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 2011:

  This question is based on Buchi Emecheta's Second Class Citizen.

  In Adah's view, the white society in the novel is one in which

  Options:
  A) there is communal feeling
  B) neighbourliness is lacking
  C) neighbours live happily
  D) members are unifriendly
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is D .
• Question 2012:

  This question is based on S.I Osammor's The Triumph of the Water Lily

  The preoccupation of the novel is

  Options:
  A) the life and times of Julian Odili
  B) Norman Obi's courtship of Effua
  C) the benefits of the extended family in Nigeria
  D) the travails and successes of Nkem and Odili
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is D .
• Question 2013:

  This question i based on selected poems from Wole Soyinka (ed.) Poems of Black Africa, E.K. Senanu and T. Vincent (ed.)Selection of African Poetry and E.W. Parker (ed.) A Pageant of Longer Poems.

  'And when He looks at the grimy coating,

  Caking off your emaciated skin,...'

  These lines from Richard Ntiru's 'The Pauper' describe

  Options:
  A) the texture of the pauper's skin
  B) the coat the pauper was wearing
  C) the effect of the surroundings
  D) poverty and dirt
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is D .
• Question 2014:

  The question is based on William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. "What, drawn and talk of peace? I hate

  The word As I hate hell, all Montagues,

  And thee Have at thee,coward!"Based on William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, the lines above reveal the speaker as a

  Options:
  A) real Montague
  B) trouble shooter
  C) violence seeker
  D) peace maker
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is C .
• Question 2015:

  Read the extract below and answer this question.

  But the towering earth was tired of sitting in one position. She moved, suddenly, and the houses crumbled, the mountains heaved horribly, and the work of a million years was lost.

  The subject matter of the above extract is

  Options:
  A) earthquake
  B) house movement
  C) sea waves
  D) storm
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is A .
• Question 2016:

  This question is based on General Literature Principles and Literary Appreciation.

  The basic idea of any given work of art is its

  Options:
  A) imagery
  B) style
  C) theme
  D) tone
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is C .
• Question 2017:

  These question is based on Literary Appreciation."Busy old fool

  Unruly sun

  Why dost thou thus

  Through windows

  And through curtains

  Call on us?" J. Donne: The Sun RisingThe figure of speech involved in the lines above is

  Options:
  A) epigram
  B) pun
  C) simile
  D) personification
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is D .
• Question 2018: This question is based on J.C Graft's Sons and Daughters,Now look what we have:a permanent bloom of ugly paper flowers!'
  The device used by Aaron in the excerpt above is Options:
  A) suspense
  B) rhetorical questions
  C) oxymoron
  D) allegory
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is D .
• Question 2019:

  ______is a subdivision of a poem?

  Options:
  A) sentence
  B) lines
  C) stanza
  D) rhyme
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is B .
• Question 2020: This question is based on General Literary Principles.Characterization in a novel refers to the Options:
  A) writer's opinion of the characters
  B) way the characters are revealed to the reader
  C) characters and the way they behave
  D) reader's opinion of the characters
  Show Answer
  The correct answer is B .