Common Oral Literature Revision in Oral Skills Notes
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Examples of proverbs in oral literature
Common proverbs in oral literature include:
a) Hurry hurry has no blessing
b) Whoever never saw the mother during youthhood says the father threw away the dowry.
c) Whoever excretes on the path forgets; whoever stepped in it never forgets.
d) Cherururu si ndo ndo ndo. (Flowing water is not the drop-by-drop type.)
e) Men cause itching.
f) A woman is like a blanket: you cover yourself; you feel hot but you feel
cold when you throw it away
Overview of the main content areas covered by oral literature questions onproverbs
a) Questions on Identification of Genre:
1. Can you identify a written genre as a proverb?
When answering this question, never write the word proverb in the plural (as proverbs) because it is only one item
After identifying the genre as a proverb, always give a reason behind your classification.
b) Questions on the Features of Proverbs
2. Can you
identify features of proverbs in a given proverb?
3. Identify the main features of the genre exemplified by the given proverb.
Answers to such a question include folk wisdom accepted by society, full of meaning or metaphorical, Short or terse fixed form and Statement form.
c) Questions on Proverbs in relation to other genres
4. Can you give the differences between proverbs
and other genres?
5. Differentiate a proverb from other
subgenres such as riddles, puns etc
When answering this question, just give the definition and features of each genre using a connector of contrast
d) Questions on the likely performer of a proverb
6. Can you identify the likely voice in
a given proverb?
7. Who is the likely performer of the
proverb given?
The answers to such a question can be an elderly person to the young, an elder to youth, men to women or women to men
e) Questions on the likely target of a proverb
8. Can you identify the likely target
audience for a given proverb?
9. Who is the likely target audience for
the proverb given?
Possible answers to such questions include youth with a specific behaviour (you must state the behaviour) or women/children/girls/boys/men with specific traits such as pride, carelessness etc
f) Questions on the functions of proverbs
10. Can you explain the function of a
given proverb?
11. Explain the functions of each of the
proverbs given.
12. Relate the proverb to a message in the
proverb
Possible questions to such questions on proverbs include: to advise, to warn or caution, to educate, to satirize, to summarize a given situation etc
g) Questions on the classification of proverbs
13. Can you classify a proverb based on
function?
14. Can you classify proverbs based on
style?
15. Classify each of the proverbs given
Possible answers to such questions on proverbs include: praise proverbs, warning proverbs, summarizing proverbs, satirical proverbs etc
h) Questions on stylistic devices in proverbs
16. Can you identify sound devices from a
given proverb?
17. Identify the aspects of language/
figures of speech used in the given proverb
18. Identify the sound devices in the
given proverb.
19. Underline sound devices/words under
focus in the proverb
20. Explain the figure of speech used in
the given proverb
Possible answers to such questions on
proverbs include: Alliteration, assonance, consonance, contrast, simile,
metaphor, personification, and onomatopoeia
i) Questions on the performance of a proverb
21. Can you identify verbal cues in the
performance of a given proverb?
22. Explain the non-verbal cues you will
use to perform a given proverb (note that you must state the general cue and
specify a specific cue of the general cue followed by the reason.
Possible answers to such questions on the performance of proverbs include intonation, stress, tempo shift, tonal variation and mimicry.
23. Can you identify preparations to make
before using a proverb?
24. If you were to collect the above oral
literature material, how would you prepare for it?
Possible answers to the above questions on the performance of proverbs include:
Researching meaning, rehearsing, practising, and noting down the possible proverbs to use.
25. Can you identify the specific verbal
acts when a given proverb can be used?
26. In which speech act can the given
proverb be used?
Possible answers to such questions on
proverbs include: at the start/end of a speech, summarising a story narrated
about a situation that calls for using a proverb etc
27. Can you explain the tone used to use in a given proverb?
28. Explain the tone that you will use in a given proverb (Note that you must state the tone and illustrate your answer by linking tone to words used in the proverb.
Possible answers to questions on tone used in a proverb include: warning tone, praising tone, satirical tone, authoritative tone etc
29. Can you identify sessions that come
after the performance of proverbs?
30. Which sessions can follow the
performance of a given proverb?
Possible answers to questions on
sessions that follow the performance of proverbs include: narrations, singing,
riddling, chanting, speeches etc
31. Can you identify non-verbal cues used
to perform a specific proverb?
32. Explain the non-verbal cues that you
would use to perform a given proverb. (Note that you must mention the general
cue and illustrate by giving the specific cue of the general cue)
Possible answers to questions on non-verbal cues used in the performance of a riddle include: the use of gestures, facial expressions, posture shifts, stage movements, body movements etc
j) Questions on the parts of a proverb
33. Can you identify the main parts of a
proverb?
34. Identify two main parts of a given
proverb.
In answering such a question on the
parts of a proverb, research and identify the parts of the proverb eg. the
statement part, and the consequences/results part.
k) Questions on the intonation of proverbs
35. Can you identify the intonation used
in proverbs?
36. Explain the change in the intonation
as you perform a given proverb (Note that you must link the intonation to a
reason)
Possible answers to questions on intonation in proverbs include: Rising intonation at the beginning, rising intonation in the middle and falling intonation at the end
l) Questions on stress in proverbs
37. Can you identify the words to stress when
performing proverbs?
38. Which words will you stress while
performing a given proverb? Why?
Possible answers for questions on the
words to stress when performing a proverb include: focus on content words and focus on imagery words.
m) Questions on storage and memorability of the proverbs
39. What makes the performance of a
proverb memorable?
40. What makes the performance of the
given proverb memorable? (Note that you must state and illustrate your answer
well)
Possible answers on the performance
of proverbs include folk wisdom, consonance, assonance, alliteration, ideophone,
onomatopoeia, repetition etc.
n) Context-based questions on proverbs
41. Can you identify the situation of
performance of a given proverb?
42. Under what situation is a given
proverb performed?
Possible answers to questions on the performance proverbs include specific situations such as warning, praising, satirising
o) Questions on rhythm in proverbs.
43. Can you identify what creates rhythm
in a given proverb?
44. What else makes the performance of a
given proverb rhythmic?
Possible answers to questions on rhythm in proverbs: Repetition, alliteration, assonance, consonance, ideophone, onomatopoeia etc.
p) Questions on attitude in proverbs:
45. Can you identify and explain one character's attitude to the other in a given proverb?
46. Explain the attitude of (e.g. children
to mothers) in a given proverb.
Possible answers to questions on
attitude in proverbs include hateful attitude, caring attitude, loving
attitude, etc.
q) Questions on activities of the community in proverbs
47. Can you identify economic, social and
political activity in a given proverb?
48. Explain the economic and social
activity of the community in a given proverb.
Possible answers to the questions on social, economic and political activity of the community in a given proverb include: Social e.g. marrying, paying dowry, beer drinking, partying and wrestling, political activities e.g. men leading, chief, elders and kings, economic activities include e.g. livestock keeping, crop farming, hunting etc
r) Questions on preparation for research
49. What preparation will you do before collecting the given oral literature material?
Possible answers on preparation for
research on proverbs include: Researching proverbs, collecting research
resources and reconnaissance
s) Questions on methods of data collection on proverbs proverbs
50. Identify methods that you will use to collect data on a given proverb
Possible answers to questions on the
methods of data collection on proverbs include participation, observation,
verbal interviews and questionnaires.
t) Questions on methods of recording the collected data on proverbs.
51. How will you store the collected material on the given proverb for future reference?
Possible answers to the questions on
data recording on proverbs include memorization, video recording, audio
recording and writing.
u) Questions on problems encountered while collecting data on proverbs from the field
52. What are some of the problems that
you are likely to encounter while collecting proverbs from the field?
53. Identify any three problems that you
will encounter while in the field collecting the given oral material.
Possible answers to questions on
problems likely to be encountered while collecting data on the proverbs
include inadequate resources, and hostile informants among other factors
v) Questions on what is lost when proverbs are translated from their original language:
54. What gets lost when a given proverb
is translated?
55. Imagine you were to translate a given
proverb into a given language. Identify and illustrate what will get lost.
Possible answers on what is lost when a proverb is lost include Alliteration, assonance, consonance, onomatopoeia and local flavour.
w) Questions on explaining the meanings of proverbs
56. Explain the meaning of a given proverb
Possible answers to the questions on
the meanings of proverbs involve basing proverbs on their proverbs such as
warning, advising, praising, summarizing a situation etc
x) Questions on the complementarity of proverbs
57. Identify a proverb that has the same meaning as a given proverb
Possible answers on complementary
proverbs to a given proverb involve giving proverbs with a similar meaning to
a given proverb
y) Questions on contrasting proverbs
58. Identify any other proverb contrasting with a given proverb.
Possible answers to questions on contrasting proverbs involve giving proverbs with an opposing meaning to the one given.