Answering a couple of practice questions for you! Part 1

Ok, so I am going to have a go at answering Section B part (a) for you so you can see how it's done.

Remember, to do this, simply ANALYSE it using OVERLAPPERSS. Write all over it and see how many of them you can spot. You only need to write about 6-8 paragraphs, so it's not like you've got to find loads!!

Q - Explore how the writer presents the violent events in 'Our Sharpville'. Use evidence from the poem to support your answer.

Note from NW - Remember to keyword the question. When it says 'presents' that is just asking how does the poet show their views?

So here we go...(remember OVERPLAPPERS)

'Our Sharpville' is a very interesting poem which shows an account of the Sharpville Massacre from the point of view of a white child. This is a particularly interesting perspective because the Sharpville massacre, which took place in South Africa in 1960, involved non-white citizens exclusively. Back then, white people were encouraged not to interact with 'non-whites', and so it is interesting to see how the poet presents the way she felt about the violence that she witnessed when she was a little girl.

Firstly, the title of the poem is hugely important.The fact that the poet empahsises 'our' Sharpville depicts a society where segregation was common. She seems to be putting across the idea that, back then, white people saw the area as belonging to them. Also, the fact that she uses an inclusive pronoun 'our' might involve the reader and make them feel guilty for the violent events that went on.

Secondly, the poet uses senses in order to put you in the position of the girl who was witnessing the events. The poet uses not only the metaphor of, 'The dead, buried in voices', but also talks about being able to hear, 'the dogs pacing in the locked yard next door.' Both of these images are quite menacing as they involve death or vicious animals which makes us wonder what is happening to the poor victims of the violent events. The fact that these images are both 'sounds' helps the reader to imagine being there as it is utilising more than one of our senses.

Another way that the poet presents these violent events is through her use of juxtapositions. Often by putting a really bad event next to something really good, it makes the bad event seem even more upsetting, which is what de Kok appears to be trying to do. For example, in Stanza two, the poet uses a lexical field that we would associate with an epic story by using words like, 'caravan', 'jade pool' and 'oasis'. THese are words which make the event sound exciting and appealing. When the poet follows this with the mention of 'dead' people and 'ambushed trucks', it makes the reality of the massacre seem even more horrible. In a way, the reality is even less believable than her childhood story. The poet uses other juxtapositions to show how 'out of place; the non-white people were at this time. She describes their voices as 'foreign and familiar' showing that these poor people live in this land, and yet don't belong in it. This might make the reader feel sympathy for the victims of the violent events.

The poet uses another lexical field which makes the violent events seem even more hypocritical and upsetting. The child who is speaking talks about 'church' and 'sunday school' and 'the Bible'. By talking about these things, the poet is getting the reader to see how awful it is that such a violent and horrible event ever took place in a country that is supposed to be Christian.

When she is talking about Sunday school, suddenly the length of the stanza gets longer as if to reflect the idea that the child is talking uncontrollably. The poem also uses enjambment here when it says 'the danger of the mission around them/and night falling'. This seem to imply that the speaker is excited when they are talking which shows the reader that the speaker really does not understand how serious the massacre is. This probably reflects the views of a lot of the white people of the time.

The poet also hints at the fact that her view of her fellow white people has changed even though she is a child. She describes her grandmother's voice using the metaphor, 'a stiff broom over the steps' making her sound inhuman and unforgiving. She also dehumanises the soldiers slightly by describing them simply as 'chanting men' which makes them sound robotic and uncaring. The picture the poet paints is that none of the white people care about what is going on.

Lastly, the structure of the poem is important. The length of the stanzas is roughly the same throughout except for the middle stanza which appears to be cut short when the speaker's grandmother claims, 'they do things to little girls.' referring to the non-white people. Even though we are intelligent enough to know that this is simply lies that were told by the socially powerful whites, the structure here seems to suggest that people could say whatever they wanted about non-whites back then, and it would stop whatever else was going on because everybody believed it.'


I found this poem particularly easy to write about as there is so much in it. However, you will find that this is the case with most of the poems. Really, it you know these 15 poems well, and you have quite a few points to make about them, you shouldn't struggle with this sort of question.

NW