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:

  This question is based on Wole Soyinka's The Lion and the Jewel......Aha! Here comes Sadiku

  Do you bring some balm

  To soothe the smart of my misused armpit

  Away, your enemy!'

  What is the nature of the balm referred to by the speaker?

  Options:
  A) An antiseptic ointment
  B) A special method of massage
  C) News about Sidi
  D) A gourd of palm wine
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is C .
• Question 2: This question is based on Thomas Hardy''s The Mayor of Casterbirdge. What makes the novel a tragedy? Options:
  A) The poetic justice in Henchard''s punishment
  B) All the character in the novel are failures
  C) A mixture of individual and circumstantial misfortune
  D) Thomas Hardy is a romantic and rustic pessimist
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is A .
• Question 3:

  This question is based on General Literary Appreciation."Serrated shadows, through dark leaves

  Til, bathed in warm suffusion of your

  Dapped cells

  Sensation pained me, faceless, silent

  As night thieves."

  Wole Soyinka: NightThe dominant mood in the lines above is one of

  Options:
  A) apprehension
  B) defiance
  C) joy
  D) indifference
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is A .
• Question 4:

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

  The success of the novel lies in the author's

  Options:
  A) realistic portrayal of Laye's conurtship with Marie
  B) effective use of sociological and fictional materials
  C) recreation of an African childhood in Conakry
  D) use of traditional elements for colour
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is B .
• Question 5:

  This question is based on William Shakespeare's Macbeth.

  'Accursed be that tongue that tells me so,

  For it hath cowed my better part of man;

  And be these juggling fiends no more believed,...

  That keep the word of promise to our ear,

  And break it to our hope...'

  The speech above was made when

  Options:
  A) Macduff confronted Macbeth for the final battle
  B) Macbeth realized the truth of the witches prediction
  C) Duncan heard that Malcolm and Macduff had descended on Dunsinane to attack Macbeth
  D) Macbeth heard that his wife had been killed
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is A .
• Question 6:

  This question is based on Wole Soyinka's

  The Trials of Brother Jero.

  CHUME: Who said you were? Does the prophet live here?

  SAME MAN: Yes. Over there. That house

  CHUME: So...so..so...s...

  Chume's reaction in the exchange above reflects

  Options:
  A) disappointment
  B) rumination
  C) contemplation
  D) awareness
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is D .
• Question 7: This question is based on William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.Romeo is evicted to__________because he__________ Options:
  A) Mantua, fights Tybalt in a street duel
  B) Capulet's party, kills Tybalt in a street duel
  C) Mantua, fights and kills Tybalt in a street duel
  D) Mantua, kills Paris in a street duel.
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is C .
• Question 8:

  This question is based on the Literary Appreciation.

  'On the broken walls,

  Bats hang away from the sun

  Shadows of an ancient stranger

  Cast their presence over our shoulders

  A pathway leads to the abandoned gate.' Mazisi Kunene:The Fearful Ruin

  The dominant mood in the excerpt above is that of

  Options:
  A) exhilaration
  B) pleasure
  C) rage
  D) terror
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is D .
• Question 9:

  This question is based on Ayi Kwei Armah's 'The Beautiful Ones Are Not Yet Born.'

  The destruction of the conch along with Piggy's death in the novel suggests

  Options:
  A) degeneration into chaos
  B) the loss of an exquisitely beautiful thing
  C) that Ralph cannot summon a meeting anymore
  D) Jack's victory over Ralph
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is A .
• Question 10:

  This question is based on William Golding's Lord of the Flies.

  At one point in the novel, Jack paints his face

  This act can be interpreted to mean

  Options:
  A) regression into savagery
  B) that he is now fully ready for the dance
  C) an attempt to hide from the other children
  D) an attempt to hide from the animals he wishes to hunt
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is A .