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JAMB UTME - Literature In English - 2001

Question 1 Report

This question is based on selected poems from R. Johnson and D. Ker, et al (ed.): New poetry from Africa; Wole Soyinka (ed.): poems Black Africa; K.E. senanu and T. Vincent (eds.): A Selection of African poetry; M. Umukoro and A Sani, et al (eds.): Exam Focus: Literature - in - English; A.E. Eruvbetine and M. Jibril, et al (eds.): Longman Examination Guides: poetry: E.W. Parker (ed.): A Pageant of Longer poems and D.I. Nwoga (ed.): West African Verse.
From the tone of Wole Soyinka's 'Telephone Conversation', the two persons talking hold each other in

Answer Details
From the tone of Wole Soyinka's 'Telephone Conversation', the two persons talking hold each other in mutual suspicion. The poem is about a conversation between an African man and a landlady in England who is looking for a tenant to rent a room. The man is interested in the room and calls the landlady, but their conversation quickly turns awkward and uncomfortable when the landlady realizes that the man is African. The tone of the poem is sarcastic and ironic, as the man tries to explain his skin color to the landlady, who seems to hold racist views. The suspicion between the two is evident in the way they speak to each other and the questions they ask. The man is trying to convince the landlady that he is a decent person, while the landlady is suspicious of him because of his race.