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.

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Past Questions

2,378 questions
Question 1 of 20 2,378 total questions
Question 741
jamb 1997

This question is based on Wole Soyinka's
The Trials of Brother Jero.
JERO: In that case, since, Brother Chume,
your wife seems such a wicked, willful sinner,
I think ....
CHUME: Yes, Holy One...?
JERO: You must take her home tonight...
Jero concedes to Chume taking his wife home and beating her in order to

Akeep his secret secret
Bget the beating out of the way quickly
Cenable jero get into his house
Dkeep Chume's loyalty
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Question 742
jamb 1997

This question is based on Wole Soyinka's
The Trials of Brother Jero.
Which of the following qualities best describes Jero's ability to keep his followers?

AHe is a man of God
BHe distributes gifts to his followers
CHe foretells their future
DHe manipulates them
View Explanation & Discuss
Question 743
jamb 1995

This question is based on selected poems from D. Ker, C. Maduka 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.

'I hear your call
I hear if far away
I hear it break the circle'
The device in which the first two words of the lines above from Okara's 'The Call of the River NUN' are invaried while the rest very is called

Arefrain
Bparallelism
Cchorus
Drepetition
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Question 744
jamb 1995
This question is based on Literary Principles.
'BEHOLD her, single in the field,
Yon solitary Highland Lass!
Reaping and singing by herself;
Stop here, or gently pass!
Alone she cuts and blinds the grain,
And sings a melancholy strain;
O listen! for the Vale profound
Is overflowing with the sound.'
The rhyming scheme in the first stanza of 'The Solitary Reaper' above is
Aabcbddee
Bababccdd
Cabcabcdd
Dabcbddef
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Question 745
jamb 1995
This question is based on Literary Principles.
The madman has entered our house with violence
Defiling our sacred grounds
Claiming the single truth of the universe
Bending down our high priests with iron,'
Mazizi Kunene, 'Progress'
The imagery of the lines above captures the idea of
Acoercion
Breligiousity
Ctruth
Dpersuasion
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Question 746
jamb 1995

This question is based on Literary Principles.
'I cannot blind myself
to putrefying carcasses in the market place
pulling giant vultures
from the sky.
Odia Ofeimun, 'How Can I Sing?
The tone of the lines above is one of

Adefiance
Banger
Cmourning
Danxiety
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Question 747
jamb 1995
This question is based on Literary Principles.
The branch of knowledge that places emphasis on beauty is
Acensure
Baesthetics
Cphilosophy
Dphilology
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Question 748
jamb 1995
This question is based on Literary Principles.
'You Kiss her on the cheek
As white people do,
You Kiss her open-sore lips
As white people do,
You suck slimy saliva
From each other's mouths,
As white people do.'
Okot p' Bitek 'Song of Lawino'
The writer of the lines above uses repetition
Afor emphasis
Bto underscore disapproval
Cto enhance irony
Dfor imitation
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Question 749
jamb 1995
This question is based on General Literary Principles.
'I love to pass my fingers,
As tide through weeds of the sea
And wind the tall fern-fronds
Through the strands of your hair
Dark as night that screens the naked moon.'
J.P. Clark, 'Olokun'
The dominant poetic techniques employed in the lines above is
Ametaphor
Balliteration
Crhythm
Dsimile
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Question 750
jamb 1995
This question is based on General Literary Principles.
When a writer refers to past events to throw light on current ones he is employing
Aretrospection
Bflashback
Chistorical drama
Ddramatic shift
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Question 751
jamb 1995
This question is based on General Literary Principles.
A figure of speech in which an absent person or an object is addressed as if present is referred to as
Aassonance
Bapostrophe
Celegy
Dpersonification
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Question 752
jamb 1995
This question is based on General Literary Principles.
'what time night it is
I do not know
Except that like some fish
Doped out of the deep
I have bobbed up bellywise'.
J.P. Clark, 'Night Rain'
Which of the following figures of speech is employed above ?
AAlliteration
BAssonance
CHyperbole
DOnomatopoeia
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Question 753
jamb 1995
This question is based on General Literary Principles.
The figure of speech in which a poet implicitly compares an object or idea with another totally different object or idea is called a
Asimile
Bdenotation
Cconnotation
Dmetaphor
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Question 754
jamb 1995
This question is based on General Literary Principles.
A satire employs
Acomedy with the intent to amuse
Bfarce to comment on societal conduct
Cirony to mock at situations
Dsarcasm and humour for social criticism
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Question 755
jamb 1995
This question is based on General Literary Principles.
A character who remains unchanged in a work of art is called
Aa stereotypic character
Ba flat character
Ca round character
Dan illusive character
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Question 756
jamb 1995
This question is based on General Literary Principles.
The literary term which describes the angle at which a writer tells his story is
Astory angle
Bstory line
Caside
Dpoint of view
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Question 757
jamb 1995
This question is based on General Literary Principles.
The narrator that tells his story as if all actions in the story revolve around him is
Aan omniscient narrator
Ba first person narrator
Ca scond person narrator
Da tird person narrator
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Question 758
jamb 1995
This question is based on General Literary Principles.
An inherent quality of the lyric is that it must
Abe sung to a musical instrument
Bbe sung by the poet who composes it
Cexpress the poet's subjective emotions
Dbe simple and successful.
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Question 759
jamb 1995

This question is based on Thomas Hardy''s The Mayor of Casterbirdge.

What makes the novel a tragedy?

AThe poetic justice in Henchard''s punishment
BAll the character in the novel are failures
CA mixture of individual and circumstantial misfortune
DThomas Hardy is a romantic and rustic pessimist
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Question 760
jamb 1995

This question is based on Thomas Hardy's The Mayor of Casterbirdge.
The goal of the novel is to expose the

Aeffect of poverty on human behaviour
Blife of debauchery of farmers and sailors
Cpredicament of women
Dinfluence of environment and morality in human conduct
View Explanation & Discuss
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