Читать книгу English for Life Reader Grade 9 Home Language - Elaine Ridge - Страница 15

Pre-reading
1.	We often forget to take things with us or to do things. Usually we can do something about this. Forgotten people in the sense of this poem are forgotten by society, not individuals. They just don’t seem to matter. Nobody who could do anything about it seems to care what happens to them. What do you think it would feel like to be forgotten in this sense? Look at the illustration. What do you think this man might be feeling?
During reading
2.	The first line of the poem has only one word, “Broken”. In what ways does this become the theme of the poem?

Forgotten people

Nkathazo ka Mnyayiza

Broken

rusty

and hanging gates

fallen leaves on unswept yards

where mangy dogs stretch out their empty beings

and where fowls peck fruitlessly at unwashed dishes

I saw him the old man on an old bench seated

thoughts far off man’s reach and sight

and like the setting sun

he gave way to the dying embers of life

and slowly he slouched into bed

with a dry and empty stomach

to await another empty day or death.

mangy – scruffy, suffering from an ugly skin disease

Post-reading
3.	The poem is set in a place where nothing is being cared for. What are the signs that:
a)	no one is doing any upkeep?
b)	the animals are neglected?
c)	the old man has no one to look after him?
4. a)	“Dying embers” usually describes a fire that is slowly going out. What does “dying embers of life” suggest about the old man’s physical state and feelings?
b)	Quote all the other words that emphasise the old man’s position.
5.	You have probably been told not to use ‘and’ more than once in a sentence. Suggest why the poet has chosen to use ‘and’ four times in this short poem.
6.	The title is “Forgotten people”, so why does the writer describe only one person?