JAMB Literature in English 2005 past questions and answers

In Ahmed Yerima's Attahiru, Lord Lugard and the British military find it easy to penetrate the Sokoto Caliphate because the

1. A.Muslim faithfuls fight with bows and arrows while the British soldiers use rifles
2. B.Emir of Zazzau calls the whitemen to save him from the attack of a fellow Muslim, the Emir of Kontagora
3. C.emirates of Sokoto and Zaria have not been friends since the reign of Caliph Abdulrahman
4. D.emirates are only united to fight the whitemen when it is the turn of Sokoto

Ahmed Yerima, Attahiru (extract, Q5)

In Ahmed Yerima's Attahiru, the statement above is prompted by the

1. A.abolition of slave trade
2. B.undermining of caliphal authority
3. C.introduction of direct rule
4. D.imposition of taxes

In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, Claudius, though a murderer, is presented as a character

1. A.who has a superlative administrative style
2. B.with a living conscience that torments him
3. C.to whom past events have no significance
4. D.with an admirable physical appearance

William Shakespeare, Hamlet (extract, Q8)

In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, here, Hamlet is urging the players to

1. A.reflect reality
2. B.be good actors
3. C.justify their actions
4. D.be creative on stage

In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, the principal function of the play-within-the-play in Hamlet is to

1. A.amuse Claudius
2. B.confirm the claim of the ghost
3. C.divert attention from the main event
4. D.create some comic relief in the tragedy

In William Shakespeare's Hamlet, in The Mouse-trap, the murderer is

1. A.Claudius
2. B.Lucianus
3. C.Gozango
4. D.Baptista

In Ayi Kwei Armah's Fragments, the novel suggests that an individual who stays apart from his society will

1. A.be praised for his action
2. B.be alienated by his society
3. C.be broken by his society
4. D.live a fulfilled life

In Ayi Kwei Armah's Fragments, the setting of the novel is the

1. A.traditional Nigerian society
2. B.post-independence Ghanaian society
3. C.pre-independence Ghanaian society
4. D.modern Nigerian society

In Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Angel Clare is depicted as

1. A.a rebellious and self-opinionated character
2. B.an independent-minded character
3. C.a fastidious and garrulous character
4. D.a flirtatious and impulsive young man

In Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles, 'Phases' in the novel refers to

1. A.phases of the moon and their effects on the plot
2. B.moments of awareness of Tess' misfortune
3. C.points of conflict between good and evil
4. D.stages of development in the life of Tess

In Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles, from the tragedy of Tess, it can be said that Thomas Hardy is concerned with the evils of

1. A.modernization
2. B.industrialization
3. C.democratization
4. D.colonization

In Thomas Hardy's Tess of the d'Urbervilles, Angel Clare's ambition in marrying Tess d'Urberville is to secure a wife with

1. A.high social standing
2. B.great fortune
3. C.rustic innocence
4. D.a wide knowledge of the world

Brutus' A Troubadour I Traverse is inspired by his struggle against

1. A.injustice
2. B.capitalism
3. C.colonialism
4. D.zealotry

The theme of Wangusa's A Taxi Driver on His Death is

1. A.the taxi driver's contemplation of the vehicle as the likely cause of his death
2. B.that a driver's death must surely be caused by his vehicle
3. C.the danger in the driving profession
4. D.that roads are death-traps for drivers

J.P. Clark's Agbor Dancer portrays

1. A.a sophisticated dancer
2. B.a girl attuned to her culture
3. C.an uncivilized dancer
4. D.a wild girl

The tone of Ofeimun's We Must Learn Again to Fly is that of

1. A.encouragement
2. B.discouragement
3. C.disappointment
4. D.enthusiasm

In Cheney-Coker's Myopia, the myopic ones are the

1. A.peasants
2. B.rulers
3. C.poets
4. D.traders

A.E. Housman, To an Athlete Dying Young (line)

From the statement above in Housman's To an Athlete Dying Young, what happens to the athlete?

1. A.He comes to a disgraceful end
2. B.He loses his medal to another
3. C.He dies eventually
4. D.He dies prematurely

In Keats' On the Grasshopper and Cricket, 'poetry of earth' refers to

1. A.poetry written about earth
2. B.songs by grasshopper and cricket
3. C.poetry written by mother earth
4. D.songs by birds, grasshoppers and crickets

In On His Blindness, Milton uses the experience of his blind state to

1. A.condemn himself
2. B.appreciate God
3. C.abuse God
4. D.disregard his fellow men

The predominant use of the third-person pronoun in a novel creates a

1. A.sense of detachment on the part of the writer
2. B.sense of detachment on the part of the reader
3. C.psychological affinity with the characters
4. D.balance of opinion among the characters

A poem without a regular rhyme scheme is a

1. A.traditional poem
2. B.ballad
3. C.lyrical poem
4. D.blank verse

Aesthetics in literature has to do with the creation of

1. A.imagery
2. B.lines
3. C.beauty
4. D.themes

Cast in a play refers to

1. A.all the actors
2. B.three of the actors
3. C.a few of the actors
4. D.an exclusive social class in the play

A tragic hero, according to the Aristotelian precept, must be a

1. A.noble character with hubris
2. B.lowly character who suddenly stumbles on some fortunes
3. C.king with deep affection for his subjects
4. D.central character after whom the play is named

The insertion of material unrelated or distantly related to the specific subject under discussion in a given work is called

1. A.digression
2. B.flashback
3. C.regression
4. D.reverie

When an object is invested with a meaning beyond its immediate reference, it becomes

1. A.an irony
2. B.a symbol
3. C.a subject
4. D.an epigram

Unity of time in a tragedy implies that all actions should take place

1. A.simultaneously
2. B.intermittently
3. C.in a single revolution of the sun
4. D.within the same locale

A short, carefully phrased expression meant to elicit amusement and surprise is

1. A.hyperbole
2. B.limerick
3. C.tercet
4. D.wit

JAMB 2005 Literary Appreciation: poem extract (Q43)

The tone of the poem above is

1. A.pessimistic
2. B.optimistic
3. C.interrogative
4. D.persuasive

The expression 'The ripest is the saddest encounter' is an example of

1. A.euphemism
2. B.paradox
3. C.hyperbole
4. D.metaphor

Cynthia James, Drumology (extract)

The imagery in the excerpt above is largely

1. A.olfactory and visual
2. B.olfactory and tactile
3. C.tactile and auditory
4. D.auditory and visual

The poem above achieves its literary effect through the use of

1. A.alliteration
2. B.parallelism
3. C.repetition
4. D.solecism

The passage above describes a troop of

1. A.cows
2. B.elephants
3. C.camels
4. D.horses

In the passage above, the speaker can be described as

1. A.domineering
2. B.treacherous
3. C.friendly
4. D.hungry

In the excerpt above, Mr. Beckley is trying to

1. A.put the addressee on the defensive
2. B.show off to the listener
3. C.provoke a fight
4. D.find out the truth from the addressee

The overriding feeling of the persona in this extract is

1. A.anxiety
2. B.certainty
3. C.frustration
4. D.joy