JAMB Literature in English questions

295 questions with answers and explanations. Tap an option to check yourself.

All topics Drama: types and elements · 29 Dramatic techniques · 37 Figures of speech · 35 General literary terms · 33 Literary appreciation: unseen poetry · 24 Literary appreciation: unseen prose · 24 Poetry: imagery, sound and structure · 27 Poetry: types and forms · 23 Point of view and narrative techniques · 21 Prose: plot, setting and characterisation · 22 Prose: types of fiction · 20

Question 41· Dramatic techniques· JAMB
The chorus in Greek drama
Explanation and discussion
Question 42· Dramatic techniques· JAMB
Read the extract and answer the question. [A small tailoring shop. Sewing machines hum. MAMA NGOZI pins a gown on a dummy. CHIDI, her apprentice, rushes in, out of breath.] CHIDI: Madam, the chairman's wife is coming herself! MAMA NGOZI: (without looking up) Then let her come on her feet like everybody else. CHIDI: But the gown is not ready. She will shout the roof down. MAMA NGOZI: A roof that falls from shouting was never a roof. Bring me the blue thread. CHIDI: (searching frantically) There is no blue thread, Madam. Only green. MAMA NGOZI: (finally turning) Then today, my son, the sky will be green. [Enter MRS OKAFOR, fanning herself with a large hat.] MRS OKAFOR: Ngozi! Is my gown ready, or must I attend the launching in my night dress? MAMA NGOZI: (smiling sweetly) Madam, a beautiful woman makes any cloth look like a gown. (An original extract written for AdmitMe practice.)
Mama Ngozi's final remark to Mrs Okafor is best described as
Explanation and discussion
Question 43· Dramatic techniques· JAMB
Read the extract and answer the question. [A village square at dusk. BABA ALAO sits on a stool. KEMI enters with a bucket.] BABA ALAO: You walk as if the ground owes you money. KEMI: (setting the bucket down) The ground owes nobody, Baba. It is the borehole that owes us water. BABA ALAO: In my day we drank from the stream and thanked the gods. KEMI: In your day the stream did not carry the factory's colours. BABA ALAO: (aside) The child speaks like her mother, sharp as a new cutlass. KEMI: Tomorrow the women will march to the council. Will you come? BABA ALAO: (rising slowly) An old tortoise does not race. But it arrives. (An original extract written for AdmitMe practice.)
The stage direction '(aside)' shows that Baba Alao's words are
Explanation and discussion
Question 44· Dramatic techniques· JAMB
Read the extract and answer the question. [A small tailoring shop. Sewing machines hum. MAMA NGOZI pins a gown on a dummy. CHIDI, her apprentice, rushes in, out of breath.] CHIDI: Madam, the chairman's wife is coming herself! MAMA NGOZI: (without looking up) Then let her come on her feet like everybody else. CHIDI: But the gown is not ready. She will shout the roof down. MAMA NGOZI: A roof that falls from shouting was never a roof. Bring me the blue thread. CHIDI: (searching frantically) There is no blue thread, Madam. Only green. MAMA NGOZI: (finally turning) Then today, my son, the sky will be green. [Enter MRS OKAFOR, fanning herself with a large hat.] MRS OKAFOR: Ngozi! Is my gown ready, or must I attend the launching in my night dress? MAMA NGOZI: (smiling sweetly) Madam, a beautiful woman makes any cloth look like a gown. (An original extract written for AdmitMe practice.)
The overall tone of the extract is
Explanation and discussion
Question 45· Dramatic techniques· JAMB
Read the extract and answer the question. [A small tailoring shop. Sewing machines hum. MAMA NGOZI pins a gown on a dummy. CHIDI, her apprentice, rushes in, out of breath.] CHIDI: Madam, the chairman's wife is coming herself! MAMA NGOZI: (without looking up) Then let her come on her feet like everybody else. CHIDI: But the gown is not ready. She will shout the roof down. MAMA NGOZI: A roof that falls from shouting was never a roof. Bring me the blue thread. CHIDI: (searching frantically) There is no blue thread, Madam. Only green. MAMA NGOZI: (finally turning) Then today, my son, the sky will be green. [Enter MRS OKAFOR, fanning herself with a large hat.] MRS OKAFOR: Ngozi! Is my gown ready, or must I attend the launching in my night dress? MAMA NGOZI: (smiling sweetly) Madam, a beautiful woman makes any cloth look like a gown. (An original extract written for AdmitMe practice.)
Mrs Okafor's question about attending 'in my night dress' is an example of
Explanation and discussion
Question 46· Dramatic techniques· JAMB
Read the extract and answer the question. [A small tailoring shop. Sewing machines hum. MAMA NGOZI pins a gown on a dummy. CHIDI, her apprentice, rushes in, out of breath.] CHIDI: Madam, the chairman's wife is coming herself! MAMA NGOZI: (without looking up) Then let her come on her feet like everybody else. CHIDI: But the gown is not ready. She will shout the roof down. MAMA NGOZI: A roof that falls from shouting was never a roof. Bring me the blue thread. CHIDI: (searching frantically) There is no blue thread, Madam. Only green. MAMA NGOZI: (finally turning) Then today, my son, the sky will be green. [Enter MRS OKAFOR, fanning herself with a large hat.] MRS OKAFOR: Ngozi! Is my gown ready, or must I attend the launching in my night dress? MAMA NGOZI: (smiling sweetly) Madam, a beautiful woman makes any cloth look like a gown. (An original extract written for AdmitMe practice.)
The line 'Then today, my son, the sky will be green' reveals Mama Ngozi's
Explanation and discussion
Question 47· Dramatic techniques· JAMB
Anagnorisis is the moment when
Explanation and discussion
Question 48· Dramatic techniques· JAMB
A brief remark a character makes to the audience, supposedly unheard by others on stage, is an
Explanation and discussion
Question 49· Dramatic techniques· JAMB
Read the extract and answer the question. [A village square at dusk. BABA ALAO sits on a stool. KEMI enters with a bucket.] BABA ALAO: You walk as if the ground owes you money. KEMI: (setting the bucket down) The ground owes nobody, Baba. It is the borehole that owes us water. BABA ALAO: In my day we drank from the stream and thanked the gods. KEMI: In your day the stream did not carry the factory's colours. BABA ALAO: (aside) The child speaks like her mother, sharp as a new cutlass. KEMI: Tomorrow the women will march to the council. Will you come? BABA ALAO: (rising slowly) An old tortoise does not race. But it arrives. (An original extract written for AdmitMe practice.)
Baba Alao's last line suggests that he will
Explanation and discussion
Question 50· Dramatic techniques· JAMB
Read the extract below and answer the question. (An AdmitMe scene. The palace courtyard. CHIEF OKORO sits among his ELDERS.) CHIEF OKORO: (rising) Who dares to speak of tax in my palace? ADA: (stepping forward) I dare, Chief. The market women have paid three times this year, and still the road to the market is a river of mud. CHIEF OKORO: (laughing, to the elders) Listen to her! A woman who sells pepper now teaches the elders how to rule. ELDER IKE: (aside) The pepper seller's words are hotter than her goods. ADA: Laugh, Chief. But when the rains come and your car sinks on that road, you will remember who told you.
Chief Okoro's attitude to Ada in the extract is
Explanation and discussion
Question 51· Dramatic techniques· JAMB
Read the extract and answer the question. [A village square at dusk. BABA ALAO sits on a stool. KEMI enters with a bucket.] BABA ALAO: You walk as if the ground owes you money. KEMI: (setting the bucket down) The ground owes nobody, Baba. It is the borehole that owes us water. BABA ALAO: In my day we drank from the stream and thanked the gods. KEMI: In your day the stream did not carry the factory's colours. BABA ALAO: (aside) The child speaks like her mother, sharp as a new cutlass. KEMI: Tomorrow the women will march to the council. Will you come? BABA ALAO: (rising slowly) An old tortoise does not race. But it arrives. (An original extract written for AdmitMe practice.)
The main problem raised in the extract is
Explanation and discussion
Question 52· Dramatic techniques· JAMB
Read the extract below and answer the question. (An AdmitMe scene. The palace courtyard. CHIEF OKORO sits among his ELDERS.) CHIEF OKORO: (rising) Who dares to speak of tax in my palace? ADA: (stepping forward) I dare, Chief. The market women have paid three times this year, and still the road to the market is a river of mud. CHIEF OKORO: (laughing, to the elders) Listen to her! A woman who sells pepper now teaches the elders how to rule. ELDER IKE: (aside) The pepper seller's words are hotter than her goods. ADA: Laugh, Chief. But when the rains come and your car sinks on that road, you will remember who told you.
Elder Ike's remark contains a pun on the word
Explanation and discussion
Question 53· Dramatic techniques· JAMB
Deus ex machina refers to
Explanation and discussion
Question 54· Dramatic techniques· JAMB
A speech in which a character alone on stage speaks his thoughts aloud is a
Explanation and discussion
Question 55· Dramatic techniques· JAMB
Read the extract and answer the question. [A village square at dusk. BABA ALAO sits on a stool. KEMI enters with a bucket.] BABA ALAO: You walk as if the ground owes you money. KEMI: (setting the bucket down) The ground owes nobody, Baba. It is the borehole that owes us water. BABA ALAO: In my day we drank from the stream and thanked the gods. KEMI: In your day the stream did not carry the factory's colours. BABA ALAO: (aside) The child speaks like her mother, sharp as a new cutlass. KEMI: Tomorrow the women will march to the council. Will you come? BABA ALAO: (rising slowly) An old tortoise does not race. But it arrives. (An original extract written for AdmitMe practice.)
'sharp as a new cutlass' is an example of
Explanation and discussion
Question 56· Dramatic techniques· JAMB
Read the extract and answer the question. [A small tailoring shop. Sewing machines hum. MAMA NGOZI pins a gown on a dummy. CHIDI, her apprentice, rushes in, out of breath.] CHIDI: Madam, the chairman's wife is coming herself! MAMA NGOZI: (without looking up) Then let her come on her feet like everybody else. CHIDI: But the gown is not ready. She will shout the roof down. MAMA NGOZI: A roof that falls from shouting was never a roof. Bring me the blue thread. CHIDI: (searching frantically) There is no blue thread, Madam. Only green. MAMA NGOZI: (finally turning) Then today, my son, the sky will be green. [Enter MRS OKAFOR, fanning herself with a large hat.] MRS OKAFOR: Ngozi! Is my gown ready, or must I attend the launching in my night dress? MAMA NGOZI: (smiling sweetly) Madam, a beautiful woman makes any cloth look like a gown. (An original extract written for AdmitMe practice.)
Mama Ngozi's reply 'Then let her come on her feet like everybody else' shows that she is
Explanation and discussion
Question 57· Dramatic techniques· JAMB
Read the extract and answer the question. [A village square at dusk. BABA ALAO sits on a stool. KEMI enters with a bucket.] BABA ALAO: You walk as if the ground owes you money. KEMI: (setting the bucket down) The ground owes nobody, Baba. It is the borehole that owes us water. BABA ALAO: In my day we drank from the stream and thanked the gods. KEMI: In your day the stream did not carry the factory's colours. BABA ALAO: (aside) The child speaks like her mother, sharp as a new cutlass. KEMI: Tomorrow the women will march to the council. Will you come? BABA ALAO: (rising slowly) An old tortoise does not race. But it arrives. (An original extract written for AdmitMe practice.)
Baba Alao's remark 'You walk as if the ground owes you money' suggests that Kemi is walking
Explanation and discussion
Question 58· Dramatic techniques· JAMB
Read the extract below and answer the question. (An AdmitMe scene. The palace courtyard. CHIEF OKORO sits among his ELDERS.) CHIEF OKORO: (rising) Who dares to speak of tax in my palace? ADA: (stepping forward) I dare, Chief. The market women have paid three times this year, and still the road to the market is a river of mud. CHIEF OKORO: (laughing, to the elders) Listen to her! A woman who sells pepper now teaches the elders how to rule. ELDER IKE: (aside) The pepper seller's words are hotter than her goods. ADA: Laugh, Chief. But when the rains come and your car sinks on that road, you will remember who told you.
The main conflict in the extract is between
Explanation and discussion
Question 59· Dramatic techniques· JAMB
Comic relief in a tragedy is
Explanation and discussion
Question 60· Dramatic techniques· JAMB
When the audience knows something that a character on stage does not know, the playwright is using
Explanation and discussion

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JAMB Literature in English questions

The chorus in Greek drama

Mama Ngozi's final remark to Mrs Okafor is best described as

The stage direction '(aside)' shows that Baba Alao's words are

The overall tone of the extract is

Mrs Okafor's question about attending 'in my night dress' is an example of

The line 'Then today, my son, the sky will be green' reveals Mama Ngozi's

Anagnorisis is the moment when

A brief remark a character makes to the audience, supposedly unheard by others on stage, is an

Baba Alao's last line suggests that he will

Chief Okoro's attitude to Ada in the extract is

The main problem raised in the extract is

Elder Ike's remark contains a pun on the word

Deus ex machina refers to

A speech in which a character alone on stage speaks his thoughts aloud is a

'sharp as a new cutlass' is an example of

Mama Ngozi's reply 'Then let her come on her feet like everybody else' shows that she is

Baba Alao's remark 'You walk as if the ground owes you money' suggests that Kemi is walking

The main conflict in the extract is between

Comic relief in a tragedy is

When the audience knows something that a character on stage does not know, the playwright is using