A Literary work that ridicules the shortcomings of people or ideas is ......

1. Analyze the question The question asks for the term for a literary work that ridicules the shortcomings (faults, follies, vices) of people or ideas. The key word is "ridicules".

2. Explain the concepts

• Satire: a work that uses humour, mockery, exaggeration, or irony to expose and criticise human weaknesses, vices, or foolish ideas, often aiming to bring about change. Examples: George Orwell's Animal Farm, and Wole Soyinka's The Trials of Brother Jero, which mocks religious hypocrisy.
• Masque: a form of courtly entertainment with music, dance, costume, and spectacle, popular in Renaissance England. It is not meant to ridicule.
• Fable: a short story, usually with animal characters, that teaches a moral lesson (e.g. the tortoise and the hare). It teaches rather than ridicules.
• Irony: a device where the intended meaning differs from the literal one, or where events turn out opposite to expectation. It is a technique, not a type of whole literary work. It can be used in satire, but it is not the work itself.

3. Solution step by step

• Is the work meant to mock faults? That points to satire.
• Is it a spectacle or entertainment (masque)? No.
• Is it a moral story (fable)? No.
• Is it a device rather than a genre (irony)? Yes, so it does not fit "a literary work".

4. Answer The correct option is A. a satire.

5. Exam tip Link the words to the definition:

• Satire = Scoffs at Society's faults.
• Fable = Fictional animals with a Final moral.
• Masque = Music and Make-believe spectacle.
• Irony = the opposite of what is expected.

When you see "ridicules" or "mocks" in a JAMB Literature question, think satire.