Jamb Literature in English 1997 Past Questions and Answers

Question 16:

• JAMB 1997

This question is based on selected poems from D. Ker, C. Maduka et al (eds.): New poetry from Africa, Wole Soyinka (ed.): Poems of Black Africa, K.E. Senanu and T. Vincent (eds.): A Selection of African poetry and E.W. Parker (ed.): A Pageant of Longer Poems.
The recurrence of the first person pronoun 'I' in Gabriel Okara's 'The callof the River Nun' creates the feeling of

A. Detachment
B. Immediacy
C. Alienation
D. Nostalgia

Question 17:

• JAMB 1997

This question is based on selected poems from D. Ker, C. Maduka et al (eds.): New poetry from Africa, Wole Soyinka (ed.): Poems of Black Africa, K.E. Senanu and T. Vincent (eds.): A Selection of African poetry and E.W. Parker (ed.): A Pageant of Longer Poems.
What notion dominates Oswald Mtshali's 'The washerwoman's Prayer'?

A. Piety
B. Ageing
C. Indifference
D. Inequality

Question 18:

• JAMB 1997

This question is based on selected poems from D. Ker, C. Maduka et al (eds.): New poetry from Africa, Wole Soyinka (ed.): Poems of Black Africa, K.E. Senanu and T. Vincent (eds.): A Selection of African poetry and E.W. Parker (ed.): A Pageant of Longer Poems.
'BEHOLD her, single in the field,
You solitary Highland Lass!
Reaping and singing by herself;...
O listen! for the Vale profound
Is overflowing with the sound.'
The lines above from William Wordsworth's 'The Solitary Reaper' constitute

A. A soliloguy
B. An aside
C. An apostrophe
D. An interior monologue

Question 19:

• JAMB 1997

This question is based on selected poems from D. Ker, C. Maduka et al (eds.): New poetry from Africa, Wole Soyinka (ed.): Poems of Black Africa, K.E. Senanu and T. Vincent (eds.): A Selection of African poetry and E.W. Parker (ed.): A Pageant of Longer Poems.
In my last Duchess', the poet complains about the Duchess'

A. Indiscriminate love and admiration
B. Unrestrained blushing
C. Officious fool
D. Intermitent smiles

Question 20:

• JAMB 1997

This question is based on Zaynab Alkali's The Stillborn.
The two major pervasive sources of social problems in the community of the stillborn are

A. Ignorance and poverty
B. Modrnization and foreign culture
C. Christianity and the quest for wealth
D. Witchcraft and Christianity