JAMB Literature in English 2011 past questions and answers

In J.C. De Graft's Sons and Daughters, from it's resolution of conflicts, the play can be described as a

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

In J.C. De Graft's Sons and Daughters, the final harassment of Maanan takes place in

1. A.Ofosu's office
2. B.Lawyer B's chamber
3. C.Ofosu's house
4. D.Lawyer B's house.

J.C. De Graft: Sons and Daughters (extract)

The speaker in the quotation above is

1. A.happy
2. B.excited
3. C.tired
4. D.frustrated.

In William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, the intention of the speaker above is to

1. A.commit suicide
2. B.commit murder
3. C.escape from harsh realities of life
4. D.take a temporary harmful substance.

In William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, the play reaches the point of denouement

1. A.at the family feast
2. B.at the reconciliation of the feuding families
3. C.when Romeo is informed of Juliet's death
4. D.when Romeo kills Paris at the tomb.

In William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, the news of Juliet's death is broken to Romeo in Mantua by

1. A.Balthasar
2. B.Boy
3. C.Friar John
4. D.Friar Lawrence.

In William Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, Mercutio can be described as

1. A.fraudulent
2. B.gentle
3. C.kind-hearted
4. D.quarrelsome.

In Ferdinand Oyono's The Old Man and the Medal, Vandermayer's attitude and action towards Meka illustrates the church's

1. A.despondency
2. B.infuriation
3. C.hypocrisy
4. D.suspicion.

In Buchi Emecheta's The Joys of Motherhood, Nwokocha Agbadi is famous for his oratorical power and

1. A.height
2. B.illiteracy
3. C.wealth
4. D.treachery.

In Buchi Emecheta's The Joys of Motherhood, the handing over of a baby boy in a dream to Nnu Ego by her personal god signifies

1. A.reincarnation
2. B.idol worship
3. C.doom
4. D.future blessing.

In George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, the novel draws a picture of

1. A.a useless past
2. B.an unstable moment
3. C.a peaceful atmosphere
4. D.a totalitarian future.

In George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, the power and oppression of an irresistible evil debased Winton's dreams of

1. A.freedom and democracy
2. B.wealth and capitalism
3. C.sovereignty
4. D.internal security.

In George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, Room 101 symbolizes a place of

1. A.rest
2. B.humiliation
3. C.torture
4. D.fun.

In George Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, the novel can be described as

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

In Rubadiri's An African Thunderstorm, the thunderstorm begins with

1. A.rain from the west
2. B.rain from the east
3. C.clouds from the west
4. D.clouds from the east

In Kunene's A Heritage of Liberation, the persona is concerned with the

1. A.people's struggle for survival
2. B.intolerance of the new generation
3. C.celebration of African tradition
4. D.criticism of modern tradition.

Launko's End of the War portrays the

1. A.silence of battlefield
2. B.irony of life
3. C.arrangement of war
4. D.usefulness of praise singers.

Give Me The Minstrel's Seat (extract)

The statement above from the poem Give Me The Minstrel's Seat exemplifies

1. A.litotes
2. B.transferred epithet
3. C.synecdoche
4. D.rhetorical question.

Marvell, in To His Coy Mistress uses the imagery of death to

1. A.appreciate God's power
2. B.condemn the lady
3. C.scare the lady
4. D.underscore life's transcience.

To sustain the interest of readers, Lawrence in Bat uses

1. A.elision
2. B.suspense
3. C.oxymoron
4. D.hyperbole.

T.S. Eliot: Journey of the Magi (extract)

In the excerpt above from Eliot's Journey of the Magi, the dominant literary device is

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

The tone of Cope's Sonnet VII is generally

1. A.persuasive
2. B.optimistic
3. C.mournful
4. D.humorous.

The large space above the proscenium in a theatre from which the scenes are controlled is called

1. A.aside
2. B.anachronism
3. C.flies
4. D.setting.

Zhang Yu: The Art of War (extract)

The theme of the passage above is

1. A.folly of soldiers
2. B.spurring people to action
3. C.war
4. D.inspiration

The repetition of single words or phrases at the beginning of lines is

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

A ballad is meant to be

1. A.acted
2. B.discussed
3. C.read
4. D.sung.

In drama, dramaturge is he who

1. A.writes or edits plays
2. B.directs a play
3. C.acts a film
4. D.features in a play

Travellogue is a work of art written

1. A.by a famous playwright
2. B.by an unpopular novelist
3. C.on a journey
4. D.before the death of the author.

Plays are basically meant to

1. A.change the world
2. B.be read for pleasure
3. C.be presented on stage
4. D.keep people out of trouble.

A character who re-enacts familiar experiences that readers easily identify with is

1. A.round character
2. B.stock character
3. C.static character
4. D.flat character

The metric pattern in a line of poetry with five stressed and five unstressed syllables is

1. A.trochaic decametre
2. B.iambic pentametre
3. C.anapestic metre
4. D.dactylic metre.

William Shakespeare: A Midsummer Night's Dream (extract)

The literary devices used in the excerpt above are

1. A.personification and simile
2. B.alliteration and synecdoche
3. C.rhyme and refrain
4. D.irony and suspense.

The excerpt above achieves its rhetorical effect through the use of

1. A.repetition and meiosis
2. B.caesura and hyperbole
3. C.alliteration and irony
4. D.metaphor and rhyme.

In the excerpt above, the subject's experience in the lift is

1. A.timely
2. B.unpleasant
3. C.amusing
4. D.comfortable.

In the excerpt above, the land is not at peace because of

1. A.chieftaincy tussle
2. B.political unrest
3. C.sickness and death
4. D.famine and war.

The dominant literary device used in the lines above is

1. A.pun
2. B.personification
3. C.simile
4. D.metaphor.

A heart of stone in the lines above is an example of

1. A.metonymy
2. B.assonance
3. C.metaphor
4. D.litotes

The narrator's attitude to the king is one of

1. A.envy
2. B.suspicion
3. C.contempt
4. D.sympathy.

The excerpt above is an example of

1. A.invocation
2. B.ode
3. C.elegy
4. D.limerick.

The subject matter of the lines above is

1. A.death
2. B.famine
3. C.storm
4. D.rainfall.