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The the following piece of oral literature and answer the questions that follow.

The the following piece of oral literature and answer the questions that follow.

NJABALA

Once upon a time, a man and his wife had a daughter. The girl’s name was Njabala and she was stunningly beautiful. But she was badly brought up, that girl. She was spoilt. She did not want to do any work in the shamba or around the house. All through her childhood, it was her mother who cooked for her, washed and ironed her clothes for her, did everything for her. But Njabala’s beauty was beyond words.Anyway, Njabala grew up and was soon ready for marriage. She married a young man who took her to his home. But of course she couldn’t do any work. When the time came for her to go and work in the shamba, she didn’t know what to do. She put both her hands on her head and cried out:.
Mamma, mother-of-twins!
It’s you who used to spoil me
Come and dig.
Whereupon the skeleton of her mother, who had died, suddenly appeared. It took the hoe and started clearing the shamba as it sang:
Njabala, this is the way women dig,
Njabala!
Njabala, this is the way women dig,
Njabala!
Don’t let me be caught by my in-laws.
And it cleared a large patch of the shamba, from here to way, way out there. Then it disappeared back to the grave. This went on for quite some time. Every time Njabala went to the shamba, she would call out:
Mamma, Mother-of-twins!
It’s you who used to spoil me
Come and dig.
Then the mother’s little skeleton would come and clear the shamba, singing;
Njabala, this is the way women dig,
Njabala!
Njabala, this is the way women dig,
Njabala!
Don’t let me caught by my in-laws.
One day, however, a relative of Njabala’s husband saw what was happening. She went and said to the husband. 'You know what? The food we eat in this house is grown by skeletons'.
The husband said, 'Oh dear, Oh dear!' The next day, he went and hid in the shamba. When Njabala arrived, she called out as usual.
Mamma, Mother-of-twins!
It’s you who used to spoil me
Come and dig.
The skeleton came and began to dig as it sang:
Njabala, this is the way women dig,
Njabala!
But suddenly, the man leapt out of his hiding and dealt his mother-in-law’s skeleton a big blow with his stick. The skeleton disappeared immediately. Njabala was almost fainting with shame and shock. Her husband said to her angrily, “So this is what’s been happening? You’ve been feeding us on food grown by skeletons?”
From that day on, Njabala learned to work saying, “What else can I do now that my mother has been beaten and driven away?” And so she became a hard-working woman.
I left her happy with her husband and the rich crop she was harvesting from her shamba, and I came back here. That is what I saw.

i) Which audience would this narrative be most appropriate for? Justify your answer. 2mks

ii) State and explain three functions of song as an aspect of style in this narrative. 6mks

iii) Apart from the song, identify three typical features of oral narratives evident in this narrative. 6mks

iv) Using at least two expressions from the narrative, show evidence that the recorder remained true to live performance of the narrative. 4mks

v) Cite and explain a proverb from any community you are familiar with that comments on either beauty or work

Answers

Answers
Young women ripe for marriage. The narrative teaches young ladies to prepare themselves well to handle marriage responsibilities before they get married

OR

Young men ready for marriage. They should choose well before marrying

i) Breaks the monotony of pure narration thus making the story interesting.

ii) Brings out the character traits of the mother, Njabala e.t.c. E.g. mother as irresponsible person/ “It is you who used to spoil me'

iii) Plot development -join one episode to the other.

iv) Entertainment/ in live performance. The song would entertain audience

iii) -The opening formula –Once upon a time

-The closing formula –I left her happy-----------
-Fantasy- skeleton digging
-Timelessness- Once upon a time.
Simple plot
Dialogue between husband and wife

iv) It cleared a large patch of the shamba, from here to way, way out there.
------- I came back here
------ That is what I saw
You reap what you sow
Beauty is skin deep
Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder
All that glitters is not gold
Unity is strength

marto answered the question on March 21, 2019 at 07:35

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