Wonders of Wanda

Tone A good number of scholars give the same definition for tone and attitude. This is, however, very wrong because the two are different: tone is strictly about the voice used while attitude is about the meaning of that voice in terms of the feelings of the persona. Therefore, tone is the quality of the voice used by the persona in passing the message to the audience. In other words, it is how the persona sounds.  There is an overwhelmingly large number of words that can used to describe tone . Among them are: Formal Informal Optimistic Pessimistic Joyful  Sad Sincere Hypocritical Bitter Nostalgic Patronizing Condescending  Obsequious  Accusatory  indifferent  Sarcastic Ironic Satirical  Disapproval  Approval Romantic  There are very many descriptive words for tone . The poem My Papa's Waltz   uses a nostalgic tone to highlight the persona's condition of missing his old times with his father. Consider the second stanza quoted below....

Summaries are usually set in paper 2, one of the three examinable English papers in the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education. It tests the ability of the candidate to reduce a long text to only a few sentences.  A summary must, therefore, be a shorter version of the original text. The process of shortening, however, must not lose any of the main ideas of the original text.  Summary is commonly set in question 1, comprehension , but can as well be set in question 2, extract from a compulsory text or even question 3, oral literature or poetry.  What to observe  1. Marks  allocated for the question i.e 6 marks imply that at least six responses (points)  are needed, each scoring a mark.  2. Prose -the responses must be combined to form a paragraph made of grammatical and sensible sentences. Do not write in point form because this is punishable. Any candidate writing in point form will score half the mark allocated for that answer.  3. Proper punct...

The setting is similar to that in the first act. The only difference is that the Christmas tree is in the corner beside the piano. The tree has been stripped of all its ornaments and has burntdown candle ends on its branches. Nora has no company in the room. She walks about uneasily, perhaps is disturbed by something. Her cloak and hat are lying on the sofa, and as she walks about, she stops by the sofa and takes it.  She's so worried that she does not want anyone to come in soon. This worry is what makes her think that someone is coming when no one is really coming. The nurse soon enters with news that she has found the fancy dress, but Nora is not even interested in it. In fact, she wishes to tear it into a hundred thousand pieces. She must be really disturbed by something. The nurse tells Nora that if she goes out looking for Mrs. Linde, she might catch a cold, considering the chilly weather outside. This makes her hint about her disappearance. She tells the nurse that a wor...

Synopsis The Pearl is a parable that mainly warns people against greed and selfishness. It is set in a village of fishing families in La Paz, Mexico, probably in the early 1900s. Calamity visits a family of three (Kino, his wife; Juana and Coyotito; their son) one early morning when they have just woken up and taken their breakfast. A scorpion stings Coyotito while sleeping in his hanging box, leading to the main conflict in the story. The entire village of Indians living in brush houses as a sign of their poverty is an initially peaceful place before the scorpion strikes. Villagers assemble at Kino's home and later accompany them to the doctor's house. He, however, turns them away by instructing his servant to tell them that he is not around. After being turned away, Kino embarks on a mission to look for a pearl in order to use it as a source of money for the treatment of his child. Meanwhile, Juana fetches poultice, which she uses in treating Coyotito's wound. Kino jumps ...

It is very early in the morning near La Paz, when an Indian-Mexican known as Kino wakes up. He realizes that his wife is already awake as usual. Through the crack of his door, he can clearly see that is dawn. His house, just like those of his fellow villagers, is made up of brush straws. He looks at his son's makeshift bed, a box hanging on ropes, and sees his son sleeping comfortably. Juana wakes up, checks on their son, Coyotito, sleeping in the hanging box and goes on to make a fire. Kino rises from his bed, wraps himself in a blanket and goes outside the house to admire the sun that is now rising and clouds hovering all over the sky. Outside, he finds himself in the company of a dog and a goat as he stares at hardworking ants underfoot.  He looks at them "with the detachment of God." He can hear Juana's song as she nurses Coyotito. It is a simple song but it arouses thoughts in his mind. Kino goes back to the house, where Juana is busy working on her hair. They ta...

It is very early in the morning near La Paz, when an Indian-Mexican known as Kino wakes up. He realizes that his wife is already awake as usual. Through the crack of his door, he can clearly see that is dawn. His house, just like those of his fellow villagers, is made up of brush straws. He looks at his son's makeshift bed, a box hanging on ropes, and sees his son sleeping comfortably. Juana wakes up, checks on their son, Coyotito, sleeping in the hanging box and goes on to make a fire. Kino rises from his bed, wraps himself in a blanket and goes outside the house to admire the sun that is now rising and clouds hovering all over the sky. Outside, he finds himself in the company of a dog and a goat as he stares at hardworking ants underfoot.  He looks at them "with the detachment of God." He can hear Juana's song as she nurses Coyotito. It is a simple song but it arouses thoughts in his mind. Kino goes back to the house, where Juana is busy working on her hair. They ta...

News in the town spread faster than is expected. Before Kino and his fellow fishermen reach home, news of his finding of the pearl has spread in all parts of the town. By the time small running boys reach home to tell the story, their mothers have already heard about it. The news has spread beyond the brush houses and has now reached the town. The priest has heard about it and remembered that the church needed some repairs. He is also wondering whether he has baptized Coyotito and married Kino and Juana in church or not. The shopkeepers also hear about it and start looking at men's clothes that have not been bought yet. They know that Kino must buy new clothes now that he is rich. The doctor also hears the news and remembers that Kino is his client because he is ostensibly treating his child for a scorpion sting.   He imagines having good times in Paris in case he getw some money from Kino. The beggars also hear about it and are very expectant. Pearl buyers also get to hear th...

The way news spread in the town still surprises the narrator. He wonders how things are interlinked and behave in a habitual manner. This makes it very easy for the news about Kino planning to sell the pearl to spread very swiftly. The grocerystore owners, fishermen, nuns and even the beggars know about it. Even the pearl buyers themselves have known about it and are seated in their rooms with their trays on the tables, waiting for Kino to come to them. The pearl buyers only pretend to be acting individually but the truth is there is only one pearl buyer, who employs agents to break the price for him. They all know the price beyond which they should not go and they struggle to buy the pearls at the lowest price possible. That makes them happy and satisfied. Everything in the city has come to a standstill. People have not gone to work for they must witness everything that will happen when Kino sells his pearl. The neighbours are so fascinated that they imagine what they would do with th...

Juana Wakes up while Kino is sleeping and goes to the fireplace before creeping out of the house. All along, kino is watching each movement. He also creeps out of the house and goes after her. She walks towards the beach. When she notices him coming after her, she starts running towards the sea. Just when she lifts her hand to throw the pearl into the water, he gets hold of the hand and strikes her hard until she falls into the water. She then picks herself up and resigns to the fact that she cannot challenge him. After all, he is a man: half god half insane. As he walks up the beach, he notices a dark figure and attacks it hard with his knife. The assailed is, however, too strong for him. He/she strikes kino off the ground and searches through his pockets for the pearl. Luckily, the impact had knocked the pearl out of his hands and it lies behind a stone on the ground. Juana rises and goes towards Kino. The moon is impeded by the clouds in one instance and is revealed in another. When...

Steinbeck in his novel, The Pearl, portrays humans as being inherently greedy. Show the validity of this Kino and Juana walk through the town deliberately avoiding the centre of the town for they know that walking through the centre can easily give them away. When they come to the edge of the city, they turn toward Loreto: northwards, where the Miraculous Virgin is stationed. Kino is glad that the wind is blowing away the sand on which they have stepped. Therefore, the trackers will see no trails of them. They meet no other person on their way. However, Kino is worried that their footprints could be noticed when the wind disappears but is comforted by the fact that they are a long way from the town. They walk the whole night at the same pace. They start hearing weird animal sounds: "coyotes cry and laugh in the brush, owls screech and hiss over their heads" (P. 96). Some large animals are frightened away by their presence and Kino touches his knife to assure him of their secu...

Steinbeck in his novel, The Pearl, portrays humans as being inherently greedy. Show the validity of this statement with reference to The Pearl.  The actions of various characters in The Pearl exhibit greed. They want too much ofsomething when it is expected  that they should want it just enough. The discussion below illustrates the same. The priest shows his greed when he suddenly remembers that the church needs repairs. This is not something he had previously thought about. On the contrary, Kino's finding of the pearl of the world makes him remember this. He also wonders whether Kino and Juana have been properly married in the church or not. Apart from this, he also wishes to know whether Coyotito was baptized or not. He makes a trip to Kino's house to find answers to these questions. Though he uses an indirect approach; telling them to remember giving some share to God, it is clear that he wants to also benefit from the pearl. The many things he wishes to have done qualify h...

The play kicks off on a Christmas eve, and the image of the house drawn is that of a tasteful and comfortable one, as opposed to an extravagant one. Ironically, however, Nora's extravagance is laid bare for everyone to see, right from the onset when she gives the porter a shilling instead of the six pence he asks for. The moment the porter leaves, she hands over the Christmas tree she has bought to Helen, the maid, and tells her to hide it so that the children do not see it until that evening when it's dressed. She then eats a few macaroons before asking her husband to come from his study and see whatever she has bought. When he does, he realizes that she has spent recklessly just because he will be getting a salary increment soon. Helmer confirms her extravagance by referring to her as a spendthrift (p. 2). Before this, he calls her pet names: little lark and little squirrel, names that exhibit his belittling of her as will be further discussed in subsequent sub-topics. Among ...

The shortage of anthropological materials and manpower has made it a daunting task for the people of Kenya to vividly trace their history and antecedents. Take for example, the Luhya people of western Kenya. What's recorded in the books taught in the Kenyan curriculum indicates that they originated somewhere around the Congo forest and came into what's now known as Kenya through the south-western part of the country. However, what they themselves know to be true is that they came from Egypt through Uganda then across River Malaba (Lwakhakha)  into the boundaries of what's now Kenya. An account told by the Babukusu of Bungoma District suggests that they, as a people were known as Basilikwa Mbai (needs being further researched because there's another group in Kapchorwa, Uganda,  that calls itself Sirikwa Mbai) , who originated from Egypt and came to a place known as Silikwa then into Kenya through Uganda. This is a bit confusing since most of the Kalenjin tribes tell of ...