STUDENT NAME: BONGEKILE PRINCESS

GUMEDE

STUDENT NUMBER: 51178087

MODULE: AFL 2603

Question 1

a) How people in the old days transfer knowledge

The old era of education was characterised by informal way of
transferring knowledge such as the use of word of mouth, the oral
education included the knowledge in hunting tools and herbs. For
example, the male children were taught hunting skills by the male adults
in the society.

The oral form of education also stretched to then female children who
were taught domestic skills to prepare them for their traditional roles in
the society, these skills include cooking and other domestic chores that
they were taught.
In an intellectual sense knowledge was transferred through poetry where
the societies hosted different ceremonies where there was poetry which
was used to transfer knowledge. For example, there could be poetry
teaching individuals how to behave in the society like unity and love was
transferred through these poems.

Knowledge and skills were also transferred through practical methods

such as interaction with the environment, those with the knowledge
passed it to the other generations by showing them how to use the
environments. For example, showing them the herbs, the flora and
fauna, the river systems and other characteristics. This was done by
wandering in the bush. It seems knowledge about the surroundings was
obligatory.

The elders were teachers in the old era settings such as in the training of
regiments for mastery in the survival skills. According to Abosi and
Kandjii-Murangi (1995) customs and knowledge laws were passed on to
the young generation using proverbs and myths which were told with
care and repetition.

Knowledge was also transferred through songs and dance; these were
mostly used during the ceremonies of rain making and other traditional
ceremonies. The songs and dances educated the young on how to
conduct the ceremonies, hence these skills were more of protecting and
keeping the African cultures within the people.

b) Folksongs and praise poems

The statement to the fact that folksongs and poems are outdated is not
accurate since these are still important in that they contain and protect
information about a culture’s history. This includes events that took
place throughout the entire time as well as the development of music.

Folksongs and praise poems are still important since they are a good way
or strategy of teaching students as they increase vocabulary for example
if they learn through these songs everyday their vocabulary increases
from the new words that they learn from the songs.

Since there are oral sources of history it is important to highlight that

folksongs and praise poems are still very much important because they
provide oral history, for example these are not always written so they
provide oral history through singing and dance and thus information will
be passed on from generation to generation.

Praise poems are a major form of literature even in the modern-day era
hence they should not be disregarded. There are a form of expression
especially on emotions and ideas. For example, praise poems can be used
politically to express the political dominance or political ideas in the
sense that long ago they were used for kings but currently the political
praises are used through these poems.

However, it can be correct to also argue that the folksongs and praise
poems have lost their place when it comes to use since now people prefer
modern music and folksongs are slowly losing their grip and cultures are
even changing, they are also limited to ethnic groups as well since each
ethnic group has its own folksongs.

Question 2

a) Character – a character in literary work is a person, animal, being,

creature or thing in a story. Writers therefore use these characters to
perform actions and speak dialogue moving the story and portraying
the themes.

b) The chosen novel is Ifa Ngukufa by J. Mngadi

The novel 'Ifa ngukufa' by Jabulani Mngadi is a masterpiece and a

depiction of realism that unravels the sad realities surrounding death
and inheritance. More so, the novel reveals the honesty in people who
still achieve wealth through hardwork no matter how long it takes and we
are made to appreciate such in a cruel world of cheaters , robbers and
other shortcuts people embark on to attain wealth. This is seen through
Bongi and her husband Ndlovu who started off by selling fruits in the
streets and had to frequently run away from the police because they had
no license to do so but they never gave up until they had abundance and
a legacy. Ifa ngukufa' solely pursues the theme of abuse of inheritance
and disregard for culture and known societal norms. Mngadi artistically
uses characters and different strategies to portray the theme as seen on
the essay below.

Redgrave is used by Mngadi to bring out the main theme of abuse of

inheritance. He works with a funeral parlor as a driver who carries the
body of MaShezi 's husband Ndlovu to the graveyard. He portrays his real
character to the audience proposing love to the widow MaShezi during
the burial of her husband. Redgrave does not show any sympathy to the
grieving family and widow, his eyes are already set on the wealth that
Ndlovu has left for his family. Him falling in love with the widow could be
an easy ticket to a good living and easy money. Mngadi uses this
character as a catalyst that leads to MaShezi abusing her late husband's
wealth and misusing it. She has forgotten how hard they worked to attain
all the wealth and all the hardships they endured.

In addition, Redgrave also plays a pivotal role in disregarding known

societal nomes and culture. When he and Musgrave (MaShezi) are now
cohabiting together, he leads the naive widow astray telling her it is not
needed to do the ceremony of ' ukubuyisa' .This is when the spirit of a
deceased male is brought to his home so that he watches over his family
and children. Redgrave convinces MAshezi that the ceremony is not
necessary because he is already there to take care of the family. MaShezi
has already disrespected the South African culture where she had to
moan her husband and her lover had to pay lobola to the Ndlovu family
first before they could live together. It is therefore visible how all the
misfortune is encircled around the vile character Redgrave and the
author uses him to pursue this theme.

Moreover, MaShezi the widow who is also known as Musgrave or Bongi

also plays an important role to the novel as she allows her vulnerability
to be taken advantage of by Redgrave. She changes the original will and
makes her son with Redgrave, Daniel inherit everything. She takes
Ndlovu's hard earned wealth and gives it to the son she had with another
man whom she is cohabiting with in the deceased's house. She abandons
her own children and keeps them out of the will which is disheartening.
Xolani, Sithembiso and Themba used to help their parents sell fruits
after school,they endured all the hardship their parents went through
before they became rich but now they must inherit peanuts because their
mother is blinded by a fake love. Mngadi uses MaShezi to portray the
theme of abuse of inheritance and disregarding of culture.

MaShezi has fallen blindly in love with Redgrave even if her relatives and
inlaws are advising her against cohabiting 'lendoda yamakhaza' , she
claims she can not leave without him. MaNgcobo her mother also tries to
reason with her but she says:

We mama ngiyamthanda u Redgrave futhi ngeke ngiphile

ngaphandle

kwakhe, nginesizungu semizwa ngisesemncane.

(Mother , I love Redgrave. I can not live without him , I need him
to

satisfy my feelings as i am still young.)

This on its own portrays the selfish nature of MaShezi as she put her
needs first before her family and children. She put her lover in charge of
the shops and that is a spark for disaster. Redgrave uses his hearse to
deliver groceries to the shops which cause people to riot and destroy
MaShezi's cars and also vandalize her shops, imprinting foul writings on
the walls. The property has been placed in the wrong hands of a greedy
lover whose affection comes at a heavy price thus the abuse of
inheritance.

Redgrave is an important character, his role is central to the story and

Mngadi has used a clever strategy to portray his theme of abuse of
inheritance and disregard of culture. He brings into play a conniving and
manipulative lover who targets a widow driven by sexual needs and is
blinded by love. This lover drives the grieving family apart and ignites a
life of misunderstanding. The hearse that Redgrave uses to deliver
groceries symbolizes the collapse of the Ndlovu businesses and wealth
due to misuse and mishandling.

To add on, abuse of inheritance is seen in the text when Redgrave starts
inviting his relatives over to stay in Ndlovu's house. His goal is clearly
revealed, he wants to squander the family inheritance together with his
relatives. His scheming nature leads him to invite his niece Linda to stay
with his new found family so that he can confuse the Ndlovu brothers
Themba and Sithembiso with love . The brothers fight amongst
themselves because of Linda but she e nds up marrying Sithembiso
whilst Themba is at the hospital. Redgrave leaves no stone unturned to
embezzle the Ndlovu inheritance thus as a character he portrays this
theme. Mamzolo a household helper at Ndlovu residence also warns
MaShezi about Redgrave when he has started bringing in his relatives
but she still refuses to pay heed and all this ends in several graves within
the family.

Mngadi painfully uses Daniel in the story as a scapegoat to the ongoing

war between Redgrave and Ndlovu's sons. Daniel is the son that MaShezi
has with Redgrave and most of the Ndlovu inheritance had been put
under his name as previously mentioned in this text when the will is
changed. This means that all the wealth has become Redgrave's because
his son is still young and cannot manage any of it. The Ndlovu brothers
then plan to kill Daniel when he is riding his bicycle so that he does not
inherit anything. The reader feels hurt and is close to tears because
Daniel is an innocent soul caught in between a war he knew nothing
 about and he ends up dead for the sins of his mother and father.
MaShezi' actions, abusing her late husband's property is the reason why
Daniel loses his life although the author successfully uses Daniel as a
strategy to portray this important theme.

MaShezi has several names in the text probably to depict her

interchanging personalities. She is the cause of the many deaths that
readers witness in the text. KaMathe her mother-in-law loses her life,
Daniel, Sithembiso and Redgrave also lose their lives because of the
messy inheritance battle and the name Musgrave probably represents the
number of all these people that died. 'Ifa Ngukufa' is a title truly
representing all the bits and pieces of this painful story. One can also
realize how Mngadi skillfully uses names to portray his story.

Question 3

a) Content of the poem

The poem is about how the poet learnt their home language. The poet
expresses that the language was learnt naturally that is learning from their
parents. The jargon used such as the line that he drank the language means
that it was directly inherited. The poet also claims that all the family
members including the grandparents played a part on how the language was
learnt since the language was learnt from what they are saying.

The poem also tells us that the language being referred to is his home
language but it was difficult to learn Afrikaans since it was not his first
language. Hence the poem expresses how the home indigenous language
died out after there were forced to speak Afrikaans. This suggests that there
was colonisation which meant that they had to stop speaking the home
language as directed by the colonisers. The poem expresses how the poet is
saddened by the fading away of their indigenous language which they so
love.

The poem concludes with the thoughts of the poet on how they wish to teach
people the language so that it remains within the people although they are
no longer allowed to use it.

b) The poet’s tone and intention

The poet’s tone is low since the poet is sad since he is heart broken this
is shown from the line “Personally, I feel heartsore and sad about it” and
the intention of the poet is to show how sad it is to see your indigenous
language loosing grace.

c) External structure of the poem

The structure of the poem is written as a free verse, since there are no
stanzas in the poem, this can lead one to argue that considering that the
poet is saddened the structure suggests that he is pouring out his heart on
the issue of his language fading away.

The fact that at the start of the poem the poet uses very short line on the
start of the poem and then longer lines as the poem progresses and this is a
suggestion that the intensity of the poem increases as the poem goes on.
This cab be due to the fact that at the start of the poem the poet narrates
how he learnt the language and this was the happy moments but as the
poem continues, he expresses frustration thus there are longer lines.

The structure of the poem contains very short lines and long lines and this
suggests that the emotions of the poet are fluctuating considering that the
poem started brightly when the poet started the poem describing how the
home language was learnt, it fluctuates when the tone of the poet changes
and that also changes the structure of the poem.

d) Figure of speech
The poem uses “ N │uu” which is a figure of speech which is vague and
make it unclear on the language that the poet is referring to.

e) Title of the poem

Home language- the title is motivated by the fact that the poet is worried
about their home language being phased off as a language.

Question 4

a) What are picture books and five types of picture books that help
children in their learning.

Picture books are types of books that are written for children in which the
components are portrayed mainly through the use of pictures and words
combining through pictures alone.

Types of picture books

Board books- these types are mostly used for the youngest readers who will
be introduced to reading. These have cardboard pages, in order to withstand
the wear and tear from the young children. These are mostly used for those
aged from 2 years. These have value since they help the children to develop
their cognitive skills at a young age.

Concept books- these are used for those that are at the stage from 2 years to
8 years to introduce a certain theme such as the alphabet, shapes and the
concept of colours. The making of concepts differ on the content as some
can be as simple as the word “apple” or the concepts can be made in the
form of sentences with each word used in a sentence. This has value since
they introduce kindergartens to themes and topics.

Easy readers – these types of books are also known as beginning readers or
early readers; these use a limited vocabulary structured as chapters. This
adds value to the reading since it includes image illustrations and these will
be essential to the telling of the story.
Wordless books – in this type of book the stories are told completely in
pictures without words. These stories are made going in sequence with the
story. These add more value as they act as a pre literacy activity. It also
helps the child’s awareness in handling a book and following a story
through the pictures.

Non-fiction picture books – these are used to introduce new topics ton the
children these ensure that they I prove their vocabulary in their reading and
this is a boost to their cognitive growth.

b) Educational value to children’s games

The games in learning offer motivation to the children, playing educational

games in the classroom can increase overall motivation. The children
become motivated to learn and they also pay attention as well and they
participate in the classroom activities.

As a teacher it is always important for the students to pay attention in class

and using games will be a better way of making them focus. Since games
move quickly, they always ensure that the student is alert for extended
periods. This will be beneficial to their educational value since they will
always pay attention for longer periods.

Games also offer increased class cooperation since kids enjoy working in
teams as compared to individual activities, hence to their educational value
will increase when their cooperation skills will be improved.

Games also keep the children’s memory in shape since this can involve
brain games as means of a conservative way of teaching. This builds the
kids’ educational memories and it is good for their educational value.

As much as learning is more of learning concepts there are also mistakes

that are involved and children do learn from their mistakes and this ensures
that they always learn comprehensively.
 c) Difference between adult literature and children’s literature

The one difference is on the characters, in children’s literature the

characters are usually of 12 years of age or younger where as in adult
literature characters are usually in their mid-twenties and older, this is
usually for the purposes of understanding better when characters of your
same age are used.

When it comes to the themes children’s literature has these of friendship

bravery and team work and whereas in adult literature there are these like
self-identity loss and so forth. This is to say that for children who are still
growing go through these themes as they grow. Bur adults go through
phases like for example self-identity when they are setting up their adult life.

Children’s literature comprises of shorter stories or small pieces of literature

that they easily understand and they don’t get bored reading, for example
rhymes whereas in adult literature the book are long since they can read too
much content for example novels.

d) Reasons for having limited children’s literature books in African

languages

It can be argued that since English is the mode of communication in

teaching all the subject the teachers would not want children to learn more
of their vocabulary in local language.

The issue that most of the African language’s books are self-published
therefore there will be a lot of grammatical errors hence these books are
always limited when it comes to publication.

References

1. Study guide
2. Tutorial letter 101, Literature and Society A Perspective on African
Literature.
 3. Abosi and Kandjii-Murangi (1995).

HONESTY DECLARATION FOR THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATIONAL

FOUNDATIONS
Module Code: AFL 2603 Assessment Date 11 April 2023
1. I know that plagiarism means taking and using the ideas, writings, works
or inventions of another as if they were one’s own. I know that plagiarism
not only includes verbatim copying, but also the extensive use of another
person’s ideas without proper acknowledgement (which includes the proper
use of quotation marks) or any attempt to cheat the plagiarism checking
system. I know that plagiarism covers the use of material found in textual
sources and from the Internet.
2. I acknowledge and understand that plagiarism is wrong.
3. I understand that my assignment/exam answers must be accurately
referenced.
4. This assignment/exam file/portfolio is my own work. I acknowledge that
copying someone else’s work, or part of it, is wrong, and that submitting
identical work to others constitutes a form of plagiarism.
5. I have not allowed, nor will I in the future allow, anyone to copy my work
with the intention of passing it off as their own work.
6. I understand that I can be awarded 0% if I have plagiarized.
7. I understand that my assignment/exam file/portfolio may be submitted
automatically to Turnitin.
8. I confirm that I have read and understood the following UNISA policies:
8.1 Policy for Copyright and Plagiarism -
8.2 Policy on Academic Integrity
8.3 Student Disciplinary Code
9. I have not changed the wording of the original honesty declaration
document.
Name: BONGEKILE PRINCESS GUMEDE Student No: 51178087

Signature: B.P Gumede Date: 11 April 2023