Q1.
Work in pairs and choose two characters from the story—Sentila and one other character [Arenla, Mesoba, Onula, or a village elder].
• Prepare to speak from the chosen character’s perspective based on information from the story and the understanding of the intentions of the characters.
• Prepare a role-play between Sentila and the chosen character. The conversation between the characters should cover the following points:
– Sentila’s desire to learn pot making
– the challenges she faces
– the advice or perspective the other character offers
• Students can use direct quotes from the story and creatively expand on the characters’ thoughts and feelings.
You may use the following sentence prompts.
• I feel/felt __________ because...
• I wish/wished __________ because...
• When you said/did __________, it made me feel/think __________ because...
Answer
Method. A role-play is judged on whether the two voices are different, and whether each is anchored in the text.
- Choose your partner character for the friction it creates. Arenla gives you a clash of love and fear; Onula gives you encouragement; Mesoba gives you a father caught between wife and council; an elder gives you the community’s claim on the craft.
- Collect three quotations before you write a line of dialogue. One for the desire, one for the obstacle, one for the advice. Quotations keep the role-play from drifting into invention.
- Give each speaker a distinct manner. Sentila is young and eager but has learnt to hide things. Arenla is blunt and tired. Onula is gentle and practical. Mesoba is “humble in tone”, as the story says.
- Use the sentence prompts to reach feelings, not facts. “When you said…, it made me feel…” is what turns a summary into a conversation.
- Cover all three required points — desire, challenges, advice — and end on a decision or a change of mind, so the scene has a shape.
What a good performance must contain: at least two direct quotations from the story; one clear disagreement; both characters’ reasons made visible (never make the opposing character simply wrong); natural turn-taking of five to seven exchanges; and audible, clear delivery.
Sample answer: (Sentila and Arenla, in the work shed, the evening after the village council has spoken to Mesoba.)
Sentila: Mother, may I sit here while you work? I will not touch anything.
Arenla: You have been sitting in other people’s sheds for two years. Did you think I did not know?
Sentila: I felt afraid to tell you, because I had heard you say that pot making “has brought no joy to me and only a pittance for my troubles”. I did not want to bring that up in the house.
Arenla: Then you also heard about the sixteen kilometres, and the sheer drop, and my back. I wished you would take up weaving, because it can be done indoors in all seasons and the return is handsome. A mother is allowed to want an easier life for her daughter.
Sentila: I know. But when I watch the potters, the tap, tap of the spatula is music to my ears. I do not want an easier life. I want this one.
Arenla: The elders have said the skill was handed down from generation to generation and does not belong to me. Perhaps they are right, and I have been holding on to something that was never mine to keep.
Sentila: When you said that just now, it made me think you were not refusing me at all — you were protecting me.
Arenla: Come to the riverbank tomorrow. Bring the basket. And be ready before the sun is up — the clay does not wait for anybody.
Sentila: Mother, may I sit here while you work? I will not touch anything.
Arenla: You have been sitting in other people’s sheds for two years. Did you think I did not know?
Sentila: I felt afraid to tell you, because I had heard you say that pot making “has brought no joy to me and only a pittance for my troubles”. I did not want to bring that up in the house.
Arenla: Then you also heard about the sixteen kilometres, and the sheer drop, and my back. I wished you would take up weaving, because it can be done indoors in all seasons and the return is handsome. A mother is allowed to want an easier life for her daughter.
Sentila: I know. But when I watch the potters, the tap, tap of the spatula is music to my ears. I do not want an easier life. I want this one.
Arenla: The elders have said the skill was handed down from generation to generation and does not belong to me. Perhaps they are right, and I have been holding on to something that was never mine to keep.
Sentila: When you said that just now, it made me think you were not refusing me at all — you were protecting me.
Arenla: Come to the riverbank tomorrow. Bring the basket. And be ready before the sun is up — the clay does not wait for anybody.