LITERARY APPRECIATION - Jamb Literature in English Past Questions and Answers

Question 211:

• JAMB 1998

This question is based on Literary Principles.
Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore so do our minutes hasten to their end.'
In the lines above, Shakespeare is thinking of the

A. Passing of time and shortness of life
B. Swift passing of waves from shore to shore
C. Passing of time from hours to minutes and second
D. Movement of pebbles to the shore

Question 212:

• JAMB 1998

This question is based on Literary Principles.
'At the start of the winter came the permanent rain and with the rain came the cholera.
But it was checked and in the end only seven thousand died of it in the army'.
Hemingway 'Farewell to Arms'
The passage above is an example of

A. Hyperbolism
B. Juxtaposition
C. Understatement
D. Didactism

Question 213:

• JAMB 1998

This question is based on Literary Principles.
'El - Hadji Abdou Kader Beye was received in princely style at the girl's home. The food was exquisite and the scent of incense filled N'Gone's small wooden room. Nothing was omitted in the careful process of conditioning the man.'
Sembane Ousmane, 'Xala'
The writer suggests in the passage above that El-Hadji is

A. A prince
B. A food lover
C. Being entertained
D. Being manipulated

Question 214:

• JAMB 1998

This question is based on Literary Principles.
'The strong desire he felt for her fade away. As he had done the previous night, he tried desperately to excite himself mentally. Not a nerve in his body responded. He felt ill. He perspired. He, the stallion who usually flung himself at women, was like pulp.'
Sembane Ousmane, 'Xala'
The terseness of the prose above is employed to

A. Capture a climax
B. Depict tension
C. Condemn the man
D. Sympathize with the girl

Question 215:

• JAMB 1998

This question is based on Literary Principles.
'They came for him that Sunday. He had just returned from a night's vigil on the mountain. He was resting on his bed, Bible open at the Book of Revelation, when two police constables, one tall, the other short, knocked at the door.'
Ngugi, 'Petals of Blood'
The writer of the passage above arrests the interest of the reader by employing

A. A suspenseful opening
B. An appropriate setting
C. Short clear sentences
D. Images of violence