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Literature in English Past Questions

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Past Questions

2,378 questions

Question 1 of 20 2,378 total questions

Question 691

jamb 1999

This question is based on Camara Laye's The African Child.

Laye learns early in life that his society respects

Aspirits and ghosts

Bhuman beings and spirits

Canimals and witches

Dgold and magicians

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Question 692

jamb 1999

This question is based on William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.
What would you consider to be the major theme of the play?

ALove at first sight

BUnrequited love

CLllusion and reality

DHumour and tragedy

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Question 693

jamb 1999

This question is based on William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.
The significance of the sub-plot dealing with Feste,
Toby and Maria is the expression of life's

Afragility

Bpleasure

Ccomedy

Dromance

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Question 694

jamb 1999

This question is based on William Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.
'I' ll do my best
To woo your lady.'
What is the sincere desire of the person who made the statement above?

AThat she succeeds in winning the love for the master

BThat her best is good enough to win affection

CThat she herself becomes the beloved

DThat she herself wins the love

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Question 695

jamb 1998

This question is based on Wole Soyinka's The Trials of Brother Jero.

Amope is dissatisfied with her husband's status as a

Abicycle owner

Bchief clerk

Cchief messenger

Ddeputy to Jero

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Question 696

jamb 1998

This question is based on Wole Soyinka's The Trials of Brother Jero.

Brother Chume as a member of Jero's congregation is

Aan informed disciple

Ba messenger to Brother Jero

Ca loyalist and a good husband

Da disgruntled and gullible follower

View Explanation & Discuss

Question 697

jamb 1998

This question is based on Oliver Goldsmith's She Stoops To Conquer.

'If my dear Hastings be out constant, i make no doubt to be too hard for her at last. '
The lines above in the play are delivered by

AKate

BTony

CMarlow

DConstance

View Explanation & Discuss

Question 698

jamb 1998

This question is based on Literary Principles.
'And why must we be sad When the messiahs are with us to hound us and butt-gun us into greater tomorrow.'
Odia Ofeimun, ' The Messiahs'
The tone of the lines above is

Asatiric

Bsarcastic

Cindicting

Dself-pitying

View Explanation & Discuss

Question 699

jamb 1998

This question is based on Literary Principles.
'They came for him that Sunday. He had just returned from a night's vigil on the mountain. He was resting on his bed, Bible open at the Book of Revelation, when two police constables, one tall, the other short, knocked at the door.'
Ngugi, 'Petals of Blood'
The writer of the passage above arrests the interest of the reader by employing

Aa suspenseful opening

Ban appropriate setting

Cshort clear sentences

Dimages of violence

View Explanation & Discuss

Question 700

jamb 1998

This question is based on Literary Principles.
'The strong desire he felt for her fade away. As he had done the previous night, he tried desperately to excite himself mentally. Not a nerve in his body responded. He felt ill. He perspired. He, the stallion who usually flung himself at women, was like pulp.'
Sembane Ousmane, 'Xala'

The terseness of the prose above is employed to

Acapture a climax

Bdepict tension

Ccondemn the man

Dsympathize with the girl

View Explanation & Discuss

Question 701

jamb 1998

This question is based on Literary Principles.
'El - Hadji Abdou Kader Beye was received in princely style at the girl's home. The food was exquisite and the scent of incense filled N'Gone's small wooden room. Nothing was omitted in the careful process of conditioning the man.'
Sembane Ousmane, 'Xala'
The writer suggests in the passage above that El-Hadji is

Aa prince

Ba food lover

Cbeing entertained

Dbeing manipulated

View Explanation & Discuss

Question 702

jamb 1998

This question is based on Literary Principles.
'At the start of the winter came the permanent rain and with the rain came the cholera.
But it was checked and in the end only seven thousand died of it in the army'.
Hemingway 'Farewell to Arms'
The passage above is an example of

Ahyperbolism

Bjuxtaposition

Cunderstatement

Ddidactism

View Explanation & Discuss

Question 703

jamb 1998

This question is based on Literary Principles.
Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore so do our minutes hasten to their end.'
In the lines above, Shakespeare is thinking of the

Apassing of time and shortness of life

Bswift passing of waves from shore to shore

Cpassing of time from hours to minutes and second

Dmovement of pebbles to the shore

View Explanation & Discuss

Question 704

jamb 1998

This question is based on Literary Principles.
'If we must die, let it not be like hogs
Hunted and penned in an inglorious spot,
While round us bark the mad and hungry dogs
Making their mock at our accursed lot.'
Claude Mickay, 'If We Must Die'
The mood in the lines above is one of

Adisgust

Bindignation

Cfear

Dsorrow

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Question 705

jamb 1998

This question is based on General Literary Principles.
'One man with a head
shaven clean as a potato
whispered to the rising sun,
a red eye wiped by a tattered
handkerchief of clouds.'
Mtshali, 'Men in Chains
The figures of speech employed in the lines above are

Ametaphor and onomatopoeia

Bsimile and metonymy

Cmetaphor and simile

Dpersonification and onomatopoeia

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Question 706

jamb 1998

This question is based on General Literary Principles.
'The woman whose breasts I sucked is gone to the worms'.
Oculi, 'Orphan'
These lines illustrate the use of

Asadism

Bsophism

Csatire

Deuphemism

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Question 707

jamb 1998

This question is based on General Literary Principles.

Romantic poetry emphasizes

Athe beauty of nature

Bintimate relationships

Cthe love in human nature

Dthe romance in human aspirations

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Question 708

jamb 1998

This question is based on General Literary Principles.
In drama, a conspicuous weakness in the character of the protagonist contributing to his downfall is referred to as

Aan anagnorisis

Ba tragic flaw

Ca catharsis

Da catastrophe

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Question 709

jamb 1998

This question is based on General Literary Principles.
A melodramatic play is based on

Aa melodious manipulation of events

Bingredients that mllow down events

Csensational plot and characters

Dthe playwright's didactic overtones

View Explanation & Discuss

Question 710

jamb 1998

This question is based on General Literary Principles.
'If Winter comes, can Spring be far behind?
Shelly''Ode to the West Wind'
The literary device used here is

Aan apostrophe

Ban allegory

Ca poetic license

Da rhetoric

View Explanation & Discuss

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