Thinking About Your Thinking

Metacognitive Reading Worksheet

Tsotsi by Athol Fugard — Chapter 9: David

NAME

DATE

A DAY

B DAY

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BEFORE READING: Preparing My Mind

CHAPTER 9 CONTEXT: This is the chapter the entire novel has been building toward. The warmth of the pipe unlocks everything Tsotsi has suppressed. Chapter 9 is almost entirely a sustained flashback: David’s childhood, his mother, the father who never came in time, the yellow dog — and the night the passbook police destroyed his world. This chapter does not just reveal who Tsotsi is. It reveals how Tsotsi was made.

1. At the end of Chapter 8, Miriam’s remark about a dog and her pups broke through Tsotsi’s defences. Now the warmth of the pipe does the same. What do you predict his recovered memories will reveal about his childhood?

Consider: the yellow dog, his three rules, his denial that mothers love their children…

2. Chapter 9 is a sustained flashback. What reading strategies will help you track the shift between present-day Tsotsi and the child David? What will you watch for?

DURING READING: Monitoring My Understanding

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

Section of Chapter	1 Confused	2	3	4	5 Clear
The pipe; the warmth; the memory unlocked
David’s room; the mother; her songs; the father’s stories
The grandmother; the yellow dog and her change
The dompas raid; the mother’s arrest; her last words
The waiting; the father arrives; “Tondi!”
The yellow dog’s death; David in the fowl coop; aftermath

Double-Entry Journal: Choose two passages that struck you — whether you understood them or not.

THE TEXT (quote or describe the passage; note the page)	MY THINKING (what I thought, felt, questioned, connected)

Warmth Tracker: Fugard uses warmth (and its absence) as a structuring motif. Track how it moves through the chapter.

Moment / Scene	Warm or Cold?	What does this reveal about David or Tsotsi?
The pipe and David’s first memory
The blanket shared with his mother
After the raid: David alone in the dark

AFTER READING: Reflecting on My Understanding

Essential Question: “Can suppressing memories protect us — or harm us? What is the relationship between memory and identity?”

3. Fugard writes that “warmth… was a pain… was a memory, was a pain.” Why does recovering warm memories cause pain rather than comfort for Tsotsi? What is the cost of remembering?

Think about: what the warmth was connected to, and what happened to destroy it.

4. The yellow dog appears in Chapters 4, 7, and 8 — now Chapter 9 shows the origin. Why is the yellow dog such a powerful symbol for David’s loss? What does the chain stopping her “a foot from the coop” represent?

Think about: what the dog was before the raid, and what David witnessed from the fowl coop.

5. The father destroys the room and kicks the yellow dog — he has only one word: “Tondi!” David’s mother told him: “Don’t move from the room… I promise I will come back.” He obeys and waits all night. How do these two responses show how violence and grief are passed on — and what it costs a child to obey?

The Metacognitive Parallel

David watched something he could not look away from and could not yet understand. He stayed still — and in staying still, something inside him began to close down. When have you had an experience that changed you before you fully understood what was happening? What were the early signs that something had shifted?

Tsotsi Unit — Metacognitive Reading Practice Chapter 9 Monitor. Question. Clarify. Connect.