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
Question 1 of 20 2,378 total questions
Question 841
jamb 1991

This question is based on selected poems from Wole Soyinka (ed) Poems of Black Africa and D.I. Nwoga (ed) West African Verse.

The Fulani Creation Story' suggests that the basic problem of man is

Ablindness
Bworry
Cdeath
Dpride
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Question 842
jamb 1991

This question is based on General Literary Principles and Appreciation.

'If it is true that the world talks too much
then let's all keep quiet
and hear the eloquence
of silence'
If it is True' by Richard Ntini
One striking device used by the poet above is

Arhythm
Bcontrast
Calliteration
Dend-rhyme
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Question 843
jamb 1991

This question is based on General Literary Principles and Appreciation.
The leaves are withered. Roses fold and shrink
Dog, the panting athlete shows his tongue A dwarled shadow flees. Hides under legs. Nuts
wrinkle and crack
'Poems in Four Parts' by W.Kamera
One dominant image presented in the poem above is that of

Aspent life
Bsummer
Cdeath
Dtiredness
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Question 844
jamb 1991
This question is based on General Literary Principles and Appreciation.
'A great city is a battlefield...You need to be a fighter to live in it, not exist, mark you, live. Anybody can exist, dragging his soul around behind him like a worn-out coat; but living is different'
'To Sir with Love' by E.R. Braithwaite
The literary device predominantly used in this passage is
Asimile
Boxymoron
Csymbolism
Dsarcasm
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Question 845
jamb 1991
This question is based on General Literary Principles and Appreciation.
'...Akosua Nowa has touched my manhood;
Tell her, red ant upon the tree;
If she passes this way, I am gone,
I am gone to load my gun
No matter how hidden deep her treasure,
By my father's coffin I swear
I'll shoot my way to it this day;
Son of the hunter King
There is liquid fire in my gun!
' Akosua Nowa' by Joe de Graft
The beauty of this poem is built upon its
Arhythm
Bextended images of treasure and gun
Cthe protagonist's boastfulness
Dthe arrangement of the lines
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Question 846
jamb 1991

This question is based on General Literary Principles and Appreciation.
'I thank you God for creating me black
For making of me
Porter of all sorrows
Sitting on my head
The World
I wear the Centaur's hide
And I have carried the World since the first morning'.
'I Thank You God' by Benard Dadie
The poet's attitude here is being

Aironical
Bwhimsical
Csorrowful
Dsarcastic
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Question 847
jamb 1991
This question is based on General Literary Principles and Appreciation.
Though we knew that something was wrong with our society, we made no attempt to assess it.
Trinidad was too unimportant and we could never be convinced of the value of reading the history of a place which was, as everyone said, only a dot on the map of the world.
The Middle Passage by V.S. Naipaul
The writer here maintains that Trinidad
Awas too insignificant to have a history
Bwas so small that its people did not value its history
Cwas a mere dot and did not therefore attract people's attention
Dlacked historical significance bcause it could not compete with the rest of the world.
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Question 848
jamb 1991
This question is based on General Literary Principles and Appreciation.
''From here the island of Fogo is a presence
At Sunset
The palm trees are slow singers of farewell
The sail on the sea
Writes in geometry of spume
- departure of he who remains
And the clouds carried by incessant soft breezes
-journey of he who never left!''
Which of the following figures of speech is used prominently in the poem?
Aapostrophe
Blitotes
Chyperbole
Dpersonification
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Question 849
jamb 1991
This question is based on General Literary Principles and Appreciation.
'See! how she leans her cheek upon her hand;
O! that I wore a glove upon that hand
That predominant figure of speech in these lines is
Aconceit
Bapostrophe
Ccaricature
Dsimile
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Question 850
jamb 1991
This question is based on General Literary Principles and Appreciation.
'Here lies a great and mighty king
Whose promise none relies on
He never said a foolish thing
Not ever did a wise one'.
The lines above could best from an
Aepistle
Bepisode
Cepiphany
Depitaph
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Question 851
jamb 1991
This question is based on General Literary Principles and Appreciation.
'His round cheeks, his round nose, his round chin were a cool, healthy red. In the globe of his face and neatly circular as if drawn in bright crayon, his narrow long, tip tilted eyes, clear a pale blue water, seemed out of place, as if two incompatible strains had collided in making him.'
The picture presented above of a particular individual has
Aphotographic clarity
Bsatiric undertones
Celements of exaggeration
Dderogatory connotations
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Question 852
jamb 1991

This question is based on General Literary Principles and Appreciation.
In what type of play would the playwright introduce a comic relief to relieve tension already built up?

AFarce
BComedy
COpera
DTragedy
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Question 853
jamb 1991
This question is based on General Literary Principles and Appreciation.
A motif is
Aa recurrent image in a work of literature
Bthe reason behind a character's behaviour
Ca single matrical line
Dan essay or treatise on a particular subject
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Question 854
jamb 1991
This question is based on General Literary Principles and Appreciation.
A stanza of three lines linked by rhyme is generally called a
Acouplet
Bballad
Ctercet
Dquatrain
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Question 855
jamb 1991
This question is based on General Literary Principles and Appreciation.
Assonance occurs when
Aa character speaks eloquently in a play
Bsimilar vowel sounds are repeated in a sentence or line of poetry
Cconsonants are repeated at the beginning of words
Dwords rhyme alternately
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Question 856
jamb 1991
This question is based on General Literary Principles and Appreciation.
A speech made at the end of a dramatic performance is generally called
Aa prologue
Ban epilogue
Ca dirge
Da monoloque
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Question 857
jamb 1991
This question is based on General Literary Principles and Appreciation.
One major narrative technique a novel shares with drama is
Ascenes
Bdialogue
Csoliloquy
Dsarcasm
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Question 858
jamb 1991
This question is based on General Literary Principles and Appreciation.
'The dum, dum of the drum' is a good example of
Aassonance
Bonomatopoeia
Cmetaphor
Dsimile
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Question 859
jamb 1991
This question is based on General Literary Principles and Appreciation.
A burlesque is
Aan exaggerated mockery of a literary work
Ba sentimental comedy
Can account of a famous person's life
Da rhetorical device used for effect in poetry
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Question 860
jamb 1991
This question is based on General Literary Principles and Appreciation.
Blank verse
Ais nonsensical verse
Bconsists of unhymed five stress lines
Cis verse used by the nobility
Dconsists of rhyme in the second and fourth line
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