KCSE English Poetry Q and A Form 3 Level Model20241303002

Question

Read the poem below and answer the questions that follow:

Touch

When I get out
I’m going to ask someone
To touch me
Very gently please
And slowly,
 
Touch me
I want
To learn again
How life feels
 
I’ve not been touched
For seven years
For seven years
I’ve been untouched
Out of touch
And I’ve learnt
To know now
The meaning of
Untouchable.

Untouchable-not quite
I can count the things
That have touched me

One: fists
At the beginning
Fierce mad fists
Beating beating
Till I remember
Screaming
Don’t touch me
Please don’t touch me

Two: paws
The first four years of paws
Every day
Patting paws, searching
Arms up, shoes off
Legs apart-
Probing paws, systematic
Heavy, indifferent
Probing away
All privacy.

I don’t want fists and paws
I want
To want to be touched
Again
And to touch.
I want to feel alive

Again
I want to say
When I get out
Here I am
Please touch me.

~Hugh Lewin

Questions

1. Where do you think the persona is? Briefly explain your answer (3mks)
2. What do you think the persona means by “touch” (3mks)
3. Using two illustrations, describe the persona’s experience during the seven years (4mks)
4. What is the significance of the word “paws”? (2mks)
5. Which device does the poet use to reinforce the theme? (2mks)
6. Explain the meaning of the following words as they are used in the poem. (2mks)
   1. Probing
   2. Indifferent
7. What does the poem reveal about human needs? (4mks)

Marking Scheme