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By: The Armed Arabs

 acts about his writings
Ȉ 

  
was Patonǯs first novel

Ȉ It was originally published in 1948.

Ȉ It was a great success everywhere, except in

South Africa where is was banned, because of
its politically controversal material.

http://qanda.encyclopedia.com/question/were-
some-works-alan-paton-136020.html
 %hy did he write 


  

Ȉ One reason he did NOT write the book is
because of Apartheid, since it
was not law until later the same
year of its original publication.

Ȉ He wrote the book in a similar

style to the King James Version
of the Bible.

Ȉ The main reason he wrote this

book was to spread Christianity.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7
/75/CryBelovedCountry.jpg
 %here was Alan Paton
from

Ȉ Alan was Ȉ Itǯs Zulu

born in name is
Pietermaritzburg umGundlovu
Natal Province,
in South Africa.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa
 %here does this novel take
place?
Ȉ 

  
takes place in
South Africa.

Ȉ The beginning of the book starts out in the

small town of Ixopo. Soon into the book
the main character goes on a journey down
to Johannesburg, which is where most of
the story takes place.

Ȉ It is the largest city in South Africa.

Ȉ Though during the Apartheid

era it was split into 11 local
authorities. 7 were %hite
http://www.theodora.com/ domain and 4 were Black
maps/new9/south_africa_p domain.
rovinces.jpg
 Apartheid
Ȉ Apartheid-a system of legal racial segregation
enforced by the National Party in South Africa.
Ȉ The apartheid was just recently removed from
South Africa in 1994 after a series
of negotiations took place.
Ȉ It caused civil unrest as well as riots.
Ȉ The Apartheid segregated Africans,
%hites, and Indians.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apartheid
 Apartheid Video
Ȉ This is a video power point that gives many
examples of apartheid.

Ȉ Many of the photos show apartheid in South

America but a few show it elsewhere.

Ȉ You can see the different types of segregation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwgAPlXObA
4&feature=player_embedded
 0id his life influence the
book?
Ȉ Yes, he lived in a place where Apartheid was very
common, and this subject is discussed very much
in Cry, The Beloved Country.
Ȉ One part of Apartheid that really shines through
in the book is the physical as well as the
emotional structures of their society.
Ȉ He attempts to give an unbiased view on
apartheid. He tells how the %hites are affected
by Ǯnative crimeǯ. %hile the Blacks suffer from
severe social instability. This is due to the fact of
the tribal system.
 0id his life influence the
book? Continuedǥ
Ȉ He also talks about the land itself. How South
Africa is facing problems with the degrading of
the land that is reserved for the natives only.
There is often native crime because of this.
Ȉ Something else Alan wanted to
touch on in his book is the fear
in the people. Some of his
characters are just so scared and
they have great fear, because
they donǯt feel safe.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cry_the_Belov
ed_Country
 Politics
Ȉ South Africa has a Bicameral Parliament. They then
have two separate houses.
Ȉ The upper house with 90 members and the lower
house with no more than 400 members.
Ȉ The members of the lower house are elected based
upon population basis.
Ȉ These elections are held every 5 years.
Ȉ South Africa has nine provinces. Each receives ten
members to represent their province in the upper
house parliament
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Council_of_Provinces
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Assembly_of_South_Africa
 Bicameral Parliament
Ȉ Upper House-National Council of Provinces-
NCOP-Cape Town

Ȉ Lower House-National Assembly-Cape Town

Ȉ The National Party was the governing party of

South Africa. Alan Paton
was not very happy with
this since one of its main
polices was apartheid.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Party_(South_Africa)
 Edward Callan
Ȉ He was a life long friend of Alan Paton.

Ȉ %rote extensively on his work (loved his

poetry) and has written many reflections on
Cry, The Beloved Country

Ȉ He is now an English professor

at %estern Michigan University.
http://www.oprah.com/article/o
prahsbookclub/crythebelovedco
untry/ctbc_expert_01/4
 %hy might culture and time period be
important to understand before reading
a novel?
Ȉ Novels often include the real culture of the certain
era.

Ȉ By researching the place and time the book takes

place, you are learning about the book itself.

Ȉ Knowing the culture you can get an essence of if it

was a good or bad time, a lot of wealthy people, or
how the population was doing.
 %hy might an authorǯs background and life
experience influence the content of a novel ?

Ȉ %hen authors write books to it is often that

they lived it or it is something they hold close
to their heart.
Ȉ It is much easier to write a novel about things
you know about.
Ȉ Also when an author writes a book they put
their own feelings into it, and often their
opinion. You can only do so if you truly know
what you are talking about.
How would understanding the culture and time period that a
novel was written, as well as, the authorǯs background and
life experience, help in your understanding of a novel ?
Ȉ Researching an author before you read their book
will overall help you understand the book
completely and thoroughly.

Ȉ You can find out whether they lived through an

experience that relates to the main character in the
book.

Ȉ Or had a tragedy in their life that caused them to

write maybe a rather tragic book.
 References
Ȉ 2 http://qanda.encyclopedia.com/question/were-some-works-alan-paton-136020.html

Ȉ 3 http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/7/75/CryBelovedCountry.jpg

Ȉ 4 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Africa

Ȉ 5 http://www.theodora.com/maps/new9/south_africa_provinces.jpg

Ȉ 6 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apartheid

Ȉ 7 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwgAPlXObA4&feature=player_embedded

Ȉ 9 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cry_the_Beloved_Country

Ȉ 10 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Council_of_Provinces http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Assembly_of_South_Africa

Ȉ 11 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Party_(South_Africa)

Ȉ 12 http://www.oprah.com/article/oprahsbookclub/crythebelovedcountry/ctbc_expert_01/4