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Class Act

The document outlines the story 'Class Act' by Namhla Tshisana, focusing on a 12-year-old girl who struggles with bullying at her Afrikaans school due to her long school tunic. The narrative explores themes of identity, acceptance, and the internal and external conflicts faced by the narrator. Ultimately, the narrator resolves to embrace her identity despite the challenges, highlighting her commendable strength in a difficult environment.

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143 views17 pages

Class Act

The document outlines the story 'Class Act' by Namhla Tshisana, focusing on a 12-year-old girl who struggles with bullying at her Afrikaans school due to her long school tunic. The narrative explores themes of identity, acceptance, and the internal and external conflicts faced by the narrator. Ultimately, the narrator resolves to embrace her identity despite the challenges, highlighting her commendable strength in a difficult environment.

Uploaded by

thapelolepadima45
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Class Act

by Namhla Tshisana
CAST

Title / Types of
Action / Setting / Narrator /
Characters
atmosphere Structure Techniques of
language

J Walstrand / MTG2023
Characterisation
Narrator • 12-year-old girl who does not fit in due to the length of her
school tunic.
• She struggles with bullying coming from her fellow
schoolmates
• She does not have a voice at home, and they decide what is
good for her
Ayanda – Narrator’s sister She is the narrator’s sister; she is good to her and ends up
putting a seam in her tunic.
Narrator’s Mother (Mama) She works hard and he's very busy.
She provides for her daughter.
Aunt Connie She has come from Johannesburg.
She accuses the narrator of being angry because of going to a
school that has Afrikaans.
She is rude to the narrator.
She might be pregnant.

Mr Sauls He's a new English teacher.


He cannot control his classroom and ends up lying on his arms.
Khanyisa A rude girl who bullies the narrator at school
Action
• The narrator starts High School where she is
subjected to teasing because of her appearance.
At first her dress is very long and then her sister
shortens the dress.
• A boy in her class Renato who is repeating the
grade for the third time singles her out with rude
comments calling her Sister Mary Clarence.
Referring to the Movie Sister Act where Sister
Mary Clarence plays a nun.
• She does not report the ‘bullying’ to her mother
and her aunt, but she fights the demons alone and
all by herself.
Atmosphere / Mood
• Sad / Emotional
• The reader feels sad
about the narrator’s
struggles.
Tone
How the narrator is feeling….
We learn that from their
choice of words.

• A downhearted and depressed tone.


• The narrator begins the story with a strong word depressing
statement (‘I hate high school’). She uses a powerful word like
‘hate’ in describing her feelings about school. She emphasises
that fact by using, ‘Really, I do.’
Setting REMEMBER
When AND Where!

It takes place in the


The story is set in a
early nineties. The
homeland called Ciskei
story shifts between
(which is now part of
school and the
the Eastern Cape).
narrator's home.

J Walstrand / MTG2023
Exposition

Conflict

Rising Action
Structure
and Plot Climax
Developme
Resolution
nt
J Walstrand / MTG2023
Exposition

• P82- The narrator is at home and


intensely declares that she hates
school. Not just school, but her
current high school.
• -‘Not only because everyone
expects me to speak Afrikaans but I
hate everything about the school’
•
Conflict
• her classmates call her ‘Sister
Mary Clarence’
• They are noisy and rude
• the teachers cannot control the
noise
• cannot focus on her studies
• the narrator wants to fit in by
shortening her uniform like the
other girls in her class after being
teased for her long uniform.
•
• Dino and his radio in class
• Mr Sauls hiding his head in
his briefcase
Rising • Aunt Connie’s refusal to
shorten her skirt using ‘white
Action cotton’.
• Ayanda shortening the
uniform using the ‘white
cotton.
Climax
• exposure to the chill as a result of the short uniform
• exposing the dark knock-knees and the humiliation
at school
• ‘Snooty Khanyisa’s remarks
after the geography lesson.
These lead to the narrator
resolving to be true to herself
Falling •
Action
• P85- The resolution is to
accept being called Sister
Mary Clarence because ‘At
least no one cares about the
colour what colour panties
Resolution she wore.’
• First person narration.

• This type of narration immediately puts


the reader inside the narrator's head,
providing the readers with an intimate
Point of perspective of the narrator’s life,
including thoughts, feelings, experiences
view and emotions. The narrator effectively
communicate how each moment feels—
delivering sight, sound, smell, taste, and
touch. The reader is forced to feel what
the narrator feels. That is why at the end
of this story we admire the narrator and
are empathetic towards her.
•
• Focuses the readers’ attention on the main
character’s act of claiming back the power to
be herself in spite of all the pressure from
her peers.
• Her resolve to be called Sister Mary Clarence
is sterling/ commendable behaviour in a
Title teenager under such immense pressure. It is
also something commendable and an
outstanding quality in one so young, that she
does not decide to leave the school, but she
tells the readers: ‘I can’t wait to get out’. This
implies she will brave it until she leaves the
school after her studies.
• Bullying - The narrator is continuously teased by her schoolmates.
Her bullying is not physical, but it kills her spirit

• Identity / Acceptance and appearance - The narrator


faces a difficult time because of her appearance. She does not feel
accepted by other learners at school

• Isolation /helplessness
• Conflict – Internal . The narrator has to go to school when
Themes school is not favourable to her. She must spend time in the place she
hates. She has to find her way around that unconducive situation and
environment. The narrator has confused or conflicted feelings

• External The narrator has a problem of being teased by other


learners. There are two learners who make life difficult for her. A girl who
looks down upon her and a boy who constantly teases her about
everything.

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