Class Act

Namhla Tshisana

BACKGROUND Namhla Tshisana was born in Mdanstane [East London] in

1984. She worked for the Sowetan for five years before
joining the Masters programme in creative writing.
SUMMARY The narrator is a twelve year old girl who has just started
high school. She is subjected to teasing because of her
appearance. The pressure she feels makes her hate
school. She is too young to defend herself. Under the
circumstances she tries to adapt in order to survive.
Mr Sauls, her English teacher, cannot control his own
class and that gives Renato, who has failed Standards six
three times, an opportunity to bully new learners. She
does not report the bullying to her mother and aunt but
fights the demons all by herself.
The adults contribute to her suffering by ignoring her
requests to have her tunic shortened, but she is then
teased for her thick hem and white cotton thread. She is
further mocked for the colour of her underwear as well as
her black knees. The renewed bullying makes her feel she
is better off with a longer dress.
TITLE The phrase ‘class act’ refers to an excellent performance
or someone whose performance is extraordinary or
excellent. The phrase also refers to someone who is
generally well-mannered. Looking at the narrator’s life and
experiences, she does not lose her temper or even talk
back when mocked, instead she stays calm throughout the
story.
The title is in a way linked to the movie, SISTER ACT,
because of the long tunic the narrator wears at school.
The narrator is mocked and called Sister Mary Clarence,
one of the nuns in the movie.
THEMES BULLYING
The narrator is continuously teased by her classmates.
Her bullying is not physical, but it kills her spirit, which
makes her hate school. A class repeater, Renato, starts
the bullying by making her stand in front of the class. She
is then called names. Teasing spirals out of control and
everyone laughs at her.
IDENTITY /ACCEPTANCE/ APPEARANCE
The narrator faces a difficult time because of her
appearance. She does not feel accepted by other learners
at school. She accepts the identity given to her and does
not challenge it. She is only 12 years old and too young to
challenge some of her older classmates.
CONFLICT
There are two forms of conflict in the story:
Internal – the narrator has to go to school even when she
hates it. She has to find her way around these
 unfavourable circumstances and environment.
External – The incompatibility between characters that
make it difficult to co-exist. There are two learners that
make her life difficult and she has no control over it. A girl
who looks down on her and a boy who constantly teases
her.
HELPLESSNESS
The narrator is bullied at school and is too young to fight
back. She is bullied by a boy who failed three times. The
narrator cannot tell her mother as she is always busy. The
narrator cannot change her appearance as she relies on
her mother or aunt to fix her dress. This makes her feel
helpless.
SHORT STORY ARC
SETTING The story is set in a homeland called the Ciskei [which is
now part of the Eastern Cape]. It takes place in the early
1990s. The story shifts between school and the narrator’s
home.
EXPOSITION The narrator is introduced as a young girl [12 years] who
has just started high school. She has two main challenges
at school, she hates Afrikaans and she is constantly
teased. The narrator is at home with her mother and her
aunt, who are getting her uniform ready for her new
school.
RISING ACTION Mr Sauls who is one of the teachers, cannot control his
class and learners do as they like in his presence. Renato
forces the new learners in the school “freshers” to stand in
front of the class so he can inspect their uniform. The
narrator’s uniform is long and goes below her knees.
Renato then calls her Mary Clarence.
CLIMAX The climax is reached when the narrator tells her sister,
Ayanda, about the teasing. Ayanda offers to adjust the
blue tunic and decides to use the only available white
cotton thread. When the narrator wears the tunic, she also
realises that it is shorter than she requested and it will
make other learners see her thighs and knock knees. She
is then teased by the other learners because of the white
thread and her black knees. Some even commented on
her yellow panties.
RESOLUTION She resolves that she is better off as Sister Mary
Clarence. If she wears a long tunic, people will not see her
underwear, her knock knees and black knees.

CHARACTERIZATION
The narrator She is a misfit - she cannot fit into high school because of
her appearance
She is reserved - she does not have a voice at home, and
they decide for her what to do.
She is courageous – she does not give up on her
schooling career, despite all the challenges.
Ayanda She is friendly – she listens to her sister.
She is understanding – she understands her sister’s
problems and helps her to try and solve them.
She is caring – she fixes her sister’s tunic but unknowingly
adds to her problems
Mr Sauls He is inexperienced – He cannot control his class and lets
 the learners do what they like in class.
Aunt Connie She is pushy – she accuses the narrator of being angry
when she is not. She seems to push her around the
house.
She is untrustworthy – she makes empty promises to the
narrator and other friends of the family.
The narrator’s She is uncaring – she does not prioritise her daughter’s
mother needs.
Khanyisa She is a pompous girl who looks down on the narrator.
Renato He is a bully who does not care about the feelings of
others. He says anything to spite the narrator. He always
mocks her by calling her names.
FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE
The author successfully uses Xhosa phrases to show the context in which the
words were used.
Hyperbole “I keep thinking it is going to hit the floor” The writer
Exaggeration exaggerates Aunt Connie’s stomach which has grown
bigger.
Irony “YOU are starting a Coloured school next week but you
can’t speak Afrikaans.” It is ironic that the narrator does
not speak Afrikaans when the population of the school
speaks Afrikaans.
Simile “The class’s laughter sounded like thunder in my ears…”
The loudness of the learners’ laughter in the narrator’s
ears, is compared to the sound made by thunder.
Allusion “Sister Mary has undergone a makeover!” Calling the
narrator Sister May Clarence means she looks like a nun.
It makes reference to the movie SISTER ACT AND
SISTER ACT 2 where one of the nuns is called Mary
Clarence.
POINT OF VIEW
The story is narrated from the first person point of view. The narrator is the main
character. The story is told from her point of view, a young girl who has started
high school
STYLE
The story uses an informal register which is appropriate to the narrator’s age. It is
evident in the use of contractions such as didn’t, don’t etc. The use of dialogue is
indicative of the flowing conversation among the characters. Several Xhosa
phrases are used as well.
TONE
Depression The narrator begins the story with a strong, depressing
statement “I hat school”
Gloomy She uses a powerful word “hate” in describing her feelings
about school. She stresses it by adding “Rally I do”
MOOD
Sad, emotional

QUESTIONS
1. Quote from the first paragraph the narrator’s strong feelings about school.
2. Quote in nine consecutive words to prove that the narrator cannot speak
Afrikaans.
3. What did they start calling her at school and why?
4. Why could her aunt perhaps fix her dress according to her mom?
5. “King” is short for…?
6. Why has her Aunt’s tummy grown bigger?
 7. Why does her mother take the material out of the kist?
8. Why is Living and Loving printed in italics?
9. Why does her mother always wash new clothes?
10. Why has her blue tunic not been washed yet?
11. Why did her mother buy her tunic one size bigger?
12. Why was Ayanda away for the weekend?
13. Prove that Mr Sauls is not a good teacher.
14. Do you think it is fair, that Renato, who is repeating standard six, takes on girls
about their uniform? Explain why or why not?
15. Quote the simile in the last paragraph on p. 84.
16. What does the narrator tell Ayanda when she is back from her weekend?
17. Why did the narrator get “gooseflesh” when stepping outside?
18. With whom did they have Geography?
19. “Nice yellow bloomers” Would you find this statement by Renato embarrassing?
20. What did Khanyisa say about her shorter dress?
21. What did Khanyisa say about the narrator’s black knees and why?
22. What did the narrator decide to do after being bullied and mocked?

28 February 2025
Activity 22.1
Answers:
1. “I hate school.”
2. “…everyone expects me to be able to speak Afrikaans,”
3. Sister Mary Clarence, because her dress / tunic was too long.
4. She was a fashion designer.
5. King Williams Town.
6. We assume that her aunt is pregnant.
7. She takes it out in May, just before winter, to air the blankets
before it gets cold.
8. It is the name of a magazine.
9. It takes out the new smell, and you never know where
something new has been before you wear it.
10. The hem needed to be fixed for it was too long for her.
11. She is still growing.
12. She was in Alice for the weekend, to submit her application
for the university.
13. He cannot get the class to keep quiet during the last period
and decided to sleep on his briefcase.
14. No, who gives him the right to judge others, when he can be
judged for repeating the same standard three times.
15. “…sounded like thunder in my ears…”
16. She tells her that her classmates embarrass her during
school and that Aunt Connie had refused to fix her tunic using
white cotton thread.
17. Her tunic was much shorter and she could feel the result of
that with her bare legs.
18. Mr Patel.
 19. Yes, I would, I would not expect a boy like Renato, or any
other boy for that matter, to look up girls’ tunics, and comment
about their underwear.
20. Khanyisa commented on the big hem and the white thread
they used to make her dress shorter.
21. She said her knees were black and that her mother needed
to buy a mop, implying that the narrator went on her knees to
scrub the floor that is why it is black.
22. She decided to accept the fact that everyone refers to her as
Sister Mary Clarence and that no one really cared about what
the colour of her underwear was.

The narrator Ayanda

[sister]

Mother Mr Sauls
[English teacher]

Aunt Connie Mr Patel

[fashion designer [Geography teacher]
Perhaps pregnant]
Renato
[boy at school]
[Repeats Std. 6 for the third time]
[Calls her Sister Mary Clarence]

Khanyisa
[Mocks her knees and hem]