ENG2603/ Assignment 02/2024

Tutorial letter 001/0/2024

Colonial and Postcolonial African Literatures

ENG2603

Department of English Studies

This tutorial letter contains

important information about the
ENG2603 Assignment 01 for 2024

Please register on myUnisa, activate your myLife email address and make sure
that you have regular access to the myUnisa module website.

Open Rubric
Table of Contents Page

Assignment 02 .............................................................................................................................. 3
Due date .......................................................................................................................................... 3
Question 1 A Raisin in the Sun ....................................................................................................... 3
Addendum ..................................................................................................................................... 4
i. Marking Grid .................................................................................................................... 7
Honesty declaration form ................................................................................................................ 8

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 ENG2603_Ass 02/2024

Assignment 02

Due date: 12 July 2024

Compulsory: Yes

Instructions:
• Before you attempt this assignment, you must make sure that you have engaged the
prescribed book A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry.
• It is your responsibility to access the prescribed books, and you will not be able to answer
the questions if you have not familiarised yourself with the texts and poem.

Question 1: A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry

The money for mama’s husband’s life insurance seems to have made the Youngers aware of their
poverty and the need for them to improve their situation (dreaming). In a carefully worded essay,
discuss how each member of the Younger family wanted the money to be used to achieve the
American dream.

TOTAL: 50 x 2 = 100 marks

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Addendum
Please read through the marking code and the marking assessment grid below as this will
give you an indication of how your assignment will be marked.

Marking code

Symbol Error Explanation

abb Abbreviation Do not use abbreviations or
contractions (such as can't, don't, etc.) in formal
writing (e.g., a written assignment
agr (s/v) Agreement error Your verb does not agree with your subject
in number. Check whether your subject is
singular or plural.

A plural subject takes a plural verb: The students

read the book.

A singular subject takes a singular

verb: The student reads the book.

amb Ambiguity Your statement could have two meanings.

Rephrase.

ap Apostrophe error An apostrophe is a comma that hangs above the

line.

An apostrophe is used to indicate possession.

• The boy’s hands are dirty (the hands of the
boy).
• Mandela's leadership (the leadership of
Mandela).
• The boys' privileges (the privileges of the
boys).
An apostrophe is used to indicate when letters are
left out (contraction or omission).
• We'll (we will)
• Can't (cannot)
• I've (I have)
• It's (it is)
Contractions such as these are unacceptable in
formal writing.
NB: 'its' (without an apostrophe) is the
possessive form. The dog chewed its bone.
arg Argument Your argument/explanation is not
methodical/coherent/relevant. A clear and logical
line of thought needs to emerge.
art Article error You have used a instead of the, or the
instead of a, or you have omitted to use a or
the where you should have. Alternatively, you
have used a or the with a word that should not
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 ENG2603_Ass 02/2024

have an article.
awk Awkward phrasing Your sentence sounds awkward and clumsy.
You need to revise your word choice and word
order.
cap Capital letter The word should begin with a capital letter,
either because it begins a sentence, or because
it is a proper noun.
c/s Comma splice You have joined two ideas (i.e., two separate
sentences) without using a connecting word or
proper punctuation. Either add a connecting
word, or change the comma t o a semi-colon,
or break the comma-spliced sentence into
two separate sentences.
exp Expression faulty Your sentence is difficult to understand because
of errors too numerous to list.
Frag/inc Fragmentary Your sentence does not have a verb and,
sentence therefore, is only a fragment of a sentence.
/Incomplete
sentence You have left out part of the sentence.
l/c Lower case This word does not begin with a capital letter.
irr Irrelevant What you have said has nothing to do with the
topic.
L?/ill Logic faulty/illogical Illogical, or your writing does not make sense
here.
N.P. New paragraph You have started discussing a new idea, so you
need a new paragraph.
Para Paragraph structure A paragraph consists of a main idea
(usually expressed in a topic
sentence) a n d s e v e r a l supporting
sentences t h a t explain the main
idea or give examples and/or details
concerning the main idea. Single
sentence paragraphs are not
acceptable because a single
sentence cannot develop or expand
the main idea.

Your paragraph is too long and needs to be

divided where appropriate.

p Punctuation Youhave misused a punctuation mark or

omitted one where it was necessary.
sp Spelling You have misspelt a word. Try to get into the
habit of using a dictionary consistently.
T Tense error Your verb is in the wrong tense.

Note: Use the present and related tenses when

discussing a literary work, such as ‘Bosman's
humour has a strong South African flavour.’
‘In her short stories, Nadine Gordimer touches on
issues ...’
voc/ Vocabulary error/ You have used the wrong word, or you could
have used a better one. (Look up the word you
have used in the dictionary. You will find that its
meaning is either not correct or not appropriate
in your sentence).
wdy Wordiness You have used too many words to say
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 something t hat could be said for more simply
and concisely.
WO Word order The words in your sentence are in the wrong
incorrect place. Your marker will have used arrows.

/ Instead of Replace with what is suggested instead.

0! Delete 0!
Omit this
word/phrase/
explanation.
/\ Insert /\
A word or a letter is
missing here
[ New Paragraph You have started discussing a new idea.
st style slang/colloquial/SMS language-rewrite in formal
English
vague or puzzling
??

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 ENG2603_Ass 02/2024

Marking Grid

Write and revise your essay with the following evaluators’ guidelines in mind:

Content (25) and expression (25); Total: (50).

 Content includes topic interpretation, ideas (relevance, weight, originality) and their
organisation (introduction & conclusion; paragraphing; cohesion; logicality).
 Expression rates a candidate's control of standard academic English, particularly as
reflected in sentence structure, diction and correctness.

% Content m/25 Expression m/25

4 1 1
8 2 2
12 3 3
Interpretation and arguments so Ranges from incomprehensible to barely
16 4 4
incomprehensible that it would literate: vocabulary & sentence patterns
20 be futile for this candidate to 5 elementary; serious errors in sentence 5
24 repeat the subject. 6 structure, language, diction, spelling & 6
punctuation.
28 7 7
32 8 8
36 9 9
Inadequate despite some Meaning confused or obscured:
40 understanding of the topic; ideas 10 vocabulary and sentence patterns limited; 10
44 confused or disconnected; lacks 11 errors in sentence structure, language, 11
logical sequencing, development diction, spelling & punctuation.
48 & cohesion. 12 12

52 13 13
56 Just adequate in the balance of 14 Meaning seldom obscured; adequate 14
considerations. control of basics; lightly sprinkled with
errors.
60 15 15
64 Sound. Clear grasp of the task; 16 Ranges from being clear and correct on 16
68 deals well with the obvious 17 the one hand to mixing flair with some 17
points; organises ideas logically; - clumsiness in a convincing show of
72 18 18
promise on the other.
or - some imbalance arriving at
the same level of general
success.
76 19 19
80 Convincing signs of superior 20 Lucid, economical, even elegant; 20
84 intelligence and control; obvious 21 chooses words aptly from obvious 21
clarity of interpretation &
88 22 22
originality of thought; logically
92 23 23

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96 sequenced, cohesive, well 24 depths of vocabulary; effortless control of 24
supported. complex sentences to express complex
100 25 25
ideas; virtually error-free.

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 ENG1511/Sem 02 Assignments/2023

Honesty declaration form

NB. No assignment will be accepted without this declaration.

Copy and paste the declaration form at the end of your assignment. Also type in your full names on
the signature space if you do not have tools to sign the form.

Name: ..............................................................
Student number: ..............................................
I declare that this assignment is my own original work. I have not copied anyone else’s work or
allowed anyone else to copy mine. I am aware that plagiarism is fraud and may be punished by
the cancellation of an offending student’s registration.

Signature: ........................................................