MEMORIES WE LOST: LIGHT ANALYSIS
KCSE PAST PAPERS REVISION: Review of KCSE 2021: Light-Lesley Nneka Arimah
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Distance between parents and their children can be an obstacle
to effective parenting. With reference to Lesley Nneka Arimah's story, “Light”,
write an essay in support of this statement.
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How to answer KCSE essay questions based on Memories we Lost
- Read the question keenly
- Identify KEYWORDS to help you interpret the question correctly
- Come up with points of interpretation
The
keywords in the questions include “distance” and “obstacle in parenting”.
The
candidate is required to identify the challenges the child goes through because
of the distance between her and the mother.
In this
case, distant parenting is different from single parenting.
The candidate
was to point out the challenges the MOTHER has in raising her DAUGHTER brought
about by her physical absence.
The points
you give must be related to the events in the short story “Light”.
You can
only score a full mark in each point if you cite adequate specific textual
illustrations.
TASK
- Identify challenges experienced by Enebeli's daughter
- Tie each challenge to her mother’s physical absence
Reason why students lost marks in this question
- Many students read and interpreted the question correctly.
- However, most of them could not give sufficient textual illustrations despite it being a rather short story with few details.
The
examiner did not demand too many details but as usual, the textual
illustrations in short stories have to be specific and based on the episodes.
Students
are encouraged to read the short story carefully and master the relevant
details in each EPISODE.
For
example, the note Enebeli's daughter sends to sends reads “Buki, I love you,
I will give you many sons” (P28) or how “They SURVIVE the CRIME SCENE of
the girl's first ‘MOON TIME”(P28).
Notably,
more and more students are getting it right.
Memories we Lost essay: Light – introduction
- What is your interpretation of the question? What challenges do the children experience when one parent is away? With reference to “Light”, what are the challenges of distant parenting?
- Include the keywords in your introduction. Show how “distance” and the “obstacles” that come with it hinder effectual parenting.
- Paraphrase: do not simply rewrite the question and pass it off as an introduction.
- Contextualize: mention some of the obstacles.
- Be brief. (It carries only 2 marks)
Developing the body: Memories we Lost essays
- Give at least four well developed points
- Each point falls on separate paragraphs
- Give adequate textual illustrations on the obstacles to effective patenting caused but the distance between parents and children. Tie this to the episodes.
NB:
Answer the question on the first line of each (body) paragraph, before you try
to illustrate.
Points of
interpretation
- Boyfriend
- Communication
- Resentment
- House girl
- Lessons
- Grooming
- Taking sides
Paragraph
development
Obstacle: The
girl is fourteen now and is in trouble for engaging in a boy-girl relationship.
The
mother tries to correct the girl, but the long absence dilutes much of her
influence
Illustration
(P28,29,30,32)
- Three long years have passed since the mother went away
- The girl is 14 and there is a boy
- Enebeli has been invited to discuss the misdemeanor and now he is seated in the lobby to the head teacher’s office
- The girl is in trouble for sending a boy notes, it's not the first time
- The boy not appealing. He is short, one ear is larger than the other and he has a terrible hair cut. He is confused about the girl’s attention (P28)
- The note reads, "Buki, I love you, I will give you many sons."
- He promises to chastise the girl, assures the head teacher it will not happen again
- It happens two more times, the girl later learns to pass notes better
- Enebeli deems his daughter his brightest ember, he will not dim her
- Mother attempts to correct her
- Much is lost in transmission over the wire
- Her influence is diluted by the DISTANCE
- Enebeli and his wife disagree on training up of the girl (P29)
- The girl opens up to the mother about the boy, strings out his virtues (P30)
- He is finally learning to kiss well
- Her mother silences her, did not think she would not raise such a girl
- This dampens her
- “And there is a little less light to her”.
The girl
is involved in a boy-girl relationship (challenge) but the mother is too far (DISTANCE)
hence she cannot correct her effectively and her influence has waned (OBSTACLE)
Sample set
book essay question based on Memories we Lost (Light – Lesley Nneka Arimah)
Distance
between parents and their children can be an obstacle to effective parenting.
With reference to Lesley Nneka Arimah’s story, “Light”, write an essay in
support of this statement.
Parents
may find themselves separated from their children because of work or study. The
distance normally hinders effective parenting because it reduces communication
between parent and child. “Light” by Lesley Nneka Arimah brings to light the
effects of this separation.
The first
challenge the girl experiences is a boy-girl relationship. Three years after
her mother went to America to study for a Masters in Business Administration,
the girl is now fourteen. Her father has been invited to school since the girl
is in trouble for sending a boy a note and it is not for the first time. In
Enebeli's eyes, the boy is not appealing. He is short and one of his ears is
significantly larger than the other. He also spots a terrible haircut. He is
saved from Enebeli only because, like everybody else, he is confused about the
girl's attention. This particular note reads, “Buki, I love you, I will give
you many sons.” Enebeli struggles not to guffaw but wonders where the girl gets
all these – definitely not from her mother or him. Assuring the head teacher that
it will not happen again, he promises to chastise her. It happens two more
times before the girl learns to pass notes better. Enebeli deems his daughter
his brightest ember and will not dim her. Her mother attempts to correct her
but much is lost in transmission over the wire. Her influence as a mother has
been diluted because of the long absence and distance. She disagrees with
Enebeli concerning the training up of the girl. Later, trying to close the
distance between her mother and her, she tells him about the boy, stringing out
his virtues like Christmas lights. He is shorter so he has to obey her and he
is finally learning how to kiss better. The mother is disappointed. She says
she did not think she would raise that kind of a girl. This remark dampens the
girl till Enebeli is worried. “And there is a little less light to her”. The
mother’s absence is surely an obstacle to effective parenting.
Secondly,
when Enebeli’s wife goes to the US and stays for a few years, there is a
serious strain in communication between her daughter and her. The first month
she had gone to the States, the family would speak to each other several times
a day. The mother and daughter would have their cordial time, full of tears and
I miss yous and affectionate questions like “When are you coming home?”. When
she returns for Christmas holidays, the girl barely leaves her side. However, the parents make their first big mistake
when they decide that the mother stays in the US until she completes her
studies. The girl then learns how to survive without her mother. For one
relationship to thrive, another must not. The conversations between mother and
daughter via Skype dwindle. They become merely friendly conversations where
they exchange news and update each other on situations. There is a whiff of
distance as if the girl is talking to a favourite aunt whom she loves dearly
but would not tell about a boy. The distance causes difficulty in communication
between the mother and daughter.
Thirdly,
the mother’s attempt to prepare the girl for the world causes resentment
between them instead. As much as she is still a girl, she is almost a woman who
needs a mother’s guidance and counsel. The mother tries to teach her not to
laugh too loudly or to chew carelessly that she can hear it all the way in
America. She also tells her that she is old enough to be cooking and that Daddy
should not make her breakfast. The distance between the two widens until she
does not enjoy talking to the mother anymore. It begins to feel like a chore. Since
the mother is far, she faces hurdles in giving her daughter the necessary life
lessons vital for the growth and development of a teenage girl.
Also, the
mother is worried about the house girl whom she thinks will influence her
daughter negatively. Despite having a
house girl, father and daughter share household chores. They are too
intimidated by the sullen house girl who spends most of the time watching 'Africa Magic' while mopping a small section of tile till it gleams. When not pretending to
clean, she talks to the girl in whispers. Enebeli is not concerned since they
cannot cause much trouble as long as they are in the house. He muses that talk
is just talk when he tells his wife about this. The wife is terrified that the
daughter could acquire inappropriate traits from the house girl. She nags until
Enebeli sends her packing. The daughter becomes sullen after this. She waits
with crossed arms for the Skype calls to end. This strained relationship is
caused by the distance between them.
Due to her
mother’s absence, the girl misses important life lessons necessary for a
teenage girl. Such lessons are better taught by mothers. Enebeli does not
understand what the world does to daughters. Enebeli and his daughter survive
much in the absence of the mother who is in America studying for a Masters in
Business Administration. The girl is only eleven. They survive the disturbance
at the market when two warring women cause a commotion that sees them separated
for hours. They also survive an adult talk when an uncle makes a careless joke at
a wedding. The curious girl has questions so Enebeli labours to answer lest she
asks somebody else who may take it as an invitation to demonstrate. The mother
would have been better placed to handle this trial. They also survive the crime
scene of the girl's first “moon time”. It seeps all the way through the other
side of the mattress. They survived the girl discovering it would happen every
month. Had the mother been around, she would have taken her through the
relevant lessons and prepared her for the changes. Distance hinders effectual
parenting.
Furthermore,
because of her mother’s absence, the girl fails to learn basic grooming and
etiquette. The mother cautions her against chewing carelessly and laughing
rather too loudly. She becomes nit-picky, struggling to ease her daughter’s
passage. She is concerned about what the girl is wearing. She advises her to
sit with her legs crossed at the ankle. She also wonders when the girl last had
a relaxer as her hair is scattered. Enebeli panics when the wife suggests that
she would call her sister. The sister is a terrifyingly competent woman with
three polished boys and the money to take another child. In his fit of panic,
Enebeli buys cream to attempt and fix the girl's hair. He massages it into her
scalp like lotion and the smell makes both their eyes water. When he washed it
out, half of her hair comes out. When the mother’s sister comes, she silently
notices the over processed mess and the scab forming on the girl's forehead. When
she bring her back her hair is shorn and cut close to the scalp. She turns her
head, preening. The mother admits that she has a lovely shaped skull but ruins
everything when she adds that she can’t wait for the hair to grow back so that
she looks like a proper girl again. This causes another fight between her and
Enebeli. They feel like strangers. The distance contributes to this fallout.
Lastly,
the girl is forced to take sides when the parents fight. When she comes back
from her aunt’s, everyone including the mother agree that her skull has quite
the lovely shape. However, the mother ruins it when she says she can’t wait for
the hair to grow back so that she looks like a proper girl again. This starts
another argument between the parents. The mild fight peppers with time. Distance
subtracts warmth, context and history. Husband and wife feel like they are
arguing with a stranger. The girl stops talking to her mother after that remark.
Naturally, the mother pleads with Enebeli to soften her. He agrees but does not
comply. He enjoys when the girl is angry at her mother, and when she is on his
side. As much as the girl does not hold grudges, the distance between her and
the mother widens an is now akin to something curious. Arimah refers to it as
an elephant of mistrust and awkwardness.
In conclusion, the tension between mother and daughter is as a result of the distance between them. A child needs both parents in order to grow properly. A teenage girl needs her mother to guide her otherwise she battles a myriad of challenges.
Read KCSE ESSAYS ON MEMORIES WE LOST
Read the analyses of the following stories. Use the links below:
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