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

3,839 questions
Question 1 of 20 3,839 total questions
Question 1341
jamb 1999

This question is based on General Literary Principles.
The theme of a literary work is the

Adominant pre-occupation of the work
Binteresting issues raised in the work
Cdifferent views on a particular topic
Dpsychological issues in the work
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Question 1342
jamb 1999

This question is based on General Literary Principles.
The arrangement of incidents in a novel in which one action precipitates another is called

Asub theme
Bchronology
Csuspense
Dcausality
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Question 1343
jamb 1999

This question is based on General Literary Principles.
The device used by writers to give truths by indirection is called

Airony
Bparadox
Chyperbole
Dsatire
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Question 1344
jamb 1999
This question is based on General Literary Principles
A humorous play based on an unrealistic situation is considered in drama as
Acomedy
Btragdy
Cfarce
Dburlesque
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Question 1345
jamb 1999

This question is based on General Literary Principles
'Whereat: with blade, with bloody blameful blade.
He bravely broached his boiling bloody best'.
The dominant figure of speech in the lines above is

Asimile
Balliteration
Cassonance
Drepetition
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Question 1346
jamb 1999

This question is based on General Literary Principles
A foil in drama is also known as

Aflat character
Bprotagonist
Cround character
Dantagonist
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Question 1347
jamb 1999
This question is based on General Literary Principles
A couplet refers to
Atwo successive lines of rhyming verse
Btwo stanzas that cannot stand alone
Cfour irregular verses in stanzas
Dpoetry that is actd on stage
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Question 1348
jamb 1999
This question is based on General Literary Principles
A denouement in a play
Acauses conflicts
Bcreates conflicts
Cresolves conflicts
Dcreates catastrophe
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Question 1349
jamb 1999
This question is based on General Literary Principles
The line 'under snakeskin shoes and Mercedes tyres' in Osundare's 'They Too are the Earth' is a good example of
Aalliteration
Bmetonymy
Ccontrast
Dsimilitude
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Question 1350
jamb 1999
This question is based on General Literary Principles
'Nightfall! Nightfall!
You are my mortal enemy'.
The figurative name for the manner in which nightfall is directly addressed as though present in Mtshali's 'Nightfall inSoweto' is
Aan ode
Ballusion
Capostrophe
Ddramatic
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Question 1351
jamb 1999

This question is based on selected poems from R. Johnson and D. Ker et al (eds.): New Poetry from Africa : Wole Soyinka (ed.): Poems of Black Africa; K.E. Senanu and T. Vincent (eds.): A selection of African Poetry and E.W.Parker (ed.): A Pageant of Longer Poems.
In Browning's 'My Last Duchess', the Duke complains that his wife is

Aa snob
Ba coquette
Ca spendthrift
Ddisrespectful
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Question 1352
jamb 1999

This question is based on selected poems from R. Johnson and D. Ker et al (eds.): New Poetry from Africa : Wole Soyinka (ed.): Poems of Black Africa; K.E. Senanu and T. Vincent (eds.): A selection of African Poetry and E.W.Parker (ed.): A Pageant of Longer Poems.
The Duke's precious gift to the Duchess in Browning's 'My Last Duchess 'is

Ahis family name
Ba wedding ring
Chis aristocratic class
Dthe title of a Duchess
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Question 1353
jamb 1999

This question is based on selected poems from R. Johnson and D. Ker et al (eds.): New Poetry from Africa : Wole Soyinka (ed.): Poems of Black Africa; K.E. Senanu and T. Vincent (eds.): A selection of African Poetry and E.W.Parker (ed.): A Pageant of Longer Poems.
Gray's 'Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard' is a

Alamentation over a dead friend
Blamentation over the passing of life
Creflection on the passing of life
Dreflection on nature
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Question 1354
jamb 1999

This question is based on selected poems from R. Johnson and D. Ker et al (eds.): New Poetry from Africa : Wole Soyinka (ed.): Poems of Black Africa; K.E. Senanu and T. Vincent (eds.): A selection of African Poetry and E.W.Parker (ed.): A Pageant of Longer Poems.
The Owl is used by Ojaide in this poem as a

Ametaphor
Bsymbol
Csimile
Dsatire
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 1355
jamb 1999

This question is based on selected poems from R. Johnson and D. Ker et al (eds.): New Poetry from Africa : Wole Soyinka (ed.): Poems of Black Africa; K.E. Senanu and T. Vincent (eds.): A selection of African Poetry and E.W.Parker (ed.): A Pageant of Longer Poems.
The recurrent nightmares in Ojaide's 'The Owl Wakes Us' suggest

Aa dreamful existence
Banxieties destroying peaceful sleep
Crepression in governance
Dbroken promises
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 1356
jamb 1999

This question is based on selected poems from R. Johnson and D. Ker et al (eds.): New Poetry from Africa : Wole Soyinka (ed.): Poems of Black Africa; K.E. Senanu and T. Vincent (eds.): A selection of African Poetry and E.W.Parker (ed.): A Pageant of Longer Poems.
The villains in this poem by Osundara are

Athe beggars sprawled in gutters
Bthose who squander the wealth of the earth
Cthe thousands buried alive
Dthe people who die in abandon
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 1357
jamb 1999

This question is based on selected poems from R. Johnson and D. Ker et al (eds.): New Poetry from Africa : Wole Soyinka (ed.): Poems of Black Africa; K.E. Senanu and T. Vincent (eds.): A selection of African Poetry and E.W.Parker (ed.): A Pageant of Longer Poems.
Osundare's 'They Too are the Earth' can be interpreted as

Aa defence of the underprivileged
Ban apology for the affluent
Ca song of sorrow
Da reaction against labour
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 1358
jamb 1999

This question is based on selected poems from R. Johnson and D. Ker et al (eds.): New Poetry from Africa : Wole Soyinka (ed.): Poems of Black Africa; K.E. Senanu and T. Vincent (eds.): A selection of African Poetry and E.W.Parker (ed.): A Pageant of Longer Poems.
The most dominant pair of poetic device in Mtshall's 'Nightfall in Soweto'is

Asimile and repetition
Brhythm and metaphor
Cmetaphor and alliteration
Drepetition and personification
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 1359
jamb 1999

This question is based on selected poems from R. Johnson and D. Ker et al (eds.): New Poetry from Africa : Wole Soyinka (ed.): Poems of Black Africa; K.E. Senanu and T. Vincent (eds.): A selection of African Poetry and E.W.Parker (ed.): A Pageant of Longer Poems.
In Rubadiri's 'Stanley Meets Mutesa' the king receives the explorer with

Asuspicion
Bdelight
Coptimism
Drelief
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Question 1360
jamb 1999

This question is based on selected poems from R. Johnson and D. Ker et al (eds.): New Poetry from Africa : Wole Soyinka (ed.): Poems of Black Africa; K.E. Senanu and T. Vincent (eds.): A selection of African Poetry and E.W.Parker (ed.): A Pageant of Longer Poems.
'Red booth, Red pillar-box Red double-tiered Omnibus squelching tar. It was real!....'
These lines from Soyinka's 'Telephone Conversation show that the poet

Aappreciates the environment of his experience
Bis insensitive to his experience
Cis unable to believe his experience
Dbelieves both his environment and experience
View Explanation & Discuss
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