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THE CROW "The Crow" is a story that explores childhood curiosity and senseless destruction resulting from a lack of agency and rational thinking. The two young protagonists embark on a mission to prove their heroism, but ultimately, they are defeated by a crow that refuses to die despite their relentless efforts to destroy it. As a result, their egos are crushed, leading them to abruptly abandon their expedition, casting away their catapults while crying bitterly. The title "The Crow" is fitting because the story centres around the crow's triumph over the boys' unjust pursuit of ending its life.  By extension, the story reflects the exploitative relationship between the whites and the blacks during colonial Rhodesia. The story, thus celebrates the victory that came as a result of the collective struggle of the Africans who fought against colonisers. While the story can be interpreted as a simple childhood adventure, the author also highlights the conseque...

 SHADOWS ON THE WALL The story begins with a motif of shadows. This device runs through the story. This establishes a gloomy atmosphere characterised by hopelessness and dejection of the child narrator. It also emphasises the neglect and emptiness the narrator is experiencing. Even in the presence of his parents, the child feels abandoned. The family is so dysfunctional that the child finds solace in the shadows instead of the real parents. The "wall" symbolises a barrier to freedom and happiness. It represents the depressing effects of the narrator's  parents' tempestuous relationship.  The narrator has lost sense of reality after failing to find love and protection from the parents especially from the father who is abusive and callous. The real world exposes the narrator to cruelty and abuse hence the fascination on the shadows.  Through their sitting location in the hut, a huge social distance between the father and the child is reflected. The father is sitting n...

Table of Contents ACING PAPER 1: COMMENT AND APPRECIATION When faced with the task of tackling an unseen passage, particularly in the exam, some candidates get gripped by terror and end up panicking and doing the unthinkable. Yet there is no need to allow your fears to rule you to the extent of ruining your academic success. First Things First Assuming you have made a decision on which question(s) to tackle, what then should be the first thing to do? Undoubtedly, careful close reading. You want to establish what the writer is communicating to the readers (you in particular) at the same time taking note of the means which have been employed to convey those thoughts. Remember, the subject and the means are not far from each other; they work together to create impressions on the reader. So, as you read along, you should identify interesting points about both and annotate the text accordingly.  Plan Having identified the main points in relation to the question, ...

WHY CAN'T I UNDERSTAND SPOKEN ENGLISH? PART 2 To be able to understand spoken English, it is important for you to learn how competent English speakers pronounce words.  In why can't I hear English Part 1 , I discussed briefly the inconsistency of English pronunciation, based on the fact that English is not a phonetic language. In this article, I will discus more examples of letters and letter combinations that are pronounced differently in different words.  More often than not, learners of English get confused when they hear a  different  sound than they expected to hear. The combination th  occurs in several words in English language. However, the pronunciation of this letter combination is not uniform. For example, the first parts [th]of the words thing and this do not sound the same. The sounds represented by the combination th in the word thing and the word this  appear differently on the IPA chart. These sounds, although distinct units, hav...

Have you ever wondered why, no matter how hard you try, you always find yourself failing to understand native English speakers, or competent non-native English speakers? You may have tried to raise or to reduce the volume on your television when you are watching the latest movie your friends are talking about , but still, you just can't understand what the actors are saying. Sometimes you even try to incline your ear in a certain way only to get a disappointing outcome . Well, listening to a recorded speech might be regarded less frustrating than a face to face conversation. Asking a speaker to repeat what they have said over and over again isn't a thing many people are comfortable with. However, in most cases, competent speakers would be glad to make themselves understood and they will try their best to even rephrase their sentences to make sure the other person gets the message. The problem of failure to understand fluent English is very common and some...

Dangarembga's critical stance towards religion is evident in the text She No Longer Weeps not only through the use of aptronyms but also through overtones that reflect religious ideologies. Rather than cherrypicking issues, Dangarembga's holistic analysis of the society brings out the subtle dimensions that converge at some point and disenfranchise women.  Christianity (the church) is portrayed as an extended arm of misogyny. It is ironic that the church seem to be violating one of the fundamental principles of Christianity. When expected to embrace the afflicted, it does the opposite. Mathrah's father, the character who predominantly represents the church is only concerned about how the society will view him. When he says, "How can I preach when my daughter behaves like this?" He is proving that he is a narcissist and a selfish person. His ego blinds him and as such, he fails to live up to the ideals of Christianity.  The church is also seen as a driver of ...

As was pointed out in How to Write a Summary Part 1 ,    the summary question tests candidates on whether they have understood the passage or not. Summarising information indicates that the reader has a clear understanding of the key points raised by the writer. Candidates should take note of the following aspects as they write summaries. Distractors are a major stumbling block when it comes to identify relevant points. Distractors are pieces of information which have the potential to mislead the reader/candidate into thinking that they also have to be included in the summary. Candidates who fail to discern properly end up including such information resulting in scoring low marks or failing. To avoid this mistake, candidates should analyse the summary question carefully before they start compiling their points. Question analysis involves identifying key words and content words. Key words are instructional words or phrases. These words direct the candidate as to what ex...