The Homecoming

1. Read the linked article. What do you learn about the situation many Filipino mothers find
themselves in? Why do they leave behind their children? How do they feel about what has
happened?

2. Who is the narrator of the story and what do we learn about her? Why do you think Jafta
has chosen to present this story in the first person?

3. ‘Human heat’/ ‘the smell of sweat and over-spiced fast food’ - How is the bus presented at
the beginning of the story? What might the inside of the bus symbolise?

4. ‘Maria scrambling to claim my two suitcases’/ ‘Maria bent down and kissed me’ - How is
Maria presented at the beginning of the story?

5. ‘So we continued in silence, this stranger - my daughter - and I.’ - What does this
sentence reveal about the nature of the narrator's relationship with her daughter? What is
the effect of the juxtaposition/oxymoron between the words ‘stranger’ and the word
‘daughter’?

6. ‘How could I be expected to keep track of time, when I could only measure it against
myself in a foreign land?’ - What does this sentence reveal about the speaker? Do you think
she enjoyed being abroad?
7. ‘When I planted seeds but never had the chance to see them grow, bore children but
never them grow…’ - What does the mother regret the most? What language technique is
she using to convey her regret?

8. ‘doors are not opened to strangers and that you do not greet everyone you meet with a
handshake’ - What does this line reveal about the maid’s experiences abroad? Do you think
her employers were good, generous people? Did her employers teach her good values?

9. ‘No trees, no grass, just the sprawling brown and orange ground all around us. The last
rays of the sun seemed to lighten it to a golden glow.’ Given the narrator is old and has
returned home after working far away for 40 years, what might the ‘last rays of the sun’ and
the ‘golden glow’ symbolise here?

10. ‘In her calm voice she repeated the question, asking whether she was walking too fast
for me. Oh dear God, what kindness.’ - Why is the mother so surprised and overwhelmed by
her daughter’s kindness? What does it imply about the 40 years she spent working away
from her home?

11. ‘Then I knew I had come home. I did matter.’ What does her daughter’s kindness make
the narrator realise? How does the narrator’s daughter show her love towards her mother?

12. Why does the narrator want to rush home at the end when previously she walked
slowly?

13. Why do you think the writer of the story chose to focus on this moment of the narrator’s
life - her homecoming, rather than her departure?

14. Although the story is set in rural Namibia, could it be set anywhere else in the world?
Explain.

15. What do you think the narrator’s daughter feels about her mother? Infer.

16. How do you think the narrator will be greeted when she arrives home? Imagine.

Analytical Writing Task

How does Milly Jafta present the narrator in her short story The Homecoming?
 The narrator of The Homecoming is presented as…(present your argument)

This is shown in the line…(provide a short quote)

Here the writer has…(identify a technique)...to suggest…(explain in detail what the writer
is trying to show)...

This links to…(how does your analysis link to the wider context of mothers being
separated from their families)...

Peer Marking
•Clear & thoughtful argument………….…./10
•Well-chosen quote……………………........./5
•Key technique identified……………………/5
•Quote is explained clearly ………………../10

•Total………………………………………………../30

•WWW:

•EBI:

Persuasive Writing Task

‘Mother’s Day should be banned’.

Write a speech to your peers in which you explain your point of view on this statement.
 Ethos/Introduction - Talk to your audience and explain why they should listen to you.

Logos - Make arguments based on reason and facts (use studies and statistics). Make
sure your points appear realistic (e.g. very few studies show that 100 percent of people
agree on one thing).

Pathos - Make points to elicit emotional responses. Tell anecdotes (short personal stories)
to draw the listener in.

Ethos/Conclusion - Remind the audience why they should listen to you.

Challenge: How many persuasive techniques can you insert into your speech?