As we read 'Waiting for the Rain,' we can share thoughts about this award-winning 'Best Book for Young Adults' here at the blog as well as in our literature circles and class discussions. Publish your comments, including your first name. You can also publish ideas and information you have about South Africa, which might add even more to our understanding of the novel.
Below are some video clips that relate to our study of South Africa. You may need to let the video 'buffer' through the first time, and then it should run smoothly.
1. After becoming a big star in the late 1950's, Miriam Makeba was banned from her home country for 27 years because of her views about Apartheid. Here's her 'Click Song,' in which she explains to an audience in the Netherlands a feature of the Xhosa language, one of 10 or so black South African languages.
2. Another South African musician who got banned from returning home is trumpeter, Hugh Masekela. Here he is in concert, performing his song, 'Stimela,' about the train that took black men to work long, hard hours in the mines of South Africa.
3. Peter Gabriel, a rock singer from England, performed this song 'Biko' in a 1980 concert. The song is about Steve Biko, a black South African activist who was killed in his police prison cell in 1977.
4. Here are two video clips from the 1992 movie, 'Sarafina!'. The story was originally on stage as a musical and then made into a movie. It's the story of a girl from Soweto who has dreams of becoming a star, but she is living during the student uprisings in Soweto of the late 1970's.
First Scene from the movie, 'Sarafina!': Opening to the movie...
Second Scene from the movie, 'Sarafina!' - Tensions at the school; planning an end-of-year school play...
5. Johnny Clegg, sometimes called the 'white Zulu,' formed South Africa's first racially mixed music group. He performs his song 'Scatterlings of Africa' in 1987 on French television.
6. 'Gimme Hope Jo'anna by Eddy Grant is an early music video from 1988. With its reggae rhythm, it was a big hit in Europe and North America. The song was banned in South Africa. What do you think 'Jo'anna' refers to? Maybe someone can give us the lyrics along with some comments?!
7. Here's a music video for the song 'Vulindlela' by Brenda Fassie, who was called the 'Queen of Township Music.' This particular song has such a catchy beat that supposedly, even P.W. Botha, a prime minister during the time of Apartheid, found himself dancing to the song during his retirement years in the 1990's!
8. When apartheid officially ended in 1994 and Nelson Mandela was elected president, a new national anthem needed to be composed. Here's one version of the new national anthem with Xhosa and English lyrics. What South African languages are missing?
9. This is a 2006 music video by Bok van Blerk. The song is titled 'De la Rey.' It was a big hit in South Africa, especially for Afrikaners because it memorializes one of their famous army generals of the 1899 Anglo-Boer War.
88 comments:
I am really not good at remembering names. I can remember things like "there was this guys and he was friends with this guy ..." The names are giving me a headache because it is impossible to remember, and I always have to look back at the sheet to know who someone is. The only name I can remember from the book is Tengo and Frikkie.
Today i think Alex did a very good job of doing his presentation. I remembered one part of his presentation as a symbol decoder. He said that when Tengo saw the shooting star his mom told him that it's lucky that the books will come. In the end of chapter 4 Tengo's cousin (Joseph)'s mom told Dr. Miller (her madam) to see if they would have thier children's old books and that had made the shooting star lucky.
The discussion about this novel that we did in the class was really helpful to understand the story more deep. I was the discussion director and I found “The Call” part of the hero’s journey. Also I noticed some metaphor, symbol and the personification in this book while I was listening to my friend’s opinions. These were very interesting words and I thought there were some connections to the Apartheid laws, especially for the metaphors and symbols. After this discussion I got more interested to read the next chapter that I want to know how Tengo tries to learn about Apartheid and what would happen to the relationship between Tengo & Frikkie when Tengo knows the facts of Apartheid.
After reading the first four chapters, there are already some clear descriptions of the conditions during apartheid, some literal and others metaphorical. White supremacy is very noticeable. I find that Frikkie’s friendship with Tengo is contradictory because although they are friends Frikkie does not seem to realize how fortunate he is. More importantly, he does not seem to realize that Tengo is unfortunate.
On page 12, Frikkie is given cake by his aunt and he exclaimed that it was the best cake in the world. He also had hot tea to go with it. Tengo, however, had to make do with what was left of the tea and a slice of bread with apricot jam. He sits and eats quietly outside, only to be hurried by Frikkie to go play.
Because of his status in society, Tengo finds it hard to find books. To him, books are magical. He does not go to school but is keen to learn. Through observing his surroundings, Tengo formulates many questions which he ponders frequently. Frikkie on the other hand goes to school but wishes that he didn’t go at all.
Frikkie takes many things for granted. It is likely that Tengo has not had any cake in his life, and it is apparent that he does not have many books to read. I do not blame Frikkie for his behaviour, because he doesn’t know any better. He has been brought up and taught by others. As we know, it is hard to change your habits and your beliefs.
I think that readers will remember the dog at the kraal (page 8), who continuously barked for food. At first you may wonder why the dog is mentioned. After our literature circle activity, we decided that the dog symbolizes the black people who were fighting (barking) for their rights and privileges. The cake that Frikkie had was also a symbol. It represented the extravagant luxuries that white people had, which was essentially indulgence.
Personally, I think the events in the book so far has suggested that Tengo will set off on a journey, both literally and figuratively. Perhaps he will venture into the unknown: the city. If Tengo wants his questions answered, then he will have to travel far and adapt to the unknown. Maybe he will experience his first train ride. It is almost cruel that he should be able to hear the trains passing by and never get to be on one. It reminds me of Pandora’s Box.
I got so deep impression when I watched Mr. Masekela's concert because he showed how black people are working... and i was so suprised when he used some plastic bottle to make sounds like tutu train(?). I could see many black people in here but not whites and iguess the concert is in 1990s. Because in the video clip, doesn't show any white police men. well, it also could be secret concert.
so... what do you think the title of book's meaning? (Waiting for the rain) many people said that is waiting for the rain literally. or some was saying that means it's waiting for the freedom. But actually i don't agree with that. i think this title meaning is waiting for being equal whites and blacks because if i am right, my guess matches with the contents. i don't read book over but i guess later, they will be friends.
Chapters 1-4 of ‘Waiting for the Rain’ captured the essence of the Apartheid. It demonstrated in many ways how whites are in control of the blacks and how blacks are crying for help. The cricket bat Frikkie got for his birthday, the cake, the money for the train ride each year showed what a good life the whites had compared to the black. There’s a section on page 19 that symbolizes the blacks peoples life, ‘In the three legged black iron pot that simmered over the fire, bubbles exploded as the steam broke through to the surface of the thick white cornmeal porridge.’ The simmering pot shows how blacks are living on the edge; simmer means close to boiling point. I remembered what Vasu said about ‘the call’ for Tengo. Vasu said Tengo’s call was the urge to learn and his curiosity so he might seek to learn somewhere else other than the farm. So I think part of Tengo’s journey would learn the unfairness of the way’s blacks have to live compared to whites and might consult with his own best friend about that very issue. I would like to see what Frikkie would say Tengo started talking about the unfairness of the Apartheid.
Well, I’m still confusing with the last sentence of chapter 4. Why did Joseph just keep silence when he stared at the cover of the comic book? At first, I thought the book is probably about apartheid or something else that will hurt Tengo's feeling. With this question, I read the very first part of chapter 5, but it seems like nothing wrong with the book. Anyway, I will read more pages and find the answer later. I agree with Yuhei that the group discussion is helpful to learn more detail about this book, especially the discussion director part. We all feel that it’ll be Tengo who went on the hero’s journey because his life was harder than Frikkie and he was also a boy with an enthusiasm for knowledge. What will his journey be like? I’m really interested in this.
I agree with Yuhei that the discussions in class were very helpful because it made me look at the novel in depth. From the activity, I remembered Anavi’s questions the most. She asked us questions about the hero’s journey and how it might relate to the book. From discussing this, I realized that Tengo might be about to begin his journey to find what was missing from his life, which is knowledge. However, before he could cross the threshold into the unknown world, his threshold guardian (his mom) is protecting him from taking the journey. This is because his mom knows he isn’t ready yet. So from knowing this, I predict that his mom will let him into the unknown when he is ready. Tengo will chase his dreams of going to school and face many challenges, such as whites treating him badly.
After I finished reading first four chapters, I realize that I discover more about Apartheid law and I also identify more about black people and how large extent that blacks have to suffered during Apartheid period of time. I believe that “Waiting for the Rain” novel is the novel that best describe about black people life when Apartheid law still existed because it analyze all the bill that command black people to follow and effect negatively to them in many sources of way. Beside the novel, I also gain lots of knowledge about Apartheid law in South Africa booklet because it describe more deeply about Apartheid law than the novel. It also gives me lots example from comparing blacks and white people which make me understand more clearly about their different life level. Before I reading this novel, I barely know anything about South Africa and Apartheid law but after I read “WftR”, I realize black people is a tuff tribe because they pass through all the compression and exploit during that time. From the literature circles activity, I learned some metaphor, symbol and the personification from the novel and I see wider about the novel by listen to my friend’s perspectives. Some of my friends have many interested idea that I never knew before. I trust the Tengo and Frikkie adventure also describe about Apartheid law too, if you think about it. After all, all of these information’s influence me to continue reading this novel and find out the conclusion of this novel.
It's probably not a coincidence to see that this novel's two main characters, Frikkie and Tengo, are following the Hero's Journey. They've already received their Calls- for Frikkie, it's the sounds of the farm, and for Tengo, the thirst for knowledge.
I have to agree with Robin about the dog symbolizing blacks. Throughout what we've read, I believe the dog has never ceased its barking, symbolizing that the blacks haven't achieved their freedom (being fed). Plus, the time period that this takes place is near the end of apartheid in South Africa.
I also found this link. This link is to a South Africa blog on this website that has some interesting facts about townships.
http://kateandysouthafrica.blogspot.com/2007/06/township-tour.html
First time when I read this book, "Waiting for the Rain", I was not interested in this because the beginning of the story was bored. But in chapter 4, Joseph explained about the city life (includes the apartheid) to Tengo. I live in downtown, so I agree with Joseph's thought. Tengo is younger than Joseph so I understand he doesn't know well about apartheid. This book is telling South Africa's history, also it related to apartheid. I'm excited to unfold the story gradually. On the presentation, we can share the ideas of own so I think it's good for understand the story.
When I look at the front page of the book, I could see two boys were staring at each other. So I thought they will hate each other, but when I read first to fourth chapter, I could see they were friend each other. But I still can see the apartheid going on, because Frikkie could go to school, but Tengo couldn’t. But I think Tengo will start to don’t like Frikkie, because I still think the front page’s picture is telling me that, they hate each other because of apartheid (This is just my think…).
For my group I was the literary luminary. My job was to find 2 to 4 sentences or quotes about chapters 1-4 in Waiting for the Rain.
Ex:
On page 22, at the top, there was a sentence describing Tengo's grandmother cooking and her pan. I thought this sentence was interesting because it had so many descriptive words.
Also for my group I had to find an example of a simile.
Ex:
On page 13, in the 5th paragraph, there is a sentence that has like in it (which makes it a simile). It is "Frikkie squatted down and fitted tubular jacaranda blossoms like gloves fingers on to his hands."
As I began to read this book I stared to see how the living conditions and economics were for the black people living in South Africa. Personally I thought that it was disturbing how the black people are fed the leftovers of what the white people eat. Even though slavery was band by the British Empire a long time ago, to me it seems that the black people are still being treated similar to slaves. It appears that Tengo and Frikkie are good friends but I wonder if Tengo went to the same school as Frikkie if Frikkie and his friends would call Tengo names and beet him up like that 7 year old white boy in the documentary we watched in class.
I am still not able to figure out why did Joseph become silence when he looked at the cover of the book in the end of chapter 4. This question was on the test we did on Friday too. Was there something wrong with the book? Maybe about apartheid? Since it was on the test, I think we have some clues in chapter 1-4 but I have no clue what going on yet.
The discussion we did on Friday was really helpful to understand more about this book. During the discussion, Alex told us that he thinks the shooting star in the chapter 3 is symbolizing that something lucky will happen to Tengo. And the cake in chapter 4 is symbolizing privileges Whites got. Alex did a very good job as a Symbol Decoder so we all could figured out at least 2 symbols in first 4 chapters.
I agree with Myung Jin!! From the cover, it looked like the boys were like enemies and would hate each other, but actually they were friends. After reading the first four chapters and discussing it in class, I think it really helped me understand alot more. Relating it to the heroes's journey, I agree with Gee gee. His mom, the threshold guardian protests him before he crosses into the unknown world because he is not ready yet. I think the first four chapters tells me that Tengo will set off into the unknown world and discovered and gain alot of knowledge. I also think this book will teach me more about the aparthied and i will understand more about S.A.
This book demonstrates something very sad in our society. Because of the rifts set between different ethnic groups many years ago, those who were oppressed back then are still in poverty. Tengo could have been an ingenious scholar, but because of his ethnicity, he could not fully unleash this potential. Much of America's lower class is black. Why? Because the toll taken by segregation and slavery has already left its mark. If America's white population started as the upper and middle class, they can easily retain this status. But the African-American population must start from scratch. This is unjust...
I think Mitchell did well at his job, he got down many insightful passages and I was just pleased with the whole group. I think that the two main caracters are both folowing the heros journey and I agree with Rauls comment on how Frikkies call is the farm and Tengos is the thirst for knowledge. I like this book because it teaches young children about how bad apartheid was and how it could break up close freindships.
After reading the first four chapters of 'Waiting For The Rain' I hypothesize that both Tengo and Frikkie is going to go on a Hero's Journey and into the world of the unknown. The literature circles that we had was very helpful to me and my table mates. By discussing what we thought of the book, what we understood and what we were confused about we were able to go in depth with the book and look at things figuratively and literally.
At this point in the story Tengo and Frikkie are still friends, they are oblivious to the apartheid that is going on in South Africa. But the cover of the book displays the two kids at an older age looking at each other with distrust. So I think that as the years go by the two won't be as naive and they will grow apart due to the hate, the distrust, and the apartheid.
Before I read this book, when I saw the front page of the book I thought the white boy and black boy were friends but they were not that friendly. The reason why I said not that friendly is they look angry and standing back to back. After I read chapter 1 to 4, I learned a lot of stuff about Tengo and Frikkie. While I was reading these chapters I found that Tengo is living in a farm and Frikkie is living in a city. Also Frikkie is the white boy and he is going school, and Tengo is the black boy and he is not going to school.
On chapter 3, Tengo’s cousin Joseph visit the farm and tell Tengo about city life. In that period apartheid was going on so blacks need to carry a passbook. Tengo was curious about apartheid because he didn’t know about apartheid. But Tengo still wanted to live in the city, because if he lives in the city he could go to school like Joseph.
I felt apartheid is very unfair while I was reading, because in this book white government doesn’t let blacks to swim in a swimming pool. And if they forgot to carry a passbook then white government put them in a jail.
I’m wondering what Tengo and Frikkie will become when they get older (adult). If Tengo is not going to school then I think I would become a boss boy.
In our litrature circles on Friday, I remember tlaking to the other discussion dirrectors about how the hero's journey connected to Waitng for the Rain. In my group, I remember us tryign to identify the call and how we were at the begining of the hero's journey. We also tried to make predictions of the next step of the hero's journey and how it might appear in the story. I remember Van tlakign about the threshold guardian. I thoguht it was really interesting because I never noticed.
We can assume what this book is meant for. When we look at the front page, two boys with different races, black and white, why this book indicate the cover with different color of boys? Why not same color but black and white?
This seems like separation between friendship related to the history of south Africa. When I read chap.3. Tengo's cousin, Joseph mentioned about aparthied and relationship between black and white. I can assume from this beginning part of the story that there is a conflict. And one day, Tengo's perception of white people will change from one of friend to one of hate.
I also predict that frinedship between Frikkie and Tengo will not be longer. People;s mind of fearness will grow when they learn lots about the world. However, I think I know what the story refer to by showing story of black and white boy. The time of the aparthied will stand between them and that is the line they can't cross. However, with their deep friendship and their mind will grow against aparthied. Finally, they will destroy the board and part again with friend.
I know how this book will teach us about history of south Africa and what we should learn about it. The most impoartant point is that it's hard for white people to be close to black when society trying to stop it by the law.
On the front cover, as you can see the boys are looking at each other.
In the beginning of the book I thought it was quite boring, but probably towards the middle there will be alot of action and explaining about apartheid.
So I guess I just have to wait and read more to find out more about the characters and apartheid.
The front of the book, Black and White guys are looking each other... I thought they are hating each other but, when I start to read this book, its image changed soon because the book says they are very good friends.
And I am interesting Joseph, which means he told about "Apartheid" for Tengo so I excited to how Tengo know Apartheid properly. Tengo didn't know Apartheid and his friend Frikkie is best friend so I think Tengo doesn't believe Apartheid. But I don't know what is true so I will read hard.
The chapters 1 through 4 was the chapters in which I found out about the setting and the characters of the book. These chapters seems to give the readers a glimpse of the living conditions of the character at the time. It also gave the reader a quick glance of the apartheid that was taking place during the time. In this book, Frikkie's life represents white supremacy in South Africa during the time. On the other hand Tengo's life symbolizes the struggle of the black citizens in South Africa.
I also agree with Robin's idea that in the book, Frikkie doesn't realize how fortunate he his and that he should take advantage of his chance to learn. Frikkie does not yet realize that there are a vast amount of children that are robbed of this opportunity to learn such as his close friend Tengo who desperately wants an opportunity to get proper education but never gets the chance to.
When I saw this cover, I thougt that this book would be about racism but it is another way around. Also I don't really like this book because there are way too many character and I when i read, i don't even konw who's who. I have to go and look at the sheet of paper that say who's this character.I really like the literacy circle because it also explain more information of the book than just reading it. I think I should take note some of the other people's idea so when there's a quiz that ask what is the symbol of this and I would know how to explain it perfectly. In my opinion, I think that doing literacy circle will help us get a better understanding of the book.
I am a symbol decoder in the lit circle we shared what symbolizes what. 1 example i like is about the dogs which they are barking so loud but no one seems to care and take notice of the dogs, it symbolizes black and colored people in apartheid because no matter how they protested no matter what they think, no one seems to cares. one more example is the fishes swimming in the pond, "i wanted to know if one fish is the leader and the other fish follows it" same with whites for example the video 7up we see that a 7 years old talking about how he would treat black people he doesn't know the reason why, why? Because his parents are the leader they raised him to hate blacks so he follows and does the same things. one last example "during the day, he wondered, when the sunlight made it too bright to be able to see the stars, were shooting stars falling through the sky just the same?" this symbolizes blacks and colored in the whites power, because a shooting star is like hope and in the day we can't see them because there is something more powerful than it, this means they are under power and that hope could not be seen.
When I finished reading throught chapter 1-4 in WFTR, I first thought that the first two characters are alike or very similar. Then while I read more, I learned that they were in different situation. Since, Frikkie's parent worked in the city, they would earn more money which means they were white. On the other hand, Tengo, had a farm which also had poor income. Also I learned that people have totally different perception because of their economics. I never thought that the school is known fun for poor kids and boring for normal kids. I think that this book tells very clearly about the aparthied in South Africa.
I am looking forward to continue reading this book but i have heard that the book is very boring. Not much happens and that they dont want to read it. I thought the first chapters were ok, with a good introduction of the characters. In the literature circles i got some good ideas from other people. I liked Rahuls vocabulary, because he had some afrikaner words in there with a good defenition. I am looking forward to agreeing or disagreeing with the things i have heard.
As Robin had mentioned, there are already some clear descriptions of conditions during Apartheid shown in the first four chapters. I could see segregation of blacks and whites, and differences in their status.
Frikkie and Tengo are good friends; however, as they grow older, their society had told them that Blacks and Whites are different. Especially Tengo, he started to wonder why Frikkie can go to school or why people treat Whites better or why his parents need to work so hard as inferiors and listen to Oom Koos all the time.
The discussion was really helpful, because as I shared my ideas to others, I also obtained lots of good information that helps me to understand the book more. One of the ideas that others shared was Blacks had to carry their passes with them all the time, and if not they would get sent to jail. This example shows the unfairness for Blacks, because the government didn’t give them travel rights. The other example showed segregation in their living environment. During Apartheid, Blacks in a farming area lived in a kraal and Whites lived in nice houses, and as Joseph told Tengo, in the city areas, blacks lived in crowded townships and whites lived in beautiful houses. And there were no swimming pools for Blacks to swim.
Just from the first four chapters, the power of Apartheid had made misunderstandings between Frikkie and Tengo. Can their friendship exist as they grow older?
While discussing our parts in the Lit-circle activity with my group, we began to talk about the last question on the quiz where we have to answer in words (because we thought it was interesting and relevant to what we were talking about). The question was how did Joseph feel when his boss gave some old and used book to Joseph's cousin; Tengo. After looking in the book, the author just said that Joseph was silence. We began to think of many theory which leads to answer for this question. I thought it was interesting because we actually get to analyze the character's personalities and perceptions of how that character might see things differently than other characters.
When I read though chapter 3-4, I saw the staring of Hero's Journey of Tengo, which is The Call. The call is his Curiousity because later in the book, nearly all he thinks about is books and reading books. But The Theshold is lack of money to go to school, transport, and Books.
I think reading this book Wating for the rain will teach us so much anbout friendship, and more about the aparthied, i really want to finish this book and know what happens with frikkie tengo and joseph.
The front of the novel was interesting because when Mr. Kenney explained the space between Tengo and Frikkie, because the space meant APARTheid. I was a literary luminacy for the literature circle, and I found some passages that were interesting. One thought-provoking paragraph was about Joseph's mom and her madam talking about giving old books to Tengo because Joseph's reactions were confusing. There could possibly be many answers to these but I think the reason why Joseph kept looking at the cover of the comic book silently was because he doesn't want Tengo to study hard. Joseph thinks that there's nothing Tengo can do in the future no matter how hard Tengo studies.
When I looked at the cover, I thought that they are not friends, but When I was readikng chapter one, I noticed that they are best friends. I was confused that why didn't Frikkie tell him about apartheid, but I found a answer for it through the discussion. Therefore, the discussion was very helpful to understand what this story about from chapter 1 to chapter 4.
I thought that the literature circle was a good way of clarifying questions we had while reading individually. In the book while reading, the question that came to my mind was: When Frikkie milked the cow, he became tired and stopped. Then he watched Tengo do the rest. If Frikkie wanted to be a farmer, then shouldn’t he be working harder?
While we discussed about our parts in the Lit-Circle activity, we came up with interesting questions during the discussion. Some of the questions are as Tata said that if Tengo really wanted to be a farmer, then shouldn’t he be more devoted to his work? Another question that came up was that if there was apartheid in South Africa then why would Frikkie and Tengo be friends? First when I looked at the book I thought that the book would be sort of boring according to the cover but when I started to get into the book it started to get more interesting and more fun.
I really agree with Earth N. that there are too many characters in the story and it is hard to remember.
When I first look at the book's cover I think that the book will mostly be about the conflict between a black boy and a white boy, but I was wrong. After reading the first few chapters, I found out that the book is really about two friends. One is a black farmer and one is kind of the next owner of the farm.
I really like the lit-circle, because you get to share your informations and you get the information that others have.
On Friday we had our literature circle with our own group and the people who had the same role/job. After working in a group of people with the same role/job, it helped me explain my part better to my own group. In the first 4 chapters the plot is nothing like the cover. The two main character's (Frikkie and Tengo) were very good friends which differs from the visual message given by the cover. I think this book relates to the hero's journey because both the characters received their "Call" to their journey.
The title "Waiting for the rain" the word "rain" most nearly means hope. This is one of the example given by Paddy in my group that we came across about symbolism.
On the front of the book "Waiting for the Rain", it shows Tengo and Frikkie back to back with little space in between, In the begining iI thought that this would symbolise the face that there was going to be a conflict in the story. The story was a bit confusing to me at first because of the names but i think that i have gotten them straighten out now. The conflicts that will probably be coming up between Tengo and Frikkie will probably symbolize one of the main problems in Africa, apartheid. The lit. circles we did in class really did improve my understanding of the story and now I am able to understand it better.
I think the friendship between Fredrick and Tengo is torn by the utter of South African apartheid. But then I think they be friends again. Fredrick and Tengo have been friends since childhood Fredrick a white south African, a landowner’s nephew and Tengo a black south African who works on his uncle’s farm. Tengo a boy who is very curious and restless thinking how the rest of the world would be like. The first four chapters were quite interesting and did connect “The Call” part of the hero’s journey.
In the chapters 5 to 7 I think there are some clues to what will happen, between Frikkie and Tengo, later on in the book. Some Examples of this are. :
1) When the Oom Koos tells the 'Great Trek' story. (Pg. 43-44)
2) When Frikkie asks Tengo if he will be his 'boss-boy'. (Pg. 42)
3) When the Oom Koos talks to his wife about Tengo's future, and the relationship between Frikkie and Tengo. (Pg. 53)
In my opinion, I think that the literature circle was very helpful because I can get free information and these information could help me on the quiz or the test. Today, Mr. Kenney made me in trouble because I didn't finish my literature circle so if there was one people in your group didn't finish their own job then your team is going to be mad at you because they don't get enough information. Maybe, your team can get better in the quiz or test if they had enough information.
Today in the circle I remember that Alex saying why doesn't the white want a black in to thier room? That question really points to rasism for an answer but i think it's about trust for a person. I remember that someone said that the book taste like salt and it makes the person want more of it. At first Mr. Kenny hold up a bag of white powder, at first i thought it was some kind of drug or something i go shocked. But then it was a pack of salt.....man that scared the jeepers out of me.
After reading chapters 5 to 7 and doing the lit. circle, there are a lot of quotes that are important that you know the figurative meaning. This is because understanding the quotes will help you understand events that will happen next. Such as:
1. " Even though the oubaas is so strong and so rich and so clever, he doesn't know everything. And he doesn't know that he doesn't know everything... (page 46)
2. "Their faces - it nearly brought a lump to my throat - the faces of those two kids, black and white. It was as if they were witnessing a miracle." (page 52)
I think Tengo will experience much harsher situations that he already experience on the farm.
Today in lit. circle I learned that it is better to understand my role better with the people with the same role.
I think that Frikkie seems very open-minded for a boy raised amongst bigotry and racism. Though he openly respects Tengo, it seems that he envisions Tengo living as a farmhand. Tengo, though, seems ambitious, and would not enjoy this lifestyle. I agree with Alexis that this is foreshadowing a future arguement: critical realism on Fikkie's side and confident ambition on Tengo's side.
From the literature circle for chapters 5-7 Anavi made a really good point abou Tengo's Grandmother's gnarled fingers on page 59 and 68. The gnarled fingers could symbolize the apartheid because it look so bad that it seems there is no hope of fixing it. I always thought about Tengo's future. I think the time Tengo got angry at Frikkie's cousin forshadows that Tengo might do it again because he isn't prepare for this kind of behavoir toward blacks. So in Johannesburg, Tengo might get into some trouble. But I think Frikkie or Oom Koos might come to help him.
I'm starting to remember the names a little.The quiz was kind of hard. I had to guess a couple of them. Then I found out that my guesses were wrong afterward.
As we reading this novel and sharing our thoughts, I frequently thinking this is an excellent opportunity to consider about the words, paragraphs or whatever of this book. This time (Chapter 5 to 7) I was taking charge of the Word Wizard and I found an interesting word for me, “sullen”. According to my dictionary the meaning says silent and bad-tempered, either on a particular occasion or because it is part of your character. In this book, sullen was used when Oom Koos complained Tengo. Oom Koos thought that Tengo is growing into one of the sullen kaffirs and I noticed that this word connects with an example of the outcome statement. I think Oom Koos was trying to referring Tengo’s identity by using this word. I think his belief against whites was changing so that his identity changed.
The Literature Circles were useful in some ways. They made use think about what would happen in the future between Tengo and Frikkie. I think the most effective paper of the four, was the paper where you have to ask questions (maybe the discussion director?), because that got the whole group thinking about some main points in the story, and the future relationship between Frikkie, Tengo, and the farm.
In my opinions, I thought that chapters 5-7 was more interesting than chapters 1-4. There are more things happening between Frikkie and Tengo. Tengo becomes moody, and changes his attitude towards Frikkie. Also Tengo is ready to move on to the unknown world, or a big city called Johanessburg. Tengo is ready to set off for Johanessburg, where there is a township and apartheid is happening. I want to know that will he be able to handle this situation (apartheid) for his better education or his dream that he has been looking foward to ever since.? Although Tengo had read a few about this situation, he hasn't faced it yet and I think it will totally make him feel bad about all the things happening in Johanessburg.
I really enjoyed reading chapters 5-7 and had many thoughts to it. There was one quote that I found very interesting during reading and also during the role sheets discussion, TY K. had mentioned about this quote too!
Page 46;
"Eventhough the oubaas is so strong and so rich and so clever, he thought to him self, he doesn't know everything. And he doesn't know that he doesn't know everything..." From discussing about this quote in the role discussion in class, I got to an idea of this quote may mean "how OomKoos thinks what he knows is practically every thing, but it is like a small box inside a big box, which what OomKoos knows is like the small box.
I enjoyed reading and discussing about the thoughts and ideas towards these chapters.(:
In humanities class, we discussed about lit circle we did. I did discussion director, and I think everybody did well on it. And when we do this, I think it helps me a lot to understand the story. Something that made me curious in chapter 5 to 7, I could ask to my table partner and same lit circle friends, so it helped me to get answer for my questions. For now I think Tengo and Frikkie’s friend ship is getting bad, because of apartheid. I really want to know what will happen to Tengo and Frikkie when they grow up, to know this I should keep read the book.
I saw the first two parts of the film “Sarafina!” today. It became more interesting after Sarafina began to dream of a life of being a star. I felt a strong power when I saw so many people dancing and singing together. I like this feeling and maybe that’s also why I like "High School Musical" very much. Their performance was stopped by the truck of the White military which showed us the Black’s fear of the White and I think actually this is not supposed to exist nowadays because everybody is equal in this world. In part two, the conversation between Sarafina and her friends impress me a lot. One boy who was sitting on the windowsill agitated the others to fight against the Whites. Sarafina agreed but she thought that their target shouldn’t be school. But that boy gave us a perception that I’ve never thought about: the Whites in South Africa let the Blacks go to school just for keeping them away from the street but not really wanted them to be educated. What does “keeping them away from the street” mean? I think by gathering those young Black students together and teaching them those non-violent stuffs, it’ll be much easier for the White military to manage the Blacks. As that boy said, they must go to school instead of protesting against the White on the street. This really shocked me a little bit. At last, I just want to say that you can feel exactly how deep the Blacks’ love is to Nelson Mandela from this film.
I am the symbol decoder again but I really do like it. This lit circle role on finding out Similes, metaphor, personification and symbolize makes me understand the story more than usual, because I had understand it essentially about what they say. I found out that most symbol I found, are based on apartheids, for example one single balloon full of helium, I had turned out to be one single non-white full of motivation and wanting to go up to reach his goal but something is keeping him not to. In conclusion the lit circle was useful because we could share ideas between people and understand more about WFTR.
A point I stressed in the literature circles today was how Tengo realizes that people can look at things in different ways (pg. 47). This was in response to the story of the "Great Trek" as told by Oom Koos.
Oom Koos described the Boers as heroes who were escaping the evil British, and got backstabbed by native tribes when they bought land, built fences and houses, and watched as the tribes raided them. He implies that the Boers were heroes- that inferior races should be enslaved and that the British were evil (in the sense of something petty, rather than something feared).
Tengo believes that the early Boers were misguided in that when they "bought" land from the native tribes, they were buying grass for cows. He believes that land, like the sea, sky, and sunlight, cannot be bought, and his ancestors were justified in razing Boer settlements when they Boers built houses and fenced off the land.
Despite what they say, both people show bias towards their own race.
My group noticed that the point Tengo brings across is similar to Outcome Statement #1, especially Outcome Statement 1a, which states that "people may view the same event differently". Oom Koos and Tengo viewed the "Great Trek" differently, as well as who was justified in their actions.
I enjoyed doing literature circles activities because it made me have extensive perspective about Waiting for the Rain novel. I increased more viewpoints about the novel from my classmates. I have heard many interesting initiatives from my group role. They came up with lots of attractive question, some of them are connect with The Hero’s Journey article and some of them are related to the classic quotes that came from the characters in the novel. I also benefit from my seating group that came up with their differences roles sheet. I have an impressive on many question that coming up from the novel. For example, what is the deep meaning of what Tant Sannie said “I knew it was no good since the boxes of books arrived”. That is like The Call for Tengo to begin his journey. So, I believe that this activities gain us more knowledge about WftR novel. It was very useful activity because we have an opportunity to share our idea and understand that novel along together with our classmate. I also came up with lots of fresh ideas during this activity.
From sharing our lit-circle roles again today we came over some interesting topics about the book. We also had some questions that might be answered in the course of reading this book. Some of the questions are; what would happen to the relationship between Frikkie and Tengo when Tengo leaves for Johannesburg? What will Tengo do when he finds out that the apartheid is not like what he thought of? Some predictions that I’ve made for the following chapters are that Tengo would become more separated with Frikkie while he is in Johannesburg.
During our class discussions some of us were discussing why Frikkie is so ignorant as to Tengo's feelings, which he hardly expresses anyway. As I remember saying before, Frikkie doesn't seem to realize that he is more fortunate than Tengo. As Alexis has mentioned just above, Frikkie asked Tengo whether he would like to be his future boss-boy. Frikkie is opposed to change therefore conforms to what has become traditional. This is because it was always expected of Tengo to become boss-boy. He was trained to become boss-boy merely because that's what had happened in his family for generations. After all, not much was expected of the blacks. Tengo is opposed to the idea. He wants change. Frikkie and Tengo are becoming more and more distant, nearly polar opposites. Many have commented that their friendship is being challenged. But after talking today we agreed that Tengo had hard feelings about the friendship to start with. It was only too simple for Tengo to realize that Frikkie had more privileges than him. What’s now stuck firmly into my brain is the part where Oom Koos says that you can be with someone (and I think this refers to anyone) for a long time, you think you know them, but everyone has secrets.
I realized when I read beginning of the story, the author's purpose was to indicate the time of the aparthied by showing the two different races of kids.
When I did the literature circle, I chose the passage that Tengo looks at Frikkie differently. Tengo didn't liked Frikkie's yellow hair and when the history books convinced him about story of black people and Boers, his mind against white people grow and eventually he went to the Johannesburg to learn more about it.
In my opinion, author described the deep friendship between two different races, and his mind could be against aparthied law.
Today we did Literature Circles and I had an interesting conversation with Mr. Berkhout and Ryo about one of his Discussion Director questions.
His question was, "How does the author describe the books?"
Ryo said things that books were magic to Tengo, made him feel more anxious to learn and read more. After Mr. Berkhout mentioned that when he reads more he will have more thirst and have more questions.
When you have one question you will have another question. He also said that Tengo is learning to answer questions by himself.
Since Tengo is gaining alot of knowledge from the books, he can answer questions by himself. Which says that Tengo reading the books gave him knowledge, and knkowledge gave him more freedom.
First of all, when I looked at the book cover, white guy and black guy looks hating each other. But actually, Tengo and Frikkie are best friends. So I predict Tengo and Frikkie’s friendship may break up. On page 57, last paragraph, when Tengo meets Sissie and she say to him like, “Tengo should say master Frikkie.” I got angry at Sissie because she adopts a supercilious attitude to Tengo and she thinks Tengo is a just kaffir.
In chapters 1-4, a lot of things were just 'beginning' to happen.
Tengo was still happy and not really realising anything (apartheid, tsotsis). I don't think he understood much of what Joseph said to him because he didn't really care, to him ; city life was where he wanted to be, while Joseph really despises it.
I agree with earth.
When Tengo was wondering why you cant see shooting stars in the day. I think the shooting stars are a symbol of apartheid.
Shooting stars = luck/freedom
Night = Blacks
Day = Whites
It is like the whites are blocking out the luck/freedom of the blacks, because you can not see a shooting star during the day. But you can at night.
In chapters 5-7, things are already happening. Or the start of it, anyways.
Like chapters 1-4, it is like something that is almost happening, the time where Tengo almost finds out the truth, - like a yellow traffic light. When there is a yellow traffic light, it is signaling cars to get ready to go, the same as it is almost time for Tengo to go, to know the truth, and to leave his naiveness.
For Chapters 5-7; as Tengo gains more knowledge and starts to learn more about the apartheid, and the Boers and everything else with the books he had recieved, he started to feel ashamed and humiliated. Because he now knows the truth and is feeling things that he never once felt before. He gets moody and miserable because of everything he's learnt, and he still wants to learn more. In these chapters, I think it is now Tengo's call of adventure, since he now knew the truth. It is the green traffic light. So he has to go now, to search. In order to find the answers to his questions.
After the in class lit. circles we concluded that the Afrikaners or the Boers were ignorant of the blacks feelings, however they hardly express their feelings when they are near whites. I recalled conversing in class, Frikkie doesn’t seem to realize how fortunate he is. Frikkie takes his life and ethnicity for granted. When Frikkie asked Tengo to be his future boss-boy Frikkie doesn’t yet realize that Tengo already planned out his life path and wants a better life for himself than becoming a simple boss-boy. However, Tengo doesn’t want to turn down the offer just at the moment due to the fact that Tengo doesn’t want to change any thing between them.
The lit circle for chapters 5-7, my job was Dissusion Directer. This was my first time, so I was a little bit clueless; although I saw many of my other classmates do Discussion Director. Anyway, my DD group talked about the story line and connected to hero's journey. I also realized that through chapter 5-7 the hero journey's call happened and Tengo was about to go to the threshold. Our group discussed and agreed that the township, Johannsburg is the unknown world which helped our group connect which part of the hero's journey that Tengo was in.
In our lit-circle group, we talked about how the how the bull sculpture made of clay that Tengo molded could represent the black SA and education. The clay that Tengo found could represents the Black SA. Before the clay was molded into a bull, it was black, sticky, and looks disgusting but if someone who is talented or knows how to make sculptures starts molding these clays; they can become beautiful looking figures like the ones that Tengo made. They are like the black SAs, they are talented in learning but they do not have good educations like the White SAs. If they had a chance to learn and to read wide ranges of books, they can become scholars or highly educated people.
I think Tengo is lucky that at least his parent respect his decision. I feel that my parent don't respect my decision at all, especially my dad. For instance if I get the choice to either do Kumon (math), and some getting ready for SAT stuff I prefer Kumon because SAT is in 4 years, and I think I can do that in high school. My parents were talking/arguing about it, and as soon as I gave my opinion my dad turned to me and said "it is not your decision to make, I pay the money, and also since I'm your father, if I tell you to do something, you must do it". I really want to my dad's dad so then I can tell him to go jump off a cliff after he finish his homework. I'm not sure if the teacher is going to post this,but it sure feels good to write.
I shared four kinds of literature circle in my group after share with the others. And we found interesting thing. That was Julia's symbolism. Tengo really wants to learn in the school, but he can't. So he is thirsty, and he reads the books when he get more thirsty so a book is like 'salt' for him. I agree with Julia's thought.
In chapter 5-7 were more interesting than chapter 1-4. I think because the story going to related to apartheid. Tengo decided to go to Johannesburg to go to school, however, Frikkie doesn't know that he gone. I interested in how will change their relationship.
During the discussion, our group mostly talked about symbolism that relates to Tengo and Frikkie’s characteristic. We all agreed that the farm is representing something that never changes and that’s why Frikkie likes farm. The second one we shared was clay animals are representing the friendship between Tengo and Frikkie or even it’s Tengo itself.
In chapter 5-7, Tengo had changed a lot. So we also talked about the time Tengo starts to change. There were a lot of things going on in Tengo mind at the time. However we decided the time he started to change was when he got Frikkie’s knife and heard what Sissie and her mother said. It’s when he first experienced “small apartheid”.
After I complete the lit circle paper, I learned a lot of important vocabulary and some of specific questions that I got curious. I think it is very helpful to understand the story deeply by discussing the lit circle paper with friends. While I was discussing with friends I heard other people’s idea of how they think chapter 5 to 7, and that made me think figuratively.
In our lit-circle group, we shared our ideas, and our roles. I guess it was good to express our ideas and see if we agree or if others have different thoughts than us. It's good to know what others think about the book, but I'm thinking there should be other roles too, maybe roles that we have already wanted to do.. For example, well i dont know really. I just want there to be more to it. Like, maybe we can get to choose our own roles of what we wanted to do next time?
I was the word wizard for the lit circle and I chose words that showed how impudently the White treated the Black. For example, the word 'cheeky' was used in context when Lissie's cousin called Tengo a cheeky kaffir and the word showed that the Whites were ignorant of the Black. Also, Mr. Berkhout's symbolic definition of books were interesting when he said that books were like salt.
After the in class lit. circles we all came to a common agreement that the Afrikaners or the Boers were ignorant of the blacks feelings, however they hardly express their feelings when they are near whites. As I recalled conversing in class, Frikkie doesn’t seem to realize how fortunate he is. Frikkie takes his life and ethnicity for granted. When Frikkie asked Tengo to be his future boss-boy Frikkie doesn’t yet realize that Tengo already planned out his life path and wants a better life for himself than becoming a simple boss-boy. However, Tengo doesn’t want to turn down the offer right at that moment due to the fact that Tengo doesn’t want to hurt the strong bond the two of them share.
For the chapters 5-7 I was granted with the job of being the word wizard I have found that some of the words in this book are more than words in the words there are hidden meanings weaved into the word. For example when the author described the white shadows as grosteque shadows, my group thought that the grosteque shadows symbolize who the blacks think some of the Africaners truely are.
After spending half an hour with my peers discussing and connecting 'Waiting For The Rain' and the Hero's Journey, I came a final conclusion about the Chapters 5-7. I think that Tengo has been Called ever since he started wanting to learn and go to a school. I agree with JinWoo's comment. And I think that him leaving the farm and heading to Johannesburg is like leaving the known world and crossing the threshold to go to the unknown world. The threshold guardian was his mom who did not want him to leave them and go to Johannesburg. It seemed to me that Tengo's mother was not at all pleased with Tengo finally getting proper education. She feared for him and wanted him to stay. This story, like many others have the mother as a threshold guardian protecting their child from going out and facing the unknown.
I really want to read on and see what happens next in the story. According to the Hero's Journey Diagram, Tengo would face some complications and challenges. Maybe he would have to deal with the pollution the city or the tsotsi or the police or most likely, the apartheid.
From the literature circle, I found Jin Woo’s questions really interesting. He asked us about the hero’s journey, and from our discussion I found out that there might be a hint on page 42 that relates to the call. In the book it says “But Tengo went on, walking fast over the sere winter grass of the veld as if he had somewhere to go, as if he had received a message though he didn’t know what the message was about.” This might be the call, because Tengo might be running off to the road of the threshold. Also, he is going to start a quest to find something, but he isn’t really sure what it is he really wants. Our group also discussed about the unknown world, which was Johannesburg, because it is a whole different world compared to the farm. It is a place where Tengo will face a lot of new challenges, like the townships and tsotis.
After our discussion, I really want to find out more about the book. I want to discover the challenges Tengo will face and I want to know how he’ll solve them. Also, I want to find out how the rest of the book will relate the hero’s journey such as the abyss and transformation.
I did teh dicussion and I learned a lot of things from other people's question, so I think it is very helpful to discuss our ideas because we can get some hints to understand this story from other poeple's idea and I found the answer for a question that I didn't understand in these chapters.
Our literature circle that we had today had a great conversation; we kept a good pace, everyone did their part for homework so everyone in my group was able to present their worksheet. We all equally worked as hard as each other. The idea that is stuck in my head is about Tengo receiving the books from his aunt’s madam and how I thought that they represented the call to the hero’s journey because ever since he received the books he has been more interested in leaving the farm and heading into the unknown but the threshold guardians (Oom koos, Tengo’s mother, and Frikkie) are holding him back. Frikkie is holding him back because he wants everything to stay the same. Oom koos is holding him back because he wants Tengo to have a future on the farm. Last, Tengo’s mother is holding him back because she doesn’t want him to leave because one of her children has already died while attending school in the township.
I think these chapters really set the tone for the rest of the book. The litereture really helped me see the different sides of the story, and why some of the characters are acting the way they are. I liked the 3 chapters because they treally explain to the reader what type of person the character is. I liked the questions that Alex M. had because they were thought through and they answered a lot of the other questions i have. The lit circles we did today have been the most usefull to me, and i would like them to continue. I do not like what Yuhei agree with about the circles not being relevant.
After our class discussion of chapters 5 - 7, I found out that vocabulary words are exceedingly helpful for the better understanding of the story. During the discussion, I had a chance to share my words and ideas with Word Wizards, furthermore to obtain some other deeper thoughts of the novel from each of them.
As the discussion went on, I found out that those vocabulary words have very clear descriptions of situations, and character personalities within the novel. For example, the word mischievous (found on page 68) was in the sentence “to protect him against Sissie’s mischievous tongue.’ This word clearly described Sissie’s personality of malice and wickedness, and she is someone who rarely keeps her promise.
In addition to reading the assigned chapters, I suggest you look up some important vocabulary words, because it will give you a much better understanding of what’s going on in the story.
The second set of lit. circles we did didn't really help much on my understanding of the book, because I had already gotten the names in order and reread those chapters twice to get a good understanding of the story. But one thing the lit. circle did do was show me that I could do alot better when doing my role by putting in alot more effort. My opinion of the book so far is that it really is a symbolistic book and that I can't wait to keep reading on because of the unexpected plots that have been unfolding so far. Other one of my opinions is that the way the other wrote the story wasnt like others at all, the author didn't jump to conclusions like many authors did in the recent books I have read. Im hoping that I do a better job on the next lit. circle and that my classmates can help improve my understanding of the book.
Something in my lit circle that I remember most about is how reading a book is like putting salt in your mouth. When salt is on your tongue, you feel thirsty and need to drink more and more. Tengo thinks it is the same as reading books. When he reads books he learns new things and that makes him need to read more and more.
My lit circle job today was figurative language/symbol decoder. I found out that similes, personification and symbolism are easy to find, but metaphors are a little bit harder to find.
By the way, I went to the blog that Rahul suggested with his comments on March 2. The photos and information about a township in South Africa were very cool.
The blog is at:
http://kateandysouthafrica.blogspot.com/2007/06/township-tour.html
For anyone who would like to have comments that include a link to a website or other blog that we can go to with just a click, you can try this:
Type in the code below and text you need for the link -
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For example, with the blog that Raul recommended, we do this:
here
At the fisrt of the Chapter 8, the book saying "Tengo sat on the train and watch the countryside flash past the window....."
At the first to read this book, I thought Tengo will go to school because he is not going to school at that time and I guessed he was struggle to go to school.
At the first of Chapter 8, It was saying about Tengo will go to school. When I read it, I thought my hypothesis was correct, but I guess Tengo will make more bigger problem at school. But, I can't say it clearly because I haven't read all of this book. But, I have question at this time. I was searched What did happen in South Africa, then I saw Black South African made oppositional forces for White. So I really want to know what will they happen!
In the music video Give me hope Joanna, I think Joanna symbolize Whites in South Africa, because in the beginning of the song, the singer song “when she first come in our country, she made all Europe people happy.” Then “she set up a system they called apartheid…..” so through this we know Joanna is the symbol of White.
The lyric in the main melody of the song is “Give me hope, Joanna gives me hope”. Metaphorically, it means white people, please release blacks, and give blacks some hopes of getting freedom back.
Referring to the class novel Waiting for the rain, and the song Give me hope Joanna. These two titles all have the figurative meaning, which indicated for something deeper; consequentially it’s more difficult to interpret.
The reason that the video was banned in South Africa was because the lyric clearly shows the unfairness of black and white. Therefore to avoid conflicts, the white government decided to ban this video.
I agree with Mathias. These three chapters really engraved the reality of the way things were for blacks and whites. I now understand how the characters really felt about eahc other. I can relate to it because Frikie may have taken Tengo for granted and had always expected him to be at the farm waiting for him, and Tengo not liking it. This happends alot in our school with friends who don't treat each other very well. I felt quite bad for Frikkie because it was extremely shokign for him and I know what its like to have something close you taken away from you. I personally enjoyed these chapters of the book alot because the events which occured were both expected and unexpected which made it suspenseful.
I think there is a good way of doing Waiting for the Rain and The Hero journey. I think that we should read two chapter of Waiting for the Rain and get into some groups and try discussing it and coming up with one idea and presenting it to class and come up with one good part of Hero journey. I think it will help us all to connect it with the novel and will helps us in the essay we will write.
I think that the lit circle we do in class is very helpful because it helps us know a lot of things at one time. I think that we can mix all the role and discuss on one chapter because then we can get it follow up. Like if I choose a word than maybe someone like discuss directer came up with a question on the same sentence and then we can get a follow up. I think sometime discussing the same role is not good because sometimes most people have the same thing.
I am very keen to know what is going to happen with Tengo and Frikke because they are main character, they are best friends and they are easy to remember. I also want to know how Tengo and Frikke meets, so i am reading as quickly as I can. I think this book is less about apartheid and more about friendship.
I liked the music video of the song called 'De La Rey' because it reminds us of chapter 1 in the South Africa booklet.
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