the day of prisoners’ ennui
Came dryly forward to the bars again
To answer for themselves:
Who said it mattered
What monkeys did or didn’t understand?
They might not understand a burning-glass.
They might not understand the sun itself.
It’s knowing what to do with things that counts.
prisoners’ ennui – animals in cages, like humans in prison, become bored
presuming on his intellect – overconfident about his knowledge
| Post-reading | |
| 4. | Monkeys are in some ways like young children. How they go about trying to understand new objects. |
| 5. | When the boy uses his magnifying glass to “create a pinpoint of the sun” on the nose of each of the monkeys, he is not trying to hurt them. |
| a) | What is he trying to do? |
| b) | How do the knuckles on the paw of one of the monkeys get burnt? |
| 6. | The speaker uses hyperbole (exaggeration) to describe how long it would take for a monkey to understand a scientific concept. Quote the phrase that he uses. |
| 7. | The poem is not mainly about monkeys. What is the main point of the poem? Reread the first four lines and the last four lines before you answer. |
| Pre-reading | |
| 1. | Why do people build walls? |
| During reading | |
| 2. | The poem refers to physical walls but it also refers to another kind of wall that people construct. What do the two kinds of walls have in common? |
Walls
Oswald Mbuyiseni Mtshali
Man is
a great wall builder
the Berlin Wall
the Wailing Wall of Jerusalem
but the wall
most impregnable
has a moat
flowing with fright
around his heart.
A wall
without windows
for the spirit
to breeze through
A wall
without a door
for love to walk in.
impregnable – cannot be broken through
moat – a wide, deep trench filled with water built around a castle’s walls so that even the walls cannot be reached by attackers.
| Post-reading | |
| 3. | The speaker describes man as a “great” wall builder. |
| a) | Is this meant as a compliment or not? |
| b) | Give some reasons why men might need (or think that they need) to build walls that cannot be climbed over. |
| 4. | The first wall mentioned in this poem is the high wall guarded by soldiers in towers that was built by the Soviet Russian-aligned East Berlin in 1961.Its purpose was to keep its citizens in and those of the western-aligned other half of the city, West Berlin, out. It then became almost impossible for people in the same city, even from the same family, to see each other. Look at the illustration. Why does the speaker use this as an example of man’s frightening ability to keep people apart? |
| 5. | The Wailing Wall of Jerusalem is what is left of the foundations of the Temple after the Romans demolished it to demonstrate their power in the year 70. It is not strictly a wall. However, it is a very special site to religious Jews. And it is a site argued over fiercely between Palestine and Israel. How has it become a “wall”? |
| 6. a) | What is the “wall most impregnable”? |
| b) | What are its three characteristics? Explain these in your own words and consider their advantages and disadvantages |
| c) | Why do human beings sometimes build walls with no doors round their hearts? Use your imaginations and your own experience in answering this question. |
| Pre-reading | |
| 1. | What do you know about District Six? Read the plaque in the illustration. The poem was written by the famous jazz musician Abdullah Ibrahim who grew up in District Six. |
| During reading | |
| 2. | The southeaster wind plays a strong role in Cape Town life. Notice the difference between the southeaster in the first stanza and in the second stanza. |
Blues for District Six
Dollar Brand (Abdullah Ibrahim)
early one new year’s morning
when the emerald bay waved its clear waters against the noisy dockyard
a restless southeaster skipped over slumbering lion’s head
danced up hanover street
tenored a bawdy banjo
strung an ancient cello
bridged a host of guitars
tambourined through a dingy alley
into a scented cobwebbed room
and crackled the sixth sensed district
into a blazing swamp fire of satin sound
early one new year’s morning
when the moaning bay mourned its murky waters against the deserted
dockyard
a bloodthirsty southeaster roared over hungry lion’s head
and ghosted its way up hanover street
empty
forlorn
and cobwebbed with gloom
where loneliness’ still waters meet nostalgia
and morning breaks the city sun and smoke
and towering grey the buildings’ murmur
grim subway rumbling in their roots
i scan the vacant faces and sad smiles
and long for home
banjos, cellos, guitars and tambourines – all types of musical instruments
tenored
