Description
Section A: Reflective essay: Novel (Unit 4)
In 300 – 400 words reflect on Unit 4 of your study guide and how it relates to your prior knowledge and experience, as well as how it has informed your appreciation of novels. Write your reflections in paragraph form guided by the questions below.
1. Have you read any novels? If so, what types of novels have you read?
(When we refer to a type, we really mean a “genre”. A genre refers to the categories into which novels can be classified, such as crime novels, romance novels, science fiction or fantasy novels.
Share the title and author of a South African novel you have read (if you have read one). Does it have any similarities with Small Things? Mention a few.
2. When working through Unit 4, which parts of this unit were the clearest to you? (Elaborate) Which ones did you struggle with? (Expand)
3. Did you find the prescribed novel interesting and was it easy for you to read?
- What made the novel interesting?
- Did you dislike this novel? If so, why did you dislike it?
Section A
Section B: Small Things – Nthikeng Mohlele
In the novel Small Things, the depiction of the body plays an important role. The reader sees everything through the eyes of the nameless narrator, and it is his description of the people with whom he interacts that allows us to identify with the other characters in the novel. The narrator’s focalisation on the appearance of other characters, whether on the clothes that they wear or the emotions that they express, affects his response to them and allows the reader to identify with them. • Think about the fact that you live in and through your own body, what you touch, smell, feel and hear as well as through the emotions that you feel. Your body is central to who you are, and you are often judged on how you appear, how you act and the emotions that you express.
Now you will realise how important the portrayal of the body and the emotions might be in the creation of a character in a novel.
The Question for the Essay:
Using the extract below, discuss how both the main character and the reader experience the body and emotions of the character Mercedes as she is focalised through the eyes of the narrator.
The extract you need to read for this question starts on page 62 at line “The door opens, cautiously at first” and ends at “breathing, unpredictable melodies”…………..
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