ENG1516 Assignment 2: Educators and Children’s Literature

This tutorial letter is designed to offer additional support as you complete Assignment 2. The
assignment is found on the 2023 myUnisa page for this module. The focus for this assignment
is to promote your own efforts at critical thinking and for you to create your own individual
responses. The information in this document serves as a guideline to help you answer the
questions, it is not a prerequisite to adhere to this.

To access the Official Study Material on the MyUnisa website, go to the ENG1516 module on
the site and then access the prescribed material on the dashboard. Tutorial Letter 501 is
available under the resources. There are also resources made available for Assignment 2 on the
dashboard. In case you are unable to locate the module on MyUnisa, here is the link, press ctrl
and then click to follow the link: Course: ENG1516-23-Y (unisa.ac.za)

This assignment is based on Units 3 and 4 in Tutorial Letter 501. Read through the study units
and the relevant pages of your prescribed textbook and familiarize yourself with the content
and the outcomes before attempting to answer the assignment.

Best of Luck!

Question 1.1

The question asks that you briefly discuss three reasons why picture books are an important
first step in a child’s reading journey. The answers to the questions are found in your Tutorial
Letter 501. Read through the pages in Study Unit Three. Pay special attention to pages 54-56
in the study guide. There are some relevant reasons why picture books are important.

Remember to paraphrase your answer. This means that you should use your own words. Do
not copy words verbatim from the study guide. Ensure that there is enough material so that you
receive three marks, which is the mark allocation.

Question 1.2

Question 1.2. asks that you discuss the difference between a picture book and an illustrated
book. Read through Units Three and Four in Tutorial Letter 501. The characteristics of each
type of book is stated there. Remember that one difference will suffice so that you are awarded
two marks. There should be a clear purpose stated for a picture book and a clear purpose stated
for the illustrated book. When paraphrasing information, remember that the answer should
sound like you, using vocabulary and sentence structures that your reader would recognize as
your work.

Ensure that your answer is clear and concise.

Question 1.3

Questions 1.3. and 1.4. are based on the children’s book A Very Important Tree by Liam
Longland, Heni’Z Creative Studio and Elana Bregin (the book is available as a pdf file on
myUnisa, under the resources for Assignment 2). View the book and then attend to the
question.

The question asks whether A Very Important Tree is a picture book or an illustrated book and
asks you to motivate your answer. The question thus consists of two parts. You need to state
what book it is and why it is that you say so. This means that you should give examples from
the book to support your answer. What criteria was mentioned for the picture book versus the
illustrated book? Can you identify any of the criteria in the book? Mention this as your support.

Remember that your mark allocation is two marks. Ensure that you answer both parts of the
question for the full two marks.

Question 1.4

For this question, you are asked to look at the picture in the children’s book, A Very Important
Tree. The question asks that you draw up a paragraph of approximately five sentences, to
discuss what this image tells you about how the characters feel and the relationships between
them. Ensure that you make specific reference to the picture when you address the question.

There are various elements to consider in the picture that relay meaning about the characters.

One important element is that of colour:

This element serves the purpose of attracting attention, setting the mood, and expressing the
characters’ feelings. When we as teachers teach young learners what certain colours indicate,
we need to keep in mind that colours have different meanings for different cultural groupings.
The symbolic connotations of the various colours can be found in the Tutorial Letter 501.

There are various other criteria that relay meaning such as shapes, texture, space, composition,
perspective, angle, etc. Briefly, the way a picture is put together can evoke either feelings of
chaos or harmony in a reader. Large forms and figures may either add to a sense of stability or
unease. This is the composition of the picture.

Another important factor is that of a reader's emotional response to a text. This may be
influenced by lines, colour, shapes, and texture. For a detailed discussion of the elements and
criteria that affect the picture, please read pages 60-70 of Tutorial Letter 501.

For our purposes, look at the characters in the picture provided, their expressions, the colours
used and the stance of their bodies. What does it tell you? What do the clothes tell you about
the characters? Can you describe the relationships between the various characters? How does
this relate to the way the characters feel?

Remember to identify five features from the text and relate it to the purpose and meaning so
that you are able to achieve the full five marks.

(12 marks)

Question 2.1

Question 2.1. is a knowledge-based question. Remember to address it accordingly. Read

This question asks that you discuss why it is important to be visually literate in today’s world.
Tutorial Letter 501 and your prescribed text book list quite a few benefits that illustrations
fulfil, which should give you a good idea of the role that visual material such as pictures, images
or visuals can play in communication, and it will help you understand why it is relevant in
today’s day and age. Take note of the statement on p. 58 of Tutorial Letter 501 which says that
in modern day life, we are bombarded with visual images and that being visually literature
today is a very valuable skill.

Mention five points on the relevance of visual literacy and how visual literacy will benefit a
person in today’s society. Remember that this question counts for five marks.
Question 2.2

Question 2.2. is based on “Colour” from pp. 80-82 in your prescribed textbook, Introducing
Children’s Literature.

For question 2.2.1., you are requested to look up a word in a dictionary and write down the
definition of the word. You can use a hard copy or online version. If you do not have a
dictionary at home, you can use the library website to access one of the online dictionaries in
the catalogue. To do this, go to the library website:
https://www.unisa.ac.za/sites/corporate/default/Library and in the “Search Library resources”
bar, type in “English dictionary”.

You will get a list of possible sources and you can then select the most appropriate one. To
make your search easier, you can select “online” under the “Availability” heading in the left-
hand column. You will then only see resources that are available online. You can select any
English dictionary, such as the Oxford English Dictionary Online. Type in “sensuous” in the
“Quick Search” bar, hit enter and click on “view full entry.” You will have access to a
dictionary definition of the word requested. Write the full definition of the word down in your
own words for two marks.

For question 2.2.2., You need to reflect and answer a general question based on your favourite
colour.

You need to answer the question based on your own experience and ideas. Society, community,
ideologies all differ and impact perceptions. When giving your own meaning implications of
the colours, consider the prescribed section from Introducing Children’s Literature for this
question and the various colour implications there.

(12 marks)

Question 3

Carefully study the four pages from Foxy Joxy Plays a Trick by Mdu Ntuli, Nahida Esmail and
Samantha Rice, reproduced in the assignment question. Write a paragraph in which you analyse
the illustrations and explain how the text and images complement each other.

Creativity is encouraged and promoted for this question. Remember that your answer needs to
be supported by the image. Pay attention to how the illustrator uses lines, colour, shapes,
texture, space, composition, and perspective to develop the theme in the image. This helps to
relay meaning. What does Funky Monkey’s expression relay to us in the first picture? Where
is he sitting? What does this imply? Do you see the water? Where is the water running to? If
you look at the background, what can you tell about the space? How does the illustration tie in
with the text? Relevant support and substantiation are needed.

What does the stance and expression of the four animals (the giraffe, elephant, bird and the
rabbit) in the second picture relay to us, the reader? What features or expressions is similar and
why? Where are the animals? What can you deduce from the environment? What is Foxy Joxy
holding in her hands and why? From the movement of her hand, what is she doing? What can
you tell from her expression? How does the illustration relate to the picture? Ensure that you
use relevant support.

What does the image of Ellie the elephant in the third picture tell us? What can you tell us about
his expression with his mouth and eyes? How does this relate to the text? Do the images relate
to each other? Why does his image take up most of the picture frame? How does it relate to
meaning?

What happens in the final image? Who is the other animal character introduced? Where is he
perched? Where are the other animals in relation to the owl and why? What can you tell about
their stance and body posture? Where is the owl looking and what can you tell regarding his
expression? How does this relate to the text? What is the purpose of this? What meaning is
conveyed?

(10 marks)

Question 4.1

Study Unit Four in Tutorial Letter 501 to gain some background knowledge on fairy tales,
folktales, and fables. This question asks you to explain what a folktale is. Refer to p. 90-94,
which focuses on folktales specifically. Look specifically at the definition of a folktale on page
91. Paraphrase this in your own words for two marks. Can you find further explanations for
what a folktale is in Tutorial Letter 501? Use your own sense of cognitive skills to provide a
clear and concise definition in your own words. Where your answer is taken directly from
Tutorial Letter 501 or other sources, remember to cite these sources clearly.
Question 4.2.

Folktales have certain characteristics and there are thus different types of folktales. Read
through the Ghanaian folktale, Anansi and Wisdom, available on MyUnisa, and then based on
Study Unit Four in Tutorial Letter 501, can you categorize the type of folktale it is? Writers
and researchers tend to use the terms folklores and fairy tales interchangeably. Remember that
there are differences between the two types of tales. It is important to distinguish between the
two and understand the difference between the characteristics, even if the difference is slight.

With this in mind, ensure that you categorize the folklore clearly. Think of the characteristics
of this tale and then categorize it. You can give simple support for your answer. Ensure that
you answer for two marks.

Question 4.3.

The question asks what other characteristics of a folktale can be found in this story? This
question is based on 4.2. above. What characteristics are found in this type of folktale? What
is the story about and how does this relate to the type of folklore? Read through page 112-114
of your prescribed text book, Introducing Children’s Literature to identify the different
characteristics. Who are the characters? Who is the protagonist? Ensure that you can describe
three clear characteristics related to the text. Describe how it is reflected in the text. Once again,
ensure that your answer is content specific. It needs to be clear and concise.

Question 4.4.

This question asks that you briefly describe the setting of this story. The setting is the place or
type of surroundings where something is positioned or where an event takes place.

What descriptive elements are found in the text? Look at how the setting is illustrated. Clearly
state where it is and describe the setting. Ensure that your answer is sufficient for two marks.
Question 4.5.

The question asks what is the function of the tale? Simply put, the function is the role, or
purpose of the tale. Read through page 80-81 of Tutorial Letter 501. This will help you
understand how to identify the function of the tale. With this background knowledge in mind,
what does the tale in question teach the reader? Ensure that you provide an answer appropriate
for two marks.

Question 4.6.

For this question, creativity is encouraged. Please note that the question explicitly says that you
should write a paragraph, which means that you should write in full, properly structured
sentences. In other words, do not use bullet points or note style writing.

This question asks you to explain in a paragraph how you would explain the values, morals, or
lessons of this story to learners in a Foundation Phase classroom. There are various possible
answers to this question, and we encourage you to be bold and express your ideas. An example
would be to make use of visual material to bring the story to life. If the learners first encounter
the African setting and the characters of Anansi visually, they might be more open to the moral
lesson that the story teaches. The idea of the pot can be strengthened through images or
drawings that illustrate the folktale. An actual pot can be portrayed as a prop. You can be
innovative. The question counts for five marks, so you should write five full sentences.