The Samaritan Excerpts Questions and Answers
The Samaritan Excerpt 5 Questions and Answers (Page 61 - Page 63 )
Read the following extract from the play The Samaritan" by John Lara and then answer the questions after. (25 marks)
Nicole: I have been reading the posts on The Samaritan and they are all about leaders, public officials and even private individuals. You have not been singled out in any way
Mossi: Far from the truth! Take the issue of development, for example. Everywhere in The Samaritan, I am being accused of inflating the cost of projects and presiding over shoddy Municipal works. Am I indeed responsible for that?
Nicole: Maybe it is because you are the overall leader. The buck with you, as they say.
Mossi: Oh, yes, it's easy to think so because I am the overall custodian of the public good in our Municipalıty. But take any project, such as the construction and maintenance of secondary roads in our town. Are any roads ever constructed? I will tell you what happens. Only a few kilometres of road are usually dug up and then levelled Then the contractor pours old black oil and claims the road is tarmacked. Today, our secondary roads look like part of an abandoned battlefield where bombs were detonated Even tractors can get stuck in those roads! Yet, the Council pays top dollar for these roads each year! Am I responsible?
Nicole: Tell me, Your Worship.
Mossi:(Standing up and pacing about the boardroom) It is my Deputy! That irredeemable gossip and broker As you know, he doubles up as our Municipal Secretary for the Department of Physical Infrastructure. He uses this position to ensure only his companies or those of his relatives win tenders for road construction in our Municipalıty. The same happens with regard to tenders for the construction of bridges, pavements, drains and watercourses. Sadly, they don't de de any meaningful work! They simply misappropriate the funds!
Nicole: So what does that have to do with the people?
Nicole: Oh, did they know?
Mossi: Doesn't bother you that the people overwhelmingly voted for this kind of a person knowing very well he has never accomplished anything in his life other than swindle the people?
Mossi: Of course, they did! There is hardly any person he has not conned in this town! You always find him leaning on the street poles in our town's backstreets, gazing vacantly into empty spaces like an evil spirit waiting for fake title deeds to be printed He prints ten title deeds for the same plot and then sells the same plot to ten different people. Yet the people went ahead and voted for him! Why do the people glorify evil and mediocrity, and then turn and whine when it hurts them? And you know what?
Questions and Answers on The Samaritan Excerpt 6
(a) Place this excerpt in its immediate context. (4 marks)
Before
• Mayor Mossi asks Nicole to find a way of eliminating some of the negative information that people post about him on The Samaritan, but she tells him she is not the administrator of the App and therefore has no access to the backend.
• Nicole informs the Mayor that the National Information and Communication Corporation has taken over The Samaritan and is making decisions on behalf of Alvita and Montano.
• Mayor Mossi proposes to give Alvita Montano, and Nicole money to surrender The Samaritan to him but she refuses vehemently, terming this move corrupt.
• Mayor Mossi absolves himself of the accusations of corruption and crime carried in The Samaritan and claims he is being crucified for the mistakes of the people.
After
• Mayor Mossi talks ill of Hon Ramdaye and compares him to a sloth, and Nicole presupposes the Deputy Mayor must be a disgrace.
• Mayor Mossi says, Hon Ted King, just like Hon Ramdaye, is a disgrace to the Municipal Council, having eaten a whole hospital as the Municipal's secretary for the Department of Health and Environment.
(b) Mayor Mossi claims that Hon. Ramdaye has conned almost everyone in their town. Mention one Council leader who has been conned and explain how. (2 marks)
Hon. Ramdaye has conned Inspector Bembe by selling him a piece of grabbed public land land belonging to Maracas University- and issuing him with a fake title deed.
(c)Discuss two themes raised in the excerpt. (4 marks)
• Bad governance/ineffective/leadership
Mayor Mossi is an effective leader. As the overall Municipal Council leader, he has presided over numerous corrupt dealings (inflation of the cost of Municipal projects) and poor workmanship (shoddy Municipal works), yet blames the people for voting corrupt individuals into office.
• Corruption
The Deputy Mayor practises corruption in the form of nepotism. He uses his position/office to ensure only his companies or those of his relatives win tenders for road construction in the Municipality.
Deception/Dishonesty/Deceit
Hon. Ramdaye is said to have conned almost everyone in their city/ He sells plots with fake title deeds.
(d) Identify two character traits of Hon. Ramdaye brought out in the excerpt. (4 marks)
Hon. Ramdaye is:
• Gossiping/rumourmongering/interceding/brokering
Mayor Mossi describes him as an irredeemable gossip and broker.
• Corrupt/nepotistic/favouring
He uses his position as Deputy Mayor to ensure only his companies or those of his relatives win
tenders for road construction in their Municipality.
● Deceptive/deceitful/dishonest
He is said to have conned almost everyone in their town/ He is said to sell people plots and issue them with fake title deeds.
• Odd/eccentric/grotesque
The Mayor says his Deputy is always found leaning on the street poles in their town's backstreets, gazing vacantly into empty spaces like an evil spirit- waiting for fake title deeds to be printed.
(e) What two stylistic techniques the writer has employed in the excerpt? (4 marks)
• Use of similes
e.g. Today, our secondary roads look like part of an abandoned battlefield where bombs were detonated/You'll always find him learning on the street poles in our town's backstreets, gazing vacantly into empty spaces like an evil spirit...
• Sarcasm
Mayor Messi uses sarcastic references towards his Council leaders. He, for instance, refers to his Deputy as an "Irredeemable gossip and broker", and sarcastically compares him to an evil spirit.
• Rhetorical questions
e.g. Why do people glorify evil and mediocrity, and then turn and whine when it hurts them?
(f) (i) They simply misappropriate the funds! (Rewrite in the passive) (1 mark)
•The funds are simply misappropriated (by them)!
(ii) Only a few kilometres of road are usually dug up and then levelled. (Rewrite in the active voice) (1 mark)
• They usually dig up and then level only a few kilometres of road.
(iii) Maybe it is because you are the overall leader. (Rewrite replacing "maybe" with another word)
• Perhaps it is because you are the overall leader.
(iv) The buck stops with you, as they say. (Rewrite adding a question tag) (1 mark)
The buck stops with you, as they say, doesn't it?
(v) Everywhere in The Samaritan, I am being accused of inflating the cost of projects and presiding over shoddy Municipal works. (Rewrite replacing the underlined word with a phrasal verb) (1 mark)
• Everywhere in The Samaritan, I am being pinned on/blamed for/indicated for/informed against inflating the cost of projects and presiding over shoddy Municipal works
(g) Explain the meanings of the following words used in the excerpt. (2 marks)
• Misappropriate - embezzle/misuse/misspend/abuse
• Inflating-escalating/magnifying/overblowing/bloating
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