NANDALA SHARON

MAKERERE UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF EDUCATION DEPARTMENT OF LITERATURE LIT3101: PRACTICAL CRITICISM STUDENT’S NAME: REGISTRATION NO. TUTOR: ASSIGNMENT: NANDALA SHARON JOYCE 13/U/11442/EVE E.N Critically evaluate the Uganda National Examination Board’s UCE and UACE literature syllabuses; a) Give the social, economic and political justification of the text on the paper 3 syllabus. b) If it were up to you, which text would you select for the paper 3 syllabus? Literature is an optional principle subject offered at the advanced level of education in Uganda. It is commonly referred to as the Uganda Advanced Certificate of Education also known as UACE. According to NCDC, it comprises of 3 papers or units in accordance to its genres for example; we have prose and poetry referred to as paper 1, drama involving of plays as paper 2 and novels as paper 3 which involves basically narrative texts. The papers are compulsory to students that decide to take on this subject at this level. Being assigned paper 3, I can say NCDC has worked hand in hand with the UNEB to put up a favorable syllabus for this particular paper. The syllabus consists of texts like Oliver twist by Charles Dickens, Houseboy by Fedinard Oyono, Carcase by Mwanji, The Alien Woman and many more. Personally, I would choose to talk about Oliver Twist which is on the syllabus; it is a novel by Charles Dickens a social critique. Briefly, it is a life line thread of Oliver’s life from rags to riches as I may term it. Oliver witnesses a lot of ups and downs all through his developing life. He passes though hands of many characters including; Mr. bumble, Mr. Sowerberry, Fagin, Brownlow, Nancy, Mrs. Mylie, Jack Dawkins to mention but a few and only few of them are good to him. Socially, this book brings out various issues which include; class differences that we all know about and perhaps the behavior of the classes. We see how Oliver is tossed around and treated by the different people according to their status.it also talks about issues that place in society for example, poverty, illiteracy, and all sorts of social problems. Economically, it depicts on how different character utilize their wealth and also how they accumulate it. Characters like Fagin have a different perception of attaining money while people like Brownlow also have different ways of attaining wealth. The way Oliver encounters and utilizes money is totally different. According to the performative text approach, basically I can say the texts communicates to the society for example, it impacts society with knowledge of how orphans can be taken care of, how poverty can be prevented, and it also shows how social class can be a problem to society. Politically, Dickens doesn’t really exhaust much and that is where I can put my stand; If given a chance to contribute to the syllabus, I would include lord of the flies. This is a diverse novel by William Golding. In brief, it’s about a group of schoolboys from Britain that are involved in a plane accident and end up at a deserted tropical island, the boys form two groups and first led by ralph the good character and later by two different leaders but each leading a different group. It goes on well at first but things don’t get along as the story line proceeds. Ralph and Jack are at the midst of the whole situation because they are the leaders and their disagreements spark off the fighting. It happens in phrases which Golding presents through placing each per chapter respectively until they are rescued from the evil surrounding them. In terms of justification, socially, it elaborates more on human nature which Charles Dickens doesn’t exhaust so well. William Golding is trying to show us that evil is inborn in human beings because these boys are young, and no one has taught them how to hate or fight each other. However, they do it as though they were experts most especially Jack and his group. Socially still, Golding brings out the aspect of working for the well-being of the entire society but not individual. For instance; when Ralph and his friend built the huts for the other boys although they did not help them. More on this, how to live together in harmony and with love for one another however much they may be your enemies because at one time you will need them. Economically, Golding brings out the aspect of creativity and accountability. This is symbolized by the way these boys try to survive at the island even without normal food. They utilize the fruits and hunted animals to keep their life moving on. The fires they light, the glasses that make the fire and the conch that symbolizes authority are all innovated ideas by the boys. Therefore, for an A level student who is yet to go out to the world, this is for them. Perlocutionally, it impacts their thinking capacity and encourages them to be creative at all times which boosts economic development to the individual and nation at large. Golding’s novel is rich in political terms because it digs out politics to its deepest. For example he uses the conch to symbolize authority and leadership. At first he puts everything on neutral grounds, the boys are at peace however Jack ruins everything as he is greedy for power and he decides to become Ralph’s rival. We all look at ralph because he is the good leader, he listens to everybody and always finds solutions to the boys’ problems whenever he is approached. He still exposes us to political procedures and things that take place during the leadership period. For example, he includes procedures like voting, campaigning and having competitors which happen the same way in the society. There are activities that symbolize leadership like the meetings they chair, the assemblies they call for and allocation of work and resources as well. With all these, I think it is worth including since Dickens doesn’t exhaust it all. There is an experience of death within the novel but it is all because of political hatred. It again brings out the aspect of struggle for power which also happens in today’s societies. Ralph and jack want the power and they all feel the potential. This also shows us that the ruling nature or character is to some extent in born because no one gave these boys the idea of leading the other boys. However they invent it by themselves and tried hard to respect it because they assumed that leaders were superior and that they are not at the same level with everyone and that’s why the conch is used. With this idea that Golding brings out, these literature students are able to learn the good aspects of leadership for example; a leader is to guide not to mislead, is to be approached but not feared, a leader is to love not to hate, friendly and not harsh. However, they can also learn that for a successful leader to achieve, he or she must respect and love each individual equally and also cooperation among leaders themselves is crucial. In conclusion, I would like to say that; if given a chance, I would include lord of the flies to be part of the novels on the syllabus because it exhausts all concerns of living. It brings out human aspects and also shows the total utilization of environment resources which can be grounds of innovation. REFERENCES: 1) Dellinger,A.(2005).Validityandthereviewofliterature.Researchintheschools: 12(2) 2) Cooper, H. (1998). Synthesizing Research: A guide for literature reviews.