Jamb Literature in English 1985 Past Questions and Answers

Question 21:

• JAMB 1985

'Serrating down your back and front
Like beak of the sword-fish,
And both your ears, notched
As a bondsman to this house...'
The dominant figure of speech in the above lines from J.P. Clark's 'Abiku' is

A. Onomatopoeia
B. Synecdoche
C. Simile
D. Metaphor
E. Verismilitude.

Question 22:

• JAMB 1985

'... like some fish
Doped out of the deep
I have bobbed up bellywise
From stream of sleep'.
The above lines from 'Night Rain' are intended to emphasize the fact that the speaker

A. Drank like a fishb
B. Took a heavy dose of sleeping pills
C. Slept with his belly facing upwards
D. Dreamt of fish in deep streams
E. Was suddenly roused from sleep.

Question 23:

• JAMB 1985

In Soyinka's 'Abiku', the statement, 'The ripest fruit was saddest', is an example of

A. Metaphysical conceit
B. Equivocation
C. Slasng
D. A paradox
E. A proverb

Question 24:

• JAMB 1985

When David Diop in 'The Vultures' says that 'civilization kicked us in the face' and 'holy water slapped our cringing brows', he is using

A. Slapstick
B. A curse
C. Invective
D. Personification
E. Sacrilege.

Question 25:

• JAMB 1985

The mood expressed in 'We Have Come Home' by Lenrie Peters is that of

A. Hope and joy at one's return
B. Tension over the past and uncertainty of the future
C. Jubilation and a sense of achievement
D. Cautions optimism
E. Apprehension and defeat