JAMB Literature in English 2018 Past Questions & Answers

In the play 'She Stoops to Conquer,' Constance Neville is an orphan whose legal guardian is her aunt, Mrs. Hardcastle. Mrs. Hardcastle is eager to keep Constance's valuable inheritance of jewels within the family. To achieve this, she schemes for Constance to marry her own son from a previous marriage, the mischievous Tony Lumpkin.

Common mistake: Students might mistakenly choose Mr. Hardcastle because he is the patriarch of the family and the owner of the house where Constance lives, but it is his wife, Mrs. Hardcastle, who is her actual aunt and guardian.

This question is about the character Charles Marlow from Oliver Goldsmith's play, 'She Stoops to Conquer'. A major part of his character is his peculiar shyness; he is very timid and awkward around respectable young women of his own social class. This is why he is shy with Kate Hardcastle when he thinks she is a refined lady but bold when he mistakes her for a barmaid.

Common mistake: Students might mistakenly choose option B, 'Bold and outspoken women', because Marlow is actually bold with Kate Hardcastle when she pretends to be a barmaid, who is herself a bold character.

This question tests your detailed knowledge of the play 'A Raisin in the Sun'. Beneatha is frustrated with her family's poor living conditions in their small, worn-out apartment. She coins the term 'acute ghetto-itis' to describe the suffocating feeling of living in the ghetto, which she tries to symbolically get rid of by spraying the apartment with insecticide.

Common mistake: Students might mistakenly choose 'Claybourne' because they remember Clybourne Park is the new neighbourhood, but the question asks what Beneatha calls their current poor surroundings.

The question tests your knowledge of the themes in the prescribed play, 'A Raisin in the Sun'. The central theme of the play is the pursuit of dreams, as each member of the Younger family has a different hope for how to use the insurance money. Walter dreams of owning a business, Beneatha dreams of becoming a doctor, and Mama dreams of buying a home for her family.

Common mistake: Students might be confused by options related to death because the play starts after the death of Big Walter, but the story's focus is on the family's future dreams and plans, not on the theme of mortality itself.

The question asks for a central theme in Frank Ogbeche's play. The title, 'Harvest of Corruption', directly points to the main message that actions have consequences. The play shows that characters who engage in corrupt acts (planting corruption) eventually suffer the negative results of their actions (harvesting corruption), making option D the most accurate theme.

Common mistake: Students might mistakenly choose 'Spiritual decadence' because corruption is a moral issue, but this is only a part of the broader theme about the direct consequences ('harvest') of one's corrupt actions.

This question is from the prescribed African drama, 'Harvest of Corruption'. In the play, Ogeyi becomes very worried about her friend Aloho's situation with Chief Ade-Amaka and the corrupt circle. To expose the corruption and save her friend, she bravely decides to report the entire story to the police, who are represented by ACP Yakubu and Inspector Inaku.

Common mistake: Students may mistakenly choose option C because it includes the correct police officer, ACP Yakubu, without realizing that Madam Hoha is one of the corrupt characters Ogeyi is reporting.

In the play 'The Blood of a Stranger,' Maligu and Soko conspire with the white man, Whitehead, to illegally mine diamonds. To create a diversion and pretend to follow tradition, they plan a fake ritual that requires a virgin. They abduct Wara, the king's daughter, to be used in this deceitful plan.

Common mistake: Students might mistakenly choose Kindo because he is the hero who opposes the villains, but it was Wara who was the direct victim of the abduction plot.

This question is based on the plot of Dele Charley's play, 'The Blood of a Stranger'. In the play, the white man, Maligu, wants to exploit the villagers and steal their diamonds. To do this, he introduces gin to them, getting them drunk in order to cloud their judgment and make them easier to manipulate, thereby subduing their consciousness.

Common mistake: A student who has not read the play might choose 'Happy' or 'Busy', thinking these are general ways to distract people, but the text specifically shows the use of alcohol to make the villagers intoxicated.

In Richard Wright's novel 'Native Son', Mary Dalton is the only child of the wealthy white couple, Mr. and Mrs. Dalton. They are the family who hires the protagonist, Bigger Thomas, as their chauffeur. The central plot of the novel revolves around Bigger's accidental killing of Mary.

Common mistake: A student might choose another option due to a simple failure to recall the specific names of the main characters in the novel, as the other options are just distractors.

This question tests your knowledge of the plot of Richard Wright's novel, 'Native Son'. In Book One, when Bigger Thomas arrives at the Dalton's house, the housekeeper Peggy leads him to the kitchen. She kindly asks him to sit down while she gets the family's dinner ready, showing the first instance of hospitality he receives in the house.

Common mistake: Students might mistakenly choose 'Food ready' because it is a general term for a meal, but the novel specifically mentions that Peggy was preparing the family's dinner.