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.

85 questions JAMB 2378 WAEC 1459 CUSTOM 2
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Past Questions

85 questions
Question 1 of 20 85 total questions
Question 11
jamb 2023

'Senhor Jose got cold during the night. After having uttered those redundant useless words, here she is, he wasn't sure what else he should do. It was true that, after long and arduous labours, he had managed, at last, to find the unknown woman, or rather, the place where she lay, a good six feet beneath an earth that still sustained him'
Jose Saramago: All the Names

What happens to the unknown woman in the passage above?

AShe falls asleep
BShe is dead
CShe is awake
DShe runs away
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Question 12
jamb 2023

This question is based on BLACK WOMAN.

"fruit with firm flesh" illustrates the use of ____

Aonomatopoeia
Bconsonance
Cassonance
Dalliteration
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Question 13
jamb 2023

'Fierce harmattan sun on innocent tendrils; torrential downpour on leaking thatch roofs; painful comfort of helpless eunuchs; thorny beauty of modern witches; the falcon's call on day-old-chicks, ours is a tragicomic dialogue:... mute echoes of pains' .

The sonority and rhythmical structure of the lines above are achieved through a pause- pattern called

Ascansion
Benjambment
Ccaesura
Dapostrophe
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Question 14
jamb 2023

The overwhelming pride that destroys the tragic hero is called

Anemesis
Bcatharsis
Chubris
Dtragedy
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Question 15
jamb 2023

*For seven days it rained that June;
A storm half out to sea kept turning around like a dog trying to settle himself on a rug; We were the fleas that
complained in his hair.
John Updike, Wash

The image set in the lines above are of

Arain and flood in June
Bdiscomfort and likely destruction
Cthe days of Noah
Dan animal insects and fun
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Question 16
jamb 2023

This question is based on RAIDER OF THE TREASURE TROVE.

The poetic device in the expression "Rage is chief" is ___

Aoxymoron
Bsimile
Cmetaphor
Dhyperbole
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Question 17
jamb 2023

A tragic hero, according to the Aristotelian precept, must be a

Acentral character after whom the play is named
Bking with deep affection for his subjects
Cnoble character with hubris
Dlowly character who suddenly stumbles on some fortunes
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Question 18
jamb 2023

A story with elements that have both literal and figurative meanings is

Aallegory
Bnovella
Cfable
Depistle
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Question 19
jamb 2023

When an object is invested with a meaning beyond its immediate reference, it becomes

Aa symbol
Ban irony
Ca subject
Dan epigram
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Question 20
jamb 2023

This question is based on BAT.

Use the excerpt to answer this question.
"Where light pushes through;
A sudden turning upon itself of a thing in the air.
A dip to the water.
And you think:
"The swallows are flying so late!"
Swallows?"

The dominant poetic device in the excerpt is___

ARhetorical question
Bimagery
CAlliteration
DParadox
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Question 21
jamb 2023

An action in a play that stimulates the audience to pity a character is

Aprops
Bparody
Cpyrrhic
Dpathos
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Question 22
jamb 2023

________ are generally regarded as brief but purposeful references, within a literary text, to a person, place, event, or to another work of literature.

AReferrals
BChiasmus
CMetonymy
DAllusions
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Question 23
jamb 2023

The combination of two or more metaphors is called

AMonometaphor
BDymetaphor
CMixed metaphor
DCombined metaphor
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Question 24
jamb 2023

The use of two contrasting words that are placed side by side is called

Aoxymoron
Beuphemism
Cpun
Dantithesis
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Question 25
jamb 2023

"The sun used to smile in my hut".

The line is an example of

AApostrophe
Bpersonification
CRhetorical Question
DZeugma
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Question 26
jamb 2023

This question is based on A GOVERNMENT DRIVER ON HIS RETIREMENT.

"I shall booze and zoom" contains a device called

Aalliteration
Bimagery
Conomatopoeia
Dhyperbole
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Question 27
jamb 2023

Don't panic. Be calm. If you are somehow upset...try to regain your composure.

The speaker in the excerpt above is

Ahopeless
Bafraid
Cconfident
Duncertain
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Question 28
jamb 2023

This question is based on CAGED BIRD.

Read this excerpt from the poem and answer questions .

"The free bird thinks of another
breeze / and the trade winds
soft through the sighing trees"

What is the effect of the trees sighing in this verse?

AIt shows where the bird sleeps
BIt shows the tree is sleeping
CIt indicates that the bird is carefree
DIt indicates that it is still early in the day
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Question 29
jamb 2023

"I had not taken the first step in knowledge, I had not learnt to let go with the hands".The above lines is an example of a

AAlliteration
BApostrophe
CRepetition
DAssonance
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Question 30
jamb 2023

CYCLIST gets down and begins to prop his bicycle.
CYCLIST: All right. If you're sure it won't take long.
BARBER: I am known for my lightning clippers. Even the soldiers know me. I can shave the head of an entire battalion between one coup and the next. Sit down and relax your back. Cycling is not easy
when you've abandoned it for some time.

Wole Soyinka, The Beautification of Area Boy.

The literary devices in the dialogue above are

Ahyperbole and allusion
Birony and parody
Callusion and paradox
Dhumour and irony
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