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WAEC SSCE - Literature In English - 2011 (Objective)

Question 1 Report

Read the poem and answer the question

Here stood our ancestral home
The crumbling wall marks the spot
Here a sheep was led to the slaughter
To appease the goods and atone
For fauilts which our destiny
Has blossomed into crimes
There my cursed father once stood
And shouted to us, his children
To come back from our play
To our evening meal and sleep.

''To appease the gods''...''implies
Answer Details
"To appease the gods" implies seeking the favor of the gods. In the context of the poem, it suggests that the sheep was being offered as a sacrifice to the gods to ask for forgiveness for the faults that led to their present-day crimes. The phrase suggests that the speaker's ancestors believed that their misfortunes were caused by divine wrath, and by offering a sacrifice, they hoped to gain the gods' favor and avoid further punishment.
Read lesson note on Poetry (JAMB)
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