Margaret Ogola The River and the Source: Answering Excerpt & Essay Questions

The study of the modern African novel has been quite a challenge both at the high school and at the university level. This is especially so for novels that address traditional tenets of the African society. These novels, however, form a good corpus as a basis for comparative literature, especially looking at the African novel as compared to its European or the American counterpart. Still, the odinary critic is used to earlier African writers including Ngugi, Achebe, Soyinka and the rest. Margaret Ogola presents a challenging novel in The River and the Source because it examines the modern African society. This critical book of this novel affords the reader all the necessary angles from which this novel can be seen including Plot, Character, Themes and Elements of Style. It goes further to examine common ways of examining the novel by giving excerpt and essay questions and explaining in detail how such questions should be approached. The book focuses on the national exam in Kenya - the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Examination through which candidates matriculate and qualify for entry to the university. This, however, should give a good insight to any candidate worldwide regardless of the examination they are supposed to sit for. The book looks at the division of time as well as thinking how to earn marks and ensuring the candidate ganers as much as possible of what is given. These explanations will allow the candidate of a different examination to adjust depending on the time allowed and the marks given for questions in that particular examination. This makes this book applicable to the student of the novel - and the African novel in particular - anywhere in the world.