Tea with milk

Thanks for numbering the lines of the texts.

TEXT 1

Mr Bodasingh is very proud of this city, for he and his forebears helped to build it. In the broad sense he is a citizen of Durban, but in the legal sense he is not, for he has no vote and therefore no say in the government of the city. But he is not political. He has never joined the Congress, and has never made a speech except at weddings and directors' meetings and school functions. He is a rich man, although his great-grandfather came to Natal as a labourer in the 1860s and owned virtually nothing but a willing pair of hands and a mind whose real quality was revealed only in his descendants.

But he was not today thinking of the sweeping view before him or of the material success of the Bodasinghs. He was thinking of a much more personal matter, and it was clearly weighing heavily on his mind. As he looked again at his watch, his wife said to him,

-What time is it?

-Five minutes to ten.

They could both imagine the scene. Their daughter, Prem Bodasingh, their only child and the pride and joy of their lives, eighteen years of age, obedient and respectful to her parents and her elders, head-girl of Centenary High, would now be standing outside the doors of the Durban Municipal Reference Library, waiting for them to open on an event the like of which they had never opened on before in all their history. For above the doors it was clearly stated that the library was for Whites Only — Blakes Alleen. At ten o'clock their daughter would enter, take a book from the shelves and sit down at a table to read. The young white girl at the inquiry desk would almost certainly go to tell her superior that a young Indian girl was sitting at a table in the library, and the superior, who would almost certainly be an elderly lady of learning and refinement, would go to the Indian girl and tell her that the library was for the use of whites only and she would regret that she must ask her to leave. Their daughter will say that she knows that, and that she is there to defy the law, and that therefore she cannot leave. The superior will possibly be shocked at this, and she may possibly not be shocked at all, having heard all about the Defiance Campaign, and she will know that Indian and African people are sitting in white railway waiting-rooms, and on white benches in white parks, and are refusing to pay in their employers' takings* to tellers** who are designated to serve 'Non-Whites Only'. Therefore it is not a surprise that sooner or later someone would challenge the colour bar at the Reference Library. The superior would then go to the Chief Librarian, and Mr. Bodasingh winced at this thought, for the Chief Librarian was a very nice man who had given a very nice address to the Reservoir Hills Library group not long ago, and Mr. Bodasingh had been in the chair.

To go on imagining the scene now became very painful for the Chief Librarian would leave his important work and go to the Reference Library and ask the Indian girl to leave. Then, their daughter would say that she was there to defy the law and could not leave.

Now came the most painful part of all, for what could the Chief Librarian do? There was only one thing that he could do and that was to call the police.

* recette

** person who works as a cashier in a bank.

Ah, But Your Land is Beautiful. Alan Paton.1981

Now, do the following activities.

1 Where does the scene take place ( town, country)? Justify your answer by quoting from the text.

2. List the characters present in the extract and give all the information (name, job, ethnic group, social class...)you can about them.

3. List all the characters mentioned in the extract and give all the information you can about them.

4. Where is the young girl supposed to be? Justify your answer by quoting from the text (one quote)

5. What is particular about this place? Justify your answer by quoting from the text (one quote)

6. In your own words explain what she is about to do and why she does so? ( 50 words)

7. How do other people react to her presence? (30 words)

8. Quote the text to show that she has always been a rebel.

9. Pick out the adjective which apply best to her parents' feelings.

a) proud       b) embarrassed         c) furious       d) supportive.

10.Why is M Bodasingh so ill at ease that his own daughter should meet the Chief Librarian? ( 20 words).

TEXT 2

Above all, we want equal political rights, because without them our disabilities will be permanent. I know this sounds revolutionary to the whites in this country, because the majority of voters will be Africans. This makes the white man fear democracy.

But this fear cannot be allowed to stand in the way of the only solution which will guarantee racial harmony and freedom for all. It is not true that the enfranchisement of all will result in racial domination. Political division, based on colour, is entirely artificial and, when it disappears, so will the domination of one colour group by another. The ANC has spent half a century fighting against racialism. When it triumphs it will not change that policy.

This then is what the ANC is fighting. Their struggle is a truly national one. It is a struggle of the African people, inspired by their own suffering and their own experience. It is a struggle for the right to live.

During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.

Neslon Mandela. Speech after the verdict of the Riviona Trial. 1964

 Now, do the following activities.

1.What political system is this speech about?

2. What is the point of view of Nelson Mandela about it? Pick the right adjective.

a) enthusiastic                b) critical                c) indifferent            d) embarassed.

3. Are the following statements right or wrong? Justify your answer by quoting from the text.

a) Nelson Mandela doesn't think that the possibility to vote would change anything.

b) The ANC has always fought equality for all people, of all races.

c) Mandela thinks that if the ANC wins its battle, it will want black people to rule.

d) His ideal is democracy and liberty for all.

e) He is not ready to do everything for his ideas.

4) According to Mandela, why do white people are so afraid of the situation to change? ( 30 words).

5) Who or what do the following pronouns refer to?

“We” line 1.

“Them” line 1

“It” line 9

“Their” line 11

“I” line 15

6) Which notion can you link these two documents to? Use the texts to illustrate your point. (75 words).

II. Expression écrite.

Vous traiterez l'UN des deux sujets au choix.

a) The young girl writes letter to her parents to tell them what happened and to explain where she is now. Write this letter. ( 300 words).

b) “It is an ideal for which I am prepared to die for”. Do you think it is a good thing to be ready to go that far to defend one's ideas? ( 300 words).