NAME: LIZZYGOLD
SURNAME: TUTORIALS
ENG2603 ASSIGNMENT 01 (SEMESTER 1)
STUDENT NUMBER: XXXXXX
• An assignment based on the poem “City Johannesburg” by Mongane
Wally Serote
• Detailed analysis of the poem included
, This essay will discuss the poem, ‘City Johannesburg’ in the light of the ways the poet
used images to convey life in Johannesburg as depressing. This will be done by
identifying and discussing some of the images used by the poet. The discussion will
consist of whether the images were used in order to break free from depression.
POINT 1
One of the images that the poet used to convey life in Johannesburg as depressing is in
lines 6 to 8, where the speaker said, “My hand like a starved snake rears my pockets/For
my thin, ever lean wallet/While my stomach groans a friendly smile to hunger…” These
lines suggest a depressing life where the speaker is always feeling hunger and starvation
because hand like starved snake evoke an image of a very skinny, dry-looking, and frail
hand reaching into a thin, ever lean wallet (suggesting that the speaker is always broke),
with his stomach groaning a friendly smile to hunger (suggesting that the speaker is
always hungry since his stomach is very familiar to hunger like a friend).
POINT 2
It appears that this image described above was not used in order to break free from
depression because of lines 9 to 12 that followed, which says, “Jo'burg City/ My
stomach also devours coppers, and papers/Don't you know? /Jo'burg City, I salute
you…” The speaker after explaining how his stomach devours coppers and papers
(money), then asked a rhetorical question (Don’t you know?). Following this, he saluted
Jo’burg city, salute is usually done in respect of authority, and sometimes, the salute is
done out of fear of the authority. However, because of the rhetorical question was asked
in the previous line, the speaker did not seem to have saluted Jo’burg City out of respect,
but out of mockery and sarcasm. Hence, this means that the speaker was using sarcasm
as a way of demonstrating his anxiety or resentment towards the City of Johannesburg.
According to Ogunlana and Jaworska (2020), one of the coping strategies that most
adults use to deal with depression is sarcasm. Therefore, the speaker using sarcasm
shows that he was not trying to break free from the depression of Johannesburg but has
accepted it and is merely trying to cope with it.
SURNAME: TUTORIALS
ENG2603 ASSIGNMENT 01 (SEMESTER 1)
STUDENT NUMBER: XXXXXX
• An assignment based on the poem “City Johannesburg” by Mongane
Wally Serote
• Detailed analysis of the poem included
, This essay will discuss the poem, ‘City Johannesburg’ in the light of the ways the poet
used images to convey life in Johannesburg as depressing. This will be done by
identifying and discussing some of the images used by the poet. The discussion will
consist of whether the images were used in order to break free from depression.
POINT 1
One of the images that the poet used to convey life in Johannesburg as depressing is in
lines 6 to 8, where the speaker said, “My hand like a starved snake rears my pockets/For
my thin, ever lean wallet/While my stomach groans a friendly smile to hunger…” These
lines suggest a depressing life where the speaker is always feeling hunger and starvation
because hand like starved snake evoke an image of a very skinny, dry-looking, and frail
hand reaching into a thin, ever lean wallet (suggesting that the speaker is always broke),
with his stomach groaning a friendly smile to hunger (suggesting that the speaker is
always hungry since his stomach is very familiar to hunger like a friend).
POINT 2
It appears that this image described above was not used in order to break free from
depression because of lines 9 to 12 that followed, which says, “Jo'burg City/ My
stomach also devours coppers, and papers/Don't you know? /Jo'burg City, I salute
you…” The speaker after explaining how his stomach devours coppers and papers
(money), then asked a rhetorical question (Don’t you know?). Following this, he saluted
Jo’burg city, salute is usually done in respect of authority, and sometimes, the salute is
done out of fear of the authority. However, because of the rhetorical question was asked
in the previous line, the speaker did not seem to have saluted Jo’burg City out of respect,
but out of mockery and sarcasm. Hence, this means that the speaker was using sarcasm
as a way of demonstrating his anxiety or resentment towards the City of Johannesburg.
According to Ogunlana and Jaworska (2020), one of the coping strategies that most
adults use to deal with depression is sarcasm. Therefore, the speaker using sarcasm
shows that he was not trying to break free from the depression of Johannesburg but has
accepted it and is merely trying to cope with it.
