Jamb Literature in English 1997 Past Questions and Answers

Question 36:

• JAMB 1997

This question is based on General Literary Principles.
Hyperbole refers specifically to

A. Exaggeration for adornment
B. Exaggeration for emphasis
C. Understatement of ideas
D. Restatement of ideas

Question 37:

• JAMB 1997

This question is based on General Literary Principles.
The term assonance refers of

A. Repetition of alphabets in lines of a poem
B. Agreement of vowel sounds in a line
C. Repetition of vowels in a line
D. Agreement of consonants in a line

Question 38:

• JAMB 1997

This question is based on General Literary Principles.
A story which explains the origin of a natural phenomenon is a

A. Fiction
B. Legend
C. Parable
D. Myth

Question 39:

• JAMB 1997

This question is based on General Literary Principles.
I have received your letter. By way of a reply, I am beginning this diary, my prop is my distress. Our long association has taught me that confiding in others allays pain.
Mariama Ba, 'So Long a Letter'
By employing the first person narrator, the author of the passage above achieves

A. Sympathy
B. Confidentiality
C. Authenticity
D. Irony

Question 40:

• JAMB 1997

This question is based on General Literary Principles.
'There was something very disturbing about his features today, there was something which suggested an untidiness of a sort rather like a cotton dress washed in salty water and worn until it reeks of human sweet. There was something very vulnerable about his looks, something quite restless.
Nuruddin Farah, 'Sweet and Sour Milk'
The passage above illustrates the use of

A. Climax
B. Deus ex machina
C. Trance
D. Suspense