GENERAL LITERARY PRINCIPLES - Jamb Literature in English Past Questions and Answers

Question 366:

• JAMB 1997

This question is based on General Literary Principles.
A playwright who solves the dilemma of his characters by rescuing them from impossible circumstances using extra human device has employed

A. Deus ex machina
B. Dramatis personae
C. Contrived manipulation
D. Dramatic reversals

Question 367:

• JAMB 1998

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 ''Hurrah For Thunder'', the poet uses the image of the jungle to comment on his country''s lack of

A. Civilization
B. Cleanliness
C. Order
D. Leadership

Question 368:

• JAMB 1998

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.
Who are they that 'live that the earth may die'in Nyi Osundare's ''They Too Are The Earth''?

A. The beggars sprawled in gutters
B. The millions who hew wood
C. People who fritter the forest and harry the hills
D. Those who hurl water

Question 369:

• JAMB 1998

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.
''They too are the earth
Under snakeskin shoes and Mercedez tyres'.
Niyi Osundare uses the lines above to describe the

A. Material for the shoes of the poor
B. Repulsive snakeskin-like bodies of the poor
C. Hope of the oppressed for a better life
D. Oppression of the dispossessed

Question 370:

• JAMB 1998

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.
Kofi Awoonor's 'Songs of Sorrow' is concerned with devastation because

A. The poet had fought in many wars
B. Of the destruction of part of Africa by the weather
C. Of the impact of white domination on parts of Africa
D. Of the destruction of the shrines of the ancestors