a) A native of the land who is saddened by the consequences of civil war.
c) Tone - Sad
- Mournful
- Despair
d) The fluttering dove signifies the person’s longing for peace. As much as they need peace and yet they experience violence.
e) Style
Symbolism
Repetition Must have illustration and effectiveness.
Irony
Alliteration
i) People no longer respect blood or family ties.
ii) Another person is killed.
Unnecessary death
Suffering illustrations
Destruction
marto answered the question on June 11, 2019 at 08:13
- Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow. From the dark tower(Solved)
Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.
FROM THE DARK TOWER
We shall not always plant while others reap
The golden increment of bursting fruit,
Not always countenance, abject and mute,
That lesser men should hold their brothers chap;
Not everlasting while others sleep
Shall we beguile their limbs with mellow flute,
Not always bend to some more subtle brute;
We were not made to eternally weep,
The night whose sable breast relieves the stark,
White stars is no less lovely being dark,
And there are buds that cannot bloom at all
In light, but crumple, piteous, and fall;
So in the dark we hide the heart that bleeds,
And wait, and tend our agonizing seeds.
By Countee Cullen
(i) Describe the rhyme scheme in the poem above.
(ii) Apart from rhyme, identify any other way in which the poet has achieved rhythm.
(iii) Which words would you stress in the line: 'We were not made to eternally weep'?
(iv) How would you say the last line of this poem.
Date posted: June 11, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the poem below and answer the questions below.(Solved)
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.
b) In what circumstances do many young people die? Illustrate your answer from the poem.
c) What do heaven and hell symbolize?
d) Identify items in the poem that represent life’s necessities on one hand and life’s luxuries on the other.
e) Identify and illustrate the use of the paradox in the poem.
f) What does the persona mean by ‘marry a pretty girl after seeing the mother'?
g) The stomach craves stronger sustenance.(Rewrite using (What)
h) Give two meanings of each of the following words.
-Last
-Fast
i) Give the meaning of the last two lines
Date posted: June 11, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.(Solved)
Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.
SUNSET
The sun spun like
a tossed coin
it whirled on the azure sky,
it clattered into the horizon,
it clicked in the slot,
and neon lights popped,
and blinked ‘time expired’
as on a parking meter.
(Oswald Mbusiyeni: mtshaki)
i) Describe the rhyme scheme of the poem
ii) How would you say the last line of this poem
iii) State any two onomatopoeic words in the poem.
iv) Identify any other sound pattern used in the poem.
v) State and illustrate three non-verbal cues that you would use to make the recitation of the above poem interesting.
Date posted: June 11, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.
Horizons by Kalungi Kabuye(Solved)
Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.
Horizons by Kalungi Kabuye
As I meditate
And levitate
In human state
No one can see
How the internal sea
Wells up with hope
But lets hope
Life so dear
With love so near
And closeness so close
Will bring home
The thing that we hope
Means to transform
Even the simplest digit
Into a magnified seed
Of a mustard tree
i) Which words would you stress in line (i) of the poem and why?
ii) How has rhythm been achieved in this poem?
iii) What tone of voice would be appropriate in recitation of this poem?
iv) How would you say the last line of this poem?
Date posted: June 11, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.(Solved)
Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.
When my love swears that she is made of truth,
I do believe her, though I know she lies.
That she might think me some untutored youth,
Unlearned in the world’s false subleties.
Thus vainly thinking that she thinks me young,
Although she knows my days are past the best.
Simply I credit her false speaking tongue
On both sides thus is simple truth suppressed.
But wherefore says shes not unjust?
And wherefore says not I that I am old?
O love’s best habit is seeming trust,
And age in love loves not to have years told.
Therefore I lie with her, and she with me,
And in our faults by lies we flattered be.
Questions.
(i) Identify and illustrate the sound patterns in the poem.
(ii) Explain and illustrate the rhyme scheme in the poem.
Date posted: June 7, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the poem below and then answer the questions that follow.(Solved)
Read the poem below and then answer the questions that follow.
Thou art indeed just, Lord, if I contend
With thee; but, sir, so what I plead is just.
Why do sinners way prosper? and why must
Disappointment all I endeavour end?
Wert thou my enemy O thou my friend
How wouldst thou worse, I wonder, than thou dost
Defeat, thwart me? Oh, the sots and thralls of lust
Do spare hours more thrive than, that spend,
Sir, life upon thy cause. See, banks and breaks
Now, leavèd how thick! lacèd they are again
With fretty cherril, look, and fresh wind shakes
Them; birds build – but not I build; no, but strain,
Time’s enough, and not breed one work that wakes.
Mine, O thou lord of life, send my roots rain.
Questions
(i) Identify four examples of assonance in the poem.
(ii) Write out and describe the rhyme scheme of the poem.
(iii) How would you perform the last line of the poem?
(iv) Indicate whether the following lines in the poem would be said with a falling or rising intonation.
a) Why do sinners way prosper?
b) Disappointment all I endeavor end?
Date posted: June 7, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow. The Seed Shop(Solved)
Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.
The Seed Shop
HERE in a quiet and dusty room they lie,
Faded a scrumbled stone or shifting sand,
Forlorn as ashes, shrivelled, scentless, dry--
Meadows and gardens running through my hand.
In this brown husk a dale of hawthorn dreams,
A cedar in this narrow cell is thrust
That will drink deeply of a century's streams,
These lilies shall make summer on my dust.
Here in their safe and simple house of death,
Sealed in their shells, a million roses leap;
Here I can blow a garden with my breath,
And in my hand a forest lies asleep.
(i) Describe the rhyme scheme of this poem.
(ii) What is the effect of rhyme in the poem?
(iii) Giving one example, show how else the poet has achieved the effect in (ii) above?
(iv) Which word would you stress in the last line of stanza one and why?
Date posted: June 7, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the poem below and then answer the questions that follow.
(Solved)
Read the poem below and then answer the questions that follow.
DOES IT MATTER?
Does it matter? Losing your legs? ……………..
For people will always be kind,
And you need not show that you mind
When the others come in after hunting
To gobble their muffins and eggs.
Does it matter? – losing your sight? …………..
There is such splendid work for the blind;
And people will always be kind,
And sit on the terrace remembering
And turning your face to the light.
Does it matter? – those dreams from the pit? ………..
You can drink and forget and be glad,
And people won’t say that you are mad,
For they will know you’ve fought for your country.
And no one will worry a bit.
Questions
(i) Write the rhyme scheme of the poem.
(ii) How has rhythm been achieved in the poem?
(iii)Which lines would you stress most if you were to say this poem aloud and why?
Date posted: May 28, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the following oral poem and answer the questions that follow.(Solved)
Read the following oral poem and answer the questions that follow.
She was gone by and by
The lights sprang up again
The wind whirled in full sight
Of the fantastic fairy palace over the arches
near – little felt amid the jarring
of the machinery and scarcely heard
above its crash and rattle
silver and gold she searched.
(i) How is rhythm achieved in the oral poem?
(ii) How would you say the idiophone in the poem?
Date posted: May 28, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the poem below and answer questions that follow.
The sweetest thing by Ibid.(Solved)
Read the poem below and answer questions that follow.
The sweetest thing by Ibid.
The sweetest thing by Ibid.
There is in this world something
That surpasses all other things
In sweetness.
It is sweeter than honey
It is sweeter than salt
It is sweeter than sugar
It is sweeter than all
Existing things.
This thing is sleep
When you are conquered by sleep
Nothing can prevent you
Nothing can stop you from sleeping
When you are conquered by sleep
And numerous millions arrive
Millions will find you asleep
(i) Identify and illustrate two sound patterns used in the poem.
(ii) Write down words from the poems that have the following sounds;
/ i: / …………………………………………
/ S / …………………………………………
/ D / ………………………………………..
Date posted: May 24, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the poem and answer the questions that follow.
I SEE HIS BLOOD UPON THE ROSE by Joseph Plunkett
(Solved)
Read the poem and answer the questions that follow.
I SEE HIS BLOOD UPON THE ROSE by Joseph Plunkett
I see his blood upon the rose,
And in the stars the glory of his eyes,
His body gleams amid eternal snows,
His tears fall from the skies.
I see his face in every flower;
The thunder and the singing of the birds
Are but his voice - and carven by his power
Rocks are his written words
All pathways by his feet are worn,
His strong heart stirs the ever beating sea
His crown of thorns is twined with every thorn,
His cross is every tree.
i) Describe the rhyme scheme of the poem
ii) Which words would you stress in the last two lines of the last stanza and why?
iii) Apart from rhyme, identify and illustrate one sound device in this poem
iv) Give two effects of the above sound pattern
v) How would you say the last line of the poem
Date posted: May 23, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the poem given below and answer the questions that follow.
THAT OTHER LIFE(Solved)
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?
b) What faint memories does the persona have, according to the poem?
c) What is the persona’s attitude towards their marriage?
d) Explain the following expressions as used in the poem
(i) Happiness, sorrow and dreams were so synchronized............
(ii) ....... praised each other like children in love
(iii) All were pleasures ahead in mind.
e) Identify two aspects of style used in this poem and explain their effectiveness.
f) What is the mood of the poem
Date posted: May 6, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the poem below then answer the questions that follow.
Riding Chinese Machines(Solved)
Questions
(a) Briefly describe what the poem is about.
(b) Explain how the poet feels towards the beasts in the city.
(c) Identify two poetic devices employed by the poet in the poem.
(d) Explain the irony of the type of development described in the poem
(e) Explain the meaning of the following lines in the poem.
ii) The lions investigate and buried marvel rumbles squeezed for progress.
(f) Identify and explain one theme tackled in the poem.
(g) Explain the significance of the title to the poem.
Date posted: May 6, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the oral poem below and then answer the questions that follows
'FAMINE'(Solved)
'FAMINE'
The owner of yam peels his yam in the house’s:
A neighbor knocks at the door
The owner of yam throws his yam in the bedroom:
The neighbor 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 neighbor 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.
(b) What does the neighbor hope to achieve by being so persistent?
(c) Using illustrations, describe any two character traits of the owner of the yam.
(d) Identify the ideophones words in the poem.
(e) How do we know that the neighbor is observant?
(f) Describe the tone of the owner of the yam.
(g) The neighbor says, 'peace be with you.' Why is this statement ironic?
(h) What lesson can we learn from this poem?
Date posted: May 6, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the oral poem below and then answer the questions that follows.(Solved)
Read the oral poem below and then answer the questions that follows.
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. Explain what the poem addresses
3. Identify and illustrate the use of any two poetic devices uses in the poem and explain their effectiveness
4. Describe the tone in the poem
5. How would you describe the attitude of the permanent secretary towards the persona?
6. Describe the rhyme scheme in stanza one
7. i) 'He yawned many times in the back of the car.' Add a question tag
ii) ' I drove the permanent secretary back.
Write in passive voice
Date posted: May 6, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the oral piece below and answer the questions that follow(Solved)
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
(b) What are the functions of the oral piece above?
(c) Identify two features of oral poetry evident in the oral item.
(d) What two issues is this oral poem talking about?
(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
(g) 'The uniformed machines are around” Explain the meaning of this statement.
(h) Describe the mood of the poem.
Date posted: May 6, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the poem below and answer the questions below.
Advise to my son(Solved)
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. 2 marks
b) In what circumstances do many young people die? Illustrate your answer from the poem. 4 marks
c) What do heaven and hell symbolize? 2 marks
d) Identify items in the poem that represent life’s necessities on one hand and life’s luxuries on the other. 2 marks
e) Identify and illustrate the use of the paradox in the poem. 3 marks
f) What does the persona mean by ‘marry a pretty girl after seeing the mother?2 marks
g) The stomach craves stronger sustenance.(Rewrite using (What) 1 mark
h) Give two meanings of each of the following words. 2 marks
-Last
-Fast
i) Give the meaning of the last two lines 2 marks
Date posted: May 6, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.
Your Cigarette Burnt the Savannah Grass(Solved)
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)
Date posted: May 3, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the poem below and then answer the questions that follow. (20 marks)
A TAX DRIVER ON DEATH BED. (By Timothy Wangusa(Solved)
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.
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)
) How will the persona’s death come about? (2 marks)
h) Give the poem another title. (1 mark)
Thus u shall die: not that I care
Date posted: May 3, 2019. Answers (1)
- Read the following poem and answer the questions that follow
THE WAR LORD(Solved)
Questions
(a) Briefly explain what the poem is talking about. (3 mks)
(b) What is the attitude of the persona to the warlord? Elaborate your answer. (2 mks)
Explain the relevance of having separated words for stanza one, three, five and seven. (3 mks)
(c) Explain the irony in the poem. (3 mks)
(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. (2 mks)
(ii) The prize presented on some stolen silver.
A maggot riddled remnant of a once serene world. (2 mks)
(e) Apart from irony, which other stylistic device has been used in the poem? (2 mks)
(f) Identify one thematic concern of the poem. (3 mks)
Date posted: May 3, 2019. Answers (1)