Observation

A good number of candidates attempted this question. Most of the candidates gave sketchy and scanty responses. They were able to point out that ‘Piano’ represents the West, while ‘Drum’ stands for Africa. However, candidates could not point out the poet’s use of contrast, symbolically and structurally.

Candidates were expected to discuss the following points:

* Introductory explanation of contrast.

* The contrast between the drums and the piano at their physical and symbolic level.

* The structural contrast in stanza devoted to the drums and the paino – which points tp the poet’s preference.

* The positive images of the drum which contrasts with the rather distant and negative images of the piano.

* The poet’s preference leaning towards the African drum in spite of the veritable presence of the two in his mind.

Candidates’ performance in this question was fair.