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.

50 questions JAMB 2378 WAEC 1459 CUSTOM 2
Download PHP app Ask a Question Check Syllabus Past Question Videos Topic Video Lessons

Take a test

Past Questions

50 questions
Question 1 of 20 50 total questions
Question 11
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
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 12
jamb 1999

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

Aflat character
Bprotagonist
Cround character
Dantagonist
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 13
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
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 14
jamb 1999
This question is based on General Literary Principles
A denouement in a play
Acauses conflicts
Bcreates conflicts
Cresolves conflicts
Dcreates catastrophe
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 15
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
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 16
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
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 17
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
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 18
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
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 19
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
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 20
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 21
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 22
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 23
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 24
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 25
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
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 26
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
Question 27
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.
Okigbo's 'Hurrah for Thunder'is a prophetic poem because it

Acorrectly predicts the end of those who abuse power
Bpredicts the coming of military rulers
Cpictures the return of politicians to the scene
Dpicture the poet going to hell
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 28
jamb 1999

This question is based on Ernest Hermingway's The Old Man and the Sea.
One of the universal themes of the novel is the

Aselfishness of man against his own enviroment
Brelationship between man and nature
Cgreat struggle between the old man and the fish
Dconnection of the sea to human greed
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 29
jamb 1999

This question is based on Ernest Hermingway's The Old Man and the Sea.
'''I wish the boy was here...'''
The old man's cry demonstrates

Aa desperation for productivity
Bbitterness
Chumiliation
Da yearning for human brotherhood
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 30
jamb 1999

This question is based on Ernest Hermingway's The Old Man and the Sea.
The struggle between the old man and the fish symbolizes

Athe blood thirsty nature of sharks
Bman's refusal to grow old
Cman's struggle for survival in a harsh world
Dthe uncertainty of life in a cruel world
View Explanation & Discuss
Question Navigator
Current
MathsFaculty