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The book surveys the usage of closure in Northern Sotho Narratives. Plot serves as the basis of the study of closure in a novel. The interconnectedness of the elements of plot expressed by the presence of different closural patterns supports this. Major mutual relationships are distinguished, namely between author and reader as well as between author, reader and text. The principles of brevity and single effect which differentiate a short story from other narratives play a major role in the study of closure. The five signals of closure and the mode of approaching the end also influence how closure is approached in this genre. In the study of folktales, two major categories are distinguished; namely; traditional and modern approaches. Despite their difference, opening and closing are commonly based on the syntactical position occupied by the opening and closing phrases. In the traditional approach the position is fixed while in the modern approach it is controlled by the presence of motifemes. In poetry the ending is based on structural elements and linguistic principles. Repetition is a major poetic devise to illustrate closure.

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Prof. Mokgale Makgopa is the Dean of School for Humanities and Social Sciences at the University of Venda, South Africa. Prof. Makgopa is a scholar of African Literature and Indigenous Knowledge Systems. He researched, published in peer reviewed journals, and participated in regional and international conferences.

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