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SECTION D (20 Marks)
Find this and other free resources at: http://maktaba.tetea.org
POETRY
Answer one (1) question from this section.
TEXT: Selected poems — Tanzania Institute of Education
10. Read the following poem and then answer the questions that follow.
IF WE MUST DIE By Claude McKay
If we must die - let it be not like hogs
Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,
While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs,
Making their mock at our accursed lot.
If we must die - oh let us nobly die
So that our precious blood may not be shed
In vain: then even the monsters we defy
Shall be constrained to honour us through dead!
Oh Kinsmen! We must meet the common foe;
Though far outnumbered, let us show our bravery
And for their thousand blows one deathblow!
What though before us lies the open grave?
Like men we’ll face the murderous, cowardly pack,
Pressed to the wall, dying but fighting back!
Questions:
(a) What is the poem about?
(b) What type of poem is this? Why?
(c) Identify four poetic devices used in the poem.
(d) What four things do you learn from this poem?
(e) Mention four themes found in the poem.
(f) Briefly explain how relevant the poem is to the Tanzanian society.
11. Poems like other literary genres have a message to deliver using literary devises. Discuss this
argument using two poems studied under this section.
12. Use two poems to examine how poetry is a powerful means of warning people about the
evils which are happening in societies.
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