JAMB Literature in English 1999 past questions and answers

In the play, social change is achieved through

1. A.collectivism
2. B.sectionalism
3. C.individualism
4. D.communism.

Titubi joins the farmers' revolt

1. A.to ensure its success
2. B.as a spy for the establishment
3. C.in pursuit of Marshal
4. D.to defy the police.

'She bore a mind that envy could not but call fair' The statement above characterizes

1. A.Maria
2. B.Olivia
3. C.Roderigo
4. D.Viola.

According to the play, the Duke of Illyria is fascinated by

1. A.the idea of love
2. B.the food of love
3. C.music
4. D.entertainment.

DUKE: ...Thou know'st no less but all: I have unclasped To thee the book even of my secret soul. What exactly has the Duke unclasped?

1. A.The book of his relationship with Olivia
2. B.The secret of his soul
3. C.The details of his relationship with Viola
4. D.The details of his relationship with Olivia.

'I'll do my best To woo your lady.' What is the sincere desire of the person who made the statement above?

1. A.That she succeeds in winning the love for the master
2. B.That her best is good enough to win affection
3. C.That she herself becomes the beloved
4. D.That she herself wins the love.

What would you consider to be the major theme of the play?

1. A.Love at first sight
2. B.Unrequited love
3. C.Illusion and reality
4. D.Humour and tragedy.

The father permits his son to go to Paris because he

1. A.sees no future in traditional African ways
2. B.is encouraged by the missionaries
3. C.wants him to be a future leader
4. D.wishes to free him from blacksmithing.

The author makes the reader believe his story by using

1. A.a confessional style
2. B.elements of humour
3. C.detailed description
4. D.another narrator.

The novel is a mixture of

1. A.fiction and fantasy
2. B.the objective and the absurd
3. C.pessimism and optimism
4. D.the real and the supernatural.

Which of these features give the novel an African setting?

1. A.Marabouts, spirits and family life
2. B.Family life, death and marabouts
3. C.Blacksmiths, spirits and magicians
4. D.Spirits, magicians and death.

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

1. A.there is communal feeling
2. B.neighbourliness is lacking
3. C.neighbours live happily
4. D.members are unfriendly.

To raise the reader's anxiety about the story, the author sometimes

1. A.stops the main story to narrate other events
2. B.creates a lot of funny episodes
3. C.puts too many difficulties in Adah's way
4. D.shows that Francis is weak.

The struggle between the old man and the fish symbolizes

1. A.the blood thirsty nature of sharks
2. B.man's refusal to grow old
3. C.man's struggle for survival in a harsh world
4. D.the uncertainty of life in a cruel world.

"I wish the boy was here,..." The old man's cry demonstrates

1. A.a desperation for productivity
2. B.bitterness
3. C.humiliation
4. D.a yearning for human brotherhood.

One of the universal themes of the novel is the

1. A.selfishness of man against his own environment
2. B.relationship between man and nature
3. C.great struggle between the old man and the fish
4. D.connection of the sea to human greed.

Okigbo's 'Hurrah for Thunder' is a prophetic poem because it

1. A.correctly predicts the end of those who abuse power
2. B.predicts the coming of military rulers
3. C.pictures the return of politicians to the scene
4. D.pictures the poet going to hell.

In Rubadiri's 'Stanley Meets Mutesa', the king receives the explorer with

1. A.suspicion
2. B.delight
3. C.optimism
4. D.relief.

The most dominant pair of poetic device in Mtshali's 'Nightfall in Soweto' is

1. A.simile and repetition
2. B.rhythm and metaphor
3. C.metaphor and alliteration
4. D.repetition and personification.

Osundare's 'They Too are the Earth' can be interpreted as

1. A.a defence of the underprivileged
2. B.an apology for the affluent
3. C.a song of sorrow
4. D.a reaction against labour.

The villains in this poem by Osundare are

1. A.the beggars sprawled in gutters
2. B.those who squander the wealth of the earth
3. C.the thousands buried alive
4. D.the people who die in abandon.

The owl is used by Ojaide in this poem as a

1. A.metaphor
2. B.symbol
3. C.simile
4. D.satire.

Gray's 'Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard' is a

1. A.lamentation over a dead friend
2. B.lamentation over the passing of life
3. C.reflection on the passing of life
4. D.reflection on nature.

The Duke's most precious gift to the Duchess in Browning's 'My Last Duchess' is

1. A.his family name
2. B.a wedding ring
3. C.his aristocratic class
4. D.the title of a Duchess.

In Browning's 'My Last Duchess', the Duke complains that his wife is

1. A.a snob
2. B.a coquette
3. C.a spendthrift
4. D.disrespectful.

'Nightfall! Nightfall! You are my mortal enemy'. The figurative name for the manner in which nightfall is directly addressed as though present in Mtshali's 'Nightfall in Soweto' is

1. A.an ode
2. B.allusion
3. C.apostrophe
4. D.dramatic monologue.

The line 'under snakeskin shoes and Mercedes tyres' in Osundare's 'They Too are the Earth' is a good example of

1. A.alliteration
2. B.metonymy
3. C.contrast
4. D.similitude.

A denouement in a play

1. A.causes conflicts
2. B.creates conflicts
3. C.resolves conflicts
4. D.creates catastrophe.

A couplet refers to

1. A.two successive lines of rhyming verse
2. B.two stanzas that cannot stand alone
3. C.four irregular verses in stanzas
4. D.poetry that is acted on stage.

In drama, the term climax is used

1. A.as a figure of speech connoting beauty
2. B.for the point of highest dramatic tension
3. C.when the crisis in the play is resolved
4. D.when the hero's tragic flaw is revealed.

'Whereat: with blade, with bloody blameful blade He bravely broached his boiling bloody best'. The dominant figure of speech in the lines above is

1. A.simile
2. B.alliteration
3. C.assonance
4. D.repetition.

A humorous play based on an unrealistic situation is considered in drama as

1. A.comedy
2. B.tragedy
3. C.farce
4. D.burlesque.

The device used by writers to give truths by indirection is called

1. A.satire
2. B.hyperbole
3. C.paradox
4. D.irony.

The arrangement of incidents in a novel in which one action precipitates another is called

1. A.sub theme
2. B.chronology
3. C.suspense
4. D.causality.

The theme of a literary work is the

1. A.dominant pre-occupation of the work
2. B.interesting issues raised in the work
3. C.different views on a particular topic
4. D.psychological issues in the work.

A metaphor in which objects, persons and events in a story are equated with meanings that lie outside the narrative itself is

1. A.fable
2. B.personification
3. C.allegory
4. D.symbolism.

Mariama Bâ, 'So Long a Letter'

The use of the present tense in the passage

1. A.makes it dramatic
2. B.heightens its objectivity
3. C.captures the narrator's anger
4. D.makes it farcical.

In the passage above, the author evokes the atmosphere of

1. A.cannibalism
2. B.monstrosity
3. C.evil
4. D.doom.

In the passage above, the sea is

1. A.romanticised
2. B.personified
3. C.criticised
4. D.praised.

The poem above is memorable for its

1. A.pun
2. B.heroism
3. C.metaphor
4. D.lyricism.

The character in the poem above is obviously a

1. A.veteran
2. B.prisoner
3. C.mercenary
4. D.refugee.

The mood in the lines above is one of

1. A.fear
2. B.sorrow
3. C.joy
4. D.indignation.