MEMORANDUM: Compare beginnings
Aim:
Tocompare use of language and style in two paragraphs from different autobiographies (See book: p. 172)
Type:Individual written workGrade level:10, 11, 12
Time:20–30 minutesFile section: Non-fiction
Instruction:
Read the opening lines below. They are from two different autobiographies. Then answer the questions that follow.
Extract A fromWildSwans by Jung Chang
At the age of fifteen my grandmother became the concubine of a warlord general, the police chief of a tenuous national government of China. The year was 1924 and China was in chaos.
Extract Bfrom Shirley, GoodnessandMercy by Chris van Wyk
Today is the day I see magic.
We’re living in Newclare, Johannesburg. It’s 1961 and I’m four years old. There are dramas unfolding in the country, which are putting black faces on the front page of newspapers on a daily basis.
Questions:
1How important do you think the historical setting is in each autobiography?
It is significant that the opening lines of both texts foreground the historical settings: this tells us that the setting and historical events are likely to play an important role in both autobiographies.
2Why do you think each writer begins in this way?
In these examples, the speaker (“I”) suggests that his or her life has been shaped and influenced by significant historical and political events. This could indicate that a main focus of each autobiography is the relationship between individual and society.
3What significant differences are there between the two passages? Think, for example, about the use of tense, or the character that is introduced.
The first extract uses the past tense, which suggests some historic distance from the events described. The speaker begins with information about the speaker’s grandmother, rather than about herself. At this point – 1924 – the speaker’s grandmother is fifteen years old, which suggests that the speaker has been told about the situation she describes, rather than experiencing it herself.
The second extract uses the present tense, which conveys the immediacy of experience: this is a childhood memory that appears to be fresh in the speaker’s mind. The childhood “self” is central to the passage and the narrative point of view and choice of diction suggests a highly subjective and distinctive child’s voice, as in the opening words: “Today is the day I see magic.”
4Which autobiography would you prefer to read, and why?
The question has no correct answer, and allows for speculation and personal expression. However, you should emphasise the importance of explaining one’s preference, based on first impressions of the passages.
© Oxford University Press Southern Africa (Pty) Ltd 2013. From Oxford Practical Teaching English Literature: How to teach Grades 8–12. You may modify, print and photocopy this document solely for use in your classes.
Extract from Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang. New York, Simon and Schuster, 1991. Reprinted by permission of Simon and Schuster Publishing Group. All rights reserved.
Extract from Shirley, Goodness and Mercy: A Childhood Memoir, Johannesburg, Picador Africa, 2004. © Chris van Wyk. Reprinted by permission of the author.