One of the following writers is better known as  a playwright than as a novelist

Analyze the question: You're asked which writer is better known for writing plays (drama) than for writing novels.

Explain the concept: In Nigerian literature, authors are usually associated with one main genre:

• Prose/novel: Chinua Achebe, Cyprian Ekwensi
• Drama: Wole Soyinka, J.P. Clark, Ola Rotimi, Femi Osofisan
• Poetry: Christopher Okigbo, J.P. Clark (also), Gabriel Okara

Go through the options:

• A. C. Achebe: Famous for novels such as Things Fall Apart, No Longer at Ease, Arrow of God and A Man of the People. He is a novelist, so this is not the answer.
• B. C. Ekwensi: Known for novels such as People of the City and Jagua Nana. He is a novelist, so this is not the answer.
• C. W. Soyinka: Nobel laureate (1986). He wrote the novels The Interpreters and Season of Anomy, but he is far better known for plays like The Lion and the Jewel, A Dance of the Forests, Death and the King's Horseman and The Trials of Brother Jero. He fits the description.
• D. J.P. Clark: He wrote plays such as Song of a Goat and The Raft, but he is also widely known as a poet. He has no major novels, so "better known as a playwright than as a novelist" is true of him in a weak sense. Still, the question points to the writer whose fame rests on drama, and that is Soyinka.

Answer: The writer best known as a playwright, who also wrote novels, is Wole Soyinka.

Exam tip: Associate each author with a genre:

• Achebe and Ekwensi: novel
• Soyinka, Clark and Rotimi: drama
• Okigbo: poetry

When a question says "better known as X than Y", pick the writer who has done both but is famous mainly for X. Soyinka is the classic example.