Talk to The Peach Tree – Contextual Questions

1. Explain how the absurdity of talking to pets and shadows creates humour. (2)

2. Account for the poet’s suggestion that words have lost their meaning in the context of apartheid. (2)

3. Comment on the effectiveness of the comparison of the condition of Black people during apartheid to ‘paralysing heat’
(Line 11). (3)

4. Discuss the poet’s personification of the moon. (3)

5. Explain what the poet means when he says, ‘let’s talk to the devil himself’ (Line 20). (2)

6. Critically discuss how the poet's use of dialogue with abstract entities contributes to the overall message of the poem. (3)

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