Theory question 110
African PoetryLiterature 2, Section C
Discuss Oswald Mtshali's use of language to bring out the horrors of the night in Nightfall in Soweto.
Show the model answer
Model answer
Personification: nightfall as a 'mortal enemy' / beast that attacks.
Similes: night comes like a dreaded disease; man barks like a rabid dog.
Metaphors of the poet as prey, quarry run down by a marauding beast.
Rhetorical questions: 'Where is my refuge? Where am I safe?'
Imagery of blood, violence, fear; repetition.
Effect: shows the terror and helplessness of blacks in apartheid townships.
Explanation
Name each device, give an example and show its effect.