Uganda certificate of education

Literature in English
Paper 1
2 hours 30 minutes
Instructions to candidates:
Answer five questions in all, on five books, choosing two from Section A and three books from
Section B, one of which must be a poetry book.

In Section A, you must answer one question from sub-section (i) and one question from sub-
section (ii). You must cover one play and one novel.

SECTION A
Sub-section (i)
Choose one of the passages 1 to 4, read it carefully and the answer the questions following it as
concisely as possible.
Either

1. FRANCIS IMBUGA: Betrayal in the City

Mhando: It’s good you are back. Did you travel well?
Scout 1: Very well, Your Excellency.
Mhando: And did you visit the shrine?
Scout 2: Yes, we did.
Scout 1: We went pretty close to it, but we did not actually enter the compound.
Mhando: So, it’s indeed true that the son of the half-blind seer lives?
Scout 1: Yes, Your Excellency, Mgofu Ngoda, for that is his name, is very much
alive. Through our contact, our contact, we managed to get a few
pictures of him.
(He hands some pictures to Mhando.)
Mhando: (After looking at the pictures.) Ah…good. It should satisfy the doubting
Thomases.
He’s a dignified old man isn’t he?
Scout 2: Yes he is. The authorities in Nderema have looked after him well.
Mhando: His eyes betray the tiredness of one who has spent most of his life
staring. Staring at the brightness of the problems that humanity causes
itself.
Scout 1: Your Excellency, we did not expect to find out what we eventually did.
Mgofu Ngoda is revered in the whole of Nderema. He’s not only a seer
like the ones before him but also a healer as well. His shrine is always
filled with people wishing to be treated of one ailment or another.

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 Scout 2: it is even said that when he calls rain, the rain comes.
Mhando: Mmmh… that’s why it rains more there than here. What does he use,
herbs or roots?
Scout 2: Words, Your Excellency. Mgofu Ngoda uses words to heal the sick.
Scout 1: And that is not all. We also found out that his son is the personal
assistant to Nderema’s Prime Minister. He is also a qualified and well
respected medical doctor.
Questions:
a) What leads to this passage? (04 marks)
b) Discuss the characteristics of Mhando as portrayed in the extract above (06
marks)
c) In your own view why do you think it was necessary for Mhando to send spies to
Nderema as seen in the extract? (06 marks)
d) What is the relevance of this passage to the rest of the play? (04 marks)

2. LAWRENCE DARMANI: Grief Child

Fear gripped Adu when he awoke to find himself in pitch darkness. He had slept too long.
Quickly he rose up and groped for the way home. But before he did so he saw a beam of
light moving up and down along the very way he had come. He heard quiet voices as two
men parted the shrubs and walked towards him.
‘We must be fast,’ a voice said.
‘Let’s hide it under that tree,’ another voice replied. Why did Adu seem to recognize the
second voice? But there was no time to think as the voices approached. He stood there
shivering. Should he run?
In a slip second he decided to climb the tree. Forgetting the possibility of snakes hanging
from or creeping along the tree he climbed up. He got hold of a branch and swung himself
gratefully up on it and lay still. As he lay there trembling, two men appeared and stood still.
‘Perhaps it was a rat,’ said the familiar voice. He directed his torch up the tree. Adu held
his breath.
‘Let’s be fast. Where is it?’ asked the other man. His colleague unwrapped something in
s paper bag. As light fell on the objects, they sparkled. Then the man who held the light said.
‘Look at that! This is pure gold; just look.’ Immediately Adu knew who it was. He was so
shocked he almost gave himself away with a yell. His fears vanished, replaced with curious
and interest.
‘Dig here – and let’s be fast,’ said the other voice. The man he knew handed the torch to
his friend, and cleared dry leaves from a spot close to the edge of the grass and began to
dig.
Every three days we will move it until the matter is dead and forgotten in Buama.’
Questions:

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a) What has led to the happenings in the passage? (06 marks)

b) What exactly is happening in the extract above? (04 marks)

c) Giving illustrations identify the main theme portrayed in the passage above. (04 marks)
d) Show how the events in the extract affect Adu later on in the text Grief Child (06 marks)

Sub-Section (ii)
Answer one question on one book only.
N.B If your answer in sub-section (i) was on a play; now select a novel; but is your
answer in sub-section (i) was on a novel, you must now select a play.

FRANCIS IMBUGA: The Return of Mgofu

Either:
3. What is the role of Thori and Thoriwa in the play The Return of Mgofu? (20 marks)
Or:
4. Discuss the theme of leadership and power as brought out in the play The Return of
Mgofu. (20 marks)
Lawrence Darmani: Grief Child
Either:
5. What factors help Adu to survive after the tragic death of his parents? (20 marks)
Or:
6. What is the place of Christianity in the lives of people in Susa? (20 marks)

SECTION: B
In this section you must answer three questions covering three books. One of the
questions must be chosen from the poetry text.

OKIYA OMTATAH OKOITI: Voice Of The People

Either:

7. What factors make Nasirumbi our heroine in the play Voice Of The People?
Or:
8. Show the significance of the text Voice of the People to your contemporary society.

SYLVESTER ONZIVUA: The Heart Soothers

Either:
9. What challenges does Mini encounter in her relationship with jimmy? How does she
overcome them?
Or:

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10. How is betrayal and loss of trust developed in the play The Heart Soothers?

VICTOR BYABAMAZIMA: Shadows of Time

Either:
11. Discuss the theme of crime in the novel, shadows of time.
Or:
12. What lessons do you learn after reading the text shadows of time?
DANIEL MENGARA: Mema
Either:
13. What makes Akoure Ekang an interesting character in the story of Mema?
Or:
14. Describe the social set up of the people in Mema.
CHINUA ACHEBE: Things Fall Apart
15. What specific feelings does the story of Okonkwo arouse in you?
Or:
16. Describe the character of Obierika as brought out in the novel, Things Fall Apart.

DAVID RUBADIRI: Growing Up With Poetry.

Either:

17. Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow:

Protest from a Bushman

This is my native land
My real native land
I know every tree or bush by its name
I know every bird or beast by its name
I care not that I am poor
I have lived in this land
And hunted all over these mountains
And have looked at the skies
And wondered how the stars
And the moon and the sun and the
Rainbow and the Milky Way rush
From day to day like busy people
I have enjoyed this life
The light in the stars

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 The lilt in the music or song
The joy in the flowers
The plumage of the birds
The charm in women’s breasts
The inward warmth and rich vitality
The distant music of cowbells
And these lightened the burdens of my sorrow
I have nothing outside this body
I have neither a house nor property
I roamed where I liked and entered where I chose
And have enjoyed the bounce of youth
And stayed where I chose
I have danced in the sun
I have danced in the wind
I have danced around the fire place
But now and I say now there is
A swelling crescendo of sorrow
That makes goose-pimple on my body
There is no more joy in me
I live sick apprehension
Albert Malikongwa (Botswana)
Questions:

a) What is the poem about? (06 marks)

b) (i) Who is the speaker in the poem? (02 marks)

(i) Who is the speaker addressing? (02 marks)
c) Discuss two themes that are developed in the poem above. (04 marks)
d) Describe the speaker’s tone and attitude as shown in the poem (06 marks)

Or

18. Select a poem you studied on the theme of Freedom and use it to answer the following
questions:
a) State the title of the poem and the name of the poet (02 marks)
b) What does the poet say about identity? (06 marks)
c) What are your own views about identity? (06 marks)
d) Relate the poem to what happens in your society. (06 marks)

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END