2015 SA1 Timed Practice Unseen Poem Son Of Mine
Section B [25 marks]
POETRY
Read this poem carefully, and then answer the questions that follow it:
Son of Mine
To Dennis
My son, your troubled eyes searched mine,
Puzzled and hurt by colour line.
Your black skin soft as velvet shine;
What can I tell you, son of mine?
5
I could tell you of heartbreak, hatred blind,
I could tell of crimes that shame mankind,
Of brutal wrong and deeds malign,
Of rape and murder, son of mine;
But I’ll tell instead of brave and fine
When lives of black and white entwine,
And men in brotherhood combine –
This would I tell you, son of mine.
(by Oodgeroo Noonuccal)
10
(i) How does the poet show the difficulties the narrator faces when dealing with discrimination?
(ii) How does the poet convey his feelings about prejudice in this poem? Refer closely to the words and images used in the first two stanzas of the poem.
Suggested Answers
(i) How does the poet show the difficulties the narrator faces when dealing with discrimination?
(Starter for TS)
The poet shows the difficulty the narrator (in this case, the parent) faces in having to…
Point 1: (TS) … experience the emotional hurt that the son faces from being discriminated against due to his skin colour. He feels sorry for his Dennis that he has to experience this at such a tender age.
Quotes
Explanation
…your troubled eyes searched mine / Puzzled and hurt by colour line.
The narrator feels the pain that his/her son experiences. This sense of feeling troubled would be very familiar to the narrator since he would probably have experienced this emotion when he was young too.
Your black skin soft as velvet shine reveals the tender age of inexperience and innocence of his/her son. This probably put the narrator in pain as he/she would sympathise with the plight of the son.
Point 2: (TS) … make a decision of whether he should tell his son the magnitude of the sufferings/cruelty
POETRY
Read this poem carefully, and then answer the questions that follow it:
Son of Mine
To Dennis
My son, your troubled eyes searched mine,
Puzzled and hurt by colour line.
Your black skin soft as velvet shine;
What can I tell you, son of mine?
5
I could tell you of heartbreak, hatred blind,
I could tell of crimes that shame mankind,
Of brutal wrong and deeds malign,
Of rape and murder, son of mine;
But I’ll tell instead of brave and fine
When lives of black and white entwine,
And men in brotherhood combine –
This would I tell you, son of mine.
(by Oodgeroo Noonuccal)
10
(i) How does the poet show the difficulties the narrator faces when dealing with discrimination?
(ii) How does the poet convey his feelings about prejudice in this poem? Refer closely to the words and images used in the first two stanzas of the poem.
Suggested Answers
(i) How does the poet show the difficulties the narrator faces when dealing with discrimination?
(Starter for TS)
The poet shows the difficulty the narrator (in this case, the parent) faces in having to…
Point 1: (TS) … experience the emotional hurt that the son faces from being discriminated against due to his skin colour. He feels sorry for his Dennis that he has to experience this at such a tender age.
Quotes
Explanation
…your troubled eyes searched mine / Puzzled and hurt by colour line.
The narrator feels the pain that his/her son experiences. This sense of feeling troubled would be very familiar to the narrator since he would probably have experienced this emotion when he was young too.
Your black skin soft as velvet shine reveals the tender age of inexperience and innocence of his/her son. This probably put the narrator in pain as he/she would sympathise with the plight of the son.
Point 2: (TS) … make a decision of whether he should tell his son the magnitude of the sufferings/cruelty