TELEMAT

SCHOOLS
IC ENGLISH FAL
PROJECT
LITERATURE
TELEMATI
SKOLEESE
PROJEK SONNET 73
CLASS ACT

A joint initiative between the Western Cape Education Department and Stellenbosch University.
Sonnet 73
 Sonnet 73

1. That time of year thou mayst in me behold

2. When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
3. Upon those boughs which shake against cold,
4. Bare ruined choirs where late the sweet birds sang.
5. In me thou seest the twilight of such day
6. As after sunset fadeth in the west,
7. Which by and by black night doth take away,
8. Death’s second self, that seals up all in rest.
9. In me thou seest the glowing of such fire
10.That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,
11.As deathbed whereon it must expire,
12.Consumed with that which it was nourished by.
13.This thou perceiv’st, which makes thy love more strong,
14.To love that well which thou must leave ere long.
 Title

• Shakespeare wrote 154 sonnets.

• Each sonnet was numbered.
• This one was number 73.
 Format

English or Shakespearean Sonnet

• 14 lines
• Consists of 3 quatrains of 4 lines each and 1 rhyming couplet of 2
lines
• Rhythm: Iambic pentameter – 10 syllables divided into
combinations of 1 unstressed syllable followed by a stressed
syllable, called an iambe.
 Format

• Rhyme scheme – abab cdcd efef gg

• The first 2 quatrains introduce the main idea and theme of
the poem.
• The third quatrain introduces a change in poem, where there
is almost a ‘twist’ (volta).
• The Couplet summarises and leaves the reader with a new,
concluding image.
 Summary

Quatrain 1 –
• Speaker compares his current state to Autumn
when leaves fall from branches.
• Branches shake because of cold wind -
he is getting older and losing his youth like
trees that lose their leaves.
• Branches where the birds once sat and sang,
are now empty and quiet – paralleled to how
his life is, quiet and empty.
This comes with getting old, when the youthful
exuberance no longer exists.
Summary

Quatrain 2 –
• the speaker compares his progress towards death as
moving from dusk, (after the sun had set) to the
night time. Death’s second self refers to sleep,
taking away all awareness. “Mini-death”
• The change from a season in q1 to a day in q2
shows the speed with which aging affects the body.
Night-time is compared to the last days of one’s life.
 Summary

In the third quatrain the speaker compares aging to the

coals of a fire that is about to die.
He compares how the coals cannot burn without the
ashes, to old age that cannot exist without the figments
of youth.
 Summary

In the couplet, the speaker advises that these things

must be seen /noted /perceived so that love can be
strengthened by the knowledge that when life is
extinguished, we depart from our loved ones whom we
have loved well in life.
 Analysis

In each quatrain the speaker uses a different image to

show the progression of life from youthfulness to old
age and death.
The following images have been used:
– quatrain 1 – the tree,
– quatrain 2 – the sunset
– quatrain 3 – the glowing fire
 Tone and Mood
In the first two quatrains the tone is:
– reflecting and mournful as the speaker realises how close he is
to death.
– melancholic as the speaker explains that he is aging.
– Tender
In the third quatrain the tone is:
- Bitter, almost angry
The mood is:
– Sentimental and sorrowful
– Which changes to hopeful and almost positive and reassuring in
the couplet
 Lines 1 - 4:
That time of year thou mayst in me behold
When yellow leaves, or none, or few, do hang
Upon those boughs which shake against the cold,
Bare ruined choirs where late the sweet birds sang
YOU – refers to the friend Metaphor = old age - autumn
Yellow leaves – reference to autumn of life, gray hair
Line 3 – boughs = branches. These branches are empty now – old age,
growing older, there used to be birds sitting there
Branches are bare, silence has entered.
In the first quatrain the poet anticipates his own decay. He talks of the
time when he will appear as pale and dry as the world in a cold, biting
winter. He compares himself as the branches of the trees that used to be
lovely and melodious.
 Lines 5 - 8:
In me thou seest the twilight of such day
As after sunset fadeth in the west,
Which by and by black night doth take away,
Death’s second self, that seals up all in rest.
Metaphor = Old age and the passing of a day
Simile - He says here that he will look like the quickly fading twilight of the
day, as the sun is setting in the west. So, just like the dark night-time takes
over day (or then life), death too will bring him to the oblivion of night,
(darkness = imminent death.)
The poet implies here his approaching death.
Almost becoming depressed. The mood changes to gloomy and
melancholic.
 Lines 9 - 12:
In me thou seest the glowing of such fire
That on the ashes of his youth doth lie,
As the deathbed whereon it must expire,
Consumed with that which it was nourished by.
Metaphor = old age – the dying out of a fire
1. The glowing of such fire – the spark of the embers
2. The ashes of his youth – the remains of the poet’s youthful passion. Only the ashes
remain when it is burnt out. These youthful desires remain after the end of his
youth.
3. The embers are dying out – the poet’s youth once gave him warmth and radiance,
but now (which is what fed it), he is aging.

The poet here implies that his lost youthful energy and vitality have well
consumed him and drawn him to death. His tone here is deeply
distressful and despondent.
 Lines 13 - 14
This thou perceiv’st, which makes thy love more strong,
To love that well which thou must leave ere long.

1. So the friend will see in the poet this shadow of death, the mark
of decay.
2. And it will increase the intensity of the friend’s love for the poet
– love more sincerely and strongly.
3. The friend will soon be separated from the poet because of
death
4. But the poet finds consolation in the thought of his friend’s
love. His sense of loss is thus gone and the mood of depression
removed. This will, however, as felt by the poet, lead the friend to
love him more as one who is to pass away soon. There
is a change in tone from depression to consolation.
 Themes

Aging REMEMBER
• It is something that is natural and
inevitable. TO
• It does not mean that it is a negative PEE
aspect.
• Refer to the metaphors in each • Point
quatrain
• Example
• Explain
 Themes

Death
• The speaker haunted by inevitable truth - all living beings subject to death.
• Metaphors for death.
 the moving image of twilight fading as the sun sets in west, turns into
darkness, symbolising last moments the speaker has.
 image of fire that is dying and turning into ashes, represents a youthful
life well lived. Ashes = beautiful life that has come to an end.
 In the couplet, the speaker tells the reader that death helps people love
and cherish one another more while they are still on earth.
 Themes

Love
 In line 13 the speaker introduces the theme of love.
 Although love can triumph over many obstacles, it still is limited by
mortality and nature.
 In the poem, love is discussed by referring to the life cycle.
 The speaker wants the reader to understand that life is not too long, and it
may be too late to enjoy this light feeling of love.
 The speaker advises the readers to fall in love as much as possible and to
love thoroughly when people have a chance.
CLASS ACT
by Namhla Tshisana

A joint initiative between the Western Cape Education Department and Stellenbosch University.
EASTERN
CAPE
 CISKEI

A joint initiative between the Western Cape Education Department and Stellenbosch University.
SETTING WHERE & WHEN

WHERE: EASTERN CAPE, CISKEI

WHEN: 1990s

HOWEVER: specific extract

• WHERE: At her home / in the classroom / at her high school

• WHEN: Just before school started / when Aunt Connie came
to visit / after she had shortened her dress / after
Renaldo had made fun of her long dress / after
Khanysa had laughed at her black knees

A joint initiative between the Western Cape Education Department and Stellenbosch University.
CHARACTERS - family
Ayanda – her sister (in Alice for a
weekend)
Mother (Mama) - works hard
Aunt Connie – pregnant, from
Johannesburg, “fashion designer” in
eRhawutini (Johannesburg)
Aunt Nozi - brings beautiful material
back from Nigeria
Uncle George – lives in Nigeria, has an
Afro
Makhulu – passed on
Malum’ Enoch (Uncle) – passed on

A joint initiative between the Western Cape Education Department and Stellenbosch University.
 CHARACTERS -
school
 Mr Sauls – English
teacher, cannot control
class
 Renato – three years in
Standard 6 (Grade 8),
bully
 Khanyisa Peter – class
mate who also bullies
her

A joint initiative between the Western Cape Education Department and Stellenbosch University.
REASONS FOR
RIDICULE
Navy school tunic too
long
Jersey too big
Hem sewed with white
thread
Cannot speak Afrikaans
Knees are black

A joint initiative between the Western Cape Education Department and Stellenbosch University.
NARRATOR

 FIRST PERSON NARRATOR

 * “I”, “my”, “me”
 She shares her experiences.
 She is bullied, laughed at, ridiculed
 12 years old
 Going to Std 6 (Gr. 8)
 Navy school tunic – too long, hangs on
her knees
 School jersey – too big
 Knees – black
 Knock-knees

A joint initiative between the Western Cape Education Department and Stellenbosch University.
 BULLYING
IDENTITY: ACCEPTANCE &
APPEARANCE
CONFLICT
HELPLESSNESS
THEMES

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BULLYING by class
mates

Conflict
Identity
Appearance
Accceptance
Helplessness

A joint initiative between the Western Cape Education Department and Stellenbosch University.
TITLE: CLASS ACT

Excellent performance: clever

Well-mannered girl: never loses her
temper

A joint initiative between the Western Cape Education Department and Stellenbosch University.
TITLE: CLASS
ACT
Allusion to the movie
Sister Act
Sister Mary Clarence,
a nun

A joint initiative between the Western Cape Education Department and Stellenbosch University.
FIGURES OF SPEECH

HYPERBOLE:
… Her tummy has grown
bigger - I keep thinking it is
going to hit the floor
Aunt Connie is pregnant. The size
of her tummy is so big and the
narrator thinks it will grow so big
that it will eventually touch the
floor.

A joint initiative between the Western Cape Education Department and Stellenbosch University.
 “You are starting at a
coloured school next week but
you can’t speak Afrikaans?”
IRONY The narrator is going to attend
an Afrikaans school but she
cannot speak Afrikaans, so she
will not be able to learn
anything except perhaps in her
English class.

A joint initiative between the Western Cape Education Department and Stellenbosch University.
 The class’s laughter
sounded like thunder in my
ears …
The class laughs so loudly at
the narrator’s short dress and
yellow panties that it sounds
like loud thunder in her ears.
She is extremely embarrassed.
SIMILE

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TONE AND MOOD
I HATE SCHOOL. Really, I do. And I
haven’t even been there a week but
already I can’t wait until I get out.
An extremely negative, gloomy and
depressed tone.
Strong words. Repetition and emphasis on
negative experience. Examples of bullying
by Renato, Mr Sauls allowing it. Class
laughs at her. Khanyisa Peter laughs at her.
Humiliation. No hope that situation will
improve. The only light in her life is her
sister, Ayanda, who helps her to shorten
her dress.

A joint initiative between the Western Cape Education Department and Stellenbosch University.
 QUESTIONS
Describe the setting in this
extract.

WHERE and WHEN

The setting is in the narrator’s home in the
Eastern Cape/Ciskei. It is the afternoon
when she is at home after school and the
rest of the family has returned from work.

A joint initiative between the Western Cape Education Department and Stellenbosch University.
What does the extract reveal about Aunt Connie?
Substantiate your answer.

Read through the extract and note

everything Aunt Connie does and says.
Interpret this in context of your
knowledge of Aunt Connie.
She does not do what she promises.
She lies, cheats.
Aunt Connie claims that she is a
fashion designer but she has not
made any clothes. She makes stupid
excuses for not sewing the hem of
the narrator’s tunic.

A joint initiative between the Western Cape Education Department and Stellenbosch University.
Explain why the following extract is FALSE:
The narrator’s mother is a teacher.

Change the statement and correct it

by using your knowledge from the
story and the extract.

The narrator’s mother is a nurse.

She wears a maroon and white
uniform which nurses wore then.

A joint initiative between the Western Cape Education Department and Stellenbosch University.
Do you think the narrator is a patient person? Discuss your view.

Open-ended question: You may say “yes” or “no” or combine your

answer.
Use your knowledge of the whole story!
Start by saying whether you agree (yes) or disagree (no).

YES, she is patient.

She does not complain when her mother buys her an oversized uniform.
She still goes to school even after Renato teases her. She accepts all the
reasons her mother and aunt give for not sewing a hem for her tunic.

A joint initiative between the Western Cape Education Department and Stellenbosch University.
Do you think the narrator is a patient person? Discuss your
view.
No, she is not patient.

She is only 12 years old and does not dare to disagree with her older
family members. She cannot force anyone to fix her tunic. She has to
obey adults. She cannot throw a tantrum because she will be
disrespectful. This results in her being unhappy and depressed because
deep down she is actually impatient. She just does not dare to show it.

IMPORTANT: Do not use bullets when answering a question. Write

your response in a paragraph.

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WORD MEANING
eRhawutini Johannesburg
King King William’s Town
Nhe okay Vocabulary
Malum’ Uncle
Affro Long hair standing about the
head
Ukwatele “kwaad” angry
Kist Wooden box to store things

Standard 6 Grade 8
Living and Woman’s magazine
Loving
Tata Father
Cotton Thread used for sewing
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THANK YOU,
CLASS OF ‘23!

A joint initiative between the Western Cape Education Department and Stellenbosch University.