Margaret Ogola The River and the Source: A Complete Guide (A Guide Book to Margaret a Ogola's the River and the Source)

The study of the modern African novel has been quite a challenge both at the high school and at the university level. This is especially so for novels that address traditional tenets of the African society. These novels, however, form a good corpus as a basis for comparative literature, especially looking at the African novel as compared to its European or the American counterpart. Still, the odinary critic is used to earlier African writers including Ngugi, Achebe, Soyinka and the rest. Margaret Ogola presents a challenging novel in The River and the Source because it examines the modern African society. This critical book of this novel affords the reader all the necessary angles from which this novel can be seen including Plot, Character, Themes and Elements of Style. It goes further to examine common ways of examining the novel by giving excerpt and essay questions and explaining in detail how such questions should be approached. The book focuses on the national exam in Kenya - the Kenya Certificate of Secondary Examination through which candidates matriculate and qualify for entry to the university. This, however, should give a good insight to any candidate worldwide regardless of the examination they are supposed to sit for. The book looks at the division of time as well as thinking how to earn marks and ensuring the candidate ganers as much as possible of what is given. These explanations will allow the candidate of a different examination to adjust depending on the time allowed and the marks given for questions in that particular examination. This makes this book applicable to the student of the novel - and the African novel in particular - anywhere in the world.

Jorges P. Lopez has been teaching Literature in high schools in Kenya and Communication at The Cooperative University in Nairobi. He has been writing Literary Criticism for more than fifteen years and fiction for just over ten years. He has contributed significantly to the perspective of teaching English as a Second Language in high school and to Communication Skills at the college level. He has developed humorous novellas in the Jimmy Karda Diaries Series for ages 9 to 13 which make it easier for learners of English to learn the language and the St. Maryan Seven Series for ages 13 to 16 which challenge them to improve spoken and written language. His interests in writing also spill into Poetry, Drama and Literary Fiction. He has written literary criticism books on Henrik Ibsen, Margaret Ogola, Bertolt Brecht, John Steinbeck, John Lara, Adipo Sidang' and many others.