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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.

49 questions JAMB 2378 WAEC 1459 CUSTOM 2

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Past Questions

49 questions

Question 1 of 20 49 total questions

Question 11

jamb 1984

'...A man who calls his kinsmen to feast does not do so to save them from staving. they all have food in their houses. When we gather together in the moonlit village ground it is not because of the moon. Every man can see it in his own compound.'
In this passage, as in many other parts of Things Fall Apart, Achebe celebrates

Aliving according to nature

Bthe spirit of communal living

Cthe ancestral spirit

Dthe virtures of self reliance

Etraditional festivals

View Explanation & Discuss

Question 12

jamb 1984

The episode in which the priestess of Agbala takes Ezinma to the shrine at night is meant to demostrate how

Adaring Okonkwo is

Bmuch the priestess dislikes Okonkwo's family

Cmuch concerned for his family Okonkwo is

Ddisrespectful to traditional office holders Umuofia is

Erude and unfeeling the priestess is

View Explanation & Discuss

Question 13

jamb 1984

'A deathly silence descended on Okonkwo's compound. Even the very little children seemed to know. Throughout that day Nwoye sat in his mother's hut and tears stood in his eyes.'
The mood describe in this passage from Things Fall Apart has been bought on by the

Adeath of Unoka

Bkilling of Ikemefuna

Cexiling of Okonkwo

Dtransfer of Mr. Brown

Eimprisonment of Okonkwo.

View Explanation & Discuss

Question 14

jamb 1984

'When the district Commissioner arrived at Okonkwo's compound at the head of an armed band of Soldiers and court messengers he found a small crowd of men sitting wearily in the "obi" He commanded them to come outside, and they obeyed without a murmur'
This passage from Things Fall Apart suggests that one of the reasons why traditional African society disintegrated was that Africans are

Aweary lazy people

Bvery docile people

Cpeace-loving people

Dmilitary weak people

Einferior beings compare to white people.h

View Explanation & Discuss

Question 15

jamb 1984

Achebe's Things Fall Apart, can be described as a

Aregional novel

Bdetective novel

Cromatic novel

Dhistorical novel

Enovel of social criticism.

View Explanation & Discuss

Question 16

jamb 1984

'All animals are equal but some animals are more equal than the others.

In the content of Animal Farm, this statement means that equality

Ais possible only under socialism

Bis possible only under capitalism

Cis not desirable

Dwas possible only in the past

Eis desirable but impossible.

View Explanation & Discuss

Question 17

jamb 1984

Since George Orwell was in fact writing about men while pretending to be writing about animals, his novel, Animal Farm can be classified as

Aa realistic novel

Ban allegorical novel

Ca naturalistic novel

Da novel of adventure

Ea sentimental novel

View Explanation & Discuss

Question 18

jamb 1984

In Animal Farm, the song
'Beasts of England, beast of Ireland,
Beasts of every land and clime,
Hearken to my joyful tidings
Of the golden future time.

was first sung by

ASnowball

BSquealer

COld Major

DNapoleon

EBluebell

View Explanation & Discuss

Question 19

jamb 1984

'Thou art the giver of
All that thy creatures love,
Full belly twice a day, clean straw to roll upon;
Every beast great or small
Sleeps at peace in his stall
Thou watchest over all...'

The poem (Animal Farm) refers to

ASquealer

BSnowball

CNapoleon

DBoxer

EClover.

View Explanation & Discuss

Question 20

jamb 1984

In Animal Farm, the commandments originally drawn up by Snowball and Napoleon sought to declare

Athe supremacy of animal over man

Bthat animal shall in no way imitate human activities

Cthat man is infinitely superior

Dthat animal and men are equal

Ethat animal are inferior to humans.

View Explanation & Discuss

Question 21

jamb 1984

'Clothes were like tattered flags
Flying off
To expose dangling breasts
As jaggered blinding flashes
Rumble, tremble, and crack
Amidst the smell of fired smoke
And the pelting march of the storm'

The general atmosphere portrayed in the above passage is one of

Apeace and quiet

Bcontentment and calm

Canger and anxiety

Dcommotion and confusion

Epoverty and want

View Explanation & Discuss

Question 22

jamb 1984

In the poem 'Night Soyinka considers nightfall as

Awelcome and totally pleasant

Bunwelcome and unpleasant

Cdangerous and uninviting

Dseductive and threatening

Ebeautiful and wholesome.

View Explanation & Discuss

Question 23

jamb 1984

'We sang the song before in the thousand seasons of good harvest and full fish following our fathers' footprints on the long shores.'
The most obvious sound device in these lines from Kofi Awoonor's 'More messenger' is

Aonomatopoeia

Brepetition

Cassonance

Dalliteration

Econsonance

View Explanation & Discuss

Question 24

jamb 1984

The speaker in 'When a Strainer Takes in Water invokes a series of natural impossibilities in order to

Ato display bhis magical powers as a traditional priest

Bshow the poetic beauty of incantatory songs

Cshow the marvel about natural objects

Dpractise witchcraft on his enemies

Epsychologically and magically disarm his enemies.

View Explanation & Discuss

Question 25

jamb 1984

'Nkosi Sikekela' in Brutus' 'After Exile', refers to a

Ageneral in the Zulu army

BZulu song used as national anthem by Africans south of Zanbezi

Csoldier in the Zulu army

DZulu poem

EZulu poet

View Explanation & Discuss

Question 26

jamb 1984

What feeling dominates J.P Clark''s ''Song''?

AJoy

BOptimism

CCynicism

DGrief

EUncertainty.

View Explanation & Discuss

Question 27

jamb 1984

'Let me listen in the smoky hut where there comes a glimpse of the friendly spirits
My head on your bosom warm like a dang smoking from the fire'.

The dang in the verse from 'Nuit de Sine' refers to

Awheels of spining cotton into yarn

Bsea weed, full of salt

Ca wolof word for granulated flour meal, known also as couscous

Da Northern Uganda local brew, usually strong and meant for men

Ea kind of narcotic or stimulant.

View Explanation & Discuss

Question 28

jamb 1984

Besides describing scenes of African village night, Senghor's poem 'Nuit de Sine' makes a definiten statement about

Acommunicating with dead ancestors

Bfishermen diving into the sea

Ctechnological development

Dmovement fron rural to urban centres

Eblack soldiers killed in Europe.

View Explanation & Discuss

Question 29

jamb 1984

In 'Nuit de Sine,'the word 'dark' in 'listern to our dark blood beat' is used

Afiguratively

Bscientifically

Cliterally

Dimaginatively

Eculturally

View Explanation & Discuss

Question 30

jamb 1984

The dominant mood in Senghor's poem in Memoriam' is one of

Anostalgia

Bsadness

Cdespair

Djoy

Efrustration.

View Explanation & Discuss

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