Excerpt from the Compulsory Set Text: 25 Marks

Students will be asked to analyse an excerpt from one of the required textbooks they have read, such as Blossoms of the Savannah by Henry Ole Kulet or A Doll's House by Henrik Ibsen.

A man in a black suit standing in front of a black board written test

The set book, plot, styles, themes, grammar, and conflict-related episodes will always be the main topics of the questions.

General Advice

To get the gist of the question, read the excerpt first.
Identify the common styles, themes, and character traits as you read the excerpt.
The number of marks in the question should guide how much you write. For example, what you write for a question worth 4 marks can't be the same as what you write for a question worth 2 marks.
Always do what is specifically asked of you in each question.

The questions that are frequently tested

Place the excerpt in its immediate context.

This question checks how well students understand how the events in the set book go together (the plot).

In this question, the candidate is asked to describe the events that take place before and after a given excerpt. This is accomplished by determining where, when, and who is involved in the actions. The response should be written in prose or continuous form rather than in points.

It is worth noting that the before and after questions can sometimes be set as separate questions.

Typical Errors in this Question

Starting too far back and thus providing irrelevant responses.
Describing the events in the extract.
Providing information that is not required by the question

Example of such a Question

KCSE 2019

2.a. Place the excerpt in its immediate context. 4 Marks.

KCSE 2020

2.g. What happens immediately after this excerpt? 2 Marks.

KCSE 2021

2.a. Briefly explain what has just happened before the excerpt. 3 Marks.

2. Question about the themes.

The main idea(s) of a piece of writing are called its theme(s). This question checks how well the student understands the main ideas in the set book being looked at. Some questions that may help a candidate determine a text's central message are as follows:

What does the author want you, the reader, to learn about society, people, or life?
How does the reader get to the text's main ideas? It's by looking at the characters, what they do, and what happens to them.

Methods for evaluating the themes

Bring out the main ideas and concerns addressed in the excerpts.
Find the main message in the excerpt.
What are the main issues discussed in the excerpts?

Themes are stated using nouns, and these nouns are typically abstract concepts like love, pain, and injustice.

Blossoms of the Savannah by Henry Ole Kulet explores several recurring themes, including:

Determination
Traditions/Culture
Family relations
Corruption
Gender Inequality
Betrayal
Forced marriages
Greed

Henrik Ibsen's A Doll's House deals with several themes, including:

√1. A songbird must have a clean beak to chirp with, and a parent must uphold morality for the sake of bringing up their children with expected standards of morality. √1.
Family love. √1. (Nora loves her husband and children.) She refers to her children fondly as little sweet darlings. She says, ‘I will do anything to please Torvald.’ √1.
√1. Helmer calls Nora "my darling". Christine and Krogstad refer to themselves as shipwrecked people who can join forces. Christine and Krogstad are on first-name terms. √1.
Secrecy, falsehood, deceit, and hypocrisy √1. Nora conceals information from Helmer by forging the signature or taking the loan without Helmer’s knowledge. (The words secret, deception, and hypocrite do not score.)
Betrayal: √1. Helmer fails Nora by abandoning her in her time of need when she is threatened by Krogstad. √1. / Christine betrays Nora by insisting that Helmer should know the truth about the loan. 2. Christine abandons Krogstad for a richer man. √1
Marriage: √1. Helmer and Nora are a couple (penalise couples) or Krogstad and Christine intend to marry. √1
Gender bias/ male chauvinism, gender discrimination, and femininity: √1. A woman is not allowed to take a loan without her husband’s approval. √1
Family conflict, disagreement, or separation: √1. Nora leaves her husband.
Christine offers to assist Nora in having Krogstad remove the letter from the letterbox; Christine helps Nora mend the dress; Nora helps Christine find employment; and Christine pays a visit to Nora.
Religion: "I do not know exactly what religion is."
Change
Role of women
Parental responsibility
Selflessness/ self-sacrifice
Blackmail
Fear

There is no mark for illustration without identification.

To score, the candidate must identify the correct theme from the excerpt or text and then provide the appropriate illustration from the set book examined. Students should always provide supporting evidence for their answers because stating a theme without backing it up with an example could be interpreted as guesswork.

Errors You May Have Made in This Question

Telling what happened in the excerpt without focusing on any one theme.
Themes are listed without illustrations.
Failure to properly state the theme.

The candidate must pay close attention to whether the themes are to be identified from the excerpt or the entire text.

Example of such a Question

KCSE 2019

Identify and illustrate two themes brought out in the play. 4 Marks.

KCSE 2020

c. What do we learn about corruption in this excerpt? 2 Marks.

3. A question about style.

This question is designed to assess the candidate's knowledge of style. When we talk about a piece of writing's style, we mean how it uses language. The students should be aware that some literary devices, such as figures of speech, imagery, figurative language, and sound patterns, belong to a particular group. This implies that the student should carefully read the question to determine whether it is general (open to any style) or specific (tied to a particular group), such as figures of speech. It is also important for the candidate to understand the function, purpose, use, and effect of any style used. In other words, what is the effect of the style used in the excerpt?

The methods by which styles are examined

Identify the imagery or figures of speech in the excerpt. Keep in mind that this question is meant to test your knowledge of figurative language or imagery only. The only way to answer the question is with figures of speech like similes, metaphors, and so on.
Identify and illustrate two stylistic devices used in the excerpt. This is an open question, so you can use any style from the excerpt or the set book.

The Effectiveness of Stylistic Devices

When the question asks the candidate to describe the effect of the style used in the excerpt, it is critical that the candidate do so in order to receive full marks. The context of a style should be used to assess its effectiveness.

To give an example

"I am happy; I am happy; I have won." The phrase "I am happy" has been repeated several times to emphasise elation and happiness.

Hatred has been emphasised by repeating, "I hate you; I hate you."

‘He kicked her like a punching bag.' Gender-based violence: theme or message, Characteristics of a violent or cruel person Attitude-Merciless, cruel

Example of such a Questions

KCSE 2019

2.e. Identify and illustrate two stylistic devices used in the excerpt. 4 Marks.

b.The Christmas tree is mentioned many times in the play. What does it stand for? 3 Marks

KCSE 2020

2.e. Identify and illustrate four features of style in the excerpt.

KCSE 2021

c. Identify and explain any two instances of irony in this excerpt. 4 Marks.

KCSE 2022

f.Explain the following imagery: ‘They likened him to a mono-eyed giant who stood on legs of straw.’

4. Question on characterization

This question tests the candidate’s understanding of the various characters in the set book examined. A writer can reveal a character trait in the following ways:

Through what the character says and how he or she says it. BOTs pg76
Through the character’s behaviour, feelings, and thoughts. BOTs, p. 91
Through what other characters say about the character. BOTs, p. 1

Character traits are described using adjectives. A character trait should always be illustrated.

The Most Common Error

The illustration is missing the trait.
Trait without illustration
Using incorrect words to describe characteristics
Not following the instructions correctly, that is, the traits from the excerpt or the whole text,
Nouns such as coward, liar, hypocrite, or extortionist should not be used. Instead, we use words like cowardly, dishonest, hypocritical, and opportunistic.
Do not use a phrase like Oloisudori does not respect women.
Keep track of synonyms and avoid writing them as separate responses.

A character's role in the set book

Various characters play various roles in the story. The role a character plays helps to bring out or highlight either specific:

Themes: for example, Ole Kaelo develops the theme of materialism, and Resian brings out the theme of determination.
Contribute to the plot's development. Without Oloisudori and Krogstad, there will be no BOTs and ADHs.
Help in the development of another character. The conversation between Resian and her mother about FGM helps us know that Mama Milanoi is submissive.
Used symbolically to represent something, Emakererei is a symbol of empowered women in society.
Source of humour.

Example of such a Questions

KCSE 2019.

The children's role in the play

Children are employed to reinforce the concept of family.
They are used to provide comic relief, relieve tension in the play, create humour, dramatic irony, foreshadowing, and foregrounding, among other things.
They are used to intensify the conflict in the play (to develop the plot).
They highlight Nora's personality traits as loving, caring, motherly, responsible, friendly, and deceitful.

Points to remember

Themes
Styles
Plot

KCSE 2020

2.d. Describe the character of each of the following as brought out in this excerpt. 4 Marks

Ole Kaelo

Ole Supeyo.

KCSE 2021

2.d. With examples, identify any two-character traits that Dr. Rank brought out in this excerpt. 4 Marks.

The candidate must specify the theme or character trait to be scored.

KCSE 2022

c.From the information in this excerpt, describe the character of Simeren. 6 Marks

5. Vocabulary test

These are questions designed to assess a candidate's ability to explain the meaning of words and expressions used in the excerpt. The student should explain the meaning of words and expressions in the context in which they were used; that is, the meaning should come from the area where the word is used.

It is critical to remember that the meaning of words should always be given in the same sense as the word itself; for example, if the word in the question is in the past tense, the answer must also be in the past tense.

Mistakes That People Make

Adding the phrase "means to..." converts the word to the infinitive "to."
Slashing the answers, any incorrect response that is slashing with the correct response attracts a zero.
Do not use the same word in the question to explain the meaning.

For Example,

Trudging and walking slowly

Merrily happily

Example of such a Question

KCSE 2020

h.Explain the meaning of each of the following as used in the excerpt: 2 Marks

Of necessity
Integrity

KCSE 2021

g.Explain the meaning of each of the following expressions as used in the excerpt. 3 Marks

Small post
Gently altered
Dry business matters

KCSE 2022

h.Explain the meaning of the following words as used in this excerpt: 3 Marks

Envisaged
Murmurs
broached

6. Question on knowledge of the set book

These are questions that assess candidates' comprehension of the assigned book; they are not based on the provided excerpt but on the entire text.

Example of such a Question

KCSE 2020

a. Who is Ole Supeyo, and why has Ole Kaelo come to visit him? 3 Marks.
‘Don’t trust him any further than you would a hyena on your homestead.’ Relate this to Oloisuduri’s actions later in the text. 4 Marks

KCSE 2021

b. Nora says, ‘What do you want to see my husband about?’ From your knowledge of the play, why is Nora afraid of Krogstad seeing Helmer? 4 Marks

7. QUESTIONS REGARDING GRAMMAR

There will be a couple of questions about grammar and sentence structure that the student will need to answer. The grammar question is based on sentences from the passage.

Rewriting a sentence or inserting a question tag are two examples of what the student might be asked to do. An understanding of English grammar is required for this question. Grammar requirements must be followed to the letter, and mistakes are not tolerated. Take note that no credit is given for submissions that display signs of carelessness in terms of grammar, punctuation, tense, spelling, etc.

Example of such a Question

KCSE 2019

Don’t tell anyone about the stranger. (Rewrite beginning: Under...) 1Mark

KCSE 2022

‘Simiren did not argue with him then, nor would he do so now. (Rewrite this beginning: What... 1 Mark

8. EVALUATION-RELATED QUESTIONS

These are questions that call for the student to provide judgement-based responses using the concepts from the excerpt they just read.

Students may be asked to describe the writer's attitude, tone, or mood towards his or her subject matter. Here, the student must evaluate the information provided in the reading and come to a conclusion. The passage does not directly imply or provide answers to such questions.

Attitude is the way people feel about someone, something, or a place. This feeling could be either good or bad. Writing that a person's attitude is either positive or negative is too vague. Instead, you should use more specific words, such as admiring, cynical, mocking, loving, or even hateful.

The tone of a work (a story or a play) is how the writer makes the subject feel. The tone of a piece of writing can be seen in the words the author uses and the details that go with them. Criticising, being authoritative, being satirical, being ironic, being contemptuous, being bitter, being scornful, being spiteful, being condescending, being dominant, being patronising, being tense, being anxious, being distressed, being fearful, and so on are all examples of adjectives used to describe tone.

The mood is the emotion that one experiences while reading. Setting, image, objects, and details, among others, all play a part in setting the mood. Ironical, sad, contemptuous, satirical, critical, and other words can be used to describe the mood.

Example of such a Question

KCSE 2019

h.Describe the tone of this Excerpt. 3 Marks

KCSE 2021

e.Describe the mood in this excerpt. 3 Marks

9.INFERENCE QUESTIONS

These queries are not taken straight from the excerpt. The student is expected to draw conclusions from the details given in the excerpt. These questions will include:

Application questions, in which the student is expected to apply what they have read in the passage to various situations.

These are questions that ask the student to decide what they think about the ideas in the passage.

Example of such a Question

KCSE 2020