Literature-in-English past questions: WAEC SSCE 2025

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

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

1.
"At the last head count, the population of the school was three thousand" is an example of
1. A.metonymy
2. B.hyperbole
3. C.synecdoche
4. D.pun
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Answer: C synecdoche
2.
"That girl is too young to be put in the family way" illustrates
1. A.paradox
2. B.hyperbole
3. C.oxymoron
4. D.euphemism
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Answer: D euphemism
3.
"The moon looked on the massacre in horror!" illustrates
1. A.prologue
2. B.epilogue
3. C.transferred epithet
4. D.pathetic fallacy
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Answer: D pathetic fallacy
4.
A character that is built around a single idea or quality is a ________ character.
1. A.choral
2. B.heroic
3. C.flat
4. D.sound
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Answer: C flat
5.
A dead metaphor is
1. A.overused and funny
2. B.implied and not funny
3. C.overused and ineffective
4. D.implied and underused
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Answer: C overused and ineffective
6.
A dramatic performance with scenes played by body movements or gestures without words, known as
1. A.melodrama
2. B.panygeric
3. C.pantomime
4. D.comedy
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Answer: C pantomime
7.
A fable is also known as
1. A.a parody
2. B.an apologue
3. C.a farce
4. D.an epigram
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Answer: B an apologue
8.
A short poem lamenting the death of someone is
1. A.a sonnet
2. B.an ode
3. C.a threnody
4. D.an epic
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Answer: C a threnody
9.
Bassy is a ________ in the play.
1. A.director
2. B.producer
3. C.narrator
4. D.character
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Answer: D character
10.
child of scorn illustrates
1. A.contrast
2. B.euphemism
3. C.metaphor
4. D.metonymy
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Answer: C metaphor
11.
Exaggerating one's personal features for comic effect is
1. A.contrast
2. B.satire
3. C.lampoon
4. D.caricature
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Answer: D caricature
12.
From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream After the speech, the speaker
1. A.falls asleep
2. B.laughs uncontrollably
3. C.starts crying
4. D.begins to dance
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Answer: A falls asleep
13.
From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream it is not enough to speak, but to speak true illustrates
1. A.parable
2. B.epitaph
3. C.epigram
4. D.wisecrack
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Answer: C epigram
14.
From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream The character that delivers the prologue is
1. A.Snug
2. B.Quince
3. C.Starveling
4. D.Snout
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Answer: B Quince
15.
From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream The character that speaks before the speaker
1. A.Theseus
2. B.Pyramus
3. C.Hippolyta
4. D.Demetrius
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Answer: A Theseus
16.
From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream The speaker and the addressee are
1. A.master and servant
2. B.friends
3. C.lovers
4. D.father and daughter
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Answer: C lovers
17.
From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream The speaker is
1. A.Hippolyta
2. B.Bottom
3. C.Pyramus
4. D.Lysander
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Answer: A Hippolyta
18.
From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream The speaker is addressing
1. A.Demetrius
2. B.Helena
3. C.Hermia
4. D.himself
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Answer: D himself
19.
From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream The speaker is in
1. A.the palace
2. B.the woods
3. C.a street
4. D.an apartment
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Answer: B the woods
20.
From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream The speaker resolves to tell
1. A.Theseus of Hermia's infidelity
2. B.Egeus of Hermia's flight
3. C.Demetrius of Hermia's flight
4. D.Lysander of Hermia's infidelity
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Answer: C Demetrius of Hermia's flight
21.
From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream The speaker's mood stems from
1. A.wanting to punish Hermia
2. B.meeting with Hermia
3. C.having to go into the forest
4. D.being rejected by the lover
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Answer: D being rejected by the lover
22.
From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream The speech is made in
1. A.Oberon's place
2. B.the Queen's palace
3. C.Theseus' palace
4. D.the woods
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Answer: D the woods
23.
From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream The speech shows that the speaker is
1. A.disappointed
2. B.excited
3. C.in a bad mood
4. D.high spirits
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Answer: A disappointed
24.
From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream Thy love ne'er alter, till thy sweet life end. implies
1. A.an enduring love
2. B.a fickle love
3. C.a family love
4. D.an undying love
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Answer: A an enduring love
25.
In the Town hall is the
1. A.stage
2. B.setting
3. C.atmosphere
4. D.location
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Answer: B setting
26.
join in with it, lead it on, but, finally, veer it from illustrates
1. A.personification
2. B.allusion
3. C.simile
4. D.parallelism
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Answer: D parallelism
27.
Jonsey's opening speech illustrates
1. A.mime
2. B.aside
3. C.epilogue
4. D.soliloquy
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Answer: D soliloquy
28.
Letters, journals and diaries are examples of
1. A.non-fiction
2. B.meta-fiction
3. C.faction
4. D.fiction
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Answer: A non-fiction
29.
PART II: UNSEEN PROSE AND POETRY Read the following passage and answer the following question: Along marched the crowd, determined not to be distracted from its cause and the course it had charted. If anyone could intimidate the chief, it was Sasu, who led the crowd. The chief nurtured unruffled restraint. He knew Sasu, knew that Sasu would not waste the trust between them on renegades. One way to divert a mob from its goal is to join in with it, lead it on, but, finally, veer it from the course of its cause. Onward, towards the chief's palace marched the crowd, singing war songs. The sun frowned as the palace guards, rattling like leaves in a storm - fear branded on their faces, came out to survey the threatening crowd and prepare for a siege. Just then, Sasu turned about, heading away from the palace - with the crowd, and the war songs. rattling like leaves in a storm, fear branded on their faces illustrates
1. A.personification and simile
2. B.personification and metaphor
3. C.simile and metaphor
4. D.assonance and simile
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Answer: A personification and simile
30.
Read the passage below and answer the following question: (In the Town Hall) Jonsey: (By himself, centre right, looking skulky) How does anyone keep faith with himself In such an ill made place? Bassy, Ba-a-ssy! Bassy: Here. Anything the matter? Jonsey: (Moves front stage centre right) Your mayoral hopeful. Jonsey's speech "Your mayoral hopeful" is addressed to
1. A.no one
2. B.the audience
3. C.Bassy
4. D.himself
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Answer: C Bassy
31.
Read the poem below and answer the question that follows: Miniver Cheevy, child of scorn, Grew lean while he assailed the season; He wept that he was ever born, And he had reasons. Miniver loved the days of old When swords were bright and steeds prancing; The vision of a warrior bold Would set him dancing. In the last stanza, the persona is
1. A.malnourished
2. B.fantasising
3. C.pretending
4. D.angry
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Answer: B fantasising
32.
Reading the poem, one notices that the poet is being
1. A.ironic
2. B.sarcastic
3. C.Hyperbolic
4. D.euphemistic
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Answer: A ironic
33.
Resolution in a literary work is also referred to as
1. A.final outcome
2. B.events that increase action
3. C.events that increase tension
4. D.the complication
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Answer: A final outcome
34.
Seven metrical feet in a line of a stanza is
1. A.hexametre
2. B.septet
3. C.heptametre
4. D.triolet
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Answer: C heptametre
35.
The attitude of the writer towards Sasu is one of
1. A.anger
2. B.approval
3. C.surprise
4. D.disdain
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Answer: B approval
36.
The dominant literary device used in the extract is
1. A.parallelism
2. B.antithesis
3. C.apostrophe
4. D.personification
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Answer: D personification
37.
The extract presents the image of a
1. A.dark night
2. B.calm weather
3. C.bright day
4. D.rough time
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Answer: B calm weather
38.
The last paragraph illustrates
1. A.rising action
2. B.suspense
3. C.foreshadow
4. D.anti-climax
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Answer: D anti-climax
39.
The metrical structure is predominantly
1. A.spondaic
2. B.iambic
3. C.trochaic
4. D.dactylic
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Answer: B iambic
40.
The prevailing atmosphere is
1. A.serene
2. B.drab
3. C.tense
4. D.pleasant
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Answer: C tense
41.
The speeches of Jonsey and Bassy illustrate
1. A.monologue
2. B.dialogue
3. C.prologue
4. D.epilogue
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Answer: B dialogue
42.
The third stanza of the Shakespearean sonnet is
1. A.quatrain
2. B.octave
3. C.sextet
4. D.couplet
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Answer: A quatrain
43.
The two stanzas are built on
1. A.identical rhyme
2. B.run on lines
3. C.alternate rhyme
4. D.couplets
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Answer: C alternate rhyme
44.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE: A Midsummer Night's Dream Read the extract below and answer the question that follows: He hath rid his prologue like a rough colt: he knows not the stop. A good moral, my lord: it is not enough to speak, but to speak true. From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream The character that speaks after the speaker is
1. A.Demetrius
2. B.Hippolyta
3. C.Lysander
4. D.Titania
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Answer: C Lysander
45.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE: A Midsummer Night's Dream Read the extract below and asnwer the question that follows: That fallen am I in dark uneven way, Come, thou gentle day; For if but once thou show me thy grey light, I'll find, and revenge this spite. From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream Come, thou gentle day illustrates
1. A.apostrophe
2. B.paradox
3. C.irony
4. D.euphemism
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Answer: A apostrophe
46.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE: A Midsummer Night's Dream Use the following extract to answer the following question: As wagish boys in a game themselves forswear; So the boy Love is perjured everywhere; For ere Demetrius looked on Hermia's eyne, He hailed down oaths that he was only mine; And when this hail some heat from Hermia felt, So he dissolved and showers of oaths did melt From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream The speaker has just said farewell to
1. A.Hermia
2. B.Lysander
3. C.Demetrius
4. D.Helena
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Answer: A Hermia
47.
WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE: A Midummer Night's Dream Read the following extract and answer the question that follows: Lysander riddles very prettily; Now much beshrew my manners and my pride, If Hermia meant to say Lysander lied. But, gentle friend, for love and courtesy Lie further off, in human modesty; Such separation as may well be said Becomes a virtuous bachelor and a maid; So far be distant, and good night, sweet friend: Thy love ne'er alter, till thy sweet life end! From the novel; A Midsummer Night's Dream Now much beshrew my manners and my pride, illustrates the use of
1. A.alliteration
2. B.onomatopoeia
3. C.personification
4. D.assonance
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Answer: A alliteration

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