UNIT 11 Shaka —King of the Zulus I. General Understanding of the text This passage is mainly a narrative that records a turning point in the life of the character being portrayed —Shaka, King of the Zulus. The write uses description and analysis to narrate the events and to emphasize the historical importance of the character. The writer focuses attention on a strikingly brief period in Shaka’s llife. The events narrated cover only about two months. The following is a brief summary of how the writer succeeds in holding the reader’s interest. 1. The write deliberately confines the narration to two persons but centres on one only—the leading character, Shaka. Thus the story is Shaka’s story; the reader’s interest in and sympathy for him are aroused and kept. 2. Shaka’s historical importance is established in the opening paragraph through a comparison with Napoleon; thus the reader is impressed from the very beginning. 3. The last two sentences in Paragraph 1 arouse a strong desire on the part of the reader to read on. He is eager to know how the story will deal with the building of a nation and its rescue from destruction by an act of great courage. 4. To introduce the chief character to the reader, the write goes very swiftly through the methods Shaka employed to build up his army and his power, citing vivid examples of his iron-handed leadership. 5. After having set the scene, the write moves on to the key incidents by supplying the reader with ample, significant, and concrete details, by means of which the write portrays Shaka as a severe and relentless ruler and describes the scale of his exaggerated grief and its devastating effects on the prosperity of his kingdom. 6. The dramatic events at the end of the passage are made even more vivid and memorable by the use of direct speech. The reader can almost hear the words said by the king and by Gala. In this way the reader’s felling is heightened. 7. The writer powerfully builds up tension by delaying Shaka’s reply to Gala’s brave speech of protest; thus the likely effect of Gala’s words on Shaka is described in the attitudes and actions of the onlookers: “Gala’s life seemed to be measured in seconds”. This delay makes the ending gain in unexpectedness and power. 8. Finally the wirter gives us a strong ending which is meant remain in the reader’s memory. The last scene is vivid and concrete, and the reader will read it with a sigh of relief. In short, this passage is a beautiful example of how, by focusing on two major events in a short man’s life, a write can bring a character vividly to life. Description and analysis are kept to a bare minimum; events are made to speak for themselves; and the character is portrayed in the most effective way possible—through action. Moreover, the writer employs actual statistics to support his point —to show Shaka’s strictness in his training of the warriors, his meritorious deeds and his grief over his mother’s death. Examples: If his warriors could not run 50 miles a day… Shaka had already increased his kingdom from 100 square miles to 100,000… Nandi was buried, and 12,000 warriors were ordered… Parallel structures and inverted word order were used to give more force and emphasis to what the writer relates. Examples of parallel structures: If his warriors could not run 50 miles a day, they died; if they were unable to dance barefoot on a carpet of jungle thorns, they died; if they showed anything less than suicidal courage in battle, they would be unhesitatingly murdered by the slayers. Examples of inverted word order: Had Shaka been born in Europe he too might well have altered the course of world affairs. II. Duration of Time: Six periods III. Objectives On completion of the unit, students are expected to understand the techniques to create delayed tension and to portray characters through their action. IV. Difficult Points The key point in the narration is the use of direct speech to achieve the delayed tension and portrayal of characters so that the scenarios concerned are alive and vivid. V. Teaching Procedures A. Ask students to talk about their adored heroes in the history and then naturally bring out the topic of the ancient king —Shaka B. Ask students to guess the main idea of the text, then tell them to go over the text rapidly once without worrying about the new words and phrases. The suggested time limit is 5 minutes. C. Ask students to sum up the main idea of the text and do comprehension exercise in Workbook. D. Do the vocabulary exercise on pages 121-122. Key: Section A: b. d. f. e. h. c. a. j. i. g Section B: 1. very cruel; 2. killer, murderer; 3. difficult to defeat; 4. go through (an area) in search of something; 5. the most important food; 6. sad; 7. deep and thorough; 8. cruel or unjust use of power to rule a country; 9. the enclosed area that belongs to the king; 10. member of a group of people chosen to make laws, rules or decisions for a country E. Details of the text. (1) come to an end: end (2) genius: great talent (3) as it was: what really happened, in fact (4) alter: change alteration n. alter ego alternative (5) throne: the office or position of a king (6) a personal tragedy struck: the tragedy dealt a heavy blow to him. (7) affection: gentle love (8) something seemed to snap in his mind: lose control of himself (9) scour: search thoroughly (10) staple: main, the most important i.e. The staple food of Chinese is rice and wheat. (11) develop: come to have, acquire i.e. the boy developed a peculiar habit. The old man developed a serious disease after long, hard years. (12) brooding: sad Brood over something: think about something deeply and thoughtfully (13) intensive: thorough (14) desperate: hopeless; reckless (15) starve to death: suffer or die from hunger (16) tyranny: absolute and cruel ruling of a country Tyrant: a person who does so (17) reign over: to be the king of a country (18) stuff a stone into your stomach: pull yourself together, cheer up (19) took a grip on their clubs: take hold of big sticks firmly (20) Gala’s life seemed to be measured in seconds: Gala could be put to death at any moment. (21) mighty: very great might n. VI. Oral Work A. Role-play: The Courageous Gala Situation: Gala will never forget his experience talking with Shaka, King of the Zulus. He is now talking with his neighbour about this experience. B. Interaction Activities: What I think of Shaka Having read the two texts about Shaka, what do you think of him? Would you speak favorably or unfavorably of him? Or half-half? Why? Think this question over carefully and exchange your view with your partner. VI. Exercises in Workbook.