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 1091: This question is based on Charles Dicken's Great Expectations.
  'Created half to rise, and half to fal;
  Great lord of all things, yet a prey to all;
  Sole judge of truth, in endless error hurled;
  The glory, jest, and riddle of the world'.
  These lines from Alexander Pope's 'Essay on
  Man' show a skilful exploitation of the rhetorical device of Options:
  A) zeugma
  B) oxymoron
  C) antithesis
  D) conceit
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is C .
• Question 1092:

  Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness.

  Close bosom-friend of the mating sun:

  Conspiring with him how to load and bless

  With fruit the vines that round the

  thatch-eves run;

  To bend with apples and moss'd cottage tress

  And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core;

  To swell the ground, and plump the hazel shells

  With a sweet kernel; to set budding more,

  And still more, later flowers for bees,

  Until they think warm days will never cease,

  For summer has o'er brimm'd their clammy cells.

  The most important figure of speech in the above passage is

  Options:
  A) paradox
  B) personification
  C) metaphor
  D) simile
  E) onomatopoeia.
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is B .
• Question 1093: The banished Duke regained his kingdom when his brother Frederick Options:
  A) was defeated in battle
  B) was rejected by his people
  C) died on his way to the woods
  D) was converted by a religious man
  E) became too old to rule
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is D .
• Question 1094: This question is based on selected poems from Johnson, R. et all (eds.): New Poetry from Africa; Soyinka, W. (ed.):Poems of Black Africa; Senanu, K.E. and Vincent, T. (eds.): A Selection of African Poetry; Maduka C.T et al: Exam Focus: Literature in English; Eruvbetine, A.E et al (eds)_: Longman Examination Guides: Nwoga, D.I. (ed.): West African Verse and Adeoti G.: Neked Soles.The subject matter of Adeoti's Naked Soles is Options:
  A) soul and mind
  B) hunger and strife
  C) suffering and despair
  D) hatred and bitterness
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is C .
• Question 1095:

  This question is based on General Literary Principles.

  A melodramatic play is based on

  Options:
  A) a melodious manipulation of events
  B) ingredients that mllow down events
  C) sensational plot and characters
  D) the playwright's didactic overtones
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is A .
• Question 1096:

  This question is based on General Literature Principles and Literary Appreciation

  'A slight breeze murmured in the air. Grasses swayed as if in resentment. Over in the horizon, just beneath the spectrum of the ascending sun, horizontal brands of red cloud hung menacingly above the tips of the trees and morning air smelled of burnt clay.

  The Victims by Isidore Okpewho

  Effect in the above passage is achieved through the use of

  Options:
  A) subdued tone
  B) visual images
  C) detailed description
  D) adequate punctuation
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is C .
• Question 1097:

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

  Laye's stay with Uncle Mamadou reveals a lot about

  Options:
  A) his unwillingness to stay with his parents
  B) his affection for his uncle
  C) the strength of communal living in Africa
  D) the irresponsibility of his parents
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is C .
• Question 1098: A tragic hero, according to the Aristotelian precept must be a Options:
  A) noble character with hubris
  B) lowly character who suddenly stumbles on some fortune
  C) king with deep affection for his subjects
  D) central character after whom the play is named
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is A .
• Question 1099: The speaker in 'When a Strainer Takes in Water invokes a series of natural impossibilities in order to Options:
  A) to display bhis magical powers as a traditional priest
  B) show the poetic beauty of incantatory songs
  C) show the marvel about natural objects
  D) practise witchcraft on his enemies
  E) psychologically and magically disarm his enemies.
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is E .
• Question 1100:

  This question is based on selected poems from Ker, D. et al (eds.): New Poetry from Africa; Soyinka, W. (ed.): Poems of Black Africa; Senanu, K.E. and Vincent, T.(eds.): A Selection of African Poetry; Umukoro, M. et al (eds.): Exam Focus: Literature in English; Eruvbetine, A.E.et al (eds.): Longman Examination Guides and Nwoga D.I. (ed.): Weast African Verse.

  In Clark's Agbor Dancer, the drum is central to the message because it

  Options:
  A) portrays the drummer as an expert
  B) reminds the poet of his cultural roots
  C) provides the rhythm for the dancer
  D) draws the spectators to the dancing arena
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is B .