Comprehensive notes covering Portrait of a Loaf of Bread by Mbuyiseni Oswald Mtshali.
A combination of information from the textbook, The Complete Poetry Resource (Sixth Edition), as well as additional class and video notes.
Written by an 85% < English HL Student
Mbuyiseni oswald mtshali: portrait of a loaf of bread
January 12, 2021
January 12, 2021
3
2020/2021
Summary
Subjects
grade 12
ieb
matrix
matric
poetry
english
english home language
portrait of a loaf of bread
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Content preview
The poet tries to create a “portrait” or a study of
the subject matter, which is a loaf of bread.
Slight humor
Portrait of a Loaf of Bread Artists used to paint portraits of important people.
The speaker of the poem is criticizing cultural
by Mbyiseni Oswald Mtshali
assumptions or of European “high art” or is
Stanza 1: Where bread originates from commenting on colonialism.
and the process of how it is made.
Instruction to look back as the journey of a loaf of bread.
Look back to the rolling fields
Personification = “waving wheat stalks”
waving gold-topped wheat stalks Wheat stalks are given human characteristics.
Hand tool used to reap crops. Metaphor = “gold-topped”
mowed by the reaper’s scythe, Compares the colour of wheat to gold.
Passive voice
bundled into sheaves Is cut, bundled, sent to the mill and made into flour. The
serene picture made above is replaced by energetic
carted to the mill
action.
and ground into flour. Past tense verb at the start of each line.
Change of scenery from expansive nature Typography changes as these lines are indented and
Kneaded into mountains of dough
(Have negative connotations)
have capital letters.
Verbs become more violent.
It indicates a change from the natural beauty to the
To be churned by rollers method of making flour to the process of breadmaking.
And spat into pans as red hot The poem is rapidly narrowing its focus to the subject
matter.
As Satan’s cauldron. Metaphor = the shapes made by the kneaded dough
reflects the landscape of mountains; extending the rural
image conveyed above.
Simile = The pans are compared to Satan’s cauldron to
show how red-hot they were.
It’s effective as we expect anything to do with hell to be
extremely hot, so it emphasizes the heat of the pans.
It also introduces the Biblical reference in the final line.
Stanza 2 and 3 contrast the unequal society of South
Africa which is sustained by bread.
The wealthy, middle or upper class, whites = stanza 2
The labourer, lower class, black or coloureds = stanza 3
Brought to the café, The delivery of the warmly wrapped bread to a café is
described.
warmly wrapped in cellophane, Could refer to the bread itself which is warm or to the
warm atmosphere of the café where affluent people eat.
by ‘Eat Fresh Bread’ bakery van ;
Semi-colon= indicates a pause. The verbs differ from that in stanza 1.
for the waiting cook It suggests less hard, physical labour than that of
the farm worker.
to slice and toast
Preserve made by boiling citrus fruits with sugar and
to butter and to marmalade
water. Considered as a delicacy to eat with bread.
for the food-bedecked breakfast table. Compound adjective = adorned with food; implies
abundance and wealth.
Stanza creates an impression of plenitude and
activity. The cook awaits the bread, then proceeds
to slice, toast and butter it and then serves it with
marmalade along with other offerings on the table.
These precise actions show the attentive service
which is delivered and expected by the customers.
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