KCSE ENGLISH GRAMMAR AND LITERATURE NOTES
PAPER ONE
These are the areas examined under paper
one
1. Functional writing—this entails
items
or compositions written for a specific purpose; For example, applying
for a
job, writing minutes for meetings, writing reports, recipes, memos etc.
2. Cloze test—this is a test on how
to
best choose vocabularies or words that fill blanks in the given context
of the
passage. It is also
a test on knowledge
of categories of words and functions of those categories in a sentence.
3. Functional skills—these are
language
mannerisms skills. They are practical skills on how to behave in a
polite,
creative and effective way when using the English language. They are
skills on
etiquette, spellings, pronunciation, speaking, dramatisation and
listening.
PAPER TWO
Paper two has the following areas
1. Comprehension—this covers reading
and
comprehension skills.
2. Extracts or excerpts from set
text—this is to test the learner’s critical and
analytical skills.
3. Oral Literature—these are skills
on
oral stories, songs, riddles, proverbs etc that form an important part
of the
African culture. This area focuses on analytical and critical skills as
well as
morality.
4. Poetry—The appreciation and study
of
poetry and poetic language.
5. Grammar—language use, construction
of
sentences, linking paragraphs, paraphrasing, creating and modifying
situations
etc.
PAPER THREE
Paper three is about creative and
critical writing.
1. The first question is always about
writing an imaginative composition or a critical essay.
2. The second question is always based
on a compulsory set book in which the candidate writes a critical essay
basing
illustrations on it and his or her society.
3. The third question is always about
other three set books that are usually optional so that candidate has
to choose
one question to answer a critical essay based on society and the book.
Writing
legibly
The main aim of writing is to
communicate. There is no point in writing anything illegible as
information is
therefore inaccessible and the purpose of wring no achieved.
So, to write legibly and coherently
observe the following:
a) Be neat, avoid unnecessary erasure,
writing in the margin etc. And space your words.
b) Give titles and subtitles or
headlines to your texts.
c) Divide your work into paragraphs.
d) Use punctuation marks correctly.
e) Write words in their proper form, for
example, the small ‘i’ must always have a dot as
the head.
f) Use capital letters, small letters
and articles well.
Debating
Skills
A debate is a formal discussion on a
contentious or controversial issue between two groups of people. To
debate
effectively, members of each group plus the hosts must understand the
debating
rules, schedule and skills.
The debating schedule is fixed by the
hosts and indicates the time the debate is supposed to begin and the
two
opposing teams. The schedule also indicates the format of debate like
how many
members per team, how many proposers and opposers and how many minutes
allocated per speaker. It is also important for the participants to
know if
they can use the entire stage, be fixed at the microphone or dress in a
defined
way.
When preparing for debate
1. Identify the topic and prepare to
support and oppose it. It is important to try both sides so that you
can best
present your arguments objectively and knowledgeably.
2. Carry out a mock debate from the
opposing side and proposing side and work on the use of non verbal cues.
3. Research thoroughly on the topic from
the magazines, newspapers, internet, teachers and books.
4. Note down whatever you research that
is relevant by indicating the date of events, the scholars of original
information etc so that when you use the information during debates you
quote
books and people from whom you sourced.
During debate
1. Share responsibilities i.e. first
speaker, second speaker, conclusion, rebuttal etc.
2. Speak in a confident and audible
manner.
3. Use intonation and other non-verbal
cues to make your argument convincing.
4. Observe time allocated
5. Listen carefully to the other
speakers so that you can find weakness in their arguments and dismiss
them when
your turn comes up.
6. Maintain eye contact with the
audience and judges.
7. In situations where you forget points
or you are not sure of what you are saying, maintain a straight and
confident
face so that the audience can believe your lie.
8. Always observe turn taking. In case
of a need to interrupt, do it through the chair’s indulgence.
Using
a dictionary
All words in a dictionary are
alphabetically arranged in order of all letters of the words
respectively. This
is for convenience of usage.
A dictionary will help he user
–Find out the correct spellings of a
word.
–Identify how the word functions in a
sentence e.g. a verb, conjunction, adjective etc.
–Get the meaning of the word.
–Get the correct pronunciation.
–Find the synonyms the homophones of a
word.
–Identify compound nouns that can be
derived from the word. E.g. Over—overcrowd, over react,
overachieve, overwork
etc.
Some words in a dictionary are polysemy
i.e. they have several meanings depending on the context. It is
therefore
important when checking up the meaning of a word in the dictionary to
know the
context where you want to apply the meaning.
E.g. Minute can refer to time or something tiny.
Composition
writing
When writing a composition consider the
following:
1. The composition should be one a
quarter page long A4 size.
2. The story must be written clearly and
legibly. Avoid dirty work and erasure.
3. A good composition would have a good
and creating introduction full of description to set the mood of the
story and
create suspense or curiosity in the examiner.
4. A creative composition should include
a few episodes of dialogue followed by vivid description. The reader
must see
and experience what is happening. The story should involve at least the
sense
of sight, sense of touch, and sense of hearing plus thinking in the
description. Let us see what the characters were wearing, how the
weather was like,
your environment etc. Let us feel how you felt: joy, sadness, ecstasy
etc. Let
us hear what you heard: the sounds, the screaming, the hollow laughers
etc. Let us know
what was going through
your mind—your interior monologue at the time.
5. When writing the story make sure you
have a short plot that runs only for a few minutes. For example you can
write a
story about meeting a friend in town to close a business deal but
during the
negotiations, something happens, so you concentrate first on describing
the
meeting place, the weather, how he is dressed what are your
expectations etc;
so that, you set the mood and the curiosity in the reader.
6. Be ambitious in your story. Let the
examiner know that you are modern and trendy. In your story be
successful, rich
and even still ambitious. Show awareness of trending topics, modern
technology
like phones, vehicles, houses, streets in the city, TV sets, laptops
etc.Research on the recent titles of phones, clothes and current
affairs so
that you can weave them together in your story.
7. The setting of the story should be
urbanized. Avoid going to the forest, and avoid exhausted plots like
being
hijacked by gigantic men, accidents and weddings. Come up with
something short,
unique and original if you want to score an A in composition.
8.
Make sure your punctuation is correct. Learn how to
punctuate dialogue
and how to paragraph dialogue in a story. Be watchful of capital and
small
letters when writing. Always start proper nouns with capital letters
and always
end your sentences with the final punctuation marks.
9. Arrange your work in clear paragraphs
and be sure to flower your work using modern terminologies, a proverb
or an
idiom and quotes where possible but avoid over used phrases or
clichés.
Articles
Articles are very short words placed in
front of nouns. They tell us whether we are referring to a noun in a
specific
or general way.
Definite
article is the.
It is definite because it is used when the speaker and the listener
know what
is being talked about. E.g.
The desk
that you asked for is this. The man has come. The Indian Ocean. The
guitar.
–It is also used when talking about
nationalities because they are familiar. E.g. The Kenyan, the Briton,
the
American etc.
–It is also used when referring to
inventions because they are known and studied. E.g. Who invented the
computer,
the telegram, the electricity etc.
–Use with superlative forms because
they refer to unique things or people within a group who are known. E.g. She is the tallest in
our class. Mount
Everest is the tallest in the world. USA is the richest country in the
world.
Indefinite
articles ‘a’
and ‘an’ are
used with singular nouns. ‘a’ is used with nouns
that begin with consonant sounds
like a cow, a goat, a stick etc. whereas
‘an’ is used with nouns that begin
with vowel sounds like an elephant, an umbrella, an hour etc.
–The indefinite article
‘a’ and ‘an’ is
mainly used when mentioning something or someone for the first time and
in
cases where not all parties are aware of who or what is being talked
about. E.g. I saw a
man run away. A
lady came was asking for you. I
need an umbrella.
Exercise
Fill in each blank space with an
appropriate article.
__man came into the room with__ woman
carrying __umbrella. They took their seats and ordered tea. __ man
whispered
something in __ woman’s ear. She remained transfixed for a
while before
lurching forward and hugging him . __ umbrella which was on the table fell.
Capitalization
A capital letter is used to
a) begin a sentence.
E.g.
He is coming.
b) To begin direct speech.
E.g.
“Go home my friend!” he commanded.
c) To write the personal pronoun
‘I’.
E.g. John and I are
brave.
d) To begin proper nouns.
E.g.
Ghana Romeo
and Juliet Kenya
etc.
e) Days of the week and months.
E.g.
Sunday Monday January
February etc.
f) Names of organisations and religious
bodies e.g. The Catholic Church, Undugu
Society of Kenya etc.
g) In abbreviations e.g.
KBC ,
KTN, R.N.
Mbithi etc.
Turn
taking
Turn taking involves skills in making a
good conversation.
When having a conversation observe the
following
a)Listen carefully when others talk.
b) Show interest in what they are
saying.
c) Encourage them to continue by nodding
your head, using interjections like wow! Eheh! Etc.
d) Speak only when it your turn to do
so.
You can tell when it is your turn by
1) Listening for pauses in the other
party’s speech.
2. Predict when he will come to an end.
3. Watch the body language of the other
speaker that might indicate that he is done speaking e.g. leaning
backwards.
4. Noting when a question requires your
response.
5. Noting when the other speaker begins
to repeat himself needlessly using interjections like ‘you
know’ ‘I mean’.
6. Noting the other speaker’s
intonation
patterns e.g. the falling tone indicates finality.
Group
Discussions
To effectively participate in a group
discussion
1. Select a topic—choose from those
provided especially one that you can manage as a group.
2. Choose a chairperson and a secretary.
A chairperson to
–guide the group
–to call upon individual members to
contribute.
–Keep the discussion moving and guide
from digression or going out of topic.
–keep emotions in check.
A secretary to
–record important points of discussion
–identify and record areas of agreement
–make a presentation of what was
discussed to the rest of the class.
3. Participants preparation for the
discussion
–Research and list the points you want
to make
–Arrange them in some
order—preferably
from the least to the most important plus their respective examples.
–Do not memorize the points as your
speech might not flow naturally.
4. When having a discussion
–listen critically to others
–show interest in their contribution
–and when it is your turn to speak do
so in plain English for clarity
–do not show off for others can turn
against you.
–be brief and stick to the time
allocated
–be polite thoughtful and considerate
–don’t interrupt others if you
disagree.
Disagreeing
politely
If you are in disagreement with another
person try to
–listen attentively in order to
understand the other person’s point of view. Sometimes we
disagree because we
have not understood each other.
–put yourself in the shoes of the other
person and deliberately take the other person’s point of
view; try to
understand that person’s position.
–Focus on the current issue. Even if
you have disagreed before, do not revisit past issues. Doing so raises
unnecessary tensions.
–Explain clearly what you disagree
with. Do not attack the person by humiliating him or her tackle the
problem.
–Exercise self-control. Use polite
language that is sound and sincere.
–Remember that we can agree to disagree.
Other people have a right to hold differing opinions.
When disagreeing use these expressions
I am sorry to say this…
I am afraid you are wrong on that….
please consider also….
Pardon me on this…
excuse me… I regret to admit that… I
understand what you mean but…
That is probably true but…
You have a point but suppose…
This is not easy for me to say but….
Interrupting
Courteously
In the course of listening, we may find
it necessary to interrupt the speaker. This could happen when we feel
that we
have something important to add to what is being said and it cannot
wait till
the speaker finishes talking. We may also interrupt when we feel
inclined to
urgently express doubt or disbelief about a falsehood on something
important
being passed as a fact. Interrupting should be done only when it is
absolutely
necessary.
When
you want to interrupt
—
begin with polite expressions such as
excuse me, pardon me, sorry etc.
–only interject when the speaker pauses
between one sentence and another, not in the middle of a sentence or a
word.
–interrupt in a polite respectful
manner without portraying intolerance
–do not laugh at the mistakes of others
as you interrupt with your contribution
–do not wait impatiently to seize the
opportunity to interrupt since this will disrupt your listening.
Using
you voice effectively
To use your voice effectively on the
stage, it is important to manage stage fright by
–doing thorough preparation on what you
are going to present
–Learning to acquaint yourself with the
audience so that you see them as a bunch of ordinary people who
shouldn’t scare
you.
–Standing upright when speaking
–Looking straight at the audience by
establishing eye contact
–using appropriate gestures and facial
expressions that tally with what you are saying.
To be able to use your voice effectively
–open your mouth wide enough to let out
the voice
–avoid shrill and high-pitched tones
–avoid horse and harsh tones
–breathe in regularly and
smoothly—take
a break when you pause
–finish on one word before starting on
another
–pronounce words correctly
Barriers
to effective listening
—Distractions
such as noise and movement of other people
–Failure to pay attention or having a
short concentration spun, which occurs when someone is speaking to us
and our
minds begin to wander.
–Impatience—we get so impatient with
a
speaker that we begin to guess what he or she wants to say. We end up
not
understanding what one says because we make wrong guesses.
–Criticising delivery and physical
appearance—as listeners, we may focus more on the manner and
language of the
speaker, for instance, mispronunciation or the manner of dressing at
the
expense of the message.
–Jumping to conclusions—we may not
let
the speaker finish to speak; instead ,we react to what we think he is
going to
say.
–Overreacting to emotional
words—when a
speaker uses words that provoke us emotionally, we make judgement that
block
out things that we do not want to
hear.
–Our desire to speak—when someone
else
is speaking to us, we may be busy thinking about what to say next.
–Physiological and emotional
states—sometimes hunger, anxiety, tiredness or sickness can
prevent us from
listening effectively.
–Day dreaming.
Personal
space
Personal space is simply the space
around someone whenever they are. A distance of one metre radius could
be seen
as an ideal personal space. On
the queue,
in a bus, at a party, in public or private, everyone has their own
personal
space no matter who they are. Personal space represents comfort zones
for
people and not necessarily status.
Examples of tips and thing avoid in
respect to other people’s personal space
a) Touching people—avoid touching
people
with whom you do not have close ties. Touching should be consensual.
b) Standing too close to people—avoid
getting too close when talking, greeting etc. and do not hold on to
people’s
hands unnecessarily. Also avoid sitting too close to someone you barely
know.
c) Brushing your body against other
people—in situations where you pass each other in a narrow
space, it is better
to pause and let the other person pass first than to squeeze in. In
some
situations, this can be seen as sexual harassment.
d) Avoid talking over people—the best
thing is to move near and talk; not shouting at a person in the crowd.
–Avoid rifling through someone’s
desk
without his or her permission—some work should not be
accessed without
permission.
–Avoid being loud as you speak over the
phone, shouting, dragging your feet or chair in an environment where
other
people are concentrating on something, eating food with a very strong
smell,
playing music loud etc.
Entering someone’s space usually
means
that you are defining a new relationship with them, which is mutually
agreed.
Question
Identify situations in which it would be
courteous for you to maintain a respectable distance as you interact
with
people.
–When queuing for services, in a bank,
while voting, while
waiting for an
elevator, food etc.
–While sharing public facilities like
transport, urinals and lifts
–When interacting with a stranger
–When interacting with elders, VIPs,
leaders etc.
–When other people are being served in
an office, when in consultation with a doctor etc.
–While interacting with people whose
culture demands it. E.g. No shaking of hands.
–While talking on phone.
Stress
on words
Stress is a force placed on a specific
syllable in a word or on a specific word in a sentence to change its
meaning. A syllable
is a distinct sound
in a word. A word can have one to several syllables. For example
Go—one syllable
Trans/fer—two syllables
Edu/ca/tion—three syllables
Change in stress within a word can lead
to conversion. Conversion is a process of pronunciation which involve
shift in
stress to change a word from one category to another like from a noun
to a verb
or adjective to a verb and vice visor.
For example
‘TRANSport
(noun)—trans’PORT (verb)
‘REject
(noun)—re’JECT (VERB)
Question
Using a dictionary show how stress
changes in these words from noun to verb and adjective to verb where
applicable.
Reject
project
conduct
contest record
invalid
Stress
in Sentences
Stress can be used in a sentence for
certain effects. Usually, when stress is placed on a word within a
sentence,
that word will be pronounced with a higher pitch than the rest. This
automatically adds weight on it which in effect manipulates the meaning
of that
sentence. Consider
the sentence below.
Carol stole my book and sold it to the
hawkers.
We can use stress to manipulate the
meaning of this sentence to achieve the following implications. The
underlined
word in each construction carries the stress.
a) That it was Carol and no one else
that stole my book.
Carol
stole my book and sold it to the hawkers.
b) Than I am the owner of the book that
was stolen and no one else.
Carol stole my book and
sold it
to the hawkers.
c) That the book was sold and not
hidden.
Carol stole my book and sold it
to the hawkers.
d) That the hawkers have the book and
not any other person.
Carol stole my book and sold it to the
hawkers.
e) What Carol did.
Carol stole my book and sold
it to the hawkers.
Question
Use stress in the following sentences to
achieve the following implications in meaning. Rewrite the sentence
with the
stressed word(s) underlined in each case.
When Eunice died of malaria, all hopes
that John had of marital bliss died with her.
a) That John was Eunice’s
fiancé and not
any other.
b) What happened to Eunice.
c) What John lost apart from Eunice.
d) The time that John lost hope in
marital bliss.
e) What killed Eunice.
Natural
Stress
Natural stress would usually fall on the
last word in a sentence. For
example:
He talked of going abroad.
But if a sentence ends with a pronoun or
a preposition we do not stress either, instead, we stress the word
preceding
either. E.g
Something came up.
She told him.
It is something to fight for. They killed
her.
If a sentence ends with a preposition
preceded by a pronoun or a pronoun preceded by a preposition, then we
stress
the word that comes before the two. E.g.
The stranger shouted at me. She led
me on.
Intonation
in Sentences
Intonation refers to the changing of
pitch levels from low to high and high to low in a sentence.
Pitch is the intensity of the voice or
sound when you utter a word.
Higher pitch implies louder sound and
low pitch implies low sound.
We can use intonation to encourage
someone to go on speaking or discourage him.
Rising intonation can be used to
encourage someone to go on speaking or show that we are interested. E.g.
Speaker: One day
Listener:
yes (rising)
Speaker: I met….
We can use falling intonation to
discourage someone from speaking or show that we are not interested.
E.g.
Speaker:
Yesterday I saw a man…
Listener: Okay (falling)
Rising intonation is also used when you
call for the attention of someone. E.g.
Sheila? (rising)
Hey (rising)
–All statements and exclamations have a
falling intonation.
I am coming home today. (falling)
What a match that was! (falling)
–Falling intonation also indicates
finality. For
example when denying
accusations, you can say
I did not do it. (falling)
–All questions that require a Yes/No
answer have a rising intonation. E.g.
Did you go home? (rising)
Yes/No
Is your mom around? (rising) Yes/No
–All questions that do not require a
yes/no answer have a falling intonation. Such questions would normally
begin with
h or wh element. E.g.
What is your name? (falling) My name is
John Kimi.
How was your flight?
When will she arrive? Etc
–Intonation can be used to manipulate
statements; changing them into questions, expressing certainty,
politeness,
doubts etc.
Her name is Mary. (falling) certain
Her name is Mary. (rising) doubting.
Have you had your lunch? (falling)
polite
Have you had your lunch? (rising)
indifferent
–Falling intonation is also used in a
list to show that you have reached your final item. E.g.
One (r) two(r) three(r) four(r)
five(falling)
Question
Identify the intonation that is used in
each of the following sentences and state whether it is a rising or
falling
intonation. Use a rising or falling arrow respectively.
a) I told her to go home.
b) Did you see your mother?
c) Where is your teacher of English?
d) John studies very hard.
e) How old is your friend?
f) Have you learnt good study skills?
g) Fatimah is a beautiful girl.
h) Oh my God!
i) When were you born?
j) Shut up!
Coordinating
Conjunction
A coordinating conjunction such as and,
or, and but joins clauses that are equal in importance together to form
compound sentences.
We use and to
show addition e.g. James and John are missing.
We use but
to express contrast e.g. He is clever but arrogant.
We
use or to show a choice or option
e.g. Tell James or Carol to come.
Correlative
Conjunctions
These
conjunctions join clauses of equal importance. They usually occur in
pairs and
both receive the same attention. Examples.
1.
Both…and… e.g. Both Muli and Musemi sell cloths.
2.
Not only…but also… She
was not only
stupid but also a stammer.
3.
Either…or… e.g. We were to either kill ourselves or be killed by
them.
4.
Whether…or…Sabina doesn’t know whether she will be
admitted in the
University of Nairobi or Maseno.
5.
Neither…nor… e.g. She is neither beautiful nor hardworking.
6.
Hardly/seldom/rarely/barely/scarcely…when… e.g.
It was hardly one o’clock when she
arrived.
She
seldom eats when angry. He
rarely
goes to church when stressed.
7.
Too..to e.g. It was
too good a deal for
him to be true.
8.
So…that… He ran so hard that he fainted on completion.
Exercise
Combine
the following sentences using an appropriate correlative conjunction.
1.
Sarah was devoted to her family
Sarah
was kind to her neighbours
2.
The boys lost their match
The
girls lost their match
3.
We can go on holiday
We
can do community work
4.
We don’t know if tomorrow will be sunny
We
don’t know if tomorrow will be wet
5.
Kerendi refused to sing
Karendi
refused to say a word
6.
She was young
She
wanted to be president
7.
It was noon
She
died
8.
It was good
It
was not true
Subordinating
Conjunctions
A
subordinating conjunction joins a main clause within a sentence to a
subordinate clause or dependent clause.
A
dependent clause is a clause within a sentence that cannot make sense
on its
own. It therefore depends on the independent or main clause for meaning. E.g.
She
came after four O’clock.
Main
subordinate
She
made it although she almost lost
Main
dependent
The
most common subordinating conjunctions are
as, because, for, since, whereas, after, before, until,
while, as if, as
though, except, if, otherwise, unless, although etc.
–Sometimes
dependent clauses appear at the end of sentences and other times at the
beginning. E.g.
Since
it is getting late, we have to walk
faster.
Dependent
main
When
the dependent clause appears first, a comma must be used to separate it
from
the main clause.
–When
a sentence has a subordinating conjunction, it immediately becomes a
complex
sentence. A complex sentence can have one or more than one
subordinating
conjunctions e.g.
While
we were waiting for the bus, an old man came and joined us although we
did not
know him.
Compound sentences
are made up of two or more main clauses joined together by a
coordinating
conjunction. E.g.
He came home but did
not see him.
–Sometimes
a compound sentence can occur without the conjunction e.g. Her life was
pure,
her marriage calm.
A simple sentence has
no conjunctions e.g. Joan is sick.
Sentence Structure
A
sentence is a group of words usually composed of a subject, verb and
object. A
sentence can stand on its own as an independent thought.
Joseph
wanted to buy the book.
Subj
verb
obj
–A
sentence must name a person or thing that forms its topic (the subject)
and
make a comment about it (predicate). Thus the subject is the thing or
person
mentioned and the predicate is the comment made about it.
Ken
is
sick
Subj
predi
A
predicate contain a verb, object and sometime preposition in a
sentence.
She
came for you
–Sometimes
the predicate comes at the beginning of a sentence e.g.
Here
come the bus
–In
some sentences , the subject can be assumed or left out e.g.
(You)
sit down.
Sit down.
Exercise
Identify
the subject and the predicate in the following sentences.
1.
The boy stood on the burning deck.
2.
The singing of the birds delights us.
3.
Bad habits grow unconsciously.
4.
Nature is the best physician.
5.
Edison invented the photograph.
6.
Borrowed garments never fit well.
7.
I shot an arrow into the air.
8.
On the top of the hill lives a hermit.
9.
All roads lead to Rome.
10.
The early bird catches the worm.
Other types of
sentences are
Statement—Most
sentences start with a capital letter and end with a full stop.
Statements can
be
Declaratives if
they declare something like I have won.
Affirmatives/Assertives
if they emphasis
something e.g. I will take you home for sure.
Commands/Imperatives if
they order e.g. Be quiet.
Interrogatives/Questions
if they ask e.g. What is your name?
Exclamatory if
they end with an exclamation mark. E.g What a shame!
Negative statements
if they have the word not or no/never e.g. You do not look tired.
FILLING IN FORMS
Forms
help us to collect and give information.
When filling in forms consider the following:
1.
Read the entire form carefully and make sure you understand what is
required of
you.
2.
Pay attention to instructions
3.
Fill by writing legibly per instructions.
4.
Use capital letters and avoid crossing out by thinking carefully before
writing.
5.
If a question doesn’t apply to you write N/A or not applicable: do not
leave blank spaces.
6.
When in doubt about any question ask or refer to notes on the margin.
7.
Avoid filling in spaces reserved for others or official use.
8.
When you have filled in the form, proof-read it and make all the
necessary
corrections.
10.
Distinguish clearly between Sir names (family name), first name
(Christian)
last name (oft Sir name). On most forms, the Sir name is required
first. If the
form asks for your full name, start with your first or Christian name
and end
with your Sir name. Do
not use initials.
11.
Home address should be the street name and the block number plus house
number
in the town or village of your residency.
INTERJECTIONS
An
interjection is a word or group of words that express strong feelings.
It has
no grammatical connection to any other words in the sentence.
Interjections are
often followed by exclamation marks.
The
following are common interjections
Word |
Alternate/ Similar |
Translation |
Example |
Meaning |
aah! |
aaah, aaaahh |
“Help!” |
“Aaaah! It’s eating my leg!” |
Fright, shock. Sometimes it means “ahh”
instead. |
aha |
a-ha |
“I understand” |
“Aha! So you took the
money!” |
Understanding, triumph (can also be used as
“ahh”) |
ahem |
“Attention, please!” |
“Ahem! Swearing is against office policy.” |
The sound of clearing one’s throat. Used to get
someone’s attention, especially if they don’t know (or apparently
forgot) that you’re there. |
|
ahh |
ahhh, ohh |
“Ok, I see” |
“Ahh, yes, I understand now” |
Realisation, understanding. Sometimes it means
“aaah” or “eh” instead. |
ahh |
ahhh.. |
“So relaxing” |
“Ahh… This hot tub is amazing” |
Relief or relaxation |
argh |
augh |
“Damn!” |
“Argh, the car won’t work!” |
Annoyance, anger, frustration |
aww |
aw, awww |
“How sweet!” |
“Aww, what an adorable puppy” |
Shows sentimental approval (also see next
entry) |
aww |
aw, ohh, ahh |
“That’s too bad” |
“Aww, it hit him right in the nuts!” |
Feeling sorry or pity for someone |
aw |
oh |
“Come on!” |
“Aw, don’t be like that!” |
Mild disappointment or protest |
bah |
“Whatever” |
“Bah, I never liked him anyways.” |
Dismissive, annoyed |
|
boo |
booh |
“That’s bad” |
“Boo, get off the stage!” |
Disapproval, contempt |
boo! |
booh! |
“Scared you!” |
I jumped out from the closet and yelled “boo!” |
A noise used to scare people by surprise |
boo-hoo |
boohoo |
“I’m crying!” |
Your internet is slow? Boo-hoo, how sad for you. |
Used, often sarcastically, to imitate crying. |
brr |
brrrr |
“It’s cold” |
“Brrr, it’s -20C outside” |
Being cold, shivering |
d’oh |
doh |
“That was stupid/bad!” |
“I just deleted all my files. D’oh!” |
Homer
Simpson’s catchphrase when something bad happens. |
duh |
“That’s dumb” |
“Duh, you didn’t plug it in.” |
Expresses annoyance over something stupid or
obvious |
|
eek |
eeeek |
“Help!” |
“Eeek, a mouse!” |
Girly scream. Surprised, scared. |
eep |
“Oh no!” |
“Eep! I didn’t mean to say that!” |
Surprise (female) |
|
eh? |
huh? |
“What?” |
“Eh? I didn’t hear what you said.” |
Misunderstanding. Also see “eh?” below |
eh? |
huh?, eyh? |
“Is that right?” |
“So she dumped you, eh?” |
Stereotypically overused by Canadians |
eww |
ugh, ewww |
“Disgusting” |
“Ewww, this apple is rotten” |
Disgust, dislike |
gah |
“This is hopeless” |
“Gah, I give up” |
Exasperation and despair |
|
gee |
“Really?” |
“Gee, that’s super!” |
Surprise, enthusiasm, or just general emphasis. |
|
grr |
grrrr |
“I’m angry” |
“Grrr, I’ll kick his ass” |
Anger, snarling, growling. Often used for dogs
and other animals. |
hmm |
hm, hmmmm |
“I wonder” |
“Hmm, I’m not sure about that” |
Thinking, hesitation. |
humph |
harumph |
“I don’t like this” |
“There are kids on my lawn again, humph!” |
A snort, to express dislike, disbelief or
annoyance. |
hah |
heh |
“Funny.” |
“Heh, that’s clever” |
The first syllable of “hahaha”, when something
is just a little funny |
haha |
hehe, hahaha, bahaha |
“Funny!” |
“Haha, that’s hilarious!” |
Regular laughter. |
huh |
“Really?” |
“Huh, you were right” |
Mild, indifferent surprise |
|
hurrah |
hooray, huzzah |
“Let’s celebrate!” |
“Hurrah, we won!” |
Generic exclaimation of joy |
ick |
yuck, ich, yak |
“Disgusting” |
“Ick, this milk has gone bad” |
Disgust, dislike |
meh |
eh |
“I don’t know” |
“Meh, whatever you think is best” |
Indifference |
mhm |
mmhm, uh-hu |
“Yes” |
“Do you think so too?” “Mhm” |
Agreement, acknowledgement. |
mm |
mmm, mmh |
“Lovely” |
“Mmm, this ice cream is delicious” |
Pleasure. Sometimes it means “hmm” instead. |
muahaha |
mwahaha, bwahaha |
“I’m so evil!” |
“I switched the sugar and the salt! Muahaha!” |
Evil villain’s triumphant laugh |
mwah |
m-wah |
“Kiss!” |
“Thanks, you’re so sweet! Mwah!” |
The sound of blowing a kiss |
nah |
“No” |
“Want another beer?” “Nah, I’m good” |
Informal no |
|
nuh-uh |
nuh-hu, nu-huh |
“No, it isn’t!”/”Did not!” |
“I hit you!” “Nuh-uh!” “Yuh-uh!” “Nuh-uh!” |
Childish negation or refusal |
oh |
“I see” |
“Oh, you wanted sugar, not milk.” |
Realisation |
|
ooh-la-la |
oh-lala |
“Fancy!” |
“A seven layer wedding cake? Ooh-la-la!” |
An often ironic (or just funny) way indicating
that something is fancy or high class |
ooh |
oooh |
“Wonderful!” |
“Oooh, it’s shiny!” |
Wonder, amazement (ohhh can also mean ahhh) |
oomph |
umph |
“I’m exerting myself” |
“Push on 3.. 1, 2, 3.. oomph!” |
A grunt made on sudden exertion. Also used as a
noun to mean “power” or “energy” (“This song needs more oomph!”) |
oops |
“I didn’t mean to do that” |
“Oops, I knocked your cup over” |
Being surprised at or acknowledging your own
mistakes |
|
ow |
oww, ouch, yeow |
“That hurts” |
“Oww, I hit my thumb” |
Pain |
oy |
oi, oyh |
“Hey, you!” |
“Oy! You forgot your wallet!” |
Mainly British: Used to get someone’s
attention, similar to “hey!”. Also used disapprovingly (“Oy, you
spilled your drink all over me!”). |
oy |
oy vay |
“Oh no…” |
“The bills are biling up. Oy…” |
Mainly Jewish: Used to express self-pity,
similar to “woe is me!” |
pew |
pee-yew |
“It stinks!” |
“Pew, that smells so gross!” |
Used for foul odors |
pff |
pffh, pssh, pfft |
“That’s nothing” |
“Pff, I once caught a fish twice that size” |
Unimpressed |
phew |
“That was close!” |
“I didn’t do my homework, but the teacher
didn’t check. Phew!” |
Expressing relief |
|
psst |
Whispering “Hey, you!” |
“Psst. Let’s skip the next class!” |
Used to quietly get someone’s attention, often
to tell them a secret. |
|
sheesh |
jeez |
“I can’t believe this!” |
“Sheesh, now he’s drunk again” |
Exasperation, annoyance (corruption of “Jesus”) |
shh |
hush, shush |
“Be quiet” |
“Shh, I’m trying to hear what they’re saying!” |
Used to make someone be quiet |
shoo |
“Go away” |
“Get out of here! Shoo!” |
Used to drive away animals or small children |
|
tsk-tsk |
tut-tut |
“Disappointing” |
“Tsk-tsk, he is late for work again” |
disappointment, contempt (this is a clicking
sound. Clip
from Futurama) |
uh-huh |
mhm, uh-hu |
“Yes” |
“Do you think so too?” “Uh-hu” |
Agreement, acknowledgement (easily confused
with uh-uh) |
uh-oh |
oh-oh |
“Oh no!” |
“Uh-oh, I think the bear is inside the house” |
Concerned for indications that something will
happen |
uh-uh |
unh-unh |
“No” |
“Eat your spinach!” “Uh-uh!” |
Refusal, especially if your mouth is full or if
you refuse to open it (easily confused with uh-huh) |
uhh |
uhm, err |
“Wait, I’m thinking” |
“Seven times eight is… uhh… 56” |
Indicates a pause in, rather than the end of, a
sentence |
waah |
waaaaah |
“I’m crying!” |
“I don’t want you to go! Waaah!” |
Used, often sarcastically, for imitating crying
or whining. |
wee |
whee, weee |
“This is fun!” |
“Weee! Faster!” |
Used by children when doing something fun, and
often ironically by adults when something is fun but childish |
whoa |
“Hold on.” |
“Whoa, take it easy!” |
Can be used to suggest caution as in here, and
also stereotypically used by marijuana smokers to express dumbfounded
amazement (“whoa, look at the colors!”). Originally a sound used to
make horses stop. |
|
wow |
“Amazing!” |
“Wow, that’s incredible!” |
Impressed, astonished |
|
yahoo |
yippie |
“Let’s celebrate!” |
“Yippie! We won!” |
Generic exclaimation of joy |
yay |
“Yes!” |
“Yay! We won!” |
All-purpose cheer. Approval, congratulations
and triumph |
|
yeah |
yeeeeaah! |
“Yes!” |
“Yeeeaah! Kick his butt!” |
Common slang for “yes”, sometimes also used as
an interjection. |
yee-haw |
yeehaw |
“I’m excited!” |
“Let’s gather some cattle! Yee-haw!” |
Much like “yahoo”, but almost always associated
with cowboys. |
yikes |
“That’s a bad surprise.” |
“I found out I owed $5000 in back taxes. Yikes!” |
Fear and alarm. |
|
yoo-hoo |
yoohoo |
“Hey you!” |
“Yoo-hoo, sugercup! Come give me a hug!” |
The often ironic/comical, seductive call of a
woman to get someone’s attention |
yuh-uh |
yuh-hu, yu-huh |
“Yes, it is!”/”Did so!” |
“I hit you!” “Nuh-uh!” “Yuh-uh!” “Nuh-uh!” … |
Childish affirmation, often used to counter
“nuh-uh!” (not to be confused with yoo-hoo). |
yuck |
ick, ich, blech, bleh |
“Disgusting!” |
“Yuck, I wouldn’t want to touch that” |
Disgust, dislike |
Exercise
Fill
the blanks in the sentences below with an appropriate interjection in
each
case.
1.
__! I forgot my rain coat.
2.
__! We won the match.
3. __!
How are you?
4.
__! Did you see how Komen leapt?
5.
__! That was painful.
6.
__! It really works.
7.
__! We achieved our goal.
8.
__! That will show them.
9.
__! What an exciting experience.
10.
__! Let us try out my new bicycle.
Reminders
A
reminder is usually a list of things you want to do and appointments
you want
to remember. It is a personal document.
E.g.
Saturday 2 October 2016 –Complete English assignment –wash clothes –help dad trim the hedge –visit D. J. In hospital –Read chapter 4 of Caucasian Chalk
Circle—must do. |
–Sometimes
within an organisation, reminders are used to refresh specific
people’s memory
about impending responsibilities.
The
secretary can be instructed to remind a certain worker or even the boss
of an
upcoming meeting e.g. in form of a memo.
LUGULU GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL
P.O. BOX PRIVATE BAG
WEBUYE
REMINDER
FROM:
The principal
TO
: the H.O.D languages
DATE
: 20th May 2016
SUBJECT:
Submission of records
You
are reminded that on 3rd of June 2016, the
county supervision of
schools will be underway. Make sure you submit your departmental
records in
time.
Sign:
-h__ysh
Reminders
can also be in form of a formal letter e.g.
NZOIA
SUGAR COMPANY
P.O.
BOX 411
BUNGOMA
23RD
MAY 2016
Joash
Malo
P.O.
BOX 468
MATUNDA
RE:
A Reminder
You
are reminded to report to work next month on 2nd
of June 2016, at
9.00 AM.
Your
personnel manager will be waiting with instructions. Be prompt.
The
Secretary
Jane
Wakoli
Writing
a Dialogue
A dialogue is a conversation between two
people or more. A dialogue can be written directly in two
forms—play and prose.
Dialogue
in composition or prose
When writing a dialogue in a composition
observes the following:
–Use speech marks to enclose spoken
words and separate them from commentary and description.
–Always start quotations with a capital
letter; the opening quotation marks should be before the first letter
and the
closing quotations after the punctuation mark as shown below.
“Can I talk to him?” asked
Moses.
“Tom should go home,” Anne said.
–the commentary words coming after a
quotation should always start with a small letter unless it is a name
of a
person.
“I love you,” he whispered. “Who are
you?” she
asked.
“Go to hell!” he thundered.
–If a quotation starts with commentary
words, then a comma must be used to separate them from the direct
speech and
the speech must end in a question mark, exclamation mark or full stop. E.g.
He asked, “Where are we going to
meet?” She
said, “I can’t cope any
longer.”
Jane shouted, “I hate you!”
Writing dialogue in a composition can
only be creative if you mix the dialogue with vivid description or
dramatic
situations. Always provide a context for the dialogue in terms of what
was
going through the mind of the speaker, body language, the weather, if
he or she
was nervous, how they said the words etc. e.g.
“Hi?” she whispered to him.
She was
trying hard to hide her embarrassment. The heat of the day was rising
making
the streets hostile and inhospitable. She regretted wearing the heavy
cotton
outfit that was absorbing the rising heat.
“Hey,” he answered drawing
her close for
a hug. They hugged for long moments before disengaging.
“You look different.”
“I do?” she
hadn’t noticed the change he
was talking about.
–When writing dialogue, always start
the dialogue in a new paragraph. Make sure you space your dialogue by
decongesting it from the general narration.
Writing
dialogue in play form
When writing dialogue in play form,
observe the following:
1. A play must always start with stage
directions. The stage directions are always cantered on the page and
enclosed
in brackets. They introduce the first characters; detail the setting of
the
dialogue, the manner of talking, the time and background. E.g.
{Action takes place in a single room
that looks like a living room commonplace in rich suburbs. A very
comfortable
couch is visible and on it a middle aged woman is sitting reading a
novel. She
is dressed in pyjamas and on the other side of the couch a man who
looks
visibly annoyed is sitting pensive and uncomfortable.}
2. Names of characters should be written
in capital letters and placed on the left side of the page followed by
a colon
before their speech. E.g.
KEN: How are you doing mom?
3. Pronouns should not be used in place
of names. Only names should be used or other titles. E.g.
I:
ME: HE:
IS NOT ALLOWED.
4. The speech of characters should be
separated from their names clearly without any overlap. E.g.
SIMON:
Tell me more about the problems you discussed yesterday
with His
Excellency the president at
the
function you wrote about.
5. Use stage directions to show emotions
and non verbal cues used within the dialogue and to make your dialogue
creative. E.g.
KEN: (smiling) Hullo dear.
JANET: (blushing) I am fine Ken.
Thanks. (While
ransacking in her bag) I
wanted to show you something. Can you spare me a few minutes?
KEN: (Visibly excited)
Yes…er..huh. What is it my dear?
6. Speech marks are not used in play
format and the speakers take turns to speak.
Poetry
Poetry is the study of poems and the
poetic language. A poem is a creative composition usually written in
verse and
that uses diction, imagery and economy of words to communicate.
A
poet is someone who writes poems. The voice
speaking in a poem is called the persona.
What the persona refers to or talks to in a poem would be the subject and the issue that is being
talked about or being raised is the
subject matter or theme.
In many cases the voice speaking in the
poem or the persona is different from the poet. The persona can be a
female
voice denouncing men but the writer of the poem is male.
The girl next
door by G.R.
Lazarus
She was the girl
next door
Beautiful
booming and shy
Our interaction
was measured
Our chemistry
guarded
But she was
curious and hideous
Then she was of
age and I married
But more lustful
and hideous
In the poem above the poet is Lazarus.
The subject of the poem is the girl next door because the persona is
referring
to her. The subject matter or theme of the poem is love/lust because
the
persona is attracted to the girl next door and although he later gets
married
to someone else he still sees her. The persona in the poem is a man who
neighbours the girl (she was the girl next door). Remember the persona
is
different from Lazarus, the poet.
Lapobo by Cliff Lumbwa
Lapobo,
Tall
but not too tall
Short
but not too short
She
is of medium height
Lapobo
Her
teeth are not as ash
Nor
the colour of maize flour
Her
teeth are as white as fresh milk
The
whiteness of her teeth
When
I think of her Lo!
Makes
food drop from my hand
Lapobo
Black
but not too black
Brown
but not too brown
Her
skin colour is just between black and brown
Lapobo
Her
feet have no cracks
Her
palms are smooth and tender to touch
Her
eyes—Ho! They can destroy anybody
The structure
of the poem refers to how the lines in a poem are arranged.
For example, a poem
can have four stanzas and each stanza can carry five lines. In some
cases like
in this poem by Lumbwa, the structure of the poem is made to resemble a
picture
of a beautiful woman whose features are well arranged.
In this poem the poet is Cliff Lumbwa,
the persona is a lover who admires Lapobo (Lapobo, black but not too
black),
the subject is Lapobo (Lapobo, her teeth are white as fresh milk),
subject
matter is love—the persona loves Lapobo (Her
eyes—ho! They can destroy anybody)
Clementine by
Okot P’Bitek
Ocol is no
longer in love with the old type
He is in love
with a modern girl
The name of the
beautiful one is Clementine
Brother when you
see Clementine
The beautiful
one aspires
To look like a
white woman
Her lips are
red-hot like glowing charcoal
She resembles
the wild cat
That has dipped
its mouth in blood
Her mouth is
like raw meat
It looks like
open ulcers
Like the mouth
of an ogre
Tina dusts
powder on her face
And it looks so
pale
She resembles
the wizard
Getting ready
for the midnight dance
Questions
Identify the structure, the persona, the
poet, the subject and the subject matter of the poem.
Rhythm
in Poetry
Rhythm in poetry is achieved through
repetition of words or sounds.
Rhyme
is the repletion of sounds at the end of
lines in a poem. This repetition can be in form of a scheme where it
forms a
pattern that runs across the poem or just in a few lines. E.g.
They said we should be honest
And taught us to be the best
In staying pure and chaste
But I feel and look like a guest
Because here, to be best
Is to be corrupt with zest
In this poem the end sounds /est/ has been
repeated several times and therefore the poem has rhyme. When
identifying rhyme
only sounds shoud be considered not words. The last two sounds whether
they
constitute a syllable or not. E.g. –est in best, /eid / in
made, /et/ in set. A
long sound is considered as a single sound and must therefore be
attached to
another before deciding if it rhymes or not. E.g.
The words bee, see and tea do no rhyme
although they all end with /i:/ but the words dear, seer, fear and tear
rhyme
because they end with two distinct sounds /ia/.
Sometimes words rhyme although they have
different spellings, so it important to only consider how words are
pronounced
and not written. For example, the words day, weigh, grey and bouquet rhyme for they all end
with the /ai/ sounds as
in /dei/ /wei/ /grei/ and /bukei/ but they have different spellings at
the end.
When a poem has a few words that rhyme
then the style in the poem will be use
of rhyming words e.g.
We suffer from normalcy
And ignorance in our diplomacy
We ought to find normal boring
Life should not get comfortable
Too much comfort kills
In this poem there is use of rhyming
words i.e. diplomacy and normalcy but the poem has not rhyme scheme.
Internal
rhyme refers to use of rhyming words within a
line of a poem if the line is dived into two clauses and they all end
with the
same sound e.g.
Although they set a target,
it
was not met
So she devised a different structure,
amidst the troubled future
Rhyme
scheme is a pattern that is created by
repetition of sounds at the end of lines to create rhythm. The scheme
can be
regular or irregular depending on whether the next set of sounds can be
predicated or not. Letters of the alphabet are used to represent sounds
in a
rhyme scheme. A rhyme scheme is written in a flowing manner without
uses of
commas or any other punctuation.
This the debt I pay (a)
Just for one riotous day (a)
Year of regret and grief (b)
Sorrow without relief (b)
Pay it, I will to the end
(c)
Until the grave, my friend
(c)
Gives me a true release (d)
Gives me the clasp of peace
(d)
Slight was the thing I bought
(e)
Small was the debt I thought
(e)
Poor was the loan at best (f)
God! But the interest (f)
The rhyme scheme in the poem above will
be aabbccddeeff this rhyme scheme is a regular one because we can
easily
predict the next sound to be gg. This rhyme scheme creates musicality
in the
poem and also reinforces the meanings of the words that rhyme.
Alliteration
involves the repetition of initial consonant
sounds in close proximity in order to create rhythm, for example,
She sang a sad
song
or They lasted
longer
than they had last time
Consonance
on the other hand involves repetition of
consonant sounds present at the middle or at the end of words e.g.
He fought and thought
about it or
She had talked
about it a lot
Exercise
Describe the use of alliteration and
consonance in the poem below.
Hague
The gloomy gallant faces
Stare sadly at their fate
The silent voices so eloquent
Begging for justice as Jesus justified
‘No love between neighbours
Is the biggest sin on earth.’
Assonance
in poetry
Assonance is the repetition of vowel
sounds in words that follow each other closely in a poem usually to
create
musicality.
Question
Describe assonance in the poem below.
Politics
All his life James had thanked her
Pleading heaving and leaning on false
fortified force
Filth sickly and sinful to her hateful
eyes
Booing him she looked good—sly fly
and
likely to puke
She had slept with him and borne him a
boy
The boy was buoyant and young
I am their only son
and they are rival politicians
Imagery
in poetry is the use of Figurative
language or language that
create mental pictures of situations. Such mental pictures are created
by the
following styles:
Metaphor
which is the direct reference to
something using the quality of something else in order to show that
they share
such a trait. E.g. Joseph is a lion. To show that
Joseph is as strong/dangerous/brave etc
as a lion.
Simile
is making a comparison of two things
using words like as…as, like, akin to etc e.g. she sung like an
angel.
Symbolism
refers to the use of objects or things
in a poem that have meaning outside the poem. For example a snake is
generally
considered to be an embodiment of evil and trickery; whiteness a symbol
of
purity, blood a symbol of violence and death etc. when such things are
used in
a poem they create symbolism.
Personification
refers to giving human qualities to
animals and things like plants or stones. A tree whispering, a stone
crying, an
elephant talking etc.
Exercise
Describe imagery in the poem below.
He toiled from dawn to dusk for a piece
of silver
He was a lioness in the hunt for meat
Many days the needs grew as the muscles moaned
Six pack albs, triceps and biceps winked
His lean body mysterious like an
aphrodisiac
Was a source of lustful admiration to
the master’s wife
who wished her husband had such a body
Yet the husband was full of silver
She did not wish her husband to lose the
silver
She wanted the lean body and the silver
But it seemed it was difficult to have
both
The silver in the poem is used
symbolically to represent wealth or money. The man is said to be a
lioness
which means he was very brave and determined as a lioness usually is
when it
wants o kill a big game. The
six pack
albs, biceps and triceps are said to wink which would be
personification to
show that they were tempting and charming. Also the muscles moaning is
personification. His lean body mysterious like an
aphrodisiac—this is a simile
which shows how sexually attractive the man was.
Irony
in Poetry
Irony in poetry occurs when there is a
contradiction between what the reader expects and what happens in the
poem.
Describe irony in the poem below.
They Ran Out of
Mud by Miriam Were
There is a
little hut
Built across
from here
They’ve mudded
two walls
And the rest
stands unmade
For they ran out
of mud
There is a deep
gully
Running along
the road
They have filled
it halfway
And the rest is
still gaping
For they ran out
of mud
There is a pot y
the alter
That they began
to mould
They finished
the base
But the neck
remains undone
For they ran out
of mud
Mud! Mud!
Who can find mud
Maybe if it were
gold
Someone would
Answer
Mud is
commonplace—it is ubiquitous and hence a lame excuse for not
finishing to mud
the walls, or fill the gully or complete moulding the alter. The
persona
suggests that if it was gold which is very expensive they could have
found it
but not mud. This shows that the workers are very lazy and give
inexplicable
excuses to hide their laziness. It is thus ironical that they have run
out of
mud but if it were gold they could have found it.
The Beard
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 neighbour?”
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
chat outside;
“Weep not child,
you are pardoned.”
“But, Sir, your
beard conjured up
The spirit of my
dead goat!”
Question
Describe irony in the poem above.
The lady cries and the preacher thinks
that it is because her sins weigh on her so he talks to her and thinks
that by
her repentance she has been pardoned. But in reality the woman was
weeping
because she saw the preacher’s beard which conjured up
memories of her dead
goat.
Satire
in Poetry
Satire is a stylistic device where a
persona uses a mocking language to criticise people, things or
situations. The
poet might create characters at whom we can laugh, especially by
depicting them
in a ridiculous way.
Satire is mainly used to expose the wrong
or foolish deeds or beliefs of a person or society.
Spoiling Our Celebrations
When last Jamuhuri day
The ceremonial flag stuffs were laid in
our streets
It was soon discovered
Twenty of the new flags had been stolen
“We fear,” said the council
that if the theft continue
the whole of the Jamuhuri celebrations
may be ruined
We only recently acquired this new set
Of one thousand from the government
Each cost sh1000, we spent sh 1,000,000 on
all
Police are searching for the thieves
The flags which are six feet by four
Are not being stolen for display
They are probably used as rags
Or bedcovers by beggars
This is misusing a national emblem
In an undignified manner
What a shame that beggars in their beds
Are not dignified with their bedcovers
Question
Describe satire in the poem above.
The persona is mocking the government
for putting so much emphasis on the dignity of the flag as a national
emblem
but ignoring the wants of the poor and beggars who have no beddings and
have
now resorted to stealing the flags for this purpose. It is funny that
the
government officials talk about indignity of the beggars when they
actually
have been abandoned with no self dignity by the government.
I Went to Church
I went to church today
Yes I went and prayed for all
Friends and foes alike
Dead and those alive
I also prayed hard
For the soul of that soldier
Who got shot
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
Question
Describe satire in the poem above
The poet uses the poem to ridicule
church goers. That some of them go there to cover up their sins and do
not
really go with an aim to repent and worship. The persona thinks of
carrying on with
his adulterer behaviour
which will keep
him coming to church. He
says he prays
for the soldier who got shot while the persona was shooting hot life
into his
wife.
Western Civilization
Sheets of tin nailed to post
Driven in the ground
Make up the house
Some rags complete
The intimate landscape
The sun slanting through the cracks
Welcome 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 the dark nights
Is enough when he dies
Gratefully
Of hunger
Question
Describe Satire in the above poem.
The poet mocks western civilisation. The
received wisdom is that western civilisation is always associated with
exotic
modern things and ways of living but the persona in his quest for
western
civilisation experiences hardships working on hot and rainy days until
he ages
quickly living in a shanty house. This is the darker side of the
civilisation
that many people go through and that the persona knows well.
Mood
Attitude and Tone in Poetry
Mood
refers to the feelings you get when you
read a poem or the atmosphere that surround events in a poem and that
could
influence how the reader or the audience feels after reading or
listening to
the poem.
A poem that centres on a funeral/death
will certainly have a sorrowful or sad mood, whereas, one that centres
on a
wedding or any celebration of an achievement should have a happy,
contented or
jovial mood.
Attitude
refers to the feelings that the persona
has towards the subject the persona is talking about. For instance, in
the poem
the persona may describe someone who is corrupting children and
oppressing
people using words like disgusting, blemish, rogue etc. The attitude
therefore
would be resentful or hateful or even malicious. If the persona uses
polite and
loving terms to describe an event or a person like charming, amiable,
kind etc.
Then the attitude of the persona towards the subject is approving,
welcoming,
sympathetic etc. It
is important to use
the persona’s words in determining his or her attitude
towards the subject.
Tone
refers to the nature of the voice used
in a poem. It is important to know what the poem is talking about in
order to
identify the tone of the persona. The tone of the persona is closely
influenced
by the attitude towards the subject and the general mood of the poem. For instance, if the
persona loved the
subject and his attitude towards it was loving; if the subject is dead,
then
the tone would be sad, if the subject
is
around it might be loving tone etc. If the persona is a father talking
to a son
in a polite way then the tone can be patronizing.
Adjectives
for tone in poetry
Sarcastic
remorseful
obnoxious dull guilty
alarmed fresh dreary
light startled sadistic
happy heavy horrified
secular sad quizzical /inquisitive disgruntled
political narcissistic sardonic/ mocking hurtful social devoted foolish loving liberal/democratic bitter/ sour
sympathetic mysterious conservative
angry intelligent/enlightened /clever
religious resentful/hateful
irritated despiteful prayerful
annoyed suspicious/
doubtful melancholic
Attitude
Joyous
angry
sad cold Warm
agreeable contemptuous
calm delightful kind trustful
sadistic cheerful playful
appreciative
fearful
resentful
Mood
Serene/calm
respectful happy
fearful sorrowful
sombre
melancholic
jovial reflective/meditative angry nostalgic thoughtful
Question
Read the poem below and establish its
mood, tone and attitude.
A Pregnant School Girl
He paid her seat in the matatu
And walked away:
As he disappeared in the city crowd
All her dreams vanished
One more passenger squeezed in
And lit a cigarette
She opened the window
And spat cold saliva out
As the cigarette smoke intensified
She wanted to vomit
She remembered the warm nights
When she was her man’s pet
She remembered the promises
The gifts, the parties, the dances
She remembered her classmates at school
Who envied her expensive shoes
Lipstick, wrist watch, handbag
Which she brought to school
After a weekend with him
The future stood against her
Dark like a night without the moon
And silent like the end of the world
As the matatu sped away from the city
She began to tremble with fear
Wondering what her parents would say
With all hope gone
She felt like a corpse
Going home to be buried
The mood of this poem is sad because
when you read you feel sad and a bit sympathetic for the pregnant
school girl
who has been used by her lover and dumped and who now feels like a
corpse with
no future.
The attitude of the persona towards the
school girl is sympathetic. The persona feels sympathy for the girl and
that is
why he dwells on the consequences of her condition by saying the future
stood
against her; she
began to tremble with
fear etc.
The tone of the persona is
calm/indifferent because
the persona
remains calm throughout the poem only showing a bit of sympathy for the
girl’s
condition but not getting emotionally involved in the life of the girl.
Dramatisation
in Poetry
Introduction by Richard Ntiru
Perhaps it was his ugly shirt
The missing button
The unassertive collar;
Perhaps it was his knotty hair
That boasted little acquaintance with
the comb
Or maybe it was his usualness
–one more impersonal handshake
Along the constant street—
That induced the functional smile
And operated the mechanical handshake.
His name didn’t help either;
Mugambo Mugenge—you’d hear
the name
In the out-patient’s attendance queue;
Not in the current telephone directory
You certainly needed prompting
I said he was an old-time friend
But you continued to wave to passing
cars;
I added that he was a high placed man
And you promptly too you cue
–“A university teacher, author of
several works”—
“RE-E-E-ally? Er-um-oh!…”
And you became word and emotional
perfect
Like a dog that mistakes a thief for a
visitor
And remembers to bark at his mater’s
coughing,
You renewed and pumped the handshake
–reshaped your mouth to a proper smile
–recalled his famous public talk
That you had regretfully missed…
And observed, thoughtfully,
How unlike his photograph he looked
You were tuned—
Delved deep into his latest novel
And wondered why his main characters
Do not walk on the solid earth
And fail to effect living communication
You’d have rambled on, no longer
looking
at him
But he quipped: “They are in good
company!”
And was about to add when you
knowledgeably interrupted
“Society is a market stall
And men goods on display
Where the label is more important than
the labelled
And price more fascinating than the
value.”
We parted hoping to meet again
You went away rehearsing his name
But probably unremembering his face
Questions
1. How would you say the following lines?
a) Perhaps it was his ugly shirt.
b) Perhaps it was his knotty hair.
c) That induced a functional smile.
d) But you continued to wave to passing
cars.
e) But probably unremembering his face
Pronouns
A pronoun is a word that can replace a
noun in a sentence. E.g. Tom loves Mary but she
doesn’t love him.
She replaces Mary and him replaces Tom. Nouns that are replaced by
pronoun in
the same sentence are known as antecedents. To and Mary are antecedents
in the
sentence above because they are replaced by him and she respectively.
–A pronoun can occur as a subject (come
before a verb in a sentence) or an object (come after a verb or
preposition in
a sentence). If a pronoun occurs as subject it will be in subjective
form and
if it occurs as an object, it will be in objective form.
Personal
pronouns are pronouns that refer to people.
Subjective
and objective forms
Singular subjective |
Singular objective |
|
Plural subjective |
Plural objective |
I |
Me |
|
WE |
us |
YOU |
You |
|
YOU |
You |
HE |
Him |
|
THEY |
Them |
SHE |
Her |
|
THEY |
Them |
IT |
It |
|
THEY |
Them |
First
person pronoun refers to a pronoun that is used
as subjects or a speaker in a sentence both singular and plural. E.g.
(Subjective)
I went
home. We
ate the mangoes etc.
(Objective) She gave me
the book. Bring
us
the bottles.
Second
person pronoun refers to the pronoun that is
used as the listener or the person or thing being talked to in a
sentence.
E.g.
(Subjective) What do you
want? You
should
go home.
(Objective) She came for you.
The money was for all of you.
You
is used in subjective and objective
forms and again, both singular and plural forms in the second person
pronouns.
The
third person pronoun refers to the pronoun that
is used as the person or thing being talked about but is not present.
E.g.
(Subjective forms) He
went home. She is not feeling well.
It rained
heavily last tight. In plural, they is used in all cases. They went home. They
are
not feeling well.
(Objective forms) They gave him
the job. John came for her. Ken
saw it run. In plural objective
form , them is used in all cases. Anne
gave them the money.
Possessive
pronouns show possession. E.g. This is my
book . This is mine. A possessive pronoun
replaces not just a noun
but an adjective plus a noun as seen in the above example where mine
replaces
‘my book’.
–We use possessive pronouns when it is
not necessary to use the possessive adjective and a noun.
Is this his book? No, it is
yours.
—The
possessive adjective, its,
doesn’t
take an apostrophe. E.g.
The cat drunk
its milk.
POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES SINGULAR |
POSSESSIVE ADJECTIVES PLURAL |
POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS SINGULAR |
POSSESSIVE PRONOUNS PLURAL |
MY |
OUR |
MINE |
OURS |
YOUR |
YOUR |
YOURS |
YOURS |
HIS |
THEIR |
HIS |
THEIRS |
HER |
THEIR |
HERS |
THEIRS |
ITS |
THEIR |
|
|
Possessive adjective means the word
occurs before a noun and at the same time shows possession. E.g. My
book, your
cow, his desk, its bone and in Plural our books, your cows, their
desks, their
bones etc.
Possessive pronoun means the one word
that can replace the possessive adjective above plus the noun in a
sentence.
E.g. This is my book becomes
This
is mine, This
is our books becomes
These are ours.
Yours,
his, hers respectively; in plural it would
be, yours, theirs, theirs respectively
Reflective
pronouns are pronouns that refer back to the
subject or doer of the action. They always end with the suffix -self in
singular and -selves
in plural. They are used to show that
action of the verb is performed on the doer or on the subject itself by
the
subject.
–Reflexive pronouns are used for
emphasis and are sometimes called emphasis
pronouns
—Reflexive
pronouns can still be left out of the sentence and will make sense.
E.g. She, herself, escorted the boy.
Reflexive pronouns
Singular |
plural |
Myself |
Ourselves |
Yourself |
Yourselves |
Himself |
Themselves |
Herself |
Themselves |
Itself |
Themselves |
One self |
Themselves |
–Reflexive pronouns only occur in
objective forms.
Subjective
and Objective case of pronouns in a sentence
—When
a pronoun occurs after a preposition, it should be in objective form.
E.g.
She came for her/me/them/him/it. It is
between him and me, between us and them.
—When
a pronoun comes after a verb, in a sentence, it should be in objective
form.
E.g.
Sarah helped him/her/them/it/me
—When
a pronoun occurs before a verb or as a subject in a sentence, it should
be in
subjective form e.g.
I/We/He/She/They/It
will
get it soon.
–A pronoun that comes after the phrase
‘It is’ will be is subjective form
e.g.
It is I/they/ she/
he/ it/ that
did it and not I/they/ she/ he/ it/ (that did it) although
this last part is
omitted and only implied.
It was he who came.
It is she that is sick and not I.
–Pronouns after the request word
‘let’
always appear in objective case e.g.
Let us
go home. Let me see what I can
do.
Unlike pronouns after the word
’shall’
that take subjective case. E.g.
Shall I go home? Shall we see him?
–Pronouns after the word
‘than’ take subjective case e.g.
She is better than I
am/ She is better than I
Other than he,
who else showed up?
You are better than I.
A
demonstrative adjective refers to the words
like this, that, those and these that
indicate the position of a noun in a given context or demonstrates the
manner
of action. They occur before nouns they demonstrate in a sentence. E.g. This book, that house, those trees etc.
These houses are mine.
A
demonstrative pronoun on the other hand
refers to words such as this, that,
those and these that
replace a
noun in a sentence and that would only be valid in absence of the noun
it
refers to. E.g.
That is terrible
This is mine
I saw them.
Indefinite
Pronouns
Indefinite pronouns refer to people,
places or things in a unspecified way. They therefore do not have
specific
reference or antecedents.
–There are mainly two types of
indefinite pronouns
a) ‘of—Indefinite Pronoun
e.g. each of,
either of, enough of, one of, many of, all of, any of, several of, none
of,
much of, another of, neither of, one of, few of, some of, many of,
Each of the boys has been fed.
We had had enough of her complaints.
All of my brothers are married.
Sometimes the ‘of’ phrase
may be omitted
if what it refers to is clear from the situation given e.g.
After paying for mangoes, we discovered
that some were rotten.
Many (of the) problems we face can be
solved through dialogue.
Although the boys were hungry, many
continued walking.
b) Compound indefinite pronouns are
called so because they are formed by combining two words such as every
+body=
everybody.
POSITIVE |
NEGATIVE |
Everyone |
Anyone |
Everybody |
Anybody |
Someone |
No one |
Somebody |
No body |
Something |
Anything |
Everything |
Nothing |
Any is used negatively and some is used
positively e.g.
Anyone can be defeated in a match.
(Negative)
Someone is always watching. (Positive)
Everything will be fine. (Positive)
Nothing will ever work. (Negative)
Exercise
Fill in each blank space below with the
correct indefinite pronoun.
1. __people died during the war.
2. We have had __ of his outbursts.
3.
__of the above mentioned turned up.
4. It is __ of his funny books.
5. __calm down.
6. __ was said at the meeting.
7. I will give __ to be you.
8. __ of his brothers are dead.
The
simple past
Simple past tense is used to describe
events that took place in the past. Most verbs form their past tense by
adding -d or -ed at the end. These are
known as regular
verbs. E.g.
Play—played.
Pose—posed.
Kiss—kissed.
Cry—cried.
Spit—spitted.
–Some regular verbs ending with
‘y’
take ‘ied’ in their simple past tense forms e.g.
Bury—buried.
Study—studied.
Hurry—hurried.
–Some regular verbs ending with a
consonant preceded by a short vowel sound double their final consonants
before
adding ‘-ed’
to form simple past
tense. E.g.
Nod—nodded.
Stop—stopped.
Step—stepped.
Irregular
Verbs
These are verbs which do not follow a
regular pattern when changing into simple past tense.
a) There are those that can take ‘-ed’
in past tense or simply add ‘t’ e.g.
Spell—spelled or spelt. Spill—spilled or
spilt. Dream—dreamed
or dreamt. Dwell—dwelled
or dwelt. Bless—blessed or
blest.
b) There are those that change the vowel
‘i’ into ‘a’. E.g.
Spit—spat,
shrink—shrank etc.
c) Those that change the vowel
‘i’ to
‘o’ e.g.
Drive—drove,
win—won
d) Those that change the vowel
‘i’ to
‘ou’ e.g.
Find—found.
Grind—ground.
e) Those that change ‘i’
into ‘u’
in simple past e.g.
Strike—struck.
Sting—stung.
Dig—dug.
Simple
present tense
Simple present tense is an aspect of the
verb in its present state and it is therefore used to express the
following
situations:
a) Habits e.g. I walk to school every
day. She
plays football. She swims.
b) To discuss hobbies. E.g. I play
football, I write, He preaches
c) To show the condition in which
somebody is in. E.g. I
am unwell, Eunice
is Ok.
d) To state a person’s occupation.
E.g.
Ken is poet, My
father is a doctor etc.
e) To express feelings and emotions.
E.g. She hates him.
Perfect
tense
A verb is said to be in a perfect tense
if it shows that the action in the sentence was completed just before
the
speech or has been completed just before the speech or will be. To show
this
form, the word ‘have’ and its variants (had, has)
is used. E.g.
He had finished the test when the
teacher arrived.
She has arrived.
They have given her the money.
The main verb in a perfect tense is
usually a past participle e.g. given, taken, eaten, said etc or an
–ing
participle preceded by the word ‘been’. E.g. She
has been eating ugali.
A
participle is a form of a verb ending
–ed for regular verbs but followed by has,
had or have, e.g. kill—has killed, cry—had cried,
box—had boxed etc but varies
for irregular verbs e.g. has borne, had sought,
has come, had seen etc.
Both regular and irregular verbs use
–ing participles in perfect progressive tenses e.g.
She has been cooking rice.
He had been giving her money. She
is cleaning utensils. We
are seeing them off.
Any helping verb apart from has, had and
have can be used with an –ing participle.
Remember an –ing participle on its
own
can act as a noun in a sentence e.g.
Swimming is my hobby.
I love singing.
If an –ing participle acts as a noun
as
shown above then we call the noun a gerund.
Weeping
is a sign of weakness.
Weeping is a gerund because it an –ing
participle being used a s a noun.
An –ing participle again can be used
as
an adjective in a sentence e.g.
You shouldn’t say such annoying
remarks or such remarks are annoying.
PUNCTUATION
A
full stop, also known as a period, is used at
the end of a sentence e.g.
Mary is sick.
–It is also used in abbreviations
e.g. K.N.H.I.F N.S.S.F
A
comma is used to indicate a short pause in a
sentence especially in a list e.g.
She went to the market to buy bread,
soap and sugar.
–It is used in writing dialogue to
separate the speech from commentary e.g.
“I will see you tomorrow,”
she said.
–In parenthesis (extra information in a
sentence) e.g.
Daniel Arap Moi, the second president of
Kenyan republic, is visiting Nakuru National library tomorrow.
A few of the student, by the way, will
not attend the ceremony.
–After yes , no and
please. Yes,
I know the man. Please,
let us discuss the matters. No,
it is not possible.
–In question tags e.g.
Adhiambo visited you, didn’t she?
–In separating introductory words of a
sentence from the rest e.g. therefore, he was forced by the public
pressure to
resign.
–Before the name of the person being
spoken to e.g. Come and help me push this car, John.
Colon
and semi-colon are commonly used to connect parts
of a sentence that are closely related.
A
colon is used to introduce a list e.g. You
should bring the following items tomorrow: bananas, spoons, cups,
knives and
plates.
–To introduce a long quotation or
speech e.g. The employment acts states: Wages shall not be paid in a
bar or at
a place where intoxicating drinks are available for supply.
–To separate two clauses, if the second
clarifies the first. E.g.
Oginga Odinga
played an important role in Kenyan politics: he agitated for the
release of
Jomo Kenyatta, participated in the writing of the first independent
Kenya’s
constitution and became the first vice president.
–To separate two parts of a sentence
that compare and contrast. This creates a balanced and elegant effect.
E.g. The
boy who came in was short and light-skinned: the one who went out was
tall and
dark.
–To separate the hour from the minutes
for example. 10:30 P.M.
Semi-colon
is used to
–join two independent clauses that are
related and that are not connected by a coordinating conjuction. E.g.
This
school is the oldest in Kenya; it was built in 1906.
–to join independent clauses connected
by conjunctive adverb such as ‘otherwise’
and ‘however’ or transitional phrases
such as ‘on the other hand’ or ‘as
a consequence. E.g.
Don’t come late; otherwise, you will
miss the party.
In some schools, classes are small; as a
result, teachers can give students individual attention.
–to separate items in a series when one
or more of these items are tagged to other definitions or subdivisions
separated by commas. E.g.
The Kenyan
foreign minister visited several African capitals: Lusaka, Zambia;
Harare,
Zimbabwe; Abuja, Nigeria; Accra, Ghana and Cairo, Egypt.
A
dash (—) is used as follows
–in a dialogue to introduce a
clarification or further details. E.g.
I don’t know why she hasn’t
arrived—I
mean, she should have been here two hours ago!
–to indicate hesitation in a dialogue
Jo—John has gone—gone
ho—home.
–to set of information that need
emphasis e.g.
Boys can be sweet—when they want to
be.
–Can replace a colon in a sentence for
emphasis e.g.
You have two options—to shut up or
raise
your hand.
–can be used in parenthesis to show
that the information in between dashes is extra and not part of the
original
structure of the sentence. E.g.
The four boxers—Ali, Joe,Oti and
Tyson—won the gold medals.
An
apostrophe (‘) is mainly used to show that some
words have been left out, for example.
Don’t—do not.
–It can also show possession e.g.
Maina’s
bag or Moses’ book..
–It can also show elision (where sounds
are intentionally left out but the word still makes sense) e.g.
How are you doing—how’re
you doin’
–Remember that in plural forms an
apostrophe is removed from the possessive e.g.
Lugulu Girls’ High
School—LUGULU GIRLS
HIGH SCHOOL
–‘Of can be used with the possessive
‘s
to show double possession e.g. He is a cousin of Ciru’s
brother.
Hyphen
is used to link words that form compound
nouns but look confusing together e.g.
Fatherinlaw—father-in-law.
–They are also used to show the
difference in meaning of words that sound or seem similar e.g.
re-cover/recover
etc.
–Some prefix occur with a hyphen e.g.
ant in anti-Christ etc.
Words that occur with a hyphen are said
to be hyphenated.
PUNCTUATION
IN TITLES OF PUBLICATIONS, QUOTATIONS AND HEADINGS
There are rules about how to write
titles of publication such as book, short stories, oral narratives,
essays,
poems, magazines and newspapers. A crucial distinction is made between
full
length publication and parts of a publication.A novel, for example,
exist on
its own as a full length publication. These should therefore be
underlined as
follows 1.
Coming to Birth
2. Adavanced Grammar
Short stories, oral narratives, essays
and poems are usually part of a larger book. To show this difference,
titles of
these works are enclosed in quotation marks e.g.
“Tekayo” in Encounters
from Africa—short
story
“Beijing Beijing” in Echoes
across
the Valley—poem
“The Hare and the Leopard”
in East
African Oral Literature—oral narrative
–Magazines and newspapers are treated a
full length publications and their titles are therefore underlined as
follows:
She was reading the Daily Nation
yesterday.
Buy me The Standard on the
market.
In all cases, we capitalize the first
letter of all important words in the title. Important words are content
words
or nouns, adjectives and adverbs.
Articles and prepositions are not usually seen as content
words and
therefore they are not capitalized unless they appear at the beginning
or end
of the title. This
rule also applies
when writing all headings and sub-headings.
The River and the Source is
a novel by Margaret Ogolla.
It is normal when writing to quote from
various publications. This is meant to lend authority to our writings
and
reinforce our arguments. Of course, we should not overquote, and other
people’s
opinion should not overshadow ours. In quoting, however, we should
observe the
following rules:
–short quotations of no more than three
lines are incorporated in the text of our writings and enclosed in
quotation
marks, for example:
In Things Fall Apart,
Obirieka
says: “The white man has put a knife in the things that held
us together and we
have fallen apart.”
–Longer quotations, that is, of more
than three lines are set off from the rest of the text, for example:
In the book, How to Write and Speak
Better, we are told:
Most writing is a private activity but a
public service. You
may dash off a
protest letter in the solitude of your study, or compile a report in
the office
after everyone has gone home for the night, or scribbles a few secret
paragraphs of your romantic novel at the kitchen table while the baby
is
sleeping but in each case your intention is the same—that
eventually your writing
will become the reading matter of someone else, that your private words
will go
public.
Minimal
Pairs
Minimal pairs are words that are almost
pronounced the same way but only differ by one sound as shown below:
Pin, kill, pit, cap, bag, load,
Bin, gill, bit, cup, bug, road
Adverbs
An adverb is a word that modifies the
meaning of a verb, an adjective or another adverb.
An adverb can be replaced by an adverb
phrase in a sentence e.g. He
paid his
debts fully.
He paid his debt down to the last
penny.
–Adverbs that appear at the beginning
of a sentence usually modify the whole sentence rather than any
particular
words e.g.
Probably, he is mistaken.
Obviously, they don’t love each other.
Types
of adverbs
Adverbs of time show when the action
happened. E.g. Jane went home today.
Adverbs of frequency show how often
something or the action happened. E.g. I have seen him twice.
Adverbs of place show where the action
happened or is happening. E.g. stand here.
Adverbs of manner show how something
happened or behaved. E.g. She was sitting awkwardly.
Adverbs of degree or quantity show how
much, or to what degree or extent something occurred. E.g.
50 Cent was shot 9 times but he
didn’t
die or The marriage
lasted for a long
time.
Adverbs of reason show the cause,
consequence or reason why something happened e.g.
He could not afford to pay so
he left school.
When adverbs are used in asking
questions, they are called interrogatives. E.g.
Where
is that boy?
Some words are used as adjectives or
adverbs, depending on where they appear in a sentence e.g.
He spoke in a loud voice.
(adjective)
Don’t talk so loud. (adverb)
Others are enough, fast, next, well etc.
Some adverbs occur in two: with –ly
and
without e.g.
Roma works hard
and
Roma hardly works.
Some adverbs are used as nouns after a
preposition e.g.
He stays far from here.
He comes from there.
Order
of Adjectives
When a noun takes more than one
adjective, it is important to note that the adjectives would have to
take a
specific order usually from more general opinions to specific factual
description. The
order is to begin from
quantitative or number adjectives like twenty, hundreds, a pair etc. to
controversial or subjective opinions like beauty, then general opinions
like
proud, then size and shape before facts as shown below.
Number—e.g. six, many, some
Less agreeable opinion—e.g.
beautiful,
ugly, charming, exciting
More agreeable opinions—e.g. proud,
clever, mad, promiscuous
Size—e.g. Huge, small, tall
Shape—e.g. round, rectangular, square
Age—e.g. young, old, twelve-year old,
Colour—e.g. red, golden, greenish,
brown
Nationality/Origin—e.g. Kenyan,
Japanese, Chinese
Material—e.g. Metallic, plastic,
china,
sliver, steel
e.g.
20,beautiful, small, round, old, red, Kenyan balls.
5 ,ugly, huge, rectangular, Japanese
tractors.
Predicative
adjectives occur after the noun they modify,
for example:
John is sick
Joshua is supportive etc
Attributive
adjectives occur before the noun they modify
e.g.
He is a tall man. Beautiful
women are tempting etc.
Public
Notice
A notice is a small advertisement or
announcement in a newspaper or magazine, or notice board; it can also
be
information or a warning given in advance of something that is going to
happen
e.g. one may want to announce an upcoming meeting, entertainment event,
sports
day etc. in such cases you issue a public notice.
Features
of Public Notice
1. The name and title of the group that
is to meet e.g. DRAMA CLUB MEETING
2. The What? The event to take place
e.g. INTERCLASS
DRAMA COMPETITION
3. The When? This is the time of the
event. E.g. Saturday October 15th 2016 at 10.00
AM
–Depending on the nature of the event,
it may be necessary to give two items of time i.e. the arrival and
departure
time or starting and ending time. E.g.
Arrival—10.00 AM
Match Kick off—10.30 AM
4. The Where? This is the venue or
location of the event e.g. Venue—Assembly Hall
–The notice should be captivating i.e.
catch the attention of the intended reader.
–It should be written on white paper so
that it can be sen clearly. You can use more than one colour to make it
catchy
but do not overdo it.
–A formal public notice should have a
few decorations.
–It should be written in capital
letters especially information on what, whom and where.
–Spellings and punctuations must be
accurate.
–Once the notice is ready, place it in
a strategic place where crowds tend to gather.
Example
LUGULU
GIRLS DEBATING COMPETITION
SATURDAY 23 MARCH 2017
AT THE ASSEMBLY HALL
FROM 10 AM TO 1 PM
FORM 2 R VS FORM 3W
COME
ONE COME ALL
Posters
A poster is a large printed picture or
notice which you stick on the wall or board to advertise or communicate
specific information.
When preparing a poster make note of the
following:
1. The poster should have a theme or
subject matter that is very brief and clear in capital letters.
2. Decide on the graphics or pictures to
use. They should be colourful and attractive. Bright colours should be
prioritized.
3. The poster should be simple and
decongested.
4. The poster should be displayed at an
appropriate place.
NB
Advertisements are like posters but are
usually smaller and put on newspapers.
They are usually designed to persuade people to buy or use
certain
products. Warnings for side effects in adverts should be in small
letters.
Question
Imagine the school administration would
wish to enrol more students into your school in form one. As secretary
to the
language Club in your school, the principal asks you to write a notice
to be
posited in the local newspaper.
Write the notice and with it include the
following:
–State the school’s geographical
location
–In about 120 words describe the school
–In about 50 words describe the
school’s environment
–Inform the public about the academic
qualifications required for admission.
The deadline for application.
Inventories
An inventory is a detailed document of
all the items in a place such as an office, a classroom, a church, a
shop, a
clinic and so on.
This document gives details of the
quantity and condition of whatever is available in a place. An
inventory
contains columns that show
–Date when the record was entered
–Date of delivery of items
–Quantity of the item
–Description of a particular item
–Date of issue
–Signature of the person being issued
with the item.
–Items remaining after issue.
It is an important document in an
organisation because it contains information on all items that an
institution
has and therefore helps to keep records of the stock or stock-taking.
Glory
Secondary School
Inventory
Date of record |
Delivery date |
Quantity |
Description |
Date of issue |
Sign |
Balance |
5/2/1017 |
4/2/2017 |
60 |
Macmillan Bk4 English texts |
10/2/2017 |
_gr |
33 |
13/2/2017 |
13/2/2017 |
20 |
Reams of foolscaps |
15/2/2017 |
Te_js |
15 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Importance
of an inventory
–Keep check on what is there in terms
of stock
–To keep check on what needs to be
replaced or repaired.
–To ease the job management
–To give information on items that need
constant replacement
Question
You are the School Library assistant and
you have received books from a supplier. Record the items in your
inventory.
Facts
and Opinions
Facts are statements that can be proved,
verified and are considered to be true. Facts are indisputable e.g. The
first
president of Kenya was Jomo Kenyatta.
All humans die.
Opinions
are feelings towards an idea. They are not reliable source of
information and
cannot be verified adequately. Opinions
are
therefore debatable and disputable.
Opinions can be identified from a
speaker’s choice of phrases such as: it is believed, in my
opinion, apparently,
seemingly, I think, I feel, possibly, presumably, it should, quite etc.
–Some speakers mix facts and opinions
without making a clear distinction e.g. You know that I was the best
speaker in
last year’s AGM.
Isn’t it a fact that I am the best
placed person to represent the people of Bungoma?
Exercise
Pick out and explain five facts and five
opinions in the passage below.
We teach students to be obedient, kind,
religious and hardworking in order to succeed in life but the reality
is that
these virtues are not really required in the modern, cruel and
materialistic
world, especially, if someone is to succeed in getting wealth and
power.
Majority of rich Kenyans, for example, got their wealth from corrupt
deals,
grabbing public land or colluding with powerful politicians to get
favours.
There is evidence that until recently, when the new constitution was
adopted,
many rich Kenyans were barely paying taxes especially on imports.
Another
obvious example is those Kenyans who were accused of masterminding
crimes
against humanity were elected into office and are celebrated.
Realistically,
vices pay more handsomely than virtues and as Machiavelli once said,
‘the end
will justify the means’. Maybe it is time to review what we
teach in schools
and sanctify any effort to get wealth.
Homophones
Homophones are words that have similar
pronunciation but different meanings and different spellings.
331.
rouse, rows 332.
rung, wrung 333.
rye, wry 334.
saver, savour 335.
spade, spayed 336.
sale, sail 337.
sane, seine 338.
satire, satyr 339.
sauce, source 340.
saw, soar, sore 341.
scene, seen 342.
scull, skull 343.
sea, see 344.
seam, seem 345.
sear, seer, sere 346.
seas, sees, seize
sloe, slow sole, soul some, sum son, sun sort, sought spa, spar staid, stayed stair, stare stake, steak stalk, stork whirl, whorl whirled, world whit, wit white, wight who’s, whose woe, whoa wood, would yaw, yore, your, you’re yoke, yolk you’ll, yule swat, swot tacks, tax tale, tail talk, torque tare, tear taught, taut, tort te, tea, tee team, teem tear, tier teas, tease terce, terse tern, turn there, their, they’re threw, through throes, throws throne, thrown thyme, time tic, tick tide, tied 347.
tire, tyre to, too, two toad, toed, towed told, tolled tole, toll ton, tun tor, tore tough, tuff troop, troupe tuba, tuber vain, vane, vein vale, veil vial, vile wail, wale, whale wain, wane waist, waste wait, weight waive, wave wall, waul war, wore ware, wear, where warn, worn wart,
wort |
|
348.
sew, so, sow 349.
shake, sheikh 350.
shear, sheer shoe, shoo sic, sick side, sighed sign, sine sink, synch slay, sleigh sloe, slow sole, soul some, sum son, sun sort, sought spa, spar staid, stayed stair, stare stake, steak stalk, stork stationary, stationery steal, steel stile, style storey, story straight, strait sweet, suite watt, what wax, whacks way, weigh, whey we, wee, whee weak, week we’d, weed weal, we’ll, wheel wean, ween weather, whether weaver, weever weir, we’re were, whirr wet, whet wheald, wheeled which, witch whig, wig while, wile whine, wine whirl, whorl whirled, world whit, wit white, wight who’s, whose woe, whoa wood, would yaw, yore, your, you’re yoke, yolk you’ll, yule swat, swot tacks, tax tale, tail talk, torque tare, tear taught, taut, tort te, tea, tee team, teem tear, tier teas, tease terce, terse tern, turn there, their, they’re threw, through throes, throws throne, thrown |
|
|
Prepositions
A preposition is a word placed before a
noun or a pronoun to show in what relationship the person or thing
denoted by
it stands in regard to something else.
–A preposition simply means that which
is placed before.
–The preposition can join a noun to
other nouns e.g. There is a cow in the field.
–The preposition can also join a noun
to an adjective e.g. He
is fond of tea.
–A preposition can join a noun to a
verb e.g. The cat jumped off the chair.
–The noun or pronoun used with a
preposition is called its object. It is the accusative case and is said
to be
governed by the preposition. E.g.
There is a dog in the house.
Accusative
case
–A preposition may have two or more
objects as in: The road runs over the hills and plains.
–Sometimes a preposition is placed
after an object. E.g.
Here is the watch
that you asked for.
That is the boy I was speaking of.
Simple
prepositions are at, by, for, from, in, of, off,
on, out, through, till to, up and
with.
a) Place– about, at, against, among,
below,
b) Time—at, on, in, from, until
c) Agency—at, by, through
d) Manner—with
e) Cause/Reason—for, of, with, through
f) Possession—on, of, with
g) Standard—at(price), by(inches)
h) Motive—from what I know of him, I did it from gratitude
Complex
prepositions consist of more than one word. They
express different meanings as follows:
a) Place—close to,
away from,
out of, next
to, ahead of,
b) Cause or reason—because of, due
to,
with a view to, in view of
c) Exception—except for, apart from
d) Contrast—In spite of
Most complex prepositions are made up of
two words but some three words like
‘with regard to’
–Notice that the triple-worded
prepositions begin with a simple preposition and end with one.
Exercise
Fill the blanks in sentences below with
an appropriate preposition.
1. No doubt he has achieved much but I
cannot give him credit__ all that he boat__.
2. She was the only hindrance __his
achievement.
3. He is indebted __his friend __a large
sum.
4. It is difficult to agree __those
critics who ascribe the work of Shakespeare—Bacon.
5. The soldiers__ the fort were
provided__ provisions to last them a year.
6. We are accountable __God
__our actions.
7. Measure yourself __your equals and
learn __frequent competition the place which nature has allotted
–you.
8. At the eleventh hour he retired __the
contest leaving the field open __his opponents.
9. Dogs have antipathy __cats.
10. He has been very indulgent __his
children.
11. I purposely refrained __saying more.
12. I insisted __ going.
13. I assented __ his proposal.
14. I am not satisfied __ your
explanation.
15. He did not profit __ his experience.
16. He is innocent __ the crime.
17. His views do not accord __ mine.
18. The avaricious man is greedy __
gain.
19. He is suspicious __all his
neighbours.
20. He is indifferent __ his own
interests.
21. He is prompt __ carrying out orders.
Antonyms
and Synonyms
Antonyms
are words with opposite meaning e.g. good—bad while Synonyms are words with similar meaning
that can replace each other
in a sentence e.g. get—acquire , run—scamper
etc.
Note making
Note making entails picking out the most
important points from a given piece of writing. The main aim of note
making is
to condense information in a passage into a brief and simple form and
still
retain clarity.
When making notes consider the following
points
1. Read the given text carefully at
least three times.
2. Identify the main points by marking
them out or underlining them.
3. Write the marked points down in note
form using numbers or bullets.
Summary
Writing
If you are required to make summary of a
piece of text observes the following:
1. Read through the story and the
questions at least two times.
2. Pick out the main points by underling
them or marking them out in their proper order.
3. Transfer the points on to a rough
draft part of the question or any space you can get.
4. Then from details in the rough draft,
write a fair copy in continuous prose; separating the points in the
order they
appeared in rough draft using a comma and joining them up using
co-ordinating
and subordinating conjunctions.
5. Use a topic sentence to introduce
your summary at the beginning.
6. Stick to the word limit and make sure
you count the words by indicating the total number at the bottom on the
right
of the fair copy.
7. Avoid grammatical errors because they
attract penalties
Synopsis
A synopsis is a summary of a piece of
writing. In order to write a synopsis, it is important to fully
comprehend the
theme and subject matter of the source material.
Writing a synopsis will involve the same
steps you would use to write a summary. A good synopsis should condense
information without omitting any important points. A synopsis, unlike
summary,
should be expressed in your own words and should include your own voice
or
opinion. It is advisable to make a draft you can revise until you are
satisfied
before writing the final copy.
Occasionally, you might be required only
to write a synopsis of a part of a text or be given word limit.
Question tags
A tag is a special construction in
English. It is a statement followed by a mini-question. The whole
sentence is a
tag question and the mini-question at the end is called a question tag. A tag is something small
we add to something
larger. We usually tag a question at the end of a statement to ask for
confirmation e.g. She is coming, isn’t she? Or to encourage a
reply from
someone.
The basic structure is
statement—question,
positive statement—negative tag, he has gone,
hasn’t he?
Negative statement—positive tag, It
wasn’t the boy, was it?
The question tag borrows the auxiliary
or helping verb in the statement.
E.g.
You might see him, mightn’t
you?
Most question tags are formed from
helping verbs used in the statement whether subordinate of main as
follows:
We are here, aren’t we?
She does like him, doesn’t she? Etc.
When the verb in the main sentence is in
the simple present or past tense
without
the helping verb, we form the question tag with
‘do’ ‘does’ or
‘did’
You play the guitar, don’t you?
Alison like tennis, doesn’t she?
They went to the cinema, didn’t they?
She studied in New Zealand, didn’t
she?
He hardly ever speaks, does he?
When the statement contains a word with
a negative meaning without ‘not’ the question tag
would still need to be
positive. E.g. They
rarely eat in a
restaurant, do they?
Some verbs have different question tags
e.g.
I am attractive, aren’t I?
For commands, the tag ‘will
you’ is
used e.g.
Stop it, will you? Or
Don’t make noise, will you?
Requests that begin with
‘let’ take the
‘shall we’ tag. E.g. Let us go home, shall we?
Irregular tags are those that have
indefinite pronouns e.g.
No one is here, is there?
No one is unhappy, are they?/is he?
Somebody saw her, didn’t they?
ORAL LITERATURE
Oral literature, sometimes called
orature, verbal arts or oral tradition is a spoken, acted or performed
art
whose medium is words. It is passed on from one generation to the other
by word
of mouth.
Functions
of Oral Literature
1. for entertainment
2. To create self-awareness—oral
literature makes us understand ourselves.
3. Oral literature teaches us about our
history and this enables us to understand and interpret it.
4. The teaching of Oral literature
promotes nation building and intercultural understanding, thus helping
creating
harmony in a nation.
5. Oral literature sharpens and develops
language skills such as speech, listening, creativity, wit etc.
Forms
of oral literature
Oral literature is categorized into
three main forms
1) Narratives.
2) Songs.
3) Short forms.
Narratives
A narrative is a story or prose account
of people events and places that may be fictional or factual. A
narrative is
also called a tale or a folk tale.
Classification
of Narratives
Classifying refers to grouping of
stories basing on the shared features like the manner of action of main
characters and setting.
Narratives are classified into myths,
legends, dilemma, explanatory ogre and trickster.
Myths
Myths are stories of creation and always
involve a supernatural character.
Myths
deal with supernatural phenomena and origin of people.
Characteristics of myths
1. Myths always seek to explain origin
of mysterious things like life and death.
2. They don’t have opening and
closing
formulae.
3. Myths are always regarded as facts by
their community of origin.
4. Myths refer to things that happened
at the beginning of time.
5. Myths involve a supernatural
character like God or gods and spirits.
6. They are always set in the early
mysterious or magical world.
7. People take myths as sacred or
religious stories.
Legends
These are stories about memorable
historical events and people.
Characteristics of legends
1. Legends are understood to be stories
of true historical events and people.
2. The characters in legends are always
given imaginary details or a bit of exaggeration.
3. Legendary stories are not treated as
holy but secular. That is, they talk about heroes and heroines who
inhabited
earth and such events deemed to have taken place.
Dilemma
These are stories which have a character
or characters burdened with two moral choices which they must choose
but such a
decision is usually difficult to make. Sometimes the story ends with a
debating
question which the audience can debate on.
Explanatory
or Etiological
These are stories that try to trace or
explain the origin of behaviour, both physical and cultural in people
and
animals.
Characteristics
1. They seek to explain behaviour of
people and animals.
2. These stories link past decisions or
mistakes to present traits in animals and people.
3. The stories are based on observable
features in people and animals but that cannot be explained clearly by
the
human reason.
Ogre
or Monster
These are stories that feature a
non-human character that is usually grotesque, frightening and evil.
Characteristics
1. The character in the story is usually
a monster that is imagined as an evil creature.
2. The monster usually interacts with
human beings in a destructive way: eating children, swallowing people
etc.
Trickster
These are stories that feature a
character that plays tricks on others.
Characteristics
1. There is usually a smaller or weaker
animal that uses its intelligence to trick a foolish, bigger and
stronger
animal.
2. In these stories, the animal may
simply exploit the opportunity that comes its way that others have
failed to
see or take advantage of.
3. In other occasions, the animal may be
tricked first but later it uses the same tricks or better ones to
outwit the
other.
QUALITIES
OF A GOOD STORYTELLER
1. She should be audible and fluent.
2. Should be able to use gestures and
tonal variations.
3. He should be creative and
imaginative.
4. She should be proud of her culture.
5. He should be pleasant and
entertaining.
6. She should have a good memory.
7. She should be confident.
8. He should be able to connect the past
with the present.
ANALYSIS
OF ORAL NARRATIVES
Plot
This is the order events in a story.
Oral narratives often have simple straightforward plots. Events in a
narrative
would constitute three parts: a beginning, middle and an ending.
Beginning presents the audience with
problems facing the main characters.
The middle shows the attempts by the
characters to solve the problems.
The ending shows how the problems are
finally solved.
Some stories have complex plots and
therefore would not follow this order.
Consider the following questions when
analyzing the plot:
1. How many major characters are
introduced at the beginning of the story?
2. Are there problems or a problem
facing major characters in the story?
3. Through which actions do the
characters try to solve the problems?
4. What kind of resolution is offered?
5. Do the characters emerge triumphant
or they are defeated?
Classification
Classify a narrative and give reasons
for your classification. E.g. it is a trickster narrative since the
story has
or involves tricks; the hare tricks they hyena into killing his own
mother.
Characterization
Characters are people or animals
involved in a story. In oral narratives, characters include
—human beings
—Animals
—Birds
—Trees
—Mountains
—Spirits
—gods
—monsters
No distinction is made between animals,
plants and man in oral literature. They can interact freely. This style
of
representation is known as personification.
Hence, narratives use symbolic characters
as fictional masks so that narratives can actually mimic us, describe
us and
correct us without causing offence.
Character
traits are used to refer to the uniqueness of
characters in their speech, behaviour, actions and interactions with
other
beings.
We can tell the character trait of a
character by
1. What the character does.
2. What the character says.
3. What other characters say about her
Character traits do not include the
physical appearance of a person e.g. beautiful, fat deformed etc.
We use adjectives to describe character
traits e.g. greedy, loving, grateful etc.
In identifying character traits
1. Identify the trait.
2. Give illustrations or an explanation
to justify your identification.
Do not use general adjectives like good
or bad to describe characters. Use specific traits only like cruel. It is sometimes useful o
identify the role
each character has in the story in relation to their character traits.
The role
can provide context and limit your choice of character traits you can
assign
e.g. if someone who has been mistreated for a long time decides to kill
the
oppressor, the trait might be vengeful, cruel, brave or inhuman
depending on
the role and context.
Common roles are
Villain/ Antagonist — the evil
character, or the anti-hero in a story.
Protagonist —the good character, or
the
hero in a story.
Symbolic character—characters that
represent other people of concepts in real world.
Caricatures—exaggerated characters.
PARALINGUISTIC
FEATURES IN ORAL PERFORMANCE
These are features that the narrator
employs to effectively deliver the message in a specific piece of oral
narration. These paralinguistic features add entertainment value to the
performance. These features are
Mimicry
The narrator imitates the action and
speech manners of the characters.
Improvisation
This is the ability of the narrator to
incorporate in his narration, objects on sight, people and other things
and
involve them in the narration by pointing at them, inviting some on
stage or
putting available objects in use as musical instruments.
Facial
Expression
They involve moment of face muscles to
show contortion, frowning, grimacing, smiling, sneering and flinching.
Facial
expressions mainly show appropriate emotions at different stages of
narration.
Tonal
Variation or Intonation
This is the use of a rising and falling
pitch in the voice of the narrator appropriately, when asking
questions, making
statements and for other dramatic purposes.
Pace
of delivery
This is how fast the narrator speaks
while narrating the story. The pace of delivery can vary depending on
the
nature of the story and the emotions to be impacted in the audience.
For
instance, to make the audience sad a slow torturous pace is
appropriate.
Onomatopoeia
and idiophones
Onomatopoeia
is use of English words in a story that
imitates sounds. Words like scratch, screech, whisper, hiss etc. are
English
words that imitate sound and if used in a story would constitute
onomatopoeia.
The effectiveness of Onomatopoeia is to create the originality of
events.
Idiophones
involve use of local or non-English words to
imitate sounds in a story. Words such as Puff! Ndo ndo ndo, or Chubwi
can be
used to capture the sounds heard by a character in the story and would
constitute use of idiophones as a style.
Gestures
Gestures can be used to illustrate
movements and mimic action.
Body
Movements
To show the movement of characters in
terms of leaning, running, walking, jumping and sitting.
Accompanying
instruments and costumes
Costumes can be used to make the
narration more colourful and entertaining, while accompanying
instruments like
drums, arrows, placards etc help dramatize and mimic events in a story.
Dance
It is important to cultural dances in the
narrative, that is, by use of songs to break the monotony of narration.
Dramatic
Pauses
Pausing dramatically can be useful to
let the point sink, draw attention to a major development in a story,
create
suspense or invite a reaction from the audience or applause.
Rhetorical
Questions
Rhetorical questions are used to provoke
the audience to think critically about something.
Repetition
Repetition of some words or segments to
emphasis certain points or drum in more entertainment.
STYLE
IDENTIFICATION IN ORAL NARRATIVES
Opening
Formula
Common opening formulae include
…long
ago…once upon a time…long ago etc.
The opening formula has the following
uses
1. Announces the beginning of a
narrative.
2. Attracts the audience’s attention
to
the narrative.
3. Separates the world of reality from
the world of fiction.
4. Identifies the narrator.
Closing
Formula
Common closing formulae are …since
that
day …and there ends my story.
Closing formula has the following uses
1. Announces the end of a narrative.
2. Momentarily releases the audience
concentration.
3. Clears the way for the next activity.
Allusions
This is where the narrator makes
reference to familiar objects or historical figures known to the
audience.
Personification
Non-human characters like animals or
trees are given human qualities like talking, laughing, gossiping etc.
Hyperbole
Events within the story are exaggerated,
for example, a stone shedding tears, a man changing into a snake etc.
to make
the story interesting.
Timelessness
Time is not defined in a tale by use of
vague phrases such as once upon a time, one day, later etc. usually to
create a
mysterious past.
Direct
Translation
The story as narrated doesn’t pay
attention to the grammatical rules. E.g. He gave her a stomach.
Use
of Vernacular
Non English words from a specific
language, that often cannot be translated successfully, are used in a
narrative.
Suspense
The narrator withholds information from
the audience until the end to increase curiosity or interest.
Irony
Events in the story turn out contrary to
our expectations. What happens at the end or within a given context is
not what
the audience would by and large expect to happen.
Social
Economic Activities in Oral Narratives
Oral narratives reflect social economic
activities of communities that tell them.
Social activities include circumcision,
courtship, marriage monogamy and polygamy, worship and wars.
Economic activities include crop
farming, livestock keeping, bee-keeping, fishing, pottery, hunting,
trading,
blacksmithing/iron smelting and weaving.
Moral
lessons
The lessons we learn from oral
narratives should be universal. If the question asks for a moral
lesson, the
lesson stated must be positive e.g. we should respect other
people’s property.
All lessons identified must be
illustrated to show the action of a character in the story and the
consequences
of that action.
Generally, oral narratives encourage
virtues such as hard work, co-operation, bravery, honesty, wisdom etc.
Functions
of Oral Narratives
1. Entertainment—stories amuse and
relax
the audiences.
2. Education—stories educate the
audience and teach moral lessons.
3. Socialization—story telling
sessions
bring together people to share in artistic and creative affair.
4. Cultural conservation—stories
reveal
the way of life of a people, their social economic activities; helping
future
generation adapt and preserve them.
5. Oral narratives help in sharpening
language skills such as listening, good memory and creativity.
ORAL
POETRY/SONGS
An oral poem or a song is a composition
in verse form expressing ideas and thoughts verbally. An oral poem can
be sung,
recited or chanted.
Types
of Songs/Oral Poems
Birth/Cradle
These are songs performed when a baby is
born or sung to encourage a woman in labour.
Child
Naming
Songs sung during naming of newborns.
Such names are given in several ways:
1. after an important event.
2. Location where the child is born.
3. According to season.
4. After the father of the husband,
mother etc.
5. from recurrent dreams.
6. Inheriting names of important people.
7. Praise names.
Lullabies
Songs sung to comfort a baby to sleep.
Lullabies also
–educate on social values and culture,
–tell more about the social
organization of the people, their food and work,
–have simple and repetitive words,
–are sung softly and slowly,
-have a rocking rhythm.
Children’s
Songs and Games
Songs performed by children during their
playtime. They keep children busy and entertain them.
Circumcision
These are songs sung during the season
or ceremony of circumcision to encourage the initiates and ridicule the
cowards. They are usually full of obscenities in the direct use of
sexual
language or talk about relationship between men and women.
Courtship
Songs
Songs sung by those in love to express
emotions of happiness, praise lovers and express romance. Sometimes
they are
sung by jilted lovers to express sadness or deal with marital problems
or
unrequited love.
Wedding/Marriage/Nuptial
These are songs performed during
marriage ceremonies. They are often sung to praise the bride and groom.
They
also express the sorrow of leaving home and parting with friends. Some
of the
marriage songs warm about the problems of living among strangers or
in-laws.
Some advise on how to cope with married life. These songs also may be
sung as
farewell to the bride’s beloved siblings and parents.
They
may tend to scorn but generally, they are
happy songs.
Work
Songs
Work songs are sung as accompaniment to
some chores like pounding, ploughing etc. They are sung in unison to
make
strenuous work more bearable. They also sung to discourage laziness and
extol
the value of working hard.
Some work songs are specific, like
hunting songs, fishing songs etc.
Sacred
/ Religious
These are songs sung during religious
activities like worship, sacrifice etc. They include hymns, praise and
lamentations that make reference to supernatural beings.
Political/Patriotic
Songs
They are performed during public holiday
and political rallies. They are usually sung to create political
awareness,
promote propaganda, conformity or to protest against injustice and
oppression.
But mostly they are sung to praise good leaders and satirize bad ones.
War
Songs
These are songs sung or performed during
war. They are meant to inspire warriors to fight bravery. They are also
sung to
honour heroes and glorify the achievement of war.
Beer
Party Songs
These are songs sung by drinkers
together with brewers at a drinking party. They are sung by revellers
to
express enjoyment, praise the brewers and satirize the lazy or the poor.
Dirges/Funeral
Songs
These are songs sung during funerals or
memorial ceremonies usually accompanied, in some communities, with loud
wailings and sobs. They are sung to mourn the dead, share grief with
the
bereaved and console the relatives of the dead. Dirges are sometimes
sung to
satirize the benefactors of the deceased’s wealth.
Characteristics
of Songs
1. They have repetitive
segments—songs
would have a refrain or chorus to emphasize the mood and create rhythm.
2. They have direct address of the
audience for immediacy of expression.
3. They carry direct translation of
original language for local flavour or authenticity.
4. Many songs have rhetorical questions
to involve the audience and provoke them to think about issues the
songs raise.
5. Songs are populated by idiophones and
onomatopoeia to echo local sounds and make them interesting.
6. Songs are full of exaggerations or
hyperbole to create comic or satirical effects.
7. Songs carry striking imagery, like
metaphors and similes to create mental images in the mind of the
audience.
8. Songs have antiphon or call and
response mode. Many songs are sung in a way that the soloist call and
the choir
or group respond, or one person calls and another responds.
9. Many songs are elastic and flexible;
which means they can be stretched during performance to accommodate the
time
given or shortened on demand. Some songs can be modified to suit
disparate
situations like the famous Mwana wa mbeli song.
10. Some songs depend on the tone and
texture of the voice of the performer to establish mood and even
meaning. The
same song can be sad and at another context happy or even spiritual
depending
on how it is sung and on tone.
Styles
in Oral Poetry
When discussing styles in oral poetry,
we base on the following aspects
a] The patter of the poem
The pattern f the poem refers to the
structure and layout. How many stanzas does the poem or song have an d
how many
lines per stanza?
b] Diction
Diction refers to the choice of words
used in a song. When composing a song, the poet must choose words
carefully, by
using poetic licence, so as to make sure there is rhythm in the song as
well as
the message.
c] Imagery
Imagery refers to figures of speech like
Metaphor, simile and symbolism that create mental images in the mind of
the
audience.
Metaphor refers to direct comparison of
qualities of two things by referring to one thing using another. E.g.
Your
father is a lion.
Simile refers to direct comparison of
the qualities of two things using words like, like and as e.g. She is
as fat as
a pig.
Symbolism refers to using objects in a
song that have a metaphorical sense or extended meaning and runs
throughout the
song. E.g. A song
that talks about a
snake but the snake in the song represents a corrupt leader in a given
society.
d] Satire/Humour
Satire
is the use of mocking language in a song which in essence creates
humour. The
subject in the song may be mocked and ridiculed by the persona as being
like an
elephant that is scared of fighting a hare, or describing the physical
features
of the subject in a ridiculous manner e.g. his head has the shape of a
mango
fruit, his hands resemble long sticks and his stomach, like a tube of
toothpaste.
Humour
is any use of language that is funny or creates comic relief. Humour
can be
serious or light.
Sarcasm is another tool that helps
creates satire and humour at the same time. Sarcasm is saying something
to
someone while you mean the opposite of what you say in order to hurt
his
feeling and create humour. For instance, one can tell a very short man,
a
pigmy,
”My
girlfriend loves tall men; I am afraid of
you because you are going to make her fall in love with you.”
Of course what he means is that she will
not even notice him because he is a short man.
Any song that has sarcastic statements
can be said to have a sarcastic or satirical tone.
e] Irony
Irony occurs when events in a song or a
story goes contrary to the expectations of the audience or reader. Like in a situation where
the child in a
family is the breadwinner and his parents depend on him for everything.
This
would be contrary to our expectations that parents provide for their
families
and children.
Situational
Irony occurs in situations where events go
contrary to expectations or the outcome is not expected as in the
example
above.
Dramatic
Irony occurs in plays mostly where the
audience know something that surprisingly some the characters in the
play do
not know. For instance if character A steals goods from character B,
and later
character B, unaware of who the thief is, goes to seek help from
character A in
searching for the goods when clearly the audience is aware who stole
the goods.
Verbal Irony occurs when someone says
something while doing the opposite of what he says. E.g.” I
am coming,” when he
is going away. Verbal Irony is different from sarcasm because it is not
meant
to hurt the feelings of the addressee.
Suspense
Suspense involve withholding information
from the reader or audience as a performer or narrator to arouse their
curiosity and enhance their concentration, or even the dilemma
situations in a
song where no conclusive ending is present to make the audience second
guess on
the controversial situation presented.
Allusion
Occurs when a song borrows a pattern
from another famous song; or makes reference to a famous historical
situation. A song
can be sung in the same structure say
a famous song like Hallelujah was structured or borrow words from
famous songs
such as Desiderata. That would be use of allusion.
Rhyme
Rhyme is the repetition of syllables or
end sounds of lines in a song to create rhythm. The last sounds the
song below
carry a rhyme scheme.
e.g . She went away
and saw life
Running the say
she was a wife
with the pay
Sometimes songs have internal rhyme in
lines as shown below
He said, he was made
They said, they made
Alliteration
Alliteration involves repetition of the
initial consonant sound in lines of a poem or song as shown below,
usually to
create musicality or rhythm in the song.
Peter
paid their pending salaries
Assonance
Assonance involves repetition of the
vowel sounds in lines of a song or poem usually to create musicality or
rhythm
in the poem as shown below.
She sits
around silent
and sickly
Consonance
This is the repetition of consonant
sounds in lines of a song located either in the middle or at the end of
words
as shown below to create musicality or rhythm in the poem.
He sat straight
and let
pets met around him
Idiophones
and Onomatopoeia
Idiophones are local or non-English
words that describe sounds like tuff! And onomatopoeia are English
words that
describe sounds like scratch, that are used in songs to create
originality of
experience and to make the songs more enjoyable and interesting.
How
to Analyse an Oral Poem/Song
Analysing a song involves the following:
Classification
1. Establish the type of the song. That
is if it is a dirge, a lullaby, a patriotic songs etc.
2. Paraphrase the song. Paraphrasing a
song is writing the verses in the song in prose and in your own words
without
changing the intended meaning.
3. Identify the voice or persona in the
song. It is important you establish how many voices are there and who
is the
person speaking or persona.
4. Identify the subject matter or the
themes in the oral poem or the message that we derive from the poem.
Find out
what the persona is trying to say.
5. Identify the structure of the song by
looking at the pattern of words, lines and stanzas. How many lines per
stanza
and how many stanzas in the poem?
6. Identify styles that the poet
employed to convey the message and create rhythm.
7. Look at the diction, the economy of
words in the poem and how the diction best captures the mood, tone and
attitudes in relation to the message in the song.
8. Think about the performance of the
poem or song and answer these questions:
–Who would best perform the song?
–What kind of an audience would be
suitable for the song?
–What would be the best occasion for
the performance of the song?
–Which accompaniments and
paralinguistic features/non verbal cues would suit the song?
–Which mode of performance (recitation,
chant, choral, solo, etc) would best fit the song?
Exercise
Consider the song below and answer
questions that follow.
Mama
really loves chicken
Mama
throws down the pot pwa!
Like
a scared dog
She
runs after our cat
It
runs swiftly swaying and swerving
She
emerges in the court
Mama
throws aside her clothes fwa!
She
is a mad cow
Shouting,
she giggles and laughs
It
had eaten the chicken stew
Mama
kills all its young ones
Questions
1. Identify six styles used in the song
above and give their effectiveness on the poem.
Question
2
Read the song below and answer questions
that follow.
Shaka
Honours Muzilikazi
The hills
echoed with the laughter of the Zulu army.
At
the southernmost point the army rested,
Shaka
addressed them:”My brothers, our journey is now pointless.
Everywhere
we go we find only those who acknowledge our authority,
Zulu
power no longer issues from conquest
But
from a bond of an all-embracing nationhood,
We
must turn back to our homes.
Perhaps
in the north Soshangane and his lot need a lesson.”
At
Bulawayo they sang and danced for the returning army.
Shaka
was still eager to consolidate the nation’s boundaries.
He
said to his war councillors,” Our easy life
Shall
soon undermine our fighting spirit
I
want you Muzilikazi, to head to the north
And
there establish peace among the quarrelling nations
And
subdue the troublesome people of Ranisi
Who
have caused endless wars among friendly nations,
You
shall seize from them the loot of cattle
And
return it to its original owners.”
The
king spoke to Muzilikazi with great warmth and friendliness,
He
said:”I give you my own axe, Muzilikazi,
So
that when you pass the ruins of your native country
You
raise it and pray for guidance of your ancestors.
I
give you this so that wherever you are
You
may know I shall always honour those who are our heroes.”
Muzilikazi
of Mashoba was moved by this act,
He
said, his eyes wet with tears;
“My
lord, I do not know what great things I have done,
What
great heroism I have displayed,
That
I should deserve a gift most coveted by all heroes of Zululand?
Long
ago you sheltered me when I was orphaned
And
now you honour me.”
A] What kind of an oral poem do you
think this is?
–Epic; because it is narrated and it is
about renown figures such as Shaka Zulu.
–Historical poem because people like
Muzilikazi who are subjects in the poem are historical figures.
–Narrative poem because it narrates to
us the story of Shaka Zulu honouring Muzilikazi.
–Legendary/heroic/ode/praise/war song
because it celebrates the heroic deeds of the Zulu army and its leaders
Shaka
and Muzilikazi.
B] Briefly describe the culture of the
Zulu as reflected in the poem.
–Nationalist/patriotic—they have a
strong
kinship bond, “Zulu power…issues from an all-embracing
nationhood.”
–Warlike/warriors e.g. “the hills
echoed with the laughter of the Zulu army”
Pastoralists/kept cattle e.g. “You
shall
seize from them all the loot of cattle.”
–They are religious e.g. they have a
traditional religion in which ancestors are revered/they practise
ancestor-worship; pray for guidance from your ancestors.”
–They have a sense of justice; returned
cattle to original owners.
–They are artistic e.g. their art
includes song and dances, “At Bulawayo they sang and danced
for the returning
army.”
–They recognise and honour heroism e.g.
“Shall always honour those who are our brave
heroes.”
–Peace lovers e.g. Shaka Zulu tells
Muzilikazi to establish peace in the north.
C] Identify and explain two images from
the poem.
–“The hills echoed with the laughter
of
the Zulu army” this describe how happy the Zulu were for
victory in war.
–“Our easy life shall soon undermine
our fighting spirit”: meaning that if we relax or concentrate
too much on
celebrating our victory we might become complacent or lose our power in
war.
–“..The ruins of your native
country”
describe how Mzilikazi’s native country has been ravaged by
war.
–“his eyes wet with tears: gives a
visual picture to describe the extent to which Mzilikazi was moved by
the way
Shaka honoured him.
–Battle axe: power or authority symbol.
–An all-embracing nationhood: a symbol
of unity.
D] What do you learn about Shaka’s
character from this poem?
–Authoritative/dictatorial: the way he
addresses his army and his councillors. For example to Muzilikazi,
“I want you
Muzilikazi, to head to the north.”
–Power-hungry: “Zulu power no longer
issues from conquest”
–He is just: he gives Muzilikazi an axe
as an illustration of his readiness to honour those who exhibit courage.
Cunning/Manipulative/tactical/wise/intelligent/;
the gesture of giving Muzilikazi the axe is just a cunning way of
getting him
to undertake the difficult mission on which he sends him.
Friendly/Warm: He spoke to Muzilikazi
with great warmth and friendliness.
–An orator; the way he talks is
creative and seductive e.g. “Our easy life shall soon
undermine our fighting
spirit.”
–Ambitious: the way he cautions against
complacency and then sends Muzilikazi on another mission.
–Warlike: even when they have won the
war, he still looks for opportunities to fight.
–Charismatic: the army and the
councillors obey him, for example, Muzilikazi is moved to tears when
Shaka
gives his axe, yet the main reason for the axe is to persuade
Muzilikazi to
subdue The troublesome people of Ranisi.
–Patriotic—He solicits for
“an all
embracing nationhood” and tells the army, “We must
get back to our homes.”
–Peace-loving: “establish peace
among
the quarrelling nations”
–Religious: tells Muzilikazi to pray.
–Kind/Caring; took Muzilikazi in as an
orphan and cared for him.
E] State and explain a proverb which
could be used to warn/caution the people of Ranisi.
–You reap what you sow. They terrorized
friendly nations, now they will experience similar/worse terror from
Shaka’s
warriors.
–Those who live in glass houses should
not throw stones.
–Those that live by the sword perish by
the sword.
–Every dog has its day.
Question
3
Read the oral poem below and answer the
questions that follow.
The
poor man knows not how to eat with the rich man.
When
they eat fish, he eats the head.
Invite
a poor man and he rushes in
Licking
his lips and upsetting the plates.
The
poor man has no manners, he comes along
With
the blood of lice under his nails
The
face of the poor man is lined
From
hunger and thirst in his belly
Poverty
is no state for any mortal man
It
makes him a beast to be fed on grass
Poverty
is unjust. If it befalls on a man
Though
he is nobly born, he has no power with God.
A]
What evidence is there to show that this is an oral poem? Identify and
illustrate such features.
–Repetition
e.g. the poor man/ poverty
–hyperbole/
exaggeration e.g. “it makes him a beast to be fed on
grass”
–striking
characterization e.g. the poor man cast in extreme terms.
B]
Describe a probable situation in which such a poem could be performed.
–A
beer party where cheap local brew is consumed by poor people.
–A
traditional baraza where the conduct of a poor man is being castigated
or
ridiculed.
C}
If you were to do a solo performance of this oral poem, what elements
would you
emphasize?
–Dramatisation
e.g. eating the fish clumsily/ rushing in and licking one’s
lips/upsetting the
plates on a table/paint finger nails (blood of lice) walk on all fours
to
impersonate a beasts being fed on grass.
–Facial
expressions e.g. to show hunger and thirst.
–Tonal
variation e.g. vary one’s pitch to put special emphasis on
words ‘poverty is
unjust’.
D}
What does the phrase “..with the blood of lice under his
nails” reveal about
the poor man?
The
poor man lives in unsanitary or unhygienic conditions.
E]
Describe with illustrations the tone of this poem.
–Compassionate:
talks about the injustices of poverty towards the poor
–contemptuous/critical/satirical
the poor man is described in contemptuous terms e.g. rushes in licking
his
lips, upsetting plates etc.
SHORT
FORMS
Riddles
A
riddle is a question, statement or description in a figurative language
that is
intended to test the listener’s ability to use their wits to
unravel the
meaning. Riddles are words puzzles in which familiar objects or
situation are
referred to in a figurative terms for us to decipher what is actually
meant.
Characteristics
–Riddles
are word puzzles: a game where you have to think about carefully in
order to
answer.
–They
have an opening formula ‘riddle riddle’
–Riddles
are short witty statements usually clever and amusing.
–Riddles
use the question—answer format e.g. q..I have a riddle?
Ans… Say it.
Riddles
have a hypothetical prize—riddles are based on situations or
ideas which are
imagined or possible rather than real and true.
Classification of Riddles
1.
Declarative riddles are described in form of a statement. E.g. Catch my
tail
and we go. Ans. A jembe.
2.
Interogative riddles poses questions to be answered e.g. What is
bouncing in
the house? Ans. A churning gourd.
3.
Idiophonic/ sound riddles—it employs idiophones that should
be unravelled. E.g.
Huyu huyu poa! Ans. A night runner.
4.
Simple riddles. They are brief e.g. Water standing up? Ans. Sugarcane.
5.
Epigrammatic/ Complex riddles—Such riddles are presented as a
series of
puzzles. E.g.
The
four-legged sitting on the four-legged waiting for the four-legged. Ans. A cat sitting on a
table waiting for a
rat.
6.Riddles
on people e.g. Best food for a baby. Ans. Sleep.
7.Riddles
on plants. E.g. What tree has only one thorn? Ans. A sisal plant.
8.Riddles
on parts of the body. E.g. Thirty-two
seated, one lady dancing. Ans. Teeth and the tongue.
Four
gates that produce water. Ans. A cow’s udder.
9.
Riddles on waste products. E.g. A hill on the veranda. Ans. Excrement.
10.
Riddles on modern technology. E.g.
A
camera on my body. Ans. Eyes.
11.
Riddles on natural phenomena. E.g. When dressed she isn’t as
beautiful as when
naked. Ans. The
moon.
12.
Riddles on animals. E.g. The white lady in the office. Ans. The jigger.
Functions of Riddles
–for
entertainment or fun and humour
–for
sharpening wit/ to enlarge our imagination
–to
expand our knowledge of the environment
–To
enhance our figurative use of language or creativity e.g. describing
things
without naming them
–to
teach values and morals
–to
pass a secret message by old people
Stages in a Riddling
Session
1.
Invitation—the challenger or riddler draws the attention of
the audience with
an opening formula
e.g.
Riddle riddle/ I throw a riddle/ I have a riddle
2.
Acceptance—The respondent or audience responds by saying;
state it, say it,
throw it or let it come
3.
The riddle itself—the challenger states or poses the riddle
e.g. I have a house
that has no door.
4.
Guesses—the audience tries to solve the riddles by giving
guesses. E.g. An
orange.
If
they are unable to find the solution or if all guesses are wrong then
the
riddle will have stage 5.
5.
Prize—The challenger asks for the prize e.g. Give me a prize.
She
is given a prize, usually a town, a city etc, which he rejects until
given the
city or prize of choice that she would accept. She will then say she
has gone
and visited the city and brought the greeting from the people there.
The
audience would acknowledge the greetings.
6.
The challenger gives the solution/ right answer. E.g. The answer is an
egg.
Proverbs and Sayings
Proverbs
are wise sayings that hide meaning in metaphors or similes that they
employ,
Proverbs are slightly different from sayings because sayings do not
employ
metaphors and similes.
Characteristics
–They
are short and fixed
–they
have a summative function
–they
are incorporated in speech
–they
are sometimes used to introduce a story
–they
are common within a particular language or community or they are
communal
Functions of Proverbs
–They
are used to flower one’s speech
–They
act as a mirror to society
–They
summarize situations
–Can
be used for entertainment
When
analysing proverbs, you should be able to identify
–the
type of the proverb
–objects
of reference
–the
communal philosophy in the proverb or the general message conveyed
–a
similar proverb that can replace it
Types of Proverbs
1.
Proverbs of fate e.g.
—
Accidents will happen.
–Absence
makes the heart grow fonder.
–Action
speaks louder than words.
–Advice
is least heeded when it is most needed.
–A
chain is no stronger than its weakest link.
–A
fool and his money are soon parted.
–Easy
come, easy go.
2.
Cautionary proverbs. E.g.
—
He who steals with a woman will live in fear till he dies.
–An
apple a day keeps the doctor away.
–An
empty purse frightens away friends
–An
idle mind is a devil’s workshop.
–A
bird in hand is worth two in the bush.
3.
Proverbs on communal life E.g.
–Unity
is strength.
–A
problem shared is a problem half-solved.
–If
you fall for me and I fall for you we can call it a game.
–On
the way to one’s beloved there no hills.
4.
Epigrammatic proverbs. These are longer than usual. E.g.
—
A man who marries a beautiful wife is like another who plants maize
near the
road in a poor neighbourhood.
–A
man stung by a bee doesn’t go around smashing all bee-hives.
–If
a gut allows a knife to be swallowed, the anus must wonder how it will
get out.
–When
trouble knocks at your door and you tell it you have no extra seat, it
will
tell you not to worry because it had brought its own stool.
–When
a rat smiles at a nearby cat, just know that its hole is nearby.
5.
Summative proverbs or those proverbs that best summarize issues and
stories
–Beauty
is only skin deep.
Change
is as good as rest.
–A
friend to all is a friend to none.
–A
good example is the best sermon.
A
new broom sweeps clean.
–A
stitch in time saves nine.
–A
watched pot never boils
–A
man who causes trouble for others also causes trouble for himself.
–A
man roasting maize doesn’t wander away from the fireplace for
too long.
–A
young bull mounts the cow from the head.
–A
drum is heavier on the return journey.
However
long it takes, a stammerer will call
‘baba’.
–Staring
at water doesn’t quench your thirst.
–The
pen is mightier than a sword.
–When
in Rome, do as the Romans.
–The
squeaky wheel gets the greese.
–When
the going gets tough, the tough get going.
–No
man is island.
–Fortune
favours the bold.
–People
who live in glass houses should not throw stones.
–Hope
for the best but prepare for the worst.
–Birds
of a feather flock together.
–Keep
your friends close and your enemies closer.
–A
picture is worth a thousand words.
–There
is no such a thing as free lunch.
Similarities between
riddles and proverbs
–Both
are brief
–Both
employ figurative language
–Both
are fixed—a riddle has a fixed response while a proverb has a
fixed wording.
Differences
–Riddles
have an opening formula
–Riddles
require at least two performers while a proverb just one to say it.
–Riddles
are common with children while proverbs common with adults.
–Riddles
are used as preludes to storytelling sessions while proverbs are used
in
conversation.
–Riddles
are witty statements or word puzzles while proverbs are sayings of
wisdom.
Tongue Twisters
A
tongue twister is a word game that is intended to test a
speaker’s fluency to
utter without hesitation or faltering a sequence of words with
particular
problems of articulation.
Characteristics
—
A tongue twister is a word game that plays on words with problems of
articulation
–It
employs alliteration, assonance and consonance
–They
are mostly ungrammatical or they need not make sense.
–they
are brief
Functions of Tongue
twisters
–They
entertain or create fun
–They
aid in learning pronunciation
–Enhances
confidence by helping one overcome shyness and enjoy communication
–they
help train concentration and memorization
–they
promote creativity
–they
help develop one’s ability to recite
–They
help one to learn a foreign language with particular problems of
articulation
Examples of Tongue
twisters
–She
sells sea shells on the sea shore
–A
disorganised organizer cannot organize a disorganized organization
–The
red long lorry rolled down the long Limuru road
–Four
hundred and forty four frightened fools fought for food
–Peter
Piper picked a peck of speckled pepper
–How
high up has he heaved his heavy hoe?
–Kantai
can tie a tie, untie a tie and dye a tie like Dyre who can tie a tie,
untie a
tie and dye a tie; so, if Kantai can tie a tie, untie a tie and dye a tie, why
can’t I tie a tie, untie a
tie and dye a tie
like dyre?
Exercise
Read
the text below and answer questions that follow.
Betty Botter bought a
bit of butter
But he said the
butter’s bitter
“If I put a bit of
bitter butter in my butter
It’ll make my better
butter bitter
But a bit of better
butter will make the bitter butter better.”
So she bought a bit of
butter
Better than her bitter
butter
She put it in her
butter
And her butter wasn’t
bitter
‘twas better Betty
Botter bought a bit of better butter
1.
Identify three cases of elision in the item above and write the
expressions in
full.
Butter’s—butter
was
It’ll—it
will
‘twas—it
was
2.
Identify with a reason, the item above?
It
is a tongue twister because it has words following each other that are
challenging in terms of pronunciation and employs alliteration and
assonance.
3.
State five benefits a form one student would get by reading this item.
–Reading
the tongue twister would entertain him
–It
would help the student learn the pronunciation of /b/ in difficulty
situations
–It
would sharpen the student’s fluency
–It
would promote creativity in the student
–It
would develop the student’s ability to recite
–it
would enhance the student’s concentration
4.
Identify stylistic features evident in this tongue twister
–Alliteration
e.g. Betty Botter bought
Rhyme
e.g. butter
Bitter
Butter
–Repetition
of words e.g. bitter, butter
5.
This item is a word game. State the rules the performer would apply
when reciting
this.
a)
Recite fluently without hesitation
b)
Strictly follow the order of words
c)
Say it quickly
e)
What would be the effect of translating this item into another language?
–The
effects of sound, especially /b/ and /t/ would be lost. One may end up
with a
sequence of words which may not be recognized as of the same kind as
the item
above.
Puns
A
pun is a wordplay which involve words that have similar spellings but
different
meaning or homonyms e.g. can(a container), can(auxiliary verb and
homophones
(words with same pronunciation but different spellings and often
different
meanings) e.g. some and sum. Puns thrive on ambiguity of words to
create fun
within a sentence. Puns also employ metaphors and literal meaning of
words.
A
person who is fond of using puns is called a punster.
Examples
1.
A bicycle can’t stand alone because it is two-tyred.
2. A
will is a dead giveaway.
3.
A backward poet writes in verse.
4.
In a democracy, it is your vote that counts.
5.
She had a boyfriend with a wooden leg but broke it off.
6.
With her marriage, she got a new name and a dress.
10.
A boiled egg in the morning is hard to beat.
11.
When two egoists meet it is an I for an I.
12.
Scientists have finally discovered the wrong thing about a female
brain: that
the left side has nothing right and the right side has nothing left.
13.
What do you call a sleeping bull? A bull-dozer.
14.
He bought a donkey because he thought he might get a kick out of it.
15.
Why are fish so smart? Because they live in schools.
16.
I was struggling to figure out how lightning works then it struck me.
17.
Time flies like an arrow. Fruit flies like a banana.
18.
Have you ever heard of an honest cheetah?
19.
I have been to the dentist so many times so I know the drill.
20.
Speaking ill of the dead is a grave mistake.
21.
I fired my masseuse today. She rubbed me the wrong way.
Oral Literature
Research/Field Work
Field
work is the act and process of going out to a community to collect oral
literature materials and related information for study and analysis.
Field work
is necessary for
a)
The student to relive the performance of oral literature materials
(recordings,
videos etc.)
b) Experience firsthand, the
community’s
customs and beliefs.
c) Recording and storage of oral
literature materials to be used by the future generations.
d)
To enable a student know and explore new knowledge not
covered by
earlier researchers.
e) To help the student acquire research
skills in academic study.
Key
Stages in Field Work
1. Preparation
It involves stating the purpose and
scope of study and objectives or research to guard against digression.
It also
involves identifying the location for the research, familiarization
with
earlier works on the study or literature review, establishing contact
with useful
people like informants, deciding on the key methods to be used in
collecting
data e.g. questionnaires or interviews, securing permissions to conduct
research from relevant authorities, buying or hiring of recording
materials and
budgeting for accommodation and transport.
2. Material Collection
This is done through various methods of
collecting date e.g. interviews, questionnaires, observation etc.
3. Recording of Information
Recording is done through writing,
typing, using tape recorders etc.
4. Processing and Analysis of
Information
This involves scrutinising of
information collected in preparation for interpretation and
documentation,
transcription, interpretation, classifying into genres, themes, styles
and
making a conclusion.
5. Dissemination
This is the spreading the information
gathered through media.
Common
Problems Encountered During Field Work
1. Loss of memory especially for details
not recorded.
2. Outrageous demands from sources of
information like payments.
3. Harsh or unpredictable weather.
4. Breakdown or problems of
transportation, delays, hiked fares etc.
5. Informants giving wrong or distorted
information.
6. Accidents and misfortunes or ill fate
e.g. death
7. Sickness in the middle of fieldwork.
8. Prohibitions, lack of access, customs
etc.
9. Loss of equipment like camera etc.
Field work should be carried out in
relevant and appropriate places like rural areas where there is
ethnically
authentic information and performance; elders would give detailed oral
testimony or material, display great experience and skill while
children would
easily perform riddles, singing games and tongue twisters.
GRAMMAR
Nouns
A noun is a name of anything or simply,
a naming word. Nouns are categorized into
–Proper nouns—names of specific
people,
places or things. Proper nouns always start with a capital letter e.g.
Kenya,
Peter, Lake Victoria, Nairobi etc.
–Common noun—these are names of
people,
places and things that are not specific. E.g. desk, boy, river, plate
etc.
–Concrete Nouns—names of things,
people
etc that can be touched. E.g.
book desk,
water, James, bottle etc.
–Abstract nouns—names of things or
concepts that cannot be touched or seen.
E.g. wind, corruption, love, hate, God etc.
–Collective nouns—names of group of
things. These kinds of names usually take a singular verb.
Count
and non-count Nouns
Count
nouns are names of things that can be
counted. They thus occur in singular and plural forms.
e.g. boy—boys
one boy—20 boys.
–Most singular count nouns that end in
the sound /s/, /ch/ and /sh/ take –es in plural e.g.
bus—buses,
church—churches, bush—bushes.
–If a singular count noun ends with
‘y’, the ‘y’ is usually dropped
in plural and replaced with ‘ies’
unless the ‘y’ comes after a vowel.
E.g.
Lady—ladies, cry—cries.
–If the word ends with ‘y’
but the ‘y’
is preceded by a vowel then only ‘s’ is added in
plural. E.g. Day—days,
Key—keys.
–If the word ends with /f/ we drop the
f and replace it with –ves. E.g. Life—lives,
Hoof—hooves.
Non-count
nouns refer no things that cannot be counted.
Things like
–substance—food, sand, dust
–qualities—happiness, kindness
–ideas—knowledge, knowledge
–Liquids—water, milk
–objects—furniture, hair, luggage
Most countable nouns do not have
singular and plural forms; they merely occur in their respective nature
or
quantities.
Water—singular,
Water—plural. A lot of
water.
20 gallons of water.
Sometimes due to specifications some
non-countable nouns are gives the plural
‘s’ to mean different large quantities
like waters in reference to
oceans.
Irregular
and Regular Nouns
Regular nouns are nouns that take a
predictable plural form in relation to singular forms. For example
cup—cups,
toy—toys, shirt—shirts, Church—churches,
bus–buses. Most regular nouns
therefore take ‘s’ or ‘es’ in
plural.
–Nouns ending with ‘o’
with a vowel
before the ‘o’ usually take ‘s’
in plural. E.g. Ratio—Ratios, but if it ends
with ‘o’ with a consonant before the
‘o’ then it would take ‘-es’ in
plural.
E.g. Bufallo—Buffalloes.
–Still a few nouns are an exception, in
that they end with ‘o’ preceded by a consonant
but still takes just ‘s’ in plural
like dynamo—dynamos.
–Nouns that end in /f/ take /s/ in
plural like chief—chiefs, gulf—gulfs but others
like dwarf, hoof and scarf can
take both ‘s’ in plural or
‘-ves’ that is dwarf—dwarfs or
dwarf—dwarves;
hoof—hoofs or hoof—hooves and
scarf—scarfs or scarf—scarves.
Irregular nouns are nouns that do not
take ‘s’ or ‘es’ in plural
form. E.g. man—men, woman—women,
mouse—mice,
child—children.
–There are those that change from
singular to plural like man—men, goose—geese etc.
–There are those that do not change
from singular to plural like swine—swine,
sheep—sheep, deer—deer, species—species,
series—series.
–Some of them are used only in plural
forms like scissors, tongs, spectacles, trousers, jeans, shorts,
pyjamas and
news.
–There are those that seem plural but
are actually singular e.g. Mathematics, physics, measles etc.
Collective
Nouns
These are nouns which in their singular
forms refer to a set or group of people, animals or things. E.g.
A crowd—a group of people without
order
A band—a group of musicians
Choir—a group of singers
Sometimes collective nouns occur in
phrases. When a phrase is used to indicate a collective noun we call it
a
phrasal quantifier because it shows the quantity of the noun present.
For
example a piece of cake,
A cup of tea—two cups of tea etc.
Some phrasal quantifiers can be used
with both count and non-count nouns e.g. a lot of students, a lot of
water, a
pile of books, a pile of wood etc.
Other examples are
1. A bundle of books, a pinch of salt, a
realm of knowledge, a dose of medicine, a bale of grass, a blade of
grass, a
bouquet of flowers, a set of people, a heap of rubbish, a lump of
sugar, a
sheet of paper, a speck of dust, a bar of soap, a load of manure, a
piece of
advice, an item of clothing, a tonne of sugar, an army of ants, a
colony of
wasps, a cluster of antelope,a herd of cattle, a troop of apes, a flock
of
sheep, a kennel of dogs, a shoal of fish, a band of gorillas, a flange
of
baboons, a congress of baboons, a culture of bacteria, a cloud of bats,
a hive
of bees, a file of civil servants, a school of dolphins, a swam of
flies.
Collective nouns denote singularity in
character; that is why they tend to take a singular verb e.g. a crowd
has been
gathering since morning. But sometimes members within a collective noun
might
have divergent opinions e.g. The crew have different duties and
responsibilities.
Compound
nouns
A compound noun is a noun that is made
up of more than one word. The
noun
formed from combining two words can be written as
a) a single word e.g.
Shop+keeper—shopkeeper
b)
A hyphenated word e.g. Passer-by, father-in-law,
attorney-general
c) Separate words e.g. Ice cream, Cow
dung, assistant minister etc.
–In most compound nouns the plural
ending is added to the last word
e.g. boyfriends, deputy heads, commanders-in-chief
etc.
However, the plural ending in others is
added to the first word e.g. passers-by, fathers-in-law etc.
–Some words take plural endings on
either the first word or second e.g. Attorneys-general or
attorney-generals.
–Compound nouns can take a noun +noun
e.g. bookshop, noun+verb e.g. tea
break, adjective+noun
e.g. Hot dog, etc.
Conjunctions
Packing
List
When packing remember the following
1. Order or have a proper organisation
of items involved
2. Have a proper titile e.g. Back to
School Packing List
3. Have a sub-heading indicating the
categories of items involved. For example Clothes, Shoes and Cosmetics.
4. You should show clearly the specific
number or quantity of items involved. For example; 3 shirts, one tube
of
toothpaste etc.
5. You should also show the type of
items involved. For example, shirt—red.
Serial no. |
Items |
Type of items |
Quantity |
Description |
1 |
Clothes |
a)shirts |
3 |
–New yellow –Old blue –White—short sleeved |
b)trousers |
2 |
–black official –blue jeans |
||
2 |
Shoes |
a)rubbers |
1 pair |
Black and white |
b)leather |
1 pair |
Brown |
||
c)sandals |
1 pair |
Red |
||
3 |
Bathroom accessories |
a)towel |
1 |
Brown |
b)soap |
1 |
Geisha medium |
||
4 |
Beddings |
a)Sleeping bag |
1 |
Manta medium |
b)Sheets |
2 |
Red and white |
||
c)blankets |
1 |
Black dotted |
||
5 |
Camera |
Sony |
1 |
Digital, 20 megapixels |
6. |
Toiletries |
a)toothpaste |
1 |
Colgate medium |
b)toothbrush |
1 |
Colgate medium |
||
7 |
Body oil |
Vaseline |
1 |
Small |
Before writing a packing list, one must
consider
–Where he is going. The location
determines the items. E.g. the coast of Mombasa would need light
clothes and MT
Kenya region heavy ones.
–Means of transport—aeroplanes can
limit the amount of luggage to be carried along.
–Length of stay—this will determine
the
quantity of each item you carry.
–Purpose—e.g. if you are going to
swim
you will have to carry costumes.
Question
You are a member of the Wildlife Club.
The club has organised for a three day camp in the Maasai Mara Park.
Write the
packing list of the items you would need during the camp.
Etiquette
Etiquette is a set of rules and norms
that govern our polite and acceptable way of interaction especially
through
greetings, requests and commands.
Greetings
It is important to greet people
according to their a)age b)position c)relationships.
–An older person should be greeted in a
formal way. E.g Good morning Mr. Kinuthia.
–A person in a more senior position
than you are should also be greeted in a formal way even when they are
younger
than you. E.g. How do you do Mrs. Kendi?
–Your age mates can be greeted in an
informal way if you are friends or relatives, or if they are not your
seniors.
E.g. Hi Jackie, or Hi bro. Again members of your extended family can be
greeted
in an informal way. E.g. Hi uncle, Hullo dad.
But people that are not related to you and are not your
friends should
be greeted in a formal way, unless they are younger/age mates and not
your
seniors in positions.
Introduction
When introducing someone important or
titled, mention their respective titles in the greetings as shown below.
–Start by their titles if you want to
introduce them to someone else
Your Excellency, may I introduce you to
Mrs. Wanjala. (For presidents)
Your honour, meet Mr. Omori, the manager
KCB bank.
When introducing an ordinary person to a
titled person, mention the lay person then introduce by mentioning the
name of
the titled person before giving the title. E.g.
Mom, meet Ms. Anne Waiguru, the Cabinet
Secretary, Ministry
of Interior
Government.
Common titles are
–prime Minister—The Right Honourable
–Member of parliament—Honourable
–Judge/magistrate—Your Honour, Your
Lord/Lady, Your Lordship/Ladyship
–Mayor—Your Worship
King/queen—You Majesty
Members of the royal family e.g. grand duke, duke,
duchess—Royal Highness
–Prince, Princes – Your grace
–Other royals—Lady/Lord
Sir—nights
Sir/Madam—any important person or
professional
Professor—Highest University title
for a
teacher
Mr.—respectful title for any man
Mrs.—Respectful title for a married
woman followed by her husband’s Sir Name or her full marital
name.
Ms.—a respectful title for a woman
whose
marital status isn’t clear or known.
Miss.—a respectful title for a lady
who
isn’t married.
Arrmy titles
Officer
cadet—lieutenant—captain—major—colonel—brigadier—major—field
marshall.
Semi-formal
situations
Sometimes you can introduce or refer to
a titled person in an informal occasion. In such a circumstance, avoid
the
formal titles.
Dear Mr. President, meet Kenneth Owour,
Member of Parliament Kanduyi constituency.
–When introducing someone as a guest,
it is important to include information about their interests and
achievements
at the tail end. E.g. Mr.
John Kamau, MD
Kenya Seed Company. He is the founder of Salima Electronics Company and
a
senior member of the Catholic church.
Self
Introduction
When introducing yourself, do not start
with any title, just greetings then your full name before other details
follow. Examples:
Good morning gentlemen; I am James
Barasa, Professor of Mathematics at the University of Nairobi.
Do not start with Mr. or Miss.
Requests
When making requests use polite
language. The following phrases would help someone sound more polite:
Please—please tell me the truth.
Excuse me—excuse me lady, have you
seen
my bag?
Sorry—sorry madam, I am late.
Pardon—pardon me Jane, I
didn’t get your
instructions.
I am afraid—used when you want to
give a
disappointing statement or answer to someone who is probably expecting
something positive. E.g. I am afraid I do not have the book you wanted
to
borrow. ]
Acknowledgement
When someone gives you something you say
‘thank you’ and then he can answer in
acknowledgement ‘you are welcome’ or ‘it
is nothing’ or ‘don’t mention
it’. The goal here is to sound as modest as
possible.
Telephone
Etiquette
When making or answering a telephone
call, the person on the other end of the line obviously cannot see you.
You
will therefore be judged solely by what you say and how you say it.
Points
to note
1. Give a good impression of yourself
from the beginning by being courteous, helpful, businesslike and brief.
2. Use polite language i.e. words such
as ‘could you’ ‘may I’
‘I would like to’ ‘would you
please’.
Receiving
a personal call
a) Opening words:
Hallo
—good morning/afternoon/evening
(choose
according to time of the day)
b) Identify yourself:
This is John speaking ( it is considered
rude to give yourself a title like Mr/Mrs/ms but professional titles
like
dr/prof are allowed)
e.g. This is Eng. Wekesa.
Receiving
a business call
a) Opening words:
Greetings—Good morning/afternoon/
evening
b) Then identify your institution
You have reached Paradise Hotel or
Lugulu Girls High School
c) Ask who you are speaking to
—Whom am I speaking to
d) Ask how can help
— How can I help you
It is rude to respond by asking the
caller ‘What
do you want?’ or ‘Who are
you’
Making
a call
Your first words are said after the
recipient’s opening remarks
–The greetings will depend much on how
well you know the caller
Hi Peter, What is up?
This is Christine, how are you doing?
This is Indimuli speaking…
Business
call
When making a business call, follow the
procedure below
a) Greetings e.g. Good morning
b) Identify yourself e.g. My name is
Agness Manyara
c) State the reason for calling e.g. Can
I speak to Mrs. Wenani please?
Ending
a call
At the end of both personal and business
calls, it is customary for the recipient to thank the caller for
calling.
When
taking a call message in the office follow
these steps.
–Note down the message
–Write the name of the caller or his
behalf and the institution the caller represents
–note down the date when the call was
made
–note down the phone number so that it
is easier to call back
–Indicate whether your boss or you,
ought to call back and whether urgently
DIARIES
A diary is a private document in which
you record activities, events and appointments you want to remember. I
t acts
as an aid to memory. Many people find diary keeping very useful because
it
helps them honour appointments.
A diary contains a calendar for a whole
year with a space provided for each day of the week and month. The
space is
usually small, so, you have to be selective and brief.
Many diaries also contain spaces where you can
record personal information like your name, address, blood group and
the person
to be contacted in case of an emergency. At the back of a diary, there
is
usually space for names address and telephone numbers of people you
contact
frequently.
In offices, you may find desk diaries
where dates of meetings or other important activities of an
organisation are
recorded.
There are two types of diaries which are
also known as personal journals.
Appointment
diary is used to record specific time and
date of the daily schedule e.g.
Sunday,
1st June 2017
8:00 AM |
Meet mom at the Afya Centre |
10:00 AM |
Watch the Vampire movie |
2:00 PM |
Visit auntie Jane in Buruburu |
4:00 PM |
Return the borrowed book ‘Sinbad
misadventures’ |
A
personal diary or journal differs from an
appointment diary because a personal journal is a record of events that
have
already happened and is usually in narrative form.
The title must always be the date in full
when the events happened. E.g. Day one, Monday, 23rd
October 2016.
When wring a personal journal, capture the feelings and opinions that
you
experienced because they help the writer relive those often exciting
moments. Each day
should be in one
paragraph whether long or short. Be detailed and imaginative when
recounting past
episodes. E.g.
Tuesday, 4th
February, 2017
First day in high school. I am excited
and frightened at the same time. I
pray
that my fears do not show. I have too many questions but I
don’t want to appear
stupid. So, I keep them to myself. It is the end of the first day and I
haven’t
made even one friend. I will have to change my tactics. One of the
things I
have to learn is how to eat hot food quickly. Today, I had barely eaten
a
quarter of my food when the teacher on duty said it was time to clear
from the
dining hall. I felt so helpless and sad.
You can use the present perfect tense
mixed with present simple tenses as in this example or just simple past
tense
mixed with past perfect tenses.
CLOZE
TEST
A Cloze Test requires one to fill gaps
left in a given passage and context so as to make it complete using the
most
appropriate or suitable words. The
best
way to complete a cloze test is by first reading through the passage to
establish the context then trying the fill the easier blank spaces as
you read
through the second time before completing the whole test the third or
even
fourth time of reading. Filling the blank spaces would involve testing
words in
their respective spaces to see whether they fit in the context until
you pick
on the best synonym. It is crucial to be aware of the punctuation marks
because
any space after a full stop, an exclamation mark or a question mark
must be
filled with a word beginning with a capital letter. Similarly, spaces
that are
part of proper nouns—that require you to complete the noun
would require a word
that begins with a capital letter. It
is
necessary to check the tense of the sentence where you have to fill the
blank
space to make sure you use the word in its proper tense that would fit. A cloze test only takes
one word per blank
space.
Exercise
Fill in each of the blank spaces below
with the most appropriate word.
10
marks
The Israel—Arab conflicts in the
Middle
East __ caused by a number of factors, central among them was the
Belfast
Declaration __ the British government that it wanted to help the
Zionists
return the Jews who were __persecuted in Europe back to their
‘ancestral’
land. Of course the
British were sure
that Palatine land was not Jewish land to be returned or repossessed
but they __
the Jews, who had vast resources in Europe, to support the empire and
fill
indebted to the empire for helping them create their own __ of Israel.
Many of the British politicians did not
even like the __ and their presence in Palestine land was obviously to
exploit
those lands for whatever recourses they could get.
__ the fall of the Ottoman Empire,
Britain wanted to get a piece of the Middle East and had succeeded __
to some
degree. Controlling the Arabs was becoming a difficult task __ the
British
wished that by establish a Jewish state in Palestine they would have a
better
ally. __ did they know that the very Jewish state would turn against
the empire
and declare its own independence forcing the British soldiers out and
pushing
the Arabs backwards into their own countries; thereby creating a
conflict that
would only end with an apocalypse of the Middle East especially by Iran
nukes.
Silent
Consonants and Vowels
These are consonants and vowels that
form part of a word structure but are not pronounced.
A:
aesthetic, bread
B: bdellium, debt, and plumber
C:
indictment, muscle, science
D: djinn, handkerchief,
Wednesday
E:
give, like, name (the ‘e’ here is also known as the ‘magic e’)
F:
halfpenny
G: gnat, gnaw,
gneiss, gnu, high, phlegm, sign, though
H:
daughter, echo, heir, honest, hour, orchid
I: friend, business
J: marijuana
K:
knee, knife, knight, knot, know
L: calf, could, talk, yolk
M:
mnemonic
N: autumn,
column, damn, hymn, solemn
O:
colonel, leopard, people
P: corps, coup, pneumonia, psalm, psyche, receipt
Q:
Colquhoun (Scottish name), lacquer
R: forecastle, sarsaparilla (GA)
S:
aisle, bourgeois, debris, island
T: ballet, castle, rapport, listen
U:
colleague, guard, guesses, tongue
V: Milngavie (Scottish town)
W:
answer, gunwale, sword, two, wrist, wrong
X: billet-doux, faux pas, Sioux
Y:
Islay (Scottish island), Pepys
Z: chez, laissez-faire,
rendezvous
Commonly
Misspelled words
Maneuver –foolscap –myopia
–diarrhea –wry –surprise
–Endeavour
–awry –occasion –convenient
–occurrence –recommendation –committee
–necessary
–dormitory –pneumonia
–exercise
–abbreviate –abundant
–abysmal –acquiesce
–aggressive
abstinence allegiance –privilege –annoyance
–entrepreneur –apostrophe –argument
–urge
–attorney –auxiliary
–bargain –bureaucratic –cheetah
–curriculum –syllabus –etiquette
–grateful –absenteeism –enmity
–intelligence
–pronunciation
–contemptuous –laboratory –liquor
–messiah –mediocre –medieval
–nuisance –onomatopoeia –paraphernalia –personnel rendezvous –gradable satellite –souvenir
–chauvinism –silhouette –tomorrow
–wrestle –sellotape –hierarchy
–lieutenant –drunkenness
–sergeant rhythm
accidentally/accidently accommodate
– achieve
– acknowledge
acquaintance –
acquire acquit
acreage
address –
adultery –
advisable
affect – effect
Aggression
aggressive –
allegiance
almost
a lot amateur
– annually
apparent
arctic –
becoming
beginning
buoy/buoyant –
camouflage –
capitol – capital
(both words exist, but are distinct)
Caribbean
category
caught
cemetery –
changeable chief
colleague
collectible –
collectable column coming
–
committed concede congratulate conscientious
– conscious
consensus
controversy
coolly
deceive
definite –defiantly
desperate – difference
– dilemma
–
disappoint –
disastrous –
embarrass –
exhilarate existence
–
experience –
extreme –
fascinating –
fiery –
fluorescent
foreign –
friend
gauge –
grateful –
guarantee –
guidance
harass –
hierarchy –
humorous hygiene
– ignorance
– imitate
–
immediately
independent
indispensable
– indispensible
inoculate
intelligence
jewelry
leisure
liaison –
library –
license
lightning – lightening
lose maintenance
– medieval
memento –
millennium –
miniature minuscule – miniscule
mischievous –
misspell –
occurrence –
occurred –
omission –
original
outrageous –parliament –
pastime –
perceive –
perseverance – plagiarize
playwright –
precede –
presence
principle – principal
Prophecy
(as noun) – prophesy (valid as verb)
quarantine –
queue –
questionnaire
Receipt recommend
– referred
reference –vacuum
Informal
Letters
These are letters written to friends and
relatives. They usually ignore the element of formality.
The salutation in these letters should
be semi-formal e.g. Dear Mr/Mrs/Miss/Ms/Dr/Prof. For people you barely
know and
such letters should end with ‘Yours Sincerely’ plus
the initials and the name.
E.g.
Yours Sincerely
K.l. Wafula.
–Such letters have only a single
address—the
one that belongs to the writer.
–It is always better to end with your
name and just start the address with your box office number e.g.
P.O. BOX 77
KISUMU
For people that are close to you like
friends, only use their first name in the salutation. For example
Dear Mercy, or Dear John, or even a
shorn version like Dear bro.
–always has the date after the address.
Skip a line when moving from one item to another.
Example
Write a letter to your friend in another
school. In the letter inform her about life in your school, your
ambition and
the happy memories you shared in the past.
LUGULU GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL
P.O. BOX 33
NAIVASHA
31st January 2017
Dear Sasha,
How are you doing? I hope you are as
fine as I am or even better.
Life here at school is Ok. I have come
to like the school and made many friends. The weather is a bit warmer
than what
we are used to in Eldoret but I am adapting well. The meals are
sometimes
delicious and other times bad but that is to be expected.
I want to concentrate on my studies and
come the end of my four years here in school; I should get a strong
grade. I
hope you are working hard too. We used to be competitors in primary
school,
remember?
I still remember our moments together,
how we would skip the rope together, how we would go singing the
Christmas
chorals in church. Do you remember how you forgot the lines in the
middle of
your performance? And
I cut in and
rescued the situation; everyone thought we had planned that move and
praised
our genius ha! It was lovely.
Anyway, I miss you so much and yearn to
see you when schools close. In the meantime I will be awaiting your
reply with
eagerness. Pass my greetings to your friends.
Your Friend
Daph
Formal
Letters
Formal letters must be clear concise and
complete. The effectiveness of a formal letter determines the kind of
response
the writer is likely to receive. Good formal letters should have the
following
qualities:
–They should reflect clarity of
thought. Before writing a letter think about the subject matter and
make sure
you understand what you want to communicate.
–Use a variety of sentences—mix
short
sentences with relatively long ones to give your writing flavour.
–The right words should be selected
carefully to convey the precise meaning required.
–Ideas should be expressed logically.
–Use formal language—avoid using
slang.
–Any irrelevant information should be
omitted.
–Formal letters should have a polite
tone.
Address
Addresses should be written in capital
letter. A formal letter has got two addresses. The first address should
be the
sender’s or writer’s the followed by the
addressee’s. Do not start the sender’s
address with the sender’s name but you can use the name of
the institution the
sender belongs to.
–Always skip a line after writing the
address before you write the date or salutation. It is advisable to use
the
block format when writing letter.
Salutation
Formal letters use formal salutations
like Dear Sir or Dear Madam and sometimes Dear Mr/Mrs/Ms.
–When you salute using Dear Sir/Madam,
always sign off with Yours Faithfully. But if you salute with Dear
Mr/Mrs.
Always sign off with Yours Sincerely.
RE:____________________________
For Re: or reason for writing do not
write ref: only RE: and then write a very brief and summative reason
for writing.
The statement should summarize what the letter is all about. Always
skip a line
after and before RE.
Body
The introductory paragraph should
clearly state the objective of the letter. It prepares the reader for
the main
points. The body should be specific; devoid of unnecessary details. A
good body
should have at least three paragraphs expounding on the introduction
and
explaining clearly and briefly what is at stake. The last paragraph
should
conclude the letter by showing optimism or stating the main message.
Letters
of Application
When applying for a job consider the
following
a) Mention under ‘RE’ the
kind of
vacancy you are applying for.
b) In your introduction, indicate what
informed you of the vacancy e.g. a specific newspaper issue, website or
memo.
c) In the body, share your abilities and
indicate why you think you can contribute to the improvement of that
institution if given a chance.
d) Express optimism in your conclusion
that you will get the job.
e) When writing use current dates and be
detailed.
Question
You graduated as certified accountant,
four years ago and you have been working several accounting jobs. You
see on
The Standard newspaper of 7th January 2017, an
advertisement for a
qualified accountant to fill the vacancy of senior bursar Strathmore
College.
Write a letter applying for the job.
P.O. BOX 66
NANDI
10TH JANUARY 2017
MANAGER
STRATHMORE COLLEGE
P.O. BOX 101
NAIROBI—CODE OO1
Dear Sir/Madam,
RE: Applying for the vacancy of
senior bursar Strathmore College
Following the advertisement appearing on
The Standard of
7th
January 2017, I would like to apply to fill the vacancy of a senior
bursar.
I am a graduate of Kenyatta University
where I studied a bachelor’s degree in
commerce—accounting option and I am also
a certified accountant, holder of CPA section 5 from Kenya School of
Monetary
studies. I have a wealth of accounting experience, having worked at
Lugulu
Girls as an accountant for two years then Kibabii University in the
office of
Finance for a year. Currently am working in the county government of
Bungoma as
a procurement officer.
I am a very hardworking individual,
punctual and dedicated to my work and this can be verified by the
referees that
are provided on my CV. If
I get an
opportunity to work in your institution, I will bring a wealth of
experience,
freshness and enthusiasm in your accounting department, as my track
record
shows.
My main motivation for choosing to work
in your institution is the good reputation your institution has
cultivated in its
treatment of clients, workers and the public. I would feel proud to be
part of
the Strathmore community that prides itself on excellence of service.
Please find attached my full resume and
other documents that attest to my profile as befitting your
institution.
I am looking forward to a positive
response from you.
Yours Faithfully
Sign
Denis K. Barasa
Letters
of Invitation
Letters of invitations are written to
invite people for an event or social occasion. Some letters of
invitation can
be formal, inviting an applicant to an interview but majority of such
letters
are semi-formal inviting people formally to a social event like a
wedding.
Question
As the secretary of Kalamu Writers Club,
write to the Editor-in Chief of a local publication, inviting him to be
your
guest speaker during your annual party.
–Introduction—State directly the
message that you are inviting him to be the guest speaker during the
club’s
annual party.
–In the body state what the club is all
about, its membership and why he would be relevant to the members and
the
objectives of the party. Also state what he should address in his
speech.
–in the conclusion, look forward to a
reply soon and give contact details like phone number that he can reach
quickly.
–As a secretary, write in third
person—detach yourself from the group and say, ‘the
group would…’
KALAMU WRITER’S CLUB
P.O. BOX 2433
NAIROBI
12TH JANUARY 2017
THE EDITOR IN CHIEF
EAST AFRICAN MAGAZINE
P.O. BOX 6664
NAIROBI
Dear Sir,
RE: Invitation to be our guest
speaker on our annual party
Members of Kalamu Writers would be
grateful if you agreed to be their guest speaker during their annual
party
which will be held at the Sagret Hotel on Friday 16th
January 2017
from 7PM.
Kalamu writers club has a membership of
100. These are people who are interested in writing and would like to
improve
their skills and knowledge by listening to lectures, attending
workshops and
writing articles for their club’s monthly magazine. The club
has been in
existence for five years.
At our last general meeting members
selected you to be this year’s guest speaker for the annual
party. Members have
been impressed by the high quality of your magazine for some time now.
It is an
objective magazine which has always stood for truth.
The club takes care of the travelling,
accommodation and appearance costs at a fixed cash amount of ksh 10,000
for
every invited chief guest.
The club is looking forward to hearing
from you soon. You can reach the secretary or the chair directly on a
call:
0722767889 or email kalamuclub@yahoo.com.
Yours Faithfully
Sign
Muthoni Otieno
Club Secretary
Exercise
As the secretary of Lugulu Girls
Journalism Club, write to a famous radio presenter, inviting her to be
your
guest speaker during your annual party.
Letter
of Apology
A letter of apology is a way of telling
someone that you are sorry for doing something wrong or causing a
problem. The
language therefore should be apologetic.
What sets apart the letter of apology
from other types of letters is the language used.
Features
of a Letter of Apology
1. It should be short and to the point.
If it is long and winding, it sounds as a justification for the wrong
done.
2. It should first be in acceptance or
admission of the wrong committed to the offended party.
3. It should express regret for what has
happened.
4. The tone of the letter must be apologetic.
5. The apology is usually followed by a
short explanation.
6. Where appropriate, an offer of
compensation should be made.
7. Depending on the relationship between
the person apologising and the one receiving the apology, the letter
can be
formal or informal.
S
Steps
–Admit or accept the wrong done
–If you accept responsibility, offer
compensation
–Promise not to repeat the mistake
Question
You are a chief accountant of Lolian
Flower Limited, you were spotted by the manager coming late to work
despite the
laid down rules which prohibit lateness. Apologise for your behaviour.
LOLIAN FLOWERS LIMITED
P.O. BOX 33
NAIVASHA
10TH JANUARY 2017
THE MANAGER
LOLIAN FLOWERS LIMITED
Dear Mr. Obudho,
RE: Apology
I would like to apologise for being late
for work today morning contrary to the laid down rules on lateness.
I have taken this early opportunity to
correct the impression my behaviour might have portrayed. While my
behaviour
today was inexcusable, I was delayed by a niggling family matter
concerning my
wife which is now under control.
I would like to assure you that this
will not happen again.
Yours Sincerely
Sign
Kiprop Songok
Chief Accountant
Letters
of Requests and Inquiry
As in other business or official
letters, letters of requests contain the following information
1. The reason for writing in the
introduction.
2. The facts you are presenting about
your case, organised in a logical fashion.
3. What you want the addressee to do for
you, starting with the most important request.
You need to sell yourself and
demonstrate that you deserve what you are asking for. Give good
reasons. You
need to state that the person who is to grant you the request stands to
benefit. Appeal to
the addressee’s sense
of fairness and indicate that you have faith in him.
Letters of Inquiry, on the other hand,
are written when you want to find out or verify information from a
certain
institution or ask if a certain firm has specific goods or provide
certain
services.
Example
of Letter of Request
You are in form four. You have not
completed paying your school fees although the principal has allowed
you to
stay on so that your studies in this crucial year are not interrupted.
Fortunately, you have read about a nongovernmental organisation that
helps
intelligent but needy high school students. Write a letter to them
requesting
for a bursary.
FROM
CHARITY KARIMI—REG. NO. 2345
SKYWAYS HIGH SCHOOL
P.O. BOX 234
VIHIGA
THROUGH
THE PRINCIPAL
SKYWAYS HIGH SCHOOL
30TH January 2017
TO
MANAGING DIRECTOR
EDUCATION SUPPORT FOUNDATION
P.O. BOX 465
NAIROBI
Dear Mrs. Indimuli,
RE: Request for financial assistance
I am writing to request your esteemed
foundation to grant me a bursary to enable me clear my fees balance of
ksh
98,000.
I am a form four student at Skyways high
school. I owe the school this amount but my parents are unable to pay
because
of the prolonged drought that has hit our Kakamega county and destroyed
crops
and animals. My family has no money and they are barely surviving.
My performance in exams has been good. I
have topped our candidate class for the last two terms with a mean
grade of A
minus. I am a very hardworking and humble student and I am hoping to
get your
help so that I can realise my dream of studying Civil Engineering in
the
university.
I am writing to you because your
interest in the education of the disadvantaged Kenya is
well known. I know some of the benefactors of
your program and they are ever grateful to Education Support
Foundation. I will
be honoured to be one of them.
I would be happy if you granted me a
bursary of ksh 98000. If you decide to help please write the cheque in
the name
of the school and if you need further details you could email the
principal on skywayrs@gmail.com
or call her on 0732456665.
Yours Sincerely
Sign
Student
Letter
of inquiry
You are the procurement manager of
Carnivore Club; write a letter to Keroche Industries Limited to inquire
if they
have the three types of alcoholic drinks that they have been
advertising on the
major television stations; their wholesale prices, quantities they can
supply
and the respective discounts.
THE PROCUREMENT OFFICE
CARNIVORE CLUB
P.O. BOX 764
NAIROBI
23RD JANUARY 2017
THE SALES MANAGER
KEROCHE INDUSTRIES LIMITED
P.O. BOX 66
NAIVASHA
Dear Sir/Madam,
RE: INQUIRY ON THE NEW DRINKS
I would like to find out information on
the new drinks being advertised by your company on NTV,KTN and Citizen
television channels. According
to the
adverts, the names of the new drinks are Cesta, Guarana and Zem. Kindly
let me
know the prices of these drinks at the wholesale price and the
discounts
attached to each load. Also furnish me with details on alcoholic
content of
these drinks and their classifications.
We are the leading entertainment house
in Nairobi, therefore, we would be glad to get these new drinks the
soonest
possible so that we can introduce them as part of the many options we
have to
our patrons.
Please respond the soonest possible by
email on carnires@yahoo.com
or call me on 0791875262.
Yours Faithfully
Sign
George Maina
The Procurement officer
Recommendation
letter/Confidential Report
A confidential report is sometimes
referred to as reference or recommendation letter. This type of report
requires
the writer to comment in confidence or give an assessment of the
suitability of
someone or something for a given task or activity. Such reports are
expected to
mention the strengths and weaknesses truthfully. They are therefore not
meant
for public readership but for the person requesting for them.
When writing a confidential report
consider the following:
–The writer’s address –date
–recipient address
–reference
number or registration number
–The name of the person being
recommended –strengths
and weaknesses
of the subject
–In the closing tag include name,
signature and your title
Example
EXCELL HIGH SCHOOL
P.O. BOX 78
MOMBASA
11TH FEBURUARY 2017
THE CO-ORDINATOR
P.O. BOX 46
NAKURU
Dear Sir,
RE: Peter Baraka—Admission
Numbers
4121
The above named was a student in the
school from 2003—2006. While here, he displayed exemplary
leadership qualities
and served as games captain for two years. Under his leadership, the
school was
well represented in ball games to the national level. It was in
recognition of
this that he was voted the outstanding prefect of the year (2005).
Academically, he was of average ability.
This saw him score a mean grade of B minus in the Kenya Certificate of
Secondary Exams of 2006. In addition, Baraka’s spoken and
written English is
good, his Swahili even better. He is also good in simple arithmetic and
his
strongest point is his useful habit of taking down important
information for
later reference.
Apart from his tendency to keep to
himself when ignored, Baraka is reliable, co-operative and industrious.
I recommend him with full confidence
that he will not disappoint you if offered a job in your association.
Yours Faithfully
Sign
James Situma
Principal
Exercise
Imagine your name has been given as a
referee by Miss Jane Watate who has applied for a job as a receptionist
and
typist at Mombasa Tourist Office because you were her class teacher.
Email a
confidential report on her suitability for the position to Mombasa
Tourist Office.
Consider the following details:
–Academic ability
–performance of her duties
relationship with clients
–other relevant qualities
Idioms
An idiom is an expression whose meaning
is different from all the meaning of its constituent words and that is
used to
summarize situations. Idioms are unique in a given language and
community and
might not make sense in other languages.
Common idioms
A
hot potato
Speak
of an issue (mostly current)
which many people are talking about and which is usually disputed
A
penny for
your thoughts
A
way of asking what someone is
thinking
Actions
speak louder than words
People’s
intentions can be judged
better by what they do than what they say.
Add
insult
to injury
To
further a loss with mockery or
indignity; to worsen an unfavorable situation.
An
arm and a
leg
Very
expensive or costly. A large
amount of money.
At
the drop
of a hat
Meaning:
without any hesitation;
instantly.
Back
to the
drawing board
When
an attempt fails and it’s time
to start all over.
Ball
is in
your court
It
is up to you to make the next
decision or step
Barking
up
the wrong tree
Looking
in the wrong place. Accusing
the wrong person
Be
glad to
see the back of
Be
happy when a person leaves.
Beat
around
the bush
Avoiding
the main topic. Not
speaking directly about the issue.
Best
of both
worlds
Meaning:
All the advantages.
Best
thing
since sliced bread
A
good invention or innovation. A
good idea or plan.
Bite
off
more than you can chew
To
take on a task that is way to
big.
Blessing
in
disguise
Something
good that isn’t recognized
at first.
Burn
the
midnight oil
To
work late into the night,
alluding to the time before electric lighting.
Can’t
judge
a book by its cover
Cannot
judge something primarily on
appearance.
Caught
between
two stools
When
someone finds it difficult to
choose between two alternatives.
Costs
an arm
and a leg
This
idiom is used when something is
very expensive.
Cross
that
bridge when you come to it
Deal
with a problem if and when it
becomes necessary, not before.
Cry
over
spilt milk
When
you complain about a loss from
the past.
Curiosity
killed the cat
Being
Inquisitive can lead you into
an unpleasant situation.
Cut
corners
When
something is done badly to save
money.
Cut
the
mustard [possibly derived from “cut the muster”]
To
succeed; to come up to
expectations; adequate enough to compete or participate
Devil’s
Advocate
To
present a counter argument
Don’t
count
your chickens before the eggs have hatched
This
idiom is used to express
“Don’t make plans for something that might not happen”.
Don’t
give
up the day job
You
are not very good at something.
You could definitely not do it professionally.
Don’t
put
all your eggs in one basket
Do
not put all your resources in one
possibility.
Drastic
times call for drastic measures
When
you are extremely desperate you
need to take drastic actions.
Elvis
has
left the building
The
show has come to an end. It’s
all over.
Every
cloud
has a silver lining
Be
optimistic, even difficult times
will lead to better days.
Far
cry from
Very
different from.
Feel
a bit
under the weather
Meaning:
Feeling slightly ill.
Give
the
benefit of the doubt
Believe
someone’s statement, without
proof.
Hear
it on
the grapevine
This
idiom means ‘to hear rumors’
about something or someone.
Hit
the nail
on the head
Do
or say something exactly right
Hit
the sack
/ sheets / hay
To
go to bed.
In
the heat
of the moment
Overwhelmed
by what is happening in
the moment.
It
takes two
to tango
Actions
or communications need more
than one person
Jump
on the
bandwagon
Join
a popular trend or activity.
Keep
something at bay
Keep
something away.
Kill
two
birds with one stone
This
idiom means, to accomplish two
different things at the same time.
Last
straw
The
final problem in a series of
problems.
Let
sleeping
dogs lie
Meaning
– do not disturb a situation
as it is – since it would result in trouble or complications.
Let
the cat
out of the bag
To
share information that was
previously concealed
Make
a long
story short
Come
to the point – leave out
details
Method
to my
madness
An
assertion that, despite one’s
approach seeming random, there actually is structure to it.
Miss
the
boat
This
idiom is used to say that
someone missed his or her chance
Not
a spark
of decency
Meaning:
No manners
Not
playing
with a full deck
Someone
who lacks intelligence.
Off
one’s
rocker
Crazy,
demented, out of one’s mind,
in a confused or befuddled state of mind, senile.
On
the ball
When
someone understands the
situation well.
Once
in a
blue moon
Meaning:
Happens very rarely.
Picture
paints a thousand words
A
visual presentation is far more
descriptive than words.
Piece
of
cake
A
job, task or other activity that
is easy or simple.
Put
wool
over other people’s eyes
This
means to deceive someone into
thinking well of them.
See
eye to
eye
This
idiom is used to say that two
(or more people) agree on something.
Sit
on the
fence
This
is used when someone does not
want to choose or make a decision.
Speak
of the
devil!
This
expression is used when the
person you have just been talking about arrives.
Steal
someone’s thunder
To
take the credit for something
someone else did.
Take
with a
grain of salt
This
means not to take what someone
says too seriously.
Taste
of
your own medicine
Means
that something happens to you,
or is done to you, that you have done to someone else
To
hear
something straight from the horse’s mouth
To
hear something from the
authoritative source.
Whole
nine
yards
Everything.
All of it.
Wouldn’t
be
caught dead
Would
never like to do something
Your
guess
is as good as mine
To
have no idea, do not know the
answer to a question
Phrasal
Verbs
phrasal
verb |
Meaning |
example
sentence |
ask
sby out |
invite
on a date |
Brian
asked Judy out to dinner
and a movie. |
ask
around |
ask
many people the same question |
I
asked around but nobody has seen my wallet. |
add
up to
sthg |
Equal |
Your
purchases add up to $205.32. |
back
sthg up |
Reverse |
You’ll
have to back up your car so that I can get out. |
back
sby up |
Support |
My
wife backed me up over my
decision to quit my job. |
blow
up |
Explode |
The
racing car blew up after it crashed into the fence. |
blow
sthg up |
add
air |
We
have to blow 50 balloons up for
the party. |
break
down |
stop
functioning (vehicle, machine) |
Our
car broke down at the side of the highway in the
snowstorm. |
break
down |
get
upset |
The
woman broke down when the police told her that her
son had died. |
break
sthg down |
divide
into smaller parts |
Our
teacher broke the final project down
into three separate parts. |
break
in |
force
entry to a building |
Somebody
broke in last night and stole our stereo. |
break
into
sthg |
enter
forcibly |
The
firemen had to break into the room to rescue the
children. |
break
sthg in |
wear
sthg a few times so that it doesn’t look/feel new |
I
need to break these shoes in
before we run next week. |
break in |