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Bertolt Brecht, The Caucasian Chalk Circle.'Everyone in society gets what they deserve, whether good or bad.'Write an essay in support of this statement drawing illustrations...

      

Bertolt Brecht, The Caucasian Chalk Circle.

'Everyone in society gets what they deserve, whether good or bad.'
Write an essay in support of this statement drawing illustrations from the play,' The Caucasian Chalk Circle.'

  

Answers


Martin
Introduction
Everyone in life gets what is due to them depending on the effort they make and their commitment towards achieving a certain end. People who refuse to take responsibility end up losing what they would have. benefitted from. (Accept any other relevant introduction) = 2 marks.

Introduction should confirm that the candidate understands the question.
It can be - A paraphrase
- An outline
- Contextualized
- A general introduction
- Specific to general introduction
Body / content

i) Dispute over a farm land
- In the prologue, we see a dispute over a farm land.
- Two commune groups; the fruit growing commune and the goat herding commune claim ownership of a farm land.
- A delegate has been sent to arbitrate over the issue.
- The fruit growers get the farmland because they have an irrigation plan and hopes to make the land more productive.
ii)

- Governor Georgi Abashwili is motivated by greed and materialism hence ends up being beheaded.
- He has no feelings to the many beggars and petitioners who crowd the entrance of the church.
- He plans to meet an architect to plan to construct a new East Wing to the palace and ignores a messenger from the capital
who has important military news.
- Prince Arsen Kazbeki stages a coup against the Grand Duke and his Governor. The Governor is hence arrested and beheaded.
- Because of his greed, he loses his life thus getting what he deserves.

iii) Natella lacks motherly love and instinct, hence ends up losing her baby Michael.
- During the coup, she orders a servant to place Michael on the floor so that she (the servant) can pack up Natella?s essentials.
- All along she pays attention to her clothes and shoes and not Michael.
- Grusha is the only one who is human enough to remain behind and look after the baby till dawn and opts to take him with her.
(pg 29)
- Grusha sacrifices alot for the sake of the baby - buys milk from a peasants? cottage using her weeks pay - 2 piaster?s - after
attempting to breastfeed him (pg 32)
- Grusha risks her life by crossing a rotten bridge.
- Eventually because of lack of motherly love, Natella loses the baby, she gets what she deserves.

iv) The Chalk Circle
- Natella wants the baby Michael after two years for the sake of reclaiming her husband?s estate.
………. She had no single thought for the child for two years.

- To decide who really loves the child as a mother, Azdak uses the test of the Chalk Circle in which Grusha declines to pull the
child violently, saying that she had brought him up and as such cannot tear him into bits. (pg 98)
- Natella through her lawyer reveals her true intention of her dire need of taking Michael back.
Her second lawyer states categorically that her estate is closed to her as it is tied to the heir (pg 92, 97)
- Despite being Michael's biological mother, she dearly needs him for what the governor has left behind in his son?s name.
- Grusha on the other hand has brought up the child, he wants to teach him how to speak all the words.
- Both Grusha and Natella get what each deserves.

- Natella's estates fall to the city and they are converted into a playground for the children.
- Grusha is told to take the child and be off v) Simon and Grusha get to marry.
- Grusha initially is forced to marry Jussup by her brother Lavrenti and sister- in-law, Aniko.
- She greatly loves Simon but because her brother?s wife is “religious” she gets married to Jussup to uphold their reputation.
- Azdak eventually divorces Grusha from Jussup allowing her to marry her long-time friend.
- Simon has been patiently waiting to marry her but after the war returns to find her married to Jussup.
- Inspite of this, Simon supports her as she fights for the child.
- So, when Grusha?s forced marriage is terminated, the two are left free to marry (pg 98)
- They get what they deserve.
vi) Azdak passes judgement in favour of the poor although he receives bribes from the rich.
- Azdak was sympathetic to the poor and was termed as the poor man?s magistrate (pg 79)
He broke rules to save the poor.
- Thus Azdak fines the rich invalid, the blackmailer, the innkeeper and the farmer all of whom have wealth and land.
( The chalk circle is also a good illustration to the point)
They all get what they deserve.

Conclusion
In conclusion, we can say that in the text, the Caucacian Chalk Circle, the direction each character takes is dependent on his relationship with others. Unless we take responsibility, finding meaning in life will elude us.
marto answered the question on April 4, 2019 at 05:51


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    This is a story that the old people tell. They say that hen flew to the top of a stack of wheat one day to find food. From where she stood on the stack she could see far out over the fields. She could see far and she saw Jackal coming from afar. She saw him coming towards her, she saw him out of the corner of her eyes, but when he came closer she did not look up at all. She went on hunting for food.
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    'Yes, mother. The big peace. There has never been such a big peace. You can safely come down from that stack of wheat. Then we can talk about the matter nicely. We shall take snuff together. Come down. Mother! Remember the peace!'
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    THE WARRIOR WHO HAD EIGHT LOVERS

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    My warrior whom I love
    For whom I open the sweet curdled
    Milk of my father’s herd,
    And to whom I give fat rams
    Of my father to slaughter,
    To whom I give my slender
    Thighs to lie on,
    With whom are you going on a raid next?
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    From Oral Literature. A Junior Course
    By A. Bukenya and M. Gachanja,
    Longhorn Kenya.

    Questions

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    2. Identify two instances of repetition in the passage (2mks)

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    (ii) the youngest lover

    4. Give two functions of the song. (2mks)

    5. Show instances of irony in the passage (2mks)

    6. What are the economic activities of this community? (2mks

    7. Which devices have been used to start and end this story? What are their functions? (4mks)

    8. With one proverb, summarize the teaching or moral lesson in the story. (2mks)

    Date posted: March 21, 2019.  Answers (1)

  • Read the narrative below and answer the questions that follow.(Solved)

    Read the narrative below and answer the questions that follow.

    THE CRUEL STEP – MOTHER

    Once upon a time, there was a man and wife who had a baby girl. Unfortunately, the wife died and so, the man married again. He got another girl with the second wife.
    The two girls became extremely close, so close that whenever the mother sent one on an errand, the other was sure to accompany her. The mother, however, did not like the child of the deceased. She would always show her dislike by denying her certain favours. Her feelings became so bad that she decided to get rid of the girl. To do this, she dug a hole in her bedroom on a day when the husband was absent and covered the hole with a cow’s hide. She then called her daughter and sent her to the house of a friend some kilometers away. As usual, the two girls wanted to go together but the woman refused, giving the excuse that she wanted to send the other one elsewhere.
    After the departure of her daughter, she called the other girl and sent her for her snuffbox in the bedroom. Unaware of what lay ahead, the girl eagerly rushed into the room only to fall into a hole! The mother very quickly filled the hole with soil, completely disregarding the girl’s screams for help.
    When the daughter came back, she merely assumed that the absence of her dear companion was justified. After hours of waiting, she, however, became impatient and questioned the mother.
    ‘Where is my sister?’ she asked.
    ‘But she followed you. As soon as she did what I wanted, she ran after you. Now stop bothering me,’ the mother retorted.
    Time passed and the now anxious girl went round calling out the name of the other one, but all in vain. Alas…. She cried the whole night and the next day and refused to touch any food. The father helped in the search but to no avail.
    After three days, the girl still cried and called the other one. She then heard a very weak voice responding in song:

    Maalya Maalya
    Maalya Maalya
    Na mwenyu niwe mwai iiee malya,
    Ekwinza muthiko iiee malya,
    Wakwisa kunthika iiee malya
    Wakwisa kunthika iiee malya
    (Maalya Maalya
    And your mother is the wise one iiee malya,
    She dug a grave iiee malya,
    For interring me in iiee malya.)

    The girl dashed towards the direction of the voice, repeated her cries and again go the same response. She came to the conclusion that whoever was responding was definitely underground somewhere in the house. Immediately theThe husband then explained the truth of the matter and told his in-laws to take their daughter with them. They said that if that was what she had done to the girl, they couldn’t have such a monster in their house. The woman was disowned by all and chased away.

    QUESTIONS

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    (d) Explain two problems you are likely to encounter when collecting materials for such a genre. (4 mks)

    (e) What does the author mean by the following sentences as used in the passage?

    (i) 'When the daughter came back, she merely assumed that the absence of her dear companion was justified.' (1mk)

    (ii) And your mother is the wise one iiee Malya. (1mk)

    (f) What is the moral lesson of this narrative? (2mks)

    Date posted: March 21, 2019.  Answers (1)