Literature in English 2015 JAMB Past Questions

Literature in English 2015 JAMB Past Questions

 

 

1. This question is based on George Orwell's 1984.

'Big Brothers Is Watching You' Big Brother Controls life in Oceania Though the four ministries of peace, Love, plenty, are Truth.
The Couple continue to meet secretly in an attic room above a junk shop owned by

• A. Mr. Carrington
• B. O'Brien
• C. Eurasia
• D. Coworker Julius

Correct Answer: Option A

Explanation

Mr. Charrington, was the man who sold the diary, and later a coral paperweight to Winston.

 

2.This question is based on Buchi Emecheta's The Joys of Motherhood.

Nnaife and Nnu Ego Second Child but the first to live is

• A. Adim
• B. Ngozi
• C. Oshia
• D. Adaku

Correct Answer: Option A

Explanation

Mr. Charrington, was the man who sold the diary, and later a coral paperweight to Winston.

 

3. This question is based on William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

In Romeo and Juliet, use the excerpt below to answer question 14 and 15.
'.... So tedious is this day
As is the night before some festival
To an important child that hath them.
new robes and may not wear.
The literary device used in the excerpt is

• A. simile
• B. metaphor
• C. Oxymoron
• D. apostrophe

Correct Answer: Option A

Explanation

Simile is the comparison of two things using 'as' or 'like'. The simile in the excerpt is comparing 'this day as is the night before some festival'

 

4. This question is based on General literacy principles

A literary genre which directly imitates human action is

• A. drama
• B. comedy
• C. prose
• D. poetry

Correct Answer: Option A

Explanation

Drama is happenings written in form of scripts that are not narrated but acted out on stage, television or radio by cast to the audience

 

5.This question is based on selected poems from Johnson, R. et ai (eds): New Poetry African: Soyinka W. (ed): Poems of Black Africa; Senanu, K.E. and Vincent. T. (eds): A Selection of African Poetry, U. Maduka, C. T et al: Exam Focus: Literature in English: Eruvbetine, A. E. et al (eds): Longman Examination Guides: Nwoga D. I. (ed): West African verse and Adeoti G: Naked Soles.

The excerpt below from Marvell's To His Coy Mistress is an example of

In Houseman's To an Athlete Dying Young, the persona addresses the dead athlete using

• A. Monologue
• B. Dialogue
• C. Apostrophe
• D. Prologue

Correct Answer: Option C

Explanation

Apostrophe is an address that is directed to an absent person as if the person is present. Therefore, the persona addresses the dead athlete as if the athlete is still present or alive.

 

6. The use of two contrasting words that are placed side by side is called

• A. prologue
• B. oxymoron
• C. apostrophe
• D. costume

Correct Answer: Option B

Explanation

Oxymoron is the placement of the two opposite words side by side.

 

7.This question is based on General literacy principles

In literacy work, verbal irony refers to a

• A. device in which the speaker means the opposite of what he says
• B. situation in which a character speaks or acts against the trends of events
• C. difficult situation which defies a logical or national resolution
• D. device in which the actor on stage means exactly what he says

Correct Answer: Option A

Explanation

Irony is the recognition of a reality different from its masking appearance. It is the "reversal" of meaning.

 

8. A speech or writing used to praise a person or a thing for past or present deeds is

• A. eulogy
• B. synecdoche
• C. epigram
• D. epilogue

Correct Answer: Option A

Explanation

Eulogy is the word or writing used to praise a person or a thing for what had happened or what is happening.

 

9. This question is based on William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet.

Romeo is evicted to__________because he__________

• A. Mantua, fights Tybalt in a street duel
• B. Capulet's party, kills Tybalt in a street duel
• C. Mantua, fights and kills Tybalt in a street duel
• D. Mantua, kills Paris in a street duel.

Correct Answer: Option C

Explanation

Romeo was expelled or banished to Mantua for killing Tybalt in a street combat.

 

10. This question is based on Buchi Emecheta's The Joys of Motherhood.

The relationships of Nnaife family are

• A. humiliation and disagreement
• B. sickness and joblessness
• C. poverty and hunger
• D. togetherness and happiness

Correct Answer: Option C

Explanation

In the novel, Nnaife lost his job. Nnu Ego struggled to feed the family. Nnaife's family was sent out of their previous apartment; Nnu Ego rented a small apartment and finally travelled to the village of Ogboli in Ibuza homeland where she ended her life.

 

11.In drama, the use of gestures to communicate is known as

• A. mime
• B. realistic drama
• C. melodrama
• D. dialogue

Correct Answer: Option A

Explanation

Mime is the gesture without any speech to the audience.

 

12. This question is based on J.C. De Graft's Sons and Daughters

A brother to Aaron and Maanan is

• A. George
• B. Awere
• C. Hannah
• D. Awao

Correct Answer: Option A

Explanation

This is found on the third page of the book, where all characters and their roles in the play are written.

 

13. A significant of a whole through its significant part is

• A. allegory
• B. pun
• C. synecdoche
• D. cast

Correct Answer: Option C

Explanation

Synecdoche is an expression that uses part of a thing to represent a whole or a whole to represent a part.

 

14. This question is based on Literary Appreciation.

A cursing rogue with a merry farce,
A bundle of rags upon a crurch,
Stumbled upon that windy place
Called cruachan, and it was as much.
The rhyme scheme of the stanza above is

• A. aabb
• B. abab
• C. bbaa
• D. abba

Correct Answer: Option B

15. This question is based on selected poems from Johnson, R. et ai (eds): New Poetry African: Soyinka W. (ed): Poems of Black Africa; Senanu, K.E. and Vincent. T. (eds): A Selection of African Poetry, U. Maduka, C. T et al: Exam Focus: Literature in English: Eruvbetine, A. E. et al (eds): Longman Examination Guides: Nwoga D. I. (ed): West African verse and Adeoti G: Naked Soles.

The excerpt below from Marvell's To His Coy Mistress is an example of

In Launko's End of the War, the Casualties are

• A. women
• B. soldiers
• C. children
• D. men

Correct Answer: Option D

Explanation

The casualties discovered in Launko's End of the War were men

 

16. This question is based on Literary Appreciation.

The imagery created in the excerpt below is achieved through
'........They do not see the funeral piles
At home eating up the forests.......'
_ _ J.P. -Clark: Casualties

• A. metaphor
• B. personification
• C. synecdoche
• D. antonym

Correct Answer: Option B

Explanation

Personification is the idea that represents a thing, an object, or abstract idea as though it were a living being

 

17. This question is based on selected poems from Johnson, R. et ai (eds): New Poetry African: Soyinka W. (ed): Poems of Black Africa; Senanu, K.E. and Vincent. T. (eds): A Selection of African Poetry, U. Maduka, C. T et al: Exam Focus: Literature in English: Eruvbetine, A. E. et al (eds): Longman Examination Guides: Nwoga D. I. (ed): West African verse and Adeoti G: Naked Soles.

The excerpt below from Marvell's To His Coy Mistress is an example of

The figure of speech in the line below from Acquah's In the Navel of the Soul is 'We would be believing we dreamt it'

• A. assonance
• B. antithesis
• C. apostrophe
• D. alliteration

Correct Answer: Option A

Explanation

Assonance is defined as the repetition of similar vowel sounds within lines. Therefore /i/ is the assonance.

 

 

18. Use the passage below to answer this question.

'But the towering earth was tired of sitting in one position.
She moved, suddenly, and the houses crumbled, the mountains
heaved horribly, and the work of million years was lost'.

The subject matter of the passage is

• A. earthquake
• B. demolition
• C. flood
• D. storm

Correct Answer: Option A

Explanation

It is earthquake because earth is tired of remaining constant in a place, buildings and mountains begin to shift in a position.

 

19. This question is based on selected poems from Johnson, R. et ai (eds): New Poetry African: Soyinka W. (ed): Poems of Black Africa; Senanu, K.E. and Vincent. T. (eds): A Selection of African Poetry, U. Maduka, C. T et al: Exam Focus: Literature in English: Eruvbetine, A. E. et al (eds): Longman Examination Guides: Nwoga D. I. (ed): West African verse and Adeoti G: Naked Soles.

The excerpt below from Marvell's To His Coy Mistress is an example of

The theme of Cope's sonnet V11 is

• A. adventure
• B. isolation
• C. contempt for literature
• D. art of poetry

Correct Answer: Option A

Explanation

In Cope's Sonnet Vll the poem is all about adventure

 

20. This question is based on J.C. De Graft's Sons and Daughters

Where does the play take place?

• A. In George's place
• B. In Ofosu's place
• C. On the street
• D. On the stage

Correct Answer: Option B

Explanation

The play took place in Ofosu's place because James Ofosu had allowed himself to be manipulated by Lawyer Bonu and seems to follow Lawyer Bonu's advice blindly.

21. This question is based on General literacy principles

A literary work in which the characters and events are used as symbol is known as

• A. characterization
• B. allegory
• C. metaphor
• D. parallelism

Correct Answer: Option B

Explanation

An allegory is a work of art, such as a story or painting, in which the characters, images, and/or events act as symbols. The symbolism in an allegory can be interpreted to have a deeper meaning. An author may use allegory to illustrate a moral or spiritual truth, or political or historical situation.
Allegory is an attempt through which abstract or symbol is used to portray evils and ills common in our society.

 

 

22. This question is based on Literary Appreciation.

In Williams Shakespeare: Twelfth Night
I have said too much unto a heart of stone,
And laid my honour too unchary on it',
There's something in me that
reproves my fault. But such a headstrong potent fault it is That it but mocks reproof.'
A heart of stone in the lines above is an example of

• A. assonance
• B. Metaphor
• C. Litotes
• D. antonym

Correct Answer: Option B

Explanation

A heart of stone in the excerpt is metaphor because it is a direct comparison without the use of 'as' or 'like'.

 

23.This question is based on Buchi Emecheta's The Joys of Motherhood.

Why did Nnaife blame Nnu Ego for all his problems

• A. Because his daughter slapped him
• B. Because his daughter disobeyed him by travelling to abroad
• C. Because his daughter disobeyed him by moving with prostitutes
• D. Because his daughter ran away with a Yoruba man.

Correct Answer: Option D

Explanation

I Kehinde, the daughter of Nnaife broke his father's (Nnaife) rules by running away with a Yoruba man, he assaulted the father of Kehinde's husband. Sent to prison, Nnaife therefore blamed Nnu Ego for all his problems.

 

24. This question is based on J.C. De Graft's Sons and Daughters

Paternal aunt to Aaron and Maanan is

• A. Fosuwa
• B. Hannah
• C. Mrs. Bonu
• D. Adwao

Correct Answer: Option A

Explanation

This can easily be found at the beginning of the play where all the characters are listed.

 

25 Plays are basically meant to be

• A. presented on stage
• B. presented in the aircraft
• C. presented in an office
• D. presented in the hospital

Correct Answer: Option A

Explanation

Play is associated to drama and a drama is a situation whereby happenings written in form of scripts are not narrated but acted on stage, television or radio by cast to the audience.