The ManicaPost
Morris Mtisi Education Correspondent
THIS message is for ‘A’ level Literature in English candidates. Read it carefully and intelligently get the sense of it.
There are no answer scripts or sheets for Literature questions. Really? No answer scripts? If the markers have answer sheets, which they may have in their files somewhere in their files at the marking centre, the assumption is that they want Literature students not to think independently but to reproduce the minds of the teachers, published commentaries or indeed the minds of examiners. That is not what Literature is set to do. Literature offers an opportunity for the learner to think critically . . . and thinking involves making personal observations, building points of view and opinions, making personal evaluations and judgments. So long as one thing is done, every opinion . . . every criticism . . . every comment and every judgment is correct. What is that one thing? Intelligent supportive evidence!
This means so long as the student intelligently says why he or she says what he/she is saying, that is fine. The examination puts you in a court situation; everybody must know this by now. The exam room is a court room where the magistrate or judge is absent. He is represented by the invigilator who will collect the whole case intelligently and convincingly argued on paper. He/she (the judge/the marker) has no case to argue or present . . . hence no answer script. He or she wants to hear (to read in this case) your case, which you state yourself . . . which you defend yourself and therefore which you judge yourself. The judge-presiding, the marker in this case, only has to be convinced that the stated case . . . your stated case, is unquestionably clear . . . it is soundly or intelligently defended by persuasive and intelligent argument. This can only be done through tangible supportive evidence called facts. If the so called facts you make are not substantiated by evidence, they remain claims, not facts.
This is why I said your task in this ‘‘court’’ is to substantiate why you are saying what you are saying. If the evidence is there . . . sound and reasonable, why not, the judge has no option but to give you the case. If your case is full of claims without evidence, if it is without proof . . . without verification, dhololo . . . null and void! It has no credit. So the onus is on you the candidate, to state your case (not the marker’s case . . . for he or she has none to offer), to defend it with authentic argument . . . maybe examples or illustrations. When you are doing this you are validating data. What are lawyers for? Why did you think the study of literature is critical in the preparation of fundamentals needed in the study of Law? You do not guess things or prophesy in court (in an examination) . . . no matter how beautifully you do it. You are not a seer, a diviner, or n’anga! Validate your claims. Corroborate your declarations. Verify your contentions.
Consequently, when you fail Literature in English, it is your fault, not the markers’. It is your fault because you have failed to convince or persuade the marker that you are making an intelligent analysis, appreciation, criticism, based on verified assertions or declarations. You fail yourself. The marker has nothing to do with it. If you rise to the occasion, no matter how you have risen, he or she does not qualify to fail you. He or she had no claims to verify. His or hers was just to go through your mind and argument (the hearing) and give a suitable or appropriate ‘‘sentence’’ which is determined by your ability . . . not his or hers, to support your case.
Enjoy your literature exam 2019. Call me on 0773 883 293 if you think you want to join the literature extraordinaire symposium to be held on Sunday 27 October before writing the examination. Catch me on the number on WhatsApp or SMS.
