KAFFIR BOYTERM PAPER
Overview: In Kaffir Boy, Mark Mathabanedetails the true-life rigors that he and otheroppressed black South Africansfaced during the white-dominated apartheid era(1948-1992), ways the elite leveraged power, the victimized accommodated and sometimes fought back, and how, despite heavy odds, the downtrodden could occasionally triumph.
Goals for this assignment: This projectis designed to meet the following objections:
• To gain stronger familiarity with the historical aspects of apartheid eraSouth Africa.
• To sharpen one's skills in handling historical materials.
• To connect modern South African history with the wider world and our individual lives today.
Instructions: The completed paper will consist of two keysections: a summation of some of the content from part one OR part two of Kaffir Boyand assessment of the book. Begin your paper by furnishing an introduction of one-half to one page in length to preview for the reader your paper's content. In your introduction, briefly acknowledge the author and the name of the book, identify the chapters selectedand briefly mention a little bit about which aspects of the book (see reverse) you will be covering.
The assignment calls for you to summarize and assess some of the content in Part One ("The Road to Alexandra") or Part Two ("Passport to Knowledge"). After quickly examining "The Road to Alexandra" or "Passport to Knowledge," select a few (at least three, but probably no more than five) aspects that capture your attention from that chapter. In order to avoid writing an excessively long paper, don't try to summarize every topic in Part One or Part Two.To help you identity noteworthy items, I have compiled a list of topics on the reverse side of this prompt. Examples of any topics are scattered through the book. Since the writing style is easy to follow (like a novel), you should be able to read Part One or Part Two quickly.Once you identify content that most interests you, paraphrase (summarize) that content in the first section of your paper.
The second and final section of your paper focuses on assessment (analysis, both scholarly and personal) of summarized content. In general, there are a few things you should do for the second part of your paper. For the most part, your assessment (analysis) should be based on two broad aspects: the perspective/world view of a person (Mathabane) or groups (black South Africans and whites during apartheid) AND the lifestyle, living conditions and interactions between and within groups. You can also include your personal reactions to the content. If you were pleased or horrified by something mentioned in this book, then say so. Your assessment could also, in part, critique general aspects of the book, such as the terminology or writing style. Therefore, include scholarly and personal analysis in the second part of your paper.
Here are the technical requirements for this assignment. The prose of your paper should be (on average) aboutfive pages long, double-spaced, with twelve-point font and one-inch margins. (Notations will add about one or two pages to your paper. So a paper containing about five pages of prose will be about six or seven pages long when the notations-endnotes--are added.) Be sure to paginate (number each page), and write both the class designation and the section number on the front page (History 110B, sect. __). Title the assignment and include the date you completed it. An optional title page will not be included in the total number of pages. (A five-page paper is not a title page and four pages of content, for instance.) Avoid large amounts of blank space between sections, as this is bad formatting! Instead, use sectional headings (discussed below).In order toacknowledge correctly the precise locations of content (directly quoted and paraphrased), you will need endnotes. To avoid plagiarism, as a general rule, insert a notation at the end of each paragraph.Please refer to citation examples I will post in the course guides folder. I am somewhat flexible as to the exact page count. But avoid extremes. A paper that is three pages of prose (covering only one chapter, or full of general statements not supported with specific examples) will be too brief. By contrast a paper of fifteen pages (heavily redundant, too wordy, excessively detailed, or poorly formatted) will need to be trimmed or otherwise adjusted. Please contact me before the very last minute if you face any problems regarding this assignment.
You will need to have a way to easily indicate when one section has ended and another one begins. In order to achieve this, be sure to have sectional headings.Write "Summation" for the first section, and "Analysis and Personal Reflections" for the second section. As part of the introduction, be sure to state the title of Part One or Part Two that you will be covering.
Topics of Part One ("The Road to Alexandra") and Two ("Passport to Knowledge")
"Alexandra": housing conditions and insecurity, food scarcities, police abuse of township residents, sexual abuse of boys, gangs, pass laws, domestic disturbances, imprisonment, tribal traditions and impact, Christianity and effects on Africans, tribal religion, destruction of African neighborhoods, prison farm labor, subordinate status of blacks to white employers.
"Knowledge": Allure and harsh realities of gangs, domestic violence, classroom regulations, parents disagreeing over worth of formal education, participation in boxing, gaining awareness of famous black Americans, police violence, illegal beer halls, exposure to suburban whites and world literature, segregated public transportation, defying white boys at the zoo, discovering tennis.