Stage 4 Animals Comprehension - Old Foot PDF

STAGE 4 Unit focus: Animals Text focus: Narrative Old Foot “Keep your eyes peeled for The Matriarch,” the park ranger said. “She’s out there somewhere in the fo...

STAGE 4 Unit focus: Animals Text focus: Narrative Old Foot “Keep your eyes peeled for The Matriarch,” the park ranger said. “She’s out there somewhere in the forest, watching us I bet.” I turned towards the voice. He had weathered skin, a scruffy beard and a mischievous glint in his eye. I was small for my age and fed up of being treated like a gullible li le girl. It was enough of a pain having to tag along with my parents and li le brother on this trip. I’d rather have stayed in Jo’burg and hung out with my friends. But here I was in The Cape, in the middle of nowhere. The only entertainment seemed to be trees. Lots of trees. Stretching as far as the eye could see in every direction. “The Matriarch,” I said, a sceptical eyebrow raised in a way I hoped made me seem grown up, “what sort of bogeyman is that then?” “Ahhh a city girl? Not from round here are you?” I shook my head. He was trying to make me feel stupid but I was proud to be marked out as separate to this place. “Some people call her Oupoot. It means Old Foot. Of course, she’s got another twenty years left in her yet they reckon. She’s the last of her kind: a lonely bush elephant hiding out in the forest now that all her herd are gone. No one’s actually seen her but there are photos from camera traps we’ve got out there.” He gazed hopefully out across the landscape. His weathered skin suddenly struck me as almost like the hide of an elephant. “Isn’t an elephant a bit big to stay hidden?” He chuckled and I bristled at being laughed at. “It’s a vast forest and she’s had years of practice. The cape elephants had no choice but to retreat into the trees when the Europeans first arrived. It was the only way of escaping the hunters. Somehow they adapted and se led into a life as bush elephants. Now there’s only one left. Poor old girl.” A ding ro Rea und all resources ©2023 Literacy Shed e um C u r r ic ul Th http://www.literacyshedplus.com I didn’t want to let on that the story fired my imagination, so didn’t ask any more. However, as we drove on, I scanned the bush wondering where this hidden creature could be. I couldn’t help it. At the lodge, my parents busied themselves unpacking. My brother scampered from room to room opening every cupboard and drawer, exclaiming at everything he found. I was alone at last and drifted out into the sticky air. The sun was low in the sky. It set the trees on fire with shades of orange and pink. A chorus of chirps, pips and trills sung through the trees. The forest was alive and as noisy as any city street. I stepped into the trees. Darkness spread like ink. Branches broke under my feet and sent birds flying into the sky. Then, another branch cracked up ahead. There was something there. The leaves quivered. I peered into the tangle of trees and bushes. There was a shape. I was sure of it. Piece by piece I put it together: a sloping back, a long swaying trunk, curved tusks. Was this Old Foot? Then as my eyes watched, the sloping back melted until it was no more than a leaning tree trunk. The elephant’s trunk became a swinging vine, the tusks nothing but broken branches. My mind was playing tricks on me. And yet, as I turned, I felt sure that I saw two gleaming pinpricks in the darkness, like a lonely pair of eyes watching me go. INFERENCE FOCUS 1. At the start of the story, what is the narrator’s opinion of the forest? 2. Find and copy a group of words which suggest that the ranger dreams of seeing the elephant. 3. How does the narrator’s brother feel about the trip? How do you know? 4. How does the narrator’s attitude to the trip change at the end of the story? 5. How old do you think the narrator is? Give justification from the text. VIPERS QUESTIONS R Where do the narrator and her family live? R What two names have been given for the elephant? V What does gullible mean? E How does the writer build up suspense in the final paragraph? P What do you think will happen next? all resources ©2023 Literacy Shed http://www.literacyshedplus.com