Read the following oral poem and answer the questions that follow.

After a brief struggle, I got myself  A job
My food was meat and banana flour
A hundred cents a month and soon I had some money.

Soon afterwards I bought myself A beautiful girl
My heart was telling time this was a fortune
So heart you were deceiving me and I believed you
On a Saturday morning as I was leaving work
I was thinking I was being awaited at home
But on arrival, I couldn’t find my bride

Nor was she in her parent’s home
I ran fast to the river valley;
What I saw gave me a shock.
There was my wife conversing with her lovers.
I sat and silently wept.
I realized there is no luck in this world.
People aren’t trustworthy and will never be!

Questions

(a)    Place this song in its appropriate genre.    (2 Marks)
(b)    State and illustrate two functions of this song.   (4 Marks)
(c)    What evidence is there to show that this is an Oral Poem?  (4 Marks)
(d)    Explain briefly what the poem is about.  (2 Marks)
(e)    Give any two character traits of the singer.    (4 Marks)
(f)    Identify and illustrate two economic activities practiced by the society in the song.   (4 Marks)

ANSWERS

(a)    Love song (1 Mk)  – The persona explains his experience.
    With his love a companionship that has gone sour.

(b)    Warning/cautioning those intending to get married against infidelity or unfaithfulness.
    Encourages young people to be patient in their struggle to secure a job.                      (4 Mks)

(c)    Repetition – “I was”
    Personification – My heart was telling me.
    Direct translation – “I bought myself a beautiful girl”
    Direct address – “ so heart you were deceiving me”
    Moral lesson – “people are untrustworthy”
    Do not over trust a friend
(d)    It is about a man who married her beloved. (bought a beautiful girl”)
    The marriage doesn’t last as the bride engages in extra-marital affairs.                      (2 Mks)
(e)    Contemptuous/hating – The singer doesn’t like people who are untrustworthy.
    Patient   –  After a brief struggle I got my job.
    Pessimistic – There was no look in this word.
       (Any other relevant (1 Mk). – Identification  (1 Mk) – Illustration.                           (2 x 2 = 4 Mks)
(f)    Trading to get money.
    Farming – meat/Banana.                                          (2 x 2 = 4 Mks)