CANDIDATE NAME: ____________________________________________________

2019 KARONGA DIOCESE MOCK

MALAWI SCHOOL CERTIFICATE OF
EDUCATION

ENGLISH
Subject Number: M052/III

Thursday, 4th April, 2019 Time Allowed: 2 hours

PAPER III
(70 marks)

Instructions

1. This paper contains 10 printed pages.

Please check. Question Tick against Do not write
2. This paper has two sections. number question if in these
a. Section A contains two compulsory answered columns
contextual questions. Therefore,
1
you are required to answer both
questions in the spaces provided. 2
b. Section B comprises essay
3
questions. Answer one question on
each book on the lined answer 4
sheets on pages 8 to 10
3. You should spend the first 10 minutes
reading all the questions and planning
your answer to the questions you
choose.

4. Write your name on top of each page in

the spaces provided
 Section A (15 marks)
1. Read the following poem and answer the questions that follow.

WELCOME HOME

Son of the soil

Have the wheels bursted?
You flew by the market blaring the horn
Throwing dust in the eyes of your people
Welcome home.

Points of order don't drill boreholes

Can rejecting budgets buy drugs for clinics?

Welcome you home our beloved child

You danced the dance of honourables
You drunk the liquor of power
Through a paper we gave you a sit
Through a paper we have recalled you back

The ballot paper is the voice of the voiceless

Isn't that paper enough a gun and bullet to kill elephants?

Prince of the compound

If the thirst droughts your throat
Lick water with bleating goats in the dams.
And if diarrhea tears down your bowels
Pray that shoots of chitimbe remedy you

We mourned that you lost your identity

Should we not cerebrate that you see your mess with us now?

Constituency messiah
Rain never fears darkness
What kills a burning furnace
Is the ash that it shits
Once every five years we are kings and queens.

Questions
1. Who is the personae in the poem? Justify your answer.
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(2 marks)
2. Discuss the geographical setting of the poem.
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 3. What does 'son of soil' stand for in the poem? Justify your answer.
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(2 marks)
4. Describe how the theme of vengeance has been portrayed in the poem.
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(2 marks)
5. How did the parliamentarian fail the people? Mention two ways.
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ii. ____________________________________________________________________________
(2 marks)
6. Pick out one personification from the poem.
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(1 mark)
7. In what tone is the poem? Justify your answer.
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(2 marks)
8. Explain why the poem is satirical?
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(2 marks)

2. SHORT STORY
Read the following short story and answer the questions that follow.

BLOODY PUMPKIN By Foster Benjamin

The April night became unusually quiet. No dogs barked in the vicinity, no owls even hooted in the darkness
enveloping Makaula Village. In the Deeping silence, at the dark corner of his pumpkin garden, Makontena
stood watching and listening. Beside him lay his shimmering panga knife.

Not long ago, while barefooted and grotesquely dressed, he had been patrolling the garden in quite of a human
enemy. No enemy, however, stumbled in his way. Still, Makontena lingered on. Of course, he had enough of
Makontena was ready to act without mercy. How dare could they steal his pumpkins, his very life depended

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upon the pumpkins. And he loved them more than anything else. More than his own wife, Nachanza!
Nachanza!

Immediately he spat in disgust. If there was anyone, whom he detested tonight, other than the thief, it was
Nachanza, the initiator of the quarrel, the one who had turned cold on him as if he were not her husband. He re-
called how he and his wife had bitterly fallen out ‘‘you mustn’t go out patrolling Abambo,’’ Nachanza had
pleaded while breast feeding her wailing baby. ‘‘No, I must go!’’ Makontena had snapped back, brandishing a
panga in one hand and a torch in the other.

‘‘How dare you want to sleep out while the baby’s critically ill? You must stay and help me look after the
baby!’’ she had admonished amidst gathering sobs.
Silence

‘‘Am I speaking to a wall or a dead wood, Abambo a Puna?’’ ‘‘Shut up, your talkative maize mill!’’ thundered
Makontena, his eyes gleaming in the lamplight, ‘‘continue spitting out flies from your toilet of your mouth and
you’ll soon regret it! Will your gluttonous mouth not starve if all pumpkins are stolen, you good-for –nothing
woman?’’ For a moment Nachanza had fallen silent, thinking of what to say next. Fear had just overwhelmed
her. At last she had just found her voice. ‘‘which is more important, your pumpkins or Puna’s life? Have you
lost your senses?’’ ‘‘Nacha! You-are-scratching-on-my-baldhead!’’ Makontena, his anger rising, had stam-
mered. ‘‘You’ll see what my second wife, Abengo, saw if you continue this argument, you husband snasher!’’
In that instant he had unleashed a full frontal blow, which had sent Nachanza and her sick baby crushing against
the wall. She and her baby had all broken into heartrending wailing while Makontena stormed out into the
chilly night.

That was what Makontena was all about. Whenever he picked a quarrel with his wives-which he always picked
only at a slightest mistake, he would never hesitate settling it in blows and kicks. Nachanza had lost several
teeth on such confrontations……

A faint sound suddenly jerked Makontena out of his reverie. He stood alert, his panga knife at the ready. The
sound died down stood alert, his panga at the ready. The sound died down immediately. It fascinated him.
What was it? A thief? He was not sure. As he peered through the darkness, he noticed something standing a few
feet away. He peeled his eyes quite intently. He held his breath while gripping his weapon tight. His hour had
just struck. His waiting was now over.

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Soon he began walking on tiptoe. He must catch the thief by surprise. All of a sudden, Makontena stopped
dead just as he had ruffled dry grass. The rascal might have heard him approaching. The thief, much to Makon-
tena, panga still in hand, started crawling toward the unsuspecting pumpkin thief. Drawing closer, he jumped
and hacked the thief on the head. A metallic sound ensued and Makontena fell under the impact. Astonishment
crept into Makontena’s heart.

His eyes fell upon the tree-stump. He had stabbed the stump thinking it was a thief. What a fool! He cursed
himself. It suddenly occurred to him that the stump was a thief incarnate. Of course the magical crook had
turned himself into a stump. He remembered how tales of magic thieves had abounded in those days. “Ha! He
can’t cheat me, I’ve seen so many rains-red, green and dark rains and he’s just chasing at his own shadow!”
Makontena thought to himself.

Turning away from the thief-turned-stump, he stripped himself naked and soon started urinating on the blade of
his panga. As he was peeing, he was uttering some incantations. Certainly, he could not be outwitted. He must
deal with the magic thief, once and for all.

With his might, Makontena struck the thief again. It startled him even more as the heavy metallic roar sliced
through the night. The thief didn’t utter a death-cry as he had expected. The next moment Makontena laughed
to himself. It had just dawned on him that the stump had been there since time immemorial. He cursed at this
own amnesia.

As foolish as he were, he retraced his steps and resumed hiding. Son his patience was wearing thin. His eyes
were hurting from lack of sleep. The cold was too unbearable. All the same, he could not despair. Very soon
the thief would be stealing into his garden. He glanced at his watch and it ticked midnight. Thieves always stir
around midnight.

A tread of footsteps instantly awoke him from falling asleep. He rubbed his eyes rapidly to make sure he was
not dreaming. Yes, he was not seeing things. Unmistakable human footsteps really echoed past him as he was
still lurking among the thick pumpkin leaves.

Gripping his panga, Makontena walked as silently as he could like a cat stalking a mouse. He could now see
the figure standing by the edge of his garden. What was he up to? Hatching a strategy to steal? Uneasy ques-
tions flooded over his mind.

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He could now see himself killing the rascal. Then he would bury him right in his garden where he would de -
compose and become manure. How he would triumph over a bumper harvest!

With this morbid thought Makontena edged closer, silent and deadly. With a mighty roar, he stabbed the thief
with such a savage force. Uttering a death-cry, the thief slumped to the ground. He could see him writhing vio-
lently. Makontena’s teeth began chattering.

A sudden curiosity had taken over him. He had to identify the enemy he had stabbed. As he was bending over
the body, that was gasping its last, Makontena, all of a sudden, could not believe his eyes. He looked again at
the dying man. He began trembling as if he was shaking from the vividness of the nightmare. “Oooh noo!
Nakari!Nakari!” Makontena cried out, calling his brother who was slowly dying. The dying brother gasped
faintly that Makontena had difficulties to hear what the man was saying. “I came-to-tell-you-that-your-baby is
dead and eeeeh,” he breathed his last.

“Nakari! My brother! My baby! Am I to live to face this cruel world?” Makontena wailed aloud. He was really
longing for death. It was quiet revolting to imagine himself alive. For a split second, he plucked the knife from
Nakari’s side and drove it into his own belly. His yelling immediately awoke villagers from their peaceful slum -
ber. Horrified, the villagers carried the bloodied brother’s home amidst mystery and grief.

Questions
a. In what point of view is the story told?
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(1 mark)
b. What is the geographical setting of the story? Justify your answer.
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(2 marks)
c. Describe one character of Makontena.
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(2 marks)
d. Discuss any one theme from this short story.
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 ________________________________________________________________________
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(2 marks)
e. How does the title relate to the short story?
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(2 marks)
f. In what mood has the story been written? Justify.
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(2 marks)
g. “The evil that people do lives after them”. How does this proverb relate to the short story?
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(2 marks)
h. Explain any one external conflict that Makontena faces in the story.
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(2 marks)
SECTION B (40 marks)
Answer both questions in this section on the spaces provided, choose either questions a or b in each case
and not both.

3. THE PEARL by John Steinbeck

Either
a. With examples, discuss how the novel depicts that women are being underrated in society and are not
allowed to make crucial decisions.
(20 marks)
Or
b. Describe the character of each of the following using four points on each.
i. Juana
ii. The French Doctor
(20 marks)
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 4. MACBETH by William Shakespeare
Either
a. The play of Macbeth is full of ruthlessness and murder. Discuss eight points to prove the statement.
(20 marks)
Or
b. Discuss with examples, how the following themes are portrayed in the play of Macbeth.
i. Ambition
ii. Loyalty

(20 marks)

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END OF QUESTION PAPER

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