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Lite 111: Introduction To Poetry Question Paper

Lite 111: Introduction To Poetry 

Course:Bachelor Of Education Arts

Institution: Kabarak University question papers

Exam Year:2013



KABARAK
UNIVERSITY

UNIVERSITY EXAMINATIONS
2012/2013 ACADEMIC YEAR
FOR THE DEGREE OF BACHELOR EDUCATION ARTS
LITE 111: INTRODUCTION TO POETRY
DAY: TUESDAY
DATE: 10/12/2013
TIME: 2.00 – 4.00 P.M. STREAM: Y1S1
INSTRUCTIONS:
Answer THREE questions in all. Question 1 is COMPULSORY.

Qn.1 COMPULSORY
a) Define the term poetic license.(1 mark)
Comeclose and Sleepnow

it is afterwards
and you walk on tiptoe happy to be part
of the darkness

lips becoming limp
a prelude to tiredness.
Comeclose and Sleepnow
for in the morning
when a policeman
disguised as the sun
creeps into the room
and your mother
disguised as birds
calls from the trees
you will put on a dress of guilt
and shoes with broken high ideals
and refusing coffee
run
alltheway
home.
Roger McGough



b) Referring to the above poem, demonstrate how the poet manipulates language at the level of:
i.
Phonology
ii.
Graphology
iii.
Grammar
iv.
Lexis
v.
Semantics (4 marks each x 5 = 20 marks)
c) Distinguish between the following terms used in poetry. Give adequate examples to illustrate:
i.
Tone
ii.
Mood
iii.
Attitude
(3 marks x 3 = 9marks)
Qn. 2 Discuss the use of Sound Devices in poetic composition. (20 marks)
3.
Read the poem and answer the questions that follow.

From the night window.

The night rattles with nightmares.

Children cry in the close-packed houses,

A man rots in his snoring.

On quiet feet, policemen test doors.

Footsteps become people under streetlamps.

Drunks return from parties,

Sounding of empty bottles and old songs.

The young women come home,

The pleasure in them deafens me.

They trot like small horses

And disappear into white beds

At the edge of the night.

All windows open, this hot night,

And the sleepless, smoking in the dark,

Making small red lights at their mouths,

Count the years of their marriages.





Douglas Dunn


(i) Who is the persona?(2mks)

(ii) What is the poem all about?(3mks)

(iii) How does the poet bring out the rhythm in the first two lines of the poem.(2mks)

(iv) Identify and illustrate two vices mentioned in the poem that exist in the
society.(4mks)

(v) Show that the setting is a slum.(2mks)

(vi) How does the poet appeal to the sense of hearing?(2mks)
(vii) In the lines;

“The young women come home

The pleasure in them deafens me”.

Comment on the attitude of the persona towards the subjects.(2mks)
(viii) Explain the meaning of the following phrases as used in the poem.(3mks)

(a) A man rots in snoring.

(b) At the edge of night.

(c) Making small red lights at their mouths.



Qn. 4 Read the following poem and answer the questions that follow.
Public Butchery:



by Jagjit Singh
Some people fear death,
Others must face it before a crowd
Specially invited
to witness the ceremony of their last breath.

Coups have succeeded elsewhere,
and heads have rolled,
and blood has flown,
quite indiscriminately.

But on condemned conspirators,
your fate is martyred while you watch

heads and hearts held high,
dead defiance lurking still
in eyeballs bathed in sweat,
as the judge performs the abortion
for your baby hatched in haste,
before the mother was fully pregnant.

Once you were greeted
and treated
as VIPs.
Now there is blank silence
as a crowd watches
four hooded ministers
hanging in the air.

(a) What is the theme of the poem? Support your answer with illustrations from the poem.(3mks)
(b) Using your own words, explain two consequences of coups as stated in stanza
two, three and four.(6mks)
(b) Identify two poetic devices and show the effectiveness of each in bringing out the
subject matter of the poem.(6mks)
(d) Explain the meaning of the following phrases as used in the poem.
(4mks)
(i) To witness the ceremony.
(ii) Your baby hatched in haste before the mother was fully pregnant.
(e) Suggest another suitable title for the poem.(1mk)

Q. 5 Read the following poem and answer the questions that follow
(20mks)I
Speak for the Bush, By Everet Standa
When my friend sees me
He swells and pants like a frog
Because I talk the wisdom of the bush
He says we from the bush
Do not understand civilized ways
For we tell our women
To keep the hem of their dresses
Below the knee
We from the bush, my friend insists
Do not know how to ‘enjoy’
When we come to the civilized city,
Like nuns, we stay away from night clubs
Where women belong to no men

And men belong to no women
And these civilized people
Quarrel and fight like hungry lions!

But, my friend, why do men
With crippled legs, lifeless eyes,
Wooden legs, empty stomachs
Wonder about the streets
of this civilized world?

Teach me, my friend, the trick
So that my eyes may not
See those whose houses have no walls
But emptiness all around;
Show me the wax you use
To seal your ears
To stop hearing the cry of the hungry

Teach me the new wisdom
Which tells men
To talk about money and not love
When they meet women

Tell your God to convert
me to the faith of the indifferent
The faith of those

who will never listen until
They are shaken with blows

I speak for the bush
You speak for the civilized
will you hear me?

QUESTIONS
a) Who is the persona in the poem?(2mks)
b) List down three differences between “I” and ‘my friend’(3mks)
c) Identify and explain any three images used in the poem(6mks)
d) What three problems do people face in the ‘civilized city’?(3mks)
e) What is the attitude of the persona towards the ‘civilized’?(2mks)
f) Describe the tone of this poem.(4mks)







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