2024 NABTEB GCE LITERATURE: 2024 NABTEB GCE LITERATURE QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS (8025)

(3)
The contribution of the setting of the play was used to portray the use of satire of which a Satire is a literary device used to mock a given situation or society with a view to correcting it. Wole Soyinka intends to compare the old and new orders in Nigerian society. He presents vividly the conflict of the new order with the old over social customs such as marriage, and the struggle between progress and tradition.
The new order in society is represented by the village teacher, Lakunle who opposes vehemently the practices of the old order as represented by Baroka, Bale of llunjunle. He does not want to allow a rail track to pass through or near llunjunle in case his society might be influenced by modern inventions and civilization; he is sworn against progress. Soyinka presents these two orders in dreadful conflict.

settings of the play which took place in Nigerian in the play attempts to attack and mock those half-baked and half-educated Africans who have little awareness of their own community and only have a very superficial knowledge of Europe. The play is not between protagonists, but between progress and tradition, differing views on the role of women, the sexes, and intellectual versus cunning. It also attacks our African chiefs or village heads in our various communities who out of sheer ignorance and greed reject progress in their various community and some other educated Africans who feel that western education does not recognize traditional 'copied from e x p o c o d e . n e t free' values.

(5)
Jimmy porter is the central character in the play; a twenty five year-old man who lives in Britain’s industrial midlands. He is an educated; well-read individual who works in a factory that is tends a sweet stall he is trying to buy, and issues diatribes about British society, which he feels has denied him opportunity simply because of his working class background.
Jimmy is self-conceited, self-centered and individualistic. He prides himself on his honestly, but can be cruel, as seen in his verbal attacks on his wife, Alison and his father, and on, Cliff Lewis, who lives with them.

Jimmy is a misogynist, that is, one who hates women. He hates womenfolk with passion and never takes them seriously. He sees them as people who cannot contribute anything meaningful to his life. He tends to transfer the anger in the past to them. He maltreats Alison, makes her feel subhuman to the point of resistance and her father, until Colonel Redfern comes to her rescue, and the Colonel takes her home. His only reason for maltreating Alison is the fact that she is too possessive and that she cannot understand him because she has never suffered, because he suffered at the age of ten; for he had to watch his father die. Because he insists on total loyalty, Jimmy feels betrayed when his wife, Alison, does not accompany him to the dead bed of a friend’s mother, yet he does not see anything wrong with his having an affair with Helena, his wife’s friend.

Jimmy is 'copied from e x p o c o d e . n e t free' egocentric and egoistic; for he cares only about his own feeling and cares less about other people around him. He seems incapable of empathizing with his wife, even when she grieves over losing their baby. He takes her back only after he has realized her importance and completely abased herself to him. Jimmy is the “angry young man” of the play. Born working class but highly educated like his friend and roommate, Cliff but Jimmy have an ambivalent relationship with his educated status and yet frustrated that his education can do nothing to effect his class status. Jimmy is a frustrated character who wallows in his feelings of alienation and uselessness in post-war England. Jimmy is a bundle of contradictions. He is passionate about progressive politics but he treats his wife like slave, which might seem contrary to being progressive, Jimmy is filled with rage but the reason for this misery is not known to anyone

(9)
(i) Use of Contrast: The poem makes use of contrast both thematically and structurally. The main idea in the poem is developed starting from the title and the body of the poem. “The leader represents politicians or the ruling class in our society, while the “led” refers to the masses or better still the citizens. The poem explores the leadership tussle that exists between those we voted or intend to vote into power and the followers (masses). The battle is between those leaders who feel that they are able and capable to rule their various communities, but their attributes and their self-acclaimed leadership skills are not to be counted on. Such characters in the poem include: “The Lion”. “The Hyena”, “Giraffe”, “Elephant”, “Warthog” and “Rhino”, their personality and attitude are questionable and cannot be entrusted with powers because of fear of power abuse. Other animals such as “The antelopes, impalas and “Pack” who stand as the masses have found them wanting with one form of shady character or the other and they both justify their reasons for not giving them chance to govern.
Also, the poet does not only contrast two ideas in the poem, but also wants a fusion of the contrasted characters or attributes. Hence, he says “A little bit of a lion/A little bit of a lamb/Tough like a tiger, compassionate like a doe”.

(ii) Parallelism: There are both linguistic constructions in African poems which enhance the subject 'copied from e x p o c o d e . n e t free' matter. One of these is the use of repetitive parallel structure which is termed parallelism. Examples include:
“A little bit of a lion.
A little bit of a lamb.
Tough like a tiger, compassionate like a doe.

Transparent like a river, mysterious like a lake”

The above repetitive parallel syntactic pattern heightens the tone of optimism and reassurance of a better leadership control especially when things are properly done.

(iii) Metaphor: The poem has a lot of metaphors. For instance “The lion” in the poem is metaphorically referred to as the ruling class or diehard politicians in Nigeria who lay claim to the leadership position of the country. The lion is also a metaphor for dominance and violence as it possesses the attribute of lording it over other animals in the jungle. Other animals such as “hyena”, Giraffe”, zebra, “elephant”, are metaphors for shady politicians who contest for leadership posts, but unworthy in character, for they cannot adequately represent the people. Another set of animals in the forest such as “antelopes”. “Impalas”, elephant’s colleagues are metaphorically referred to the masses that suffer seriously from the misrule of the ruling class and yet cannot unite to fight against the oppressive politicians

Tiger is a metaphor for fear and rugged disposition, while “doe” and “river”. “Lamb” is metaphor for humility, peace and purity in heart.

(12)
Caged bird is a metaphorical poem as the poet uses an armful of metaphors including in the title of the poem. The “Caged bird is metaphor for oppressed Africa-Americans while the “freed bird” in stanza one represents the whites (oppressors). The persona compares the wind to water in stanza one and he says that the freed bird “floats downstream/till the current ends”. The wind seems fast and powerful since the free bird has learned to use it for his own ends “The caged” is also figurative as it represents the overcrowded slum (environment) the blacks have been confined to (a) ‘narrow cage’ represents torment and poverty (b) ‘float’ downstream is symbolic of backwardness and retrogression (Blacks are seen as people without identify) (c) “can seldom see through” means they hardly partake in the affairs of their own country. (d) “The free bird thinks of another breeze” depicts persistent oppression: for the oppressor continues to complicate the conditions of the blacks (d) “Grave of dreams” is a metaphor for hope and aspiration.