Here is a collection of over 100 poems, questions and answers for high students. Each poem has a set of questions and whose answers are provided at the bottom of this page. Hope this assist you horn your Literature knowledge and skills.

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POETRY (20 MARKS)

Poems and Questions

Read the following poems below and then answer the questions that follow.

In the city

All moving the Lord knows where,

Dressed in suits and tatters,
Bowties, tights, ochred sheets and earrings,
All thinking of things to come,
Africa is in a state of opportunity,
All look for easy chances.

Of self-upliftment or undeserved promotion
That often mirage further and further
Making frustrate
Minds that should be content

It is a time of opportunity-

When one line makes a poet
And a little acquaintance or chance
Rockets one to the highest office

But the peasant, the pillar of the nation,
Has only to cope with prices that shift
Like the waves that rock the ship
carrying yellow maize to the city.

The employed call out strikes
That only deplete the little funds
That may relieve the peasant-

The elder brother keeps the younger in hunger
At home, if there’s any,
The child plays with an empty bottle,
Cries for more milk
When the cost is daily on the rise

While the incomes remain static
And the higher brackets are daily filled
By youths that will not retire
Within this century.
The child laughs gaily,
Displaying its only four teeth
That show it grows to eat,
Unaware of all that shapes her decade

Adapted from a poem by Joseph G. Mutiga

a) Who is the persona in the poem ? (2 marks)
b) Briefly describe what the poem is about. (3 marks)
c) Explain the significance of the first line in the poem. (2 marks)
d) Identify the aspect of style used in stanza six and show its effectiveness.
(3 marks)
e) Describe the kind of society presented in this poem. (2 marks)
f) What is the tone of the poem ? Support your answer. (3 marks)
g) Identify and discuss the use of sarcasm in the second-last stanza. (3
marks)
h) Explain the meaning of the following lines in the poem. (2 marks)
i) Africa is in a state of opportunity
ii) The pillar of the nation

Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow. (20 marks)

You embarrass me…

Mwananchi

Why do you embarrass me with your questions
About the new Mercedes I bought
The large farm I own
The houses, the wives,
An inflated stomach!

Mwananchi

Why do you threaten me with your threats
The threats in your bloodshot eyes
Fixedly pointed at me wherever I go
Like if you are ready
To release the arrow that will deflate me
Into nothingness;
Even the watchmen, the dogs, the police
Are all not enough to protect me
From your increasing shouts to protest
Against my good judgement;

Mwananchi
Have you forgotten how you loved me
And gave me your vote
That I may be your man in parliament?
Now that I have the power
I will mend your confused senses

And keep you in prison
Until you see me as your leader again
And keep those bloodshot eyes away from me
I will charge like an angry lion
And scare you out of your wits
Until like a frightened dog,
You keep your head forever…
Everett M. Standa
a. Identify the persona in the poem. (2 marks)
b. What is the message of the poem? (4 marks)
c. Identify and comment on any two aspects of style in the poem. (6
marks)
d. Describe the tone of the poem. (2 marks)
e. Identify and illIustrate two character traits of Mwananchi. (4 marks)
f. Explain the meaning of the following words and phrases as used in the poem.
(2 marks)
i) Inflated stomach
ii) Scare you out of your wits.

Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.(20 mks)

Song of Agony

I put on a clean shirt
And go to work
Which of us
Which of us will come back?
Four and twenty moons
Not seeing women
Not seeing my hand
Which of us
Which of us will die?
I put on a clean shirt
And go to work my contract
To work far away

I go beyond the mountain
Into the bush
Where the roads end
And the rivers run dry
Which of us
Which of us will come back?
Which of us
Which of us will die?
Questions
a) Who is the persona in the poem? Explain.
(2 marks)
b) Briefly discuss the subject matter in this poem.
(3 marks)
c) Identify two stylistic devices in the poem and show their effectiveness.
(4 marks)
d) Show how the persona and the others suffer in the poem. Illustrate your answer.
(4 marks)
e) What is the dominant mood in the poem?
(2 marks)
f) Is the title of this poem suitable? Explain
(3 marks)
Identify and explain one economic activity practiced by the persona’s community.

Read the poem below then answer the questions that follow

THE NECKLACE

From a distance
Fearful of inching any further,
A cold sweat trickled rivulets,
Making me shiver at noon.
Undaring to approach the form
It was over in minutes,
The necessities of execution availed,
The firestone tyre,
Petrol in blackened tin,
And ignites in numerous hands
Each participant ready and anxious,
To set the man a flame.
As the smouldering form blackened,
Smell of sizzling flesh filling in the air
Piercing the nostrils,

And choking me breathless,
I watched in wonder,
Witness to an unwritten law.
As the crowd dispersed,
The haggling and bargaining resumed,
Buying, selling and cheating,
As men in uniform arrived,
Bearing away the charred remains
Questions
a) How relevant is the title of the poem above? (2 marks)
b) Describe the character of the executionists in the poem (2 marks)
c) What was needed to carry out the execution? (3 marks)
d) Explain the difference in the use of the word “form” in stanza one and stanza three
(2 marks)
e) (i) Who is the persona ? (1 mark)
(ii) What deters the persona from getting closer to the scene of action?
(1 mark)
f) Explain the meaning of the following phrases as used in the poem
(3 marks)
i) Smell of sizzling flesh
ii) Each participant ready and anxious
iii) Witnessed to an unwritten law
g) What mood is portrayed in the poem? (2 marks)
h) Paraphrase the last stanza (4 marks)

Read the poem below and answers the questions that follow (20 MARKS)

WEDDING EVE

Should I
Or should I not
Take the oath to love
For ever
This person I know little about?
Does she love me
Or my car
Or my future
Which I know little about?
Will she continue to love me
When the future she saw in me
Crumbles and fades into nothing
Leaving the naked me
To love without hope?

Will that smile she wears
Last through the hazards to come
When fate strikes
Across the dreams of tomorrow?
Like the clever passenger in a faulty plane,
Wear her life jacket
And jump out to save her life
Leaving me crush into the unknown?
What magic can I use
To see what lies beneath
Her angel face and well knit hair
To see her hopes and dreams
Before I take an oath
To love forever?
We are both wise chess players
She makes a move
I make a move
And we trap each other in our secret dreams
Hoping to win against each other
Everett Standa

QUESTIONS
1. Comment on the title of this poem. 3 marks
2. Explain the dilemma of speaker in the first stanza. 2 marks
3. What is the speaker’s attitude towards their relationship?
4. Discuss and illustrate two character traits of the persona. 4 marks
5. Comment on the imagery of the plane. 3 marks
6. Explain how the relationship is compared to a game of chess. 3
marks
7. Explain the meaning of the following line: leaving the naked me. 3
marks

Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow. (20 marks)

The inmates

Huddled together
Cold biting their bones

Teeth chattering from the chill,
The air oppressive,
The smell offensive
They sit and they reflect
The room self contained
At the corner the ‘gents’ invites
With the nice fragrance of ammonia,
And fresh human dung,
The fresh inmates sit thoughtfully
Vermin perform a guard of honour
Saluting him with a bite here
And a bite there
‘Welcome to the world, they seem to say’
The steel lock of the door
The walls insurmountable
And the one torching tortuous bulb
Stare vacantly at him
Slowly he reflects about the consignment
That gave birth to his confinement
Locked in for conduct refinement
The reason they put him in prison
The clock ticks
But too slowly
Five years will be a long time
Doomed in the dungeon
In this hell of a cell

a) Who is the persona in the poem? (1 mark)
b) Briefly explain what the poem is about. (2 marks)
c) Identify and illustrate three aspects of style in the poem. (6
marks)
d) Give evidence from the poem which indicates the inmates are suffering.
(3 marks)
e) Why is the fresh inmate in prison? (2 marks)
f) Identify and explain the mood of the new convict. (2 marks)
g) Explain the meaning of the following lines as used in the poem.
i) That gave birth to his confinement (1 mark)
ii) The room is self contained (1 mark)
h) What does the steel lock in the door and the insurmountable walls suggest?
(2 marks)

Read the following poem and then answer the questions that follow.

The Courage That My Mother Had

The courage that my mother had
Went with her, and is with her still;
Rock and New England quarried;
Now granite in a granite hill.
The golden brooch my mother wore
She left behind for me to wear;
I have nothing I treasure more;
Yet, it is something I could spare.
Oh, if instead she’d left to me
The thing she took into the gravel!
The courage like a rock, which she
Has no more need of, and I have.
(Had – Edna St. Vincent Millay)

a) Briefly explain how the poem is about.
(4 marks)
b) Is the speaker male or female? How do you know?
(2 marks)
c) What does the speaker wish the mother had left behind? Why can’t the wish be fulfilled?
(3 marks)
d) Describe the character trait of the mother in the poem.
(2 marks)
e) Identify and illustrate the imagery used in the poem.
(4 marks)
f) What is the speaker’s attitude towards the mother and the golden brooch in the poem.
(3 marks)
g) Rewrite the following in your own words:
(2 marks)
“Has no more need of, and I have”

Read the following poem and then answer the questions that follow.

THE PAUPER.

Pauper, pauper, craning your eyes
In all directions, in no direction!
What brutal force, malignant element,
Dared to forge your piteous fate?
Was it worth the effort, the time?
You limply lean on a leafless tree
Nursing the jiggers that shrivel your bottom
Like baby newly born to an old woman.

What crime, what treason did you commit
That you are thus condemned to human indifference?

And when you trudge on the horny pads,
Gullied like the soles of modern shoes,
Pads that even jiggers cannot conquer;
Does He admire your sense of endurance
Or turn his head away from your imprudent presence?

You sit alone on hairless goatskins,
Your ribs and bones reflecting the light
That beautiful cars reflect on you,
Squashing like between your nails.
And cleaning your nails with dry saliva.

And when He looks at the grimy coating
Caking off your emaciated skin,
At the rust that uproots all your teeth
Like a pick on a stony piece of land,
Does He pat his paunch at the wonderful sight?

Pauper, pauper, crouching in beautiful verandas
Of beautiful cities and beautiful people,
Tourists and I will take your snapshots,
And your M.P. with a shining head and triple chin
Will mourn your fate in a supplementary questions at question time.
(Adapted from poems from East Africa, by Cook and Rubadiri EDS)

i) Identify the persona in the poem above. (2 marks)
ii) What evidence from the poem suggest that the subject is poor? (4
marks)
iii) Comment on the writer's use of imagery in stanza two. (3 marks)
iv) Apart from the imagery indentified in (iii) above, discuss any two other stylistic devices
employed in the poem. (4 marks)
v) What is the persona's attitude towards the M.P. (2 marks)
vi) Discuss one theme brought out in the poem. (2 marks)
vii) Explain the meaning of the following words and expression as used in the poem.
(3 marks)
a) Emaciated .
b) Crouching.
c) Gullied like the soles of modern shoes.

ORAL LITERARY

Read the following poem and answer the questions that follow.
 
DEATH IS A WITCH

Solo: Ah, what shall I do, Abuluhya?

It’s wrong
Chorus: Today I will say
Death is a witch, my people
It snatched my child
I will remain alone
Solo: Ah what shall I really do, Abuluhya its very wrong
Chorus: Today I will say
Death is a witch, my people
It snatched my child
I will weed along
Solo: Ah, what shall I really do, Abuluhya it’s wrong
Chorus: Today I will say
Death is a witch, my people
It snatched my child
I will dance alone
Solo: My child, my friend, I cry what shall I do? I cry
What shall I do? I cry x2

a) Classify the above oral poem giving reasons. (2 marks)
b) What is the singer’s attitude towards death? (2 marks)
c) What two things are lost when this song is written down? Use suitable illustrations from the
song to support your answer.

(4 marks)

d) Identify one character trait of death brought out in this poem. (2
marks)
e) With illustrations, identify social-economic activities of the community from which this song is drawn. (4 marks

Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.

OUT-CAST

They met by accident
He proposed the idea
She gave her consent
All the way to the altar
The casualty was male
And his pigment was pale
Unlike his alleged sire
Who was black with ire
The recourse was legitimate
He disclaimed responsibility
So they had to separate
The boy remains illegitimate

Last month, not long ago
They both took their go
Coincidentally by accident
No will, no estate
Nothing to inherit
The poor boy is hardly ten
And knows no next-of-kin
He roams the streets of town
Like a wind-sown out-cast
G. Gathemia

a) Briefly explain what the poem is about. (4 marks)
b) Describe two characters traits of the mother in the poem (4 marks)
c) Explain the meaning of the following as used in the poem. (3 marks)
(i) Disclaimed.
(ii) Unlike his alleged sire who was black with ire
d) Identify and explain one instance of irony in the poem (3 marks)
e) What is the persona’s attitude towards the boy in the poem? (3
marks)
f) Rewrite the following in your own words. (1 marks)
(‘They both took their go’)
g) Give a proverb which appropriately summarizes this poem. (2 marks)

Read the following oral poem and answer the questions that follow.

After a brief struggle I got myself  A job
My food was meat and banana
flour
A hundred cents a month and
soon I had some money.
Soon afterwards I bought myself
A beautiful girl
My heart was telling time this
was a fortune
So heart you were deceiving
me and I believed you
On a Saturday morning as I was
leaving work
I was thinking I was being
awaited at home

But on arrival I couldn’t find my bride
Nor was she in her parents home
I ran fast to the river valley;
What I saw gave me a shock.
There was my wife conversing
with her lovers.
I sat and silently wept.
I realized there is no luck in this world.
People aren’t trustworthy and
will never be!

(a) Place this song in its appropriate genre. (2 Marks)
(b) State and illustrate two functions of this song. (4 Marks)
(c) What evidence is there to show that this is an Oral Poem? (4 Marks)
(d) Explain briefly what the poem is about. (2 Marks)
(e) Give any two character traits of the singer. (4 Marks)
(f) Identify and illustrate two economic activities practiced by the society in the song.
(4 Marks)

Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow. (20 marks)

The earth does not get fat. It makes an end-
Of those who wear the head plumes
We shall die on the earth. The earth
does not get fat. It makes an end of those who act swiftly as heroes.
Shall we die on the earth?
Listen O earth. We shall mourn because of you.
Listen O earth. Shall we all die on the earth?
The earth does not get fat. It makes an end of
The chiefs. Shall we die on earth? The
earth does not get fat. It makes an end
Of the women chiefs. Shall we die on earth?

Listen o earth. We shall mourn because of you.
Listen O earth. Shall we all die on earth?
The earth does not get fat. It makes an end
Of the nobles. The earth does not get fat
It makes an end of the royal women.
Shall we die on earth?
The earth does not get fat. It makes an end

of the common people. Shall we die on the earth?
The earth does not get fat. It makes an end of all the beasts
Shall we die on the earth?
Listen you who are asleep, who are left
tightly closed in the land. Shall we all sink
Into the earth? Listen O
Earth the sun is setting tightly. We shall enter into the earth.
We shall not enter into the earth.
(From: 'The Heritage Of African Poetry')
a) What is the poem about?

(3 mks)

b) Who is the persona in the poem?
(2mks)
c) Identify and illustrate any two features of style used in the poem?
(4mks)
d) What is the tone of the persona in the poem?
(2mks)
e) What in the poem shows that death is indiscriminate in its manifestations?
(2mks)
f) Describe the political setting of the community from which the poem originates.
(2mks)
g) What is the mood of the poem?
(2mks)
h) Explain what the expressions below mean :
(3mks)
i) The earth does not get fat .
ii) Those who wear the head plumes
iii) Earth the sun is setting tightly

Read the poem below and then answer the question that follow.

AFRICA

Africa my Africa
Africa of proud warriors in the ancestral savannah’s
Africa my grandmother sings of
Beside her distant river
I have never seen you.
But my gaze is full of your blood.
Your black spilt over the field.
The blood of your sweat
The sweat of your toil
The toil of slavery
The slavery of your children.
Africa, tell me Africa,
Are you the back that bends.
Lies down under the weight of humbleness?

The trembling back stripped red.
That says yes to the whips on the road of noon?
Solemnly a voice answers me
“Impetuous child, that young and sturdy tree.
That tree that grows.
There splendidly alone among white and faded flowers.
Is Africa, your Africa. It puts forth new shoots.
With patience and stubbornness pouts forth news shoots.
Slowly its fruits grow to have
That bitter taste of freedom.

1. Who is the persona 2mks
2. What is the message of the poem? 3mks
3. Identify any three stylistic devices used in the poem. 6mks
4. What is the tone of the poem? 3mks
5. From the above poem, explain the meaning of the following lines?
a)’ But the gaze is full of your blood. Your blood spilt over the field.’ 1mk
b)’ Africa, my Africa
Africa of proud warriors in the ancestral Savannah’ 1mk
6. But my gaze is full of your blood. 1mk
(Add an appropriate question tag)
7. What is the meaning of the following words? 3mks
i) Solemnly
ii) Sturdy
iii) Toil

Read the following poem and respond to the questions appropriately.

THE SMILING ORPHAN

And when she passed away,
They came,
Kinsmen came,
Friends came,
Everybody came to mourn her.
Hospitalized for five months
The ward was her world
Fellow patients her compatriots
The meager hospital supply-her-diet
When she was dying
Her son was on official duty
The state demanded his services
Her only daughter, uneducated,

Sat by her
Crying, praying waiting for an answer
From God far above
Wishing, she spoke the language
Figures in white-coats do understand
They matched, the figures did
Stiff, numb and deaf, to the cries and wishes
Of her dying mother
As she was dying
Friends and kinsmen TALKED of her
How good, how helpful: a very practical woman
None reached her: they were too busy, there waws no money,
Who would look after their homes?
Was it so crucial their presence?
But when she passed away, they came,
Kinsmen came, friends hired cars to come,
Neighbours gathered to mourn her,
They ought to be there, to be there for the funeral
So they swore
The mourners shrieked out cries
As they arrived in the busy compound of the dead.
Memories of loved ones no more
Stimulated tears of many.
They cried dutiful tears for the deceased
Now stretching their hands all over to help
The daughter looked at them
With dry eyes, quiet, blank
The mourners pinched each other
Shocked by the stone – heartedness
Of the be-orphaned.
She sat: watching the tears soak their garments
Or in the soil around them; wasted

That night, she went to her love,
In the freshly made emergency grass hut,
And let loose all ties of the Convectional Dress she wore
Submitting to the Great Power, she whispered:
‘Now ……………….

You and I must know Now………….
Tomorrow you might never understand
Unable to lick my tears ……………..
And there was light
In the darkness of the hut
While outside
The mourners cried
Louder thant he Orphan
By Grace Birabwa Isharaza

Questions
a) Who is the persona in the poem? (2 marks)

Read the following poem and respond to the questions appropriately.

‘STILL I RISE’

You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may trod me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I’ll rise.
Does my sassiness upset you?
Why are you beset with gloom?
‘Cause I walk like I’ve got oil wells’
Pumping in my living room.
Just like moons and like suns,
With the certainity of tides
Just like hopes springing high,
Still I’ll rise.
Did you want to see me broken?
Bowed head and lowered eyes?
Shoulders falling down like tear drops.
Weakened by my soulful cries.
Does my haughtiness offend you?
Don’t you take it awful hard
‘cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines
Diggin’ in my own backyard.
You m,ay shoot me with your word
You may cut me with your eyes,
You may kill me with your hatefulness,
But still, like air, I’ll rise.

Out of the hurts of history’s shame
I rise
Up from a past that’s rooted in pain
I raise
I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide,
Welling and swelling I bear
In the tide
Leaving behind nights of terror and fear
I rise
Into a day brake that is wondrously clear
I rise
Bringing the gifts that my
Ancestors game,
I am the dream and the
Hope of the slave
I rise
I rise
I rise
Adapted from: Maya Angelous’ STILL I RISE (1978)

1. With support from the poem, briefly explain what the poem is about. (3
marks)
2. Identify three challenges that the speaker in the poem contends with. (3
marks)
3. What is the attitude of the speaker towards these challenges? (2 marks)
4. Identify and illustrate figures of speech from the poem above. Comment on their
effectiveness. (4 marks)
5. Other than the style in (4) above, identify and illustrate other two stylistic devices employed
by the poet. (4 marks)
6. Explain the meaning of the following phrases as they are used in poem. (3
marks)
a) ‘Cause I laugh I’ve got gold mines’
b) ‘But still, like dust, I’ll rise’.
c) I am Black Ocean, leaping and wide.
7. Supply the following sentence with ethe correct question tag. (1 mark)
I am the dream and the hope of the slave.

Read the following poem and answer the questions that follow.

I WENT TO CHURCH.

I went to church today.
Yes I went and prayed for all
Friends and foes a like.
Dead and those alive.

I also prayed hard.
For the soul of that soldier.
Who got short.
Fighting for our motherland
While I shot hot life into his wife.
And I prayed to God too
That I live long
To go and pray again
Questions.
a) What is the poem about? (4 marks)
b) Identify and illustrate any two character traits of the speaker. (4
marks)
c) Identify and illustrate three poetic devices used in the poem. (6
marks)
d) What is the meaning of the following lines as used in the poem. (2
marks)
i) While I shot hot life into his wife.
ii) That I live long to go and pray again.
e) i) What is the tone of the poem (2 marks)
ii) Explain the overriding mood of the poem. (2 marks)

1. Read the poem below and then answer the question that follows. (20 marks)

THE PRESS

So What is the mountain deal?
About the minister’s ailing son
That makes boiling news?
How come it was not whispered?
When Tina’s hospital bed was crawled with maggots
And her eyes oozed pus
Because the doctors lacked gloves?
What about Kasajja’s only child
Who died because the man with the key
To the oxygen room was on leave?
I have seen queues
Of emaciated mothers clinging to
Babies with translucent skins
Faint in line
And the lioness of a nurse

Commanding tersely
‘Get up or live the line’
Didn’t I hear it rumored that
The man with the white mane
Ushered a rape case out of court
Because the seven-year-old
Failed to testify?
Anyway, I only remembered these things
Ehen I drink
They indeed tipsyexplosions.
Susan Nalugwa Kiguli
Adopted By from: Echoes across the valley.

Questions
a) Identify and explain the social evils dealt with in the poem. (6 marks)
b) Pick out three poetic devices evident in this poem and comment on their significance.
(6 marks)
c) Comment on the tone of the poem. (2 marks)
d) Is the title significant? Why or why not? (2 marks)
e) Explain the irony of the poem? (2 marks)
f) Explain the meaning of the following words: (2 marks)
i) Crawled
ii) Ushered

Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow. (20 marks)

Their City

City in the sun
without any warmth
except for wanaotosheka
and the tourists escaping
from civilized boredom
Sit under the Tree
any Saturday morning
and watch the new Africans,
the anxious faces
behind the steering wheels
in hire purchase cars
see them looking important
in a tiny corner
behind the chauffeur
We have seen them
in a nightmare,
the thickset directors
of several companies;
we have seen them

struggling under the weight
of a heavy lunch
on a Monday afternoon
cutting a tape
to open a building,
we have seen them
looking over their
gold-rimmed glasses
to read a speech
And in the small hours
between one day and the next
we have strolled through
the deserted streets
and seen strange figures
under bougainvillea bushes
in traffic islands
figures hardly human
snoring away into
the cold winds of the night;
desperately dying to live.
(Lennard Okola)

Questions.
a) Who is the persona in the poem? (2 marks)
b) Explain what the poem is about. (3 marks)
c) What is achieved by repetition of “We have seen them”? (2 marks)
d) Identify and explain two thematic concerns of the poet. (4 marks)
e) Why are the “new Africans” said to have anxious faces? (2 marks)
f) Explain the meaning of the expression;
figures hardly human
desperately dying to live. (2 marks)
g) How does the persona portray the rich? (2 marks)
h) Describe the tone in the poem. (3 marks)

Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow. (20 marks)

Western civilization

Sheets of tin nailed to posts
driven in the ground
make up the house
Some rags complete
The intimate landscape
The sun slanting through the cracks

welcomes the owner.
After twelve hours of slave
labour
Breaking rock
shifting rock
breaking rock
shifting rock
fair weather
wet weather
breaking rock
shifting rock
Old age comes early
a mat on dark nights
is enough when he dies
gratefully
of hunger

Questions.
a) What is the poem about? (4 marks)
b) Identify and illustrate two features of style used in the poem. (4 marks)
c) What does the fifth stanza suggest about the work done by “he”? (2
marks)
d) What basic requirements does the “he” in the poem lack? (3 marks)
e) Why do you think the “he” dies “gratefully”? (1 mark)
f) Describe two themes brought out in the poem. (4 marks)
g) Explain the meaning of “Old age comes early” (1 marks)
h) Supply a word that means the same as hunger as used in the poem.
(1 mark

Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.

Beggar in the three a piece.

My Jumbo
Shot its way
Across the sky
To distant lands
Across blue seas
I descended the ladder
To a waiting ribbon
Of blood-red carpet
A quick glance at my
Three piece suit and the tie

That beautifully strangled my neck.
On my left hand hang
My beaded knob kerry
On my right I clutched
My rusty inter- nation Begging Bowl
On my face I wore humility and need
And of course dignity.
Sir, the dearth of food
Had rendered my people thin
And hungry
Scoop us a little
You know
Just little
To keep them till next rains.
But Sir, beggars
In three piece
Are a rare sight
But your suit is beautiful
Honestly.
Now my suit
Which cost me a fortune
In a Parisian Texture
Has denied me a fortune
And my countrymen, life.
By. L.O. Sunkuli.

(a) Who is the persona in the poem? (3 marks)
(b) What is the subject matter of this poem? (4 marks)
(c) Explain the satire in this poem and comment on its effectiveness. (4
marks)
(d) Describe the tone of this poem. (3 marks)
(e) Explain what the last stanza implies. (3 marks)
(f) Explain the meaning of the following liens as used in the poem. (3
marks)
i) My Jumbo
Shot its way
Across the sky
ii) That beautifully strangled my neck.
iii) To keep them till next rains.

Read the poem below and answer questions that follow.

White child meets black man

She caught me outside a London
Suburban shop, I, like a giraffe
And she a mouse. I tried to go
But felt she stood
Lovely as light on my back
I turned with hello
And waited. Her eyes got
Wider but not her lips.
Hello I smiled again and watched.
She stepped around me
Slowly, in a kind of dance,
Her wide eyes searching
Inch by inch up and down:
No fur no scales no feathers
No shell. Just a live silhouette,
Wild and strange
And compulsive
Till mother came horrified
'Mummy is his tummy black?'
Mother grasped her and swung
Toward the crowd. She tangled
Mother’s legs looking back at me
As I watched them birds were singing.
James Berry (Jamaica)

QUESTIONS
(a) Briefly explain what the poem is about. (3mks)
(b) Explain what the reaction of the white child makes the persona feel.
(4mks)
(c) Compare and contrast the reactions of the mother and daughter to the black man.
(6mks)
(d) Identify and explain any two figures of speech used in this poem.
(4mks)
(e) Explain the significance of the last line of the poem. (3mks)

Read the Poem below and answer the questions that follow: (20 Marks)

The Twist

In a little shanty town
Was on a night like this
Girls were sitting down
Around the town
Like this
Some were young
And some were brown
I even found a miss
Who was black and brown
And really did
The twist
Watch her move her wrist
And feel your belly twist
Feel the hunger thunder
When her hip bones twist
Try to hold her, keep her under
While the juke box hiss
Twist the music out of hunger
On a night like this

a) What is the poem about?
(3 marks)
b) Identify three senses that the poem appeals to.
(3 Marks)
c) What is the main theme of this poem? (2 Marks)

d) What is the attitude of the persona towards the girls mentioned in the poem?
(2 Marks)
e) Identify three poetic devices used in the poem.
(6 marks)
f) What are the achievements of the persona on this night?
(2 marks)
g) Explain the meaning of:
i) …… a miss (who was brown and black). (1
Marks)
ii) Twist the music out of hunger. (1 Marks)

Read the poem below and then answer the question that follow. (20 marks)

DEATH OF MY FATHER

His sunken cheeks, his inward-looking eyes,
The sarcastic, scornful smile on his lips
The unkempt, matted, grey hair,
The hard, coarse sand-paper hands,
Spoke eloquently of the lifehe had lived.
But I did not mourn for him.
The hammer, the saw and the plane,
These were his tools and his damnation,
His sweat was his ointment and his perfume.
He fashioned dining tables, chairs, wardrobes,
And all the wooden loves of colonial life.
No, I did not mourn for him.
He built colonial mansions,
Huge,unwieldy,arrogant constructions;
But he squatted in a sickly mud-house,
With his children huddled stuntedly,
Under the bed-bug bed he shared with Mother.
I could not mourn for him.
I had already inherited
His premature old-age look,
I had imbibed his frustration;
But his dreams of freedom and happiness
Had become my song, my love.
So, I could not mourn for him.

No, I did not shed any tears;
My father’s dead life still lives in me,
He lives in my son, my father,
I am my father and my son.
I will awaken his sleepy hopes and yearnings,
But I will not mourn for him,
I will not mourn for me.

a) Identify the persona. (2 marks)
b) What is the poem talking about? (3 marks)
c) Comment on the alliteration that is used in the poem? (2 marks)
d) Apart from alliteration, identify and explain any other two aspects of style that the poet has
used. (4 marks)
e) What reason does the persona give for not mourning his father’s death? (
3 marks)
f) What is the father’s profession from the poem? ( 1 mark)
g) Explain the meaning of the following lines as used in the poem: ( 3 marks)
i) The hard, coarse sand-paper hands,
Spoke eloquently of the life he had lived.
ii) His premature old-age look,
iii) I will awaken his sleepy hopes and yearnings,
h) What is the attitude of the persona towards his father’s life? ( 2 marks)

Read the following poem and answer the questions that follow.

The Gourd of Friendship.

Where is the curiosity we've lost in discovery?
Where is the discovery we've lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we've lost in communication?
Where is the communication we've lost in mass media?
And where is the community we've lost in all these?
Where is the message we've lost in the medium?
It is easy to go to the moon:
There, there are no people.
It is easier to count the stars:
They will not complain.
But the road to your neighbour's heart – who has surveyed it?
The formula to your brother's head – Who has devised it?
The gourd that doesn't spill friendship – In whose garden has it ever grown?
You never know despair Until you've lost hope;
You never know your aspiration Until you've seen others disillusionment.
Peace resides in the hearts of men.

Not in conference tables and delegates signatures.
True friendship never dies – It grows stronger the more it is used.
By Richard Ntiru

1. Explain the meaning of the poem (3 marks)
2. Discuss the use of the rhetorical questions in the poem. (3 marks)
3. Describe the tone of this poem (3 marks)
4. Identify and explain two other stylistic devices (apart from the rhetorical questions)
(4 marks)
5. Explain the meaning of these lines. (4 marks)
i) "where is the curiosity we have lost in discovery".
ii) "But the road to your neighbour's heart – who has surveyed it?" (
marks)
6. What does the persona think about relationships? (2 marks)
7. Explain the appropriateness of the title. (1 mark)

1. Read the poem below and answer the questions below. (20 marks)

Theme for English B.

The instructor said,
Go home and write a page tonight.
And let that page come out of you.
Then, it will be true.
I wonder if it is that simple?
I am twenty-two, colored, born in Winston-Salem.
I went there, then Durham, then here
To this college on the hill above Harlem,
I am the only colored student in my class.
The steps from the hill lead down into Harem,
Through a park, then I cross St Nicholas,
Eighth Avenue, seventh, and I come to the Y
The Harlem BranchY, where I take the elevator
Up to my room, sit down, and write this page:
It’s no easy to know what is true for you or me
At twenty-two, my age. But I guess I’m what
I feel and see and hear. Harlem, I hear you:
Hear you, hear me-we two-you, talk on this page.
(I hear New York, too) me- who?
Well, I like to eat, sleep, drink, and be in love.
I like to work, read, learn and understand life.

I like a pipe for a Christmas present,
Or records- Bessie, bop, or Bach.
I guess being colored doesn’t make me not like
The same things other folks like who are other races.
So will my page be colored that I write?
Being me, it will not be white.
But it will be A part of you, instructor.
You are white
Yet a part of me, as I am part of you.
That’s American.
Sometimes perhaps you don’t want to be part of me.
Nor do I often want to be part of you.
But we are, that’s true!
As I learn from you,
I guess you learn from me- Although you are older- and white- And somewhat more free.
This is my page for English B.
(Langstone Hughes)

Questions.
a) Who is the speaker in the poem? Illustrate your answer. 2 mks
b) Identify two themes in the poem. Explain. 4 mks
c) Describe the mood of the poem? What details contribute or help establish that mood?
2mks
d) What point does the speaker seek to make by listing the things that he or she likes?
2mks
e) What is the tone of the poem? Explain 2 mks
f) Identify the use of personification in the poem. 2mks
g) In what ways is the speaker and the addressee similar and different? 2mks
h) Describe the relationship between the persona and the addressee 2mks
i) i) “I wonder if it is that simple.” Rewrite as a yes/no question.
ii) Rewrite the following beginning with: neither….
You don’t want to be part of me. Nor do I often want to be part of you l
mk

Read the following poem and answer the questions that follow.   (20 Marks)

Operating Room, By John Reed

Sunlight floods the shiny many-windowed place,
Coldly glinting on flawless steel under glass,
And blaring imperially on the spattered gules
Where kneeling men grunt as they swab the floor.
Startled eyes of nurses swish by noiselessly,
Orderlies with cropped heads swagger like murderers;
And three surgeons, robed and masked mysteriously,
Lounge gossiping of guts, and wish it were lunch-time.
Beyond the porcelain door, screaming mounts crescendo
Case 4001 coming out of the ether,
Born again half a man, to spend his life in bed.

a) Describe the setting of the poem. (3 marks)
b) Briefly explain what the poem is talking about.
(4 marks)
c) Who is the persona in the poem?
(2 marks)
d) Illustrate the use of the following styles and state their effectiveness.
(4 marks)
a. Metaphor
ii. Hyperbole
e) What is the tone of the poem? (2 marks)
f) Discuss the general mood of the poem. (2 marks)
g) Why do the men grunt as they swab the floor? (1 mark)
h) Explain the meaning of the following phrases as used in the poem. (2
marks)
i) Robed and masked mysteriously
ii) Case 40001 coming out of ether

Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow

THE WAR LORD

Cut, thrust, plunge

Slash, slit, stab
Starve, maim, shoot
Torch, burn, scar

The trumpets herald you with regal glory
Epaulettes glisten and medals gleam

Plunder, loot and steal
Blind, brand, rape
Curse, crush, kidnap
Smash, torture, kill

Your arrival is welcomed with carpets of steel
Ramrod backed your subjects hail you

Bind, bludgeon, bury
Garotte, impale, castrate
Order, imprison, enslave
Censor, cajole and destroy
Your scarlet cape billows as you sense fresh converts
Ever more shrill their praises grow.
Barren, bleak, blackened
Shattered, sterile, stricken
Torn, poisoned, defiled
Bloodied, emtombed, rotting

The prize presented on some stolen silver

A maggot riddled remnant of a once serene world.

Questions
(a) Briefly explain what the poem is talking about. (3mks)
(b) What is the attitude of the persona to the warlord? Elaborate your answer.
(2mks)
Explain the relevance of having separated words for stanza one, three, five and seven.
(3mks)
(c) Explain the irony in the poem. (3mks)
(d) What is the meaning of the following lines as used in the poem?
(i) The trumpets herald you with regal glory.
Epaulettes glisten and medals gleam. (2mks)
(ii) The prize presented on some stolen silver.
A maggot riddled remnant of a once serene world. (2mks)
(e) Apart from irony, which other stylistic device has been used in the poem?
(2mks)
(f) Identify one thematic concern of the poem. (3mks)

Read the poem below and then answer the questions that follow. (20 marks)

A TAX DRIVER ON DEATH BED. (By Timothy Wangusa)

When with prophetic eye I peer in to the future
I see that I shall perish upon this road
Driving men that I do not know
This metallic monster that I now dictate,
This docile elaborate horse,
That in silence seems to simmer and strain
Shall surely revolt some tempting day.
Thus u shall die: not that I care
For any man’s journey,
Nor for proprietors gain
Nor yet for the love of my own.
Not for these do I attempt the forbidden limits.
For those deft the traffic – man and the cold cell,
Risking everything for the little little more.

They shall say, I know, who pick up my bones
‘Poor chap, another victim to the ruthless machine”
concealing my blood under the metal.

Questions.
a) What is this poem about? (3 marks)
b) What is the attitude of the persona toward his fate? (2 marks)
c) With illustration identify the persona in the poem. (2 marks)
d) What is the irony in the poem? (2 marks)
e) With illustrations identify and comment on any other two stylistic devices used in the poem.
(6 marks)
f) Comment on the following line.
‘poor chap, another victim to the ruthless machine? (2 marks)
g) How will the persona’s death come about? (2 marks)
h) Give the poem another title. (1 mark)

Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.

Your Cigarette Burnt the Savannah Grass.

Come
Listen to a boiling pot
torch its heart and tell me
What do you hear?
the sun sent down sowers of it
that burnt to cinder your eddying conscience
the earth at the touch of your fingers
cracked
Colour melts at your stare
Orange white blurred and all
are the same to you
Your cigarette burnt the savannah grass
The scorpion bit me and I cried.
Charles Owuor

i) Identify and illustrated any three appeals the persona puts across to his adversary
(3 marks)
ii) What is the subject matter of this poem? (3 marks)
iii) Identify and explain any three aspects of style and explain their functions.
(6 marks)
iv) Explain the meaning of the following lines. (4 marks)
(a) ‘Come
Listen to a boiling pot’
(b) ‘ the sun sent down showers of it that burnt to cinder your eddying conscience!
(v) What is the mood of the poem? (2 marks)
(vi) What is the persona’s attitude towards his adversary? (2 marks)

Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow:

THE VILLAGE WELL

By the well,
Where fresh water still quietly whisper
As when I
First accompanied Mother and filled my baby gourd,
By this well,
Where many an evening its clean water cleaned me;
This silent well
Dreaded haunt of the long haired Musambwa
Who basked
In the mid-day sun reclining on the rock
Where I now sit
Welling up with many poignant memories;
This spot,
Which has rung with the purity of child laughter;
This spot,
Where eye spoke secretly to responding eye;
This spot,
Where hearts pounded madly in many a breast;
By this well,
Over-hung by leafy branches of sheltering trees
I first noticed her
I saw her in the cool of red, red evening
I saw her
As if I had not seen her a thousand times before
By this well
My eyes asked for love, and my heart went mad.
I stuttered
And murmured my first words of love
And cupped
With my hands, the intoxication that were her breasts
In this well,
In the clear waters of this whispering well,
The silent moon
Witnessed with a smile our inviolate vows
The kisses
That left us weak and breathless.
It is dark.

It is dark by the well that still whispers.
It is darker
It is utter darkness in the heart that bleeds
By this well
Where magic has evaporated but memories linger.
Of damp death
The rotting foliage reeks,
And the branches
Are grotesque talons of hungry vultures,
For she is dead
The one I first loved by this well.

Questions:
(i) Who is the persona in this poem? (2 marks)
(ii) What is the significant of the well to the persona? (4 marks)
(iii) Identify imagery in the poem. (2 marks)
(iv) Explain the meaning of the following lines as used in the poem.
(a) Dreaded haunt of the long haired Musambwa. (2 marks)
(b) I saw her in the cool of a red, red evening. (2 marks)
(c) It is dark by the well that still whispers. (2 marks)
(v) Comment on the change of mood in the last two stanzas. (4 marks)
(vi) What is the attitude of the persona towards death? (2 marks)

Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow. (20 marks)

Old and New

She went up the mountain to pluck wild herbs,
She came down the mountain and met her former husband,
She knelt down and asked her former husband,
“What do you find your new wife like?”
“My new wife, although her talk is clever,
Cannot charm me as my old wife could,
In beauty of face there is not much to choose,
But in usefulness they are not at all alike,
My new wife comes in from the road to meet me,
My old wife always came down from her tower.*
My new wife is clever at embroidering silk;
My old wife was good at plain sewing.
Of silk embroidery one can do an inch a day;
Of plain sewing, more than five feet.
Putting her silks by the side of your sewing,
I see that the new will not compare with the old.”
Anonymous 1 st Century B.C.

Questions

a. What is the poem about? (3 marks)
b. With illustrations identify one similarity and difference in the two wives.
(4 marks)
c. Comment on any two poetic devices used in the poem. (6 marks)
d. Explain the meaning of the following lines.
“My new wife, although her talk is clever, cannot charm me as my old wife”
(3 marks)
e. Identify aspects of social life noticeable in the poem. (3 marks)
f. What is the tone of the poem? (3 marks)

Read the poem given below and answer the questions that follow.

THAT OTHER LIFE (By Everett M Standa)

I have only faint memories
Memories of those days when all our joyful moment
In happiness, sorrow and dreams
Were so synchronized
That we were in spirit and flesh
One soul;
I have only faint memories
When we saw each other’s image everywhere;
The friends, the relatives,
The gift of flowers, clothes and treats,
The evening walks where we praised each other,
Like little children in love;
I remember the dreams about children
The friendly neighbors and relatives
The money, the farms and cows
All were the pleasures ahead in mind
Wishing for the day of final union
When the dreams will come true
On that day final union
We promised each other pleasures and care
And everything good under the sun
As a daily reminder that you and me were one forever.

QUESTIONS
a) What does the day of the final union mean to the persona? (3 marks)
b) What faint memories does the persona have, according to the poem? (3marks)
c) What is the persona’s attitude towards their marriage? (2marks)
d) Explain the following expressions as used in the poem

(i) Happiness, sorrow and dreams were so synchronized………… (2marks)
(ii) ……. praised each other like children in love (2 marks)
(iii) All were pleasures ahead in mind. (2marks)
e) Identify two aspects of style used in this poem and explain their effectiveness. (4 marks)
f) What is the mood of the poem (2 marks)

Read the poem bellow and answer the question that follows

My grandmother by Elizabeth Jennings

She kept an antique shop-or it kept her.
Among Apostle spoons and Bristol glasses,
The faded silks, the heavy furniture,
She watched her own reflection in the brass
Salvers and silver bowls, as if to prove
Polish was all, there was no need for love.
And I remember how I once refused
To go out with her, since I was afraid.
It was perhaps a wish not to be used
Like antique objects .Though she never said
That she was hurt, I still could feel the guilt
Of that refusal, guessing how she felt.
Later, too frail to keep a shop, she put
All her best things in one long, narrow room.
The place smelt old, of things too long kept shut,
The smell of absences where shadows come
That can’t be polished. There was nothing then
To give her own reflection back again.
And when she died I felt no grief at all,
Only the guilt of what I once refused.
I walked into her room among the tall
Sideboards and cupboards-things she never used
But needed: and no finger-marks were there,
Only the new dust falling through the air.

a) Identify the persona in the above poem. (2mks)
b) In note form, summarize what each stanza is talking about (4mks).
c) Identify and briefly explain the use of any two images in the poem (4mks)
d) What does the persona feel towards the subject matter? (2mks)
e) What do the following lines mean in the poem? (2mks)
“too frail to keep a shop”

“Only the new dust falling through the air”
f) Describe the tone the persona uses in the poem above (2mrks)
g) Explain the paradox in the line: (2mks)
-things she never used
But needed:
h) Explain the persona’s sense of guilt? (2mrks)

Read the poem below then answer the questions that follow.

Riding Chinese Machines

There are beasts in this city
they creak and they crank
and groan from first dawn
when their African-tongued masters wake
to guide them lax and human-handed
through the late rush
when they‘re handled down and un-animated
still as we sleep, towering or bowing
always heavy
We pour cement through the cities
towns, through the wild
onwards, outwards
like fingers of eager hands
stretched across the earth
dug in
The lions investigate
and buried marvel rumbles
squeezed for progress
By Liyou Mesfin Libsekal

Questions
(a) Briefly describe what the poem is about. (3mks)
(b) Explain how the poet feels towards the beasts in the city. (2mks)
(c) Identify two poetic devices employed by the poet in the poem. (4mks)
(d) Explain the irony of the type of development described in the poem (3mks)
(e) Explain the meaning of the following lines in the poem. (4mks)
i) When their African-tongued masters wake to guide them.
ii) The lions investigate and buried marvel rumbles squeezed for progress.
(f) Identify and explain one theme tackled in the poem. (2mks)
(g) Explain the significance of the title to the poem. (2mks)

Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.

“Sympathy”

I know what the caged bird feels, alas!
When the sun is bright on the upland slopes;
When the wind stirs soft through the springing grass
And the river flows like a stream of grass;
When the first bird sings and the first bud opes,
And the faint perfume from its petals steals –
I know what the caged bird feels!
I know why the caged bird beats its wing
Till its blood is red on the cruel bars;
For he must fly back to his perch and cling
When he rather would be on the branch a –swing;
And a pain still throbs in the old, old scars
And they pulse again with a keener sting –
I know why he beats his wing!
I know why the caged bird sings, ah me,
When his wing is bruised and his bosom sore,
When he beats his bars and would be free;
It is not a song of joy or glee,
But a prayer that he sends from his heart’s deep core,
But a plea, that upward to heaven he fings –
I know why the caged bird sings!
(Adapted from the poem by Laurence Donbar in ‘American Negro
Poetry’ edited by ArnaBomtemps. New York: Hill and Waug 1974)

Questions
a) Explain briefly what the poem is about. (3 marks)
b) What does the poet focus on in each of the three stanzas? (6 marks)
c) How would you describe the persona’s feelings towards the caged bird? (4 marks)
d) What can we infer about the persona’s own experiences? (3 marks)
e) Identify a simile in the first stanza and explain why it is used. (2 marks)
f) Explain the meaning of the following lines:
(i) And the faint perfume from the petals steals (1 mark)
g) Supply another suitable title for this poem. (1 mark)

Read the oral poem below and then answer the questions that follows;-

“FAMINE”

The owner of yam peels his yam in the house’s:
A neighbour knocks at the door
The owner of yam throws his yam in the bedroom:
The neighbour says, “I just heard
A sound, ‘kerekere’, that is why I came,”
The owner of the yam replies,
“That was nothing, I was sharpening two knives.”
The neighbour says again, “I still heard
Something like ‘bi’ sound behind the door.”
The owner of the yam says,
“I merely tried my door with a mallet.”
The neighbour says again,
“What about his huge fie burning on your hearth?”
The fellow replies,
“I am merely warming water for my bath.”
The neighbour persist,
“Why is your skin all white, when this is not the Harmattan season?’
The fellow is ready with his reply,
I was rolling on the floor when I heard the death of Agadapidi.”
Then the neighbour says, “Peace be with you.”
The owner of the yam start shut,
“There cannot be peace
Unless the owner of food is allowed to eat his own food!”

Questions.
(a) Briefly explain what the poem is about. (2 marks)
(b) What does the neighbor hope to achieve by being so persistent? (3 marks)
(c) Using illustrations, describe any two character traits of the owner of the yam. (4 marks)
(d) Identify the ideophones words in the poem. (2 marks)
(e) How do we know that the neighbour is observant? (3 marks)
(f) Describe the tone of the owner of the yam. (1 mark)
(g) The neighbour says, “peace be with you.” Why is this statement ironic? (3 marks)
(h) What lesson can we learn from this poem? (2 marks)

BUILDING THE NATION

Today I did my share
In building the nation
I drove a permanent Secretary
To an important urgent function
In fact a luncheon at the Vic.
The menu reflected its importance
Cold Bell beer with small talk,
Then friend chicken with niceties

Wine to fill the hollowness of the laughs
Ice-cream to cover the stereotype jokes
Coffee to keep the PS awake on return journey.
I drove the Permanent Sectretary back.
He yawned many times in the back of the car
Did you have any lunch friend?
I replied looking straight ahead
And secretly smiling at his belated concern
That I had not, but was smiling!
Upon which he said with a seriousness
That amused more than annoyed me,
Mwananchi, I too had none!
I attended to matters of state
Highly delicate diplomatic duties you know,
And friend, it goes against my grain,
Causes me stomach ulcers and wind.
Ah, he continued, yawning again,
The pains we suffer in buiding the nation!
So the PS had ulcers too!
My ulcers I think are equally painful
Only they are caused by hunger,
Not sumptuous lunches!
So two nation builders
Arrived home this evening
With terrible stomach pains
The result of building the nation –
– Different ways.
Henry Barlow

1. Identify two voices in the poem (2 mks)
2. Explain what the poem addresses (4 mks)
3. Identify and illustrate the use of any two poetic devices uses in the poem and explain their
effectiveness ( 6 mks)
4. Describe the tone in the poem (2 mks)
5. How would you describe the attitude of the permanent secretary towards the persona?(2 mks)
6. Describe the rhyme scheme in stanza one (2 mks)
7. i) “He yawned many times in the back of the car.” Add a question tag (1 mk)
ii) “ I drove the permanent secretary back.” Write in passive voice

ORAL LITERATURE

Read the oral piece below and answer the questions that follow

Blood iron and trumpets

Blood iron and trumpets
Forward we march
(others fall on the way)
Blood iron and trumpets
We shall hack kill and cure
Blood iron and trumpets
Singers of the datsun blue
Forward we drive breaking the records
Blood iron and trumpets
Let bullets find their targets and the earth be softened
Blood iron and trumpets
Let the dogs of war rejoice
And the carrion birds feed
We are reducing population sexplosion
Blood iron and trumpets
The uniformed machines are around
Put on your helmet iron and rest
Blood iron and trumpets
Only through fire can be baptized to mean business
So once again
Blood iron and trumpets

We shall always march along
Blood iron and trumpets
Blood iron and trumpets
Blood alone

(a) Classify the oral piece above (2 Marks)
(b) What are the functions of the oral piece above? (3 Marks)
(c) Identify two features of oral poetry evident in the oral item. (3 Marks)
(d) What two issues is this oral poem talking about? (4 Marks)
(e) Cite one social and one economic activity of the community from which this oral poem is
taken
(f) Who would be the most suitable audience for the oral poem? Give reasons for your
answer

(2 Marks)

(g) “The uniformed machines are around” Explain the meaning of this statement. (1 Mark)
(h) Describe the mood of the poem. (2 Marks)

Read the following poem and answer the questions that follow

SECOND OLYMPUS

From the rostrum they declaimed
On martyrs and men of high ideals
Whom they sent out
Benevorent despots to an unwilling race

Straining at the yoke
Bull dozers trampling on virgin ground
In blatant violation
They trampled down all that was strange
And filled the void
With half digested alien thoughts
They left a trail of red
Whatever their feet had passed
Oh, they did themselves fine
And struttled about the place
Self proclaimed demi- gods
From a counterfeit Olympus
One day they hurled down thunder bolts
On toiling race of earthworms
They might have rained own pebbles
To pelt the brats to death
But that was beneath them
They kept up the illusion
That they were fighting foes
Killing in the name of high ideals
At the inquest they told the world
The worms were becoming pests
Moreover, they said
They did not like wriggly things
Strange prejudice for gods.

Questions
1) Who is being talked about in this poem? Give evidence. (2 marks)
2) With two evidences, discuss the poet’s general attitude towards the subject of the poem.(3
marks)
3) What do you understand by the following three lines?
“they trample down all that was strange
And filled the void with half digested alien thoughts?”
4) Who are reffered to as “toiling race of earthworms” and why? (3 marks)
5) Discuss two stylistic devices used in the poem. Give their effectiveness
6) Explain the significance of the title. (2 marks)
7) What is the tone of the poem? (1 mark)

Read the poem below and answer the questions below.

Advise to my son

The trick is, to live your days
as if each one may be your last
(for they go fast, and young men lose their lives
in strange and unimaginable ways)

but at the same time, plan long range
(for they go slow : if you survive
the shattered windshield and burning shell
you will arrive
at our approximation here below
or heaven or hell)
To be specific, between the poeny and the rose
plant squash and spinach, turnips and tomatoes;
beauty in nectar
and nectar, in desert saves
but the stomach craves stronger sustenance
than the homed vine.
therefore, marry a pretty girl
after seeing her mother;
speak truth to one man,
work with another;
and always, serve bread with your wine.
But son,
Always serve wine
(Peter Meinke)

a) Who is the speaker in the poem. Illustrate your answer. 2marks
b) In what circumstances do many young people die? Illustrate your answer from the poem.

4marks

c) What do heaven and hell symbolize? 2marks
d) Identify items in the poem that represent life’s necessities on one hand and life’s luxuries
on the other. 2marks
e) Identify and illustrate the use of the paradox in the poem. 3marks
f) What does the persona mean by ‘marry a pretty girl after seeing the mother”?2marks
g) The stomach craves stronger sustenance.(Rewrite using (What”) 1mark
h) Give two meanings of each of the following words. 2marks
-Last
-Fast
i) Give the meaning of the last two lines 2marks

THE BEARD By Priscovia Rwakyaka 

In the pulpit he swayed and turned
Leant forward, backward
To the right; to the left
His solemn voice echoed
Lowly the congregation followed,

“Do you love your neighbor?’
Meekly they bow at his keen eye.
Now examining a grey head
Heaving under her sobs
His heart leapt assured-
“Her sins weigh on her!”
So with her he chats outside;
‘Weep not child you are pardoned.”
“But, sir, your beard conjured up
The spirit of my dear goat!”

Questions
(a) Identify and describe two personas in the poem. Illustrate your answer. (4mks)
(b) Relate the title of the poem to what actually happens in this poem, giving specific
examples. (4mks)
(c) Identify and illustrate any two styles &vident in the poem. (4mks)
(d) The mood of the last four lines of the poem is embarrassing. How true is this? (3mk)
(e) Identify one pair of rhyming words (lmks)
(f) Explain the meaning of the following lines:
i) “His heart leapt assured” (2mks)
ii) “Her sins weigh on he?’ (2mks)

Read the following poem and answer the questions that follow.

Argument with God

My child was struggling for life in hospital.
And I,worried tense and tired.
Sat in silent prayer:
In violent silence,arguing with my God.
God I said,
Why do you allow him to suffer so?
Why him all the time?
Why?
God was silent!
Not a word from him.
Not a word

May be.I thought.
God is angry with me.
I’ll appease my God;
Try and be good at least
Surely God would then respond.
God,I pleaded.
Please God.
To be good is hard.
But I’ll try.
But
My child must live.
Live free from pain:
God
You know how I love him, don’t you?
Don’t you?Don’t you?DON’T YOU?
But
God was dumb:
Like my child.
Then u I said to myself.
God is just.
I’ll appeal for justice.
God,I called.
Though you are silent,
I am sure you hear me.

QUESTIONS
1. Who is the persona in this poem? (2 mks)
2. What is happening in the poem? (2 mks)
3. Why are the words in Line 27 written in capital letters.DONT YOU? (2 mks)
4. What is the mood in the poem? ( 2 mks)
5. Give an instant of irony in the poem. (3 mks)
6. Identify and illustrate other three stylistic devices in the poem. (6 mks)
7. What do the following lines mean. (2 mks)
“Though you are silent, I am sure you hear me”.

ANSWERS TO ALL POEMS

1.Song of Agony

a) The persona is a worker(Give 2)
b) Desperation is the subject matter in this poem. The persona and others are desperate in that
when they go for contract work (in the diaspora) there is no hope of coming back. They
might die never to see their people and property again. This is shown in ‘which of us will
die?’
c)
 Rhetorical questions-‘which of us will come back? ’which of us will die?’
Effect-Help to show the state in which the persona is .He fears of never returning home.
Involve the audience to feel the situation the persona is in.Draws sympathy from the
audience.
 Repetition: ‘which of us’ which of us will come back?
Effect: Emphasizes the subject matter, i e. the desperation and the fear in the persona. Helps
in building the mood. Helps to reflect the attitude of the speaker towards contract work.
 Alliteration:’ Rivers run’
Effect: Helps to show far away and difficult the contract workers used to go and work (4
marks)
d) Show how the persona and the others suffer in the poem. Illustrate your answer.(4 mks)
 Mental suffering-they keep wondering whether they will ever go back home to see their
loved ones and property.
 Fear-go to work but fear they might never return home alive.
 Isolation-they are cut out from their families for prolonged periods.(6 marks)
e) Pessimistic-persona doesn’t see any future in his life if he’s to go for the contract work. He is
not sure of ever coming back.
Nostalgic- there’s the longing to come back after they go for contract work to see his wife
and property.
Sad-the mood is saddening that the workers are likely to die or never come back. Might be
many had died or never came back.
f) Is the title of this poem suitable? Explain(3 mks)
 Yes. It sums up the mental agony that persona is undergoing. They go for the contract work
far away and stay for long or never come back.
g) Identify and explain one economic activity practiced by the persona’s community.(2 mks)
 Cattle keeping or working
Line 7 ‘Not being my ox’ (cattle keeping)
The persona is going to work (working)

2. THE NECKLACE

a) How relevant is the title of the poem above? (2 marks)

The title “Necklace” is relevant because necklace is round and it is normally worn by people
(1 mark).in the poem, the tyre used to burn the victim is round-shaped (1 mark)
b) Describe the character of the executioners in the poem (2 marks)
The executioners are cruel/inhuman/brutal/callous/insensitive (1 mark)
Once they finish the execution, they resume their normal duties as if nothing has
happened/they brutally murder the victim
NB: Award 0 marks for identification without illustration
c) What was needed to carry out the execution? (3 marks)
– The firestone tyre (1 mark), petrol in blackened tin (1 mark) and ignites in numerous hands
(1 mark)
d) Explain the difference in the use of the word “form” in stanza one and stanza three (2
marks)
The word “form” in stanza one refers to the victim before he was burned (1 mark) while in
stanza three it refers to the carcass/corpse of the victim (1 mark)
e) (i) Who is the persona ? (1 mark)
– The persona is an observer or a citizen at a market place (1 mark)
NB:Do not accept the use of “I” as the persona without adequate qualifier justifying the
personality of the “I”
(ii)What deters the persona from getting closer to the scene of action? (1 mark)
– The persona is deterred by fear / frightened to get closer to the scene of the brutality (1mark)
f) Explain the meaning of the following phrases as used in the poem (3 marks)
i) Smell of sizzling flesh – The burning of the human body
ii) Each participant ready and anxious –willing not forced to execute
iii) Witnessed to an unwritten law – saw the people carry out mob justice which is illegal
g) What mood is portrayed in the poem? (2 marks)
The mood is tense (1 mark)
– Fearful of inching any further/cold shocks transmitted down (1 mark)
NB: Accept a related qualifier for mood and any appropriate illustration if not provided
herein
Do not award marks for identification without illustration
h) Paraphrase the last stanza (4 marks)
The people who had set the man ablaze leave (1 mark) as normal business of selling, buying
and cheating resumes (1 mark).The policemen arrive (1 mark) and ferry away the remains
of the victim(1 mark)

3. POETRY (20 MARKS)
WEDDING EVE

1. The wedding eve is supposed to be a time of joy happiness and anticipation. The persona
however, is riddled with doubts and apprehension(1 mk)
2. the speaker has organized the wedding but he is not sure whether or not to take the oath to
love forever. He is doubtful whether the relationship will last
3. the speaker’s attitude towards the relationship is one of doubt and apprehension(1mk)
4. -doubtful should I or should I not/will she continue to love me.
– fearful apprehensive fears to take the marriage vows.
– suspicious – the speaker is not sure of the lovers commitment.

– The rhetorical question in the poem helps to bring out the speaker’s doubts about the
relationship and about the commitment of his would – be wife
5. the imagery of the plane is quite appropriate .Being in a plane might be fun but it is also very
risky; you could easily lose your life if the place crashes. Being in a doubtful relationship is
like being in faulty plane
6. -The relationship is compared to a game of chess in that the two will try to out-do (1mk)
each other. The relationship is seen to be like a competition (1mk)
“leaving the naked me “is an expression of desolation and hopelessness. If he were to be left he
would feel naked and useless

4. Inmates

a) The speaker is an observer who explores through the life of prisoners/inmates1 1 x 1 mk
b) The poem is talking about the life1 in prison which is oppressive1 1 x 2 mks
c) -Irony1 – nice fragrance of ammonia
– Rhyme1 – consignment oppressive
– confinement offensive
– refinement
– Personification1 – torturous bulb stare vacantly at him1
– Alliteration1 – torching, torturous
d) -The cold bites their bones and they chatter their teeth from the chill.1
-The smell is offensive with fresh human dung. 1
– Vermins bite the inmates unsparingly1 1 x 3mks
e) The inmate is in prison because of a certain consignment 1 that he either stole or got lost
under his care.

f) Regretful1 – he reflects about the consignment that landed him in the cells1
Thoughtful – he (the fresh inmate) sits thoughtfully.
Agonizing – he agonises at the long time 1 that he will be in prison. The clock ticks too
slowly.
g) i) That resulted/led to his confinement1
ii) The inmates do everything including long calls in the cell. “The gent invites”.
2x 1 = 2mks
h) The steel door suggests that the security was tight1 and the inmates could not escape1 2
x 1 = 2mks

5. The Courage That My Mother Had

a) The poem is about someone whose mother has died 1 The mother left a golden brooch
as gift upon her death 1 she really wishes the mother could have left behind her courage 1
She believes the mother does not need courage in death but she badly needs. She however
treasure the golden brooch 1 1 x any four points = 4mks
b) Female 1 the mother left her a golden brooch that she wears 1 2mks
c) The speaker wishes the mother had left behind her courage 1. However, it cannot be
fulfilled because the mother is dead 1 3mks
d) Courageous 1 – the courage that my mother had / the speaker wishes that the mother
would have left behind her courage instead of taking with her to the grave 1 Id =

1, illust = 1
e) Metaphor 1 – mother is compared to a rock and granite 1
Simile 1 …… the courage like a rock 1
Id = 1 x 2, illust = 1 x 2 4mks
f) Admiration / love / respect 2 – the speaker admires her mother for her courage / her
love and respect for her mother are shown in the way she values the brooch and the way
she thinks of her mother as a rock and a granite
Identification of attitude = 2mks,
illust. = 1mk

6.THE PAUPER

i. The persona is an observer/bystanderü1 etc who is able to see the peoples suffering and
how different members of the society react to him
ii. – Infested with jiggers-nursing the jiggers that shrivel your bottomü
– Caked feet – and when you trudge on the lorny pads
– Shining ribs – your ribs and bones reflecting the light
– Infested with Gee- squashing lice between your nails
– Cleans nails with dry saliva
– Emaciated and caking skinü
– Crouches in beautiful verandaü (4 x 1)
iii. Use of simileü1 like a baby newly born to an old womanü1 to bring out the special
relationship between the pauper and the jiggers
iv. Repetition – pauper, pauperü
Rhetorical questions- dared to forget your piteous fate
Hyperbole- your ribs and bones reflecting light
Irony- pauper crouching in beautiful verandas of beautiful cities and beautiful people
Sarcasm – and your MP with a shining head and a triple chin will mourn your fate in a
supplementary question at question time
v. Critical/sarcastic and your mp with a shining head and a triple chin will mourn your fate in a
supplementary question at question time (2 mks)
vi. Themes
– Poverty – the paupes cleaning his nails with dry saliva, infested with suffering lice and jiggers
and crouches in beautiful verandas
– Poor Leadershipü1- the MP gives lip service to the plight of the pauper by mourning his fate
in a supplementary question at question time
vii. Emaciated – thin/weak
Crouching-squatting
Gullied like the soles of modern shoes – with big crack

7. outcast

a) (N.B.: This may take two approaches: The plot approach and the thematic approach)
The Plot Approach
i) They meet and marry

ii) A pale child is born
iii) The man denies responsibility
iv) They separate/divorce
v) They both die
vi) The child is left with no inheritance/there is no next-of-kin/the boy roams the streets
(Any 4 points each 1mk = 4mks)
The Thematic Approach
i) Immorality
ii) Deception
iii) Irresponsibility
iv) Promiscuity
v) The plight of street children
(Identification of theme = 2mks, Illustration = 2mks, two illustrations per theme each 1mk
=2mks or 1 illustration and 1 explanation = 2mks)
b) The mother is
unreliable/unreliable/untrustworthy/immoral/unfaithful/deceitful/dishonest/promiscuous/treacher
ous/traitorous
She wants the man to accept responsibility for a child that he obviously has not fathered. The
man is black while the child is white.
– She is secretive
– She is irresponsible/uncaring/unconcerned – \she leaves no inheritance for the child. She has
not introduced the child to any of his kin.
– Calculating/cunning/scheming – makes the man think he is the father until the child is born
(1mk for identification, 1mk for illustration. Any two traits =4mks)
c) i. disclaimed – denied/refused/disagreed/did not agree/disowned (1mk)
ii. The mother’s husband is not the biological father of the child. This infuriated him for
being cheated. (1mk)
d) i. We have a pale child from a black father (3mks)
ii. An illegitimate child from a legitimate marriage
iii. The birth of a child should consolidate a marriage but this one leads to a break up.
iv. The child who has done no wrong is declared an out-cast (Any 1 point each 3mks
= 3mks.)
e) Attitude – Pities/pitying/sympathetic/piteous/compassionate.
The persona recognizes that the poor boy suffers because of other people’s mistakes. He
refers to the boy as a ‘’poor child’’, ‘’casualty’’ and says he is ‘’hardly ten’’.
(Any 1 point each 3mks = 3mks.)
f) – All that glitters is not gold (2mks)
– hurry hurry has no blessing(s) (2mks)
– Look before you leap (2mks)
– Marry in haste, repent at leisure (2mks)
– when two bulls fight, it is the grass that suffers (2mks)
– As you make your bed, so must you lie on it. (2mks)

8. Oral poetry

(a) Love song (1 Mk) – The persona explains his experience.
With his love a companionship that has gone sour.
(b) Warning/cautioning those intending to get married against infidelity or unfaithfulness.
Encourages young people to be patient in their struggle to secure a job.
(4 Mks)
(c) Repetition – “I was”
Personification – My heart was telling me.
Direct translation – “I bought myself a beautiful girl”
Direct address – “ so heart you were deceiving me”
Moral lesson – “people are untrustworthy”
Do not over trust a friend
(d) It is about a man who married her beloved. (bought a beautiful girl”)
The marriage doesn’t last as the bride engages in extra-marital affairs.
(2 Mks)
(e) Contemptuous/hating – The singer doesn’t like people who are untrustworthy.
Patient – After a brief struggle I got my job.
Pessimistic – There was no look in this word.
(Any other relevant (1 Mk). – Identification (1 Mk) – Illustration.
(2 x 2 = 4 Mks)
(f) Trading to get money.
Farming – meat/Banana. (2 x 2 = 4 Mks)

9.
The earth does not get fat. It makes an end-
Of those who wear the head plumes
We shall die on the earth. The earth
does not get fat. It makes an end of those who act swiftly as heroes.
Shall we die on the earth?
Listen O earth. We shall mourn because of you.
Listen O earth. Shall we all die on the earth?
The earth does not get fat. It makes an end of
The chiefs. Shall we die on earth? The
earth does not get fat. It makes an end
Of the women chiefs. Shall we die on earth?

Listen o earth. We shall mourn because of you.
Listen O earth. Shall we all die on earth?
The earth does not get fat. It makes an end
Of the nobles. The earth does not get fat
It makes an end of the royal women.

Shall we die on earth?
The earth does not get fat. It makes an end
of the common people. Shall we die on the earth?
The earth does not get fat. It makes an end of all the beasts
Shall we die on the earth?
Listen you who are asleep, who are left
tightly closed in the land. Shall we all sink
Into the earth? Listen O
Earth the sun is setting tightly. We shall enter into the earth.
We shall not enter into the earth.

(From: 'The Heritage Of African Poetry')

a) What is the poem about?

(3 mks)

b) Who is the persona in the poem?
(2mks)
c) Identify and illustrate any two features of style used in the poem?
(4mks)
d) What is the tone of the persona in the poem?
(2mks)
e) What in the poem shows that death is indiscriminate in its manifestations?
(2mks)
f) Describe the political setting of the community from which the poem originates.
(2mks)
g) What is the mood of the poem?
(2mks)
h) Explain what the expressions below mean :
(3mks)
i) The earth does not get fat .
ii) Those who wear the head plumes
iii) Earth the sun is setting tightly
answers

a) The poem is about the rampages of death (1mk) it is cruel (1mk) and indiscriminate (1mk) /
It’s about how the earth does not get fat after swallowing chiefs, nobles, beasts and common
people
b) the persona is an observer
a potential victim of death
c) -Repetition e.g “Listen O earth…”
the earth does not get fat
– Personification – “the earth does not get fat”
– Direct address – “listen O earth
– Rhetorical questions – shall we all die on earth?
d) Desperation – “shall we all sink”
e) All die: nobles, beasts, chiefs, common people
f) Chieftaincy – they were led by a chief
g) Sombre /sad “we shall mourn because of you?”

i) People continue to die (be buried)
ii) Leaders /rulers
iii) Eminent death/nearing end of life/apparent death

9. Africa

1. He/she is an African who has never been to Africa, but knows quite a lot about it
Eg …….. I have never seen you
NB: 1mk identification
1mk for illustration
2. It is about slavery /of the Africans in their own land where they toil. Sweat in slavery and
they do not resist but one seen to be lying down in the weight of humbleness
3. 1. i) Personification e.g. i) Africa is seen as the back that bends, lies down under the
weight of humbleness
ii) ……………… the blood of your sweat
…………………toil
…………slavery
iii) Patience with stubbornness.
2. Symbolism
The trembling back stripped red symbolizes torture.
3. Repetition
Africa my Africa
Africa …………Africa
Is African ……….your Africa
iv) Alliteration eg
your black blood spilt over the fields
No marks for illustrations without identification
1mk for identification, 1mk for illustration
Alliterated sound must be underlined
4. Angry /accusatory
Angry: he is angry because Africans blood and the sweat of the Africans irrigates the
fields without any benefits to them (Africans)
Accusatory: he accuses the Africans for not doing anything about their plight eg are
you the back…..
On the roads of noon?
1mk for identification
1mk for illustration
NB: no mark for illustration without identification
5. a) It implies that many Africans lives have been lost through ruthless killings by the
whites.
b) It shows the attachment and the pride that the persona feels about Africa /he has a
strong sense of attachment to
Africa.
6. isn’t it?

NB:
i) Comma after the statement must be fixed. if not, no mark
ii) Question mark is mandatory, if missing no mark.
7. i) Seriously – should be an adverb
ii) Strong, not easily hurt
iv) To work very hard /doing something difficult

10.THE SMILING ORPHAN

a) The persona is an observer who tells the story of the deceased and the smiling orphan and the
mourners. He/she uses the third person “She sat have ….. they said. …. When she died…..
they came.”
Identification – 1 mark
Illustration – 1 mark
Total marks = 2 marks
b) The poem is about a woman who was sick and hospitalized for five months.
– And was never visited by relatives who claimed they were busy.
– Later, the woman dies and ironically, the relatives come to her funeral in large numbers
vowing that they cannot miss the burial.
– During the funeral, her only daughter (who had stayed) with her in hospital) seems unmoved
and the relatives start backbiting her saying she is hardhearted. Total marks 4
c) The title ‘The smiling orphan’ is very effective in relation to what has been described in the
poem.
It has been used in reference to the illiterate daughter who had stayed in hospital with the
mother for five months but now is perceived as not being in mourning by the other mourners.
This makes her smile at their hypocrisy. She is an orphan now that her mother is dead.
Any two points = 2 marks
d) Loving/caring– She sat by her mother’s side throughout the five months the mother was
hospitalized.
Responsible– She takes care of her sick mother when other people/relatives and even her
brother gave excuses of unavailability.
Identification – 1 mark
Illustration – 1 mark
No mark for illustration without identification and Vice versa.
e) Repetition– They came — To illustrate the fact that the mourners arrived for the funeral in
large numbers.
Rhetoric questions– Who would look after their homes? Was it crucial their presence?
Reveals the attitude of the mourners at the beginning, that they were indifferent/not bothered.
Hyperbole stanza (8) …. Their tears sock their garments. Enhances the satire …..
That the mourners cry much and we know that their grief is not genuine. They are
hypocritical.
Ellipsis 2 nd last stanza. Enhances suspense, allows imagination, and reveals the feelings of
the orphan/the strain she’s been under etc.
1 mark for identification
1 mark for illustration

1 mark for illustration on the effective of the aspect of style so identified.
Any other plausible style with illustrations and effectiveness.
No mark for identification.
Without illustrations.
f) Sad/melancholic/somber/sorrowful.
The poem captures the loss of a loved one.
1. The orphan is mourning her mother/She sat by her mother/she sat by her mother crying and
praying to God perhaps to save her mother dies.
Identification – 1 mark
Illustration – 1 mark
Total marks = 2 marks
g) i) Their tears were not genuine/they were hypocritical.
ii) She felt relieved – she had unburdened her grief (with her lever there’s no condemnation)

11.‘STILL I RISE’

1. ‘Still I rise’ is a poem about the history of the African – American people’s defiance1
towards the oppression meted to them as slaves and blacks1. The subject matter can also be
universal notion of triumph/defiance of downtrodden in oppressive regimes. Then persona
talks of I’m Black Ocean, leaping and wide. Also talks of him/her being the dream and the
hope of the slave.
2. The speaker is hated passionately; you may kill me with your hatefulness.
The speaker and his/her likes the segregated financially (resource wise) the speaker writes of
”I walk like I’ve got oil wells” pumping in my living room.
(life)
The speakers in the whereabouts (life) are misrepresented twisted and even falsified to negate
his/her existence/status.
3. Attitude of triumph/optimism/hope. Optimistic attitude/hopeful attitude. The persona talks of
‘rising’ I’ll rise amidst all these setbacks.
She describes herself as the black ocean, leaping and wide…… meaning that she sees herself
mighty and strong like an ocean.
4. Imagery
1. Similes: but still, like dust, I’ll rise-shows how easily she will rise; cause I laugh like I’ve
got gold mines, digging in my
own
backyard shows that through her oppressors might think they have ended her by
subjecting her to poverty, still she walks like she has all the wealth in the world!
2. Metaphors; I’m a black ocean, leaping and wide, welling and swelling I bear. This
powerful metaphor reveals the overcoming oppression/the strength of the speaker
as a black person/the positivity.
5. i) Rhetorical questions.
Does my sassiness upset you?

Why are you beset with gloom?
These and other questions prod the readers to deeply consider the strength/positive
energy/hope that the speaker
possesses.
ii) Repetition
I’ll rise
Still I’ll rise
The above phrases have been repeated severally to highlight the speaker’s optimism
6. a) ‘Cause I laugh like I’ve got gold mines’ this shows her happiness that is expected to be
possessed by extremely wealthy.
Though she has been.
b) ‘But still, like dust, I’ll rise’ describes the ease at which she will rise. Almost effortlessly!
c) I am a black ocean, leaping and wide. Describes the strength/the night that she possesses as a black woman.

12.I WENT TO CHURCH.

a) The poem is about a person who has gone to church to pray.
He prays for friends and foes to living and the dead.
He had committed adultery with the soldier’s wife.
He is remorseful or apologetic and asks for forgiveness.
b) He is religious/pious – goes to church to pray – “To go and pray again”
He is immoral/promiscuous – commits adultery with the soldier wife “While I shot hot life
into his wife”
c) i) Repetition – “I went and prayed”
ii) Alliteration – friends and foes live long
Fighting for
iii) Imagery (metaphor) – “I shot hot life into her wife”
d) i) The speaker engages in sexual affairs and impregnates the soldier wife.
ii) He asks God to preserve his life so that he can go often to pray in in church.
e) i) Apologetic/remorseful/reconciliatory. Asks God for forgiveness.
ii) Prayerful – “That I live long to go and pray again”

13.THE PRESS

a)
– Discrimination.
The ministers son is accorded medical attention while the less fortune are neglected e.g. Tina
and Kasajja’s only child.
– Callousness / insensitivity
The medical stuff lacks concern for the patient to get up or leave the line.
– Negligence
Tina’s bed is infested with maggots and her eyes are oozing blood. Kisajja’s only child died
due to the negligence, in both cases, medical stuff gives very flimsy reasons for not attending
to the patients.
– Injustice / misuse of power.

The judge dismisses a rape case because seven years old victim failed to testify.
Any 3 (1 mk identification, 1mk illustration) 2×3=6mks
b) i) Use of rhetorical questions.
– How come it was not whispered?
– So was is the mountain deal?
ii) Use of hyperbolic questions.
– Mountain deal – making a big of an ordinary situation.
– Boiling news – Hot news or breaking news.
In both cases the persona is criticizing the media. It gives exaggerated attention to the
minister’s son’s minor illness at the expense of the deserving cases.
iii) Metaphor
– Lioness of a nurse
iv) Satire
The last stanza underscores the persona treats it as a tipsy talk of a drunk yet poet is
ridiculing the injustice meted out to the less fortuned.

1mk identification, 1mk illustration = 2 mks
2×3=6mks
c) Bitter / angry / sarcastic or satirical
The persona is disheartened by the hypocrisy of the press. It lacks neutrality and focuses on
the bog people only.
1 mk identification , 1 mk explanation

1×2=2mks

d) The title is relevant:
The poet is castigating the press for its partiality and lack of commitment to expose social
injustice; practiced in the society yet the press is duty bound to produce and release free and
fair news. (2 mks)
e) The press is supposed to equally cover all the citizens and not to be biased. Here the press
gkives news yet the news are biased against people.
(2 mks)
f) Crawled – infested
Ushered – dismissed / cancelled

14.Their City

a) – dissatisfied city resident.

Illustration – ‘City in the sun without any warmth.
– an ordinary city resident’
“We have stolled through the desert streets” (any 1 x 2 = 2 mks)
b) – a city resident Pwho sees the rich enjoying their lifeP and the poor struggling to
survive. (3 mks)
c) It emphasisesP on the exclusion of ordinary residents of the city from the prestigious life
of the rich and the fact that the
ordinary residents are aware of this. (2 mks)
d) – Inequality – the rich are living a high class life, (heavy lunch, car etc) while the poor
are struggling (snoring in the cold wind)

– Poverty – The poor do not have shelters, they sleep in cold winds of the night. (2 x 2
= 2 mks)
e) – They are anxious because they are living a fake life e.g driving hire purchase cars.(2
mks)
f) – People who are so poor they don’t even look like human beings. They are
struggling to survive. (2 mks)
g) – Pretentious – looking important
– hire purchase car.
– Uncaring – don’t care about the poor
– just think of themselves. They live lavishly while some people have

nowhere to sleep.
– Conceited / proud / vain – looking over gold rimmed glasses.
– looking important. (Any 1 illustrated – 2 mks)

h) Satirical
sarcastic
2 mks identification
1 mk for illustration
Illustration.
– City in the sun
– Looking important
– Thickset direction
– Reading a speech

15. Western civilization

a) The persona describes the house in which a worker lives. The nuclei is a shanty, which
have cracks. The worker does a
monotonous job of breaking rock the whole day.
b) i) Irony: – Western civilization is ironical since the lining conditions of the “he” in the
poem do not suggest civilization
but misery and suffering.

– The “he” in the poem is grateful to die
though normally death is feared / no onelikes dying.
ii) Repetition: “breaking rock” // shifting rock
(accept any other that or appropriate. I mk for
identification, 1 mk for illustration. No mark for
identification without illustration)
c) The repetition P 1 used in the stanza suggests that the work is monotonous / boring /
uninteresting
d) Food : “he” dies of hunger.
Clothes: “a mat … is enough …” suggests that he lacks clothes / bedding to keep himself
warm.
Shelter” “he” lives in a shanty – “sheets of tin … rags complete … landscape.”
e) The “he” is happy to die for death brings to an end all his problems.
f) Poverty the “he” sleeps in a shanty, sleeps on a mat and dies of hunger.

Exploitation: The “he” engages in hard labour throughout the day but the fact that he
lacks basic requirements suggests that
he is underpaid.
g) The “he” in the poem looks older than he really is because of the strenuous and miserable
life that he leads.
h) Starvation.

16. Beggar in a three piece

(a) A delegate from a third world countryP who has gone to seek for funds / aid from the I.M.F,
World Bank or a developed country to alleviate famineP in his or her country.
“My rusty inter – Nation Begging bowl ..”P
“The death of food … rendered my people thin.” (3 mks)
(b) The poem talks about misplaced priorities usuallyexhibited by the leadership in the under
developed countries.P The leadership concentrates on how they can waste funds on
expensive clothing and luxurious flightsP when in actual sense the citizens are
dying of hunger.P The donors decline to assist because of misplaced priorities.P (4
mks)
(c) The leadership of under developed countries insensitivity to people’s pressing needs is
satinzed. P The leaders concentrate on being on expensive flights and dressing in imported
garments while the people are hungry.P
“But sir, … ./ But your suit is beautiful / honestly.”P
The leaders only concentrate on what benefits them at the expense of the country men; they
risk death because of extravagant leaders.P (4 mks)
(d) Sarcastic / Satirical / Bitter.P
The tune is used to bring out satire on the leaders / irony of the leader’s lifes as opposed to
their subjects.P
Bitterness brings out the insensitivity of the leaders to the plights / problems of the common
people.P (3 mks)
(e) – The aid he / she is supposed to get would hav been misused or embezzled by leaders.P
“Has denied me a fortune”
– The countrymen are likely to die of starvation.P
“And my countrymen, life.”
– Donors fell that the borrower is extravagant.P
“In a Parisian Textile.” (3 mks)
(f) i) He boarded a big plane that cruised at top speed.P
ii) Though expensively dressed, he/she feels uncomfortable about being extravagant while
the countrymen suffer.P
iii) They entirely depend on nature for their existence.

17. White child meets black man

(a) A meeting between a black man and a young white girl. √1mk

The young girl has probably not seen a black man before√1mk and she is amazed. √1mk
It exposes the ignorance that exists between races. √1mk
The man allows the child to examine him / the mother drags the girl away before she fully
satisfies her curiosity. √1mk (any
3×1 = 3mks)
(b) Her reaction makes him feel as if she did not consider him a human being. √1mk
Illustration:
“No fur no scales no feathers” √1mk
He is friendly / understanding. √1mk
Illustration:
“I turned with hello” √1mk
“Hello I smiled again and watched” √1mk
He does not condemn her√1mk / He accepts girl’s reaction as innocent curiosity.
Illustration
“Just a life silhouette” / “As I watched them birds were singing” √1mk
(Award 2 marks for the reaction of the white and 2 marks for how the persona felt) (4mks)
(c) Both are:
Shocked – The mother is horrified but the girl’s eyes get wider but not her lips.
The girl is genuine / sincere / innocent while the mother is prejudiced / discriminative /
contemptuous / hostile.
Illustration:
The girl, “is his tummy black?”
The mother is horrified “grasped her hand and swung towards the crowd.”
(3 marks comparison and 3 marks contrast)
(d) Similes√1mk – “I like a giraffe and she a mouse.”
Shows enormous contrast in size between the persona and the girl.
“She stood as lovely as light.”
Shows how much the persona was impressed by her sincere innocent curiosity.
Metaphor√1mk – Just as a silhouette, wild and strange and compulsive.
To the persona, the child was completely incapable of becoming reconciled to the fact that
this was a human being. Metaphor portrays mental conflict. √1mk
Hyperbole√1mk – “No fur, no scales no feathers ..”
Deliberate exaggeration to show the immensity of the child’s dilemma, she’s never seen such
an animal or a bird. √1mk (Any 1 identified trait and illustration = 2 x 2 = 4mks)
(e) That:
Life must go on despite the racial differences / racial prejudices. √1mk
Nature is not a man. √1mk
Nature stays in harmony while man, with ability to reason, behaves senselessly. √1mk

18.The Twist

a) A young man goes out for a dance in a town at night√1. He meets many girls of different
types and wins one for the twist dance√1. He admires the girl’s dance moves and desires
her√1.
b) i) Sense of sight- “like this” – seen sitting down. (1 mark)
ii) Sense of feeling – “feel your belly twist”
iii) Sense of hearing- “jukebox hiss”
iv) Sense of touch- “try to hold her” Any 3 x 1 = 3 marks(id ½
illustration ½ )
c) Themes.
– social interaction- persona meets a girl and befriends her.
– people interacting in the twist dance.
– Twist dance/ dance – there is a twist dance on in the shanty town. (Any 1 theme- id 1mk,
illustration 1 mk)
d) Attitude – admiration/adoration- “really did the twist” see the belly twist
– the persona is attracted by the appearance and dancing prowess of the girls.

(Any 1, id 1mk, illustration 1mk)

e) Rhyme- down under miss twist
Town thunder hiss wrist
Repetition- …like this, twist
Onomatopoeia – hiss, thunder.
Alliteration – black…brown
Assonance- hunger…thunder
(Any three, id 1 mk, illustration 1 mk)
f) – He found a girl √1
– Managed to dance with her √1
g) i) A girl who was neither brown nor black (1 mark)
ii) Listen to the last strains of the music and still crave for more (1 mark) (Total 2
marks)

19.DEATH OF MY FATHER

a) The persona is a child (1mk). ‘My father’s dead life still lives me.’
(1mk)
b) The poem talks about the abject poverty in which the persona’s family lives under (1mk). /
The struggle for survival by the parents which is hereditary (1mk). ‘I am my father, my son’.
However, the persona is optimistic that through him, his father’s dreams and aspirations will
be fulfilled (1mk). ‘I will awaken his sleepy hopes and yearnings’. (1mk)
(2mks for the explanation and 1mk for the illustration)
(3 marks).
c) Sarcastic, scornful, smile (1mk) – it brings out his father’s suffering. /shows the persona’s
sarcasm on his father’s state (1mk).

Squatted in a sickly mud house (1mk)- it emphasizes the abject poverty in which the
persona’s family lived under(1mk). The student must identify the alliteration to score

(2marks)

d) Irony. ‘He built colonial mansions but squatted in a sickly mud house.’ It shows the poverty
in which the persona’s father lived.
Metaphor. ‘Sand-paper hands.’ It is a sign of the tough life the persona’s father has gone
through. /The struggles he has gone through.
Repetition. ‘I did not mourn for him.’ It emphasizes the persona’s optimism.
Sarcasm. ‘His sweat was his ointment and perfume.’ Shows the hard manual work the late
father did.
Contrast. ‘He built colonial mansions but squatted in a sickly mud house.’ ’ It shows the
poverty in which the persona’s father lived.
(Accept any other relevant style; Identification+ illustration 1mk, comment 1mk)
(4marks)
e) He wants to fulfill his father’s dreams of freedom and happiness (2mks). ‘His dreams of
freedom and happiness had become my song (1mk).’/ He is hopeful or optimistic that he will
awaken his father’s hopes and dreams (2mks). ‘I will awaken his sleepy hopes and
yearnings’(1mk) (3marks)
f) A carpenter. ‘He fashioned dining tables, chairs, wardrobes’/ ‘The hammer, the saw and the
plane were his tools’(1mark)
g) i) The rough hands were a sign /testimony of the tough life/suffering the persona’s father
had gone through due to poverty.
ii) He looks older than he actually was.
iii) He will fulfill his father’s plans or wishes or ambitions.
h) Sarcastic. ‘He built colonial mansions but squatted in a sickly mud house.’
(2mks)
Disdainful, the persona is extremely contemptuous of the kind of life the father lived. ‘with
his children huddled….

20. The Gourd of Friendship.

a) The poem is about how human beings √1 have made many discoveries √1 yet they have not
discovered a way to make friendship with their friends work √1 by finding out what they like
√ 1 3mks
b) They help us see how we have lost curiosity as a result of discoveries (line 1) They also help
us see how mass media and communication have made us lose communication and
knowledge (line 3-4) The other one challenges us to know how we can get the way to the
hearts of our brothers to know what they like and thus continue in friendship (line 11)
(identification effect √ ½ √ ½) 3mks

c) The tone of the poem is a concerned tone, a satirical one / critical tone in that we have lost
communication in mass media and lost curiosity in discovery (identification
2mks, Illustration 1 mk) 3mks

d) i) Satire √1 – we are mocked for losing curiosity in our neighbours and brothers though we
are making discoveries in other areas √
ii) Paradox √ – you never know your aspiration until you have seen others disillusionment √1
4mks
e) i) The persona is worried about failure to have urge to invent what pleases our brothers and
neighbours √2 2mks
ii) No effort has been made to find a way to the brother’s or neighbour’s heart
2mks
f) The persona thinks relationships have suffered since people are not willing to discover what
pleases their brothers or friends √1 2mks
The title is appropriate since the persona tries to wonder in the poem what has affected
friendships and how they can be contained as content is contained in a gourd √1

21.Theme for English B

(a) black man in America / African-American student- “I am the only coloured student in (no
mark without illustration)
(b) racism- he is discriminated based on skin colour education- African-Americans acquire
education but in an indiscriminately manner
(c) somber, solemn, serious- the black student is in a class dominated by white students
‘'sometimes perhaps you don’t want to be part of me.”
(d) wants to prove that he is just like others, his colour notwithstanding.
(e) Contemplative/introspective- the persona is examining the difficult issues he is undergoing.
(f) “Harlem, I hear you.”
(g) Similarities- both are human and have same needs.
Differences- they are from different races (black and white)
Note: there should be clear indication of similarities and differences
(h) an uneasy one/not close to one another.
There is mutual respect / tolerance because they are really part of each other.
(i) is it really that simple?
(no mark if question mark is missing)
Neither you nor 1 want to be part of each other.
(no mark if the two pronouns i.e. you and I are interchanged)

22.THE WAR LORD

(a) The poem talks about an army that is approaching a village and the things that are done by
the army – cutting, thrushing, slashing etc. The reaction of the people is that of subservience,
for they are barren, bleak, blackened, shattered, sterile, and stricken.

(b) The poet is contemptuous towards the warlord. The warlord’s actions are condescending and
the poet doesn’t admire what they do.
(c) The separated words reveal the kneejerk decisions made that aim at destruction e.g. cut,
thrust, plunge etc. they mimick the destruction meted on the people by the members of the
warlord’s army.
(d) As the warlord strives to concur, he destroys what he/she desires to concur. The praises he
gets are as a result of coercion that is why it is ‘shrill.’
(e) (i) Glory awaits the warlord – with regal glory and glistering epaulettes.
(ii) Through the warlord is overjoyed by all the “success” the people concurred are unhappy
their voices are sharper and sharper.
Metaphor – ‘A maggot riddled remnant of a once serene world.’
Effects of war
The citizens groan under the atrocities committed by the warlord and his/her army – The
plunder, rape, castration, torture, killing etc have devastating effects on the citizens.

23.A TAX DRIVER ON DEATH BED. (By Timothy Wangusa)

a) It is about a taxi driver who predicts his death due to careless driving. (3 mks)
b) A resigned / pessimistic attitude – The taxi drive predicts that his death will be caused by an
accident
and he accepts it. (2 mks)
c) The persona is a taxi driver. The title (2 mks)
d) The tax driver predicts that his death will result from a road accident yet he is still doing the
job.
(irony must be brought out clearly)
e) Alliteration. – ‘That in silence seems to simmer and strain. (1 mk)
It enhance rhythm / musically making the poem memorable and interesting. (1 mk)
Metaphor – Metallic monster – to refer to the taxi as a monster to show that the taxi will lead
to his death just as a monster eats its prey.
f) To mean that the will be part of the statistics of those who have perished through road
accident. (2 mks)
g) A road accident through overspeeding. (1 mk)
Attempt the forbidden limits. (1 mk)
h) Any relevant / appropriate title. (1 mk)

24.Your Cigarette Burnt the Savannah Grass.

(i) The persona appeals for three things.
Sight – “colour melts at your stare”
Touch – touch in heart
Hearing – “listen to the boiling pot” (3 mks)
(ii) The subject matter of the poem.

– The persona making an invitation to his foe / adversary.
– Accuses him for being the cause of discomfort he’s experiencing.
– Persona is offended by the adversary and suffering – in pain. (e.g colour melts your
taste) (3 mks)
(iii) Aspects of style.

(a) Rhetorical question – “What do you hear”?

– Provocable to readers’ / audience feeling.

(b) Personification – ‘touch its heart’ – the boiling pot is personified to have a heart.
(c) Imagery – metaphor ‘boiling pot’ (6 mks)
(iv) (a) The persona calls / invites his adversary to come and experience the trouble /
discomfort that he has caused.
(b) It implies an incitement that has resulted to betrayal of his disappearing
conscience. (4 mks)
(v) Desperate/ hopelessness / disillusion (mood) – “The earth at the touch of your fingers
cracked”

the scorpion bit me and I cried.” (2 mks)

(vi) Attitude
– Dislike / disdainful / unforgiving.
– The persona feels betrayed his adversary.

25.THE VILLAGE WELL

(i) The persona is a male lover – he says, ‘By this well —- I first noticed her’
(ii) The significant of the well to the persona.
– Obtained fresh water from it when he was young.
– He met his beloved by the well.
– He has fond memories for it “—– memories linger”
– He used the water to clean himself – where many an evening its clean water cleaned me.
(iii) Imagery – Personification
 The silent moon witnessed
 Still waters still quietly whispers
(iv) (a) Dreaded haunt of the long haired Musambwa – means the persona is being haunted by
the fond memories of his lover (Musambwa) who is now dead.
(b) I saw her in the cool of a red, red evening – means he saw her in the evening when the sun
was setting.

(c) It is dark by the well that still whispers – means that there is no hope and that nothing is
interesting by the well now that she is no longer there.
(v) The mood in the first six stanzas is nostalgic because of the fond memories of the good times
he had with his loved one. However, in the last two stanzas, the mood is sad because his
beloved is dead and what remains are sad memories.
(vi) The persona’s attitude towards death is disgusting – of damp death, the rotting foliage reeks.

26. Old and New

(a) The poem is about a woman that had been married but now divorced 1
She meets a man who had been her husband 1and enquires how the man is fairing with
his new
wife 1 in response her former husband concludes that there’s not much to admire in the
new wife
as there was in the old 1 (any 3×1= 3marks)
(b) With illustrations identify one similarity and difference in the two wives. (4 marks)
(i) Both are beautiful 1 in beauty of face there’s not much to choose 1
(ii) The old wife was more hardworking than the new one 1 The new wife can only do an inch
a day
of silk embroidery but the old one would do more than five feet 1
(Accept any plausible differences)
(c) (i) Repetition 1 eg. Husband, she, my new wife etc 1 creates rhythm/memorability
/
musicality 1 (any of the three effects 1 mk)
(ii) Alliteration 1 went ……. Wild herbs 1

mountain …… met
cannot …… could

Creates rhythm/memorability/musically
(iii) Assonance 1 will …….wilty 1
(iv) Consonance 1 down …….. mountain
Creates rhythm/memorability/musically 1 (Identification and illustration to
score)
(d) His present wife maybe more educated/learned but he doesn’t find her pleasant or attractive
in her talk/she doesn’t interest him with her discussion 2
(e) – Divorce and remarriage are allowed
……Her former husband
……My new wife 1

– Women kneel down before men as a sign of respect …..’She knelt down…..1
– Women’s duties involve collecting herbs, sewing and embroidery 1
(f) Ironical 1 ….. the new will not compare with the old. 1

27.THAT OTHER LIFE

a) The day of “final union” reminds of joy / peace / pleasure and care they promised

each other.
(Any three = 1 mk
each)
b) The persona has faint memories of joyful moments / when they felt like one / when they
saw each other’s image everywhere / and loved each other like little children.
c) The persona is regretful (1 mk) he feels that they’ve not lived unto the promises they
made to each other. (1 mk)
d) i) The persona and partner felt happy in spite of happiness or sorrow ( 1 mk ) for both
had one hope in life , to be happy and united in purpose.

(1 mk)

ii) They were innocent about their feelings towards making each other feel loved /
flattered. (2 mks)
iii) The persona hoped for a life of prosperity. (1mk) loaning money / farms / cows.

(3 mks)
e) Repetition – ‘I have only faint memories’
The repetition emphasizes the persona’s feelings of regret.
Simile – ‘We praised…like little children in love’ – brings out the sense of deep love
they had for each (1mk)
f) The mood of the poem is nostalgic (1 mk) and regretful (1
mk)
28. My grandmother by Elizabeth Jennings
a) The persona is a grandchild√ “My grandmother” √
b) -Stanza 1: describers her grandmother√
-Stanza 2: describes the incidence which course guilt√
-Stanza 3: shows her grandmother in retirement√
-Stanza 3: after her grandmother has died, the poet reflect on her grandmother’s life and her
own memories√
c) Images used include:
-Simile- like antique objects√, to show persona’s objection to the way he was treated by the
grandmother√
-Metaphor-The smells of absences √; the place smelt old√
d) The persona feels indifferent√ towards his grandmother. “and when she died I felt no grief at
all” √
e) Too old to look after the shop
– Symbolic of her death and absence√
f) The persona uses a regretful tone. √ He said “I still could feel the guilt
Of that refusal, guessing how she felt’’√
g) It means that the grandmother was attached to the things she had but she didn’t really use
them. √ They did not have any value to her apart from being attached to them. √
h) The persona feels guilt for having failed to accompany his/her grandmother out √because
he/she didn’t want to be used as one of the antique item. √

29. Riding Chinese Machines

(a) The poem is about how the natural habitat has been invaded by development by the
Chinese. Buildings and roads have made the natural habitat to give way.
(3mks)
(b) He / she hates the beasts – he / she says that they crank and creak and groan.
(c) Alliteration – crank and creak.
Personification – buried marvel rumbles.
(d) The development talked about is destructive – in the process towers and roads, the
environment is destroyed. (3mks)
(e) (i) The machines are driven by the locals – Africans. (2mks)
(ii) The wildlife’s habitat is destroyed by the new development.

(2mks)

(f) Environmental degradation – The natural habitat is cleared to pave way for the new
roads and buildings.
Neo-colonialism – these are new masters who have the locals as subjects. (any one
theme 2mks)
(g) The title is ironic – it portrays whatever is going on in the text as enjoyable yet the
destruction is negative. There is no enjoyable destruction.
(2mks)
30. Sympathy
a)
The poem is about a bird that is caged .It is confined and denied freedom .It cannot enjoy the
ordinary pleasure of nature – the sunshine ,the breeze and the perfume from flowers .
The bird struggles to liberate itself but hurts itself in the process (any 3 points x1)3mrks
b)
1 st stanza –alienation –the bird is alienated from all that is natural and desirable, feelings of
nostalgia for days when he /she enjoyed freedom .
2rd stanza –freedom describes attempts by the bird to escape .The struggle is painful, efforts
to escape are met with brutality.
3 rd stanza –Prayer – focuses on prayer .Other means have not yielded results. The bird appeals
for intervention from other sources perhaps a superior force will liberate it . (6mrks
)(2 per stanza ) (3×2)
c)
Sympathetic – Sympathies with the caged bird
Alas expresses pity, graphic description of the birds feeling elicits pity
from the reader
Empathetic – He keeps saying “I know what caged birds put himself /herself in
the shoes of the bird
Hopeful –One day the caged bird will experience freedom (any 2×2)=4mrks
(Identifications without illustration no mark )

d)
He himself /herself had suffered at the hand of the cruel oppressors ‘denied freedom,
tortured .He may have also suffered physical &psychological injury .He condemns those
who conspire to subject others to a life of slavery and misery e.g. Detention ,Imprisonment
and confinement (3mrks)
e)
“The river flows like a stream of glasses” Shows what the bird yearns for but cant have .
River represents a life of freedom, stands for natural beauty that the caged bird is denied.
f
i) Means that the flowers produce a sweet smell that gives much joy but the caged bird cant
access such luxury.
Other birds out there enjoy the perfume (1mrks)
g) The caged bird
prayer for the freedom (1mrk)
(any other relevant –award)

31. Famine

(a) The poem is about an encounter between two neighbours during famine. One of them has
food that he stubbornly refuses to share with his hungry ‘brother’.
(b) The neighbour hopes that by being persistent, the owner of the yam will relent and give
him
some. Although the owner denies everything, the neighbour shows him he knows that he
(the owner) is refusing to own up the truth when it is so obvious. The neighbour also
hopes to prick his “friend’s” conscience. He hopes that guilt will force the owner of the
yam to share the yam.

(c) The owner of the yam is:-
(i) Mean / selfish – inspite of the efforts the neighbour makes, he refuses to share his
food.
(ii) Innovative /schemer / creative – He formulates quick answers to counteract what his
neighbour says.
(d) The ideophones words are “kerekere” and “bi”.
(e) The neighbour is very observant because he notices things like fire and associate it with
the meal the owner wants to prepare. He also notices the owner’s “skin” is “all white” of
course the whiteness is from the yam peelings. The owner of the yam refutes everything.
But the owner is not fooled.
(f) Bitter, dismissive – There cannot be peace …
(g) The statement “Peace be with you” is ironic because the neighbour is probably being
sarcastic. He cannot be wishing somebody who has denied him food peace. He has
made the owner of the yam guilty. A person with a guilty conscience is unlikely to have
peace.

(h) We learn that we should share what we have with the needy. When we don’t, we cannot
have peace with ourselves or others.

32. BUILDING THE NATION

a) 2 voices in the poem
i) The driver who drives the Ps to the luncheon.
“I drove a permanent secretary.”
ii) The Ps “ I attended to matters of state.”
NB. Must identify and illustrate to score 2mks

No mark for identification alone
b) The poem is about a driver who drives a permanent secretary to an important function”
which turns out to be a luncheon where different meals are served , but the driver is not given
any hence he goes home hungry while the Ps is overfed
c) Poetic devices
i) Ryme – Nation / function, friend/ ahead, grain, again e.t.c
Effectiveness – Enhances rhythm
ii) Alliteration – Cold Bell beer ……………….
coffee to keep the Ps ………………
Effectiveness – musically/ rhythm
iii) Repetition – building the nation
Effectiveness – Enhances rhythm / musicallity
Any other relevant answer
NB: Identify, illustrate and give effectiveness in order to score (3 mks)
d) Tone is satirical/sarcastic – The writer scorns the duties performed by the Ps in the guise
of building the nation. The Ps only goes to luncheons to eat yet claims to be building the
nation.
e) Contemptous/spiteful/ condescending. The Ps refers to his driver as “Mwananchi”
f) Rhyme scheme a b c b d
Irregular one cannot predict the next pattern
h) didn’t he ?
i) The permanent secretary was driven back. (by me)

33. Oral poetry

a) War song-we shall kill hack and cure
b) To encourage the warriors as they prepare to leave for war
To praise the warriors as they go to war the uniformed machines
Used to intimidate the enemy-repetition of blood
c) Repetition- blood iron and trumpets
 Direct address- singers of the datsunblue, forward we drive breaking records
 Direct translation- let the bullets find their targets
d) War- let the dogs of war rejoice
 victory- forward we drive breaking records
e) social activity: going to war-‘dogs of war’
 Economic activity: blacksmithing-the mention of iron
f) Warriors preparing for war as it is being sand to inspire and encourage them

g) The statement means that the army which is as efficient as a machine is around
h) Mood is tensed/ of anxiety-only through fire

34. SECOND OLYMPUS

a) Colonialists.√ “……with half digested alien thought”√ “……they hurled down thunderbolts
on a toiling race of earth worms.” 1 x 2
b) Bitterness; the poet talks with irony and sarcasm to show his contempt.√ 1 x 2
“…..strange prejudice for gods.”√ “…..self
proclaimed demi- gods.”√ “…..martyrs and men oof
high ideals.”√ “……benevorent despots to an
unwilling race.” Any 1 x 1 mark
c) The aliens destroyed√ everything that was not important to trhem.√ And put up their own
things.√ They destroyed cultures and traditions and introduced theirs. 1 x 3
d) It referred to African √ slaves who worked very hard on their lands√ and soil. They worked
on the soil for too long like earthworms.√ 1 x 3
i) Metaphor “worms were becoming pests.” To emphasize the fact though√ the Africans were
minor compared to the whites, they caused destruction and resisted the colonial rule.
ii) Irony √ “….strange prejudice for good” to show the colonialists’ hypocrisy√
iii) Sarcasm √” ….self proclaimed demi- gods” to laugh √ at their proclaimed superiority’
e) The disrespects√ for gods. The white have proclaimed themselves gods. 1 x 2
f) Sarcastic tone.√ “strange prejudice for gods” 1 x1

35. Advise to my son

a) A parent √1- says ‘but son.’√1
b) –motor accidents√1- allude to windshield √1 (belongs to a car) –
war√ 1 – bursting shell √ 1 (after explosion of bombs)
c) Heaven- good/ positive experiences in life hell- horrible
things we may encounter.
d) Spinach √ ½ turnips ½ desert√ ½ tomatoes√ ½ squash√ ½ and bread√ ½ – necessities
Peony√ ½ nectar√ ½ wine√ ½ and rose√ ½ -luxuries
e) He advises the son on one hand to live each day to the fullest as if were his last and on the
other hand he advises him to plan for future .
f) Don’t be deceived by the appearances, later on thiongs could change. Know her (pretty girl)
background before marrying her.
g) What the stomach craves is stronger sustenance
h) Last- endure/ stay for long time past or previously fast- to forgo food to move quickly

i) The son is advised to have fun/ luxurious life.

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