The Play
17 Grade 10 Literature in English questions on The Play, with worked marking schemes. 17 questions are available on this topic in full.
Question 1
4 marksRead the summary of an original play, Tides of Kisauni, and answer the questions that follow. Rehema, a secondary school student, watches her elder brother Hamisi drop out of a technical college after friends at the beach introduce him to heroin. Their mother sells her fish-frying business to pay for his rehabilitation, while Rehema is mocked at school because of her brother. By the end of the play Hamisi, now recovering, speaks to young people at a youth forum held at the chief's camp.
(a) Identify two societal concerns highlighted in the play. (2 marks)
(b) Explain two lessons a Grade 10 learner can draw from the play. (2 marks)
(4 marks)
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1 markDuring rehearsals for a school drama festival in Machakos, the learner playing a grandmother speaks so softly that people at the back of the hall cannot hear her lines. Which performance technique should the director help her to improve?
A. Voice projection
B. Costume design
C. Stage blocking
D. Facial expression
(1 mark)
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4 marksA scene in an original play takes place in a small roadside hotel in Kericho on a cold, rainy morning. A waitress serves tea and mandazi to a group of tea pickers before they go to the plantation.
(a) Suggest two props and two costume items that would suit the scene. (2 marks)
(b) Explain two ways in which props and costumes help an audience to understand a play. (2 marks)
(4 marks)
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4 marksYour Grade 10 class is preparing to perform a scene from a play from Kenya on the school's cultural day. Explain four reasons why rehearsals are important before the performance.
(4 marks)
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5 marksRead the extract from an original play and answer the questions that follow. (A county office in Kisumu. MR ONYANGO, a procurement officer, counts a thick envelope of notes. ADHIAMBO, a young clerk, enters with a file.) ADHIAMBO: Sir, the contractor for the Kondele market roof has not even delivered the iron sheets, but you have approved full payment. MR ONYANGO: (sliding the envelope into a drawer) Adhiambo, you are new. In this office, we do not ask questions that have no salary. ADHIAMBO: The traders are still selling in the rain, sir. MR ONYANGO: Then let them buy umbrellas. Close the door on your way out.
(a) Identify two themes brought out in the extract. (2 marks)
(b) Discuss how the playwright develops one of the themes you have identified in (a). (3 marks)
(5 marks)
Marking scheme
(a) Any two of the following, 1 mark each (2 marks): - Corruption or bribery. - Abuse of office or poor leadership. - Integrity and courage (whistle-blowing) against complicity. - Neglect or exploitation of ordinary citizens (the traders). - Intimidation of junior staff. - Insensitivity or arrogance of those in power. (b) Any three developed points on the chosen theme, 1 mark each (3 marks). For example: Corruption: - Onyango counts and then hides an envelope of notes, which suggests a bribe. - Full payment is approved for iron sheets that were never delivered, which is misuse of public funds. - 'We do not ask questions that have no salary' shows a culture of silence and pressure on juniors to look away. - The traders 'still selling in the rain' show how corruption harms the public. - 'Then let them buy umbrellas' shows impunity and contempt for citizens. Integrity: - Adhiambo questions the payment even though she is new and junior. - She keeps going by reminding Onyango of the suffering traders. - Her honesty contrasts with Onyango's dishonesty, which makes the theme stand out.
Question 6
4 marksRead the summary of an original play, The Last Tree of Kaptagat, and answer the question that follows.
(i) Elder Cheruiyot and his granddaughter Jepchirchir are introduced tending the old cedar tree that the community believes protects its springs.
(ii) A timber dealer offers the village council a large sum of money to fell the tree.
(iii) Jepchirchir organises the youth to guard the tree, while her own father supports the sale.
(iv) On the night the loggers arrive, Jepchirchir chains herself to the tree and confronts her father in front of the whole village.
(v) The council cancels the deal, and the village plants a thousand seedlings around the cedar. Name the stage of dramatic structure represented by each of the events (i), (iii), (iv) and (v).
(4 marks)
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1 markA drama club in Makueni stages a play about charcoal burning and the drying of local rivers for parents on a school open day. Why is a play an especially effective way of passing this message to the community?
A. It removes the need for action by county government officers.
B. It gives detailed scientific data on rising temperatures in Kenya.
C. It lets people see the problem acted out in familiar settings.
D. It is written in rhyming verse that the audience can easily memorise.
(1 mark)
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1 markRead the extract from an original play and answer the question. MZEE TUMBO: (to his guests) My dear friends, this harambee is for the children of our village, not for me. (Turning to the audience, unheard by the guests) And if a little falls into my pocket, who will count it? The second line spoken by Mzee Tumbo is best described as
A. a monologue
B. a soliloquy
C. a prologue
D. an aside
(1 mark)
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1 markIn an original play, the audience watches Baraka hide the school fees money under his mattress and then claim that it was stolen. In the next scene, his father tells the neighbours, 'My son Baraka is the most honest boy in Kakamega.' Which device does the father's line create?
A. Suspense, as the audience is kept from knowing the truth
B. Flashback, as it takes the audience back to past events
C. Foreshadowing, as it hints at what will happen later on
D. Dramatic irony, as the audience knows more than he does
(1 mark)
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4 marksRead the opening stage directions of an original play and answer the questions that follow. ACT ONE, SCENE ONE (The office of the Assistant Chief, Shinyalu, Kakamega County. A wooden desk is piled with files. On the wall hang a calendar for the year 2024 and a faded poster reading 'Say No to Early Marriage'. Through the window come the sounds of a market day: hawkers calling, a boda boda hooting, a radio playing rhumba. A long bench is crowded with women and two schoolgirls in uniform, waiting.)
(a) Identify the setting of the scene in terms of place and time. (2 marks)
(b) Explain two ways in which details of this setting prepare the audience for the concerns of the play. (2 marks)
(4 marks)
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1 markRead the extract from an original play and answer the question. (MAMA ATIENO enters from the left, wiping her hands on her kanga. She stops suddenly when she sees the broken water pot.) MAMA ATIENO: Who has done this? Ochieng! Come here at once! What is the main purpose of the words in brackets?
A. To reveal the playwright's personal opinion of Mama Atieno
B. To summarise what happened in the previous scene of the play
C. To guide the actors' movements and actions on stage
D. To give the lines that a narrator reads aloud to the audience
(1 mark)
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4 marksYour class is preparing a comparison chart of a play and a novel for a reading session on plays from Kenya. Outline four features of a play that you would include on the chart.
(4 marks)
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5 marksRead the extract from an original play and answer the questions that follow. (A hillside homestead in Baringo. TOROITICH drops a heavy sack at the door.) TOROITICH: Another three hundred shillings, Mama. That is how we will pay Kiprop's fees. MAMA CHELIMO: And when the last acacia on this hill is gone, Toroitich, who will pay for the rain? TOROITICH: Rain comes from God, not from trees. Everybody in this valley is burning charcoal. MAMA CHELIMO: Everybody in this valley is also walking further for water every year. Have you not noticed?
(a) State the environmental issue raised in the extract. (1 mark)
(b) Explain how the dialogue reveals the contrasting attitudes of Toroitich and Mama Chelimo towards the environment. (4 marks)
(5 marks)
Marking scheme
(a) 1 mark: Charcoal burning, which causes deforestation and leads to less rainfall and water scarcity (accept: deforestation and its link to climate change and drought). (b) 2 marks for each character (1 mark for the attitude, 1 mark for supporting evidence from the dialogue) (4 marks): Toroitich: - He sees trees only as a source of income: 'Another three hundred shillings ... pay Kiprop's fees.' - He denies the link between trees and rain: 'Rain comes from God, not from trees.' - He justifies his actions by what others do: 'Everybody in this valley is burning charcoal.' This shows a short-term, careless attitude. Mama Chelimo: - She is concerned about long-term consequences: 'who will pay for the rain?' - She links deforestation to water scarcity: 'walking further for water every year'. - She challenges him with rhetorical questions, which shows her awareness of conservation.
Question 14
1 markRead the summary of the opening of an original play, Dry Wells of Kyuso, and answer the question. In the first scene, the people of Kyuso village go about their daily lives, and we learn that the river has been shrinking for years. In the second scene, a businessman arrives with a licence to scoop sand from the riverbed. The villagers then split into two camps, and their quarrels grow more bitter in each scene. Which event is the inciting incident of the play?
A. The villagers splitting into two quarrelling camps
B. The villagers going about their daily lives in Kyuso
C. The arrival of the businessman with a sand licence
D. The news that the river has been shrinking for years
(1 mark)
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6 marksYour group is to perform the following scene from an original play. (A police station counter in Eldoret at night. MAMA KERUBO rushes in, still wearing her apron.) MAMA KERUBO: Officer, they told me my son is here. He is only sixteen! What has he done? Explain three performance techniques that the actor playing Mama Kerubo should use to convey her emotions to the audience.
(6 marks)
Marking scheme
Any three of the following, 2 marks each (1 mark for the technique, 1 mark for explaining how it conveys her emotion in this scene) (6 marks): - Facial expression: wide eyes and a worried frown to show fear and anxiety about her son. - Gestures: clasping her hands, reaching across the counter or pleading with open palms to show desperation. - Voice (tone and pitch): a raised, rising, breathless or breaking voice, especially on 'He is only sixteen!', to show panic, while still projecting so the audience hears. - Pace of delivery: fast, broken speech, with a pause before 'What has he done?', to show urgency and dread. - Movement: a hurried entrance and restless pacing at the counter to show agitation. - Posture: leaning forward towards the officer or a tense, hunched body to show distress. - Eye contact: looking intently at the officer to show her urgent need for answers. - Use of costume: keeping the apron on shows she rushed from work without thinking, which shows her alarm.
Question 16
5 marksRead the extract from an original play and answer the questions that follow. (A barber's kiosk in Kawangware, Nairobi. OTIENO, the barber, trims a customer's hair while KAREMBO, a young man in a cap, leans on the door.) KAREMBO: Buda, hii mtaa imekuwa ngumu. Even the cockroaches have packed and left. OTIENO: When the river dries, the crocodile learns to eat grass, my brother. KAREMBO: Grass? Look at me. Do I look like a cow? OTIENO: (laughing) A cow at least has a job. It gives milk.
(a) Identify three stylistic devices used in the extract, giving an example of each. (3 marks)
(b) Explain the effect of any two of the devices you have identified in (a). (2 marks)
(5 marks)
Marking scheme
(a) Any three of the following, 1 mark each for a device with a correct example (3 marks): - Code-switching or use of Sheng/Kiswahili: 'Buda, hii mtaa imekuwa ngumu.' - Hyperbole: 'Even the cockroaches have packed and left.' - Personification: the cockroaches 'have packed and left', as if they were people moving house. - Proverb or wise saying: 'When the river dries, the crocodile learns to eat grass.' - Rhetorical question: 'Do I look like a cow?' - Humour or sarcasm (irony): 'A cow at least has a job. It gives milk.' - Stage directions: '(laughing)' / '(A barber's kiosk in Kawangware ...)'. (b) Any two effects that match devices given in (a), 1 mark each (2 marks): - Code-switching or Sheng: makes the dialogue realistic and places the characters as urban youth in a Nairobi neighbourhood. - Hyperbole: stresses how extreme the hardship is, in a humorous way. - Personification: makes the picture of a neighbourhood so poor that even pests leave it vivid and comic. - Proverb: carries the wisdom that people must adapt to hard times, and shows Otieno as the older, wiser character. - Rhetorical question: expresses Karembo's frustration and wounded pride. - Humour or sarcasm: lightens a serious subject while still criticising youth unemployment; saying that a cow is better off than a jobless young man stresses how bad the problem is. - Stage directions: show the tone of delivery and the setting for actors.
Question 17
6 marksRead the extract from an original play and answer the questions that follow. (A small kitchen in Kibra, Nairobi. JUMA, 17, is packing a bag. His stepmother, MAMA ZAWADI, stands at the door.) MAMA ZAWADI: You think your father will let you leave school to sell mitumba? JUMA: (without looking up) You are not my mother. You cannot tell me what to do. MAMA ZAWADI: (softly) No, I am not. But I sold my sewing machine to pay your fees last term. Did your father tell you that? JUMA: (stops packing; a long silence) He said the fees came from the chama. MAMA ZAWADI: Let him keep his pride. I only want you in school.
(a) Identify two character traits of Mama Zawadi and illustrate each from the extract. (4 marks)
(b) Describe the relationship between Juma and Mama Zawadi at the start of the extract and show how it begins to change. (2 marks)
(6 marks)
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