2023 KCSE PREDICTION QUESTIONS- BLOSSOMS OF THE SAVANNAH
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QUESTION 1
- Some aspects of Nasilian tradition should be embraced. Write an essay in support of this statement with clear illustrations from Henry Ole Kulet’s Blossoms of the Savannah.
QUESTION 2
- When we get obsessed with material gains, we could forget the most valuable things in our possession for us to live a fulfilled life. Write an essay in response to this assertion, referring to the Character of Ole Kaelo in H.R. Ole Kulet’s Blossoms of the Savannah.
QUESTION 3
- “No amount of challenge can prevent one who has determination from getting what they want in life.” Referring closely to Resian in H.R. Ole Kulet’s novel Blossoms of the Savannah, write an essay in support of the statement.
QUESTION 4
- Resian defeats the obstacles that come her way because she is persevering. Referring closely to H.R. Ole Kulet‟s „Blossoms of the Savannah‟‟, validate this statement.
QUESTION 5
- “Self-centred individuals cause a lot of pain and suffering to themselves and other people.” With reference to H.R. Ole kulet’s ‘Blossoms of the savannah’ write a composition in support of the above assertion.
QUESTION 6
- “Fathers are pillars of families and should strive to make the right decisions because when they fail, many things go wrong.” Using Ole Kaelo for illustrations, show how the above statement is valid.
QUESTION 7
- No matter the challenges we face in life, when we focus, we succeed. Support this statement referring to Resian in Blossoms of the Savanna.
QUESTION 8
- Resian’s courage helps her overcome insurmountable odds. Defend this assertion basing your argument on Blossoms of the Savannah by Henry Ole Kulet.
QUESTION 9
- The strong bond between Resian and Taiyo contributes significantly to the triumph. Write an essay in support of the statement drawing illustrations from Blossoms of the Savannah by Henry Ole Kulet.
QUESTION 10
- “Self-interest is a vice that whoever engages in it is bound to fail.” Using Blossoms of The Savannah, write an essay to support this assertion.
QUESTION 11
- “Parents have a duty to make choices that safeguard the interests of their children but when they fail to do so they expose the children to untold agony.” Using Blossoms of the Savannah for your illustrations, write an essay in support of this statement.
QUESTION 12
- Women from all over the world have tried to fight oppressive practices in male dominated societies. However, their efforts are always thwarted by fellow women. Write an essay to show how the female gender is at war with itself in the quest for emancipation using evidence from Blossoms of the Savannah
QUESTION 13
- Read the following excerpt and answer the questions that follow.
“Yes, Papaai,” Resian said apprehensively. “I am here. Taiyo tells me you are calling me?”
“Yes, yes,” her father replied. “Please take a seat.”
“Yes, Papaai,” Resian repeated as she sat on a chair far away from her father.
“Come nearer…child,” her father said pleasantly.
“Why do you sit a mile away? Come nearer.”
Resian moved her chair hardly an inch from where it was and then she looked up into her
father’s face with eager expectation.
“If I do remember well,” her father began in a low even tone, “you will be nineteen in September this year, am I right”
“You are quite right, Papaai.” Resian answered eyeing him curiously. His face was unusually kind. His eyes held hers as he smiled broadly. That’s it!’ she thought triumphantly. “That must be it!
“You and I have not discussed important issues for a long time,” he said with a friendly chuckle that was intended to bring her closer to him. “I thought today would be the best day to break the news. Your future is very important to me, my dear child.”
Resian thought the concern in her father’s voice, rang false. She hesitated, but could not hold herself any more. The anxiety was too great.
“Papaai, is it Yeiyo or Taiyo who spoke to you?” she asked sensationally, thinking she was stating the obvious. But seeing her father’s face cloud, she added quickly.
“Who between them spoke to you about our enrolment at the Egerton University?”
“What are you talking about, child? Her father, who seemed dumbfounded, asked after a long and uncomfortable silence.
“Both Yeiyo and Taiyo promised to talk to you about it, and I thought she had.”
“What, in the name of God are you talking about, child?” he repeated, this time agitated and shaking his head vigorously. “No, I have never spoken to anybody about any of you enrolling at the university. Never! When I said, I wanted us to discuss your future, that isn’t what I meant at all. Of course not!” Resian looked at her father’s face enquiringly.
- Place this excerpt in its immediate context. (4 marks)
- What is so ironical in this passage? Explain with reference to elsewhere in the novel. (3marks)
- “Your future is very important to me, my dear child” From elsewhere in the novel, explain why Ole Kaelo tells his daughter so. (3marks)
- Discuss two character traits of Resian as brought out in this excerpt. (4marks)
- Discuss any one major issue addressed in this excerpt? (2marks)
- “Who between them spoke to you about our enrolment at the Egerton University? “Rewrite in the indirect speech. (1 mark)
- Apart from irony, comment on any two other aspects of style evident in the excerpt. (4 marks)
- Explain the meaning of the following words and expressions used in the excerpt. (4 marks)
- Apprehensively……………………………………………………………………………………………………….
- Sit a mile away………………………………………………………………………………………………………
- Hold herself…………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
- Agitated………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
QUESTION 14
- Read the excerpt below and answer the questions that follow( 25 marks)
“For heaven’s sake Resian ,” Taiyo said turning round to face her sister. “how I am supposed to know?”
“I suppose it’s going to be very different from the kind of life we are used to here, isn’t it ?”
“Most likely so, yes.”
“It seems so very strange,” Resian pressed on relentlessly, “to be leaving Nakuru town.”
“We have always known that it was our father’s plan to end up in Nasila,” Taiyo told her sister, trying hard not to answer her directly. “Thatis why he built that shop that he has always spoken about. Now that he has been retrenched….”she hesitated a moment. It transpired that the more she spoke of the relocation, the harder the reality that she was about to leave Nakuru town for good hit her. The twenty years of her life had been spent there. She loved its crowded streets, the bustle and the excitement of its wholesale and retail markets, and boisterous bus stage. But the most painful to leave behind was her boyfriend Lenjirr, the lanky dark-haired, blunt-faced young man whose big languid eyes had always smiled at her warmly fostering in her the dreams of young womanhood.
“Taiyo -e-yeiyo?” Resian called, lifting her head to look up; suspiciously into the face of her tall sister. “Is something amiss?”
“No nothing is amiss.”
“I’m somehow worried dear sister. Resian’s voice dropped a little with apprehension. “What do you think will happen to us if the shop father intends to open does not become as successful as he hopes?”
“Resian-e-yeiyo, I don’t know any better than you! Father thinks the shop will be a success. I overheard him tell one of his friends that he was going to stock agricultural input such as fertilizer, seeds, animal drugs and chemicals. Nasila is an agricultural area and business is bound to do well. Let us have faith in him and hope for the best.”
- Place the excerpt in its immediate context.(4marks)
- From the excerpt above describe the character trait of both Taiyo and Resian.(4marks)
- From elsewhere in the novel, describe how the news of Ole Kaelo’s Retrenchment had been received by both mama Milanoi and Ole Kaelo himself. (4marks)
- Comment on the author’s use of language in the above excerpt. (4marks)
- Describe any two thematic concerns addressed in the above excerpt. (4marks)
- “We have always known that it was our father plan to end up in Nasila” Taiyo told her sister, trying hard not to answer her directly. Rewrite the above statement in reported speech. (2marks)
- Explain the meaning of the following words as used in the excerpt. (3marks)
- Retrenched……………………………………………………………………………………………………………
- Transpired……………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
- Inputs……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
- Read the excerpt below and then answer the questions that follow.
“You are mad!” Resian screamed at him. “You are stark mad if you think I am your wife. I can only be your wife over my dead body. Yes, you and my father can kill me and carry my dead body to your palatial home.”
He was stunned by those harsh words. He winced as if he had been struck. The already harsh line of his mouth tightened and he stood tense for a moment. Then he relaxed and watched her mockingly. “You can never escape Resian,” he repeated quietly, smiling. The very normality of his voice as he spoke those monstrous words was most shocking and disturbing to her. “Whether you scream your heart out, or jump into the deep sea, Resian, you are mine. You are my wife from now henceforth!”
“I want to go now,” Resian announced angrily, shuddering with disgust and terror.
“You want to go? He asked, the contemptuous quiet of his voice a menace by itself. “Go! You want to be persuaded, coaxed and pampered to marry Oloisudori Lonkiyaa? Sorry I will not do that! If you want to go home please yourself. You may opt to go, but when you are mine, you will do as I please. No one plays games with Oloisudori. Ask your father he will tell you.”
“Stop it! Stop!.” Resian screamed excruciatingly pained by the disdainful remarks of Oloisudori. Putting her hands over her ears, she made a dash for the door. He made no efforts to stop her but she flung it open and turned go glare at him with tearful eyes.
“You are mad!” she screamed again sobbingly. “you are stark mad! You hear me? You are nothing but ol-ushuushi” She walked away and as she did so, she heard his soft laughter behind her.
- Say what happens before this excerpt. (3 marks)
- How is Oloisudori portrayed in this excerpt? (4 marks)
- Describe the feeling of Resian in this excerpt. (3 marks)
- How does the writer utilize irony in this excerpt? (3 marks)
- Identify and illustrate any one theme evident in this excerpt. (2 marks)
- From other areas of the novel, state other crimes that are practiced by Oloisudori. (3 marks)
- “You are my wife from now henceforth” Rewrite in the reported speech. (1 mark)
- Explain the meaning of the following words (4 marks)
- Pampered…………………………………………………………………………….
- Disgust………………………………………………………………………………
- Mad…………………………………………………………………………………
- Palatial………………………………………………………………………………
- What happens immediately after this excerpt (2 marks)