Literature in English Past Questions

Study and practice Literature in English past questions with answers and detailed explanations. Then test your knowledge using our interactive CBT practice platform and prepare confidently for your upcoming examinations.

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Past Questions

2,378 questions
Question 1 of 20 2,378 total questions
Question 1171
jamb 1978

New Year's Eve Midnight
Now the bells are tolling-
A year is dead.
And my heart is slowly beating
the Nunc Dimittis
to all my hopes and mute
yewnings of a year
and ghosts hover round
dream beyond dream

Dream beyond dream
mingling with the dying
bell-sounds fading
into memories
like rain drops
falling into a river.

And now the bells are chimming-
A year is born.
And my heart-bell is ringing
in dawn
But it's shrouded things i see
dimly stride
on heart-canopied paths
to a riverside

The mood of the above poem is

Aoptimism
Bpessimism
Coptimism mixed with pessimism
Dmuch optimism qualified by a little pessimism
Emuch pessimism lightened by a little optimism
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 1172
jamb 1978

Maria:If you desire the spleen,and will laugh
yourself into stitches,follow me.yond gull
Malvolio is turned heathen,a very renegado;
saved by believing rightly,can never believe
such impossible passages of grossness.
He's in yellow stockings.
Sir Toby:And cross-gartered?
Maria:Most villainously;like a pendant that keeps
a school in church.i have dogged him:
like his murderer.He does obey every point
of the letter that i dropped to betray him:
he does smile his face into more lines than
is in the new map with the augmentation of
the indies:you have not seen such a thing as
'tis.I can hardly forbear hurling things at
him:if she do,he'll smile and take it for
a great favour.
(Twelfth Night)
Which of the following statements reflects best the situation revealed above

AMalvolio is greatly admired by Maria nad Sir Toby
BMalvolio's dress and bearing will please Lady Olivia very much
CMalvolio is decieved into doing things hated by Olivia
DMalvolio is a heathen and pendant
Ethe Author of Twelfth Night pokes fun at foolishly misguided people like Malvolio here
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 1173
jamb 1978

Romeo and Juliet
Juliet:O serpent heart,hid with a flowering face!
Did ever dragon keep so fair a cave
Beautiful tyrant:Fiend angelical
Dove-feathered raven!wolfish-ravening lamb
Despised substance of divinest show!
A damned saint,an honorable villain!
(From Romeo and Juliet)
Juliet is referring in the above passage to

ATybalt
BMercutio
COld Capulet
DLady Montague
ERomeo
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 1174
jamb 1978

Wole Soyinka's 'Telephone Conversation' is

Aan attack on the British telephone system
Ba complaint about the difficulty of getting telephones installed in private houses
Cabout the colour of Soyinka's passport
Da humorous but satirical comment on colour prejudice in Britain
Eabout the game of hide and seek
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 1175
jamb 1978

Mr Johnson,by Joyce Cary,is an interesting novel for the reason that

AMr Johnson the cheif character,is a typical African
BMr Rudbeck is a British colonial officer
Cit is a great love story between Mr Johnson and his wife,Bamu
DMr Johnson is an active character full of drama,song and poetry
Eall the characters are nice and considerate
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 1176
jamb 1978

All this was a long time ago,i remember
And i would do it again,but set down
This set down
This:were we led all that way for
Birth and Death?There was a Birth,certainly,
We had evidence and no doubt.I had seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different;this birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us,like Death,our death
We returned to our places,these kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here,in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.
(From T.S Elliott's 'Journey Of The Magi')

The Magi are no longer at ease because

Athey suffered alot on their way to Bethlehem
Bthey found greater spiritual satisfaction from their journey
Cdeath and birth are one and the same thing
Dtheir kingdoms can no longer offer them satisfaction
Ethe world has changed for the worse
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 1177
jamb 1978

The casualties referred to in 'Casualties' are

Apeople killed during the civil war
Bthose who were wounded and had to endure a lot of pain
Cthose who lost their properties and relations
Dvictims of the Nigerian Civil War,both the living and the dead
Enone of these
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 1178
jamb 1978

'And Your laughter like a flame piercing the shadows Has revealed Africa to me beyond the snows of yesterday'.'Shadows' in the above quotation means

Ahazy figures which appear before the poet
Bexperiences which have hidden Africa from the poet's view
Ca period of suffering in the poet's life
Dunclear ideas which the poet has
Ethe ghosts of the dead
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 1179
jamb 1978

In Wole Soyinka's poem,'I Think It Rains' rain symbolizes

Athe rise of sudden cloud from ashes
Bloosening of parched tongues from the mouth
Cinconveniences
Drelief,and a feeling of goodness
Enone of these
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 1180
jamb 1978

Achebe's language and style in No Longer At Ease is remarkable

Afor its short and simple sentences
Bfor its day-to-day expressions
Cfor its reflection of the speech of the ordinary man
Dfor using the speech style of most African communities
Efor reflecting the speech patterns of the different segments of the Nigerian society
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 1181
jamb 1978

The old and new values in No Longer At Ease are represented by

AThe European Club and Joseph
BObi and Clara
CThe Umuofia Progressive Union and Obi
DMr Green and Miss Williamson
Enone of the above
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 1182
jamb 1978

Ihuoma cannot be a successful wife in The Concubine because

Ashe is troublesome and cruel
Bthe sea god,her spirit husband has put a curse on her
Cnobody wishes to marry her in the village
Dshe is too old to bear children
Eshe is a widow
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 1183
jamb 1978

In Twelfth Night
'If music be the food of love,play on
Give me excess of it,that surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken and die'
was spoken by

ACurio
BValentine
COrsino
DAntonio
ESir Andrew
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 1184
jamb 1978

As a character,Ozidi,in J.P Clark's play of that name,is ruined by

Atoo great interest in women
Btoo much love of peace
Cexcessive belief in his own powers
Dtoo great dependence on his grand-mother
Ethe wickedness of his enemies
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 1185
jamb 1978

One of the statements is true of the novel:

Ait is an exact reproduction of historical events
Bcharacters are unimportant in it
Cit is always the story of the Author's life
Dit deals with human experience
Eit does not make use of imagery
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 1186
jamb 1978

One of the following is a narrative technique in a novel

Acharacter
Binteresting story
Cflashback
Dlogical conclusion
Esocial relevance
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 1187
jamb 1978

A good poem must

Abe about love
Bhave a regular rythm
Crhyme
Dbe difficult to understand
Enone of the above
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 1188
jamb 1978

Dialogue is important in drama because

Ait always makes the audience laugh
Bit is like a conversation
Cit reveals the minds of the characters
Dit makes the play last longer on the stage
Eit makes the characters honest
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 1189
jamb 1978

One of the peculiar features of drama in general is

Ahumour
Bsatire
Csarcasm
Daction
Eexposition
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 1190
jamb 1978

One of the following terms applies to the discussion of both tragedy and comedy:

Aclimax
Bhappy ending
Ctragic hero
Dalliteration
Estanza
View Explanation & Discuss
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