Okonkwo was well known throughout the nine villages and even beyond. His fame rested on solid personal achievements. As a young man of eighteen he had brought honor to his village by throwing Amalinze the Cat, that great wrestler who for seven years was unbeaten, from Umuofia to Mbaino. He was called the Cat because his back never touched the earth. It was a historic event in Umuofia. The drums beat and the flutes sang and the crowd roared and swayed. And although Okonkwo was still young, his fame had grown like a bush-fire in the harmattan. He was tall and huge, and his bushy eyebrows and wide nostrils gave him a very severe look. He did not inherit a barn from his father. There was no barn to inherit. His father, Unoka, was in fact a debtor, and he died of a swollen stomach and a bad disease. Okonkwo was ruled by one great passion—to hate everything that his father Unoka had loved. One of those things was softness and idleness. It was the fear of himself, lest he should be found to resemble his father. And so he was always uncomfortable when any one in his presence reminded him of his father.

As Gregor Samsa awoke one morning from uneasy dreams he found himself transformed in his bed into a gigantic insect. He lay on his hard, armored back and saw, as he lifted his head a little, his brown, arched abdomen divided into rigid segments, on top of which the bed quilt could hardly keep in place and seemed about to slide off completely. His numerous legs, pitifully thin compared to the rest of his bulk, waved helplessly before his eyes. "What has happened to me?" he thought. It was no dream. His room, a regular human room, if a little too small, lay quietly between the four familiar walls. A collection of textile samples was spread out on the table—Samsa was a traveling salesman—and above it hung the picture which he had recently cut out of an illustrated magazine and housed in a nice, gilded frame. It showed a lady fitted out with a fur hat and a fur boa who sat upright, raising a heavy fur muff that covered her entire forearm.

Text A: The Code of Hammurabi (c. 1754 BC, Excerpt) "If a man has destroyed the eye of a man of the free class, they shall destroy his eye. If he has broken a man's bone, they shall break his bone. If he has destroyed the eye of a commoner or broken a bone of a commoner, he shall pay one mina of silver. If he has destroyed the eye of a man's slave or broken a bone of a man's slave, he shall pay half his value."

Text B: From "On Vengeance" by Francis Bacon (1625, Excerpt) "Revenge is a kind of wild justice; which the more man's nature runs to, the more ought law to weed it out. For as for the first wrong, it doth but offend the law; but the revenge of that wrong, putteth the law out of office. Certainly, in taking revenge, a man is but even with his enemy; but in passing it over, he is superior; for it is a prince's part to pardon. And Solomon, I am sure, said, It is the glory of a man to pass by an offence."

Text C: Summary of Character Motivation in Sophocles' Antigone In Sophocles' tragedy Antigone, after the death of her brothers Eteocles and Polyneices, King Creon decrees that Eteocles, who fought for Thebes, shall receive a hero's burial, while Polyneices, who attacked the city, shall be left unburied as a traitor. Antigone defies Creon's edict, believing that divine law and family duty supersede state law, and attempts to bury her brother Polyneices. Her actions are driven by a deep conviction of what is right, a sense of familial piety, and a desire to honor the dead, even if it means sacrificing her own life. Creon, on the other hand, believes he is upholding justice through strict enforcement of his laws to maintain order and authority.

Your Majesties, Your Highnesses, Distinguished Guests, Comrades and Friends. Today, all of us do, by our presence here, and by our celebrations in other parts of our country and the world, confer glory and hope to newborn liberty. Out of the experience of an extraordinary human disaster that lasted too long, must be born a society of which all humanity will be proud. Our daily deeds as ordinary South Africans must produce an actual South African reality that will reinforce humanity’s belief in justice, strengthen its confidence in the nobility of the human soul and sustain all our hopes for a glorious life for all. We dedicate this day to all the heroes and heroines in this country and the rest of the world who sacrificed in many ways and laid down their lives so that we could be free. Their dreams have become a reality. Freedom is their reward. We are assembled here today to proclaim a new order for our country. We commit ourselves to the construction of a complete, just and lasting peace. We have triumphed in the effort to implant hope in the breasts of the millions of our people. We enter into a covenant that we shall build a society in which all South Africans, both black and white, will be able to walk tall, without any fear in their hearts, assured of their inalienable right to human dignity – a rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world. We are confronted with the challenge of transforming the peace which we achieved with so much effort into a firm foundation for reconstruction and reconciliation. We have, by our conduct, as a people, triumphed over the forces of darkness. The time for the healing of the wounds has come. The moment to bridge the chasms that divide us has come. The time to build is upon us. We have, by our conduct, as a people, triumphed over the forces of darkness. We must therefore act together as a united people, for national reconciliation, for nation building, for the birth of a new world. Let there be justice for all. Let there be peace for all. Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all. Let each know that for each the body, the mind and the soul have been freed to fulfill themselves. Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another and suffer the indignity of being the skunk of the world. Let freedom reign. The sun shall never set on so glorious a human achievement! God bless Africa!