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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.

2,378 questions JAMB 2378 WAEC 1459 CUSTOM 2
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Past Questions

2,378 questions
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Question 1 of 20 2,378 total questions
Question 521
jamb 2005
This question is based on Literary Principles
'Mr. Beckley exploded: I do not come here to ask for a school report on my son. Did you or or did you not savagely attack the child, knowing fully well that his health is most delicate at best of times?
Wole Soyinka: Isara: A Voyage Around Essay
In the excerpt above, Mr. Beckley is trying to
Aput the addressee on the defensive
Bshow off to listener
Cprovike a fight
Dfind out the truth from the addresee
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 522
jamb 2005
This question is based on Literary Principles
''She wanted to spit herself. But she checked herself. 'Get dressed,' she said earnestly. 'Get dressed and let's go You known I have a lot of things to do. And if we are going to meet again like this, ...'she slapped the Samson and Deliah.'''
Festus lyayi: Violence
In the passage above, the speaker can described as
Adomineering
Btyreacherous
Cfriendly
Dhungry
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 523
jamb 2005
This question is based on Literary Principles
''They came on like a whirlwind, and dashed over the line snorting, kicking, squealing in a compact, pie bald tossing mob of bay,brown, grey backs, eyes staring, necks extended, nostrils red,long tails, streaming. As soon as they had leaped upon the road the thick dust flew upwards from under their hoofs, and within six yards of Glorgio only a brown cloud with vague forms of necks and cruppers rolled by, making the soil tremble..
Joseph Conrald: Nostromo
The passage above describes a troop of
Acows
Belephants
Ccamels
Dhorses
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 524
jamb 2005

This question is based on Literary Principles
'If an eagle be imprisoned On the back of a coin And the coin is tossed into the sky
That coin will flutter But the eagle will never fly.'
Henry Dumas: America
The poem above achieves its literary effect through the use of

Aalliteration
Bparallelism
Crepetition
Dsolecism
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 525
jamb 2005
This question is based on Literary Principles
'My heart is a quiet drum, sometimes it flares like a parched thunder cracking through a damask sky it lifts me in its fired spectacle'.
Cynthia James: Drumology
The imagery in the excerpt above is largely
Aolfactory and visual
Bolfactory and tactile
Cauditory and visual
Dtactile and auditory
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 526
jamb 2005
This question is based on Literary Principles
The expression 'The ripest is the saddest encounter' is an example of
Aeuphemism
Bparadox
Chyperbole
Dmetaphor
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 527
jamb 2005
This question is based on Literary Principles
'And the promised pleasure will the face of vanished treasure in the face of plundered pound hidden beneath roots of greener grasses in a land far from the masses
The tone of the poem above is
Aoptimistic
Binterrogative
Cpersuasive
Dpessimistic
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 528
jamb 2005

This question is based on Literary Principles


''It is a beauteous evening, calm and free

The holy time is quiet as a Nun

Breathless with adoration; the broad sun

Is sinking down in its tranquility;

The gentleness of heaven broods O'er the sea:

Listen! the might Being is awake

And doth with his eternal motion make

A sound like thunder-everlasting'.


W. Wordsworth: It is a Beauteous Evening
The rhyme scheme of the stanza above is

Acbba cdda
Bbbac ddac
Cddca bbca
Dabbc adde
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 529
jamb 2005
This question is based on Literary Principles
'History's stammerer when will your memory master the vowels of your father's name?
Niyi Osundare: Waiting Laughter's
The literary device used in the excerpt above is
Aapostrophe
Brhetorical question
Cpun
Drun-on-line
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 530
jamb 2005
This question is based on General Literary Principles
A short, carefully phrased expression meant to elicit amusement and surprise is
Ahyperbole
Blimerick
Ctercet
Dwit
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 531
jamb 2005
This question is based on General Literary Principles
Unity of time in a tragedy implies that all actions should take place
Asimultaneously
Bintermittently
Cin a single revolution of the sun
Dwithin the same locale
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 532
jamb 2005
This question is based on General Literary Principles
When an object is invested with a meaning beyond its immediate reference, it becauses
Aan irony
Ba symbol
Ca subject
Dan epigram
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Question 533
jamb 2005
This question is based on General Literary Principles
The insertion of material unrelated or distantly related to the insertion of material unrelated or distantly related to the specific subject under discussion in a given work is called
Adigression
Bflashback
Cregression
Dreverie
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 534
jamb 2005
This question is based on General Literary Principles
A careful choice of words dictated by a particular mood or an event refers to
Aregression
Bcadence
Crhyme
Dtone
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 535
jamb 2005

This question is based on General Literary Principles
A tragic hero, according to the Aristotelian precept, must be a

Anoble character with hubris
Blowly character who suddenly stumbles on some fortunes
Cking with deep affection for his subjects
Dcentral character after whom the play is named
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 536
jamb 2005
This question is based on General Literary Principles
Cast in a play refers to
Aall the actors
Bthree of the actors
Ca few of the actors
Dan exclusive social class in the play
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Question 537
jamb 2005
This question is based on General Literary Principles
Aesthetics in literature has to do with the creation of
Aimagery
Blines
Cbeauty
Dthemes
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 538
jamb 2005
This question is based on General Literary Principles
A poem without a regular rhyme scheme is a
Atraditional poem
Bballad
Clyrical poem
Dblank verse
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 539
jamb 2005
This question is based on General Literary Principles
The predominant use of the third-person pronoun in a novel creates a
Asense of detachment on the part of the writer
Bsense of detachment on the part of the reader
Cpsychological affinity with the characters
Dbalance of opinion among the characters
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 540
jamb 2005

This question is based on selected poems from Ker, D. et al (eds.): New Poetry from Africa; Soyinka, W. (ed.): Poems of Black African; Senanu, K.E. and Vincent, T.(ds.): A Selection of African Poetry; Umukoro, M. et al (eds.); Exam Focus: Literature-in-English; Eruvbetine, A.E. et al (eds.) Longman Examination Guides and Nwoga, D.I. (ed.):West African Verse
In On His Blindness, Milton uses the experience of his blind state to

Acondemn himself
Bappreciate God
Cabuse God
Ddisregard his fellow men
View Explanation & Discuss
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