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2020 WAEC GCE/WASSCE PRIVATE SECOND SERIES LITERATURE IN ENGLISH (DRAMA & POETRY) OBJ AND ESSAY QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
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“Birches” was published in 1916. It should be noted that Frost’s “Bircher” was influenced by his boyhood experiences of winter and summer in Northern New England, where he would swing on birches, which was a popular game for children in rural areas of New England, one of the states on the east coast of America, In this poem, the reader is made to understand that the narrator looks at the birch trees in the forest and imagines that their bent nature is as a result of a boy “swinging” on them. However, he knows that the bending of the tree branches has been caused by ice, as a result of the weight of the ice on the branches. For the poet, climbing the birch is a means of freedom and thus the act of swinging on birches is presented as a way to escape the hard reality of life in its entirety, even if for a brief period of time. When the boy climbs the tree, the assumption is that he is ascending towards a celestial plane
of experience, “heaven”, a place where he and the elements of his imagination can be free. Climbing a birch is an opportunity to “get away from earth awhile/And then come back to it and begin over” The idea that runs through the poem is that the harsh realities of life make it imperative that a place of refuge, even if it is for a brief period of time be created or located. The birch tree becomes a transcendental escape from the worries of this earth. This conception is derived from a psychological reading of the poem. In this case, climbing birches seems synonymous with the imagination and the imaginative act is a push toward the surreal, the less practical and pragmatic. The poem is therefore very graphic. The poetic persona remembers his childhood days of climbing the birch trees and he is nostalgic. He takes the joy to describe the life/span of the birch tree. He describes the processes of leaves production to its withering with much childhood gusto. He explains the beautiful sight of the tree after the rain and after the breeze. He also describes how the shells crack open, causing a heap on the ground. He describes the beautiful sight as the dome of heaven falling. After being so engrossed in the sweet imagination, the poetic persona escapes out of his platonic utopia and reality dawns on him, the “truth broke in”.
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(10)
This last stanza of the poem, Ambush sounds more like a concluding statement from the persona. Thus says the poet in stanza four of the poem, Ambush:
In brief, the country, the land and its leadership have become the people’s enemy rather than their partner in the quest for a better standard of living.
The state has not only failed in its sacred duty to create the kind of environment that will enable every Nigerian to work and realize their dreams. In fact, it has actively done everything, placing obstacles everywhere and lying in ambush ready to prevent the ambitious ordinary Nigerian to blossom and prosper.
In other words it further express that the last stanza concludes the poem with the important point that the land “lies patiently ahead”. The impression given here is two-fold. The first is that the land is patient and determined to see her desire and wish translated into reality. The other impression is that land, in its infiniteness, will always be ahead of the people treading on it. Given this background, we later learn that the land lies in ambush of people in pursuit of hopes and possibilities elsewhere,
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(8)
the Three Pigeons, where Tony fraternizes with several other drunken men, they all urge Tony to sing a song, and he sings of how liquor provides the best learning, while traditional school wisdom can be ignorance. The song also touches on the hypocrisy of men of manners, who like liquor as much as anyone. The song is a great hit amongst the drunkards, who speak amongst themselves of how wonderful it is to hear songs that are not “low.” They also reminisce to themselves about Tony’s father, who was “the finest gentleman” in the way he celebrated life. The landlord brings news that two gentlemen have arrived, and are lost on their way to Mr Hardcastle’s house, Tony guesses quickly they must be Marlow and Hastings, and since Tony is still angry about Hardcastle’s insults, decides he will play a joke on his stepfather. He will convince them that Hardcastle’s house is in fact an inn and so will they present themselves there not as gracious guests, but as entitled patrons. He has the men brought to him. Marlow and Hastings are in poor spirits from a long day of travel, Hastings more so because Marlow’s reserve prevented him from asking directions. Tony gives them nonsensical directions to Hardcastle’s that make the place sound many miles away (when it is in fact down the road). Tony interrogates them, and they tell how they have heard about Hardcastle’s well-bred daughter and roguish, spoiled son. Tony argues that their information is reversed, that the son (himself) is much loved and the daughter is a “tall, trapesing, trolloping, talkative maypole”. The men ask the landlord if they can stay, but, at Tony’s instructions, he tells them there is no room, and so Tony suggests they head down to a nearby inn he knows of. He then gives directions to Hardcastle’s house, cautioning them that the landlord there puts on airs and expects to be treated as a gentleman rather than servant. They thank him, and leave for Hardcastle’s home, and so the stage is set for the comedy to come.
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(3)
Okpotu, Aloho’s younger brother, visits Ogeyi from the village. He brings a piece of bad news: now do is “pray for her gentle soul to rest in perfect peace. Okpotu has been sent by his father everybody”. loudly, Aloho died after childbirth, but the baby is alive. Ogeyi breaks down in uncontrollable grief.
“Oh! My Aloho! Why! Oh? Why! God why!” she screams so Okpotu calms Ogeyi down, “Sister pull yourself together. We all miss her. Aloho was the hope of the family. However the family has taken the incident with calmness and all it can to know the name of the man who impregnated Aloho “just for the child’s sake” Ogeyi does not give out the name but instead assures that “she (Aloho) must be avenged. Yes! I will make sure of that. She promises to visit the parents of Aloho as soon as the latter is avenged. “I shall come soonest to see the baby and then explain the full details to them”. Ogeyi assures Okpotu.
The play use Okpotu, Aloho’s younger brother. It updates our knowledge of what Aloho is doing or what has happened to her. The passage shows us a re-engaged Ogeyi: “Justice must be done. I will make sure of that, even if that is the last thing I do so long as her soul is appeased. this episode also bring Aloho to the point of regret before Ogeyi probably to let us experience the virtue in Aloho.
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