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Cry the Beloved Country: Major Works Data Sheet Essay example

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Major Works Data Sheet Title: Cry, the Beloved CountryAuthor: Alan PatonDate of Publication: 1948Genre: Social Criticism | Relevant Biographical Information About the Author: * White * Born in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa in 1903 * Father was Scottish and mother was South African of English heritage * Worked at a reformatory with black youths | Historical information about the period of publication: * South Africa already colonized by Europeans * Rampant racism * Introduction of apartheid in 1948 | | | Characteristics of the Genre * Show author’s disenchantment with a certain aspect of society * Deals with racism, sexism, homophobia, etc. * Usually a call for action, to get readers to support a cause or …show more content…

| Describe the Author’s Style * Poetic * Descriptive * Sometimes a little bitter * Uses South African colloquialisms and vocabulary | An example from text that denotes author’s style * And now for all the people of Africa, the beloved country. Nkosi Sikelel’ iAfrika, God save Africa. But he would not see that salvation. It lay afar off, because men were afraid of it. Because, to tell the truth, they were afraid of him, and his wife, and Msimangu, and the young demonstrator. And what was there evil in their desires, in their hunger? That man should walk upright in the land where they were born, and be free to use the fruits of the earth, what was there evil in it? . . . They were afraid because they were so few. And such fear could not be cast out, but by love. | Memorable Quotes | Quotation * “The white man has broken the tribe. And it is my belief—and again I ask your pardon—that it cannot be mended again.”—Msimangu * “I see only one hope for our country, and that is when white men and black men . . . desiring only the good of their country, come together to work for it”--Msimangu * “Cry for the broken tribe, for the law and the custom that is gone. Aye, and cry aloud for the man who is dead, for the woman and children bereaved. Cry, the beloved country, these things are not yet at an end.”—Arthur Jarvis | Significance * Talks about how the white’s policies have destroyed the old

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