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📘 Paper 1 – Functional Writing, Cloze Test & Oral Skills (60 Marks)

Functional Writing (20 marks):

• Write minutes of a meeting as the secretary of Young Innovators Club:

  • 15 members, 12 attend, 2 send apologies, 1 missing

  • District coordinator and club patron present

  • Agenda: Recruitment of new members, Science day, Election of new officials

  • Trip for August holidays revisited

Cloze Test (10 marks):

• Complete a passage on World Mental Health Day (October 10th), featuring:

  • Prevalence of mental health globally

  • Prejudices surrounding mental health

  • Need to strengthen mental health care

  • Raising awareness and helping individuals

Oral Skills (30 marks):

• Oral Narrative Analysis – Read a story about a stepmother, her stepdaughter, and the consequences of evil

  • Three things to prepare before narrating

  • Three features of oral narratives (opening formula, direct address, repetition, moral lesson)

  • Identify hyperbole

  • Performance techniques for the last sentence

• Sound Grouping – Identify odd speech sounds (/g/ vs /j/, /a/ sounds)

• Homophones – Two other words with similar pronunciation (knew, rode)

• Intonation – Identify type of intonation for different sentences

• Proverb Analysis – “He who laughs last laughs best” (sound feature, characteristics)

• Public Speaking – Four points on dealing with fear and anxiety in public speaking

• Conversation Analysis – Read a dialogue between David and Obuya

  • Two shortcomings in David’s conversation skills

  • Three things Obuya does to make the conversation successful

📗 Paper 2 – Comprehension, Literary Appreciation & Grammar (80 Marks)

Comprehension (20 marks):

• Read and answer questions on a passage about modern technology and social networking

• Topics covered:

  • The writer’s puzzlement about life before technology

  • Advantages of cell phones vs. landlines

  • Dangers of modern technology (addiction, distraction, ear drum damage, predators, pornography)

  • Author’s attitude towards technology (critical)

  • Scientists’ justification for innovations

  • Advice to teenagers on social networking sites and consequences

  • Vocabulary: “perilous clouds,” “keep at bay,” “a dead end”

  • Indirect speech transformation

Literary Appreciation – Excerpt (25 marks):

• Analyze an excerpt from Paul B. Vitta’s Fathers of Nations

• Key focus areas:

  • Events immediately following the excerpt (waiter, female waiter, bill payment, Path Alpha document)

  • Comrade Melusi and his allies’ loss (lack of unity)

  • Leadership of “the Bomber” (ineffective, vindictive, corrupt)

  • Character traits of the visitor (curious, inquisitive)

  • Problems facing Zimbabwe (rigged elections, inflation, misuse of power, political intolerance, lack of unity, greed, crime, disease)

  • Murambatsvina and Gukurahundi operations

  • Themes (poor leadership, corruption, greed for power, political intolerance, vengeance, poverty, betrayal)

  • Irony and its effectiveness

  • Question tags

  • Vocabulary: sham, wryly

Poetry (20 marks):

• Analyze the poem “My Grandmother” by Elizabeth Jennings

• Key focus areas:

  • Persona identification (a grandchild)

  • Summary of each stanza

  • Imagery (simile, metaphor, personification, symbolism, vivid description)

  • Persona’s feelings towards grandmother (indifferent)

  • Meaning of specific lines

  • Tone in the second stanza (regretful/remorseful)

  • Paradox explanation

  • Persona’s sense of guilt

Grammar (15 marks):

• Sentence transformation (participle phrases, gerunds, Not until…, But for)

• Correct word forms (efficient → inefficiency, negotiate → negotiable, corrupt → incorruptible)

• Prepositions (down with, danced to, placed in)

• Phrasal verbs (give in, left out, falling out)

• Sentence corrections (“humble time” → “ample time,” “dirtify” → “dirty”)

📙 Paper 3 – Imaginative Composition & Set Text Essays (60 Marks)

Imaginative Composition (20 marks):

• Option A: Write a composition ending with: “… It was then that I realized I had ruined my life by associating with the wrong friends.”

• Option B: Write a composition describing a prize giving day that was recently held in your school.

Compulsory Set Text – The Samaritan by John Lara (20 marks):

• Essay topic: “When citizens elect selfish leaders, they end up suffering.”

• Key characters to discuss:

  • Ramdaye – Deputy Mayor, corrupt official in Department of Physical Infrastructure; awards tenders to relatives; sells fake title deeds; silenced by bribery in “Rodengate Affair”; broken drains cause health hazards

  • Ted King – Secretary for Health and Environment; corrupt tenders for health centres; no drugs in hospitals; noise pollution; pirating music; “supplying air” to the council

  • Seymour – Secretary for Planning and Development; bribes for building approvals; Black Swan Gang responsible for violence; drug trafficking; ruined lives of children; fake law degree

  • Mossi-oa-Tunya – Mayor; municipal capture; orders purchase of newspapers; Red Eagle Gang; admits stealing; points fingers at others; citizens suffer under his watch

Optional Set Texts (20 marks) – Choose ONE:

Option A: A Man of Awesome Power by Naguib Mahfouz

• Essay topic: “When an individual is given too much power, they are likely to misuse it.”

• Key points:

  • Punishing the taxi driver – Destroys taxi wheels out of anger

  • Punishing the radio announcer – Causes uncontrollable sneezing for annoying views

  • Censoring media – Plans to make speakers sneeze, scream, or suffer diarrhoea

  • Compelling tax payment – Forces al-Hamalawi to pay overdue taxes for personal gratification

  • Seducing the woman at the zoo – Uses powers for selfish desires; loses powers

  • Punishing the man on the bus – Strikes severe cramps for slapping a woman

Option B: Parliament of Owls by Adipo Sidang

• Essay topic: “Choices have consequences.”

• Key points:

  • Royal Owl’s inaction – Fails to act against injustices; birds overthrow him

  • Money Bags’ decision – Allows Oyundi to join Parliament; leads to his death and end of owl rule

  • Killing Arum Tidi – Infuriates birds; strengthens resolve to oust owls

  • Discriminatory laws – Birds Protection Law, Moonlight Law, unfair compensation; birds gang up against owls

Option C: An Artist of the Floating World by Kazuo Ishiguro

• Essay topic: “War causes many negative results.”

• Key points:

  • Loss of lives – Ono’s son Kenji killed in war; wife lost

  • Destruction of property – Ono’s magnificent house bombed; damage to corridors and verandah

  • Negative economic impact – Mrs. Kawakami’s business suffers; district now desolate

  • Environmental degradation – Wasted expanse, broken brick, timber, piping protruding like weeds

Who Should Use This Bundle?

What Makes This Bundle Special?

✅ Authentic JET Material

These are actual Joint Evaluation Test papers prepared by experienced educators, known for producing high-quality KCSE preparation materials.

✅ Up-to-Date Content

All questions, passages, and topics are current and aligned with the latest KCSE syllabus for the July 2026 examination.

✅ Student-Centered Design

Clear instructions, ample writing space, and a self-evaluation section encourage independent learning and self-improvement.

✅ Teacher-Approved

Used and trusted by schools across Kenya as a reliable benchmark for student performance.

✅ Comprehensive Coverage

All three papers cover the entire KCSE English syllabus with detailed marking schemes.