TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN COLLEGEAHLA 4263 Introduction to the Short Story Semester 2, 2010/11 Assignment Title of short story “The Rain Came” by Grace Ogot • • • • We, the undersigned, hereby confirm that we have not used words or ideas from any other source without stating the source in the footnote or reference section. All the ideas contained in the essay are original. We do not have knowledge that any part of this work infringes a copyright. We understand that the essay will automatically be given a FAIL grade if we have included any plagiarized material. Tutorial group : U2 Student ID 10WAB01492 10WAB0428 10WAB01244 10WAB03759 Name Lee Tok Ang Kuan Wai Ping Lim Kim Joo Bobby Lim Siu Choong Sign ASSESSMENT CRITERIA Presentation: Creativity (15 marks) Understanding of story (15 marks) Total (30 marks) Written Assignment: Interpretation of Story (10 marks) Understanding of various literary elements used (10 marks) Languages (5 marks) Format (5 marks) Total (30 marks) i . .................................................. later becoming involved in film and television and eventually becoming a United Nations’ delegate......... During all this...... Ogot went on to become a nurse and then a health administrator...i Table of Contents........... Page 2 of 14 ......2 1. Continuing her formal education...........................1 ASSESSMENT CRITERIA........ Her father is a teacher and surrounded by the wealth of oral stories around her.. Her writing reflects her personal love for the stories of her culture and can be found in various collections............ Grace Ogot writing reflects the integration of her formal learning with the rich traditions of her youth............................................... she continued to write..................................... Introduction The author of The Rain Came is Grace Ogot.............................................................Short Story : The Rain Came AIT1 U2 Table of Contents TUNKU ABDUL RAHMAN COLLEGE............... Grace Ogot was born in the Central Nyanga District of Kenya in 1930.......... And at the same time. Oganda is the daughter of Labong’O when he married to fifth wife.Short Story : The Rain Came AIT1 U2 Some of her other works such as ‘Island of Tears’ and ‘Land without Thunder’. she thinks that the villages outside there are talking about her marriage. she is thinks about the man that she could marriage with. (Par 12. line 7) Full of Imagination When she is in her grandmother’s hut and waiting for the new. Character Main Character: Oganda Daughter of Labong’O Although Labong’O has fifth wife. She start thinks about the Kech and also thinks that he will be a wonderful father. but Oganda is only a daughter for him. Much of her stories are based on customs. history and traditions of the Luo tribe which is the second largest ethnic group in the Kenya. (Par 5. line 3) A Brave girl Page 3 of 14 . 2. Labong’O became thinner and thinner because of the people are always keep pester him about the drought problem. he thinks back what the medicine man has told him. the medicine man for the tribe. (Par 39. line 5) Believes in god Oganda believed to god and her ancestors that if she was sacrifice to the lake monster. we can know that Labong’O is worrying about the pester. Oganda to the lake monster to get the rain after hearing the words from Ndithi. (Par 4. because there are so many homes and parents that have daughters. line 1) Brave Page 4 of 14 . (Par 2.Short Story : The Rain Came AIT1 U2 Although the chief choose her to be sacrifice to get the rain. line 5) Loves his daughter Labong’O love to his daughter . the villages will get the rain. line 13) Minor Character: Osinda Willing to sacrifice for love Osinda is person who is willing to sacrifice for love because he knew that when they are escaping from the sacrifice to lake monster. but her did not complaints about that. She is also bravely to sacrifice to the lake monster. (Par 4. (Par 9. When he is in his hut. Oganda. He also might face the risk from wrath of ancestors and the lake monster. Labong’O is burst into tears when he is thinks back what the medicine man is talking that the girl that must sacrifice is his only daughter. why ancestors need to sacrifice his only daughter. he is sad and wept bitterly. (Par 23. line 5) Worry about pester From this story. line 6) Selfish Labong’O is a selfish person too. there may not came back to the village and the village might not getting the rain risk. line 1) Main Character: Labong’O Believes in god Labong’O is willing to sacrifice his only daughter. When inside his hut.When he knew the news about his daughter will sacrifice to the lake monster. (Par 40. Short Story : The Rain Came AIT1 U2 Osinda is a brave man because he is dares to go inside the scared place to rescue Oganda from the lake monster. the only way to help the village to have rain is by sacrificing the Oganda. He is a man that can communicate with their god or the ancestor. Line 1).” (Paragraph 29. at sunset. Setting The setting of The Rain Came is consists of 4 elements that are Time. Line 1). Place. the duration of the story is at morning example “… Oganda woke up in the morning the sun. example “In the late afternoon the whole village…” (Paragraph 22. at night. (Par 10. Social and Atmosphere. (Par 39) Minor Character: Ndithi Medicine man He risks his own life and goes to the scared place to recuse his beloved Ndithi is a superstitious medicine man for the Labong’O tribe. Line 1). example “…the sun is going down…” (Paragraph 39. Time The first setting of The Rain Came is time. He is also the middle man between the people and their God. Oganda. Line 1). She is very love Oganda... Line 1). example “In the cloudless sky the moon shone brighty…” (Paragraph 19. line 2) Minor Character: Minya (Mother) Loves her daughter Minya is Oganda’s mother. at afternoon. she was fainted down because of sad. example “At midnight Oganda was tired…” (Paragraph 28. Place Page 5 of 14 . (Par 7. at midnight. He told the Labong’O that. line 2) 3. We can see this when once she knows the new that her lovely daughter is chosen to sacrifice to the lake monster to get the rain. in the grandmother hut. Line 1). The village named Luo was out of rain for a long period and become drought soon. The chief. Line 2). Line 5). in the sacred land. Social Condition The third element is social condition. The village believes to the ancestor. in the Labong’o hut. Line 2). The falling action of the story is when Osinda appeared and saved Oganda from sacrificing herself to the lake monster. Atmosphere The last element is atmosphere. Atmosphere in start of this story is sad because have to sacrifice Oganda for save the village and solve the problem of drought and all the people in the village also hope Oganda die except her own family and Osinda. The atmosphere at the end of the story is happy because at the end Osinda has save Oganda from the Sacred Land so that Oganda no need die and finally the rain is came and solve the problem of draught. Plot Type of Plot: Woven Plot Woven plot is used in The Rain Came. supernatural suck as Lake Monster and they also believed the medicine man can help them to solve the problem of drought. example “The atmosphere in the village was tense…” (Paragraph 2. Labong’o finds out that he must sacrifice his only daughter. example “…Labong’o went to his own hut…” (Paragraph 3. Line 1). Oganda to have the rain. The resolution of this story is when it finally started to rain in the village. example “…the path ended on sandy land” (Paragraph 32. example “…she reached the tong…” (Paragraph 29. Puzzled by her father’s cold attitude Oganda ran back to the village to warn the others that the chief was back.Short Story : The Rain Came AIT1 U2 The next element is place such as in the village. The climax of this story is when Oganda goes to the lake and she is terrified as she thought that she had been followed by the lake monster. Foreshadowing Plot For example. in the tong. 4. Line 4) Page 6 of 14 .” (Par 1. The atmosphere in this story is sad and happy.” Labong’o held out his hands for his daughter but he did not say a word. example “In her grandmother’s hut Oganda wondered…” (Paragraph 11. The story begins with the Luo people needing rain as their village has been suffering from drought. who is the chief of the village finds out that there must be a sacrifice to be made so that the rain will fall and save the tribe from drought. (Par 15) On the other hand. Labong’o. (Par 33) She runs very quickly because she needs to arrive at the lake before sunset. the villagers celebrate her sacrifice by dancing. her mother and grandmother are upset. (Par 17. Line4-5) Climax Oganda goes to the lake. Once she arrived. He realized that he must sacrifice his only daughter.Short Story : The Rain Came AIT1 U2 Development of Plot Exposition The villagers need rain. causing her to feel more upset. Osinda already prepared coats which are made from the twigs of Bwombwe to escape the scared land.(Par 49) Page 7 of 14 . Oganda. she is terrified because she feels that the something is following her but she cannot picture it. she is determined to jump into the water immediately but is caught by something. (Par 43) Resolution The villagers are finally able to receive the rain that they needed. (Par 39) They wanted to escape from being sacrificed. (Par 1-4) Rising Action Oganda is to be sacrificed. singing and giving Oganda gifts. (Par36 and Par 37 Line 1-5) Falling Action Osinda appeared and saved Oganda. Theme Sacrifice. Although Oganda is his only daughter. the rain will fall and save the villagers from the drought. This proves that Labong’o is loyal and obedient to the god or ancestors. (Par 7) But in the end. (Par 31) Loyalty and obedience.Short Story : The Rain Came AIT1 U2 5. the Luo people already believed that it is the instruction of the ancestor and followedit. (Par 4) Some beliefs are unfounded-Although it was just Ndithi’s(medicine man) dream.Labong’o believed the ancestor’s belief that by sacrificing a person. he insists that she should go to the lake and sacrifice for the sake of the village. (Par 49) Page 8 of 14 . causing Oganda to sacrifice herself to get the rain.Oganda went to the lake to sacrifice herself for the Lake Monster in order to save the villagers from the drought even though she is the only daughter in her family and is still very young. This shows that some beliefs are unfounded and unproven. Oganda is not sacrificed but the rain still came. (Par4 “It was the life of his only daughter………who must die so young”) It showed that Labong’o was having conflict with himself on whether to sacrifice his only daughter or not.the protagonist vies with God or demons. the rain will come to the torrents. (par41 “But the curse is upon me………Nor can we escape from the monster”) It showed that Osinda is brave and do not care about the ancestors following them anywhere and bad luck will befall to them. Human versus supernatural.the protagonist battles with the forces of nature (par2 “if they have not solved this rain business today. Page 9 of 14 . (par7 “Let her offer herself a sacrifice to the lake monster! ……lest he be carried away by the floods”) this showed that the villagers believed the existence of the lake monster. Human versus nature. the chief will crack”) It showed that the villagers are struggling with nature for rain.Short Story : The Rain Came AIT1 U2 6.the protagonist struggles with his/her own shortcomings/flaws and internal problems. They also believed that by sacrificing a person to the monster. Conflict Human versus self. the reader knows what the character thinks and feels . Desire . (par29 “No layman could enter this place and come out alive… … … which she had to reach at sunset”) It showed that Oganda feel scared because she heard from the Luo people that nobody is able to come out from the forest alive after entering. When something happened to the character.Short Story : The Rain Came AIT1 U2 Displacement -the character enters a situation or place where he/she is uncomfortable with. he feels so desperate and sad.unfulfilled wants and needs (Par 21”From the time Oganda received the sad news she had expected Osinda to appear any moment…. For example. … … Oganda realized that she would never see her beloved again”) Oganda felt sad and disappointed as she wanted to see Osinda for the last time before she sacrifice herself but Osinda went on a private visit. By reading this story. Point of View The type of point of view that is used in “The Rain Came” is third person omniscient point of view. In this paragraph. 7. Besides that. He is upset as he have to sacrifice his beloved daughter while other families who also have daughters do not need to be sacrificed. the narrator also has a lot of knowledge regarding the background of this story. The narrator seems to know everything in the story including the feelings and the thoughts of each character. the chief knows that he need to sacrifice his only daughter to the lake monster in order to have rain and save the village. Page 10 of 14 . the reader can feel how Labong’o loves his daughter and understand why he has those feeling. the reader can actually feel and sense the feeling and emotion of each character because they have been told in detail while they are reading through the story. when Labong’o. Short Story : The Rain Came AIT1 U2 8. Page 11 of 14 . They help each other whenever they need help and they will share their burden. This shows that Oganda is a thin young woman. Metaphor The metaphor in this story is “two useless stones” (par 16 L5) which describes Labong’o and Minya as two useless stones and the “Rain was the precious medicine” (par 31 L4) which describes the rain as a precious medicine. as it is able to save the villagers from their troubles and misery. The other simile is “panic like a mouse cornered by a hungry cat” (par 14 L10) which shows that Oganda is very scared and terorised. Symbolism The Symbolism includes “the hand of enemy” (par 3 L23) which represents the side of the opposition and “A young woman who has not known a man” (par7 L4) which represents a woman who has not married. Minya and Oganda is very close. Lastly it also includes “they have been like three cooking stone” (par 16 L3) which shows that the relationship between Labong’o. Figurative Language Simile The simile in this story is “her tall slender figure stood like a lonely reed” (par7 L8). she should be fighting for her own survival.Short Story : The Rain Came AIT1 U2 Personification The Personification includes “swallowed the jealous” (par 5 L8). This shows how the drought affected the people of Luo. Imagery The Imagery includes “Our cattle lie dying in the field” (par 2 L6).Therefore we should think of a solution to solve the problem and should not believe that sacrificing a person will be able to save the whole village. jealous is a kind of feeling or emotion cannot be swallowed but the writer has written the abstract term (jealous) with a human quality in order to describe how much Oganda’s mother’s co-wives love her and “thirsty birds that sang lazily” (par 8 L1). not thinking about death and giving up hope of saving herself from being sacrificed. as he showed his determination to save Oganda from the death. and the rain is crucial to them. It is impossible that sacrificing Oganda allows the rain to come down to the torrents . We should learn from Osinda. the villagers should not be so selfish agreeing to sacrifice Oganda in order to save the village.believing that there are always other ways to solve a problem. 9. Birds cannot sing but the writer has provided the animals (birds) with human qualities. Besides that. we should always think about the feelings of others. we have been told that we can trust and believe to our God but should not be too superstitious. Page 12 of 14 . In the story we learnt that life is precious and we should not sacrifice our own children forour own benefits. He is brave and positive thinking. What if our loved ones is chosen to be sacrificed? How would we feel? Oganda should think positively. As we know. Conclusion Personal Response Name: Lim Kim Joo In conclusion. As shown in the story. Labong’o deciding to sacrifice his daughter is a big mistake.