The Short Story
17 Grade 10 Literature in English questions on The Short Story, with worked marking schemes. 17 questions are available on this topic in full.
Question 1
1 markRead this sentence from an original short story: 'You will eat when the visitors have eaten,' Mama Wekesa told the children, then quietly slipped the biggest piece of chapati onto little Nafula's plate when no one was looking. Which description best captures Mama Wekesa's character in this sentence?
A. harsh and unfeeling towards children
B. firm in public, tender in private
C. greedy and eager to please visitors
D. careless about the rules of the home
(1 mark)
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4 marksExplain two ways in which reading short stories helps a Grade 10 learner to develop values for life. (4 marks)
(4 marks)
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6 marksRead the extract from an original short story below and answer the questions that follow. 'Leave the sacks, Mama Njeri, I will carry them,' said Chebet, though her own shoulders ached from the morning's picking. The tea factory lorry would come at four, and the clerk never waited. Kiprono, her brother, lay under the avocado tree with his phone. 'Why hurry?' he called. 'The leaves will not run away.' Chebet said nothing. She weighed every sack twice before writing the figures in the small blue book, because last month the clerk had tried to cheat their mother of eight kilos.
(a) Identify two character traits of Chebet, illustrating each from the extract. (4 marks)
(b) Explain how the writer uses the contrast between Chebet and Kiprono. (2 marks)
(6 marks)
Marking scheme
(a) Any two traits, 1 mark for the trait and 1 mark for a relevant illustration (2 x 2 = 4 marks): - Hardworking: she offers to carry the sacks although her shoulders ache from the morning's picking. - Kind/helpful/considerate: she relieves Mama Njeri of the sacks. - Careful/meticulous/vigilant: she weighs every sack twice before recording the figures. - Responsible/protective of her family: she guards against the clerk who tried to cheat their mother of eight kilos. - Patient/self-controlled: she says nothing in reply to her brother's mocking remark. - Punctual/time-conscious: she hurries because the lorry comes at four and the clerk never waits. (b) Any two of the following, 1 mark each (2 marks): - Kiprono's idleness (lying under the tree with his phone) highlights Chebet's diligence. - His careless attitude ('The leaves will not run away') sharpens our sense of her responsibility and foresight. - The contrast draws a moral lesson on the value of hard work and responsibility. - It hints at the unequal burden of work placed on girls in some homes.
Question 4
1 markRead this sentence from an original short story: The rumours ran ahead of the bus, reaching the village long before the passengers did. Which stylistic device is used in the sentence?
A. personification
B. simile
C. rhetorical question
D. onomatopoeia
(1 mark)
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4 marksRead the extract from an original short story below and answer the questions that follow. The river where Grandmother once washed her clothes is now a brown thread between plastic bottles. Upstream, the new flower farm pumps water day and night, and the manager's lorry sprays the dusty road whenever visitors from Europe arrive. Wambui fills her jerrycan from a pool the colour of tea. 'They told us the farm would bring jobs,' her mother says, 'and it did. Three jobs.' She laughs, but the laugh has no bottom.
(a) Identify two themes in the extract. (2 marks)
(b) Explain how one of the themes you have identified is developed in the extract. (2 marks)
(4 marks)
Marking scheme
(a) Any two of the following, 1 mark each (2 marks): - Environmental degradation/pollution of water sources. - Water scarcity. - Exploitation/inequality between investors and the local community. - Broken promises/disillusionment with 'development'. - Misuse of resources (water used to spray roads for visitors while villagers lack clean water). (b) 2 marks for a clear explanation of how ONE theme from (a) is developed, with reference to the extract. For example: - Environmental degradation: the once clean river is now a 'brown thread between plastic bottles' and Wambui draws water from a pool 'the colour of tea', contrasting the past with the present. - Exploitation/inequality: the farm pumps water day and night and even sprays the road for European visitors, while local families lack clean water. - Disillusionment/broken promises: the mother's bitter remark that the farm brought 'Three jobs' and her hollow laugh show the community's disappointment. (Award 1 mark for a general point and 1 mark for accurate illustration.)
Question 6
4 marksOutline four features of a short story that distinguish it from a novel. (4 marks)
(4 marks)
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4 marksExplain two ways in which the oral narrative tradition of Kenyan communities has influenced the Kenyan short story as a form of fiction. (4 marks)
(4 marks)
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5 marksThe events of an original short story, 'The Borrowed Bicycle', are listed below in jumbled order.
(i) At the gate, Otieno abandons his lie and confesses everything to his father.
(ii) Otieno takes his father's bicycle without permission to watch a football match in Kisumu town.
(iii) Otieno's father forgives him, and together they fix the chain on Saturday morning.
(iv) Pushing the bicycle home in the rain, Otieno rehearses a lie about thieves.
(v) On the way back, the bicycle chain snaps near Kibos. Present the events on a flow chart in the order in which they happen in the story. (5 marks)
(5 marks)
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5 marksRead the extract from an original short story below and answer the questions that follow. Every evening at six, the siren at the chief's camp wailed across the ridge, and Wanjiru hurried her children inside the fence of sharpened stakes. The new village had been built in a single week; the old homestead by the river was now ash. When the soldiers came at dawn to count heads, her husband's name was read out again, and again she answered, 'He has gone to look for work in Nairobi.' The sergeant wrote something in his book and moved on. Wanjiru did not know whether the lie had saved her husband or only delayed the day she would lose him.
(a) State the period in Kenya's history suggested by the extract. (1 mark)
(b) Identify two details in the extract that link the story to this period. (2 marks)
(c) Explain how this history shapes Wanjiru's situation in the story. (2 marks)
(5 marks)
Marking scheme
(a) 1 mark: The State of Emergency during the Mau Mau struggle in colonial Kenya (1952-1960). Accept: the Mau Mau uprising / the colonial Emergency period / the 1950s freedom struggle. (b) Any two of the following, 1 mark each (2 marks): - The six o'clock siren, showing a curfew. - The new village fenced with sharpened stakes (Emergency/villagisation villages). - The old homestead burnt to ash (forced removal from homes). - Soldiers counting heads at dawn (screening/checking of residents). - Her husband's name being checked; men absent (suspected of joining fighters in the forest, or detained). (c) Any two of the following, 1 mark each (2 marks): - She is forced to lie to the soldiers to protect her husband. - She lives in constant fear and uncertainty about her husband's fate. - She has been uprooted from her home and must raise her children alone in a guarded village. - Her inner conflict (whether the lie saves or only delays loss) arises directly from colonial repression.
Question 10
1 markWhen studying a short story, why is it useful for a reader to relate its events to the history of the region from which it comes?
A. To find out the exact year in which the author wrote the story
B. To understand the forces that shape the characters' choices
C. To avoid the need to study the history of that region at all
D. To prove that every single event in the story really happened
(1 mark)
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4 marksRead the extract from an original short story below and answer the questions that follow. 'Congratulations,' said the chief, shaking Musa's hand at the prize-giving, 'you are the pride of Garissa.' Musa smiled, but his mind went back to the night three years ago when the same chief had laughed at his father for selling camels to pay school fees. Now the camera flashes popped like maize in a hot pan. His father, standing at the back in his old kanzu, did not clap; he simply nodded, once, the way he did when a camel found water.
(a) Apart from irony, identify one stylistic device used in the extract and illustrate it. (2 marks)
(b) Explain the irony in the chief's words. (2 marks)
(4 marks)
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1 markRead the opening sentence of an original short story: 'I had never seen my father cry until the morning the auctioneers came for our land in Molo.' Which narrative point of view does the sentence use?
A. third-person limited narration
B. first-person narration
C. second-person narration
D. third-person omniscient narration
(1 mark)
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1 markIn the plot of a short story, what is the point at which the conflict reaches its highest tension and its outcome is decided?
A. exposition
B. inciting incident
C. climax
D. rising action
(1 mark)
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1 markA short story about a school 'ghost' ends with the reader suddenly discovering that the ghost was the night watchman's son, who had been secretly sleeping in the laboratory. Which type of ending has the writer used?
A. a surprise ending
B. an open ending
C. a moralistic ending
D. a circular ending
(1 mark)
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5 marksRead the extract from an original short story below and answer the questions that follow. When the rains failed for the second season, the elders of Kaloleni gathered under the old baobab tree. Mzee Kahindi poured a little palm wine on its roots and called the names of the ancestors one by one. The women stood at a distance, their heads covered with kanga, while the young men waited to be told which goats would be offered. Kadzo, who had just returned from college in Mombasa, whispered to her cousin, 'Do they really think the sky is listening?' Her cousin pressed a finger to her lips. 'Here,' she said, 'even questions must wait their turn.'
(a) Identify three elements of culture brought out in the extract. (3 marks)
(b) Explain how the writer uses Kadzo to show tension between tradition and modern ideas. (2 marks)
(5 marks)
Marking scheme
(a) Any three of the following, 1 mark each (3 marks): - Pouring libation (palm wine) to the ancestors. - Calling on/venerating the ancestors by name. - A council of elders meeting under a sacred/old baobab tree to address community problems. - Belief that rain is linked to the ancestors / rain-making rituals. - Offering goats as a sacrifice. - Gender roles: women stand at a distance with heads covered in kanga. - Age roles: young men wait for instructions from the elders. - Respect for elders' authority; the young must not question openly ('even questions must wait their turn'). (b) Any two of the following, 1 mark each (2 marks): - Kadzo has returned from college in Mombasa, so she represents formal education and urban exposure. - She doubts the ritual ('Do they really think the sky is listening?'), showing a sceptical, modern outlook. - Her doubt contrasts with the elders' faith in the ancestors, highlighting a generational/cultural clash. - She whispers rather than speaking openly, and is silenced by her cousin, showing that tradition still restrains new ideas.
Question 16
5 marksRead the extract from an original short story below and answer the questions that follow. By the time the last bus was ready to leave Lodwar, the sun had baked the road into shimmering waves. Ekai sat on his tin box at the stage, his admission letter folded inside his shirt pocket. The school in Kitale had given him until Monday to report. His mother had sold two goats for the fare, but the conductor now demanded double because of the 'January rush'. Ekai counted the notes again, slowly, as if counting could make them grow.
(a) Describe the setting of the extract in terms of place and time. (2 marks)
(b) Identify the main conflict facing Ekai. (1 mark)
(c) Explain how the setting heightens Ekai's conflict. (2 marks)
(5 marks)
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3 marksRead the summary of an original short story below and answer the question that follows. Kamau, a boda boda rider in Nyeri, finds an envelope on his seat after dropping off a passenger. Inside is Ksh 24,000 and a fees receipt from a secondary school. His motorbike loan is due that week, and the lender has threatened to repossess the bike. After a sleepless night, Kamau rides to the school and hands the envelope to the bursar. The passenger turns out to be a parent who had borrowed the money from a chama. Weeks later, she recommends Kamau to the school as its regular rider for errands. Outline three moral lessons that can be drawn from the story. (3 marks)
(3 marks)
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