The statue of Bobby was also erected opposite the Greyfriars Kirkyard by Baroness Burdett-Coutts, a member of the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA).
Today, so many years later, visitors to Edinburgh can still see Bobby’s grave and statue, and marvel at the loyalty of the little dog who never forgot his master, even in death.
2. Explain the meanings of the following words from the text. If you are not sure of the meanings of the words, try to guess them from the context or look them up in your dictionary.
3. Explain, in your own words, why Greyfriars Bobby is still remembered today. You can discuss this with your partner first, but then write your own answer out.
4. Write out a list of all the adjectives used to describe Bobby. Then discuss with your partner what these words tell us about the writer’s feelings about Bobby, and write your answer in a sentence.
5. ‘Kirkyard’ is a Scottish word meaning ‘churchyard’. This was the area next to a church in which there were graves. ‘Kirk’ therefore means ‘church’. Can you think of a word in a South African language that sounds almost the same and has the same meaning?
6. What kinds of danger do you think John and Bobby protected the people of Edinburgh from? Discuss this with your partner and then write out your own list.
7. If you had lived in Edinburgh at the time of the story, would you have helped to look after Bobby? Explain your answer in writing.
Do some research and make a speech
Here you are going to make a speech about your pets. You will need to do some research perhaps, to add to what you already know about them. You could find out about breeds, care, history, purposes or anything else about them.
1. Prepare a speech that you will give to the rest of your class, about your pets. If you do not have a pet of your own, talk about any other animal that you know about or would like to have as a pet.
Your speech should have the following parts:
• Tell your listeners which pet or animal you are going to talk about.
• Describe your pet’s appearance in detail.
• Describe your pet’s typical behaviour and habits.
• Mention an interesting incident or story involving your pet.
• Describe your feelings for your pet.
• Say whether you would encourage anyone to get a pet like yours and why.
Read and write a poem
You know what a poem is, but do you know that it does not always have to rhyme? In the following activity you will read a poem about a dog and then write a similar one of your own.
1. Read the following five-line ‘grammar’ poem describing an animal:
2. See how many animals you can describe in this way! Show your poems to your partner to comment on and check for correct grammar.
3. Now look at these two ‘contrast’ poems about an animal:
4. Discuss with your partner why they are called contrast poems and work out their pattern.
5. Now write a few contrast poems yourself. Again give them to your partner to check.
Using commas to give extra information
Look at the following sentences:
• My friend, Peter, lives in that house.
• The principal of the school, Mr Ross, spoke to the pupils in assembly.
• John, the boy next door, married my sister, Daphne.
In each of these sentences, there are two words or phrases referring to the same person. For example, in the first sentence, ‘Peter’ and ‘my friend’ refer to the same person. The commas on either side of the word ‘Peter’ show that I am still talking about ‘my friend’ and not another person. I am just giving the reader more information about him.
1. Find the words or phrases that give more information in the second and third example sentences.
2. Find examples of words or phrases that give more information in the story about Greyfriars Bobby.
3. Combine the following sentences, using commas so that words or phrases are used to give more information about someone or something. The first one has been done for you as an example:
(a) Mrs Hlatshwayo teaches History. Mrs Hlatshwayo is my aunt.
Answer:
(a) My aunt, Mrs Hlatshwayo, teaches History.
(b) I ride my horse every Friday morning. My horse’s name is Paddington.
(c) My cat catches mice and locusts. My cat’s name is Tom.
(d) Sipho and his best friends are going to swim in the gala. John and Themba are Sipho’s best friends.
(e) My friend has a donkey. My friend’s name is Antony. The donkey is called Daisy.
4. Try making more sentences like this on your own.
People and things from countries: nouns and adjectives
We can form nouns and adjectives from the names of countries. Look at these examples from the story of Greyfriars Bobby:
• Scotland (proper noun): the name of the country
• Scots (proper noun): the name for the people who live in or come from Scotland
• Scottish (adjective): to describe people and things from Scotland
You can see that it is the suffix that changes: land becomes ‘s’ or ‘tish’.
1. Copy out the table below. Fill in the missing words. You can use your dictionary if you
