Using language to think and reason  (Page 4/3)

English home language

Grade 8

Our colourful world

Module 17

Using language to think and reason

Activity 1:

• To identify main ideas and explain how details support main idea
• write in appropriate text style
• to use language to think and reason

[lo 3.4.1, 4.3, 5.1.1]

1. What is a fable?

2. Who was La Fontaine? Do quick research and give a brief description.

3. Read the following fable by La Fontaine and then answer the questions that follow:

T he H en W ith T he G olden E ggs

My little story will explain

A very old maxim, which expresses

How Avarice, in search of gain,

May lose the hoard that it possesses.

The fable tells us that a Hen

Laid golden eggs, each egg a treasure;

Its owner – stupidest of men –

Was miserly beyond all measure.

He thought a mine of wealth to find

Within the Hen, and so he slew it:

He found a bird of common kind –

And lost a pretty fortune through it.

For money-worms, who now and then

Grow poor through trying to be wealthy,

I tell my fable of the Hen;

My tale is good, my moral healthy.

a) Look up the meaning of the following words first.

b) In what way is this a typical fable?

c) Explain what the owner did that was stupid.

d) Try to write your own fable:

Go over this check list before you write your final copy!

• Have you chosen a suitable animal?
• Does your story have a moral?
• Does your story rhyme?
• Have you written a simple story?
• Is your work neat and clear?.

Have you edited your work to ensure there are no errors?

Activity 2:

To read for information and use language to think and reason

[lo 3.1, 5.1.1]

• It is important to read an article and then summarise it in your mind as you are reading. To assist you with this skill, you are guided by certain questions. See how well you do.
• Read the following article and then answer the questions that follow, following the instructions to the letter.

O ur C olourful W orld

1 ‘’Our Colourful World’ can mean so much.

2 It does not just mean colours of the rainbow that surround us in life – in flora and fauna, in clothing, housing, motor cars, books, magazines and food. Even in films.

3 People can be colourful in another way. Personality can be colourful too. Outrageous, strange and eccentric people are often considered colourful and are therefore tolerated. They tend to amuse us and to enliven an atmosphere which might have been dull before! Age has nothing to do with it. Colourful people can be of any age.

4 We count many artists among the most colourful people in the world (besides their works of art), because they live rich lives and do not worry too much about pubic opinion. However, in a rich society as in South Africa, we have colourful characters who might not be rich or highly educated, but they nevertheless manage to entertain because of their dialect, their antics and their sayings.

5 The Cape Carnival on 2 ^nd January every year is extremely colourful. And this includes liveliness, energy, exuberance and sheer joy. Add the colourful costumes and individual music and we understand why foreign tourists particularly enjoy this spectacle.