Literature-In-English Exam Past Questions and Answers | JAMB, WAEC and NECO

Literature in English is the study of works written in the English language. It includes all forms of writing, such as novels, plays, short stories, and poetry. This subject involves exploring and analyzing these texts to understand their themes and meanings.

• Question 1:

  'Earth has not anything to show more fair.

  Dull would he be of soul who could pass by

  A sight so touching in its majesty:

  This city now doth, like a garment, wear

  The beauty of the morning'.

  It is suggested in this lines that

  Options:
  A) the beauty of the morning gains from the beauty of the city
  B) the beauty of the city gains from the beauty of the morning
  C) the beauty of the city and the beauty of the morning are unrelated
  D) the beauty of the same has nothing to do with either the city or the morning
  E) there is no beauty on earth
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is B .
• Question 2:

  'Now the bells are tolling

  A year is dead.

  And my heart is slowly beating

  The Nunc Dimittis

  To all my hopes and mute

  Yearnings of a year

  And ghost hover round

  Dream beyond dream'.For this poet, the passing year has

  Options:
  A) been one of satisfaction and fulfilment
  B) has nothing to do with his personal life
  C) brought death to his relatives
  D) meant unrealized hopes
  E) brought changes
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is D .
• Question 3: The theme of Gabriel Okara's 'piano and Drums' is usually summed up in the phrase Options:
  A) clash of cultures
  B) primal youth of the African
  C) beauty of the Concerto
  D) the decay of African Civilization.
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is A .
• Question 4:

  'Have you got any hands today?

  'No, i am working alone. My helpers are on strike

  'Would you like to engage me? My fees are reasonable.'

  'No thank you'.

  In this brief dialogue, the first line contains the device known as

  Options:
  A) syncedoche
  B) paradox
  C) oxymoron
  D) hyperbole
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is A .
• Question 5:

  'Was it for this you took such constant care

  The bodkin, comb and essence to prepare?

  For this your locks in paper durance bound?

  For this with tort'ring iron wreath'd round?

  The dominant figure of speech in the above passage is

  Options:
  A) synecdoche
  B) rhetorical questions
  C) parody
  D) apostrophe.
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is B .
• Question 6: Choose the most appropriate stress pattern from the options.The stressed syllables are written in capital letters departmental Options:
  A) DEpartmental
  B) dePARTmental
  C) departMENtal
  D) departmenTAL
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is C .
• Question 7: 'The Tiger of William Blake is made up of a series of Options:
  A) analogies
  B) rhetorical questions
  C) apostrophes
  D) exaggerations
  E) similes.
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is A .
• Question 8:

  THIS QUESTIONS ARE BASED ON WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE'S ROMEO AND JULIET.

  'Wisely and slow. The stumble that run fast'.

  This note of caution comes from

  Options:
  A) Benvolio to Mercutio
  B) Capulet to Paris
  C) Friar to Romeo
  D) Nurse to Juliet.
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is C .
• Question 9:

  "O Julius Caesar, thou are mighty yet

  Thy spirit walks abroad."Based on Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, the statement above is

  Options:
  A) a ghost story
  B) superstition
  C) an apostrophe
  D) an exaggeration
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is C .
• Question 10: This question is based on Charles Dicken's Great Expectations.
  A play is called a comedy when Options:
  A) there is peaceful atmosphere and laughter in it
  B) nobody dies in it
  C) there is no serious quarrel in it
  D) there is a happy resolution of contradictions
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is D .