JAMB Literature in English 1988 past questions and answers

'Wisely and slow. They stumble that run fast'. This note of caution comes from

1. A.Benvolio to Mercutio
2. B.Capulet to Paris
3. C.Friar to Romeo
4. D.Nurse to Juliet.

In the play, the dramatic significance of Mercutio's character is to

1. A.serve as a contrast to Romeo's
2. B.aid and abet Romeo's passion
3. C.annoy Tybalt
4. D.persuade Romeo to forget Rosaline.

From Romeo and Juliet (Shakespeare)

The speaker of these lines is

1. A.Capulet
2. B.Prince Escalus
3. C.Mountague
4. D.Friar Lawrence.

This appeal is made by

1. A.Romeo to Mercutio
2. B.Benvolio to Tybalt
3. C.Benvolio to both Tybalt and Mercutio
4. D.Romeo to both Mercutio and Tybalt.

The following epithets refer to

1. A.Tybalt
2. B.Romeo
3. C.Mercutio
4. D.Benvolio.

'If you think that you can drum for my downfall, and hope that drum will sound, then your head is not good'. Odewale says this because

1. A.Aderopo is a skilful drummer
2. B.he believes that Aderopo is plotting his overthrow
3. C.he thinks that Aderopo is mad
4. D.Aderopo has not learnt how to drum well.

In the prologue, the narrator's role to blame

1. A.explains why the gods are not to blame
2. B.narrates the life history of the hero
3. C.reminds the principal characters of their functions
4. D.explains to the audience the mimed action on the stage.

What is the significance of Alaka and Gbonka to the plot of the play?

1. A.They are major figures in the drama
2. B.They alone held the vital clues for revealing the identity of Odewale
3. C.They were friends of the late Ogundele
4. D.Their meeting with Odewale would help assuage his sorrow.

A dominant device which Ola Rotimi uses to suggest an authentic background in the play is

1. A.dialogue
2. B.rituals
3. C.proverbs
4. D.songs and dances.

'Night, and Abiku sucks the oil From lamps'.

1. A.Abiku drinks oil
2. B.For Abiku, oil is water
3. C.While other babies suck the breast, Abiku sucks oil
4. D.The lamp is kept burning all night on account of Abiku.

In Lenrie Peter's 'We Have Come Home', the return of the successful scholar is not fulfilling because

1. A.the achievement seems out of touch with his society back home
2. B.the tropical atmosphere is full of happiness
3. C.the dispensation he meets provides mixed satisfaction
4. D.he has become indifferent to his own society.

In David Diop's 'The Vultures', the colonialists are portrayed as

1. A.hypocritical and oppressive
2. B.intellectual and civilized
3. C.humanitarian and sympathetic
4. D.adventurous and daring.

The choice of imagery in J.P. Clark's 'Olokun' suggests that the poem is intended to arouse

1. A.jealousy
2. B.secular sentiments
3. C.religious sentiments
4. D.erotic feelings.

From J.P. Clark's 'Olokun'

These lines from J.P. Clark's 'Olokun' suggest that Olokun's eyes

1. A.hypnotize
2. B.cause sleeplessness
3. C.terrify
4. D.prevent dreams.

In Leopold Senghor's 'Long, long you have held between your hands', the poet addresses himself to

1. A.his beloved country for which he yearns
2. B.his love
3. C.his love interfused with yearning for his country
4. D.a not easily discernible subject.

In Christopher Okigbo's 'Idoto', Idoto symbolizes

1. A.an object of religious worship
2. B.the poet's mother
3. C.the poet's cultural traditions
4. D.a river in the poet's village.

From Christopher Okigbo's 'Idoto'

In the above lines from Christopher Okigbo's 'Idoto', the speaker is a 'prodigal' because he

1. A.has wasted all his mother's money
2. B.is repentant over his plan to waste all his mother's money
3. C.has come back to worship the goddess which he had neglected
4. D.has been caught desecrating the shrine of the goddess.

The title of Birago Diop's 'Vanity', is intrigue because the people described in the poem are

1. A.inglorious
2. B.gentle
3. C.wretches
4. D.humble.

The real victims are

1. A.Ndidi and Ogo
2. B.Nwanze and Obanua
3. C.Ubaka and Bomboy
4. D.Nwabunor and Ogugua.

The fact that the Roman Catholic priest fears and believes that the white robed figures seen in the night are spirits confirms that

1. A.the priest was only an impostor
2. B.superstition reigns supreme in Ozala
3. C.traditional religion will never succumb to Christianity in Ozala
4. D.the pieces of stones these white robed figures carried away were indeed sacred.

From The Victims (Isidore Okpewho)

This passage is written in this way in order to show that the speaker

1. A.cannot spell correctly
2. B.cannot speak English correctly
3. C.is a stranger
4. D.is very angry.

The story in the book is told from the point of view of

1. A.Nwabunor
2. B.Obanua
3. C.a first person narrator
4. D.a third person narrator.

Miss Havisham was a nasty, vindictive recluse because she was

1. A.born an eccentric
2. B.cruelly ill-used by a man
3. C.by nature nasty and shy of company
4. D.badly brought up.

'On the rampage, Pip and off the rampage, rip; –such is Life!'. Joe summarized his wife's behaviour in this way after Mrs. Gargery's quarrel with

1. A.Pip
2. B.Orlick
3. C.Joe
4. D.Biddy.

Pip is made most conscious of his ingratitude to Joe Margery through

1. A.the complaints of Biddy
2. B.the pretensions of Pumblechook
3. C.his rejection by Estella
4. D.the death of his sister.

In the character of Mrs. Pocket, Dickens satirizes

1. A.cruelty to servants
2. B.aristocratic snobbery
3. C.gossiping females
4. D.over-indulgent parents.

From Great Expectations (Charles Dickens)

Who is the person whose expected visit is being discussed here?

1. A.Abel Magwich
2. B.Mr. Wopsle
3. C.Mr. Punblechook
4. D.Joe Gargery.

A play is called a comedy when

1. A.there is peaceful atmosphere and laughter in it
2. B.nobody dies in it
3. C.there is no serious quarrel in it
4. D.there is a happy resolution of contradictions.

The persons who take part in a play are sometimes referred to as

1. A.audience
2. B.dramatists
3. C.dramatis personae
4. D.comedians.

A form of writing in which the poet writes with nostalgia about simple village life is

1. A.pastoral
2. B.ballad
3. C.romance
4. D.epic.

An imitation, bordering on ridicule of an author's style and ideas is known as

1. A.mime
2. B.paradox
3. C.criticism
4. D.parody.

'Genres of literature' aptly describes

1. A.tragedy, comedy, tragi-comedy
2. B.ode, elegy, sonnet
3. C.short story, novel, autobiography
4. D.poetry, prose, drama.

An autobiography becomes a literary work when

1. A.it is a faithful account of the author's
2. B.it underlines the salient events in the author's life
3. C.it relates the author's life to the major events of the day
4. D.its value resides principally in its style.

A dirge is a

1. A.romantic poem
2. B.poem on nature
3. C.poem of expectations
4. D.poem of lament.

In poetry, a quatrain is a group of four

1. A.lines
2. B.stanzas
3. C.refrains
4. D.poems.

Criticism is a literary activity which seeks to

1. A.discover the beauty of a literary work
2. B.finds faults in a literary work
3. C.analyse and evaluate a literary work
4. D.compare literary works.

In poetry, 'run-on-line' can be found

1. A.in most kinds of poems
2. B.only in free verse
3. C.uniquely in blank verse
4. D.peculiarly in rhyming couplets.

Verse extract (Question 41)

The figure of speech most prominently used in the passage above is

1. A.oxymoron
2. B.alliteration
3. C.euphemism
4. D.hyperbole.

The mood of the quotation in this passage is

1. A.tragically comic
2. B.deadly serious
3. C.playfully serious
4. D.humorously comic.

The greater emphasis in this passage is on the

1. A.feeling of doubt
2. B.feeling of despair
3. C.feeling of desperation
4. D.sense of failure.

The two most prominent weapons of satire in this passage are

1. A.understatement and hyperbole
2. B.irony and metaphor
3. C.simile and personification
4. D.irony and understatement.

These lines from Alexander Pope's 'Essay on Man' show a skilful exploitation of the rhetorical device of

1. A.zeugma
2. B.oxymoron
3. C.antithesis
4. D.conceit.

'The child is father of the Man' is an example of

1. A.personification
2. B.oxymoron
3. C.metonymy
4. D.paradox.

The dominant figure of speech in the above piece is

1. A.assonance
2. B.dissonance
3. C.slapstick
4. D.alliteration.

The writer of the above passage is

1. A.jealous of rich and influential people
2. B.overwhelmed by the power of money
3. C.contemptuous of the poor
4. D.indirectly exposing the negative influence of money.

In the above lyric, the words in italics are examples of

1. A.assonance
2. B.onomatopoeia
3. C.alliteration
4. D.consonance.