have to pay attention to the type of register used and the tone of the one giving the instruction. The exercises for tone and mood in speaking skills are very closely related to the exercises you will have carried out in listening skills as you will work on exercises that focus on the tone and mood. The exercises bring out the importance of listening attentively and using the appropriate registers.

Zimbabwe is a country which gained independence after fighting a war of liberation. You may not have experienced the effects of the armed struggle, in this chapter you will read an extract from a novel which narrates the pleasant and unpleasant experiences of war. Instead of answering the usual comprehension questions, you will analyse the characters, setting, plot and theme as portrayed by the writer. You will also get the opportunity of writing an article for a local paper where you will develop the skill of writing interesting stories that catch the eye of the reader. Supporting Language structures on word formation will address some of the tricky words that can affect your composition writing.

Objectives

After going through this chapter, you should be able to

• follow a series of directions and instructions.
• relay messages accurately.
• describe characters in a book.
• draw relationships among themes.
• answer a variety of questions.
• use guided composition techniques.
• use homonyms, homographs and homophones correctly in sentences to show that they understand their meanings.

Key terms

Characterization - A description of the character or nature of somebody based on the way they talk or behave.
Mood – The way a person thinks and feels about something at a particular time.
Personification - An act of giving human qualities to non-human beings such as animals and trees.
Setting - The location in terms of place/time/period/physical features in which the story is developed.
Style - The way a writer chooses his words, or structures his lines in poetry in order to bring out the themes.
Theme - The central idea which develops the story. (What the story is about).
Tone – The way somebody says something as an indicator of what that person is feeling or thinking, usually revealed by the way he/she chooses words.

Time

You should not spend more than 8 hours in this chapter.

Study skills

Make use of the following skills for this chapter.

• Analyze – Study or examine something in great detail in order to understand it better.
• Attentive listening – Pay attention to every detail you read so that you understand everything.
• Note-making – Write down notes through each exercise to record what you learnt.
• Silent reading - Read silently to be able to concentrate and understand what you are reading about.
• Synthesize – Combine different views or ideas in order to come up with a decision.

8.2. Oral instructions

Listening is a very important skill that you have to develop each day. Why do you think this is so? Language is acquired through listening to someone, it can be your parents or your brother or sister. Of course, as we grow up we develop our language through reading. Can you give me some of the reasons why it is important to listen carefully all the time? We hope what you have in mind is what we have for you listen in order

• To follow given directions to a specific spot.
• To be able to report on information accurately.
• To carry out given tasks to specification.
• To be able to answer questions relevantly and accurately.

The list is endless. In this chapter you will listen to oral instructions which will be in form of announcements. It is also important to know that appropriate registers have to be used on announcements.

Exercise 8.1.

Ask your friend to read the instructions on how to write a newspaper article. If you cannot readily find one to read for you, record the information and answer the questions that follow.

If you want to successfully write a newspaper article, you have to first of all compile your facts. It is important to carry out a research on the topic to get adequate and accurate information as a newspaper article is written for a large audience. You have to create an article outline to ensure your article flows smoothly. Create a catchy headline and your first paragraph should provide a preview of the story so that the reader can decide to read on or not.

Questions

1. What is the first thing that you should do when you want to write an article?
2. Why should you carry out a research on the topic you want to write on?
3. What must you do for your article to flow smoothly?
4. How should you structure your headline to make people have an interest in your article?

Summarize your answers in your workbook.

Answers

1. You have to compile your facts.
2. To get adequate and accurate information on the topic you are writing about.
3. Create an article outline.
4. The headline must be catchy.

Did you manage to get all the answers right? If not, it means you did not listen attentively or you wanted to have a second chance of listening to the story. However, if you managed to answer all the questions correctly, well done!

Announcements

It is very important too to use appropriate language when making announcements at different places with a different audience. For example, in formal situations you have to use formal language, at a funeral you use language that best suits the situation. For example, as you approach your home at night you see one of the houses on fire and the children are already asleep. How would you call for help?

1. Excuse me neighbours, could you kindly help me put out the fire?
2. There is a fire, please help me get the children out.
3. Fire! Please help! There are children in the house.

From the three announcements, which one do you think is the best? The last one seems to be the best because there is urgency in the tone. Think of other reasons that make it the best from these three.

Exercise 8.2.

Below are different situations where announcements have to be made using varied registers. Listen to the announcement and say what effect it will have on the listener.

1. You receive a message to say that your friend’s mother who has been ill has passed on, you say, “Ah! Shame, she has been ill, is that not so? It is better she has rested.”
   Effect: .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........
   Best way of announcing this: .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........
   
2. A teacher gets a penalty for making a school girl pregnant. The Head says, “Am sorry Mr. Moyo the Ministry has found it fit that you seek alternative employment because of the case between you and Rosemary. Don’t lose heart there are many alternatives.”
   Effect: .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........
   Why: .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........
   
3. A company Manager announces the promotion of one of his employees as manager, he says, “You have risen to what you wanted. Isn’t it that you always wanted to lead.”
   Effect: .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........
   Appropriate response: .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... .......... ..........
   

We hope from the few examples you have realized that announcements have to be given appropriately considering the different situations. You can do a lot of harm to a person if you do not carefully select your words. It is also advisable to listen carefully so that you follow the instructions as given. You need to concentrate without divided attention.

8.3. Tone and mood

What do you understand by the words,” Tone” and “Mood”? Can you briefly write in your workbook what you understand by the two words?

Did you get them right? We hope you said that tone is an attitude of a writer towards a subject or an audience. The tone is conveyed through choice of words or viewpoint. Tone can be formal or informal, sarcastic, sad or cheerful. Mood is the state of mind at a particular time. You can create a mood through the language you use. For example, if you have been to the seaside and you describe the beach using these adjectives:

“There was a gentle breeze by the seaside as I walked on the soft sand enjoying the warm sun’s rays.” The words reveal the tone or attitude of the writer towards the sea and the mood set is calm and peaceful.

Tone

Exercise 8.3.

The following words describe the tone of the speaker or the writer.

• sad   hostile   critical   violent   appreciating   humorous   respectful   optimistic   sarcastic   apologetic

Get a dictionary and find the meanings of these words so that you know what they mean. This will help you to respond to the tasks that you will be given to do. Write the words and meanings in your workbook.

Exercise 8.4.

Study the following situations given and say how you would respond to each situation. Your choice of words should reflect the tone in each situation. Find a partner and let him read each situation for you. Try and respond to each of them showing both the negative and the positive tone through your choice of words. But remember we encourage positive tones always. This is only for learning purposes.

Example: You come home late after a day’s work and find that your mother or wife has not yet prepared lunch.
Response: This is unfair; I have been working very hard in the field only to find no food. You only spend the whole day gossiping. (Tone - disrespectful)

Note: Tone can be positive or negative, good or bad.

• A goalkeeper at your school allows seven goals in during a soccer match. What comments would you give?
• On your way to a venue where you will meet your tutor, the bus you are in delays because of a puncture and you find your tutor waiting. What will you say?
• You are having a group discussion with your friends. Their contributions sound shallow to you and you feel you have better views. How do you communicate that to them?
• Your neighbour’s father dies after a long illness, what would you say to him on passing condolences?
• You buy a crate of eggs at a shop but when you take them home you discover that half the crate has rotten eggs, you decide to take them back. How will you approach the shop assistant?
• Having practised the speaking skill on the given situations, we want you to write your responses in your workbook for further discussion with your friends.

Mood

Earlier on we gave you background information on mood. Do you remember what we said? Please check. We said you can create a mood through the choice of language you use. Remember the example we gave on the atmosphere on the sea shore.The writer describes the atmosphere using a tone that creates a calm and peaceful mood. The following words describe different moods.

Positive

• amused   excited   blissful   eager   calm   content   cheerful   ecstatic   energetic

Negative

• angry   anxious   annoyed   disappointed   bad   sad   depressed   desperate   envious   frustrated   afraid

As you did with words describing tone, look for the meanings of these words in your dictionary so that you understand their meanings.

Exercise: Create a folder or get a flat file where you will store new vocabulary since you will meet a lot of new words in your study.

Exercise 8.5.

Since mood is the way you feel at a particular time, moods are not only triggered by choice of words but also by situations. Below are given situations which create different moods. Read them and then describe your mood briefly. You can then write the descriptions in your workbook.

• You arrive at your destination after a busy journey in which the bus broke down several times. Describe your mood.
• You are about to go on a long awaited trip by air to a place of interest. Describe your mood.
• You are at a boarding school and students are all assembled in the hall waiting for the Head to announce the time when school will close for the term. What is the mood of the students?
• A thief is stopped at a police roadblock for a check. Describe the mood of the thief before the police gets to the car.
• After completing your Open Distance Learning course you pass English Language with an “A”. Describe your mood. What if you fail and get an “E?” Describe your mood.

You have had quite a bit of practice on tone and mood. How will this knowledge help you in life? We hope you realise that it is important to choose your words carefully when you speak so that you do not create negative moods in people. It would be better to create positive moods.

8.4. Reading - the return

In developing the reading/signing skill, you will read a wide variety of reading material. You will read a given passage intensively for comprehension purposes and also have extensive reading from prose, poetry and plays. This will give you practice in analysing written material and have an appreciation of a variety of literary devices. In this chapter you will read an extract from a novel, “The Non-Believer’s Journey”. You will identify the theme, characterization and style.

Let us first define the key terms so that when you read you have an idea of what is expected of you.

Setting

Setting refers to location in terms of place and time period. You will be answering the question, “Where is the story located?”

Theme

The theme of a story is the central idea or meaning, which develops from a story, poem or a play. The writer tries to pass a critical belief about life through his piece of writing. The theme is the unifying point around which the plot, characters and setting are organized. The writer makes a deliberate attempt to make sure that the theme comes out by means of the above named. Many stories share identical themes such as, Love, War, Revenge, Death, Betrayal, Racism, the list is endless.

Each story makes its own statement about the subject, that is, what exactly is it about death, fate, war etc. The theme responds to the details of the story.

Characterisation

Characterization is derived from the word character. A character in a novel or play can be a person, animal or imaginary person who takes part in a story to bring out the theme. It includes both descriptions of a character’s physical attributes as well as personality. A person’s appearance, speech, tone, actions, mannerisms, attitudes, feelings and emotions can be used to describe his character. They help you to understand what sort of person one is. Characterization is therefore a method that is used to explain the details about a character. At the end, it shows how others respond to the character’s personality.

Style

Style includes everything that the writer or poet does with the content of the poem to make it effective. Style includes choice of language, choice of words and structure of lines if it is in poetry. The style used by the writer will also help to bring out the theme of the story.

Exercise 8.6.

Now that you have had a brief background on Extensive Reading, we hope you realized that what it entails is what is enshrined in the study of literature. As an introductory lesson, you will work on the setting, theme, characterization and style as defined above. Read the following passage silently taking note of the four features defined above. This should guide your reading so that at the end of your reading, you have a rough idea of what the setting of the story is, themes it reveals, characters and style used.

The Return

(Adapted from ‘O’ Level English Practice Book: by Humphrey L. extract from The Non-Believer’s Journey by S. Nyamufukudza. Published by Longman Zimbabwe.)

Did you enjoy reading the passage? Are you able to quickly tell the setting of the story? We hope you will manage to work on the tasks that follow.

Exercise 8.7: Setting   [10]

When the setting of the novel was defined, reference was made to location in terms of the place where the story unfolds, the time of the day or season and also what period in the lives of the villagers. Also, the kind of settlement.

Give a detailed setting of the story “The Return” paying attention to the areas mentioned above. Your account should be about 150 words.

Exercise 8.8: Theme   [10]

The theme of the passage, “The Return” is about war, what exactly about the war Let me assist you by stating that the writer’s theme is “The evils of war”.

Read through the passage and identify the events that bring out the theme of The Evils of War. From the beginning of the story to the end. Your response which should be in narrative form should be 300 words.

Exercise 8.9: Characterisation   [10]

There are several characters in this passage some many have been named and others have not been named. Do not be confused by the word character, remember we said it means people.

Identify the characters and list them in your workbook. How many did you identify? Now characterize each one of them guided by the attributes given in the definitions that follow, that is, physical appearance, actions, what they say, the language they use, how they respond to situations etc. For each description on a character, give examples of what they do in the passage to support your answer. Remember the characterization should try to bring out the theme. You can use a separate sheet to write your answer.

Exercise 8.10: Style   [10]

As indicated earlier on, the writer achieves his efforts because of the distinctive manner in which he chooses his words. Style reveals the tone and mood that we discussed earlier on in this chapter.

Example: The writer shows that he dislikes the type of houses in towns as compared to those in the rural areas, he uses adjectives to describe the houses as box-like hovels. Already, the tone in his language has created a mood of dislike and hate.

Identify the descriptive words (adjectives, adverbs and any other figurative expressions) that the writer has used to fulfil his purpose.

We hope you enjoyed reading the passage and working on the literary skills. Did you find the work very challenging or exciting? As you read extensively, try to follow the same way to get a deeper understanding of the novels and poems you read.

8.5. Guided composition

You have learnt how to write a variety of compositions in the previous chapters. You attempted both free and guided compositions. Can you remember which type of a guided composition you have learnt so far? Yes, we hope you said a Report based on statistical data and Formal letters. There is a clear distinction between a free composition and a guided composition. What difference was there in the composition questions you wrote in chapter 3 and 4? Have you picked the difference? Correct, we hope you said that the difference was that in chapter 3 you were given a topic to write on, but in chapter 4 you were given statistics where you were expected to write a composition guided by the statistics given.

Section B of your Paper 1 examination will be a guided composition. In this section there are a variety of questions but you will not have a choice as in free compositions. Section B has letters, reports based on statistics and graphs, and newspaper articles.

In this chapter, you will write an article for a local newspaper. What are the main features of an article? Unlike a newspaper report which tells news of what happened, an article is informative factual, and giving advice. For example, there could be an outbreak of cholera in the area, when writing an article, you have to look at points such as:

• Who has been affected?
• What actually happened in the area?
• Where exactly has the cholera affected people?
• When did it happen?
• How did it happen?
• Why did it happen?
• Interviews held to collect information.
• Recommendations to the local authorities to minimize cholera.

An article has a title and the author has to write his or her name at the end, for example:

The title or headline has to be catchy to attract the readers’ attention. The first paragraph is written to provide a preview of the story and will help readers to decide if they want to read the story.

The who, what, where, when, why and how questions should be answered in the first paragraph.

Example: Thirty-seven adults were reported to have been admitted yesterday at Kadoma General Hospital Cholera camp. This happened after a number of people started vomiting and having running stomachs after a church gathering.

The who, what, where, why, and how questions have all been addressed in the first paragraph.

The second and third paragraphs should give the details of the incident including information given by the people interviewed. Finally, what advice will you give to the community or the readers and what recommendation will you give to the local authorities?

Exercise 8.11.

Now we want you to practice writing a newspaper article using the hints given above. You are free to develop the article on cholera or think of any topic of interest on current issues. For a start, write an article of about 200 words.

How did you find the exercise? Can you now safely say you are a news reporter? We hope so. Remember to use simple language and short sentences.

Exercise 8.12.   [20]

Below are notes on a fire that broke out in a clothing factory. Use the notes to write an article for a local newspaper on the ever-increasing fire accidents in the town. Your article should be informative and give advice to the employees about their buildings. These are the notes. You can also add some more detail to make your article more interesting.

Warning given – some workers escape – some trapped on first floor – police and fire brigade arrive – some workers rescued – but some jump out and injure themselves – ambulances arrive – danger of fire spreading to other property – whole building collapses – firemen put out fire extent of damage and loss – buildings old – need to check on electric wiring – safety escape routes – fire extinguishers.

Please note that the dashes in the notes are intended to separate ideas not to connect them.

Find a suitable eye-catching title and write an article of 250 – 300 words. Allow 40 minutes to write this exercise.

Note: Remember to make use of the skills you learnt in other compositions from chapter 1 to chapter 7 for example, topic sentences, paragraphing, descriptive language, ordering related ideas and effective use of language.

8.6. Word formation and spelling

In your reading, writing, speaking and listening, you have come across a variety of words. That is how we learn new words and structures. In this chapter, you will learn word formation as a broad topic but focusing on homophones, homonyms and homographs. You have read about them before have you not? May be you might have forgotten the definitions but these are words you come into contact with almost every day. Homographs, homonyms and homographs can make reading, writing and listening a bit tricky. There is need to take their context into account, by so doing, you will avoid unnecessary confusion.

In case you have forgotten what these are, let me assist you by defining the three types of words.

Homophones

They are each of the two or more words that have the same pronunciation but with different meanings or even different spelling. Got it? Examples given are:

• there/their
• blew/blue
• check/cheque

As stated before, these words may make English reading or writing tricky. You have to use the context in which they are used in order to get it right. Let me find out if you can use the three examples in their context. Choose the correct word.

1. Learners submitted (their/there) projects for marking before the deadline.
2. The watchman (blue/blew) the trumpet to give a warning to the warriors.
3. Please (cheque/check) for errors before you hand in your work.

Did you realise the same pronunciation as you read the words? Which homophone did you choose? If you chose the following, you did well.

1. their
2. blew
3. check

Exercise 8.13.

Illustrate that you understand the meaning of the following words by using them in sentences. Choose 4 pairs of words and use each word from the pair once to construct full sentences.

1. threw/through
2. sort/sought
3. praise/prays
4. wears/wares
5. patients/patience
6. maid/made
7. sheep/ship
8. wander/wonder

[8]

We hope you successfully carried out the exercise using the skills you learnt in sentence construction. As a summary to homophones, write the following exercise to show your understanding of the word usage. The students (wondered/wandered) whether they would pass their exams.

1. Doctors save lives by inserting drips in the (vain/vein) of the (patience/patients).
2. She was (to/too/two) shy (too/to/two) dance in the hall.
3. His hard work was worthy of the (prays/praise).
4. James (sought/sort) legal advice to (sort/sought) out his problems.
5. The flock of (sheep/ship) was loaded into a (sheep/ship) destined to Australia.
6. The outstanding payments were (maid/made) very early in the morning.
7. The dogs’ muddy (pause/paws) soiled the carpet.
8. The children (saw/sore) the eagle (soar/sore) up the sky.
9. (were/where/wear) were you when you were called to (ware/wear) your uniform?

[9]

Homonyms

They are each of the two or more words that have the same spelling and the same pronunciation but have different meanings. As in homophones, you have to use the word in its context. The following are examples of homonyms and their meanings.

Look at how many meanings one word has given you. What is important is to understand the context of your sentence and use the word appropriately.

Exercise 8.14.

Find the meanings of the following homonyms.

1. sole
2. sole
3. sole
4. saw
5. saw
6. litter
7. litter
8. coat
9. coat
10. peer
11. peer

Now that you have found meanings of these words, choose 4 pairs and use them in sentences to show their difference in meaning.   [8]

Homographs

The third group is called homographs. What are they? These are words that have the same spelling but have a different meaning and pronunciation.

For Example:

• bow – something used to shoot an arrow.
• bow – to bend the upper part showing respect.

You have met these words before and you know they are pronounced differently. Note that the homographs have more to do with pronunciation of the words. Correct pronunciation brings out the difference for the correct meaning.

For Example:

• bow pronounced as (baw) to bend.
• bow pronounced as (boo) a weapon to shoot.

Exercise 8.15.

Here is a list of homographs. Ask your friend to listen to you and assist you to pronounce the homographs in two different ways to bring out the difference. You have to look for someone who has sound knowledge on the subject.

• produce   produce
• permit   permit
• present   present
• bow   bow

Did you manage to pronounce them correctly? Well done.

Exercise 8.16.

Now from the pairs above, construct 2 sentences with each homograph to show that you understand their different meanings.   [8]

Reflection

Take a few moments to reflect on what you learnt in chapter 8. Looking at listening and speaking skills, what important points do you recall?

• Why is it important to listen attentively?
• What relationship is there between tone and mood?
• How should you choose your words when speaking to create the intended mood?

Are you able to write an eye-catching newspaper/magazine article? Read widely so that you gain experience from what others write. The reading skill was developed through extensive reading. What relationship did you find from what was learnt in Speaking and Reading skills? Did the Supporting language structures help you in any way to minimize gross errors in composition writing? I hope you gained a lot in this chapter.

8.7. Summary

In this chapter, you covered all the five skills in learning English Language. You have been equipped with important information on listening to oral instructions. I hope you now understand that it is important to listen carefully to get accurate information. In speech, you learnt that the tone is determined by the choice of words. It is important to use appropriate registers on different occasions in order to be relevant.

Reading skills exercises are a preparation for literature as a learning area. The skills involved help you to read passages with a deeper meaning that will make you appreciate different pieces of writing as you look at the setting, character analysis, style and themes. Compositions are heavily affected by errors as you meet words in English that are a bit confusing. I believe you are now aware that you have to understand that using the words in their context and proper pronunciation is very important in learning English.

8.8. Expected/Possible answers

Exercise 8.2: Announcements

1. You receive a message to say that your friend’s mother who has been ill has passed on, you say, “Ah! Shame, she has been ill, is that not so? It is better she has rested.”
   Effect: It shows lack of concern.
   Best way of announcing this: I am sorry to hear about your mother’s death. Please be strong.
   
2. A teacher gets a penalty for making a school girl pregnant. The Head says, “Am sorry Mr. Moyo the Ministry has found it fit that you seek alternative employment because of the case between you and Rosemary. Don’t lose heart there are many alternatives.”
   Effect: He will feel encouraged.
   Why: He is reminded that opportunities may arise for other job prospects.
   
3. A company Manager announces the promotion of one of his employees as manager, he says, “You have risen to what you wanted. Isn’t it that you always wanted to lead.”
   Effect: He will be disappointed.
   Appropriate response: Congratulations for the promotion, I wish you the best in your career.
   

Exercise 8.4.

It was not our day today, we cannot be winners all the time. (positive)
There is no need to keep such a goalkeeper, the coach should replace him. (negative)

I am very sorry to keep you waiting, the bus had a puncture. (positive)
It was not my fault to come late, I actually woke up before five in the morning. (negative)

I appreciate your contributions, however, we could consider the point of view that I have. (positive)
Your contributions seem to be coming from Grade sevens, I have better views. (negative)

I am very sorry about your father’s death you did the best you could. (positive)
Do not break your heart, did you expect him to live after such a long illness? (negative)

Excuse me sir, half the eggs I bought are bad. Would you mind replacing them? (positive)
Why sell rotten eggs? Quickly get your eggs and give me my money. (negative)

Exercise 8.5.

• frustrated
• excited
• eager
• anxious/afraid
• blissful
• disappointed

Exercise 8.7: Setting

The setting of the story is:

• In the rural areas of Murehwa.
• It is during the liberation war of Zimbabwe.
• Curfew is in force.
• Landmines and military convoys are still a menace.
• People have to flee for safety to come back when the situation is normal.
• The events happen in the evening.
• It is during a traditional funeral gathering.

Exercise 8.8: Theme

Events that bring out the theme of, “The evils of war”.

• Sam took two days to travel home when he could have taken one day.
• The footpath would have taken him two hours only than the long forest route he took.
• There is the danger of stepping on landmines planted in the road.
• Meeting military convoys would expose Sam to danger.
• People die because of ruthless soldiers and ‘the boys’.
• Some are beaten up and wounded like Rumbahwa.
• Movement is restricted because of curfew.
• Sam’s father has to leave his home for safety because of fights and misunderstandings.
• The agriculture demonstrator is afraid to tell Sam of his father’s whereabouts as Raina’s father tries to listen to their conversation.

Exercise 8.9: Characterization

Characters in the story are:

1. Sam
2. Raina’s father (Sahwira)
3. The agriculture demonstrator
4. Rumbahwa

1. Sam

1. He is cautious - he sleeps in Murehwa to avoid getting home during curfew hours. Uses the long route than the short one to avoid military convoys and landmines.
2. He is respectful – He greets elders while crouching and clapping hands and also uses the traditional way of shaking hands and murmuring condolences. He kneels before his cousin Rumbahwa to give his condolences.
3. He has concern - He shows a lot of concern about his father’s absence.

2. Raina’s father (Sahwira)

1. Irresponsible - He is only active at funerals as a Sahwira as he had the freedom to make outrageous and vulgar jokes at funerals. He played no role even in his everyday life.
2. Drunkard - He is a drunkard who was very good at asking for money from people to buy beer. He did this in a very diplomatic way.
3. Rumour monger – He tries to squeeze himself between Sam and the agriculture demonstrator so that he could hear what they were whispering.

3. The agriculture demonstrator

1. Sensitive - He lowers his voice when he answers Sam’s questions lest people hear what he says he had to be cautious as words could be taken far.
2. Secretive – He just gave Sam a hint on his father’s whereabouts and advised him to find out.

4. Rumbahwa

1. Bitter man – Rumbahwa is a bitter man, although he does not say anything throughout the passage, his stare at Rumbahwa with eyes full of hostility and hatred says a lot about his emotions. The situation he is in makes it difficult for him to hide his feelings.

Exercise 8.10: Style

The writer uses adjectives and adverbs mainly to give a vivid description of the main features of the setting and characters involved. On a few occasions does he use personification.

Language used:

• Cluster of pole and dagga huts. (gives a picture of how the rural houses are set).
• Box-like hovels. (shows his distaste of urban houses).
• Rhomboid oblongs of light. (describes how the light was cast on the path).
• Footsteps punched on the gravely sand. (describes the impact of his footsteps).
• Dogs picked up the chorus of barking abandoned by the ones he had passed. (he personifies the action done by dogs).
• Dogs growling and sniffing at his heels. (gives a vivid picture of the action of dogs).
• His face an ugly swollen mass with shiny puffed and split lips. (there is a very clear description of the kind of injury on the character).
• Red-hostile eyes. (depicts the angry and unfriendly look in Rumbahwa’s eyes).

Exercise 8.13: Homophones

1. vein   patients
2. too   to
3. praise
4. sought   sort
5. sheep   ship
6. made
7. paws
8. saw   soar
9. where   wear

Exercise 8.14: Homonyms

1. sole – one
2. sole – flat fish
3. sole – lower part of a shoe
4. coat – outer garment with sleeves won with a skirt or trousers
5. coat – cover with paint, chocolate, icing, bread crumbs or eggs
6. saw – past tense of see
7. saw – tool used to cut trees/wood
8. litter – waste
9. litter – young ones of pigs
10. peer – look narrowly
11. peer – person with same age/rank

Exercise 8.16: Homographs

1. The accused man produced receipts of the goods he had bought as evidence that he had not stolen them. (verb).
2. The farmers were frustrated as they failed to get a market for their produce. (noun).
3. The Forestry Commission does not permit cutting of trees. (verb).
4. It was very difficult for Susan to get a work permit in India. (noun).
5. I was not ready to present my topic before the class. (verb).
6. I neatly wrapped the present before I took it to her. (noun).
7. Our ancestors used bows and arrows to hunt. (noun).
8. It always shows reverence to bow your head in prayer. (verb).