Read the passage below and answer the questions that follow 25 marks

Question

Nasila River – cool, smooth and silent – swirled quietly about the boulders that were half submerged in it. It was deep and wide. She stood at its bank for a long time, staring down, into the water. Could the answer to her woes be in that river? Yes, it could be! Just a swift, cold shock as she fell into the water and then there would be peace. Yes, peace all over, from her father, from Oloisudori and from the fact that she had failed to get admission to Egerton University. As the idea floated in her mind, she felt a tap on her shoulder. Shocker, she turned around. It was Olarinkoi.
“What are you doing here at the river side”? he asked with little interest.

“Nothing,” Resian said nonchalantly. “I am just relaxing.”

“Don’t be foolish, little girl,” Olarinkoi said seriously. “You may not want to tell me what is happening, but Iam not foolish and I can put one and one together. Oloisudori’s men are now looking for you everywhere. They have instructions to seize you and take you to Nakuru to be his wife.

“Just leave me,” Resian said angrily, “Go tell them to come and find me here.”

“Listen, you stupid girl,” Olarinkoi said in his caustic language. “If you do not want to marry Oloisudori, I can rescue you the way I rescued you from those vagabonds who had accosted you and your sister. I know where Minik ene Enkoitoi the Emakererei lives and where she keeps girls rescued from the situation you are now in. There is no need to despair in life. There is always another chance.”

That could be something to consider, Resian thought, new hope rising in her heart. Yes, it would be wonderful to be received by Emakererei. And who knows, there could still be a chance to enroll at the Egerton University, through Emakererei.

“How could we ever get there?” asked Resian a flicker of hope lighting her heart. “I hear it is very very far from here.”

“Yes it is far,” confirmed Olarinkoi. “But where there is hope things always work out. The Maa people say home is never far for one who is still alive.”

1. Place this excerpt in its immediate context. 
2. Describe the incident that Olarinkoi claims to have rescued Taiyo and her sister. 
3. Discuss a thematic concern found in the excerpt. 
4. What does the author imply when he says, “could the answer to her woes be in that river?” 
5. Apart from irony, comment on any other two aspects of style that the writer has used in the excerpt. 
6. Explain the irony in the excerpt.
7. Comment on the character of Olarinkoi later in the novel. 
8. What is the attitude of Resian towards Oloisudori’s proposal? 
9. Give the meaning of the following words. 
   1. Nonchalantly ..
   2. Put one and one together ..

Answer 1

1.  
   1. Before
      • – at the shop-Resian is told by her father of Oloisudori’s intention to marry her
      • She refuses, shouts cries and screams and accuses her father of betrayal
      • her father slaps her twice but still refuses
      • she insists that she will not marry Oloisudori and must go to university
      • She turns and walks to the door and leaves the shop
      • walks towards Nasila River
   2. After
      • Olarinkoi promises to take her to a family in Nasila to spend the night
      • He organizes transport so that they leave early the following day
      • Early the following day, Resian is woken up by the kind-hearted old woman who accommodated her, with hot porridge
      • A pick-up hoots outside the old woman’s house
      • Olarinkoi tells Resian to climb onto the back of the pick-up and they leave
2. The two sisters were walking back home from the shop late in the afternoon (3 oclock). Two men appeared and blocked the road. One tried to Drag Taiyo into the bush while the other wrestled Resian. Suddenly a stranger appeared (Olarinkoi) appeared and fought the two men thereby becoming the hero of the day.
3.  
   1. Determination – Resian is determined not to be married to Oloisudori, hence decides to run away.
   2. Hope – “ who knows there could still be a chance to join Egerton university.”
   3. Education - “ who knows there could still be a chance to join Egerton university.”
4. Means that Resian is thinking of ending her life by drowning in river Nasila.
5.  
   1. Dialogue- …illustration…- indicates the urgency of Resian’s problem and possible solution/breaks monotony of narration
   2. Description- river Nasila is described…cool, smooth, silent swirled quietly – to symbolize the peace that can be found by the river side
   3. Historical allusion – Egerton university- makes the story real/believable
   4. Local words/dialect- Emakererei, maa- shows origin of the story/setting
   5. Proverb – home is never far from one who is still alive. – brings to view the rich heritage in language/ points to Resian’s start of a new home.
6.  
   1. Olarinkoi claiming to take Resian to safety while in the real sense he is forcefully taking her to be his wife.
   2. From elsewhere in the novel, state the prophecy that Olarinkoi is trying to fulfil when he plans to rescue Resian. 
   3. Olarinkoi’s mother had prophesied that Ole Kaelo would relocate to Nasila, and bring along with him his intoiyie nemengalana, her son Olarinkoi would move to that home, live with the Kaelo’s for some time and eventually bring one of his daughters to be circumcised and be given to him as his wife.
7. Unreliable/traitorous/untrustworthy/pretentious/inhumane/insensitive/brutal/inconsiderate etc
8. Contemptuous/hateful
9.  
   1. Nonchalantly – casually, relaxedly, calmly, in a calm manner, half-heartedly, disinterestedly
   2. Put one and one together - Guess the truth about the situation from what you have seen or heard/ understand something by using situation you have