“A City Awakens” Poem

Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow. (20 marks)

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)

Their City ANSWERS

a)    –     dissatisfied city resident.
            Illustration – ‘City in the sun without any warmth.
        –     an ordinary city resident’
            “We have stolled through the desert streets”                (any 1 x 2 = 2 mks)
       b)    –     a city resident Pwho sees the rich enjoying   their lifeP and the poor struggling to survive.    (3 mks)
      c)    It emphasisesP on the exclusion of ordinary     residents of the city from the prestigious life of the rich and the fact that the
         ordinary residents are aware of this. (2 mks)
      d)    –     Inequality – the rich are living a high class life, (heavy lunch, car etc) while the poor are  struggling (snoring in the cold wind)
           –     Poverty – The poor do not have shelters, they sleep in cold winds of the night.   (2 x 2 = 2 mks)
      e)    –     They are anxious because they are living a fake  life e.g driving hire purchase cars.(2 mks)
      f)    –     People who are so poor they don’t even look  like  human beings.  They  are struggling to  survive.  (2 mks)
      g)    –     Pretentious     – looking important
                    – hire purchase car.
        –     Uncaring     – don’t care about the poor
                    –   just think of themselves. They   live lavishly while some people   have nowhere to sleep.
        –     Conceited / proud / vain – looking over gold rimmed glasses.
                             – looking important.            (Any 1 illustrated – 2 mks)
      h)    Satirical
        sarcastic
        2 mks identification
        1 mk for illustration
        Illustration.
    –     City in the sun
    –     Looking important
    –     Thickset direction
    –     Reading a speech