Appreciation - Jamb Literature in English Past Questions and Answers

Question 51:

• JAMB 1978

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

A. To show the speed,power and destructiveness of the storm
B. To create pleasant sounds
C. To conform to normal poetic practice
D. To create a mood of fear
E. To show his cleverness

Question 52:

• JAMB 1978

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

A. Vultures
B. Oppression of Africans by European colonialists and the African's hope for Independence
C. Swaziland's mines and Europe's factories
D. Bloodstained monuments
E. Books without love

Question 53:

• JAMB 1979

In 'Tell Freedom' injustice is symbolized by

A. The author's life at Elsburg
B. Peter's friendship with Anne
C. The Indian provison shops
D. The sign'Reserved for Europeans Only'
E. The activities of the street gangs

Question 54:

• JAMB 1979

In 'Tell Freedom' injustice is symbolized by

A. The author's life at Elsburg
B. Peter's friendship with Anne
C. The Indian provison shops
D. The sign'Reserved for Europeans Only'
E. The activities of the street gangs

Question 55:

• JAMB 1979

The dominant feeling in Leopold Sedar Senghor's 'In Memoriam' is

A. Happiness
B. Nostalgia
C. Sadness
D. Despair
E. Hatred