Mbuyiseni Oswald Mtshali

GRADE:11

ENGLISH FIRST ADDITIONAL LANGUAGE

Nozipho Ngomane

Background of poet

Oswald Mbuyiseni Mtshali is a South African poet. He has written in both Zulu and English. He wanted to study at WITS University but was not allowed to due to the Apartheid laws. He studied at Columbia University instead. He now lives in the United States and still continues to write.

Born: January 17, 1940 (age 73)

N.P Ngomane

Mbuyiseni Oswald Mtshali

N.P Ngomane

It smothered our little houses

The houses were engulfed by smoke/ pollution.

like fish caught in a net.

Difficulty of escaping life in a township.

'Oh! Baby in the Mangersleep wellon human dung.'

The baby is compared to the baby Jesus, showing that the baby is innocent.

N.P Ngomane

Its motherhad melted into the rays of the rising sun,

N.P Ngomane

her face glittering with innocenceher heart as pure as untrampled dew.

This image of the mother suggests that she is pureand innocent.

The Poet can be implying that the mother is innocent of the crime that she has committed OR she lives in an unjust system of Apartheid that she is relatively innocent , because Apartheid has caused this to happen and not just the mother.

Learning objectives At the end of the lesson learners must be able to

identify figures of speech and also be able to explain how they further strengthen the poet’s argument.

Learners must be able to realate the issue of child negligent to the

INTRODUCTION (Task 1 )•In groups of 4 learners must discuss as a group looking at the slides presented to them what they think they think the theme of the poem is.

• Learners must also identify the poetic devices (figures of speech, diction, imagery) used in the poem and discuss as a group how these poetic devices further strengthen the poet’s argument .

MAIN LESSONShow learners a front page story about a baby that was dumped.

Task 2 Ask learners what they think are the possible reasons

that made the mother in the front page story to desert her baby.

Ask learners the possible reasons why the mother in the poem neglected her baby.

Ask learners if they think that both the actions of the mother in the front page story and the mother in the poem are justified? If yes/no they must elaborate their answers.

Research project• Child negligent is a serious issue not only in South Africa

but the country as a whole, I will give learners a research project and they must do the following:

• 1. Learners must make use of the internet to find online articles and journals about abandoned children and find out some of the reasons why parents neglect their children.

• 2. Go to orphanage homes, police stations and hospitals to find out about the statics or rather the number of children that get deserted every single day.

• 3. Write a 2 page report about their findings.( some of the reasons of child negligent, places that are most likely to be found in and what is the most common age group of these children)

References Yesheni Nair (2013)

Suzette Van Rooyen (2012)