At a snail's pace please! by Mbuyiseni Mtshali

poetry for grade 11 English FAL by Mbuyiseni Mtshali

1. At a Snail’s Pace, Please – Oswald Mbuyiseni Mtshali At a Snail’s Pace, Please – Oswald Mbuyiseni Mtshali

2. Mr. NONYANE AT A SNAIL’S PACE, PLEASE

3. KEY WORDS: LOW- ACTANE PETROL The lower the octane level of petrol a motor car can use, the less energy is wasted.

4. MONSTER a large, ugly, and frightening imaginary creature.

5. A TRAPEZE ARTIST A trapeze artist often performs in circuses on high wires and swings. Their skill relies on balance and very careful movements to prevent them falling to the ground. The chameleon moves carefully to keep its balance like a trapeze artist.

6. CONFETTI Tiny pieces of coloured paper often thrown over a couple who have just been married. The confetti scatters all over the ground. In the poem, dead insects and animals are scattered on the road like confetti.

7. GORY S howing violence and bloodshed.

8. GAWK stare openly and stupidly

9. FIEND an evil spirit or demon.

10. KNELL T he sound of a bell, especially when rung solemnly for a death or funeral.

11. LET’S READ At the tip of the chameleon’s tongue there is a pot of boiling glue to cook flies for breakfast before he sets off on a slow tightrope walk like a trapeze artist . Under the belly of every snail lies a tankful of low-octane petrol to propel the miniscule engine to the destination of a juicy cabbage leaf . It is overtaken by American mechanical monsters, drunk with gallons of gasoline, that leave highways strewn with gory confetti of corpses.

12. The loud Bang! brings brawny farmers running from homesteads to render help . From beehive huts tumble black bumpkins to gawk at twisted wrecks coated with fresh blood amid cries of ‘Help !’ Ambulances sound shrill sirens, tearing the silky shawl of the night’s silence. O! speed fiend whose knell has sounded, look at the snail slumbering in his shell. See the chameleon cosy under her quilted coat.

13. SPEAKER For most of the poem, the speaker uses the third person. This means that he is not involved in the action but is watching it happen. In the final stanza, the speeding motorists are addressed directly in the second person. We know this because he tells them to ‘look’ and ‘see’ the snail and chameleon.

14. VOICE The voice is both admiring and dismissive. The speaker admires the chameleon and the snail and how peaceful they are. He believes that the slow pace of nature can teach us important lessons about how to live better. The poet’s view of the drivers is dismissive – he is angry at how little respect they have for nature.

15. ADDRESSEE The poem directly addresses the reckless motorists. But he is also talking to all people – we need to understand that modern technology, like fast cars, bring danger. We need to remember where we came from in nature. We have forgotten how to live a slower, more peaceful life.

16. THEMES AND EVIDENCE OF THEMES IN TEXT

17. FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE: METAPHOR ‘Under the belly of every snail / lies a tankful of low-octane petrol’ (lines 8–9 ). Here , the snail is compared to a slow-moving car that does not need expensive petrol to move. A snail uses very little energy to move. It does not waste its energy like the cars that need ‘ gallons of gasoline ’ (line 14) to move fast

18. ‘gory confetti of corpses’ (line 14 ). compares dead insects to confetti at a party . The bodies of dead insects (‘corpses’) killed by fast cars seem like ‘confetti’. They are bright spots of colour scattered on the road. This description is also ironic because confetti is usually a sign that a marriage or birthday has been celebrated. Death is not something that is usually celebrated and a birthday is the opposite of a death .

19. 2. SIMILE A simile is an indirect comparison of two things using the words ‘ like’ or ‘as’. In stanza 1, the chameleon moves ‘ like a trapeze artist ’ (line 7). The chameleon moves carefully step by step like a person balancing carefully on a wire high above the ground.

20. 3 PERSONIFICATION Personification is when an inanimate object is given human / animal qualities Fast cars are described as ‘drunk’ (line 14) and ‘mechanical monsters’ (line 13). Just like monsters, fast cars leave death (‘corpses’) behind them. They use up lots of petrol in order to drive so recklessly. It is as if they are intoxicated (‘drunk’) and out of control .

21. 4. ALLITERATION : Alliteration is the repetition of a consonant sound (usually at the beginning of a word ). . In stanza 6 the / s / and / sh / sounds are repeated: ‘sound shrill sirens’, ‘silky shawl’ and ‘night’s silence’. This reminds us of the frightening and harsh sounds made by tearing metal in car accidents and the high-pitched warning alarms of ambulances.

22. APOSTROPHE: Apostrophe is used to address a person directly, sometimes by name. Words like ‘Oh’ are often used. In stanza 6 the speaker says ‘O! speed fiend’ (line 25 ). Here , the speaker is calling out to the reckless motorist. He wants him to understand that what he is doing is dangerous. He could cause his own death.

23. NATURE VERSUS MACHINE There is struggle between modern technology and the natural world. We think that modern machines bring us improvements and that a natural life is old-fashioned. However, the improvements can also bring death and suffering . The poet believes there is an important lesson to be learned from nature. The quiet, slow natural world of nature is safe and peaceful. Fast cars and bad drivers bring death and disorder into our world. The noise and panic caused by accidents disturb the peace and rest of the countryside When we look to the snail and chameleon, we see that nature is safer, quieter and more peaceful. If we want to live better lives, then we should return to nature to learn from it.

24. EVIDENCE OF THEME IN TEXT The chameleon and snail move at slow, careful speeds, even when hunting prey or searching for food. Speed is used only when needed, The chameleon and snail move at slow, careful speeds, even when hunting prey or searching for food. Speed is used only when needed. For example, the chameleon’s tongue is very quick to catch its food: ‘a pot of boiling glue / to cook flies for breakfast’ (lines 3–4 ). Small creatures are shown to be safe, protected by their carefulness and slow pace. The snail sleeps safely protected by its shell. This is contrasted with the reckless speed of drivers or ‘speed fiend[s]’ (line 25 ). These crazy drivers cause disturbance – the sound of ambulance sirens ‘tearing’ the quiet of the countryside at night. They cause accidents – the cars are ‘twisted wrecks coated with fresh blood’ (line 21). Nature is seen as preferable to the machine.