JAMB Literature in English 2021 Past Questions & Answers

Alliteration is the correct answer because it is the literary term for the repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginning of words placed close to each other. For example, in the phrase 'sweet silent stone,' the 's' sound is repeated. The question directly asks for the definition of this sound effect.

Common mistake: Students often confuse Alliteration with Assonance, but Assonance is the repetition of vowel sounds (a, e, i, o, u), not consonant sounds.

The question describes an 'episodic' play, which is a dramatic technique where the plot is made up of a series of loosely connected events or episodes. These acts or scenes do not necessarily follow a strict cause-and-effect sequence. This structural choice is a deliberate technique employed by playwrights.

Common mistake: Students might mistakenly choose 'Convoluted' if they interpret 'without probable or necessary sequence' as meaning complex or confusing, rather than simply loosely structured.

The correct answer is Flashback because it is a specific dramatic technique where the story's present action is interrupted to show a scene from the past. This is done to give the audience important background information that helps them understand the current events or characters better. The question perfectly describes this function of a flashback in a play.

Common mistake: Students might confuse this with Interlude, but an interlude is a short, often unrelated performance between the main acts of a play, not a recall of a past event within the story.

Literary criticism is the formal practice of studying, discussing, and judging literary works. It involves breaking down a text to understand how it works (analysis) and then making a judgement about its quality, meaning, or value (evaluation). Therefore, to 'analyze and evaluate' is the most accurate and complete definition of this literary activity.

Common mistake: Students often mistakenly choose option A because in everyday conversation, 'criticism' means to find fault, but in literary studies, it is a much broader and more objective process.

An aside is the correct term for a dramatic technique where a character speaks directly to the audience for a brief moment. The other characters on stage are not supposed to hear this comment. It is used to reveal a character's private thoughts, feelings, or judgements to the audience.

Common mistake: Students often confuse an aside with a soliloquy, but a soliloquy is a long speech given by a character when they are alone on stage, not when other characters are present but cannot hear.

The correct answer is 'Chorus' because, in drama, particularly ancient Greek plays, the chorus is a group of performers who comment on the action of the play. They often sing and dance, providing background information and acting as a bridge between the characters on stage and the audience watching. Their role is to help the audience understand the themes and moral lessons of the story.

Common mistake: Students might mistakenly choose 'Cast' because the chorus is part of the group of actors, but 'Cast' refers to all the actors in the play, while 'Chorus' is the specific name for the group that sings, dances, and comments on the action.

Persona, in literature, refers to the voice or character that a writer assumes in a piece of writing, especially in poetry. It is the speaker through whom the author expresses their ideas, and this speaker is not necessarily the author themselves. Therefore, it is the 'voice of the character' or speaker.

Common mistake: Students might choose option C, 'the image a character presents,' because 'persona' can also mean a public image, but in literary studies, it specifically denotes the speaker's voice.

The three unities are a set of rules for drama that suggest a play should have one main plot (unity of action), take place within a 24-hour period (unity of time), and happen in a single physical location (unity of place). These principles, which come from the ideas of the ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle, aim to make a play more realistic and believable for the audience. Option A correctly lists these three unities: action, time, and place.

Common mistake: Students often mistakenly choose options with the word 'space' because it sounds similar to 'place,' but the correct classical term for the unity of location is 'place'.

The question asks for the specific term used to describe poems that do not follow a regular meter or line length. This directly relates to the classification or different kinds of poetry based on their structural characteristics. 'Free verse' is a distinct type of poetry defined by this lack of traditional structure.

Common mistake: Students might incorrectly choose 'irregular verses' because free verse lacks a regular pattern, but 'free verse' is the precise literary term for this type of poetry.

An elegy is a specific category of poem defined by its theme of mourning for the dead. This question tests the knowledge of different classifications of poetry based on their content or form. The correct answer, 'deceased', identifies the subject typically mourned in an elegy.

Common mistake: Some students might incorrectly choose 'bereaved' because an elegy expresses the grief of those left behind, but the poem's primary focus is on the person who has died.