WAEC Literature in English: practice questions.

Question 1 · Language and Style

A playwright gives a corrupt Lagos politician long, empty sentences full of "Our great party" and "the dividends of democracy" that say nothing definite. The language mainly reveals the character's

1. A.deep learning and honesty
2. B.hollow hypocrisy and emptiness
3. C.shyness and fear
4. D.poverty and hunger

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Question 2 · Setting

Which of the following is NOT a component of setting?

1. A.the time of day or historical period
2. B.the narrator's point of view
3. C.the physical location
4. D.the social and cultural environment

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Question 3 · Queen Amina by Ahmed Yerima

A play such as Queen Amina, which re-creates the life of a real ruler from the Nigerian past, belongs to the category of

1. A.farce
2. B.theatre of the absurd
3. C.melodrama of manners
4. D.historical drama

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Question 4 · Poetic Devices

Read the poem and answer the question. Fishermen at Badagry Before the cock has cleared its throat the fishermen push out each boat; the lagoon, a sheet of beaten tin, lets the paddles in, lets the paddles in. By noon the sun, a cruel king, whips their backs with everything; at dusk they row home, nets half full, their songs grown thin, their faces dull. The repetition in line 4, "lets the paddles in, lets the paddles in", mainly

1. A.shows that the poet has run out of words
2. B.signals the climax of the fishermen's danger
3. C.imitates the steady rhythm of paddling
4. D.introduces a new speaker into the poem

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Question 5 · Purple Hibiscus

Amaka, Kambili's cousin, is best described as

1. A.silent and fearful like Kambili at the start
2. B.bold, outspoken and culturally proud
3. C.a servant who works in Eugene's house
4. D.a nun who teaches Kambili at her school

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Question 6 · ‘The Road Not Taken’ by Robert Frost

The two roads in a "yellow wood" in Frost's poem are best understood as

1. A.directions to a real farm
2. B.life choices
3. C.a description of a city street
4. D.a map for travellers

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Question 7 · Poetic Devices

In "Digging", the spade used by the persona's father and grandfather symbolises

1. A.honest labour and family tradition
2. B.violence, war and the killing of enemies
3. C.wealth gained quickly without any effort
4. D.death, burial and the graveyard

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Question 8 · Poetic Devices

Read the poem and answer the question. Fishermen at Badagry Before the cock has cleared its throat the fishermen push out each boat; the lagoon, a sheet of beaten tin, lets the paddles in, lets the paddles in. By noon the sun, a cruel king, whips their backs with everything; at dusk they row home, nets half full, their songs grown thin, their faces dull. The final line, "their songs grown thin, their faces dull", most strongly suggests

1. A.joy and pride at a rich catch of fish
2. B.anger against the king of Badagry
3. C.exhaustion and disappointment
4. D.fear of a storm coming in from the sea

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Question 9 · ‘The Road Not Taken’ by Robert Frost

"The Road Not Taken" is made up of

1. A.three six-line stanzas rhyming ababab
2. B.one fourteen-line stanza
3. C.two eight-line stanzas
4. D.four five-line stanzas with the rhyme scheme abaab

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Question 10 · Setting

The fact that A Man for All Seasons takes place during the reign of Henry VIII is an example of its

1. A.historical setting
2. B.geographical setting only
3. C.point of view
4. D.climax

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Question 11 · Point of View

A student rewrites "I watched the flood swallow our farm in Kogi" as "She watched the flood swallow her family's farm in Kogi." She has changed the narration from

1. A.third person to first person
2. B.second person to first person
3. C.omniscient to second person
4. D.first person to third person

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Question 12 · Types of Oral Literature

The tortoise in many Nigerian folktales, who uses tricks to outwit bigger animals, is an example of

1. A.a tragic hero
2. B.a legend
3. C.a riddle
4. D.a trickster figure

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