1. The author tells his story and discusses his childhood, the character of his mother and family (in later chapters), racism, separation, and animosity between the local tribes, Apartheid system and the impact on the population.  2. He talks about his lonely childhood as a colored person and how he learned to be alone. Much of the chapters also focus on his experience as a colored person and how others thought of him as a white person (even his grandma).  3. The importance of language is also emphasized as his knowledge of multiple languages served him well to find common ground with the local kids. As he said, "Language brings with it an identity and a culture, or at least the perception of it" (48).  4. The author also describes Soweto, a place where his mother grew up, and grandma lived,   as a prison designed by their oppressors. He further describes the town as a "hopeful place."  5. Some of the themes I see so far racism, religion, matriarchal community, the importance of language, culture change due to Apartheid. 

The guidelines for the Book Reports are:
You will spend much time engaging with each other in your groups for these assessments. You will follow the three-step process described in the opening lecture of the class – namely Awakening; Awareness and Assimilation. As you read on your own you will compose notes and ideas that ‘speak’ to you from the work. Then, as you meet and discuss in your chosen collaboration tool, you will begin to revise and review your notes and finally land on a compiled version of a “reflective analysis.”  This is what you will present to the rest of the group (who have not read the book of course!) You will then share a link to your presentation in the Discussion Board so the other groups can review it. Remember, all references to the text itself must be correctly cited according to the University College Format and Style Requirements (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site..
Each time a book report is due, one of you will take the lead on compiling the analyses from your entire group and producing the presentation. If you need the instructor to decide, send me a note and I will do so. This role will rotate for each report. Pay attention to the rubric as that is how you will be graded for each paper. You may choose from three different ways to submit for the first two reports: