JAMB Literature in English 2009 Past Questions & Answers

This question tests your knowledge of the tools a playwright uses to create characters and meaning in a play. The correct answer is irony because the character of Lawyer B is likely represented through a contrast between what he says and what he really means, or between what is expected of him and what he actually does. This use of irony is a specific dramatic technique to reveal his true personality to the audience.

Common mistake: Students often choose 'dialogue' because characters in a play speak, but the question asks for the specific technique used for representation, which in this case is the ironic nature of the dialogue, not just the dialogue itself.

This question is from Ama Ata Aidoo's play, 'The Dilemma of a Ghost'. In the play, James Ofosu, who is Maanan's grandfather, expresses his disappointment with her life's path. He specifically states that he had hoped she would become a lawyer, which is another word for an attorney, showing his high aspirations for her education and career.

Common mistake: Students who have not read the text carefully might guess another high-status profession like a surgeon or accountant, but the play explicitly mentions James Ofosu's desire for Maanan to be a lawyer.

This question tests your knowledge of plot, which is a key dramatic technique. An episodic plot is a story structure made up of a series of loosely connected incidents or episodes, rather than one single continuous storyline. The play in question is structured this way, with scenes that are thematically linked but do not always follow a strict cause-and-effect chain.

Common mistake: Students often choose 'linear' because it is the most common plot structure, but they fail to recognize that in an episodic play, the scenes are more like separate short stories connected by a character or theme.

This question tests your knowledge of the plot and character relationships in a prescribed non-African text. The correct answer is 'Betrayal of trust' because the core conflict and tension between the characters, James and Lawyer B, originate from an act where one character breaks the confidence the other had in them. This specific event is the primary reason for the strain in their relationship, more so than any other factor.

Common mistake: Students might mistakenly choose 'Family differences' because family issues are a common source of conflict in literature, but the specific problem between these two characters stems directly from a breach of trust, not their family backgrounds.

An oxymoron is a figure of speech that combines two words with opposite or contradictory meanings. The correct option is 'oxymoron' because the phrase 'permanent bloom' joins two conflicting ideas. A 'bloom' refers to the flowering of a plant, which is a temporary and natural process, while 'permanent' means lasting forever, creating a contradiction.

Common mistake: Students might mistakenly choose 'rhetorical question' if they misinterpret the exclamatory statement as a question that is asked for effect and does not require an answer.

This question tests your knowledge of the plot of Romeo and Juliet. At this point in the play, Juliet has taken a sleeping potion to fake her death, a plan known to Friar Lawrence. When the Friar asks if the 'bride is ready', he is playing along with the family's belief that she is dead and is ironically asking if her body, the corpse, is ready for the funeral.

Common mistake: Students often choose option D because they take the Friar's words literally, forgetting that at this stage of the play, everyone believes Juliet is dead and is being prepared for her funeral, not her wedding.

This question tests your understanding of a specific moment in the prescribed text, Romeo and Juliet. The quote shows Juliet's impatience after she has secretly married Romeo. She finds the day 'tedious' because she is eagerly waiting for nightfall to be with her husband and consummate their marriage, which means to have their wedding night.

Common mistake: Students might mistakenly choose option C because Juliet is indeed eager, but they miss the crucial detail that she is already married and is specifically waiting for the wedding night, not the wedding ceremony itself.

A simile is a figure of speech that compares two different things using the words 'like' or 'as'. In the excerpt, the speaker compares how boring the day is ('So tedious is this day') to the feeling of an impatient child waiting for a festival ('As is the night before some festival'). Because this direct comparison is made using the word 'as', it is a clear example of a simile.

Common mistake: Students may confuse simile with other figures of speech if they fail to spot the explicit comparison made with the word 'as'.

The play creates a tragic atmosphere by constantly hinting that a terrible fate awaits the lovers. For example, before the party, Romeo has a dream that warns of his 'untimely death.' Later, when Romeo leaves for Mantua, Juliet has a vision of him 'as one dead in the bottom of a tomb.' These moments of dreams and foreboding create a feeling of doom and make the audience feel that tragedy is unavoidable.

Common mistake: Students often mistakenly choose 'fights and quarrels' because these events are major parts of the plot, but they are the actions of the tragedy, not the techniques used to create the tragic feeling or atmosphere.

The question tests your knowledge of a specific event in the prescribed text, Romeo and Juliet. The party at the Capulets' house is the correct answer because this is where Romeo and Juliet meet and experience 'love at first sight'. This instant, powerful attraction, which ignores their families' long-standing feud, is the play's first and strongest depiction of idealistic love.

Common mistake: Many students might wrongly choose the balcony scene because it is a famous expression of love, but the party scene is where their idealistic 'love at first sight' is first established.