UNIVERSITY OF BOTSWANA

DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH
2005/2006 FIRST SEMESTER EXAMINATIONS

FRONT PAGE

COURSE N0: ENG 113 DURATION: 2 HOURS DATE: NOV/DEC 2005

TITLE OF PAPER: INTRODUCTION TO LITERATURE: PROSE

SUBJECT: ENGLISH

TITLE OF EXAMINATION: BA (HUM) LEVEL 100

MORNING/AFTERNOON/EVENING

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. ANSWER TWO QUESTIONS ONLY

2. YOU MUST ANSWER ONE QUESTION FROM EACH SECTION
3. YOU MUST NOT USE THE SAME TEXT, ESSAY OR SHORT STORY FOR
BOTH QUESTIONS
4. DO NOT REPEAT MATERIAL USED IN ANSWERING ANY QUESTION

DO NOT OPEN THIS PAPER UNTIL YOU HAVE

BEEN TOLD TO DO SO BY THE SUPERVISOR No. of pages 5
SECTION A

QUESTION ONE

THINGS FALL APART by Chinua Achebe

Read the following passage and answer all the questions on it.

“Then the missionaries burst into song. It was one of those gay and rollicking
tunes of evangelism which had the power of plucking at silent and dusty chords
in the heart of an Ibo man. The interpreter explained each verse to the
audience, some of whom now stood enthralled. It was a story of brothers who
lived in darkness and in fear, ignorant of the love of God. It told of one sheep out
on the hills, away from the gates of God and from the tender shepherd’s care.
After the singing the interpreter spoke about the Son of God whose name
was Jesu Kristi. Okonkwo, who only stayed in the hope that it might come to
chasing the men out of the village or whipping them, now said:
‘You told us with your own mouth that there was only one god. Now you talk
about his son. He must have a wife, then.’ The crowd agreed.
‘I did not say He had a wife,’ said the interpreter, somewhat lamely.
‘Your buttocks said he had a son,’ said the joker. ‘So he must have a wife and
all of them must have buttocks.’
The missionary ignored him and went on to talk about the Holy Trinity. At the
end of it Okonkwo was fully convinced that the man was mad. He shrugged his
shoulders and went away to tap his afternoon palm-wine.
But there was a young lad who had been captivated. His name was Nwoye,
Okonkwo’s first son. It was not the mad logic of the Trinity that captivated him.
He did not understand it. it was the poetry of the new religion, something felt in
the marrow. The hymn about the brothers who sat I darkness and in fear seemed
to answer a vague and persistent question that haunted his young soul – the
question of the twins crying in the bush and the question of Ikemefuna who was
killed. He felt relief within as the hymn poured into his parched soul. The words of
the hymn were like drops of frozen rain melting on the dry plate of the panting
earth. Nwoye’s callow mind was greatly puzzled.” [105-106]

I: Relating this passage to the novel as a whole, briefly discuss the Ibo
people’s impressions of the missionaries. [20 marks]
II: Why does the story about the “brothers who lived in darkness” appeal to
the listeners? [20 marks]
III: In your own words explain the meaning of the following phrases in the
context of this passage:
a) “those gay and rollicking tunes of evangelism” [5 marks]
b) “something felt in the marrow” [5 marks]
c) “a vague and persistent question” [5 marks]
d) “the hymn poured into his parched soul” [5 marks]

2
 IV: According to this passage, why does Okonkwo think the missionaries are
“mad”? [20 marks]
V: Why do you think Nwoye is so “captivated” by the missionaries’
preaching, even though he does not understand their doctrine? [20
marks]

QUESTION TWO

Read the following passage and answer all the questions on it.

‘My Dungeon Shook’ by James Baldwin

The really terrible thing, old, buddy, is that you must accept them. And I mean
that very seriously. You must accept them and accept them with love. For these
innocent people have no other hope. They are, in fact, still trapped in a history
which they do not understand; and until they understand it, they cannot be
released from it. They have had to believe for many years, and for innumerable
reasons, that black men are inferior to white men. Many of them, indeed, know
better, but, as you will discover, people find it difficult to act on what they know.
To act is to be committed, and to be committed is to be in danger. In this case,
the danger, in the minds of most white American, is the loss of their identity. Try to
imagine how you would feel if you woke up one morning to find the sun shining
and all the stars aflame. You would be frightened because it is out of the order
of nature. Any upheaval in the universe is terrifying because it so profoundly
attacks one’s sense of one’s reality. Well, the black man has functioned in the
white man’s world as a fixed star, an immovable pillar: and as he moves out of
his place, heaven and earth are shaken to their foundations. You, don’t be
afraid. I said that it was intended that you should perish in the ghetto, perish by
never being allowed to go behind the white man’s definitions, by never being
allowed to spell your proper name.

I: In not more than 100 words state what the passage is about [20
marks]
II: Who are “the innocent people” referred to in the passage? What
figure of speech is the writer using in this instance? [20 marks]
III: Identify and explain any two images used in this passage. (20
marks)
IV: Explain what the writer means by “To act is to be committed, and
to be committed is to be in danger.” [20 marks]
V: What kind of attitude do you think the writer is trying to instill in his
addressee. [20 marks]

QUESTION THREE

Read the following passage and answer all the questions on it.

“An Incident in the Ghobashi Household” by Alifa Rifaat

3
 ‘Isn’t that enough, mother? What do you want the money for?’
Zeinat struck her knees with the palms of her hands and tossed her head
back.
‘don’t we have to pay off Hamdan’s wage? – or was he cultivating the
beans for us for nothing, just for the fun of hard work?’
Ni’ma turned away and brought the stove from the window shelf,
arranging the dried corn-cobs in a pyramid and lighting them. She put it
alongside her mother, then filled the teapot with water from the jar and thrust it
into the embers. She squatted down and the two sat in silence. Suddenly Zeinat
said:
‘Since when has the buffalo been with young?’
‘From after my father went away.’
‘That’s to say, right after the Great Feast, daughter?’
Ni’ma nodded her head in assent, then lowered it again and began
drawing lines in the dust.
‘Why don’t you go off and see how many eggs have been laid while the
tea’s getting ready.’
Zeinat gazed into the dancing flames. Ghobashi had gone and left the
whole load on her shoulders: the children, the two kirats of land and the buffalo.
‘Take care of Ni’ma,’ he had said the night before he left. ‘The girl’s body has
ripened.’ He had then spread out his palms and said: ‘O Lord, for the sake of the
Prophet’s honour, let me bring back with me a marriage dress for her of pure silk.’
She had said to him: ‘May your words go straight from your lips to Heaven’s gate,
Ghobashi.’ He wouldn’t be returning before the following Great Feast. What
would happen when he returned and found out the state of affairs? She put her
head between the palms of her hands and leaned over the fire, blowing away
the ashes. ‘How strange,’ she thought, ‘are the girls of today! The cunning little
thing was hanging out her towels at the time of her period every month just as
though nothing had happened, and here she is in her fourth month and there’s
nothing showing.’
Ni’ma returned and untied the cloth from round the eggs, put two of
them in the fire and the rest in a dish. She then brought two glasses and the tin of
sugar and sat down next to her mother, who was still immersed in her thoughts.
‘Didn’t you try to find some way out?’
Ni’ma hunched her shoulders in a gesture of helplessness.

I: Why is it ironic that the women are concerned about paying

Hamden his wages, the man who has been “cultivating the
beans”? [25 marks]
II: Analyse the plentiful images of fertility in the passage, and
comment on their meaning in the short story. [25 marks]
III: What is the symbolism/ metaphoric significance of the buffalo in the
passage? [25 marks]
IV: The story as a whole, and this passage in particular, analyses the
theme of appearance versus reality. In what ways are appearance
and reality opposed in this passage? [25 marks]

4
SECTION B

QUESTION FOUR

“The title of Things Fall Apart suggests that this will be a novel mainly about how
‘things fell apart’ in Igbo society with the advent of colonialism, yet most of the
novel takes place before the arrival of the colonialists.” In your opinion why does
Achebe spend so much time describing Igbo society before colonialism?
[100 marks]

OR

QUESTION FIVE

In Things Fall Apart, Obierika says, “The white man is very clever. He came quietly
and peaceably with his religion … he has put a knife on the things that hold us
together and we have fallen apart.” Discuss the importance of Obierika’s
statement in the novel. [100 marks]

QUESTION SIX

In George Orwell’s essay “The Sporting Spirit” the author takes the visit of a
Russian football team to England as the starting point of expressing his views
about the negative effects of competitive sport. Analyse how Orwell develops
his argument using thesis, evidence, source, motive, style, and structure.
[100 marks]

QUESTION SEVEN

Using any short story studied in class, discuss how it analyzes important issues in
the society. [100 marks]