GRADE 9 English TOURISM:INTERNATIONAL – INTENSIVE READING:POETRY - CHARACTERS Notes
INTENSIVE READING: POETRY — CHARACTERS (Grammar Focus)
Topic: TOURISM: INTERNATIONAL — Subject: English (Age: 14, Kenya). These notes show the grammar you use to describe and understand characters in poems about international travel (airports, passports, guides, tourists).
1. Naming characters — nouns & capitalization
- Common nouns: tourist, guide, officer, driver. (use small letters)
- Proper nouns: Nairobi, Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta Airport — always capitalise.
- Countable / Uncountable: one tourist / many tourists (countable). luggage (uncountable).
- Examples: "A tourist arrived." / "The Tourist Office helped her." (note capitalisation only for proper names or titles when used as names)
2. Pronouns — reference and clarity
Pronouns (he, she, they, it, we, I) replace names. In poems, check the antecedent — the word the pronoun refers to.
Example line: "The guide smiled. He waved the map." — "He" = the guide.
Ambiguity: "The tourist met the guide and told him about her plan." Who is "her"? Always trace back to the nearest suitable noun.
3. Person & point of view
- First person (I, we): poem tells a character's own feelings. "I missed my flight."
- Second person (you): speaks to the reader or another character. "You hold the passport tight."
- Third person (he, she, they): narrator tells about others. "They crossed the border."
- Check verbs: first person often uses forms like "I travel", "I was waiting".
4. Verb tense & aspect — how time shapes character action
Tenses show when a character acts or feels:
- Past simple: for finished actions. "She arrived at dawn."
- Present simple: for general facts or repeated actions. "The guide speaks Swahili."
- Present continuous: for actions happening now (gives immediacy). "He is packing his bag."
- Perfect tenses: link past to present. "They have crossed the border."
5. Direct speech & reported speech (talking with characters)
Poems sometimes quote speech. Use quotation marks and commas for direct speech.
Direct speech: He said, "Show me your passport."
Reported speech: He said (that) he wanted to see her passport. (Change tense and pronouns as needed.)
6. Adjectives & adjective order — describing characters
Use adjectives to create clear pictures: a tired young tourist, an old friendly guide.
Order example: opinion + size + age + shape + colour + origin + material + purpose + noun — "a nervous young Kenyan tourist".
Comparatives / superlatives: "taller, more excited, the most nervous"
7. Relative clauses — extra information about a character
Use who / that / which to add details.
Defining: "The tourist who missed her flight cried." (essential info) Non-defining (use commas): "Mr. Otieno, who is a guide, speaks three languages." (extra info)
8. Passive voice — focus on experience, not actor
Use when the action matters more than who did it. "Her passport was stamped." (focus on passport holder)
9. Modals — attitude, permission, possibility
- Can / could: ability or polite request. "Can I board?"
- May / might: possibility. "He might miss the ferry."
- Must: obligation. "You must show the visa."
10. Word formation — describe personality & action
Adjectives from nouns: careful → careful, hope → hopeful, brave → bravery (noun). Adverbs: careful → carefully (how a guide speaks). Use -ly to show manner.
11. Useful travel collocations (grammar use in examples)
- board a plane (verb + noun): "She boarded the plane."
- miss a flight / catch a flight
- show a passport / stamp a passport
- book a room / check in / check out
- cross a border (use verb + object)
Practice exercises
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Read the short poem lines and answer:
"A tired tourist sat by the gate. He held a ticket close." Q1: Replace "a tired tourist" with a pronoun. Q2: Why is "he" clear here?
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Change to reported speech:
Guide: "You must show your visa now."
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Add a relative clause:
Turn "The officer stamped the passport." into a sentence that tells us the officer's name is Mwangi.
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Tense shift:
Original (present): "She waits at the gate." Change to past simple.
Answers
- Q1: "He sat by the gate. He held a ticket close." Q2: "He" = the tourist because it refers back to the nearest suitable noun and matches gender.
- Reported: The guide said (that) you must show your visa now. (If changing person: He told them that they had to show their visas then.)
- "The officer, whose name is Mwangi, stamped the passport." or "The officer who is called Mwangi stamped the passport."
- Past simple: "She waited at the gate."
Quick tip: When you read a poem about travel, mark the nouns (who?), pronouns (who do they point to?), verb tenses (when?), and any speech. These grammar clues help you understand and describe characters clearly.