The Reading Activities that follow are recommended for the study and enjoyment of the novel. A broad variety of activities has been included to give you as much choice and flexibility as possible. It is not necessary to do all of the activities for every chapter nor to do them in the order in which they appear. Some activities focus on Comprehension and Contextual Questions, some on Language Use and Vocabulary, others on Creative Writing, and others on literary aspects such as Plot and Subplot, Role of Narrator, Conflict, Characters and Characterisation, as well as Messages and Themes addressed by the novel. Educators should select the most suitable activities based on the time available and the levels of interest and reading ability of their learners.

The activities are set out under the respective Chapter headings to which they apply and are numbered accordingly, using a decimal numbering system. So the numbers of all the activities for Chapter 1 begin with the numeral 1. The first, second and third activities of the chapter are numbered 1.1; 1.2; 1.3 respectively. The first activity for Chapter 2 is numbered 2.1 and so forth.

The activities are organised under the CAPS Skills Areas as subheadings according to the type of activity that is suggested. So an activity that relates to a specific aspect of the novel is placed under Read and View. Creative writing activities that relate to issues in the novel are placed under Write and Present; activities that allow learners to review the aspects and issues that arise during lessons are placed under a section called Review and Reflect. Finally, the organisation of the activities promotes the reading process of pre-reading, during reading and post-reading as recommended by CAPS.

Some of the Activities are based on an Activity Sheet. The Activity Sheets can be found in the final section at the back of the novel and are all numbered according to the activity to which they apply. So Activity Sheet 7.4, for example, is meant to be used for Activity 4 in Chapter 7. Activity Sheets are only provided for more extended activities that require extra material and explanation. These Activity Sheets may be photocopied.