25 questions. Try each one, then open the answer to check yourself and read the explanation.
Which of the following is a literary period associated with the works of William Shakespeare?
Answer: B (The Elizabethan Period)
Shakespeare (1564–1616) wrote mainly in the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, the Elizabethan period.
Which of the following is a major characteristic of the Romantic literary movement?
Answer: B (Celebration of emotion, nature and individualism)
Romantic writers such as Wordsworth and Keats valued feeling, nature and the individual, reacting against the age of reason.
Which of the following is associated with the Modernist literary movement?
I. Linear plots and clear moral lessons
II. Stream of consciousness and fragmentation
III. Experimentation with form
IV. Didacticism and direct social propaganda
Answer: C (ii & iii)
Modernist writers like Joyce, Woolf and Eliot used stream of consciousness, broken-up narratives and new forms.
Which of the following refers to the tragic flaw or error of judgment in classical tragedy?
Answer: B (Hamartia)
Hamartia is the hero's flaw or error that brings about his downfall.
The term for the emotional purging or cleansing experienced by the audience in a tragedy is
Answer: B (Catharsis)
Aristotle called the release of pity and fear felt by the audience catharsis.
The initial part of the plot that introduces characters, setting and background information is
Answer: C (Exposition)
The exposition opens the story, introducing the characters, setting and background.
Which of the following represents the point of highest tension and turning point in a story's plot?
Answer: C (Climax)
The climax is the peak of tension, where the conflict turns.
A type of novel written through a series of letters, diary entries or documents is known as
Answer: A (Epistolary novel.)
An epistolary novel tells its story through letters or documents, e.g. Mariama Bâ's So Long a Letter.
A novel that focuses on the moral, psychological and social development of the protagonist from youth to adulthood is
Answer: B (Bildungsroman)
A Bildungsroman is a coming-of-age novel tracing a hero's growth from youth to maturity.
Pick the odd one out.
Answer: C (Onomatopoeia)
Assonance, alliteration and consonance all repeat sounds; onomatopoeia is a word that imitates a sound.
Which of the following texts explores the theme of greed and its consequences in traditional marriage customs?
Answer: B (The Marriage of Anansewa)
In Efua Sutherland's The Marriage of Anansewa, greedy Ananse promises his daughter to several chiefs to collect their gifts.
The theme of post-war trauma and forgiveness finds explanation in ________.
Answer: C (Redemption Road)
Elma Shaw's Redemption Road follows survivors of Liberia's civil war dealing with trauma and seeking forgiveness.
Which of the following texts is set against the background of ancient Rome and Egypt, highlighting the clash between duty and passion?
Answer: B (Antony and Cleopatra)
Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra sets Antony's duty to Rome against his love for the Egyptian queen.
The theme of indifference to oppression and the danger of silence is central to which of the following poems?
Answer: B (Not My Business)
In Niyi Osundare's 'Not My Business' the speaker ignores others' persecution until the oppressors come for him too.
Which of the following poems adopts a tone of admiration and serenity while celebrating ideal feminine beauty through natural imagery?
Answer: C (She Walks in Beauty)
Byron's 'She Walks in Beauty' calmly admires a woman's beauty using images of night and starry skies.
Which of the following texts employs the literary technique of a beast fable to satirise pride, flattery and vanity?
Answer: B (The Nun Priest's Tale)
Chaucer's 'The Nun's Priest's Tale' uses a proud rooster, Chanticleer, and a flattering fox to mock vanity.
The theme of cultural shift and social hipocrisy is explored in which of the following poems?
Answer: A (Once Upon a Time)
In Gabriel Okara's 'Once Upon a Time' a father regrets that people now laugh only with their teeth, not their hearts.
In which of the following novels is the character Bendu Lewis depicted as a resilient activist confronting her personal war trauma?
Answer: C (Redemption Road)
Bendu Lewis is the heroine of Elma Shaw's Redemption Road, a trauma counsellor in post-war Liberia.
Which of the following texts highlights the theme of female genital mutilation, cultural identity and the tension between tradition and modernity?
Answer: B (So the Path Does Not Die)
Pede Hollist's So the Path Does Not Die begins with Fina escaping female circumcision and explores identity between Africa and America.
The technique of mock-heroic satire and courtly romance parody is prominently used in which of the following texts?
Answer: B (The Nun Priest's Tale)
Chaucer tells a farmyard tale of a rooster and hens in a grand epic style, parodying courtly romance.
Which of the following poems uses refrain?
Answer: B (Not My Business)
'Not My Business' repeats the line about what business of his it was after each stanza: a refrain.
The theme of family sacrifice, perseverance and the emotional toll of life's journey is central to which of the following novels?
Answer: B (Path of Lucas)
Susanne Bellefeuille's Path of Lucas follows Lucas as he gives up his own dreams to support his family through hardship.
Which of the following poems uses a humorous and ironic tone to explore the themes of hope, illusion and disappointment through a deceptive lottery call?
Answer: B (The Telephone Call)
In Fleur Adcock's 'The Telephone Call' a woman is told she has won a lottery, only to learn the 'prize' was the thrill of the call.
Which of the following does not describe the poem "Once Upon a Time" by Gabriel Okara?
I. Conversational
II. Nostalgic
III. Deceptive
IV. Solemnizing
Answer: D (iv)
The poem is a father talking to his son (conversational), longing for the past (nostalgic) and about deceptive behaviour; it is not solemn or ceremonial.
Historical atrocities, slavery, colonialism and environmental pollution are central to
Answer: B (The Breasts of the Sea)
Syl Cheney-Coker's 'The Breasts of the Sea' recalls slavery, colonial exploitation and the polluting of the sea.