Collections Grade 12 Guiding Questions
Collection 2
“Mallam Sile” by Mohammed Naseehu Ali
Read the short story “Mallam Sile” by Mohammed Naseehu Ali. Then, reread the lines indicated with each question below. Answer each question, citing text evidence.

12. Lines 212–215: What can you infer about Abongo’s personality based on the dialogue?

13.Lines 220–232: Summarize Abeeba’s appearance based on details in these lines. Recall Mallam Sile’s appearance and compare it to his wife’s. Why might the author choose to give Sile a wife who appears, at first, to be very different from him?’

14.Lines 244–254: Did your predictions come to pass about the apparent conflict brewing in the neighborhood during Sile’s absence? What do the earlier details about the neighbors’ gossip reveal about the author’s purpose?

15.Lines 255–267: What changes happen to the way the new tea shop is run? Who is the catalyst in bringing about the changes? Why do you think Mallam Sile was willing to make these changes?

16.Lines 268–280: What words and phrases in these lines help characterize Samadu? What sort of character is he? What do his interactions say about his place in the community? What might his importance be to the story?

17.Lines 281–294: In what ways does Samadu present a challenge for Mallam Sile and Abeeba? Is Samadu an antagonist? Why?

18.Lines 295–305: What details show how the women of the compound feel about Samadu? What might be their motivation for trying to protect Abeeba?

19.Lines 306–312: Recall Abeeba’s description when she was first introduced in the story. How has Abeeba changed as she confronts Samadu? What significance, if any, does this alteration have? What conclusions can you draw concerning Abeeba’s character at this point in the story?

From lines 212 - 215, we can state that Abongo was the direct opposite of Malam Sile. He was intolerant of the sort of behavior that Mallam Sile endured, and may be described as stern, unfriendly, and rigid.

From lines 220-232, it can be stated that Abeeba is much bigger in size and also appears stern, but was very kind to strangers like her husband.

It may be that the author chose to create a contrast between Malam Sile's size with that of Abeeba, for Malam Sile was dwarfish whilst his wife was tall.

From lines 244-254, my predictions that people would flood back to Mallam Sile, having experienced the nature of Abongo. The neighbors gossiped about the size of Malam Sile's wife. Indeed, it serves as a conflict resolution tool later on.

From Lines 255-267: The changes that happened to the way the tea shop was run was that on Abeeba's insistence and compromise by Malam Sile, it was agreed that credit will only be extended to those who swore by the holy book to payback.

Of course, Abeeba is the catalyst behind the changes. Mallam Sile was only willing to make the changes because he didn't know Abeeba would be willing to get into a fight and because it was agreed that prospective debtors would swear by the holy book. Mallam Sile felt no one reasonable would cheat him after swearing by the holy book.

Lines 286-280: The words which mostly characterize Samadu are: Bully, strong, terrifying. He is a character who thinks he can always get his way using fear and intimidation. The community feared him. This is important to the story because, if Abeeba could take on and defeat Samadu, then it would help resolve the conflict of the story.

Lines 281-294: Samadu presents a challenge because he is the only one in the community who everyone fears. Yes, Samadu is the protagonist because he is the main opponent to Mallam Sile and his wife.

Lines 295-305: The women are scared for Abeeba. They believed that Samadu will hurt her.

Lines 306-312: When Abeeba was introduced, she looked stern but behaved kindly like her husband. This totally changes as she confronts Samadu, where she was described as an angry lioness.

The conclusion here is, in every good and gentle person, there is a strong warrior who if pushed to the wall will stand up for themselves.

See more about Mallam Sile in the link below:

https://brainly.com/question/734603