Analysis Of Kaffir Boy By Mark Mathabane - 1249 Words

When a student hears or sees the words â€Å"required reading,† immediate images of thick, boring books, all the busy work over the book, and the actual reading of the book pop into their minds. Most of the time, these books are filled with boring plotlines and heavy prose seeps out of them like an infected wound. Students often question why there’s a need to continue reading such books, when either students don’t read them at all and use SparkNotes for the tests and quizzes, or the books are too challenging and/or boring for them to get into. Whatever the reason, the relevancy of required readings needs to be addressed, and high school English and literature classes are the prime places to start. In the autobiography Kaffir Boy by Mark†¦show more content†¦Mark has nothing less than a terrible childhood; witnessing violence and other unthinkable acts, suffering day in and day out from hunger and dehydration, and he learns ultimately to fear and hate white people. Once begins school, he and his father hate the idea because neither of them knew how they would pay for it and neither thought an education was necessary, but Mark grew to love school and he excelled, raising to the top of his class, despite being constantly reprimanded for not making his payments on time. Mark gets involved with the wrong crowd of boys and gangs, then he straightens out, gets involved with them again, etc. At last, he discovers the sport of tennis, and this ultimately becomes his ticket out of Alexandria and to a better life and school in the United States. For required readings, providing thought provoking books or novels is important because when a reader can actively engage with the writ ing and the story being told, it not only provides a better experience with the book itself, but an overall enjoyment of the book. Being able to actively and effectively engage with the reading can also help with any of the busy work involved with the required reading, tests and quizzes over the book, and quite possibly enhance your overall experience with a book that is labelled negatively. In Kaffir Boy, this is achieved by the stories of Mathabane’s encountersShow MoreRelatedKaffir Boy2035 Words   |  9 PagesKaffir Boy: The True Story of a Black Youths Coming of Age in Apartheid South Africa By: Mark Mathabane Nykki Smalls Independent Africa April 23, 2008 Dr. Jackie Booker After a careful analysis of this book, I have come to understand that the main thesis of Kaffir Boy, the autobiography of Mark Mathabane, a young black who grew up in Alexandra, a ghetto of South Africa, is one of identity. Throughout the book Mathebane finds himself asking what race, religion, country and class do I or shouldRead MoreBook Report : Kaffir Boy By Mark Mathabane Essay1856 Words   |  8 PagesFor this assignment, we were required to read Kaffir Boy by Mark Mathabane. This book goes in depth about an African boy’s coming of age. It goes over a lot of what Mark has gone through and how he overcomes the cruel behavior of the apartheid system. He also describes the racism and stereotypes the black children dealt with. From this book out of the three parts, I decided to go over part two of the book, â€Å"Passport to Knowledge.† I picked this section because a few of the aspect in here interested