Their City - KCSE English poetry questions and answers

previously << beggar in the three a piece

Their City - KCSE English poetry questions and answers

​Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow.
Their city
​City in the sun
without any warmth
except for wanaotosheka
and the tourists escaping
from civilized boredom
Sit under the Tree
any Saturday morning
and watch the new Africans,
the anxious faces
behind the steering wheels
in hire purchase cars
see them looking important
in a tiny corner
behind the chauffeur

We have seen them 
in a nightmare,
the thickset directors
of several companies;
we have seen them
struggling under the weight
of a heavy lunch
on a Monday afternoon
cutting a tape

to open a building,
we have seen them
looking over their 
gold-rimmed glasses
to read a speech 
And in the small hours 
between one day and the next 
we have strolled through 
the deserted streets
and seen strange figures
under bougainvillea bushes

in traffic islands 
figures hardly human
snoring away into
the cold winds of the night;
desperately dying to live.
(Lennard Okola)

questions

​a) Who is the persona in the poem? (2 marks)
b) Explain what the poem is about. (3 marks)
c) What is achieved by repetition of “We have seen them”? (2 marks)
d) Identify and explain two thematic concerns of the poet. (4 marks)
e) Why are the “new Africans” said to have anxious faces? (2 marks)
f) Explain the meaning of the expression;
    figures hardly human
    desperately dying to live. (2 marks)
g) How does the persona portray the rich? (2 marks)
h) Describe the tone in the poem. (3 marks)

next >> the press