JAMB Literature in English: practice questions.

Question 1 · Textual analysis

In To Kill a Mockingbird, Atticus Finch defends Tom Robinson, a Black man accused of

1. A.killing Bob Ewell
2. B.raping Mayella Ewell
3. C.stealing from the Radleys
4. D.setting fire to Miss Maudie's house

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Question 2 · Types of poetry

A Yoruba oriki that praises a king's ancestry, courage and generosity is closest to which type of poetry?

1. A.elegy
2. B.panegyric (praise poetry)
3. C.satire
4. D.limerick

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Question 3 · Types of drama

A play written mainly to be read in private rather than performed on stage is called

1. A.total theatre
2. B.street theatre
3. C.a one-act play
4. D.closet drama

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Question 4 · Textual analysis

The political background of Purple Hibiscus is reflected mainly in

1. A.a coup, Ade Coker's murder and strikes at Nsukka
2. B.the Mau Mau uprising against British rule in Kenya
3. C.the bombing of cities during the Second World War in Europe
4. D.the American civil rights trials and protests of the 1960s

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Question 5 · Dramatic techniques

A group of performers who stand slightly apart from the main action and comment on it in song or speech is

1. A.a chorus
2. B.an antagonist
3. C.a foil
4. D.a narrator in the first person

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Question 6 · Types of prose

A retired permanent secretary from Abeokuta writes the story of his own life from childhood to retirement. The book is

1. A.a biography
2. B.a novella
3. C.a satire
4. D.an autobiography

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Question 7 · Dramatic techniques

A scene that interrupts the present action of a play to show events that happened years earlier, such as a soldier's memory of the civil war, is

1. A.a flashback
2. B.foreshadowing
3. C.an epilogue
4. D.a denouement

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Question 8 · Types of prose

A narrative that mixes real historical events and real people with invented scenes and dialogue is called

1. A.pure fiction
2. B.biography
3. C.faction
4. D.allegory

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Question 9 · Unseen passages/extracts

Read the poem and answer the question. The Generator Each night at eight it clears its throat, tuk-tuk, tuk-tuk, then roars awake, a hungry lion in the yard that eats our fuel for supper's sake. We children clap; the bulbs bloom bright, the television sings again; but Mama sits with folded hands and counts what light has cost again. Which social reality does the poem most clearly reflect?

1. A.the joy and hard work of rural farming families
2. B.poor public power supply
3. C.the danger of wild animals roaming in big cities
4. D.the high cost of school uniforms and textbooks

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Question 10 · Poetic devices

What is the rhyme scheme of these lines? "The rain came down on Jos at night, / It drummed upon the roof so loud; / The lamps went out, there was no light, / And fear lay on us like a shroud."

1. A.abab
2. B.aabb
3. C.abba
4. D.abcd

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Question 11 · Interpretation of the prescribed texts

The name "Goole" given to the Inspector in An Inspector Calls most likely suggests

1. A.the Inspector's home town in the north of England
2. B.the surname of Eva Smith's real father
3. C.the name of a famous judge in Brumley in 1912
4. D.a ghost-like, mysterious figure (a "ghoul")

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Question 12 · Interpretation of the prescribed texts

In The Marriage of Anansewa, Ananse sends photographs of his daughter to several chiefs mainly in order to

1. A.find a qualified teacher to tutor her at home
2. B.win a beauty contest in the town
3. C.report the chiefs to the government
4. D.collect gifts and money from the suitors

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