Waec Literature in English Past Questions and Answers

Question 1046:

• WAEC 2014

UNSEEN PROSE AND POETRY
Read the passage and answer the question
The goldsmith at work is a priest at the altar . As though he was were performing the Eucharist, he is engaged in deliberate motions of reverence. The small vials of various liquids such as mercury are little vessels of communion wine. The minuscule rings of intricately crafted gold are like miniature wafers.
He dips one tiny ring into a liquid, lifts it up to the sky and presses it onto a space in the growing length of necklace. It fits- it is like dipping bread into wine and slipping it between the parted lips of a communicant.
Our lent vigils are not as solemn as the goldsmith's silent solemnity that directs his work. We look on as the wizardry of the master matter craftsman displays itself. We are held in thrall....
The dominant devices used are

A. Personification and irony
B. Parallelism and repetition
C. Metaphor and simile
D. Metonymy and synecdoche

Question 1047:

• WAEC 2014

UNSEEN PROSE AND POETRY
Read the passage and answer the question
The goldsmith at work is a priest at the altar . As though he was were performing the Eucharist, he is engaged in deliberate motions of reverence. The small vials of various liquids such as mercury are little vessels of communion wine. The minuscule rings of intricately crafted gold are like miniature wafers.
He dips one tiny ring into a liquid, lifts it up to the sky and presses it onto a space in the growing length of necklace. It fits- it is like dipping bread into wine and slipping it between the parted lips of a communicant.
Our lent vigils are not as solemn as the goldsmith's silent solemnity that directs his work. We look on as the wizardry of the master matter craftsman displays itself. We are held in thrall....
The use of the above devices creates an atmosphere of

A. Fear
B. Doom
C. Hope
D. Awe

Question 1048:

• WAEC 2014

UNSEEN PROSE AND POETRY
Read the passage and answer the question
The goldsmith at work is a priest at the altar . As though he was were performing the Eucharist, he is engaged in deliberate motions of reverence. The small vials of various liquids such as mercury are little vessels of communion wine. The minuscule rings of intricately crafted gold are like miniature wafers.
He dips one tiny ring into a liquid, lifts it up to the sky and presses it onto a space in the growing length of necklace. It fits- it is like dipping bread into wine and slipping it between the parted lips of a communicant.
Our lent vigils are not as solemn as the goldsmith's silent solemnity that directs his work. We look on as the wizardry of the master matter craftsman displays itself. We are held in thrall....
The writer's attitude is one of

A. Bewilderment
B. Reverence
C. Indifference
D. Arrogance

Question 1049:

• WAEC 2014

UNSEEN PROSE AND POETRY
Read the passage and answer the question
The goldsmith at work is a priest at the altar . As though he was were performing the Eucharist, he is engaged in deliberate motions of reverence. The small vials of various liquids such as mercury are little vessels of communion wine. The minuscule rings of intricately crafted gold are like miniature wafers.
He dips one tiny ring into a liquid, lifts it up to the sky and presses it onto a space in the growing length of necklace. It fits- it is like dipping bread into wine and slipping it between the parted lips of a communicant.
Our lent vigils are not as solemn as the goldsmith's silent solemnity that directs his work. We look on as the wizardry of the master matter craftsman displays itself. We are held in thrall....
The narrative technique captures the _ of the scene.

A. Seriousness
B. Vividness
C. Ordinariness
D. Loneliness

Question 1050:

• WAEC 2014

Read the poem and answer the question
At dawn must I rise to till the rock
That our land has turned into
The land where on we'd gleefully harvested paddy
Planted and nurtured and tended on plots marshy
Our woes are bloody woes of accursed revenges
Of the land spirits aggrieved and by his fellow
Kindred blood has counted for less than no value
Brother's wife has been wife to other brother's brother
Communal loot has emptied our country silosThe earth has stooped breathing and sighed
Soldered tears has the moon shed
The earth was scorched at noon-day night
And our land has turned to hoeing rock.
The theme of the poem is

A. Famine and disease
B. Drought and heat
C. Abomination and retribution
D. Sickness and death