KCSE ENGLISH PAPER ONE ORAL NARRATIVES

 KCSE ORAL NARRATIVES QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 

KCSE ENGLISH PAPER ONE 2014

3. (a)Read the oral narrative below and then answer the questions that follow.

The Cowtail Swish

Once upon a time, there lived a much loved village chief. He loved hunting and would share the meat with the entire village. One day, he went hunting as usual but didn’t return. His people became very worried. They searched and searched for him.

As they searched, they kept singing his favorite song, hoping that he’d sing back in response. The song echoed throughout the forest:

Mother nature, mother nature

You have enough for all

Mother nature, may my arrow find much meat

Meat to feed all my people

After a long fiuitless search, the chief was presumed dead. Shortly afterwards, his wife gave birth to their seventh son. With his first breath, he asked, “What happened to my father?”

“Have you ever seen anything like this?” the villagers whispered among themselves in amazement.

“Never, ever!” was the soft reply all round. Immediately, the newborn’s question prompted his six older brothers to embark on another search for their father. lt was with sadness that they discovered that he’d been swallowed by a python.

Luckily, each of them was endowed with special talents and powers which they combined to restore their father’s life. The whole village danced and danced, the joyful pata pata of their feet resounding throughout the village.

Now, a big, big problem arose; who among the sons would become heir one day and receive the Cow-tail swish which was the symbol of authority? Each of the six sons claimed that it was his magical powers that had brought their father back from the land of the spirits. Each claim sounded as valid and as potent as the next.

In confusion, the villagers scratched their heads like chickens scratching the ground. “Well, our land has many rivers, each with its source. Likewise, the search that eventually led to the restoration of my life had a source,” the chief said in a tone of finality.

All the eyes of the villagers turned on the infant son. They remembered the proverb that says: a man is only truly dead when he is not remembered.

 

(i) Illustrate any four features that show that this is an oral narrative. (4 marks)

(ii) Which gesture would you use while saying the words: “With the entire village” in the first paragraph? (1 mark)

(iii) Which is the main sound feature used in the song? (2 marks)

(iv) Identify an ideophone in the story. (1mark)

 

KCSE ENGLISH PAPER ONE 2007

 Read the story below and answer the questions that follow 

Once upon a time, there lived a young woman who ran away from home to  secretly marry her warrior lover out in the wilderness. The warrior directed the young woman to a place in the forest where he would meet her. He said to her, “When you get to a fork along the path take the right path.” Then the warrior went ahead to await her arrival in the forest. 

The young woman took off, and when she got to the fork that the warrior had mentioned, she followed the left path, forgetting which path the warrior had instructed her to follow.  

As the girl walked on, she came upon an ogre who said to her, “ hey, young  woman where are going? Do you have anything to say now that I’m going to eat you?” the girl answered in song  

 Not here my dear  

 Let us go to the water hole  

 Where you can eat me  

 And have a drink  

 Oh my dear warrior, where was it?  

And so it happened that this was very bushy country. The ogre led the young woman on, and when they got to another spot, he said to her, “I am now going  to eat you here.” The girl broke into song, urging him not to eat her.  

They went further, and the young woman kept hoping that the warrior would  hear her voice. As they walked on, the ogre asked the young girl: “shall I eat you hear” The girl sang again  

 Not here my dear  

 Let us go to the water hole  

 Where you can eat me  

 And have a drink  

 Oh dear warrior, where was it?  

But the warrior had still not heard her. When they got to a cave by a river, the  ogre collected branches and leaves on which to place the young woman’s flesh  after he had slaughtered her. When he brought one type of leaf, the girl  objected to having her flesh laid on ordinary leaves preferring the sweet scented leaves of the Matasia plant. The ogre brought another kind of leaf  nut the girl also rejected it, until eventually the sweet- smelling leaves of  Matassia plant were brought. When the ogre asked the girl whether those were the right type of leaves, she said: Yes, these are the ones.” The ogre then laid the leaves down on the ground and lit a big fire. All this while, the girl was continuously singing the same song.  

Just when the ogre was about to jump on the young woman, the warrior suddenly emerged from the bush. The young woman said to the ogre, “It is now your skinny flesh that will be laid on those leaves.” The warrior killed the ogre and placed him on the bed of leaves and took the girl away. And that is the end of the story.  

 

(Adopted from a young woman and an ogre” in oral literature for the maasai by Naomi Kipury. Nairobi: EAPA 1983)

 

(i) If you were performing this story, how would you say the words of the warrior? (1 mk) 

 

 (ii) What could the warrior lover have done to improve on his giving of directions (1 mk)  

 

(iii)How would you deliver the first speech of the ogre? (2 mks) 

 

(iv) The song is sung for both the ogre and the warrior lover. How would you perform it to show this? (2 mks)  

 

(v) As the story teller, how would you say the sentence: “just when the ogre was about to jump on the young woman, the warrior suddenly emerged from the bush.” (2 mks)  

 

(vi)How do you think the audience would react when the warrior lover arrivers?(1 mk)

 

 

 

 

 

KCSE ENGLISH PAPER ONE 2006

a) Read the oral narrative below and then answer the questions that follow. 

 

Nyasaye (God) wanted to put a stop to the rampages of death-death which claims the  lives of everyone  

 Young and old  

 Boys and girls  

 Men and women  

 Strangers and kinsmen;   

 Death which kills  

 The innocent and the guilty  

 Chiefs and their subjects  

 The healthy and the sick  

 The wise and the foolish 

So one day he sent a servant to earth with a message for all his people. “Send me an offering of fresh, untainted fat,” he ordered. “It should be as clean and sparkling as the moon.” Hearing this, the people slaughtered a goat, removed its pure white fat, and placed it in a clay dish overspread with fine fresh leaves.  

Now they summoned Ngo’ngruok, also known as Haniafu the Chameleon, and ordered him to take their offering to Nyasaye. They also fashioned a long pole that reached up to heaven where Nyasaye dwells in his glory. This was the path Ng’ongruok would follow when carrying their offering.    

But Ng’onguruok accidentally soiled the fat with his clumsy feet, and on his arrival before Nyasaye, presented a dirty and unsightly offering. Nyasaye was furious and rejected it, shouting: “tell the people of earth that because of this insult they must continue to die, just as their ancestors have done!”  

Ng’ongruok descended from heaven delivered Nyasaye’s message, and returned the offering to the people. Ever since then, alas death has continued to ravage human beings.  For his clumsiness, Ngo’ngruok was cursed by the people. Hence, he must always walk  on all fours, and his steps must be hesitant and slow. That is why you will always see him carrying one leg raised from the ground as he tries to decide exactly where to tread. 

(Adapted from: keep my words by B. Onyange-gutu and A.A Roscoe) 

 

i)What would you do in order to capture the audience’s attention before you begin to tell this story? (2mks) 

 

ii)Explain two ways in which you would make the narration of lines 20 to 23 of the story effective (4mks)  

 

iii)Mention two ways in which you would know that you audience in this story is fully participating in the performance. (4mks)

 

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