EXAMINER’S INSTRUCTIONS:
• THIS EXAMINATION CONSISTS OF TWO SECTIONS. ANSWER ONE QUESTION FROM SECTION A, AND THE QUESTION IN SECTION B.
• PLEASE SUBMIT BOTH ANSWERS WITHIN ONE DOCUMENT WITH THE SPECIAL COVER PAGE (supplied separately), AS THE FRONT PAGE OF YOUR ANSWERS.
• THE DEADLINE FOR THIS EXAM IS 26 May 2022 AT 20:00. THIS IS THE DATE AND TIME BY WHICH IT MUST BE SUBMITTED ON THE ENGLISH 111 IKAMVA WEBSITE.
FURTHER INSTRUCTIONS AND GUIDELINES:
This examination paper consists of 3 printed pages. Please ensure that you have received all of them.
Deadline: You need to upload your exam to IKAMVA by 20:00 on Thursday 26 May 2022. Remember to sign the plagiarism declaration.
Plagiarism: Use your own ideas and words. Turnitin will register as plagiarism any unacknowledged copying from published and unpublished sources. Please see the IKAMVA WEBSITE to clarify what constitutes plagiarism.
Give yourself time to read and check your draft critically before doing revisions for the final submission!
Final checklist: Before you submit, make sure to include the following, which should be uploaded to Ikamva as one Word document:
o Cover page, with signed plagiarism declaration o Essay for Section A (about 1000-1200 words) on Reef OR Playing in the Light. o Essay for Section B (300-400 words) on the short stories
SECTION A
Answer the question on Reef OR the question on Playing in the Light. Your essay in Section A should be about 1000-1200 words, and include a bibliography of all your cited sources.
QUESTION 1 -- Romesh Gunesekera: Reef
In an essay of 1000-1200 words, explore Triton’s mixed feelings about Miss Nili moving into Mr Salgado’s home, basing your response in a close analysis of the extract below. You should also quote and discuss at least one other relevant example of your own choice from the novel where Triton appears to struggle with his feelings for Miss Nili, having to be loyal to his master but also admiring her, and requiring her approval.
I should have expected it, I suppose, but the speed at which our circumstances changed surprised me. I didn’t let anything show. I nodded and quickly picked up the cases. It was not any of my business how they organized their affairs. I was pleased that she was coming to live with us; the whole place seemed to pick up the moment she stepped in…
I took the bags into the bedroom first. I put them down next to the bed; the prospect of moving all his things to the other room was not something to look forward to. And for what purpose? For how long? It was a man’s room: should I change the furniture? My orange curtains? I remembered how she had looked out of the window the time we came in together to choose a shirt. Was this in her mind even then?
(Gunesekera 103, 104 and 105).
OR
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QUESTION 2 -- Zoë Wicomb: Playing in the Light
Carefully read the following extract, which shows the interactions between two employees in Marion Campbell’s business, MC Travel. Make sure that you re-read the whole section which is relevant to this extract.
Write an essay of 1000 to 1200 words which focuses on the relationship between Brenda and Boetie, and how this reflects questions of race and gender. Your essay should begin with a short opening paragraph introducing the novel as a whole.
In the first part of the body of your essay, briefly contextualise the given extract, and then carefully analyse the dynamics between Brenda and Boetie, explaining what this reveals about them, and their attitudes to each other. In what ways do Brenda’s and Boetie’s gender and race affect their interactions? How, do you think, Brenda is feeling at this moment? Support all your responses with detailed analysis of the extract, quoting examples as evidence.
In the second part of the essay, find one other relevant moment in the novel where Boetie and
Brenda interact with each other. Copy down this second extract which you have chosen yourself (not more than 12 typed out lines, which can be added as additional to your word count), and explain what it reveals about Brenda as a person. Again, make sure to quote examples from the extract to support your argument.
Give your essay a suitable title.
Brenda’s back is stiff after hours at the computer. She raises her arms, holds the stretch, then bends down slowly to touch her toes. Ten times, while Boetie stares at her rump, over which the cloth of her trousers strains as she bends.
Boetie addresses the doubled-over body, Are you making tea?
Brenda, drawing herself up, says, No, it’s too hot for tea, but if I change my mind I’ll let you know.
Milk and two sugars, he says from behind the newspaper.
Brenda does not reply; she retrieves her jersey and stands at the window with the garment swinging from the hook of her thumb.
Jesus, what is this country coming to, Boetie exclaims. (Wicomb, 42)
SECTION B
Question 3 – Short Stories
“The Company of Wolves” and “Manoka” are stories where characters transform in ways that affect the developments that take place in these stories. Choose one of the stories and write an essay of 300 – 400 words that discusses the importance of the transformation in the story. Choose relevant sections from the story to support your response, and make sure to quote and discuss examples from the text as evidence for your interpretation.
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