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Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.

      

Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.

NATURALLY”
I fear the workers: they writhe in bristling grass
And wormy mud: out with dawn, back with dusk.
Depart with seed, and return with fat- bursting fruits.
And I ate the fruit.

And still they toil at boiling point,
in head – splitting noise and threatening saws:
They suck their energy from slimy cassava
And age – rusty water taps: till they make a Benz

And I ride in the benz: festooned with
stripped rags and python copper coiling monsters
While the workers clap their blistered hands
And I overrun their kids.
They build their hives: often out
of broken bones of fallen mates
And I drone in them – “state house”
Them,“collegize” them, officialize them.

And I……. I whore their daughters
Raised in litter – rotting hovels
And desiring a quickquickhighhighlifelife
To break the bond.

And I tell the workers to unite:
knowing well that they can’t see, hear or understand:
what with sweat and grim sealing their ears
And eyes already blasted with welding sparks,
And me speaking a colourless tongue

But one day a rainstorm shall flood
The litter rotten hovels and
wash the workers’ ears and eyes clean,
Refresh the tattered muscles for a long – delayed blow

a) Describe the working conditions of the workers as depicted in stanza 1 and 2.


b) The persona assumes different roles in stanza 3, 4 and 6.With illustrations explain these roles.

c) Identify and explain 2 images from the poem

d) Which bond do the girls want to break in stanza 5 and how do they do it.

e) What reasons are given for the workers’ inability to understand the persona?

f) What is the poem suggesting in the last stanza?

  

Answers


Martin
a) - Their working conditions are unhygienic- bristling grass/wormy mud/water from age rusty water
taps.
- They work in dangerous environment – head splitting noise /threatening saws/very high
temperature (boiling point)
- Long working hours – from dawn to dusk.
- Meager strchy food – suck their energy from slimy cassava,

b) – In stanza three the persona is a politician “while the workers clap their blistered hands”
- In stanza 4 the persona is a government official “I state house them, collegize them ,officialize
d) Sweat and grime have sealed vtheir ears .Eyes have been blasted with welding vsparks .That is : their working conditions have affected them/these are more pertinent problems to them than uniting to fight for their rights.
e) The workers will know theirv rights and they will revenge – along delayed blow.

4. a) i) Aren’t there any other entrants for the 100 - metre race?
ii) The second meal she cooked was not as successful as the first.
iii) Unless you do not follow instructions, I expect you to do well in this exam or I do not expect you to do well in this exam unless you do not follow instructions.

b) shrank ; decisive
c) i) spokesperson
ii) househe

d) i) demolished them – he declares the workers squattersv1 saying the land they have built their hovels on is state house land, college land ,official land.
- In stanza 6 the persona is a trade unionist “I tell the workers to unite….”

e) Images
i) Fat – bursting fruit – a metaphor depicting how attractive mouth - watering the workers’ achievement is.
ii) A benz – the most prestigious vehicles – hence the outcome of the workers’ sweat is very valuable, desirable.

f)The bonds of poverty . They break it by indulging themselves in immoral activities. (N.B the repetition of words in line 19 implies the high speed.



marto answered the question on August 19, 2019 at 06:21


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    How doeth the little busy bee
    Improve each shining hour
    And gather honey all the day
    From every opening flower.

    How skilfully she builds her cell!
    How neat she spreads the wax!
    And labours hard to store it well
    With the sweet food she makes.

    In works of labour or of skill
    I would be busy too.
    For Satan finds some mischief still
    For idle hands to do

    In books or work or healthful play
    Let my first years be past,
    That I may give for every day
    Some good account at last

    i) Identify four pairs of rhyming words in the poem?

    ii) Besides rhyme, identify and illustrate two other ways though which rhythm has been achieved in this poem

    iii) Imagine you are listening to a live presentation of this poem. What four things would you do to benefit most from the listening experience?

    Date posted: June 12, 2019.  Answers (1)

  • Read the following poem and answer the questions that follow in the spaces provided.(Solved)

    Read the following poem and answer the questions that follow in the spaces provided.

    MY TRAIN JOURNEY TO MOMBASA
    Kurukuru kakara kukuru kakara,
    The train moves
    Roaring and racing on the ridge.
    Kukuru kakara kukuru kakara,
    Crawling,criss-crossing beautiful plains
    I sit staring at scenic scenes
    Observing the wild animals.
    Kukuru kakara kukuru kakara,
    I feel the heat
    I see the Swahili houses
    Thriving thatched homestead.
    Kukuru kakara kukuru kakara,
    I see the bright ocean.
    The train grinds to a hault.
    I am in Mombasa.
    By Egara Kabaji

    i) Describe the rhyme scheme of this poem.

    ii) Describe how rhythm has been achieved in this poem.

    iii) How would you make this poem interesting if you were to recite it to audience.

    iv) If the words ‘kukuru kakara kukuru kakara ‘are translated into English, what would happen?

    Date posted: June 12, 2019.  Answers (1)

  • Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow. Civil War....(Solved)

    Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.

    CIVIL WAR

    In this land
    Graveyards have no markers
    For blood flows freely
    Into the gutter
    Where corpses abide
    In restless sleep

    In this land
    Kinship is long dead
    And the insiders prevail
    A neighbours hand
    In darkness hidden
    Stripes yet another victim’s light

    In this land
    The wind blows across the neglected fields
    Promising yet another spectacle
    Of hollowed eyes and pinched skins
    Trudging and falling to the unyielding trains
    Of self-destruction

    In the air
    The whiter dove
    Flutter with change
    And perhaps
    It would be better if this symbol of peace
    Were established in the souls of the people
    In this land
    (David Mugwika

    (1) What is the poem about?

    (2) Who is the speaker?

    (3) Identify any two features of the style in the poem and show their effectiveness.

    (4) Describe the tone of this poem.

    (5) Explain the significance of the last stanza in relation to the message in the whole poem.

    (6) Give the meaning of the following lines as used in the poem.

    (i) Kinship is long dead.

    (ii) Stifles yet another victim’s light.

    (7) Citing examples, discuss one effect of civil war.

    Date posted: June 11, 2019.  Answers (1)