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English home language

Grade 8

Valued values

Module 5

The power of speech

Activity 1:

Read the following fairy story and answer the questions set on it

[lo 3.3, 3.10, 5.3.3]

POWER OF THE WORD

Once upon a time, a beautiful baby was born in a beautiful kingdom.

To celebrate his birth, the King and Queen invited ALL the people in the kingdom to a palace party – including the beautiful Fairy Godmother, Logos.

Logos loved all people and she always gave each newborn baby girl or boy a beautiful gift. A gift that would help them in the future; that would help them to grow; that would make them strong, kind and wise.

And she always had only one condition.

± ± ± This day was no different.

The palace was buzzing with busy groomsmen and handmaidens and doormen and cleaners. The party for the prince was going to be special and everything had to sparkle for him.

That evening, the coaches rolled up, the elegant ladies stepped out and were escorted by gallant gentlemen into the glittering ballroom.

Then the King and Queen made their grand entrance.

Suddenly the Queen pointed to a curtained corner and ordered a footman to open the curtains.

There lay the beautiful baby boy. The new Prince.

There were Oohs and Aahs as the baby cot was surrounded by admiring friends.

Just then the fairy Godmother made her appearance and the room fell silent. She glided towards the crib and stretched her magic wand over the baby. All waited for her special gift and craned forward to get a good view.

“My dear baby boy,” Logos said serenely. “I have a VERY special gift for you, that will help you in the future, that will help you grow, that will make you strong, kind and wise.”

She waved her wand over the crib, smiled at the baby, who was gurgling with excitement and announced:

“ My gift is the gift of language. You will be able to use your mouth to make sounds that all can understand to convey your emotions, to express your thoughts, to give your opinion. It will help you to tell stories, change views, respond to situations, command audiences and express admiration for paintings, music, dancing and song.

In short, this is a God-given gift and is given to all new human babies and to no other creatures or plants. Use it well!”

± ± ±

TWELVE YEARS LATER, the Prince was sitting outside the palace on a bench in the garden.He had not learnt to speak politely but was arrogant.He did not express his feelings honestlybut sulked when his inner wishes were not met.He never listened but always wanted to be the centre of attention,and have his views heard and accepted.He was not prepared to change and to sharebut liked to enforce his opinions on others and stuck to his views only.He was narrow-minded and small-minded.

In short, he was a very objectionable little boy. A poor prince.

Logos, the Fairy Godmother, approached him,quietly assessed the situation and then gave her verdict:“Sire, you were handed a wonderful gift when you were born. You had the power to use what came out of your mouth wisely and well.Instead, you abused the gift, ignored the conditionand now must pay the price . . .

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Source:  OpenStax, English home language grade 8. OpenStax CNX. Sep 11, 2009 Download for free at http://cnx.org/content/col11041/1.1
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