By : W.

MUTUTWA
About the author
W. Mututwa is an English and Literature in English teacher at St. Faith’s High
School, Rusape.
Qualifications : PhD in Communication (University of Fort Hare)
MSc in Media and Society Studies (MSU)
4th year Hons in English and Media Studies (GZU)
BA General (GZU)
Email address : wishesmtutwa@gmail.com
Cell Number: 0773 359 484

CHAPTER 1: ELEMENTS OF DRAMA

The elements of drama, by which dramatic works can be analysed and evaluated, can be
categorized into three major areas: literary elements, technical elements and performance
elements.
The six literary Elements
There are six essential literary elements of drama:
•Plot: This is what happens in the play. Plot refers to the action; the basic storyline of the play.
•Theme: The difference between plot and theme is that while plot refers to the action of the play,
theme refers to the meaning or major subject of the play. Theme is the main idea or lesson to be
learned from the play. In some cases, the theme of a play is obvious; other times it is quite subtle.
Example: In the play, A hole in the sky, the major theme is environmental activism.
•Characters: Characters are the people (sometimes non-human characters) portrayed by the actors
in the play. It is the characters who move the action, or plot of the play forward. The playwright
communicates ideas through the behaviour of characters.
Example: The behaviour of Tajeer when he thanks Kikongwe for curing him and promising to start
a project to plant indigenous trees communicates the idea that human beings can transform from
hurting the environment to loving it if they are educated.
•Dialogue: This refers to the words written by the playwright and spoken by the characters in the
play. The dialogue helps move the action of the play along.
CHAPTER 2: CONTEXTUALISING A HOLE IN THE SKY
It is important to locate the Play within the existing literary genres so that we can understand the
issues that the play communicates. The play can be understood as protest literature, environmental
activism and a tragic –comedy.

Protest Literature.
Human beings, animals and all things in nature thrive when they are in a good place. When that
comfort is taken away, they become unhappy and restless. Since the beginning of colonialism, so
many African authors have written in protest against colonialism. Colonialism limited human
freedoms and threatened the livelihood of the colonised people. This kind of protest has continued
even in post- independent African literature. However, the play, A Hole in the Sky offers a unique
type of protest. Animas and the natural environment protest against human actions which threaten
the environment. Human characters also protest against the powerful elite, not about material or
monetary issues, but in defence of the environment.
Environmental activism
Environmental activism s one of the topical subjects which contemporary society is graphic with.
The developments in technology and urbanisation have resulted in an increase in the rate of
pollution across the globe prompting environmentalist to step up efforts to reduce pollution and
environmental degradation. Therefore, the play, A Hole in the Sky has been used by the playwright
to educate society about the negative effects of man’s cruelty to the environment.
CHAPTER 3: TECHNIQUES FOR ANSWERING QUESTIONS
The Context Question
Context questions can be very accessible making it very possible for the learner to score 25 out of
25. However, if the learner has not mastered skills to respond to this type of questions, it is also
very easy to dismally fail. However, the purpose of this book is to empower the learner with skills
to answer the context questions. Context questions usually test on the learner’s understanding of
characterisation, emotions or feelings, tone, attitude and style with reference to the given passage.
Firstly, it is crucial to highlight the areas which often give learners difficulty when responding to
context questions.
1. Repetition

Learners tend to repeat the same idea (feeling, character, style etc). It should be remembered that
certain words have synonyms, so when a learner uses a synonym for the answer already presented,
that answer will not score.
Below is an example of a repetition.
Tajeer is cruel as depicted when he instructs sends Jumbe with an eviction order to Kibichi’s
family. This shows that he has no respect for humanity.
CHAPTER 4: TEXTUAL ANALYSIS
Scene 1
The setting of the scene is Kibichi’s homestead. The description of the home reflects the material
conditions of Kibichi’s household and the entire slam community. The home is described as ‘an
improvised cardboard dwelling’ which conjures up the theme of displacement and homelessness.
The informal settlement does not only symbolise poverty, but depicts the evils of a capitalistic
society whose greed and selfishness threatens the livelihood of the indigenous people. The
multinational company fronted by a local citizen, Tajeer, has displaced indigenous families from
their ancestral land for monetary reasons.
A play is sustained by conflict. There is conflict between tradition and modernity which are
symbolised by Kibichi and his family and Tajeer and his people respectively. Upon hearing that
Tajeer’s people are coming for a jatropha project in the community, Kibichi gets angry as indicated
by his action (dramatic movement) of “standing up and clutching his panga (machete) firmly”.
There is an element of aggression in Kibichi’s act.
Exercise 1.
1(a) Read the following passage and answer the questions which follow it.

Kibichi: Men with heavy boots, steel hats, steel eyes and steel drills descended upon the lake.
(Invaders are seen descending upon the lake) The y tore through its brilliant waters, pierced its
fragile floor and clutched through its deepest secrets. They sucked out the dark slime to the surface
and threw out a cheer, celebrating that they had struck oil! They even lit a fire over the slime that
floated on the waters of our lake, just to prove how hot their find was.
Kikongwe: Hot indeed, and it burnt out our lives and our livelihoods by the sacred lack. The fish
were there, floating on the slime, but they were dead, and black. The water was neither drinkable
nor navigable (The ugly scene has been unfolding in the inset, the lake turning dirty and black,
while the oilmen stretch out their pipes and pumps to fill oil drums) We were finished. We just
had to move, or stay there and die, like our lake.
Kibichi: Or get hanged on the nearest tree, like Saro.
Kikongwe: You mean Saro Wiwa, the little man with the big mouth? (An apparition of Saro Wiwa
appears in the insert, arguing angrily with the oilmen) He was a man who loved to talk, and he
thought that the oilmen and their masters were human beings with whom one could reason.

(a) How is a tense atmosphere created in the above passage? [10]

CHAPTER 5: THEMES

Environmental activism
Kibichi’s family take a leading role in defending the environment from further harm by human
beings. They do this in different ways. Kikongwe educates the modern generation about the
importance of loving nature. In the end Tajeer transforms and intends to start a project to re-plant
the indigenous forest.
Greed/ materialism
The loggers are obsessed with wealth that they declare that they will not allow anything to stand
on their way as they cut trees for sell. The push Wamiti out of their way and later kill her. The
water pollution in Lake Riziki shows that humans are greedy.

Suggested Answers to questions

Exercise 1.
(a) How is a sad atmosphere created in the above passage?

Question interpretation
This question require the learner to identify dramatic techniques that have been used to generate a
sad atmosphere. In other words, identify style that has been used to communicate sadness.
Suggested answer
A sad atmosphere is generated by use of descriptive language to portray the behaviour of the
loggers against the environment. They have “heavy boots, steel hats, steel eye and steel drills”.
The adjectives used to describe the man ad their tools give shows that they are geared to use force
upon the earth as they drill to get oil.
The use of an exclamation to show the oilmen’s emotions generate a sad atmosphere. Kibichi says
the men were “celebrating that they had struck oil”. It is sad that they were happy about the
discovery of oil but they do not care about the lake.