ENGLISH OPEN DAY

10/10/2019
ORAL LITERATURE

1. Read the following narrative then answer the questions that follow
(20mks)

Once upon a time Hare and Hyena were very good friends. They visited each other every day
and herded their cows together.
There came a time when the cows started dying one after the other. The two friends wanted to
find out why the cows were dying. Hare said, ‘Let us go and kill our mothers and take out their
livers. We shall then cook and taste these livers. The bitter liver will show whose mother was
making the cows die. At once Hyena went and killed his mother. He took out the liver and
cooked it. Hare went and hid his mother in the garden in bushy banana plants. He then went and
killed an antelope, took out its liver and cooked it.

The two friends met to eat their livers. “My liver is very bitter”, said the Hyena. “Mine is very
sweet,” said Hare, “So it was your mother who was making the cows die.” Hyena kept quiet and
went home feeling sad. He moved from the old house to a smaller one because now he had no
mother. Hare did the same

After a short time, there was great famine in the land. The two friends decided that each of them
was to look for food on alternate days sharing, on an equal basis what was available. When it
was Hyena’s turn, he went and found only honeycombs without any honey. When Hyenabrought
these, Hare refused this because he had secretly gone to his mother who had given him some
bananas. This went on for many days, and Hyena grew thinner and thinner. Then he started
wondering. “How does my friend remain fat and he doesn’t eat anything. I will find out.”

One day he followed Hare. Hare went to his mother as usual. ‘Mother, mother, I have come’ and
the mother dropped some bananas which Hare ate quickly. He then looked for some honeycombs
and took them to the friend. “This is all I could find my friend.” The Hyena kept quiet. The next
day he went to the banana plant and called. His voice however was very deep and no bananas
were dropped for him.
There was an old hyenawho was staying at the end of the forest and used to give advice to
people. So Hare’s friend went to her and told her his problem. “Go and put your tongue on the

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 ENGLISH OPEN DAY
10/10/2019
ORAL LITERATURE
path of black ants,” He was told, “Let them bite your tongue until it hurts. That’s how your voice
will be soft.”

Hyena went and did as he was told. When he went to Hare’s mother his voice was as soft as
Hare’s. “Mother, mother I have come.” And Hare’s mother dropped bananas for his him. Then
he told her to come and greet him. When she came down and saw it was Hyena she screamed but
there was nobody near to help. Hyena killed her immediately.

Hyena went and met Hare as usual saying nothing about Hare’s mother. The following day it
was Hare’s. “Mother, mother I have come.’ And Hare’s mother dropped bananas for his him.
Then he told her to come and greet him. When she came down and saw it was Hyena she
screamed but there was nobody near to help. Hyena killed her immediately.

Hyena went and met Hare as usual saying nothing about Hare’s mother. The following day it
was Hare’s turn. He went to his usual place. “Mother” he called again. He climbed up. There was
nobody. Having seen some blood on the ground, Hare knew what had happened to his mother.

When Hare got back to Hyena’s house, he said nothing. At night, Hare took all cows including
Hyena’s and went away to live in another part of the country. That ended the Hare and Hyena’s
friendship. And that is the end of my story to you.

Questions
a) With illustrations, classify the above narrative (2mks)
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b) Identify three features of narratives (3mks)

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 ENGLISH OPEN DAY
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ORAL LITERATURE
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c) Identify three features in this story that are characteristics of oral narratives (3mks)
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d) Briefly explain the character traits of the following (4mks)
i. Hare
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ii. Hyena
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e) What moral lesson do you learn from this story? (2mks)
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f) Identify two socio-economic activities from the community in which the narrative is taken
from. (2mks)
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 ENGLISH OPEN DAY
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ORAL LITERATURE
g) You have been selected for a fieldwork research to collect the above item.
i. Briefly explain two ways in which you would collect information on the item. (2mks)
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ii. Identify two challenges you might encounter during the field work and state how you
would solve them. (2mks)
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h) Then he started wondering “How does my friend remain fat and he doesn’t eat anything. I
will find out”. (Re-write into indirect speech) (1mk)
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i) Describe the irony in the fifth paragraph (2mks)
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