The Drum That Would Not Speak: Character and Characterisation – Religion, Culture and Arts (Senior 3 English) | Ganzaa

Religion, Culture and Arts

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Senior 3 · English

Religion, Culture and Arts

5 lessons

Lesson 5 of 5

The Drum That Would Not Speak: Character and Characterisation

25 min

Let's begin

In S1 you named main and minor characters, and in unit 3 you saw how conflict drives a character. Now look at the writer's tools: how does a writer make you know a person who never existed? Sometimes the writer simply tells you. More often, the writer shows you, and leaves you to work it out. Read this story about a drum-maker and his grandchildren, and watch how each of them is built.

Read: The Drum That Would Not Speak

A short story written for this lesson. The characters and their village are imagined.

1 Kalisa had made drums for sixty years, and his hands looked like the bark of the trees he hollowed. He was a proud man, and proud men are slow to change. When a drum was finished, he struck it once with his knuckle, closed his eyes and listened. If it did not ring true, he cut the hide off and began again, even if the customer was waiting at the door. "A drum that does not speak," he said, "is only a log wearing a coat."

2 His grandson Mugabo was meant to learn the craft. Mugabo was fifteen, quick with his phone and quick with his excuses. He stretched the cowhide in half the time his grandfather took, and he laughed when he was told to do it again. "Nobody can hear the difference, Sekuru." The old man did not look up. "The drum can hear it."

3 Every afternoon, after school, Mugabo's cousin Ineza came to the workshop and sat on the floor by the door. Nobody had invited her. Drums, her grandfather had told her when she was small, were not for girls. So she swept up the wood shavings without being asked, handed him the wooden pegs before he reached for them, and watched his hands. When he tested a drum, she closed her eyes too.

4 In the dry season a cousin's wedding was announced, and the family ordered three drums. Two were finished when Kalisa fell ill with a fever. For a week he lay in the dark, and his hands shook when he tried to lift a cup. Mugabo promised to finish the third drum. He worked on it for an afternoon, and then a friend called him to a football match.

5 That night Ineza lit a lamp in the workshop. She cut away Mugabo's loose hide, soaked a new one and stretched it over the drum, pulling each leather strip tight and driving each peg home, the way she had watched a thousand times. When the cock crowed, her fingers were bleeding. She struck the drum once with her knuckle, and closed her eyes.

6 At the wedding, the three drums began together. Kalisa, wrapped in a blanket on a chair at the edge of the yard, lifted his head at once. "The third one," he said to nobody. "Who tightened the third one?" Mugabo looked at his shoes. Ineza said nothing at all.

7 The next morning, when Ineza came to sweep the workshop, there were two stools by the workbench instead of one. Her grandfather did not smile; he was not a man who smiled easily. He pointed at the second stool. "Sit," he said. "And watch my hands, not my face."

Definition

Glossary

hollow (v): to make a space inside something by cutting out the middle. The log is hollowed with a chisel.
hide (n): the skin of an animal, especially when it is used to make leather or drums.
ring true (idiom): to sound right; here, to give the clear, correct sound. It also means "to seem honest".
peg (n): a small piece of wood driven into a hole to hold something in place or keep it tight.
shavings (n): thin pieces cut off wood when it is shaped.
drive (something) home (phrase): to push or hammer something fully into place.

Comprehension

What does Kalisa do when a finished drum does not "ring true"?
How does Mugabo stretch the cowhide, and how does he react when he is told to do it again?
Why does Ineza sit "on the floor by the door" rather than at the workbench?
Why does the third drum need to be finished by someone else?
What does Ineza do with Mugabo's hide, and why?
How does Kalisa know at the wedding that something is different about the third drum?
What does the second stool in paragraph 7 mean? Why does the writer not explain it?
Do you think Kalisa was right to say that drums "were not for girls"? How does the story answer this question without stating an opinion?

Show answersHide answers

He cuts the hide off and begins again, even if the customer is waiting.
Quickly, in half the time his grandfather takes; he laughs and says nobody can hear the difference.
Nobody invited her, and her grandfather had told her that drums were not for girls, so she has no place at the bench.
Kalisa falls ill with a fever, and Mugabo, who promised to finish it, leaves it for a football match.
She cuts it away and stretches a new one, because Mugabo's was loose and the drum would not have rung true.
He hears it: its sound is different from what he expected, true enough to make him ask who tightened it.
Kalisa is accepting Ineza as his apprentice; he has changed his mind about girls and drums. The writer shows it through an action so that the reader works it out, which makes the moment stronger.
Open answer. The story answers through events: Ineza, the girl, is the only grandchild who learns the craft properly, and Kalisa himself changes his mind.

Definition

characterisation: the ways a writer creates and reveals a character.

direct characterisation: the writer or another character tells the reader what a character is like. "He was a proud man." Indirect characterisation: the writer shows the character through speech, thoughts, actions, looks and effect on others, and the reader works out the trait.

round character: a complex character with several traits, who can surprise us. Flat character: a simple character built around one or two traits.

dynamic character: a character who changes in an important way during the story. Static character: one who stays the same.

foil: a character whose qualities contrast with another character's, so that both stand out more clearly.

Five ways of showing a character

Remember them as S-T-E-A-L: what a character Says, Thinks, the Effect on others, how the character Acts, and how the character Looks.

Method	Evidence in the story	What we infer
Speech	Kalisa: "A drum that does not speak is only a log wearing a coat."	He has high standards and a dry sense of humour.
Thoughts	The story never tells us Ineza's thoughts.	The silence makes her quiet determination stronger: we judge her only by what she does.
Effect on others	At the wedding, Mugabo "looked at his shoes".	Mugabo feels ashamed: he knows he failed.
Actions	Ineza sweeps "without being asked" and hands him the pegs "before he reached for them".	She is patient, observant and eager to learn.
Looks	Kalisa's "hands looked like the bark of the trees he hollowed".	He has worked hard with wood for a lifetime.

Mugabo is Ineza's foil: both are grandchildren in the same workshop, but his speed and excuses make her patience and silence stand out.

Worked example

Inferring a trait from an action

Evidence: "When the cock crowed, her fingers were bleeding." (paragraph 5)

What literally happens? Ineza has worked all night; the leather and pegs have cut her fingers.
What kind of person would do this? Someone who will not stop until the work is right, even in pain.
Name the trait with an exact adjective: not "good" but determined or dedicated.
Name the method: indirect characterisation, through action and looks. The writer never writes "Ineza was determined".

Worked example

Writing a paragraph about a character: Point, Evidence, Explanation

Question: Is Kalisa a dynamic character?

Point: answer the question in one sentence. Kalisa is a dynamic character, because his view of who may make drums changes during the story.
Evidence: quote briefly, from the start and from the end. At first he has told Ineza that drums "were not for girls", but in the last paragraph he points to a second stool and says, "Sit."
Explanation: say what the evidence shows, and how. The writer shows the change through an action rather than a speech, which suits a proud man who "did not smile easily": he cannot say he was wrong, but he can make room for her.

Tip

Use exact trait adjectives. Instead of good, bad, nice, choose from: proud, stubborn, patient, observant, careless, determined, humble, impatient, generous, dishonest, loyal. Then always support the adjective with evidence from the text.

Warning

A flat character is not a badly written one. Minor characters are often flat on purpose, so that the main characters stand out.
Round and dynamic are different ideas. Ineza is round (complex) but does not change much; a character can also change without being very complex.
Don't retell the story when you are asked about a character. Each sentence should either make a point, give evidence or explain it.

"What is Characterization?", a literary guide for students from Oregon State University's School of Writing, Literature and Film. Note the examples of direct and indirect characterisation, then find one more of each in "The Drum That Would Not Speak".

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Practice

Direct or indirect characterisation? (a) "He was a proud man." (b) "She swept up the wood shavings without being asked." (c) "Mugabo was fifteen, quick with his phone and quick with his excuses." (d) "Mugabo looked at his shoes."
Which method of STEAL does each quotation use? (a) "Nobody can hear the difference, Sekuru." (b) "his hands looked like the bark of the trees he hollowed" (c) "He worked on it for an afternoon, and then a friend called him to a football match."
Give one exact adjective for each, with a reason: (a) Kalisa cuts off the hide while the customer waits. (b) Mugabo laughs when told to do the work again. (c) Ineza says "nothing at all" at the wedding.
Is Mugabo round or flat, dynamic or static? Give evidence for both answers.
Explain how Mugabo works as a foil to Ineza. Give two contrasts.
Write a Point–Evidence–Explanation paragraph of 60 to 90 words answering: "How does the writer show that Ineza is observant?"
Rewrite paragraph 6 from Mugabo's point of view, in 80 to 100 words, showing his feelings only through his actions and words.

Show answersHide answers

(a) direct; (b) indirect (action); (c) direct; (d) indirect (effect on others, action).
(a) speech; (b) looks; (c) actions.
Sample answers: (a) perfectionist or uncompromising: he will not sell a drum that is not right, whoever is waiting. (b) careless or disrespectful: he does not take his grandfather's standards seriously. (c) modest or humble: she does not claim the credit for the drum.
Flat: he is built round one or two traits, speed and excuses. Static: at the end he "looked at his shoes", but we never see him change his behaviour or learn the craft.
Any two: he is quick and careless, she is slow and careful; he was invited to learn and wastes the chance, she was not invited and takes every chance; he talks and makes excuses, she is silent and acts; he abandons the drum, she finishes it.
Sample: The writer shows that Ineza is observant through her actions. She hands Kalisa the pegs "before he reached for them", which proves she has studied his work so closely that she knows his next move. Later she stretches the hide "the way she had watched a thousand times". Her skill comes from watching, so when the moment arrives she can do what she has never been taught.
Open answer. Check that Mugabo's feelings are shown, not named.

1Read: The Drum That Would Not Speak

2Comprehension

3Five ways of showing a character

Read: The Drum That Would Not Speak

Comprehension

Five ways of showing a character