Grade 11 • Study Guide
English Home Language: Language
Owned and published by Optimi, a division of Optimi Central Services (Pty) Ltd.
7 Impala Avenue, Doringkloof, Centurion, 0157 info@optimi.co.za www.optimi.co.za
© Optimi
Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of research, criticism or review as permitted in terms of the Copyright Act, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system without prior written permission from the publisher.
The publisher has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party internet websites referred to in this publication, and does not guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
There are instances where we have been unable to trace or contact the copyright holder. If notified, the publisher will be pleased to rectify any errors or omissions at the earliest opportunity.
Reg. No.: 2011/011959/07
English Home Language
Study guide: Language
Grade 11
Informal Assessment 1: Diagnostic test
Grade 11
Read the accompanying article by Barry Ronge as it appeared in The Sunday Times, before answering the questions.
Growing in Statue
Humanity appears to be obsessed with them, but political monuments are just relics in waiting
There are very few things on Earth quite as dull and futile as a monument, but humanity is obsessed with building them. It’s a regrettable feature of human nature that powerful people, mostly politicians, imagine that their hold on power will be more deeply entrenched if they spend vast sums of money to construct showy monuments to their own magnificence.
In truth, viewed in the long term of history, many monuments seem to demonstrate exactly the opposite. They reveal the vainglory that motivated their construction.
Europe is littered with triumphal arches, obelisks and ornamental gates, all built to commend the glory of some monarch, general or dictator. These days, they tend to be landmarks for disoriented tourists looking for the nearest McDonald’s or they have become traffic junctions.
Marble Arch at Hyde Park in London, the Arc de Triomphe in Paris and the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin were all monuments to someone who did something important in a powerful regime that, if it still exists at all, does so in only a vestigial and ceremonial sense.
To my mind, monuments belong in the “Bah! Humbug” school of architecture, but there’s a lot of cash and power involved in monuments — the planning, lobbying for and construction of monuments make lots of people rich. That’s why they continue to be built.
Media debate is the oxygen of the power elite and therefore many political apparatchiks are thrilled by the current heated controversy about the Wall of Remembrance at Freedom Park. The talk shows are buzzing and the newspaper letters pages are seething, as the pros and cons of the issues are hotly debated.
For the record, the Freedom Park concept, launched in 2000, included a proposal for a memorial wall bearing the names of the fallen in what officials are calling SA’s “eight conflicts”.
Sample
These do not, as one might have hoped, represent the conflicts against organised crime, Aids, poverty, institutional corruption and the wanton destruction of the environment so that another exclusive golf- estate development may be built. To me and many others, those are today’s important conflicts, many of which we seem to be losing, but they don’t suit the currently approved historical configuration.
The travails of South Africans who are alive today must take a back seat to the victims of these “eight conflicts” which were, in case you are not well-versed in “politispeak”, as follows: Pre-Colonial Conflicts, Genocide, Slavery, Wars of Resistance, the Anglo-Boer War, World War One, World War Two and The Liberation Struggle. The current storm in this teacup is about whose names will appear on the Liberation Struggle wall. The authorities propose that the names of SANDF soldiers who died in Angola should not be included because they fought against the liberation forces.
The counter-argument is that many of the men who served and died were conscripts and therefore had no choice. If they had not gone when the army called, they would have faced imprisonment. They were just “doing their duty”.
It is a bitter wrangle and despite a call for public submissions and debate, I think we all know that when war becomes history, there is a winning side and a losing side, and the winners write the history.
What everyone conveniently forgets is that it will be rewritten.
Our Parliament buildings in Cape Town and the Union Buildings in Pretoria were built to commemorate the glory of a colonial empire. The Voortrekker Monument was built to communicate the glory of the Boer nation. Paul Kruger still stands at various traffic intersections and even Queen Victoria has a prime situation in Cape Town. They’re just buildings and statues. The ideologies and societies they were built to glorify have faded.
The true commemoration happens in people’s hearts and minds, but to argue that with politicians is like arguing with a mosquito.
1. Choose the answer that is most correct
a. Politicians build monuments in order to i. prove their invincibility
ii. delay their cessation of political influence
iii. emphasise their own grandeur
iv. increase the length of time that they have political power
b. Monuments are successful in
i. promoting the ideas of the people who had them built ii. demonstrating the opposite of political ideals
iii. proclaiming the vanity of the people who had them built
iv. making people remember their history
c. The monuments in Europe are ironic because i. nobody knows the reason for their existence
ii. tourists do not pay much attention to them
iii. they impede the flow of traffic
iv. McDonald’s is more important to tourists than the monuments
d. In the opinion of the writer, the following conflicts are the most important in South Africa:
i. Aids
Sampleii. The Anglo-Boer War
iii. crime
iv. i and iii
e. An example of “politispeak” is i. the Eight conflicts
ii. they were just “doing their duty”
iii. the winners write the history
iv. a bitter wrangle
f. The phrase arguing with a mosquito is an example of i. innuendo
ii. hyperbole
iii. euphemism
iv. sarcasm
v. i and ii
g. The tone of the essay indicates that the writer
i. does not want to see money wasted
ii. regards present-day issues more important than history
iii. thinks monuments are ugly
iv. regards the argument about the Wall of Remembrance as childish
h. The function of the apostrophe in They’re (second last paragraph) is i. indicating possession
ii. indicating omitted letters in contractions
iii. indicating certain plural forms of letters and figures
iv. addressing an abstract entity
i. The connotation of the word littered (paragraph 3) is i. numerous
ii. invasive
iii. pesky
iv. dirty
j. The function of the hyphen in Anglo-Boer War is i. Linking certain phrases
ii. Linking words to form compounds
iii. Avoiding ambiguity
iv. Indicating the new syllable when the previous one ends with the same letter as the opening letter of the next
k. The talk shows are buzzing is an example of:
i. alliteration
ii. onomatopoeia
iii. assonance
iv. hyperbole
l. The title plays on the following:
i. Growing in stature
ii. Growing in statute
iii. Growling in statue
iv. Growling in stature
m. The writer’s attitude towards the builders of monuments is i. envious
ii. condescending
iii. aggressive
iv. annoying
n. The inverted commas in “eight conflicts” (paragraph 7) show that i. this view is not shared by everyone
ii. it is a phrase coined by politicians
iii. the writer does not agree with this classification
iv. the writer does not want to be associated with these conflicts
v. iv, iii and i
vi. iii, ii and i
o. Media debate is the oxygen of the power elite is an example of i. hyperbole
ii. jargon
iii. metaphor
iv. personification
Subtotal: 15
2. Refer to the following sentence:
To my mind, monuments belong in the “Bah! Humbug” school of architecture, but there’s a lot of cash and power involved in monuments – the planning, lobbying for and construction of monuments make lots of people rich.
a. The function of the commas is:
i. to indicate slight separation or pause between a list of adjectives, adverbs or nouns in a sentence
ii. indicating a pause before conjunctions
iii. marking off words, clauses or phrases from the rest of a sentence
iv. In pairs for an adjectival clause
b. The dash is used because
i. it is the same as commas or brackets for parenthesis
ii. it separates a repeated word, or idea
iii. it indicates abrupt changes in opinion or thought
iv. letters are omitted for the sake of using civilized language, or of privacy
c. The expression “Bah! Humbug” school of architecture
i. refers to a school of architecture in Hamburg
ii. illustrates slang and shows contempt
iii. makes use of an interjection to indicate the writer’s attitude
iv. ii and iii
3. Match the explanations in column B to the words in column A.
A B
i. apparatchiks
ii. relics
iii. vainglory
iv. Vestigial
v. Conscripts
vi. Obsessed
vii. lobbying
Subtotal: 3
a. Evidential, trace-like
b. Devices, gadgets
c. Soliciting support for a certain cause
d. Roots, basis, origins
e. Fanatical, preoccupied, infatuated
f. Compulsory enlisted for government service
g. Vanity to a great extent, extreme boastfulness
h. Assessing
i. Remnants, leftovers
j. Communist agents
Subtotal: 7
Grand total: 25
UNIT 1
LESSON 1
At the end of this unit, you will have mastered the following skills:
Literature and text appreciation
• Satire: recognising it in texts, understanding its function in literature and the broader community
• Anti-climax: identifying it and understanding its effects in a text
• Innuendo: identifying it and recognising its effects in a text
Language
• Adjectives:
o Correct order of adjectives
o Using different forms correctly
• Sound devices:
o Alliteration
o Assonance
o Onomatopoeia
Transactional writing
• Summary writing: effective summaries
Visual literacy
• Cartoons: humour and body language
Literature and text appreciation
Look at the following cartoons.
What is important about the way Dagwood Bumstead is satirised? Which words are important – those that are said, or those that are left unsaid?
Is the final frame what the reader expects it to be? Is there much sympathy for the deceased?
Let us now look at some techniques for achieving satire.
Satire
Satire implies the use of sarcasm, irony or wit in ridiculing and denouncing abuses, follies, customs, etc. It contains derogatory jokes (barbs) aimed at people, ideas or things in order to improve, correct, or prevent something.
Examples:
1. The character of Malvolio (Twelfth Night) is pompous and full of his own importance, but made ludicrous by Shakespeare.
2. “An evolving idea that wouldn’t name itself. The immaculately dressed lunacy of Chairman Mao. And now here he was playing new role, the marquis of Mooikloof.” ( A description of Robert Mugabe in the fiction The Marquis of Mooikloof by Sean O’Toole)
3. George Orwell (1903-1950) – Animal Farm
4. Mark Twain (1835 to 1910)
5. Oscar Wilde (1854 to 1900)
6. The Simpsons (Pop culture)
7. Jonathan Swift: A modest proposal and Gulliver’s Travels
Satire is a mode of challenging accepted notions by making them seem ridiculous. It usually occurs only in an age of when no absolute uniformity exists but rather two sets of beliefs. Of the two sets of beliefs, one holds sufficient power to suppress open attacks on the established order, but not enough to suppress a veiled attack.
Further, satire is intimately connected with urbanity and cosmopolitanism, and assumes a civilized opponent who is sufficiently sensitive to feel the barbs of wit levelled at him. To hold something up to ridicule presupposes a certain respect for reason, on both sides, to which one can appeal. An Age of Reason, in which everyone accepts the notion that conduct must be reasonable, is a general prerequisite for satire. (Jacob Bronowski & Bruce Mazlish)
Anti-climax
This is a rhetorical technique by which ideas are sequenced in abruptly diminishing importance, generally for satirical effect, so as to emphasise the turning point in a story. An anti-climax is always a let-down because of the interruption of built-up tension. It’s the point at which you realise the story will not turn out the way you expected.
Have another look at the Animal Crackers cartoon. It contains an anti-climax.
Examples:
1. He lost all that he had lived for: his vision, his dreams, and his worn out running shoes.
2. Virgin Peak: Lawrence G. Green (as in Focus, compiled by R. Meyer)
3. Poison: Roald Dahl.
4. The Marquis of Mooikloof: Sean O’Toole
5. Rothchild’s fiddle: Anton Chekhov
Let us look at a poem which contains an anti-climax.
MINIVER CHEEVY
Miniver Cheevy, child of scorn, 1 Grew lean while he assailed the seasons; He wept that he was ever born, And he had reasons.
Miniver loved the days of old 5 When swords were bright and steeds were prancing; The vision of a warrior bold Would set him dancing.
Miniver sighed for what was not, 9 And dreamed, and rested from his labors; He dreamed of Thebes and Camelot, And Priam's neighbors.
Miniver mourned the ripe renown 13 That made so many a name so fragrant; He mourned Romance, now on the town, And Art, a vagrant.
Miniver loved the Medici, 17 Albeit he had never seen one; He would have sinned incessantly Could he have been one.
Miniver cursed the commonplace 21 And eyed a khaki suit with loathing;
Activity 1
He missed the medieval grace Of iron clothing.
Miniver scorned the gold he sought, 25 But sore annoyed was he without it; Miniver thought, and thought, and thought, And thought about it.
Miniver Cheevy, born too late, 29 Scratched his head and kept on thinking; Miniver coughed, and called it fate, And kept on drinking.
Edwin Arlington Robinson
Explain the anti-climax in the final line of the poem.
1. Discuss the satire in lines 21 to 24. Refer to the use of irony.
2. How does line 3 hint at the anti-climax of the final line?
Innuendo
Hinting, or implying something that is not said in words. It contains variations of wordplay, humour and using indirect communication to achieve a satirical effect It is a remark or question, typically disparaging, that works obliquely by allusion.
A variation on innuendo is double entendre, where the wordplay is unintentional or meant to be innocent.
Sample
Look at the Blondie cartoon again. The boy does not state outright that he does not want to be like Dagwood Bumstead, but it is implied.
Examples:
1. Shall I join the circus, or shall I just stay with this company?
2. What is the difference between school and a prison? In a prison at least you get some food once in a while (Prison is better than school)
3. Some of the techniques used to achieve innuendo
a. By refusing to say something, thereby implying that it is true or false. "Is John a good salesman?" "His manners are impeccable." Avoiding the question confirms that he is not good at selling.
b. By using puns. Because a pun is a play on words, a seemingly literal meaning can hint at another meaning.
Here is an example of an intended pun, hinting at something.
The American actress, Jean Harlowe was speaking to the English Ballerina, Margot Fontaine at a function.
Jean: How do you spell your name again, I can never remember. Is it Margot or Margo?
Margot: The T is silent as in harlot!
This example is witty and clever. A synonym for harlot is prostitute.
c. By adding something opposite to what the reader, or audience, might expect. Women are often the victims of such jokes, where the innuendo is often crude or sexist in nature. Often being crass, innuendo can be offensive. My wife had an accident with the car the other day. The insurance company paid for the damage to the car, luckily - the Missus was written off. (Implying that the car is worth more that his wife.)
Read the following column by James Clark, taken from The Star of June, 2 2006.
Sample
Sample
Activity 2
1. To what does Tour the Farce allude?
2. Quote and explain three examples of innuendo.
3. Name and explain two instances where Rex is satirised.
a. What literary device does the author use to achieve this satire? Explain.
4. Discuss the tone in paragraph 14: (“But after a couple of days…..”).
a. How does it differ from that of the final paragraph? (“But we would…”)
5. What is the effect of the foot note at the end of the passage?
a. What is the effect of the parenthesized question?
b. Why does the writer talk about his tappen, instead of its?
6. How does the writer parody the instructions in the guide book? (A parody is a comic imitation of another text.)
Language
Adjectives
We already know that an adjective describes a noun. Let us look at a few rules about their order when using more than one to describe a single noun.
1. The adjective describing the noun’s purpose, comes nearest to the noun.
a. luxury passenger train, old-fashioned saloon car, broken hockey stick
2. Just before the description of purpose, comes the adjective describing the material it is made of.
a. wooden saloon car, aluminium hockey stick, saline cleansing solution
3. Before these, adjectives describing origin:
a. German wooden saloon car, Swedish aluminium hockey stick, laboratory saline cleansing solution
4. Next are the colours:
a. brown German wooden saloon car, silver Swedish aluminium hockey stick, clear laboratory saline cleansing solution
5. Finally, adjectives for age, shape, size, temperature are generally placed at the beginning of a phrase.
a. old German saloon car, extra-long aluminium hockey stick, cold saline cleansing solution
Some examples of adjective order
Opinion Size Age Shape Colour Origin Material Purpose
a silly young English man
a huge round metal bowl
a small red sleeping bag
Do not overcrowd a phrase with a list of adjectives. It is safe to limit the number to three, especially if you are an inexperienced writer.
Activity 3
1. Correct the following classified advertisement which appeared in the Weekend Argus Cape Town: We buy good children, second-hand clothing, bulk. We collect.
2. Use a dictionary to match the correct adjective to the sentences in the table below.
This may be a _________examination, but you are not allowed to use notes. classic
In __________literature, characterisation is usually vivid. practicable
The proposed solution is not _________. It will take up too much time. classical
Is the city of Atlantis a ___________ fact? Did it really exist? historical
This is the________ style for a suit. You will be able to use it for many years. practical
The actor’s movements seem to be more ________, than indicating exasperation. economical
The first inauguration of a president was considered a ________ event for many people. comic
These _________indicators are important for investors. historic Bulk purchases are more ____________. comical
He had such a __________ expression, that I could not help laughing, although I was supposed to be angry. economic
Poetry
Assonance
Assonance is the repetition of the same vowel sound. It is important to pay attention to sound when dealing with assonance. Spelling does not indicate assonance.
Examples
1. You say no way
2. Hold on or I'm gone
Sample
3. This time you'll find you're mine
4. 'Green as a dream and deep as death.' ( The Old Vicarage, Grantchester, Rupert Brooke)
5. And crash upon the rocks, or drop to drown. (The broken chain, W.W. Gibson)
Alliteration
Words or syllables with the same initial letter (usually consonants) are used in close proximity.
Examples:
1. 'Full fathom five thy father lies'. ( Ariel's Songs from The Tempest, Shakespeare)
2. 'Only the stuttering rifles' rapid rattle' (Anthem for Doomed Youth, Wilfred Owen)
3. 'king-dom of daylight's dauphin, dapple-dawn-drawn Falcon'. (The Windhover , Hopkins)
4. …., or drop to drown. (The broken chain, W.W. Gibson)
The one that (nearly) did not get away…..
Have you ever seen something that is so hideously ugly that it almost seems to be beautiful? Read the following poem and look for instances of assonance and alliteration.
SampleThe Fish I caught a tremendous fish 1 and held him beside the boat half out of water, with my hook fast in a corner of its mouth. He didn’t fight. He hadn’t fought at all. He hung a grunting weight, battered and venerable and homely. Here and there his brown skin hung in strips 10 like ancient wallpaper, and its pattern of darker brown was like wallpaper: shapes like full-blown roses stained and lost through age. He was speckled with barnacles, fine rosettes of lime, and infested with tiny white sea-lice, and underneath two or three 20 rags of green weed hung down. While his gills were breathing in the terrible oxygen — the frightening gills, fresh and crisp with blood, that can cut so badly — I thought of the coarse white flesh packed in like feathers, the big bones and the little bones, the dramatic reds and blacks 30 of his shiny entrails, and the pink swim-bladder like a big peony.
I looked into his eyes which were far larger than mine but shallower, and yellowed, the irises backed and packed
with tarnished tinfoil seen through the lenses of old scratched isinglass. 40 They shifted a little, but not to return my stare.
— It was more like the tipping of an object toward the light. I admired his sullen face, the mechanism of his jaw, and then I saw that from his lower lip
— if you could call it a lip — grim, wet, and weapon like, 50 hung five old pieces of fish-line, or four and a wire leader with the swivel still attached, with all their five big hooks grown firmly in his mouth.
A green line, frayed at the end where he broke it, two heavier lines, and a fine black thread still crimped from the strain and snap when it broke and he got away. 60 Like medals with their ribbons frayed and wavering, a five-haired beard of wisdom trailing from his aching jaw. I stared and stared and victory filled up the little rented boat, from the pool of bilge where oil had spread a rainbow around the rusted engine
70 to the bailer rusted orange, the sun-cracked thwarts, the oarlocks on their strings, the gunnels — until everything was rainbow, rainbow, rainbow! And I let the fish go.
Elizabeth Bishop