Thinking About Your Thinking

Metacognitive Reading Worksheet

Tsotsi by Athol Fugard — Chapter 11: Who Has Changed

NAME

DATE

A DAY

B DAY

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BEFORE READING: ACTIVATE & PREDICT

Monitoring

1. The last time we saw Boston, Tsotsi beat him nearly to death for asking too many questions. Tsotsi is now a different person. Why do you think he seeks Boston out now — and what do you expect from this encounter?

2. Chapter 11 has been described as a role reversal. As you read, watch for how the power dynamic between Tsotsi and Boston has shifted. What specific details will signal to you that something has been inverted?

DURING READING: MONITOR & QUESTION

Clarifying

Comprehension Check-In: Rate your understanding of each section as you read (1 = confused, 5 = clear).

Section	1	2	3	4	5
Marty's shebeen; Tsotsi's confrontation with Butcher & Die Aap; who holds power now
Tsotsi finds Boston; carries him; Boston tries to flee; Tsotsi refuses to let him go
Tsotsi examines Boston's injuries; feels the extent of the damage; what this forces him to confront
Boston's backstory; what drove him from teaching to the gang; the cost of his education
Tsotsi tells Boston his story; Boston says "You are different"; what this recognition means
"We're sick… sick from life" — Boston's final words; what this moment closes and opens

Double-Entry Journal: Record a passage that struck you and explain your thinking.

Passage from the Text (with page number)	My Thinking: Why did this passage stand out to me?

Role Reversal Tracker: In Chapter 2, Boston asked questions and suffered for it. Chapter 11 inverts everything.

For each original dynamic, describe what has changed — and what the reversal reveals about who these characters have become.

Chapter 2 Dynamic	Chapter 11: What Has Changed	What This Reversal Reveals
Boston asked questions. Tsotsi beat him. Questions were dangerous.
Boston caused fear and pain with words. Tsotsi inflicted it with fists. Power was physical.
Tsotsi felt nothing. Boston felt everything. Tsotsi was numb; Boston suffered.

AFTER READING: REFLECT & CONNECT

Connecting

Essential Question: Can a person who has caused great harm acknowledge it — and does acknowledgment change anything?

3. Tsotsi carries Boston "like a baby." This is one of the most striking images in the novel. What does it mean that the person who beat Boston is now the one who carries him? What has changed — in Tsotsi, and in the nature of his power over others?

4. This chapter is full of mercy — but it is not always clear who is showing mercy to whom. Is Tsotsi showing mercy to Boston? Is Boston showing mercy to Tsotsi by finally answering his questions? Or is something more complicated happening?

5. Boston explains how systemic forces — apartheid, poverty, a society that crushes the educated as much as the illiterate — drove him to where he is. How does hearing Boston's backstory change your understanding of why people end up as they do in this novel?

6. Metacognitive Parallel — Returning to Something You Caused: Tsotsi goes back to face what he did to Boston. He does not run from it. Think about a time when you had to return — physically or mentally — to something you had caused or a mistake you had made. What was it like to face it directly rather than avoid it? What changed in you because of that return?

TSOTSI UNIT — METACOGNITIVE READING PRACTICE | CHAPTER 11 | MONITOR. QUESTION. CLARIFY. CONNECT.