Thinking About Your Thinking

Metacognitive Reading Worksheet

Tsotsi by Athol Fugard — Chapter 6: Terminal Place and Morris Tshabalala

NAME

DATE

A DAY

B DAY

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BEFORE READING: Preparing My Mind

1. At the end of Chapter 5, Tsotsi's "mechanism" was failing. The gang headed into the city. What do you expect will happen now that Tsotsi tries to return to the old pattern of choosing a victim?

2. This chapter introduces a new character and gives him extensive backstory. What strategies will you use to keep track of both Morris's story and Tsotsi's perspective as they alternate?

DURING READING: Monitoring My Understanding

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

Section	1–5	Where I got stuck / what helped
Terminal Place — the setting description and Tsotsi's arrival
Morris's introduction — his defiance, his crawling, the foot on his hand
Morris's backstory — the mine, the collapse, begging, loss of dignity
The hunt — Tsotsi following Morris through light and dark streets
The climax — the money, the stones, the final darkness

Double-Entry Journal: Choose two passages that struck you. Write the quote, then your thinking.

Passage (quote and page number)	My Thinking (what I notice, question, feel, or connect)

Motif Tracker: Light and Dark

Note three moments where light or darkness affects what Morris or Tsotsi can do.

Moment / Location	Light or Dark?	What it means for the characters

AFTER READING: Reflecting and Connecting

3. Essential Question: "How do people maintain dignity and humanity under oppression?" Morris insists on the word "man" throughout this chapter. Where does his dignity come from, given all that he has lost?

4. Fugard introduced Gumboot in Chapter 1 and Morris in Chapter 6, both with the phrase "was also a man." How are these two characters similar and different? What is Fugard asking us to do by echoing that phrase?

5. Tsotsi experiences a new emotion while following Morris — sympathy. He feels it when he sees Morris's fear. Why does seeing another person's fear produce sympathy instead of satisfaction? What has changed in Tsotsi?

6. The Metacognitive Parallel: Fugard forces the reader to see Morris as a full person before Tsotsi can. As a reader, were you ahead of Tsotsi in understanding Morris? How did that change the way you read the hunt?

Tsotsi Unit — Metacognitive Reading Practice Chapter 6 Monitor. Question. Clarify. Connect.