2018 JAMB Literature in English Past Questions & Answers

Question 1

A “chapter” in a piece of drama is a

Accepted Answer

A. act

Answer

B. scene

Answer

C. setting

Answer

D. dialogue

Question 2

A literacy genre which directly imitates human actions is______?

Accepted Answer

A. Drama

Answer

B. comedy

Answer

C. Prose

Answer

D. Poetry

Question 3

What structure is poetry written in?

Accepted Answer

D. lines and stanzas

Answer

A. sentences and paragraphs

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B. sentences and stanzas

Answer

C. lines and paragraphs

Question 4

The question is based on George Orwell's NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR. The novel can be described as__________?

Accepted Answer

D. pessimistic

Answer

A. optimistic

Answer

B. antagonistic

Answer

C. persuasive

Question 5

The most dominant figure of speech in the excerpt is________

Accepted Answer

C. personification

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A. metaphor

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B. simile

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D. hyperbole

Question 6

An act of speaking one’s thought aloud by oneself, regardless of any hearer, in a play is known as____________

Accepted Answer

D. soliloquy

Answer

A. metaphor

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B. fable

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C. comedy

Question 7

A literary device in which parts of a sentence are grammatically the same, or are similar in construction Is known as__________

Accepted Answer

C. Parallelism

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A. Simile

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B. Aside

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D. Irony

Question 8

______is a subdivision of a poem?

Accepted Answer

C. stanza

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A. sentence

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B. lines

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D. rhyme

Question 9

A literary work in which the characters and events are used as symbols is known as _________?

Accepted Answer

B. allegory

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A. characteristics

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C. metaphor

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D. parallelism

Question 10

The question is based on William’s Shakespeare’s OTHELLO "Soft you; a word or two before you go. I have done the state some service and they knew’ No more of

A.Travelling
B.Sick
C.Dying
D.Eloping

Show answer

Answer: C. Dying

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Accepted Answer

A. Brabantio

Answer

B. Othello

Answer

C. Gratiano

Answer

D. Roderigo

Question 11

Group of lines are called _____

Accepted Answer

B. Stanzas

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A. Sentences

Answer

C. Danzas

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D. Line Grouping

Question 12

How can I look at Oyo and say I hate long shiny cars? How can I come to the children and despise international schools? And Koomson comes; and the family sees Jesus Christ in him... The feeling conveyed by the speaker above is one of_________

Accepted Answer

B. alienation

Answer

A. anger

Answer

C. hope

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D. despair

Question 13

In drama, the antagonist is_____________

Accepted Answer

C. the character opposing the lead character

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A. the director of the drama

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B. the evil witch

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D. the “harsh guy

Question 14

In drama, the protagonist is ________

Accepted Answer

B. the leading character

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A. the writer of the drama

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C. the “nice guy”

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D. the actor

Question 15

The question is based on George Orwell's NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR. The power and oppression of an irresistible evil debased Winston’s dreams of________?

Accepted Answer

C. freedom and democracy

Answer

A. internal security

Answer

B. wealth and capitalism

Answer

D. sovereignty forestall reconciliation

Question 16

The question is based on William’s Shakespeare’s OTHELLO ill-starred wench: Pale as thy smoke; When we shall meet at comp"  The device used in the line above is__________

Accepted Answer

A. Simile

Answer

B. Pun

Answer

C. Metaphor

Answer

D. Paradox

Question 17

The question is based on William’s Shakespeare’s OTHELLO "Soft you; a word or two before you go. I have done the state some service and they knew’ No more of

Accepted Answer

C. Dying

Answer

A. Travelling

Answer

B. Sick

Answer

D. Eloping

Question 18

The phrase “living death” in a literary work is an example_____________

Accepted Answer

C. Oxymoron

Answer

A. Synecdoche

Answer

B. Prose

Answer

D. Aside

Question 19

This element shows how sections are separated into parts with numbers and titles_____________

Accepted Answer

C. Chapters

Answer

A. Paragraph

Answer

B. Theme

Answer

D. Characters

Question 20

The writer of a poem is called__________?

Accepted Answer

B. Poet

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A. Author

Answer

C. Writer

Answer

D. Narrator

Question 21

A fable is a story in which________?

Accepted Answer

B. animal is or things are used as characters

Answer

A. allegations are made about characters

Answer

C. there is an important setting

Answer

D. the story is told in poetic form

Question 22

These elements are sections of text within a chapter, they are separated and contain dialogue_____________

Accepted Answer

C. Paragraphs

Answer

A. Syncopation

Answer

B. Free Verse

Answer

D. Euphony

Question 23

Serrated Shadows, through dark leaves, Till, bathed in warm suffusion of your dapped cells sensation pained me, faceless, silent as night thieves Wole Soyinka: "Night"  The dominant mood in the lines above is one at____________

Accepted Answer

A. apprehension

Answer

B. defiance

Answer

C. joy

Answer

D. indifference

Question 24

The question is based on Richard Wright’s NATIVE SON Mr Dalton is of the opinion that Negroes are happier when they are

Accepted Answer

A. together

Answer

B. servant in the white family

Answer

C. educated

Answer

D. given some respect

Question 25

The question is based on William’s Shakespeare’s OTHELLO Brabantio is opposed to the relationship between Othello and Desdemona because_________

Accepted Answer

B. Othello is a moor

Answer

A. he prefers lago

Answer

C. Rodgerigo woos her first

Answer

D. Desdemona is too young

Question 26

The question is based on Richard Wright’s Native Son Weekly, Bigger is to be paid_________?

Accepted Answer

A. Twenty Dollars

Answer

B. Twenty Five Dollars

Answer

C. Thirty Dollars

Answer

D. Thirty Five Dollars

Question 27

"Hide me now, when night children haunt the earth" Wole Soyinka: "Night".    Night children in the stanza above reflects the consciousness of__________

Accepted Answer

D. spirit beings

Answer

A. birds

Answer

B. armed robbers

Answer

C. animals

Question 28

"... They do not see the funeral plies, At home eating up the forests..." J.P Clark: “Casualties" The imagery created in the above excerpt is achieved through______

Accepted Answer

B. Personification

Answer

A. Metaphor

Answer

C. Synecdoche

Answer

D. Metonymy

Question 29

What does the playwright do?

Accepted Answer

C. Writes a play

Answer

A. Writes a poem

Answer

B. Writes a book

Answer

D. Directs a drama

Question 30

_____________refers to time and place of a drama?

Accepted Answer

C. setting

Answer

A. place

Answer

B. scene

Answer

D. act

Question 31

Drama is the representation of a complete series of actions by means of _________

Accepted Answer

C. speech, movement and gesture for the stage, screen and radio

Answer

A. movement and gesture for the screen and audience

Answer

B. speech, movement and gesture for the stage only

Answer

D. speech, gesture and movement for the screen and radio

Question 32

"Peter's pretty partner paid the bills" is an example of___________?

Accepted Answer

A. Alliteration

Answer

B. Rhyme

Answer

C. Satire

Answer

D. Digression

Question 33

The question is based on Bayo Adebowale's LONELY DAYS Yaremi's only son is______?

Accepted Answer

A. Alani

Answer

B. Wande

Answer

C. Olode

Answer

D. Deyo

Question 34

In the theatre, words spoken by a character that are meant to be heard by the audience but not by the other characters on stage is called_________?

Accepted Answer

A. aside

Answer

B. soliloquy

Answer

C. acoustic

Answer

D. tone

Question 35

The question is based on George Orwell's NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR The novel draws a picture of______?

Accepted Answer

B. a totalitarian future

Answer

A. useless past

Answer

C. an unstable moment

Answer

D. a peaceful atmosphere

Question 36

Which element of drama tells the actor what to do?

Accepted Answer

B. stage directions

Answer

A. dialogue

Answer

C. cast

Answer

D. scenes

Question 37

Tension between the protagonist and the antagonist is called______

Accepted Answer

C. Conflict

Answer

A. Climax

Answer

B. Concrete

Answer

D. Confident

Question 38

The question is based on George Orwell's NINETEEN EIGHTY-FOUR. Room 101 symbolises a place of________???

Accepted Answer

D. torture

Answer

A. rest

Answer

B. fun

Answer

C. humiliation

Question 39

The main aim of caricature is to_______?

Accepted Answer

D. ridicule

Answer

A. describe

Answer

B. expose

Answer

C. emphasise

Question 40

“I cannot rest from travel: I will drink, life to the lees, all times I have enjoyed greatly, have suffered greatly”. A.L. Tennyson: “Ulysses”   The lines above inform the reader that the poet

Accepted Answer

B. Has his poetic imagination kindled

Answer

A. Is determined to suffer

Answer

C. Will cure his sour mood

Answer

D. Will not drink much

Question 41

The question is based on J.P Clark's WIVES' REVOLT. In the play the central idea is that gender equity_______?

Accepted Answer

C. attainable and desirable

Answer

A. both undesirable and unattainable

Answer

B. desirable and unattainable

Answer

D. obnoxious and desirable

Question 42

The question is based on Bayo Adebowale's LONELY DAYS In the novel, bage cap signifies everlasting ________?

Accepted Answer

B. sorrow

Answer

A. happiness

Answer

C. freedom

Answer

D. despair

Question 43

''Tell me not, sweet, I am unkind" illustrates_________

Accepted Answer

A. inversion

Answer

B. paradox

Answer

C. humor

Answer

D. mood

Question 44

The juxtaposition of two contrasting ideas in a line of poetry is_________?

Accepted Answer

D. oxymoron

Answer

A. euphemism

Answer

B. synecdoche

Answer

C. catharsis

Question 45

Define “rhyme”?

Accepted Answer

C. the repetition of an ending sound

Answer

A. comparing two things using “like” or “as”

Answer

B. the repetition of a letter

Answer

D. the repetition of vowel sounds

Question 46

A “sub-chapter” in a piece of drama is a______________

Accepted Answer

D. Scene

Answer

A. Act

Answer

B. Setting

Answer

C. Verse

Question 47

"The drum overwhelmed the guns..." J.P Clark: "Casualties" The poet in the excerpt above uses

Accepted Answer

B. symbolism

Answer

A. litotes

Answer

C. onomatopoeia

Answer

D. aliteration

Question 48

The question is based on Bayo Adebowale's LONELY DAYS Widows mourning in Kofi wear garments that are________???

Accepted Answer

C. Black

Answer

A. White

Answer

B. Red

Answer

D. Green

Question 49

In literacy work, verbal irony refers to a _________?

Accepted Answer

A. device in which the speaker means the opposite of what he says

Answer

B. situation in which a character speaks or acts against the tread of events

Answer

C. difficult situation which defies a local or rational resolution

Answer

D. device in which the actor act on stage

Question 50

A poet‘s use of regular rhythm is known as _______?

Accepted Answer

C. metre

Answer

A. allegory

Answer

B. assonance

Answer

D. onomatopoeia

Question 51

A folk-tale is a__________?

Accepted Answer

B. Work Of Fiction

Answer

A. Novel

Answer

C. Biography

Answer

D. Novelette

Question 52

Which of these is the meaning of “CAST”?

Accepted Answer

A. a list of all characters in a drama

Answer

B. what the character is saying

Answer

C. the person who writes the drama

Answer

D. a list of protagonists in a drama

Question 53

Characterisation in a novel refers to the _____?

Accepted Answer

B. way the characters are revealed to the reader

Answer

A. writer's opinion of the characters

Answer

C. characters and the way they behave

Answer

D. reader's opinion of the character

Question 54

Your head is like a drum that is beaten for spirits Your ears are like the fans used for blowing fire. The lines above are a good example of_________

Accepted Answer

A. caricature

Answer

B. ridicule

Answer

C. satire

Answer

D. lampoon

Question 55

The question is based on J.P Clark's WIVES REVOLT. "Those who have full breasts have walked out, and that leaves you, me, and the old girls returned_______

Accepted Answer

D. the direction of the kitchen, off stage

Answer

A. front of the veranda of Okoro's house

Answer

B. the-kitchen, upstairs

Answer

C. Okoro’s front yard, down stage

Question 56

The lines are an example of a________?

Accepted Answer

A. limerick

Answer

B. lampoon

Answer

C. light verse

Answer

D. light opera

Question 57

What is the narrator of a poem called?

Accepted Answer

B. speaker

Answer

A. author

Answer

C. narrator

Answer

D. Voice

Question 58

The question is based on Richard Wright’s Native Son Bigger kills Mary due to______?

Accepted Answer

A. Fear

Answer

B. Hatred

Answer

C. Envy

Answer

D. Distrust

Question 59

The question is based on William’s Shakespeare’s OTHELLO Othello kills Desdemona because the_______

Accepted Answer

A. former is jealous

Answer

B. former's race is insulted

Answer

C. latter is a witch

Answer

D. latter is an idol

Question 60

The question is based on J.P Clark's WIVES' REVOLT. In their fight, the women settle at Eyara in order to_______?

Accepted Answer

B. Hurt their husbands

Answer

A. Cure cross-piece

Answer

C. Forestall reconciliation

Answer

D. Seeks peace

Question 61

He who writes a prose is a__________?

Accepted Answer

B. Writer

Answer

A. Poet

Answer

C. Author

Answer

D. Actor

2018 JAMB Literature in English Past Questions

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