Classroom

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.

3,839 questions JAMB 2378 WAEC 1459 CUSTOM 2

Select subject

Download PHP app Ask a Question Check Syllabus Past Question Videos Topic Video Lessons

Take a test

Custom CBT

Create and set up a CBT environment with your preferred subjects.

JAMB CBT Simulator

Practice JAMB CBT with real UTME past questions in CBT format.

WAEC CBT Practice 2026 Simulator

CB-WASSCE styled past question practice.

NECO CBT Practice 2026 Simulator

SSCE & GCE styled past question practice.

Past Questions

3,839 questions

Question 1 of 20 3,839 total questions

Question 1691

jamb 1987

In ''Abiku'', the statement

''Yams do not sprout in amulets

To earth Abiku''s limbs....''

Simply means

AAbiku should not be buried with amulets

Byams and amulets are repugnant to Abiku

CAbiku cannot be appeased

Dyams cannot grow on Abiku's grave.

View Explanation & Discuss

Question 1692

jamb 1987

The tragedy in Romeo and Juliet occurs as a result of

Aa flaw in the character of Romeo

Ba flaw in the character of Juliet

CFriar Lawrence's advice

Dcircumstances rather than flaws in character.

View Explanation & Discuss

Question 1693

jamb 1987

Which of the following illustrate the element of chance in Romeo and Juliet?

AFriar Lawrence's letter to Romeo

BRosaline rejection of Romeo's love

CJuliet's confiding in her nurse

DThe death of Lady Mountague.

View Explanation & Discuss

Question 1694

jamb 1987

'The all-seeing sun
Ne'er saw her match since first the world begun'
The above lines were spoken in Romeo and Juliet by

Acount Paris in praise of juliet

BRomeo in praise of Juliet

CRomeo in praise of Rosaline

DLady Capuiet in praise of Rosaline.

View Explanation & Discuss

Question 1695

jamb 1987

'O she doth teach the torches to burn bright!
It seems she hangs upon the check of night
As a rich jewel in an Ethiop's ear'
Romeo and Juliet

In these lines Juliet's beauty is presented

Ain contrast to the dark night

Bas a source of envy to all

Cin terms of riches

Das being unparalleled in the kingdom.

View Explanation & Discuss

Question 1696

jamb 1987

'From forth the fatal lions of these two foes
A pair of star-crossed lovers take their life...'
These lines from Romeo and Juliet suggest that the

Atragedy could have been averted

Btragedy was predestined

Ctragedy was brought on by enmity

Dlovers brought misfortune on themselves.

View Explanation & Discuss

Question 1697

jamb 1987

FIRST BODYGUARD: A madman wanting to see the king! The world, indeed, is mad OJUOLA: How do you know he is a madman?
Which of the following is the answer given by the second bodyguard to Ojuola in The Gods Are Not To Blame?

Aeveryone can see he is mad, your highness

Bonly a madman would want to see the king now, your highness

Cwe all know him very well, your highness

Dhe is not a man of our tribe, your highness.

View Explanation & Discuss

Question 1698

jamb 1987

'But Obatal,
God Creation,
has a way
of consoling the distressed.
The consolation referred to by the narrator in The Gods Are Not To Blame is the

Agreat peace that reigned in the land of Kutuje

Bsubjugation of the warlike people of Ikolu

Cpregnancy of Aburo, Odewale's second wife

Dbirth of Aderopo by Ojuola.

View Explanation & Discuss

Question 1699

jamb 1987

'The let these eyes around me close, Close close in sleep, close in sleep. That is my word-the mountain always sleeps. Sleep Sleep... sleep..sleep...'
These lines from The Gods Are Not To Blame were chanted by

AIya Aburo to mesmerise her son

BBaba Fakunle to mesmerise his assailants

COdewale to mesmerise his assailants

Dold man to mesmerise Odewale.

View Explanation & Discuss

Question 1700

jamb 1987

'No, let them attack me. Is it not Ignorance that makes the rat attack the cat? Ten thousand of them-let them ... attack me. they have the arms, they have the swords. But me... I have only one weapon and this i have used, and mine is the victory...'
The one weapon to which the speaker in The Gods Are Not To Blame refers is

Approphecy

Bcourage

Ctruth

Djustice.

View Explanation & Discuss

Question 1701

jamb 1987

In the play The Gods Are Not To Blame, Odewale became King of Kutuje by

Ausurpation in a typical Ijekun manner

Bdeserting the poeple of Ikolu whose army he led

Cdivulging the war secrets of Ikolu to Kutuje

Dleading Kutuje in a war against Ikolu.

View Explanation & Discuss

Question 1702

jamb 1986

'His sleepy mouth, plugged by the heavy nipple Tugs like a puppy, grunting as he feeds'. The repeated u sound in the above passage is an example of

Aonomatopoeia

Balliteration

Cassonance

Dconsonance.

View Explanation & Discuss

Question 1703

jamb 1986

'In Germany, under the law, everything is prohibited except that which is permitted, in the Soviet Union, everything is prohibited, including that which is permitted'. The last sentence is an example of

Ainnuendo

Bparadox

Ceuphemism

Dallusion.

View Explanation & Discuss

Question 1704

jamb 1986

From that moment on he began to notice what was happening in town, but in a very inexact way, for Father Anthony Isabel, in part because of his age and in part also because he swore he had seen the devil on three occasions (something which seem to the town just a bit out of place), was considered by his parishioners as a good man, peaceful and obliging, but with his head habitually in the clouds.
The phrase, something which seemed to the town just a bit out of place, is an example of

Ahyperbole

Bunderstatement

Csarcasm

Dsynecdoche.

View Explanation & Discuss

Question 1705

jamb 1986

'Nature sent him into the world strong and lusty, in a thriving condition, wearing his own hair on his head the proper branches of this reasoning vegetable, until the axe of intemperance has lopped off his green boughs, and left him a withered trunk...'
In this passage, axe of intemperance means

Ahot temper

Bcool temper

Cevil mind

Drecklessness.

View Explanation & Discuss

Question 1706

jamb 1986

'Chini was breathing with a love ripeness in her eye. She was elegant, sophistication, and Nigerian costume with charm. her every movement stimulated a flow of poetry from Francois and an ebb of embarrassment from her. she called him "My mad French lover".'
The tone of this passage is

Asensual

Bdetached

Cplayful

Dstimulating.

View Explanation & Discuss

Question 1707

jamb 1986

The bustle in a house
The morning after death
Is solemnest of industries
Enacted upon earth-
The sweeping up the heart
And putting love away
We shall not want to use again
Until eternity.
The predominant mood of this poem is best captured by the words

Amisplaced anxiety

Bgreat relief

Csolemn resignation

Dmorbid fear.

View Explanation & Discuss

Question 1708

jamb 1986

Much madness is divinest sense
To a discerning eye;
Much sense is starkest madness.
'This the majority
In this, as all, prevails.
Assent, and you are sane;
Demur,-you're straightway dangerous,
And handled with a chain.
This poem reflects the

Atyranny of the majority

Bapproval of the majority factor

Cunhappiness that might is right

Dgreat love for mad poeple.

View Explanation & Discuss

Question 1709

jamb 1986

'' It was dawn, and the windows were dark except for the Workmen cafes. The sky was like a avast flat wall of cobalt, with roofs and spires of black paper pasted upon it. Drowsy men were sweeping the pavements with ten-foot brooms, and ragged families picking over the dustbins. Workmen and girls with piece of chocolate in one hand and bread in the other were pouring into the railway station.'
The picture presented above is one of

Apoverty in urban areas

Bmonotony of the town life

Clandscape at sunrise

Dsordid industrial town.

View Explanation & Discuss

Question 1710

jamb 1986

Characterization in a novel means the

Alist of characters featuring in it

Bmode of presenting the fictional individuals

Cpeculiar mannerisms of the narrator

Dresolution of the conflict between the characters.

View Explanation & Discuss

Question Navigator

Current

Literature in English Past Questions

Take a test

Custom CBT

JAMB CBT Simulator

WAEC CBT Practice 2026 Simulator

NECO CBT Practice 2026 Simulator

Past Questions

Question Navigator

MathsFaculty