Literature-in-English past questions: WAEC SSCE 2021

48 objective questions, with answers. Free to read and practise.

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48 questions, one at a time, marked as you go or at the end. No account needed.

1.
. ..and he had rushed at them, scattering them as some strieked and some laughed illustrates
1. A.onomatopoeia
2. B.climax
3. C.metaphor
4. D.metonymy
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Answer: A onomatopoeia
2.
A dramatic performance without words is
1. A.mime
2. B.an aside
3. C.a monologue
4. D.a soliloguy
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Answer: A mime
3.
A dramatist is someone who....plays
1. A.writes
2. B.dírects
3. C.commissions
4. D.promotes
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Answer: A writes
4.
A Midsummer Night's Read the extract below and answer questions 31 to 35. X: You do impeach your modesty too much, To leave the city and commit yourself Into the hands of one that loves you not; To trust the opportunity of night And the ill counsel of a desert place Y: With the rich worth of your virginity. Your virtue is my privilege: for that it is not night when I do see your face, Therefore I think I am not in the night; From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream Night evolves in the speakers'
1. A.huge responsibilities
2. B.contracting feelings
3. C.despairing thoughts
4. D.erotic feelings
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Answer: B contracting feelings
5.
A pause within a line of poetry is
1. A.an alliteration
2. B.a caesura
3. C.a metre
4. D.an assonance
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Answer: B a caesura
6.
A recurring idea, image, or a group of images that unifies a work of literature is
1. A.motif
2. B.allusion
3. C.legend
4. D.anecdote
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Answer: A motif
7.
a short play performed in the pause between the act of a longer play is
1. A.denouement
2. B.interlude
3. C.prologue
4. D.epilogue
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Answer: B interlude
8.
A story which explains a natural phenomenon or justifies the beliefs of a society is A. myth B. legend C. motif D. fable
1. A.myth
2. B.legend
3. C.motif
4. D.fable
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Answer: A myth
9.
A three-line stanza, rhymed ABA, BCB, CDC is a
1. A.couplet
2. B.haiku
3. C.terza rima
4. D.heroic couplet
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Answer: C terza rima
10.
An inscription on a tombstone is an
1. A.epitaph
2. B.epistle
3. C.epigram
4. D.ode
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Answer: A epitaph
11.
From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream Both speakers are in the woods
1. A.to hide from each other
2. B.to spy on each other
3. C.for different reasons
4. D.for the same reason
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Answer: C for different reasons
12.
From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream Speaker X has just
1. A.escaped from the city
2. B.fallen into a world of dreams
3. C.woken up from an induced sleep
4. D.abandoned a loved one
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Answer: C woken up from an induced sleep
13.
From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream Speaker X is
1. A.Hermia
2. B.Philostrate
3. C.Demetrius
4. D.Lysander
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Answer: C Demetrius
14.
From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream Speaker X sees Speaker Y
1. A.as a pretender
2. B.as a past lover
3. C.for the first time
4. D.for the last time
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Answer: B as a past lover
15.
From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream Speaker Y is
1. A.Titania
2. B.Pease blossom
3. C.Hippolyta
4. D.Helena
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Answer: D Helena
16.
From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream Speaker Y is a member of
1. A.Theseus' retinue
2. B.Titania's retinue
3. C.the group of actors
4. D.the group of lovers
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Answer: C the group of actors
17.
From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream The occasion is
1. A.the celebration of the royal marriage
2. B.the king's decision to banish Hermia
3. C.Oberon's threat to punish Titania
4. D.Titania falling in love with Bottom
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Answer: A the celebration of the royal marriage
18.
From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream The speaker is
1. A.Flute
2. B.Quince
3. C.Bottom
4. D.Philostrate
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Answer: B Quince
19.
From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream The speaker is A. Bottom B. PeaseblossomC.
1. A.Bottom
2. B.Peaseblossom
3. C.Quince
4. D.Puck
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Answer: C Quince
20.
From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream The speaker is addressing
1. A.artists
2. B.painters
3. C.actors
4. D.writers
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Answer: C actors
21.
From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream The speaker is involved in putting on
1. A.a scene
2. B.skit
3. C.an act
4. D.a play
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Answer: D a play
22.
From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream The speech is part of the
1. A.prologue
2. B.epilogue
3. C.exposition
4. D.lyric
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Answer: A prologue
23.
From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream They intend to rehearse the play
1. A.a Midsummer Night's Dream
2. B.Pyramus and Thisby
3. C.The tradegy of lovers
4. D.The Battle of Royal
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Answer: B Pyramus and Thisby
24.
I feel a million times better than I felt yesterday is
1. A.an apostrophe
2. B.a euphemism
3. C.an irony
4. D.a hyperbole
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Answer: D a hyperbole
25.
ldentify the odd item:
1. A.third-person narrative
2. B.literary appreciation
3. C.first-person narrative
4. D.epistolary technique
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Answer: B literary appreciation
26.
Nando's family lives within the lower income bracket illustrates
1. A.sarcasm
2. B.allusion
3. C.climax
4. D.euphemism
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Answer: D euphemism
27.
Read the extract below and answer questions 36 to 40 But, masters, here are our parts, and I am to entreat you, request you, and desire you, to con them by to-morrow night; and meet me in the place wood, a mile without the town, by moonlight. There will we rehearse: for if we meet in the city, we shall be dogged with company, and Our devices known. (Act I, Scene two Lines 79-84) From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream The main actors will be
1. A.Snug and Snout
2. B.Philostrate and Starveling
3. C.Mustardseed
4. D.Quince and Bottom
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Answer: D Quince and Bottom
28.
Read the extract below and answer questions 41 to 45 X: I pray thee, gentle mortal, sing again; Mine ear is much enamoured of thy note; So is mine eye enthralled to thy shape; And thy fair virtue's force perforce doth move me On the first view, to say, to swear, I love thee. Y: Methinks, mistress, you should have little reason for that: ... (Act llI, Scene One, Lines 116-121) From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream Speaker X's speech can be described as a
1. A.satire
2. B.conceit
3. C.paradox
4. D.parody
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Answer: D parody
29.
Read the extract below and answer questions 46 to 50. If we offend, it is with our good will. That you should think, we come not to offend, But with good will. To show our simple skill, That is the true beginning of our end. Consider then, we come but in despite. We do not come, as minding to content you, Our true intent is. (Act V, Scene One, Lines 108-114) From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream The speech is A. romanticB. satiric c. comicD. tragic
1. A.romantic
2. B.satiric
3. C.comic
4. D.tragic
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Answer: C comic
30.
Read the extract below and answer questions9 to 11. What happened to a dream deferred? Does it dry up Like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? does it stink like rotten meat? makes use of the sense of
1. A.taste
2. B.touch
3. C.sight
4. D.smell
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Answer: D smell
31.
Read the extract below and answer questions9 to 11. What happened to a dream deferred? Does it dry up Like a raisin in the sun? Or fester like a sore And then run? Does it stink like rotten meat? The dominant literary device is
1. A.the epithet
2. B.the rhetorical question
3. C.verbal irony
4. D.paradox
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Answer: B the rhetorical question
32.
Read the passage below and answer questions 21 to 25 When he was little, he would ask his mother. sometimes as he lay in the cold little room and looked up at her as she sat beside the bed stroking his hair why two boys from his class had thrown stones at a dog; or why on another occasion a gang of them had broken into an empty house, smashing the thick door which had curved mouldings on the front which had been turned by carpenters years before; or why he had ended up in a fight which had begun when a little girl had shouted names at him which made no sense about his house and his mother and others had joined in and he had rushed at them, scattering them as some shricked and some laughed and he flaied about with his hard little fists and tears in his eyes. His mother would smile, say 'shhh' and he would drift to sleep with the heart shape of her face imprinted on his mind. The main character is
1. A.playful
2. B.inquisitive
3. C.sad
4. D.humorous
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Answer: B inquisitive
33.
Read the poem below and answer questions 26 to 30. We wear the mask that grins and lies, It hides our cheeks and shades our eyes, This debt we pay to human guile; With torn and bleeding hearts we smile And mouths with myriad subtleties, Why should the world be over-wise, In counting all our tears and sighs? Nay, let them only see us, while We wear the mask. We smile but O great god, our cries To thee from tortured souls arise We sing, but oh the clay is vile Beneath our feet and long the mile, But let the world dream otherwise, We wear the mask! We wear the mask that grins and lies illustrate
1. A.irony
2. B.personification
3. C.synecdoche
4. D.alliteration
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Answer: B personification
34.
Something a character says on stage that is meant for the audience alone is
1. A.an epilogue
2. B.a mine
3. C.a soliloguy
4. D.an aside
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Answer: D an aside
35.
The chorus normally features prominently in
1. A.poetry
2. B.the epic
3. C.the novel
4. D.drama
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Answer: D drama
36.
The dominant feeling in the passage is that of
1. A.nostalgia
2. B.anger
3. C.expectancy
4. D.fear
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Answer: A nostalgia
37.
The dominant literary device in the passage is
1. A.personification
2. B.antithesis
3. C.litotes
4. D.parallelism
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Answer: D parallelism
38.
The dominant mood is one of
1. A.sadness
2. B.fear
3. C.joy
4. D.optimism
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Answer: A sadness
39.
The feelings is conveyed by the
1. A.mouldings on the door
2. B.boys; actions
3. C.tender care of his mother
4. D.little girl's taunts
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Answer: C tender care of his mother
40.
The lawyer addressed the bench illustrates
1. A.simile
2. B.oxymoron
3. C.alliteration
4. D.metonymy
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Answer: D metonymy
41.
The mood of the poem is one of
1. A.joy
2. B.doubt
3. C.anger
4. D.certainty
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Answer: B doubt
42.
The most intense part of a conflict is the
1. A.resolution
2. B.climax
3. C.denouement
4. D.deus ex machina
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Answer: B climax
43.
The poem is about
1. A.debtors
2. B.dreams
3. C.costumes
4. D.appearances
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Answer: D appearances
44.
The poet's tone is
1. A.Supplicatory
2. B.defiant
3. C.conciliatory
4. D.compliant
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Answer: D compliant
45.
The rehearsal is in preparation for
1. A.Egeus' acceptance of Lysander
2. B.the dance of the faries
3. C.Theseus' wedding
4. D.Titania waking up from a dream
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Answer: C Theseus' wedding
46.
The rhyme scheme of the first stanza is
1. A.aabcc
2. B.ababac
3. C.aabbc
4. D.abbac
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Answer: C aabbc
47.
Utopia is a term used to describe
1. A.strange circumstances
2. B.difficult conditions
3. C.pleasant feelings
4. D.ideal societies
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Answer: D ideal societies
48.
When you are old and grey and full of sleep. The rhythmic pattern of the above line is
1. A.anapestic
2. B.dactylic
3. C.trochaic
4. D.iambic
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Answer: D iambic

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