LITERATURE IN ENGLISH PAPER 1
SECTION A
Choose one of the passages 1 to 4, read it carefully and then answer the questions following it as concisely as possible.
Either
1. FRANCIS IMBUGA: Betrayal in the City
Questions
a) What happens immediately before the passage?
b) Describe the character of Mulili as brought out in the passage.
c) With illustrations, identify the themes brought out in the passage.
d) What happens immediately after the passage?
Or
2. WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE: The Merchant of Venice
Shylock
How now, Tubal, what news from Genoa? Hast thou found my daughter?
Tubal
I often came where I did hear of her, but cannot find her.
Shylock
Why there, there, there, there! A diamond gone cost me two thousand ducats in Frankfurt! The curse never fell upon our nation till now, I never felt it till now. Two thousand ducats in that, and other precious, precious jewels! I would my daughter were dead at my foot, and the ducats in her coffin. No news of them, why so? And I know not what’s spent in the search. Why thou loss upon loss-the thief gone with so much, and so much to find the thief, and no satisfaction, no revenge, nor no ill luck stirring but what lights o’my shoulders, no sighs but o’my breathing, no tears but o’my shedding!
Tubal
Yes, other men have ill luck too. Antonio as I heard in Genoa-
Shylock
What, what, what? Ill luck, ill luck?
Tubal
- hath an argosy cast away coming from Tripolis
Shylock
I thank God, I thank God. Is it true, is it true?
Tubal
I spoke with some of the sailors that escaped the wreck.
Shylock
I thank thee, good Tubal: good news, good news! Ha, ha, heard in Genoa!
Tubal
Your daughter spent in Genoa, as I heard, one night four score ducats.
Shylock
Thou stick’st a dagger in me; I shall never see my gold again. Four score ducats at a sitting! Four score ducats!
Tubal
There came drivers of Antonio’s creditors in my company to Venice that swear he cannot choose but break.
Shylock
I am very glad of it. I’ll plague him, I’ll torture him. I am glad of it.
Tubal
One of them showed me a ring that he had of your daughter for a monkey.
Shylock
Out upon her! Thou torturest me, Tubai; it was my turquoise, I had it of Leah when I was a bachelor. I would not have given it for a wilderness of monkeys.
Tubal
But Antonio is certainly undone.
Shylock
Nay, that’s true, that’s very true. Go, Tubal, fee me an officer, bespeak him a fortnight before, I will have the heart of him if he forfeit, for were he out of Venice I can make what merchandise I will. Go, Tubal and meet me at our synagogue, go good Tubal, at our synagogue, Tubal.
Questions:
a) What happens immediately before the passage?
b) Describe Shylock’s character as brought out in the passage.
c) Why does Shylock consider the wreck of Antonio’s merchandise, good news?
d) What do you find interesting about this passage?
Or
3. MEJA MWANGI: Carcase for Hounds
Back in the village the captain rang the District Commissioner, a s advised by the forester. He left orders with the chief for the removal of the body in the ditch. In his tent the camp bed and his personal belongings were laid out. In the tented office the collapsible table and chairs were arranged as for a conference. The radio room was in the next tent. The Tactical Headquarters was ready.
He sat at the table in the hot tent to compose an official report to be radioed to Brigadier Thames. He had just finished doing this when the inspector arrived. In the mid-afternoon the sun was hot. A tired-looking but high-spirited chief conducted them to the cell where the dead lay. The bodies were laid out in rows. There was a row of worthy men, the home guards, a row of not-so-good men, the villagers, and lastly, a little way away from the others to avoid contaminating them, the row of the undesirables the terrorists. Chief Kahuru Wamai’s initiative. He was so proud to show the dead bandits that he forgot to mourn his dead followers. The cell reeked of death.
The inspector, looking in from the door, lit a cigarette. At last it had happened, he thought. Haraka had visited Pinewood, and there were his compliments to the police and the government: ten dead men. But what had attracted him to the village? What had he come for, and had he got it? Or had he simply come to spread terror and havoc, just so that he might not leave behind anything that was un-touched by his bloody hands?
Returned to the beaming chief.
‘What happened?’ he asked
‘Mau Mau, they came.’
‘Well?’
‘They inspector looked at the bullet-torn bodies of the terrorists in disbelief.’
‘You mean to say you killed those?’ he pointed.
The chief smiled even broader, a weary man. He scratched his head and wagged it thoughtfully, almost as though he regretted the soldiers’ interference, as though he would have done a better job if they had not meddled.
‘We fight Haraka,’ he made the point clear.
‘Then soldiers come.’ The inspector understood. That was the most straightforward story he was ever to get out of the chief on the incident. The startling thing was that the chief had put up a fight at all. From deductions based on the chief’s previous record, he and his home-guards should have packed up and left the village to mind itself at the mere mention of Haraka. Whatever had driven the chief to face the notorious general? Maybe the world was going mad. Sheep were becoming tigers and Chief Kahuru Wamai a hero.
‘The villagers who took the oath, where are they?’ he asked.
The chief inhaled deeply, blew up his chest and tried to put on an air of importance.
‘They dead, Bwana Inspector.’ He waved his hand into the hut.
“Who shot them?”
The chief hesitated. He was not sure, but he had a feeling that his own bullets had felled the guilty people. He had sprayed the hut to makes sure of getting his father-in-law out of the way. Inspector Hudson, watching him closely, was eager to get the answer to that question. The chief decided to play it safe.
‘Haraka shoot,’ he told the white men.
‘And the owner of the hut?’
‘He dead.’
No doubt killed by Haraka too. The inspector nodded. He looked round the camp at the half-dead home guards dragging themselves around, as slow as ever. Nothing was really impossible.
He gave orders for the bodies to be loaded on the police lorry.
Questions:
a) What happens shortly before the passage?
b) Describe the character of Chief Kahuru Wamai as brought out in the passage.
c) With illustrations, identify three themes brought out in the passage.
d) What happens immediately after the passage?
OR
4. LAURY LAWRENCE OCEN: The Alien Woman
As Margaret walked about barefoot in the compound the tiny stones in the sand pricked her feet. It was hard to bear because her feet were in fact too tender. But if she was to stay here so strongly about it. It was difficult to presume what the little children admired in Margaret, for wherever she went they followed her slowly from a little distance.
‘Stop!’ Lucy shouted at them, ‘Why do you walk about after somebody in that manner? Are you mad? Go and sit down!’ she commanded furiously.
‘Aaa- Lucy,’ Margret chided with soft laughter, ‘don’t mind about them. Do not stop them.’ It was exactly the way Christ reprimanded those arrogant disciples we read about in the Bible. The little children Oneng, Ebong and Opolo had distanced themselves as a result of Lucy’s threat. Margaret encouraged them to get near to her. ‘Come,’ she said opening her arms invitingly. The three children came along slowly, each fixing an eye on the little girl Lucy.
The water heated, Margret washed the three dirty children clean. Each of them smiled with the innermost joy as Margaret did the job. Margaret took them into the hut allotted to her. They laughed happily when Lucy told them that Margaret would buy them some clothes.
‘What is this, Mother?’ One of them asked, pointing at a bottle of deodorant on the table. Margaret was amused. She did not understand why the child addressed her as mother.
‘Oh my child,’ she replied happily, ‘this is called moo. Do you know moo? Moo is a Luo word which may mean oil or lotion’
‘It is this one,’ the child answered, confidently pointing at the bottle. She prayed their bodies with the perfume and dismissed them after kissing them all on the cheek. The three children almost went wild with ecstasy. The sweet Fragrance of the deodorant made them go about sniffing the air the way male goats do when mating. perhaps they thought the sweet smell was being propelled by some atmospheric winds and now they wanted to catch the source.
‘Lucy,’ she said, ‘would you mind getting for me a hoe if any is left.’ She addressed Lucy so obediently as if Lucy was her superior. The little girl wanted to tell Margaret to stop it, but she could not get the courage. She went into the hut and brought a hoe. If Lucy had been an adult, she would have denied Margaret this work, for in the tradition of Bungatira people, a visitor was not supposed to be given work within the first three days of her visit. But Lucy was only a young girl, and so she did not take into account that custom.
Margaret handled the small hoe in a way which was quite spectacular. The way she handled the hoe also showed that she had never tried hoeing.
‘Aaa-wuu,’ the young women who had drawn water and were now going back laughed out sardonically. ‘Let nobody tell me of a woman trying to buy her place in a home full of cows,’ one of them mocked. ‘Hmm- I who was young – I whom Opio wooed and married with several cows – was that the way I handled a hoe? Hei-it doesn’t shake the hem of my skirt.’ As they talked, balancing their pots on their heads, thy faced Margaret directly and their mood reflected animosity. Margaret could read it from the way they stared at her.
‘How are you my friends?’ she greeted in the native language.
‘Eel Ee! don’t fool us,’ one of them fumed. ‘You greet us how are you, do we look after your goats?’ Margaret felt small. She just smiled and looked down shyly. Lucy was murmuring some insults against Margaret’s assailants. for in spite of the rest of the people’s contempt, Lucy and the three little children found themselves irresistibly drawn to Margaret’s manners.
Questions:
a) Briefly state what happens shortly before the passage.
b) Describe the character of Margaret as brought out in this passage.
c) Giving illustrations identify at least one theme in this passage.
d) Describe the feelings of the young women towards Margaret.
e) Briefly state what happens shortly after the passage.
Sub-section (ii)
Answer one question from one book only.
If your answer in sub-section (i) was on a play; now select a novel: but if your answer in sub-section (i) was on novel, you must now select a play
FRANCIS IMBUGA: Betrayal in the City
Either
5. Giving illustrations from Betrayal in the City, show how the ‘outside of one cell may as well be the inside of another’ in Kafira.
Or
6. Describe the character of Tumbo as presented in the play, Betrayal in the City.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE: The Merchant of Venice
Either
7. Describe the casket scene giving the lessons you learn from the choices made by the three suitors.
Or
8. Referring the Merchant of Venice, describe the character of Shylock.
MEJA MWANGI: Caracase for Hounds
Either
9. Explain how General Harak manages to put off defeat for as long as he does.
Or
10. What problems do the freedom fighters in Carcase for Hounds face in their struggle?
LAURY LAWRENCE OCEN: The Alien Woman
Either
11. Who is the ‘alien woman’ in the novel, The Alien Woman?
Or
12. What role does James Omara play in The Alien Woman?
SECTION B
In this section answer three questions covering three questions covering three books. One of the questions must be chosen from a poetry text.
NIKOLAI GOGOL: The Government Inspector
Either
13. Compare the events in The Government Inspector to those in your society
Or
14. Explain the theme of corruption in the play, The Government Inspector.
OKIYA OMTATAH OKOIT: Voice of the people
Either
15. Relate what happens in the play, voice of the people, to what happens in your society.
Or
16. Give the qualities that make Nasirumbi an admirable character in the play, voice of the people.
BINWELL SINYANGWE: A Cowrie of hope
Either
17. Describe the character of Nasula as presented in A Cowrie of Hope.
Or
18. What lessons do you learn from the novel, A Cowrie of Hope?
MARY KAROORO OKURUT: The Curse of the Sacred Cow
Either
19. Explain three of the themes brought out in the play, The Curse of the Sacred Cow.
Or
20. In which way is Nyabwangu responsible for the misfortune that befalls Mutumo’s household?
DANIEL MENGARA: Mema
Either
21. Describe Pepa’s character in Mema
Or
22. What lessons do you learn from the novel, Mema?
DAVID RUBADIRI: Growing up with Poetry
Either
23. Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow
Once Upon a time
Once upon a time, son,
they used to laugh with their hearts
and laugh with their eyes;
but now they only laugh with their teeth,
while their ice-block-cold eyes
search behind my shadow.
There was time indeed
they used to shake hands with their hearts;
but that’s gone, son
Now they shake hands without hearts
while their left hands search
my empty pockets.
‘Fell at home,’ ‘come again,’
they say, and when I come
again and feel
at home, once, twice,
there will be no thrice-
for then I find doors shut on me
So I have learned many things, son
I have learned to wear many faces
like dresses – homeface,
office face, streetface, hostface, cocktailface,
with all their comforting smiles
like a fixed portrait smile.
And I have learned too
to laugh with only my teeth
and shake hands without my heart.
I have also learned to say ‘Goodbye’
when I mean ‘Good riddance’;
to say ‘Glad to meet you’;
without being glad; and to say ‘It’s been
nice talking to you’ after being bored.
But believe me, son
I want to be what I used to be
when I was like you. I want to unlearn all these muting things.
Most of all, I want to relearn
how to laugh, for my laugh in the mirror
shows only my teeth like a snake’s bare fangs!
So show me, son
how to laugh; show me how
I used to laugh and smile
once upon a time when I was like you.
Gabriel Okara (Nigeria)
Questions:
a) What is the poem about?
b) Explain the meaning of the following expressions as used in the poem:
i) …while their ice-blocked-cold eyes search behind my shadow.
ii)…with all their comforting smiles like a fixed portrait smile
iii) … how to laugh, for my laugh in the mirror shows only my teeth like a snake’s bare fangs.
c) Referring to the poem, describe the character of the ‘son’
d) i) What do you learn from this poem?
ii) What makes this poem interesting?
Or
24. Select a poem you studied on the theme of “Death and Ancestors” and use it to answer the following questions:
a) State the title of the poem and the name of the pet.
b) What does the poem say about death?
c) What is your own opinion about death?
d) Why have you chosen that particular poem?
A.D.AMATETHE: An Anthology of East African Poetry
Either
25. Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.
Questions:
a) What is the poem about?
b) Explain the meaning of the following eas used in the poem:
i) I’ll take my shield and spear
ii) Remember our dawn of love
iii) We’ll brave life’s rough terrain
c) Describe the speaker’s feelings towards the one he is addressing
d) With reference to the poem, describe the kind of beloved that you would like to have.
Or
26. Select a poem written by A.D. Amateshe and use it to answer the following questions:
a) State the title of the poem
b) What is the poem about>
c) Why have you chosen that particular poem?
d) Relate that poem to what happens in your society.
END