JAMB UTME - Literature In English - 1978

Question 1 Report

The Concubine by Elechi Amadi
The title of this novel is justified because

Ihuoma the heroine,is everyone's concubine

Ihuoma having once been married to Emenike has vowed never to marry again

everyone who married Ihuoma or expressed a wish to do so came to harm

Ihuoma prefers to be mistress rather than a wife

being the spirit-wife of the jealous sea-king,any marriage subsequently contracted cannot be valid;she is condemned to the status of a concubine. Correct answer

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Question 2 Report

The Comstocks belonged to the most dismal of all classes,the middle-middle class,the landless gentry.In their miserable poverty they had not even the snobbish consolation of regarding themselves as an 'old' family fallen on evil days.....This writer's tone is

melancholic

matter-of-fact

bitterly humorous

sympathetic

sad Correct answer

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Prose

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Question 3 Report

One of the peculiar features of drama in general is

humour

satire

sarcasm

action Correct answer

exposition

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Drama

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Question 4 Report

A narrative poem must

preach a sermon

tell a story Correct answer

describe natural scenery

argue a question

propound a philosophy

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Poetry

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Question 5 Report

Mr Johnson,by Joyce Cary,is an interesting novel for the reason that

Mr Johnson the cheif character,is a typical African

Mr Rudbeck is a British colonial officer

it is a great love story between Mr Johnson and his wife,Bamu Correct answer

Mr Johnson is an active character full of drama,song and poetry

all the characters are nice and considerate

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Question 6 Report

In 'The Castle' Muir writes:Our only enemy was gold'! This is true because

the castle was made of gold

all the men swallowed gold

there was no gold to pay for arms Correct answer

the captain stole all available gold

gold was the cause of their betrayal

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Literary Appreciation

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Question 7 Report

Another shoal of cars swam past.One in particular caught his eye,a long slender thing,elegant as a swallow,all gleaming blue and silver,a thousand guineas it would have cost,he tought.
In the first sentence,cars are described in terms of

birds

ants

fish Correct answer

lamp-posts

pretty girls

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Prose

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Question 8 Report

New Year's Eve Midnight
Now the bells are tolling-
A year is dead.
And my heart is slowly beating
the Nunc Dimittis
to all my hopes and mute
yewnings of a year
and ghosts hover round
dream beyond dream

Dream beyond dream
mingling with the dying
bell-sounds fading
into memories
like rain drops
falling into a river.

And now the bells are chimming-
A year is born.
And my heart-bell is ringing
in dawn
But it's shrouded things i see
dimly stride
on heart-canopied paths
to a riverside
The mood of the above poem is

optimism

pessimism Correct answer

optimism mixed with pessimism

much optimism qualified by a little pessimism

much pessimism lightened by a little optimism

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Poetry

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Question 9 Report

All this was a long time ago,i remember
And i would do it again,but set down
This set down
This:were we led all that way for
Birth and Death?There was a Birth,certainly,
We had evidence and no doubt.I had seen birth and death,
But had thought they were different;this birth was
Hard and bitter agony for us,like Death,our death
We returned to our places,these kingdoms,
But no longer at ease here,in the old dispensation,
With an alien people clutching their gods.
I should be glad of another death.
(From T.S Elliott's 'Journey Of The Magi')
The Magi are no longer at ease because

they suffered alot on their way to Bethlehem

they found greater spiritual satisfaction from their journey

death and birth are one and the same thing

their kingdoms can no longer offer them satisfaction Correct answer

the world has changed for the worse

Answer Details

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“The Journey Of The Magi” By T.s. Eliot

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Question 10 Report

In 'The Flight to Australia' the following line occurs:'Tier upon tier it towered,the terrible Apennines' The figure of speech used in this line is known as

alliteration Correct answer

litotes

exaggeration

parody

metonym

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Poetry

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Question 11 Report

In 'The Duel' Thomas ends his narrative

with a wish to see more duels fought

in celebration of female fidelity

in hopeless despair and anger

with an unexpected turn of events

in praise of matrimonial bliss Correct answer

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Question 12 Report

Essentially,plays are meant

to be read for sheer pleasure

to make us laugh

to be presented on stage through words and actions Correct answer

to keep people out of trouble

to change the whole world

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Drama

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Question 13 Report

In on of the three jugs
The three jugs where on certain evenings return the tranquil souls,
the breaths of the ancestors,
the ancestors who were men,
the ancestors who were sages,
Mother has dipped three fingers
three fingers of her left hand:
thumb,forefinger and middle finger
i have dipped three fingers
three fingers of my right hand:
thumb,forefinger and middle finger.
(From "Viaticum"by B.Diop)
In this poem,the repetitive pattern suggests

pain,agony, and misery

ritual or established form of worship Correct answer

the love of a mother for her child

the beauty of the full moon

the glorious lives of our ancestors

Answer Details

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Poetry

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Question 14 Report

In the fiction No Longer At Ease by Chinua Achebe,Obuajulu Okonkwo's fall can be traced to the fact that

the Nigerian society is often wicked to the individual

he is at bottom a very bad man

he believes in using bribes to get to the top

the weaknesses within him and the society unite to pull him down Correct answer

he fancies women too much

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Question 15 Report

'The seas eats our lands' by Kwesi Brew
Here stood our ancestral home:
The crumbling wall marks the spot.
Here a sheep was led to the slaughter
To appease the gods and atone
For faults which our destiny
Has blossomed into crimes
There my cursed father once stood
And shouted to us,his children,
To come back from our play
To our evening meal and sleep
The clouds were thickening in the red sky
And night had charmed
A black power into the pounding waves.

Here once lay Keta
Now her golden girls
Erode into the arms
of strange towns.

In this poem,

the gods are being abused for their causing a natural disaster

the poet's father is being' cursed' for stopping the children's play

a natural disaster is linked to the moral and religious life if a people Correct answer

the'golden girls' are praised for leaving home to go to the city

nature is seen as an enemy

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Poetry

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Question 16 Report

Your hand is heavy,upon my brow
I bear no heart mercuric like the clouds,to dare
Exacerbation from your subtle plough.

Woman as a clam,on the sea's crescent
I saw your jealous eye quench the sea's
Fluorescence,dance on the pulse incessant

Of the waves.And i stood,drained
Submitting like the sands,blood and brine
coursing to the roots.Night,you rained

Serrated shadows through dank leaves
Till,bathed in warm suffusion of your dappled calls
Sensations pained me,faceless,silent as night thieves.
Hide me now,when night children haunt the earth
i must hear none!These misted calls will yet
Undo me;naked,unbidden,at night's muted birth
('Night' by Wole Soyinka)
in the poem above,Soyinka,

describes nightfall and its effect on him Correct answer

does not wish to surrender to night

rejects the night's presence

says that night has no progress

does not need protection from the dangers of the night

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Poetry

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Question 17 Report

In Wole Soyinka's poem,'I Think It Rains' rain symbolizes

the rise of sudden cloud from ashes

loosening of parched tongues from the mouth

inconveniences

relief,and a feeling of goodness Correct answer

none of these

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Poetry

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Question 18 Report

The old and new values in No Longer At Ease are represented by

The European Club and Joseph

Obi and Clara

The Umuofia Progressive Union and Obi Correct answer

Mr Green and Miss Williamson

none of the above

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Prose

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Question 19 Report

In Twelfth Night
'If music be the food of love,play on
Give me excess of it,that surfeiting,
The appetite may sicken and die'
was spoken by

Curio

Valentine

Orsino Correct answer

Antonio

Sir Andrew

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A Midsummer Night’s Dream

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Question 20 Report

'That year the harvest was sad,like a funeral,and many farmers wept as they dug up the miserable yams.One man tied his cloth to a tree branch and hanged himself'. The mood conveyed here is one of

excitement

sadness Correct answer

joy

triumph

elation

Answer Details

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Poetry

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Question 21 Report

An image in poetry usually gives a clue to one of the following:

rhyme

assonance

paradox

theme Correct answer

refrain

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Poetry

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Question 22 Report

The language of David Diop's 'Africa' suggests

the beauty of the African country side

that black is beautiful

that the poet is sad because Africa has been exploited and laid waste for too long Correct answer

that the poet remembers the great empire of Africa

that the poet sees Africa as a colonial power

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Poetry

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Question 23 Report

Point out the odd item:

Raisin in the sun

Twelfth Night

Ozidi

The Concubine Correct answer

Romeo and Juliet

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Drama

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Question 24 Report

Romeo and Juliet is a tragedy because

it is full of noblemen and ladies

it is set in Verona

it ends unhappily Correct answer

Juliet is only fourteen years old

it has five acts

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Drama

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Question 25 Report

Literature is studied as a subject at school because

it exposes students to the realities of life Correct answer

it provides entertainment

it merely gives additional work to students

it teaches the use of words

it provides a means to kill time

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Question 26 Report

In 'I Will Pronounce Your Name'Senghor writes:'Naett that is the dry tornado,the clap of lightening'.
The figure of speech used in the above line is

metaphor Correct answer

simile

hyperbole

irony

synedoche

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Poetry

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Question 27 Report

Dinny,Lippy,Steepy and Fatty are characters in

Kossoh Town Boy

Kontiki Expedition Correct answer

Tell Freedom

The Concubine

No Longer at Ease

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Prose

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Question 28 Report

Achebe's language and style in No Longer At Ease is remarkable

for its short and simple sentences

for its day-to-day expressions

for its reflection of the speech of the ordinary man

for using the speech style of most African communities

for reflecting the speech patterns of the different segments of the Nigerian society Correct answer

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Question 29 Report

The plot of a novel is best described as

the bare outline of the story arranged in logical order

the story in all its details

The story grossly elaborated

a summary of the story Correct answer

the begining,middle and end of the story

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General Literary Principles

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Question 30 Report

One of the statements is true of the novel:

it is an exact reproduction of historical events

characters are unimportant in it

it is always the story of the Author's life

it deals with human experience Correct answer

it does not make use of imagery

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Question 31 Report

Maria:If you desire the spleen,and will laugh
yourself into stitches,follow me.yond gull
Malvolio is turned heathen,a very renegado;
saved by believing rightly,can never believe
such impossible passages of grossness.
He's in yellow stockings.
Sir Toby:And cross-gartered?
Maria:Most villainously;like a pendant that keeps
a school in church.i have dogged him:
like his murderer.He does obey every point
of the letter that i dropped to betray him:
he does smile his face into more lines than
is in the new map with the augmentation of
the indies:you have not seen such a thing as
'tis.I can hardly forbear hurling things at
him:if she do,he'll smile and take it for
a great favour.
(Twelfth Night)
Which of the following statements reflects best the situation revealed above

Malvolio is greatly admired by Maria nad Sir Toby

Malvolio's dress and bearing will please Lady Olivia very much

Malvolio is decieved into doing things hated by Olivia Correct answer

Malvolio is a heathen and pendant

the Author of Twelfth Night pokes fun at foolishly misguided people like Malvolio here

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Question 32 Report

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

C.Achebe

C.Ekwensi

W.Soyinka Correct answer

J.P. Clark

E.G. Okara

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Question 33 Report

In those days
When civilization kicked us in the face
When holy water slapped our cringing brows
The vultures built in the shadow of their talons
The blood stained monument of tutelage
In those days
There was painful laughter on the metallic hell
of the roads
And the monotonous rythm of the paternoster
Drowned the howling of the plantations
Of the bitter memories of the extorted kisses
Of promises broken at the point of a gun
Of foriegners who did not seem human
You who knew all the books but knew not love
Nor our hands which fertilize the womb of the earth
Hands instinct of the root with revolt
Inspite of your songs of pride in the charnel houses
Inspite of the desolate villages of Africa torn apart
Hope lived in us like a citadel
And from Swaziland's mines to the sweltering sweat
of Europe's factories
Spring will be reborn under our bright steps.
('The Vultures',by David Diop)
The theme of the poem is

Vultures

Oppression of Africans by European colonialists and the African's hope for Independence Correct answer

Swaziland's mines and Europe's factories

Bloodstained monuments

Books without love

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Question 34 Report

Romeo and Juliet
Juliet:O serpent heart,hid with a flowering face!
Did ever dragon keep so fair a cave
Beautiful tyrant:Fiend angelical
Dove-feathered raven!wolfish-ravening lamb
Despised substance of divinest show!
A damned saint,an honorable villain!
(From Romeo and Juliet)
Juliet is referring in the above passage to

Tybalt

Mercutio

Old Capulet

Lady Montague

Romeo Correct answer

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Question 35 Report

Ihuoma cannot be a successful wife in The Concubine because

she is troublesome and cruel

the sea god,her spirit husband has put a curse on her Correct answer

nobody wishes to marry her in the village

she is too old to bear children

she is a widow

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Drama

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Question 36 Report

In T.S Elliot's 'Journey of the Magi' the old choirmaster could not be buried in the manner he wished because he unfortunately died

in summer Correct answer

in spring

at night

in winter

in the chapel

Answer Details

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“The Journey Of The Magi” By T.s. Eliot

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Question 37 Report

Dialogue is important in drama because

it always makes the audience laugh

it is like a conversation Correct answer

it reveals the minds of the characters

it makes the play last longer on the stage

it makes the characters honest

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Question 38 Report

As a character,Ozidi,in J.P Clark's play of that name,is ruined by

too great interest in women

too much love of peace

excessive belief in his own powers Correct answer

too great dependence on his grand-mother

the wickedness of his enemies

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Question 39 Report

One of the following terms applies to the discussion of both tragedy and comedy:

climax Correct answer

happy ending

tragic hero

alliteration

stanza

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Question 40 Report

A good poem must

be about love

have a regular rythm

rhyme

be difficult to understand

none of the above Correct answer

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Poetry

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Question 41 Report

From the West
Clouds come hurrying with the wind
Turning
Sharply
Here and there
Like a plague of locusts
Whirling
Tossing up things on its tail
Like a madman chasing nothing

Pregnant clouds
Ride stately on its back
Gathering to perch on hills
Like dark sinister wings:
The wind whistles by
And trees bend to let it pass

In the village
Screams of delighted children
Toss and turn
In the dim of whirling wind
Women-
Babies clinging to their backs-
Dart about
In and out
Madly
The wind whistles by
Whilst trees bend to let it pass.
(From 'An African Thunderstorm' by David Rubadiri)
The poet varies the lengths of the lines skillfully

to show the speed,power and destructiveness of the storm Correct answer

to create pleasant sounds

to conform to normal poetic practice

to create a mood of fear

to show his cleverness

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Question 42 Report

The casualties referred to in 'Casualties' are

people killed during the civil war

those who were wounded and had to endure a lot of pain

those who lost their properties and relations

victims of the Nigerian Civil War,both the living and the dead Correct answer

none of these

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Question 43 Report

One of the following is a narrative technique in the novel

character

interesting story

flashback Correct answer

logical conclusion

social relevance

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Question 44 Report

In 'Fulani Cattle' J.P Clark expresses

the anger and sympathy he feels at seeing cattle driven all the way from the North to the South of Nigeria to be slaughtered

admiration for the beauty of Fulani cattle

grief at the gradual destruction of this fine breed of cattle Correct answer

the joy of the cattle at being driven over pleasant fields

the idea that more cattle should be taken to the South to be slaughtered

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Question 45 Report

'And Your laughter like a flame piercing the shadows Has revealed Africa to me beyond the snows of yesterday'.'Shadows' in the above quotation means

hazy figures which appear before the poet

experiences which have hidden Africa from the poet's view

a period of suffering in the poet's life

unclear ideas which the poet has Correct answer

the ghosts of the dead

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Question 46 Report

'All's over,Sweet',he cried
To the wife,thus guise;for the young page was she
'Tis as we hoped and said't would be.
He never guessed...we mount and ride
To where our love can reign uneyed
He's clay,and we are free.
From Thomas Hardy's,The Duel)
The theme of this poem is

bravery

honour

betrayal

death of a fool Correct answer

the evil of duelling

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Poetry

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Question 47 Report