Thinking About Your Thinking

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BEFORE READING: ACTIVATE & PREDICT

Monitoring

CHAPTER 2 CONTEXT:

The gang has arrived at Soekie's shebeen after the murder of Gumboot Dhlamini. Boston is unravelling.

This chapter centres on the confrontation between Boston and Tsotsi over the concept of "decency" and the question of Tsotsi's soul.

1. What do you already know from Chapter 1 that might shape what happens next? What seeds were planted?

Consider: Boston's reaction to the murder, the dynamics between gang members, what we don't yet know about Tsotsi...

2. Boston was physically sick after the killing. Predict: what will happen when the gang confronts this?

DURING READING: MONITOR & RESPOND

Monitoring + Regulating

Section of Chapter	Rating (1–5)	What confused me / what I did about it
Arrival at Soekie's; the shebeen setting
Boston introduces "decency"; gang's reaction
Boston's one-on-one questioning of Tsotsi
Tsotsi's violent reaction and Boston's final words

The Text (quote or describe the passage with page number)	My Thinking (what I thought, felt, questioned, connected)

5. Word Watch: Boston uses the word "decency." Track how different characters respond to this concept.

AFTER READING: REFLECT & CONNECT

Self-Knowledge

Essential Question: "What does it mean to be 'decent'? How do people develop a moral conscience?"

6. Boston asks Tsotsi: "Does anything, anywhere, do that to you?" Why does this question provoke such violence?

Think about: What is Boston really asking? What does Tsotsi's reaction reveal about what he is hiding — even from himself?

7. The Metacognitive Parallel: Tsotsi refuses to examine his own inner life. How is his avoidance similar to what happens when a reader avoids confusion instead of stopping to clarify?

8. Boston's prophecy: "One day it's going to happen." What do you think he means? What might trigger it?

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