THE UNITED REPUBLIC OF TANZANIA NATIONAL EXAMINATIONS COUNCIL

CERTIFICATE OF SECONDARY EDUCATION EXAMINATION

024 LITERATURE IN ENGLISH

(For Both School and Private Candidates)

Time: 2:30 Hours Thursday 18^th October 2012 p.m.

Instructions

1. This paper consists of sections A, B, C and D.

2. Answer two (2) questions from section A and one (1) question from each of sections B, C and D.

3. Each question carries 20 marks.

4. Cellular phones are not allowed in the examination room.

5. Write your Examination Number on every page of your answer booklet(s).

SECTION A (40 Marks)

THEORIES OF LITERATURE

Answer two (2) questions from this section.

1. Compare and contrast between the following pairs of literary terminologies.

(a) Ballad and Epic

(b) Irony and satire

(c) Conflict and denouement

(d) Round character and flat character

(e) Form and content

2. What do you understand by the term ‘technique’ in a work of art? Explain on seven techniques which can be used in a literary piece of work.

3. Does oral literature still exist in the Tanzanian society today? Discuss basing your arguments on the nature and transmission of oral literature.

SECTION B (20 Marks)

PLAYS

Answer one (1) question from this section.

TEXTS:

The Lion and the Jewel- Wole Soyinka

The Trials of Brother Jero - Wole Soyinka

The Swamp Dwellers - Wole Soyinka

Kinjeketile - Ibrahim Hussein

Dilemma of a Ghost - Ama Ata Aidoo

The Barbed Wire - M. Rugyendo

Dedan Kimathi - Kenneth Watene

The Government Inspector - N. Gogol

4. Hypocrisy and selfishness have always led to misunderstandings between or among the members of the society. With reference to characters in two plays, justify this statement.

5. Conflicts are inevitable in any society. They occur because people differ in their ways of thinking and decision making. Imagine you were one of the main characters how would you avoid the conflicts which confronted you? Use two readings to support your argument.

6. The Africans who got Western education found themselves strange in their own societies. Analyse this statement using one play.

SECTION C (20 Marks)

NOVELS AND SHORT STORIES

Answer one (1) question from this section.

TEXTS:

Tales of Amadou Koumba - David Diop

Quartet - Richard Rive

A Walk in the Night and Other Stories - Alex La Guma

Houseboy - Ferdinand Oyono

The Old man and The Medal - Ferdinand Oyono

The Concubine - Elechi Amadi

Sundiata: An Epic of Old Mali - Djibril Tamsir Niane

Secret Lives - Ngugi Wa Thiong’o

The Three Solid Stones - Martha Mvungi

Girls at War - Chinua Achebe

Uncle Tom’s Children - Richard Wright

7. How have the writers under this section managed to balance form and content? Refer to two novels to illustrate your answer.

8. Analyse the effectiveness of the various techniques used by the writers to put their message across to the readers. Use two novels to support your answer.

9. Using two novels read under this programme, consider the relevance of their titles to the content

Answer one (1) question from this section.

TEXT: Selected poems — Tanzania Institute of Education

10. “Figures of speech are very powerful tools used by poets to give their message to the readers.” Using two poems read under this section, verify this statement.

11. When you read a poem you get the message more effectively than when you read an ordinary story. Justify this statement using any poem you have read.

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

If we must die let

it not be like hogs.

Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,

While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,

Making their mock at our accursed lot,

If we must die oh

let us nobly die.

So that our precious blood may not be shed in vain:

Then even the monsters we defy

Shall be constrained to honour us though dead!

Oh kinsmen! We must meet the common foe?

Though far out numbered, let us show our bravery

And for their thousand blows one death blow!

What though before us lies the open grave?

Like men we’ll face the murderous cowardly pack,

Pressed to the wall but fighting back!

Questions

(a) What type of poem is this? Why?

(b) What is the tone of the poem?

(c) What is the poem generally about?

(d) Comment on the language used in the poem.

(e) What Poetic features have been used in the poem?

(f) Mention three themes found in this poem.

(g) Is the poem relevant to your society? Justify your answer.

(h) What type of death does the poet hope to undergo? Why?