WAEC Literature in English 2023 past questions
Ten questions from the 2023 WAEC Literature in English paper, with answers and explanations. We hold 67 questions from this paper, and the Skolra app has all of them.
WAEC Literature in English 2023 questions and answers
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1.
A character that is built around a single idea or quality is a _______ character.
- AflatCorrect
- Bround
- Cdynamic
- Dstatic
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Answer: A
A character built around a single idea or quality is called a flat character. Flat characters lack depth and complexity; they represent one trait or function throughout the story. This contrasts with a round character, who is multi-dimensional and complex.
- A
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2.
A short poem lamenting the death of someone is
- Aan epic
- Ban ode
- Can elegyCorrect
- Da sonnet
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Answer: C
An elegy is a poem of mourning or lamentation written to lament the death of someone. It is one of the oldest poetic forms and is specifically associated with grief and loss, unlike an ode (a poem of praise), a sonnet (a 14-line poem on love or other themes), or an epic (a long narrative poem).
- A
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3.
Seven metrical feet in a line of a stanza is
- AheptameterCorrect
- Bpentameter
- Coctameter
- Dhexameter
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Answer: A
The term for seven metrical feet in a line of verse is heptameter. The Greek prefix 'hepta' means seven. By comparison, hexameter has six feet, pentameter has five, and octameter has eight feet.
- A
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4.
A dramatic performance with scenes played by body movements or gestures without words known as
- Atableau
- BmimeCorrect
- Cballet
- Ddumb show
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Answer: B
Mime is a dramatic performance in which performers convey narrative, emotion, and character entirely through body movements and gestures, without using spoken words. While a dumb show is a specific theatrical convention (a silent enactment within a larger play), mime is the general term for wordless performance through physical movement.
- A
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5.
A dead metaphor is
- Aa once-figurative expression so overused it has lost its metaphorical forceCorrect
- Ba newly coined metaphor used for the first time
- Ca metaphor comparing two objects that no longer exist
- Da metaphor drawn exclusively from funerary poetry
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Answer: A
A dead metaphor is a figure of speech that was originally vivid and imaginative but has been repeated so often in everyday language that speakers no longer recognise its figurative origin (e.g. 'the leg of a table' or 'the foot of a mountain'). The image has become literal through familiarity, draining it of its original metaphorical life.
- A
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6.
Letters, journals and diaries are examples of
- Adramatic writing
- Bepic poetry
- Cpersonal prose formsCorrect
- Dfictional prose narratives
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Answer: C
Letters, journals, and diaries are personal, non-fictional prose forms written from a first-person perspective, recording private thoughts, events, and communications. They belong to the category of personal prose forms (also called autobiographical or personal writing), distinct from fictional prose, drama, or poetry.
- A
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7.
At the last head count, the population of the school was three thousand is an example of
- Ahyperbole
- Beuphemism
- Cmetonymy
- DsynecdocheCorrect
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Answer: D
'Head count' uses 'head' (a part of the human body) to represent an entire person, and by extension the total number of persons. This use of a part to stand for the whole is the defining characteristic of synecdoche, distinguishing it from metonymy, which substitutes an associated concept rather than a bodily part.
- A
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8.
Jonsey's speech Your mayoral hopeful is addressed to
- Athe audience
- BBassyCorrect
- Cthe Mayor
- Dhimself
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Answer: B
In the extract, Jonsey calls out 'Bassy, Ba-a-ssy!' and once Bassy responds with 'Here. Anything the matter?', Jonsey delivers the line 'Your mayoral hopeful'. The direct address follows Bassy's response, making it clear that the speech is directed at Bassy.
- A
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9.
That girl is too young to be put in the family way illustrates
- Airony
- Bsynecdoche
- CeuphemismCorrect
- Dmetonymy
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Answer: C
'In the family way' is a euphemism for being pregnant. A euphemism substitutes an indirect, mild, or socially acceptable expression for one that might be considered blunt or embarrassing. Here the phrase softens the direct statement of pregnancy with a gentler idiom.
- A
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10.
Resolution in a literary work is also referred to as
- AdenouementCorrect
- Bexposition
- Cclimax
- Drising action
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Answer: A
Resolution in a literary work is also referred to as the denouement, a French term meaning 'untying'. It is the final part of a narrative where conflicts are resolved, loose ends are tied up, and the story reaches its conclusion after the climax.
- 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 67 questions we hold from the 2023 paper, on a timed CBT screen
Every question has the answer and an explanation, in the Skolra app.