Prose (Gadyo): Comprehension, Theme, Character, Style
Prose (Gadyo) tests close reading of prescribed Santali prose: literal comprehension, central theme, character motivation, and narrative style. Answer in Santali, but use the passage as evidence, not memory alone.
Reading for literal sense
Track who does what, where, and when. Santali prose often uses clitics to manage information: ᱫᱚ marks the topic, ᱜᱮ narrows focus. A sentence such as 'ᱵᱩᱨᱩ ᱫᱚ ᱟᱵᱚᱣᱟᱜ ᱚᱲᱟᱜ ᱠᱟᱱᱟ, ᱤᱠᱷᱟᱹᱱ ᱥᱚᱦᱚᱨ ᱫᱚ ᱟᱵᱚᱣᱟᱜ ᱫᱚ ᱵᱟᱝ ᱠᱟᱱᱟ' sets hill against city. The first ᱫᱚ frames 'hill' as topic; ᱤᱠᱷᱟᱹᱱ signals contrast; the second ᱫᱚ plus ᱵᱟᱝ marks negation of belonging.
Theme and character
State the theme as a claim about the text, then support it with two details. Character is revealed through speech, action, and what others say. Do not confuse the author with the narrator.
Style
Notice repetition, direct speech, proverbs, and sentence length.
Worked example: From the sentence above, infer a theme of displacement. Reasoning: the contrast is not neutral; 'our home' versus 'not ours' constructs belonging and exclusion. Evidence: ᱟᱵᱚᱣᱟᱜ (our) repeated with ᱵᱟᱝ (not).
Traps: retelling the plot; quoting without explaining; ignoring ᱫᱚ/ᱜᱮ; treating a character's opinion as the author's.