The Inmates Poem

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

Huddled together
Cold biting their bones
Teeth chattering from the chill,
The air oppressive,
The smell offensive
They sit and they reflect

The room self contained
At the corner the ‘gents’ invites
With the nice fragrance of ammonia,
And fresh human dung,
The fresh inmates sit thoughtfully

Vermin perform a guard of honour
Saluting him with a bite here
And a bite there
‘Welcome to the world, they seem to say’
The steel lock of the door
The walls insurmountable
And the one torching tortuous bulb
Stare vacantly at him
Slowly he reflects about the consignment
That gave birth to his confinement
Locked in for conduct refinement
The reason they put him in prison

The clock ticks
But too slowly
Five years will be a long time
Doomed in the dungeon
In this hell of a cell

questions

a) Who is the persona in the poem? (1 mark)
b) Briefly explain what the poem is about. (2 marks)
c) Identify and illustrate three aspects of style in the poem. (6 marks)
d) Give evidence from the poem which indicates the inmates are suffering. (3 marks)
e) Why is the fresh inmate in prison? (2 marks)
f) Identify and explain the mood of the new convict. (2 marks)
g) Explain the meaning of the following lines as used in the poem.
i) That gave birth to his confinement (1 mark)
ii) The room is self-contained (1 mark)
h) What do the steel lock in the door and the insurmountable walls suggest? (2 marks)

Inmates

a) The speaker is an observer who explores through the life of prisoners/inmates1    1 x 1 mk
     b) The poem is talking about the life1 in prison which is oppressive1    1 x 2 mks
     c) -Irony1 – nice fragrance of ammonia
        – Rhyme1 – consignment     oppressive
                       – confinement     offensive
                       – refinement
        – Personification1 – torturous bulb stare vacantly at him1
        – Alliteration1 – torching, torturous
    d) -The cold bites their bones and they chatter their teeth from the chill.1
    -The smell is offensive with fresh human dung. 1
    – Vermins bite the inmates unsparingly1    1 x 3mks
    e) The inmate is in prison because of a certain consignment 1 that he either stole or got lost under his care.

    f) Regretful1 – he reflects about the consignment that landed him in the cells1
    Thoughtful – he (the fresh inmate) sits thoughtfully.
    Agonizing – he agonises at the long time 1 that he will be in prison. The clock ticks too slowly.
    g) i) That resulted/led to his confinement1
        ii) The inmates do everything including   long calls in the cell. “The gent invites”.         2x 1 = 2mks
     h) The steel door suggests that the security was tight1 and the inmates could not escape1    2 x 1 = 2mks

5. The Courage That My Mother Had
    a)    The poem is about someone whose mother     has died 1 The mother left a golden brooch as gift upon her death 1 she really wishes the mother could have left behind her courage 1 She believes the mother does not need courage in death but     she badly needs. She however treasure the     golden brooch 1    1 x any four points = 4mks
     b)    Female 1 the mother left her a golden brooch that she wears 1        2mks
     c)    The speaker wishes the mother had left behind her courage 1. However, it cannot be fulfilled because the mother is     dead 1        3mks
     d)    Courageous 1 – the courage that my mother had / the speaker wishes that the mother would have left behind her courage instead of taking with her to the grave 1        Id = 1, illust = 1
     e)    Metaphor 1 – mother is compared to a     rock and granite 1
        Simile 1 …… the courage like a rock 1
        Id = 1 x 2, illust = 1 x 2        4mks
     f)    Admiration / love / respect 2 – the speaker admires her mother for her courage / her love and respect for her     mother are shown in the way she values the brooch and the way she thinks  of her mother as a rock and a granite
        Identification of attitude = 2mks,
        illust. = 1mk