Figures of speech - Jamb Literature in English Past Questions and Answers

Question 21:

• JAMB 1983

A statement that appears to say something opposite to common sense or the truth, but which may contain a truth is

A. An oxymoron
B. A parable
C. An irony
D. An inversion
E. A paradox.

Question 22:

• JAMB 1983

The tendency in words to echo the meaning by the actual sound is called

A. Onomatopoeia
B. Assonance
C. Alliteration
D. Rhyme
E. Phonetics.

Question 23:

• JAMB 1983

The expression 'All the world is a stage' is a good example of the figure of speech known as

A. Personification
B. Paradox
C. Onomatopoeia
D. Simile
E. Metaphor.

Question 24:

• JAMB 1984

A question put, not chiefly to elicit an answer, but to make an emphatic statement is known as

A. Paradoxial
B. Metaphysical
C. Logical
D. Rhetorical
E. Leading

Question 25:

• JAMB 1984

Writing about an abstract object as though it had human qualities is known as

A. Apostrophe
B. Personification
C. Denotation
D. Allusion
E. Imitation