JAMB Literature in English 2018 past questions
Ten questions from the 2018 JAMB Literature in English paper, with answers and explanations. We hold 61 questions from this paper, and the Skolra app has all of them.
JAMB Literature in English 2018 questions and answers
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1.Your head is like a drum that is beaten for spirits... - The lines above are a good example of_________
- Ametaphor
- BsimileCorrect
- Cpersonification
- Dhyperbole
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Answer: B
'Your head is like a drum beaten for spirits' makes an explicit comparison between a person's head and a drum using the word 'like.' This makes it a simile — a figure of speech that compares two unlike things using 'like' or 'as,' distinguishing it from a metaphor, which states the comparison directly without a connective word.
- A
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2.I cannot rest from travel: I will drink, life to the lees..." A.L. Tennyson: Ulysses - The lines above inform the reader that the poet
- AWants to return home to rest after long journeys
- BIs fearful of death and old age
- CIs tired of adventure and seeks peace
- DIs restless and determined to keep travelling until the end of lifeCorrect
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Answer: D
In Tennyson's 'Ulysses', the lines 'I cannot rest from travel: I will drink / Life to the lees' convey the speaker's restlessness and fierce determination to continue exploring and living fully until death — the hallmark adventurous spirit of the poem.
- A
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3.Characterisation in a novel refers to the _____?
- Acentral theme and moral lesson of the novel
- Bmethod by which an author creates and develops charactersCorrect
- Cplot structure and sequence of events in the story
- Dsetting and physical atmosphere of the narrative
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Answer: B
Characterisation refers to the techniques and methods an author uses to create, present, and develop the characters in a literary work. It encompasses both direct description and indirect revelation through speech, action, and the responses of other characters.
- A
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4.From the novel; The Wives' Revolt - 'Those who have full breasts have walked out, and that leaves you, me, and the old girls returned_______'
- Ato their domestic dutiesCorrect
- Bto Eyara to join the strike
- Cto challenge the elders of the village
- Dto press their demands on the chieftains
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Answer: A
In The Wives' Revolt (a play, not a novel), the young women with 'full breasts' (the fertile, sexually active women) walked out to Eyara to press their demands for gender equity. The older women who remained or returned went back to their domestic duties, contrasting sharply with the determined younger strikers who maintained the protest at Eyara.
- A
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5.Bigger kills Mary due to______?
- Ahatred and deliberate racial violence
- Bgreed and the desire to rob her
- Cfear and panic of being discovered in her roomCorrect
- Djealousy over her relationship with Jan
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Answer: C
In Native Son, Bigger kills Mary Dalton accidentally. When her blind mother enters the room, Bigger panics and in his fear of being discovered alone with a white woman, he suffocates Mary while trying to keep her quiet. It is an act driven by fear and panic, not premeditated intent.
- A
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6.An act of speaking ones thought aloud by oneself, regardless of any hearer, in a play is known as____________
- Aaside
- Bdialogue
- CsoliloquyCorrect
- Dmonologue
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Answer: C
A soliloquy is a dramatic device in which a character speaks their innermost thoughts aloud, alone on stage, regardless of any hearer. It allows the audience to understand a character's true feelings, motivations, and conflicts. Famous examples include Hamlet's 'To be or not to be' and Othello's final speech before his death.
- A
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7.This element shows how sections are separated into parts with numbers and titles_____________
- AChaptersCorrect
- BStanzas
- CScenes
- DActs
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Answer: A
Chapters are the major divisions of a prose work, separated into numbered and often titled parts. In drama the equivalent large division is an act.
- A
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8.The writer of a poem is called__________?
- APoetCorrect
- BPlaywright
- CNovelist
- DNarrator
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Answer: A
The writer of a poem is called a poet. The narrator or persona of a poem is distinct from the poet who authored it.
- A
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9.He who writes a prose is a__________?
- AProse writerCorrect
- BPlaywright
- CNarrator
- DPoet
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Answer: A
A person who writes prose is called a prose writer (also referred to as an author or novelist when writing fiction). This distinguishes them from a poet or a playwright.
- A
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10.A fable is a story in which________?
- Ahistorical events from the past are dramatically re-enacted
- Banimals serve as characters and the story teaches a moral lessonCorrect
- Chuman beings struggle against the forces of nature
- Dgods and goddesses feature as the main characters
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Answer: B
A fable is a short story, typically featuring animals as characters who behave like humans, and is designed to convey a moral lesson or truth about human behaviour. Classic examples include Aesop's Fables.
- A
The questions come from past JAMB, WAEC and NECO papers. We use software to help write the answer options and explanations, and every answer is checked twice before it goes on the site. How we check
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Practise all 61 questions we hold from the 2018 paper, on a timed CBT screen
Every question has the answer and an explanation, in the Skolra app.