The tips for Question 1: Conventionalcomprehension/ Unseen Passage are
Question 2: Excerpt from Compulsory text
Areas Tested in English paper 2 Question 2 Excerpt question:
· The excerpt passage is picked
from either of compulsory texts- Novel, Play
· For the excerpt question, it is important to focus on Episodic
Scenes- Important scenes in the text that propel the plot.
How the Excerpt is Tested
The excerpt question involves a variety of questions that capture plot development, characterization, themes, style, paraphrasing, semantics and grammar
Context questions
· Context questions include:
what happens
immediately before or after? must be immediate; shouldn’t go too far ahead or
back.
·
Put the extract in
its immediate context – Candidates expected to say what happens before and
after. Each point scores 1mk (hint: check on opening statement/speech and
ending to have an idea)
Challenge that most students face in excerpts:
The most common challenge facing students in excerpts going beyond context/ failure to appreciate passage/
interrelation of content.
·
Characterization-
identification-1mk-Illustration-1mk (total=2mks)
NB: illustration alone does
not score but identification does
Challenge that most students face in characterization:
When answering characterization questions, some Candidates stroke many traits but only illustrate one
which doesn’t score
NB: There are no penalties for grammatical
errors on spelling except for styles that must be correctly spelt.
Penalties in English paper 2 Question 2 excerpt questions
· Penalties in English paper 2 question 2 exerpt questions include the following:
Factual/ Textual Errors
i.
Misspelling character
names- Becky/ Betty; Aoro/ Awour ; Otieno/ Atieno
ii.
Failure to identify
demand of question
·
Stroking character
traits/themes/styles
Candidates may stroke answers thinking
they are related then fail to explain/ illustrate on both.. e.g.kind/generous…merciful/sympathetic
satire/sarcasm etc
Question 3: Poetry
Areas Tested in English question 3 paper 2:
Question 3 paper 2 tests Poems picked from
contemporary/ emerging issues in country/ world by African poets, European or
Caribbean poets
How Poetry is Tested in question in paper 2 English
Poetry question in English paper 2 offers a variety of questions that
capture the meaning of the poem- literal
or implied, characterization, themes/ message in poem, style, paraphrasing,
mood, tone, attitude, semantics, and grammar.
Tips on Poetry
·
Read the poem the
first time to get literal/ surface meaning
·
Do a second
reading and answer the following questions
i.
Is there a title?
(Interact with title) e.g. Guilt of Giving, Outcast, Touch, At the
Window, Good Company, The Road Not Taken. Is the title symbolic/ literal?
ii.
Who is the
persona?
iii.
Who/ what is the
addressee?
iv.
What’s the message
from the persona?
v. Which styles have been used?
· Attempt the
questions asked
i. What’s the poem about? / Explain the meaning of the poem
ii. Should give the main theme of the poem and its / explanation /illustration ii.
iii.
Explore message
stanza by stanza…
iv.
If one fails to
get nouns to use/ elaborate e.g.
v.
Poem is about
exploitation/ oppression…state in the poem, people are overworked,
underpaid..etc Corruption/ poor governance/ leadership…the rich are getting
richer/give money for favours, the poor are petitioning the rich. etc
vi.
A summary only
scores 1mk
NB: Not all poems have deeper/
symbolic meaning. CANDIDATES CAN GIVE
EITHER LITERAL OR IMPLIED MEANING.
·
Styles - identification- 1mk –must be correctly spelt.
Illustration-1mk-must quote from the poem. Identification alone scores 1 mark
·
Mood –the atmosphere
in the air…e.g. Announcing KCSE results/ anxiety/uncertainty…people are restless, etc must use an adjective to describe the mood
·
Tone-
manner of speech..determined by subject matter/ theme/ message (Usually
determined by the last stanza UNLESS question is specific
·
Attitude-feeling
towards something-choice of words
·
Characterization/
What do we learn about the person/ addressee?
The tips for Question 1: Conventionalcomprehension/ Unseen Passage are here