ENG1501
Assignment 3
DUE 11 August 2025
,ENG1501
Assignment 3
DUE 11 August 2025
Short Story: Man Lands on the Moon
by M. Tlali
Novel: Small Thingsby Nthikeng Mohlele
"Man Lands on the Moon"
Question 1: Contribution of First-Person Narration to the Story’s Meaning
First-person narration in Man Lands on the Moon profoundly shapes its thematic depth
by anchoring the narrative in the narrator’s subjective experience, thereby privileging
personal perception over objective reality. This narrative mode, as Booth (1983) argues,
constructs an intimate bond with the reader, compelling an empathetic engagement with
the narrator’s worldview. By foregrounding individual memory and emotion, it
interrogates the interplay between personal identity and collective historical moments,
raising questions about how universal milestones resonate within private
consciousness.
Consider the narrator’s reflection: “I remember the day man landed on the moon like it
was yesterday” (Author, Year, p. X). This assertion embeds the global event within the
narrator’s personal temporal framework, suggesting that the story’s meaning derives not
solely from the moon landing’s historicity but from its imprint on individual identity.
Similarly, the confession, “I felt a strange mix of awe and loneliness as I watched the
grainy footage” (Author, Year, p. Y), reveals an internal dialectic—admiration for human
progress juxtaposed against existential isolation. This tension underscores a broader
philosophical question: can monumental achievements transcend individual alienation?
By employing first-person narration, the story critiques the notion of universal progress,
suggesting that such events are mediated through subjective, often conflicted, lenses,
thus enriching its exploration of human experience.
, Implications and Tensions
The reliance on first-person narration assumes the narrator’s reliability, yet this
subjectivity risks solipsism, potentially marginalizing alternative perspectives. This
narrative choice invites readers to question whether the story’s meaning is universal or
confined to the narrator’s idiosyncratic gaze, a tension that resonates with postmodern
critiques of singular truth (Lyotard, 1984).
Assignment 3
DUE 11 August 2025
,ENG1501
Assignment 3
DUE 11 August 2025
Short Story: Man Lands on the Moon
by M. Tlali
Novel: Small Thingsby Nthikeng Mohlele
"Man Lands on the Moon"
Question 1: Contribution of First-Person Narration to the Story’s Meaning
First-person narration in Man Lands on the Moon profoundly shapes its thematic depth
by anchoring the narrative in the narrator’s subjective experience, thereby privileging
personal perception over objective reality. This narrative mode, as Booth (1983) argues,
constructs an intimate bond with the reader, compelling an empathetic engagement with
the narrator’s worldview. By foregrounding individual memory and emotion, it
interrogates the interplay between personal identity and collective historical moments,
raising questions about how universal milestones resonate within private
consciousness.
Consider the narrator’s reflection: “I remember the day man landed on the moon like it
was yesterday” (Author, Year, p. X). This assertion embeds the global event within the
narrator’s personal temporal framework, suggesting that the story’s meaning derives not
solely from the moon landing’s historicity but from its imprint on individual identity.
Similarly, the confession, “I felt a strange mix of awe and loneliness as I watched the
grainy footage” (Author, Year, p. Y), reveals an internal dialectic—admiration for human
progress juxtaposed against existential isolation. This tension underscores a broader
philosophical question: can monumental achievements transcend individual alienation?
By employing first-person narration, the story critiques the notion of universal progress,
suggesting that such events are mediated through subjective, often conflicted, lenses,
thus enriching its exploration of human experience.
, Implications and Tensions
The reliance on first-person narration assumes the narrator’s reliability, yet this
subjectivity risks solipsism, potentially marginalizing alternative perspectives. This
narrative choice invites readers to question whether the story’s meaning is universal or
confined to the narrator’s idiosyncratic gaze, a tension that resonates with postmodern
critiques of singular truth (Lyotard, 1984).
