Why should we study Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale in 2022? I can think of several reasons why the novel is worthwhile of study: The novel addresses important matters such as the individual in a community; The novel also addresses the value of defiance in a society that lacks freedoms; The novel presents the...
LIFT THRUST DRAG WEIGHT If you have had enough of doom and gloom and neat categories and bleak outlooks, then this is the book for you! The protagonist, Imogen, is uplifting in every way. She has been carried on her mother’s back as a baby and toddler, and perhaps this is where her lightness of being originates. She...
A LABOUR OF LOVE Labouring through Tess of the D’Urbervilles in matric is the reason my husband proffers for not reading novels today. He describes the book, one which for many is a great classic, as a boring book about a milkmaid who falls pregnant and dies. I often reflect on his response to literature when reading...
I remember this being a common catch-phrase when I was growing up. “Mom, can my pocket money be increased?”“Dream on.” “Dad, I wish we were going to the sea for Christmas…”“Dream on.” And even to myself…”I want to run away from home… dream on!” So, it was with some trepidation that I undertook to write the study...
I can’t help but burst with pride when we publish new material, especially study manuals. The material is just so goooooooooood! There are obviously many other study guides or cram books on the market, but they just don’t match up with Macrat’s workbooks. They are too short; they encourage rote learning; they are too...
DON'T MISS OUT ON MACRAT'S MOST VERSATILE PRODUCT! A teacher recently asked me why she should subscribe to the ‘Ratpack Resources’ if she already has a text book to use in class. I immediately thought about my first high school English teacher who assured us that she had learnt English despite only having one single...
'THE SHAKESPEARE PLAY MOST LIKELY TO FEEL ESSENTIAL IN THE 21ST CENTURY' Three decades ago, Herman Northrop Frye, whose contributions to cultural and social criticism earned him widespread recognition as a literary theorist, described Antony and Cleopatra as ‘the Shakespeare play most likely to feel essential in the...
Are eBooks still the rage that they were 3 years ago? Being the dinosaur that I am eBooks, Kindles and other electronic devices just don’t work for me. Give me a book that feels and smells like paper and I’m a very happy reader. Still, as I am in the publishing world, I have not been able to ignore the hype...
To celebrate the Ratpack’s 21st year in production, Macrat plans to honour our regular contributors by including a short biography in this year’s issues. One of our contributors responded with the following message: “21 years of the Ratpack! Can it be? I have every issue from the first volume, filed in lever-arch...
A cold, domineering father A gentle, compliant daughter A mercenary, manipulative suitor An eccentric aunt in love with the idea of love A plot filled with betrayal, cruelty, suffering … The ingredients of a soapie? They certainly could be ... but they refer to a novel set for IEB 2017 ... But they are also the...