KCSE ENGLISH GRAMMAR AND LITERATURE NOTES

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 : 20^th May 2016

SUBJECT: Submission of records

 

You are reminded that on 3^rd 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

 

23^RD MAY 2016

Joash Malo

P.O. BOX 468

MATUNDA

 

RE: A Reminder

You are reminded to report to work next month on 2^nd 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 15^th 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.

accessory, accessory ad, add ail, ale air, heir aisle, I’ll, isle all, awl allowed, aloud alms, arms altar, alter arc, ark aren’t, aunt ate, eight auger, augur auk, orc aural, oral away, aweigh awe, oar, or, ore axel, axle aye, eye, I bail, bale bait, bate baize, bays bald, bawled ball, bawl band, banned bard, barred bare, bear bark, barque baron, barren base, bass bay, bey bazaar, bizarre be, bee beach, beech bean, been beat, beet beau, bow beer, bier bel, bell, belle berry, bury berth, birth bight, bite, byte billed, build bitten, bittern blew, blue bloc, block boar, bore board, bored boarder, border bold, bowled boos, booze born, borne bough, bow boy, buoy brae, bray braid, brayed braise, brays, braze brake, break bread, bred brews, bruise bridal, bridle broach, brooch bur, burr but, butt buy, by, bye buyer, byre calendar, calender call, caul canvas, canvass cast, caste caster, castor caught, court caw, core, corps cede, seed ceiling, sealing cell, sell censer, censor, sensor cent, scent, sent cereal, serial cheap, cheep check, cheque choir, quire chord, cord cite, sight, site clack, claque clew, clue climb, clime close, cloze coal, kohl coarse, course coign, coin colonel, kernel complacent, complaisant complement, compliment coo, coup cops, copse council, counsel cousin, cozen creak, creek crews, cruise cue, kyu, queue curb, kerb currant, current cymbol, symbol dam, damn days, daze dear, deer descent, dissent desert, dessert 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 deviser, divisor slay, sleigh 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	dew, due die, dye discreet, discrete doe, dough done, dun douse, dowse draft, draught dual, duel earn, urn eerie, eyrie ewe, yew, you faint, feint  fair, fare farther, father fate, fête faun, fawn Fay, fey faze, phase feat, feet ferrule, ferule few, phew fie, phi file, phial find, fined fir, fur  flair, flare flaw, floor flea, flee flex, flecks flew, flu, flue floe, flow flour, flower foaled, fold for, fore, four foreword, forward fort, fought forth, fourth foul, fowl franc, frank freeze, frieze friar, fryer furs, furze gait, gate galipot, gallipot gallop, galop gamble, gambol gays, gaze genes, jeans gild, guild gilt, guilt giro, gyro gnaw, nor gneiss, nice gorilla, guerilla grate, great greave, grieve greys, graze grisly, grizzly groan, grown guessed, guest hail, hale hair, hare hall, haul hangar, hanger hart, heart haw, hoar, whore hay, hey heal, heel, he’ll hear, here heard, herd he’d, heed heroin, heroine hew, hue hi, high higher, hire him, hymn ho, hoe hoard, horde hoarse, horse holey, holy, wholly hour, our idle, idol in, inn indict, indite it’s, its jewel, joule key, quay knave, nave knead, need knew, new knight, night knit, nit knob, nob knock, nock knot, not know, no knows, nose laager, lager lac, lack lade, laid lain, lane lam, lamb laps, lapse larva, lava lase, laze law, lore lay, ley lea, lee	leach, leech lead, led leak, leek lean, lien lessen, lesson levee, levy liar, lyre licence, license licker, liquor lie, lye lieu, loo links, lynx lo, low load, lode loan, lone locks, lox loop, loupe loot, lute made, maid mail, male main, mane maize, maze mall, maul manna, manner mantel, mantle mare, mayor mark, marquee marshal, martial marten, martin mask, masque maw, more me, mi mean, mien meat, meet, mete medal, meddle metal, mettle meter, metre might, mite miner, minor, mynah mind, mined missed, mist moat, mote mode, mowed moor, more moose, mousse morning, mourning muscle, mussel naval, navel nay, neigh nigh, nye none, nun od, odd ode, owed oh, owe one, won packed, pact packs, pax pail, pale pain, pane pair, pare, pear palate, palette, pallet pascal, paschal paten, patten, pattern pause, paws, pores, pours pawn, porn pea, pee peace, piece peak, peek, peke, pique peal, peel pearl, purl pedal, peddle peer, pier pi, pie pica, pika place, plaice plain, plane pleas, please plum, plumb pole, poll poof, pouffe practice, practise praise, prays, preys principal, principle profit, prophet quarts, quartz quean, queen rain, reign, rein raise, rays, raze rap, wrap raw, roar read, reed read, red real, reel reek, wreak rest, wrest retch, wretch review, revue rheum, room right, rite, wright, write ring, wring road, rode roe, row role, roll roo, roux, rue rood, rude root, route rose, rows rota, rotor rote, wrote rough, ruff 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, 1^st 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, 23^rd 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, 4^th 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

 

31^st 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 7^th 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

 

10^TH 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 7^th 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

 

12^TH 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 16^th 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

 

10^TH 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

 

 

30^TH 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

 

23^RD 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

 

11^TH 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	Interrupt	The TV station broke in to report the news of the president’s death.
break up	end a relationship	My boyfriend and I broke up before I moved to America.
break up	start laughing (informal)	The kids just broke up as soon as the clown started talking.
break out	Escape	The prisoners broke out of jail when the guards weren’t looking.
break out in sthg	develop a skin condition	I broke out in a rash after our camping trip.
bring sby down	make unhappy	This sad music is bringing me down.
bring sby up	raise a child	My grandparents brought me up after my parents died.
bring sthg up	start talking about a subject	My mother walks out of the room when my father brings up sports.
bring sthg up	Vomit	He drank so much that he brought his dinner up in the toilet.
call around	phone many different places/people	We called around but we weren’t able to find the car part we needed.
call sby back	return a phone call	I called the company back but the offices were closed for the weekend.
call sthg off	Cancel	Jason called the wedding off because he wasn’t in love with his fiancé.
call on sby