Goblins, trolls, giant spiders and a dragon are some of the foes Bilbo Baggins faces in The Hobbit. But what Noluthando Nakani likes about JRR Tolkien’s fantasy novel is that Bilbo and his friends are able to overcome each challenge, ready to face the next.
Goblins, trolls, giant spiders and a dragon are some of the foes Bilbo Baggins faces in The Hobbit. But what Noluthando Nakani likes about JRR Tolkien’s fantasy novel is that Bilbo and his friends are able to overcome each challenge, ready to face the next.
Nakani is one of 83 learners at the Gadra Matric School in Beaufort Street who get a chance to rewrite matric or upgrade results in subjects like English, Science and Maths.
She goes to one of eight weekly reading enrichment classes, most of which delve into fantasy writing by authors like Tolkien, CS Lewis, JK Rowling and Terry Pratchett.
Fantasy exposes learners to “something completely different from what they are used to”, says Megan van der Nest, one of eight student volunteers who read to and with the learners.
“Most haven’t read books for pleasure,” she says about the Grade 12s who have only studied set works at school.
She emphasises that reading fantasy is about having fun, and that this opens them up to all the skills that reading brings about.
Mziwoxolo Mpupa, who is also reading The Hobbit, says the classes have helped him improve in other subjects like English and Religious Studies.
Reading skills are also essential in tertiary education, says Gadra co-ordinator Melanie Lancaster. She would like to “marinade” learners in English because reading “unlocks all sorts of keys in the mind”.
She says that while they are on voyages of self-discovery, they develop their imagination and learn to reflect and question.
Not all learners enjoy the fantastical realm though. Gcina Sebe says she’s struggling with The Hobbit and prefers books about real life.
Whether it is fantasy or other types of fiction, Lancaster believes that the reading groups are paying off. Learners are more confident in their ability to express themselves. In the third term teachers at the school “suddenly see a leap forward in their English skills”.
Many learners have no books at home and don’t have a culture of reading. They also have responsibilities such as taking care of family members.
But like Bilbo Baggins and his friends, these young people are slowly triumphing over goblins, trolls and dragons.
