The Wasteland, Southern Cop and review

• Engels
• Middelbare school
• havo, vwo
• Leerjaar 4-6

TO DO

1.  Information about The Wasteland 

2. Information about Southern Cop (poem)

3. Read + Exercises + answers Southern Cop

3. Review

Explain to the students what they will be learning and why it is important.

The Wasteland

“The Waste Land” by Alan Paton is a very brief short story structured around a single event – a man is ambushed by some thieves and eventually manages to escape them, but accidentally kills one of the attackers. The story is set in an unnamed city (presumably in South Africa) that has begun to suffer from urban decay. The unnamed working-class protagonist exits a bus with his wages, only to find a group of young men waiting for him.

The Wasteland

Aware they intend to rob him, or worse, the protagonist attempts to flee by running into the adjacent waste land.  The waste land of the short story is the actual terrible condition of the town and the state of mindof those young men (and others) who have abandoned their moral compass.  The setting can also refer to the mood, circumstances, weather, social status of the characters, historical period, and immediate surroundings in which the characters find themselves.

Southern Cop

The poem “Southern Cop”  is an extremely powerful piece of poetry in American history because it cuts at the heart of racism in America. Unfortunately, many of the points Brown makes are still relevant today. In fact, this poem could have been written after any number of recent events.

Southern Cop

The first stanza of the poem serves as something of a summary of the event being addressed throughout the rest of the poem. It portrays a nervous officer that overacted to a tense situation but ultimately had the right intent. It's important to understand the irony and the point being made against racism. White readers at the time would likely have agreed with many of the points that are intended to be satirical. Brown goes through a number of arguments that people would try to make to defend the police officer’s actions such as he was running away and the officer was new to the job. 

Southern Cop

These become almost comical defenses in the face of the realization that a man was killed and no one really even knows why. In addition to arguing against racism Brown criticizes a skewed American image of masculinity where one needs to “prove himself a man” by killing. It is important to notice that the victim of the murder is only ever referred to as “the Negro” whereas every reference to the white police officer includes his full name. The African American man is just viewed as the officer’s mistake and the white officer is given complete agency in the poem by the fact that only his perspective is given. This serves to dehumanize the African American victim and make it easier to overlook what was simply a mistake by the police officer rather than a blatant act of racism against another man.

Southern Cop

Stanzas three and four become even more ironic and critical as Brown calls for the police officer’s actions to be condoned. Brown says, “Let us condone Ty Kendricks if we cannot decorate,” which is a jab at the idea that the officer’s actions were justified simply because he was wearing a uniform and therefore could only have been acting on behalf of his community to enhance the general wellbeing. Brown then goes on to point out the hypocrisy of the officer’s actions when he says, “When he found out what the Negro was running for it was too late.” This is an attack on the absence of the American judicial standard of innocence until proven guilty, which Brown points out in order to draw attention to the principal’s inconsistent application as it pertains to the African American community.

Southern Cop

Read poem together (p. 21) + do the exercises (p. 21)

Review

Sunday Bloody Sunday: What is the message of this song? What kind of song is it? Can you describe the situation in Ireland at the time?

The Sniper: What would you say is the theme of the story? What was the situation in Ireland at the time? What is the most important thing that happens in the story?

Review

The Wasteland: Where does the story take place? What does the landscape look like? What is the most important event in the story? Who tells the story?

The Ballad of Birmingham: What is a "ballad"? How do the mother and daughter act, what kind of people are they? Why would you say the poem is ironic?

Review

Southern Cop: What is the message in the poem? Who is the poet addressing? What is the rhyme scheme?