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JAMB 2023 · Part 1 of 2

2023 JAMB Literature in English Past Questions and Answers

The 2023 JAMB Literature in English past questions with answers: 84 objective questions from the 2023 paper in the DeeepSolve question bank, each with its answer behind "Show answer". This is part 1 of 2: questions 1 to 42. Try each question before you check, then practise the paper as a timed JAMB-style CBT.

Past questions © the examination body (JAMB/WAEC/NECO). DeeepSolve is not affiliated with them. Rights holders: see /copyright.

Questions 1–42

  1. 1.

    Which of these is the oldest genre of literature?

    1. A.Aroma
    2. B.Poetry
    3. C.Drama
    4. D.Prose
    Show answer

    Answer: B. Poetry

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  2. 2.This question needs a diagram, table or passage that we don't have yet, so it isn't shown.

  3. 3.This question needs a diagram, table or passage that we don't have yet, so it isn't shown.

  4. 4.

    The exclusive right given to authors to protect their works from unlawful production is

    1. A.an authority to write
    2. B.a copyright
    3. C.an author's right
    4. D.a constitutional provision
    Show answer

    Answer: B. a copyright

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  5. 5.

    This question is based on A GOVERNMENT DRIVER ON HIS RETIREMENT. "I shall booze and zoom" contains a device called

    1. A.alliteration
    2. B.imagery
    3. C.onomatopoeia
    4. D.hyperbole
    Show answer

    Answer: C. onomatopoeia

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  6. 6.

    The combination of two or more metaphors is called

    1. A.Monometaphor
    2. B.Dymetaphor
    3. C.Mixed metaphor
    4. D.Combined metaphor
    Show answer

    Answer: C. Mixed metaphor

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  7. 7.This question needs a diagram, table or passage that we don't have yet, so it isn't shown.

  8. 8.

    This question is based on UNEXPECTED JOY AT DAWN. Which of these characters is at the center of the impact of the xenophobic attack in the novel?

    1. A.Nii Tackie
    2. B.Ezla
    3. C.Massa
    4. D.Aaron Tsuru
    Show answer

    Answer: A. Nii Tackie

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  9. 9.

    The term given to a type of incident or device which recurs frequently in Literature is

    1. A.concept
    2. B.myth
    3. C.ritual
    4. D.motif
    Show answer

    Answer: D. motif

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  10. 10.

    'Fierce harmattan sun on innocent tendrils; torrential downpour on leaking thatch roofs; painful comfort of helpless eunuchs; thorny beauty of modern witches; the falcon's call on day-old-chicks, ours is a tragicomic dialogue:... mute echoes of pains' . The sonority and rhythmical structure of the lines above are achieved through a pause- pattern called

    This question refers to an extract from the original paper, which isn't shown here.

    1. A.scansion
    2. B.enjambment
    3. C.caesura
    4. D.apostrophe
    Show answer

    Answer: C. caesura

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  11. 11.This question needs a diagram, table or passage that we don't have yet, so it isn't shown.

  12. 12.This question needs a diagram, table or passage that we don't have yet, so it isn't shown.

  13. 13.

    This question is based on WUTHERING HEIGHT. What destination does the young Catherine have in mind when she leaves Thrushcross Grange for the first time?

    1. A.Wuthering Heights
    2. B.The nearby village
    3. C.The fairy caves at Penistone Crags
    4. D.London, where her cousin Linton lives
    Show answer

    Answer: C. The fairy caves at Penistone Crags

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  14. 14.

    Be him English Be him African Be him Nigerian The lines above are an example of

    This question refers to an extract from the original paper, which isn't shown here.

    1. A.epigram
    2. B.anaphora
    3. C.epitaph
    4. D.tautology
    Show answer

    Answer: B. anaphora

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  15. 15.

    This question is based on RAIDER OF THE TREASURE TROVE. "To fly flags of joy" Two figures of speech used here are

    1. A.alliteration and personification
    2. B.onomatopoeia and simile
    3. C.metaphor and alliteration
    4. D.simile and personification
    Show answer

    Answer: C. metaphor and alliteration

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  16. 16.

    "I had not taken the first step in knowledge, I had not learnt to let go with the hands".The above lines is an example of a

    This question refers to an extract from the original paper, which isn't shown here.

    1. A.Alliteration
    2. B.Apostrophe
    3. C.Repetition
    4. D.Assonance
    Show answer

    Answer: C. Repetition

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  17. 17.

    The overwhelming pride that destroys the tragic hero is called

    1. A.nemesis
    2. B.catharsis
    3. C.hubris
    4. D.tragedy
    Show answer

    Answer: C. hubris

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  18. 18.

    This question is based on SECOND CLASS CITIZEN. "She swallowed it all, just like a nasty pill." The literary device employed here is

    1. A.alliteration
    2. B.metaphor
    3. C.simile
    4. D.apostrophe
    Show answer

    Answer: C. simile

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  19. 19.

    A story with elements that have both literal and figurative meanings is

    1. A.allegory
    2. B.novella
    3. C.fable
    4. D.epistle
    Show answer

    Answer: A. allegory

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  20. 20.

    This question is based on THE JOURNEY OF THE MAGI. Read the excerpt and answer question "And running away, and wanting their liquor and women, And the night-fires going out, and the lack of shelters, And the cities hostile and the towns unfriendly" The dominant device in this excerpt is ___

    This question refers to an extract from the original paper, which isn't shown here.

    1. A.metaphor
    2. B.synecdoche
    3. C.simile
    4. D.paradox
    Show answer

    Answer: B. synecdoche

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  21. 21.This question needs a diagram, table or passage that we don't have yet, so it isn't shown.

  22. 22.

    A formal dignified speech or writing praising a person or a thing for past or present deeds is

    1. A.lampoon
    2. B.eulogy
    3. C.premiere
    4. D.anthology
    Show answer

    Answer: B. eulogy

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  23. 23.

    A Government Driver on His Retirement is a poem of thirty-three lines divided into _______ stanzas.

    1. A.six
    2. B.four
    3. C.three
    4. D.five
    Show answer

    Answer: A. six

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  24. 24.

    "...Rage is Chief Rage drags rags after you, of Charity Laughter, sweetness and light, Rage is thief Enemy of equanimity" The figure of speech dominant in these lines is _____

    1. A.apostrophe
    2. B.personification
    3. C.metaphor
    4. D.simile
    Show answer

    Answer: B. personification

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  25. 25.

    Careened', These oily tears Dripping down the tears on your depressed face, Will one day be staunched, I swear! Ibiwari Ikiriko, Oily Tears. The tone of the poet is

    1. A.supplicatory
    2. B.optimistic
    3. C.sympathetic
    4. D.piteous
    Show answer

    Answer: B. optimistic

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  26. 26.

    This question is based on UNEXPECTED JOY AT DAWN. How did Mama Orojo meet Tom Monday.

    1. A.she met him on her trip to Ghana
    2. B.she met him on an evangelism trip
    3. C.she met him during the religious riot
    4. D.she met him at the restaurant
    Show answer

    Answer: B. she met him on an evangelism trip

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  27. 27.

    A novel that features spiritual apparitions as major character is

    1. A.Epistolary
    2. B.Historical
    3. C.Sociological
    4. D.Gothic
    Show answer

    Answer: D. Gothic

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  28. 28.This question needs a diagram, table or passage that we don't have yet, so it isn't shown.

  29. 29.

    This question is based on THE LION AND THE JEWEL. The use of language in the play is written in both___ and ___ forms.

    1. A.vague and prosaic.
    2. B.prosaic and poetic.
    3. C.archaic and vague.
    4. D.ambiguous and lyrical
    Show answer

    Answer: B. prosaic and poetic.

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  30. 30.This question needs a diagram, table or passage that we don't have yet, so it isn't shown.

  31. 31.

    The narrative style in which the hero tells his own story directly is the

    1. A.objective
    2. B.first-person
    3. C.subjective
    4. D.third-person
    Show answer

    Answer: B. first-person

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  32. 32.

    This question is based on THE SONG OF THE WOMEN OF MY LAND. Use the excerpt to answer this question "they sang in the forlorn fields about their lives; songs of how they ploughed the terrain of their landscape for memories of lyrics lost in the vast void of time, in those days when a song beheld their lives; when servitude cuffed the ankles of their soul, and dereliction decapitated the epic of their lives." The theme of this excerpt is____

    This question refers to an extract from the original paper, which isn't shown here.

    1. A.All of the above
    2. B.the oppression of women
    3. C.Joys of motherhood
    4. D.colonization
    Show answer

    Answer: B. the oppression of women

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  33. 33.

    This question is based on WUTHERING HEIGHT. What gift did Mr. Earnshaw promise to bring Nelly Dean from Liverpool?

    1. A.A bridle for her horse
    2. B.A fiddle
    3. C.Fruit
    4. D.A set of paints
    Show answer

    Answer: C. Fruit

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  34. 34.

    CYCLIST gets down and begins to prop his bicycle. CYCLIST: All right. If you're sure it won't take long. BARBER: I am known for my lightning clippers. Even the soldiers know me. I can shave the head of an entire battalion between one coup and the next. Sit down and relax your back. Cycling is not easy when you've abandoned it for some time. Wole Soyinka, The Beautification of Area Boy. The literary devices in the dialogue above are

    This question refers to an extract from the original paper, which isn't shown here.

    1. A.hyperbole and allusion
    2. B.irony and parody
    3. C.allusion and paradox
    4. D.humour and irony
    Show answer

    Answer: A. hyperbole and allusion

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  35. 35.

    This question is based on SECOND CLASS CITIZEN. Who is Mr Cole?

    1. A.a black tenant at the first apartment at England
    2. B.Adah's colleague at the Consulate
    3. C.Adah's nephew she's forced to live with after Pa's death
    4. D.Adah's elementary school teacher
    Show answer

    Answer: D. Adah's elementary school teacher

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  36. 36.

    This question is based on THE LION AND THE JEWEL. The indication that Soyinka's "The Lion and the Jewel" is culturally set is its use of_____

    1. A.dance and songs
    2. B.flashback.
    3. C.foreshadowing
    4. D.irony
    Show answer

    Answer: A. dance and songs

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  37. 37.

    This question is based on BAT. Use the excerpt to answer this question. "Where light pushes through; A sudden turning upon itself of a thing in the air. A dip to the water. And you think: "The swallows are flying so late!" Swallows?" The dominant poetic device in the excerpt is___

    This question refers to an extract from the original paper, which isn't shown here.

    1. A.Rhetorical question
    2. B.imagery
    3. C.Alliteration
    4. D.Paradox
    Show answer

    Answer: B. imagery

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  38. 38.

    The moment of recognition of truth when ignorance gives way to knowledge is known as

    1. A.Anamnesis
    2. B.Anagnorisis
    3. C.Hamartia
    4. D.Hubris
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    Answer: B. Anagnorisis

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  39. 39.

    This question is based on RAIDER OF THE TREASURE TROVE. The poetic device in the expression "Rage is chief" is ___

    1. A.oxymoron
    2. B.simile
    3. C.metaphor
    4. D.hyperbole
    Show answer

    Answer: C. metaphor

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  40. 40.

    A trilogy is the

    1. A.set of three one-act drama written by related authors
    2. B.series of related stories divided into three equal parts
    3. C.sequence of three plays written by the same author
    4. D.collection of three poems of equal length
    Show answer

    Answer: C. sequence of three plays written by the same author

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  41. 41.

    A tragic hero, according to the Aristotelian precept, must be a

    1. A.central character after whom the play is named
    2. B.king with deep affection for his subjects
    3. C.noble character with hubris
    4. D.lowly character who suddenly stumbles on some fortunes
    Show answer

    Answer: C. noble character with hubris

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  42. 42.

    A structural arrangement of unit of composition by which one element of equal importance with another is similarly placed is called

    1. A.repetition
    2. B.paradox
    3. C.refrain
    4. D.parallelism
    Show answer

    Answer: D. parallelism

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