Literature-in-English past questions: WAEC SSCE 2024

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.
A narrative composed in the form of a letter is
1. A.an eponymous novel
2. B.an epistolary novel
3. C.a novella
4. D.a panegyric
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Answer: B an epistolary novel
2.
A narrative that extols the deeds of a heroic figure is a
1. A.ballad
2. B.folktale
3. C.panegyric
4. D.pastoral
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Answer: C panegyric
3.
A poem that is shaped in the image of the object it talks about is
1. A.concrete
2. B.lyrical
3. C.metaphysical
4. D.romantic
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Answer: A concrete
4.
Characters in a play that the author uses as a vehicle for commentary is
1. A.chorus
2. B.dancers
3. C.drummers
4. D.singers
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Answer: A chorus
5.
From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream Another character present at the scene is
1. A.Egeus
2. B.Lysander
3. C.Oberon
4. D.Theseus
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Answer: C Oberon
6.
From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream At the end of the speech,
1. A.Hippolyta storms out of the place
2. B.Philostrate announces the prologue
3. C.the ladies settle down
4. D.the curtain is drawn
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Answer: B Philostrate announces the prologue
7.
From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream Earlier the addressee has accused the speaker of
1. A.disloyalty
2. B.infidelity
3. C.murder
4. D.theft
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Answer: C murder
8.
From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream Farewell, sweet playfellow refers to
1. A.Demetrius
2. B.Hermia
3. C.Helena
4. D.Lysander
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Answer: C Helena
9.
From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream In turn, the speaker accuses the addressee of
1. A.cruelty
2. B.discrimination
3. C.deceit
4. D.indiscretion
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Answer: A cruelty
10.
From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream The addressee is
1. A.Demetrius
2. B.Hermia
3. C.Oberon
4. D.Puck
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Answer: A Demetrius
11.
From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream The couple are going to the wood because
1. A.it is their favourite spot
2. B.they are running away from the Athenian law
3. C.they want to have their peace
4. D.the wood is romantic
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Answer: B they are running away from the Athenian law
12.
From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream The setting of the extract is
1. A.another part of the wood
2. B.Helena's place
3. C.the wood
4. D.Theseus' palace
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Answer: A another part of the wood
13.
From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream The speaker is addressing
1. A.Hippolyta
2. B.Lysander
3. C.Philostrate
4. D.Quince
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Answer: A Hippolyta
14.
From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream The speaker's experience is that
1. A.the poor are eloquent
2. B.even the eloquent can falter in their speech
3. C.the poor are inhibited
4. D.even the poor can be tongue-tied
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Answer: B even the eloquent can falter in their speech
15.
From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream The speech is in reaction to
1. A.Hippolyta's rejection of the burden the poor bear
2. B.Philostrate's rejection of the play-within-the play
3. C.the address of the chorus
4. D.the arrival of the players
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Answer: D the arrival of the players
16.
From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream The speech is intended to ____ the addressee.
1. A.confuse
2. B.pacify
3. C.provoke
4. D.reclaim
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Answer: C provoke
17.
From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream The underlined expression means being
1. A.careful
2. B.faithful
3. C.flirtatious
4. D.reckless
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Answer: B faithful
18.
From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream The underlined lines portray the addressee as a
1. A.coward
2. B.hunter
3. C.painter
4. D.traitor
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Answer: B hunter
19.
From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream The wildest refers to
1. A.good people
2. B.the least cruel man
3. C.wild beasts
4. D.the most deceptive
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Answer: C wild beasts
20.
Ife is a woman of great virtue She is a woman of great vice illustrate
1. A.antithesis
2. B.alliteration
3. C.paradox
4. D.pathos
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Answer: A antithesis
21.
In _____ and moved inwards the kitchen, like one sleepwalking, the simile portrays one who is
1. A.absent minded
2. B.disappointed
3. C.passion driven
4. D.morose
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Answer: A absent minded
22.
In the poem, cupid is
1. A.an allusion
2. B.a metonymy
3. C.the persona's mistress
4. D.the persona's rival
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Answer: A an allusion
23.
One of the important means available to a writer of a literary work is
1. A.diction
2. B.fiction
3. C.stage
4. D.stanza
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Answer: A diction
24.
Read the lines below and answer the question: My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains My sense, as though of hemlock I have drunk The metrical pattern is
1. A.anapestic
2. B.dactylic
3. C.iambic
4. D.trochaic
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Answer: C iambic
25.
Read the lines below and answer the question: My heart aches, and a drowsy numbness pains My sense, as though of hemlock I have drunk The mood of the poet is that of
1. A.anger
2. B.apathy
3. C.drunkenness
4. D.sadness
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Answer: D sadness
26.
Read the lines below and answer the question: The closing of the day Is the beginning of the day The lines
1. A.are alliterated
2. B.are repeated
3. C.end stop
4. D.run on
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Answer: D run on
27.
Read the lines below and answer the question: The curl of my lips, the swing of my waist, the The ride of my breast, the stride of my steps, the Flash of my tech and the palm of my hand The image created in the line appeals to the sense of
1. A.sight
2. B.taste
3. C.smell
4. D.touch
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Answer: A sight
28.
Read the lines below and answer the question: The curl of my lips, the swing of my waist, the The ride of my breast, the stride of my steps, the Flash of my tech and the palm of my hand The line is an example of
1. A.euphemism
2. B.parallelism
3. C.personification
4. D.synecdoche
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Answer: B parallelism
29.
The _______ comes after the loose ends of the plot have been tied up.
1. A.climax
2. B.denouncement
3. C.epilogue
4. D.epilogue
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Answer: C epilogue
30.
The choir is on wheels to a convention illustrates
1. A.Hyperbole
2. B.Allusion
3. C.Metonymy
4. D.Personification
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Answer: C Metonymy
31.
The device used in She gave him lots of cash and tender attention is
1. A.bathos
2. B.pathos
3. C.suspense
4. D.zeugma
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Answer: D zeugma
32.
The dominant device used in "Macbeth doth murdered sleep; the innocent sleep" is
1. A.alliteration
2. B.conceit
3. C.metonymy
4. D.personification
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Answer: D personification
33.
The dominant image is one of
1. A.beginning
2. B.flying
3. C.running
4. D.waiting
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Answer: B flying
34.
The figure of speech used in she was listening to the silence of the room is
1. A.conceit
2. B.irony
3. C.oxymoron
4. D.zeugma
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Answer: C oxymoron
35.
The lines that provide evidence for what the poem is about are _____
1. A.2 and 3
2. B.7 and 8
3. C.9 and 10
4. D.11 and 12
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Answer: B 7 and 8
36.
The major divisions in a play are
1. A.acts
2. B.chapters
3. C.scenes
4. D.stanzas
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Answer: A acts
37.
The mood is one of
1. A.anxiety
2. B.despondency
3. C.sorrow
4. D.regret
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Answer: A anxiety
38.
The overwhelming confidence and pride that lead to the fall of the protagonist is
1. A.catharsis
2. B.ego
3. C.harmatia
4. D.hubris
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Answer: D hubris
39.
The poem is a
1. A.haiku
2. B.kenning
3. C.limerick
4. D.lyric
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Answer: D lyric
40.
The Shakespearean sonnet differs from the Petrachan sonnet by ending with a
1. A.couplet
2. B.quatrain
3. C.sestet
4. D.tercet
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Answer: A couplet
41.
The technique of narration is
1. A.First person
2. B.Second person
3. C.Third person
4. D.stream of consciousness
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Answer: D stream of consciousness
42.
UNSEEN POETRY Read the poem and answer the question My heart was in fearful flight Pursued by Cupid, arrow poised Waiting for my flight's end When I'd turn about Or I'd fall supine My fleeing heart to pierce Enslave or enthrall and ravish hopeless So, I'm pining and pining away For you high up there have perched Out of reach of my now yearning Which was why my heart'd been fleeing From cupid's poised arrow The poem is about
1. A.unforgettable
2. B.sacrificial
3. C.unrequited
4. D.selfish
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Answer: C unrequited
43.
UNSEEN PROSE Read the passage and answer the following question The message was unambiguous: her John was on his way back. For how long had he been gone? Jenny wondered. She wrung her hands in silent expectation. She stood, turned about, and sat, motionless. She was listening in the silence of the room and looking into the gloom of the unlit room. She seemed to pull herself together as she rose to her full height, switched on the light and turned on the TV, to no station in particular, selecting no programme at all. She sat in front of the TV, not watching. Her heart was pounding, slowly, she hoisted herself from the armchair and moved towards the kitchen, like one sleepwalking. She must get some food ready for the sojourner. Her rapid heartbeat did not show in her slow-motion actions. Her cooking done, Jenny was carrying the dish on a tray to the dining table when the doorbell rang. Jenny dropped the tray. The passage is about
1. A.a meeting place
2. B.jenny's expert cooking
3. C.the disappointment of love
4. D.the passion of love
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Answer: D the passion of love
44.
Which of the following helps best to create and sustain interest in a literary work?
1. A.plot
2. B.rhyme
3. C.rhythm
4. D.suspense
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Answer: D suspense
45.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE: A Midsummer Night's Dream Read the extract below and answer the question: And in the wood, when often you and I Upon faint primrose-beds were women lie, Emptying our bosoms of their counsel sweet, There, my Lysander and myself shall meet, And these from Athens turn away our eyes To see new friends and stranger companies Farewell, sweet playfellow;... From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream ...you and I in the first line refers to
1. A.Demetrius and Helena
2. B.Hermia and Helena
3. C.Hippolyta and Lysander
4. D.Oberon and Titania
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Answer: B Hermia and Helena
46.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE: A Midsummer Night's Dream Read the extract below and answer the question: So should the murdered look, and so should I, Pierced through the heart with your stern cruelty; Yes you the murdered look so bright in clear As yonder, Venus in her, glimmering sphere From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream The speaker and the addressee are
1. A.Demetrius and Lysander
2. B.Hermia and Lysander
3. C.Demetrius and Hermia
4. D.Lysander and Helena
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Answer: C Demetrius and Hermia
47.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE: A Midsummer Night's Dream Read the extract below and answer the question: The wildest hath not such a heart as you Run when you will, the story shall be change; Apollo flies, and Daphne holds the chase; The dove pursues the griffin, the mild hind Makes speed to catch the tiger, bootless speed, When cowardice pursues, and valour flies. From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream The speaker is
1. A.Egeus
2. B.Helena
3. C.Lysander
4. D.Titania
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Answer: B Helena
48.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE: A Midsummer Night's Dream Read the extract below and answer the question: Where I have come, great clerks have purposed To greet me with premeditated welcomes; Where I have seen them shiver and look pale, Make periods in the midst of sentences, Throttle their practised accent I their fears, And in conclusion, dumbly have broken off, Not paying me a welcome... From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream The speaker is
1. A.Helena
2. B.Hermia
3. C.Philostrate
4. D.Theseus
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Answer: D Theseus

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