JAMB Literature in English 2022 Past Questions & Answers

Wole Soyinka is widely celebrated as a playwright, with numerous iconic plays like 'The Lion and the Jewel' and 'Death and the King's Horseman' defining his literary career. While he has also written novels, his primary fame and Nobel Prize recognition stem from his dramatic works. In contrast, Chinua Achebe and Cyprian Ekwensi are predominantly known for their novels.

Common mistake: Students might mistakenly choose J.P. Clark, who is also a notable playwright, but Soyinka's body of dramatic work and international recognition as a playwright are more extensive and defining than his prose.

A narrative poem is fundamentally a poem that tells a story, often with a plot, characters, and setting. This is its defining characteristic, distinguishing it from other types of poetry like lyrical or dramatic poems. Therefore, option B correctly identifies what a narrative poem must do.

Common mistake: Students might mistakenly choose option A, 'preach a sermon,' if they confuse narrative poetry with didactic poetry, which aims to instruct or teach a moral lesson.

The question asks for the main reason literature is studied as a subject. The primary function of literature in education is to act as a mirror of society, reflecting human experiences and realities. By studying it, students learn about different cultures, historical periods, and the complexities of human nature, which is what 'exposes students to the realities of life' means.

Common mistake: Students often mistakenly choose option B because while literature can be entertaining, its main educational purpose is the deeper exploration of human life and society, not just enjoyment.

Alliteration is the repetition of the same consonant sound at the beginning of words that are close together. In the line 'Tier upon tier it towered, the terrible Apennines', the 't' sound is clearly repeated in the words 'Tier', 'tier', 'towered', and 'terrible'. This repetition of the 't' sound is what makes alliteration the correct answer.

Common mistake: Some students might choose exaggeration because of the phrase 'terrible Apennines', but the most prominent and repeated device in the line is the 't' sound.

The question asks for the meaning of 'autobiography', which is a fundamental literary term. An autobiography is a factual account of a person's life written by that same person. Option B accurately defines this, making it the correct answer.

Common mistake: Students might confuse an autobiography with a historical novel (Option A) or a general narrative, failing to grasp the specific characteristic of being written by the subject themselves.

The verse displays an ABAB rhyme scheme, where the first line rhymes with the third ('know' and 'go'), and the second line rhymes with the fourth ('bother' and 'mother'). This specific pattern, where rhyming words alternate lines, is known as alternate rhymes. Therefore, option A correctly identifies the poetic device used.

Common mistake: Students might incorrectly choose 'couplets' or 'triplets' if they focus on the number of lines rather than the specific rhyming pattern across the entire stanza.

The correct option is 'fish' because the question asks about the first sentence, which states 'Another shoal of cars swam past.' The word 'shoal' specifically refers to a large group of fish, and the verb 'swam' is the action associated with fish. This creates a metaphor comparing the cars to a school of fish.

Common mistake: Students might mistakenly choose 'birds' because the second sentence mentions a 'swallow', but the question specifically asks about the description in the first sentence only.

The question requires students to identify the genre of each listed literary work. 'A Raisin in the Sun', 'Twelfth Night', and 'Ozidi' are all plays (drama texts). 'The Concubine' is a novel (prose text). Therefore, 'The Concubine' is the odd item out because it is a prose work among drama works. This tests knowledge of specific African drama and prose texts and their classifications.

Common mistake: Students might struggle if they do not know the genre of all the listed texts, leading them to pick an incorrect option based on nationality (e.g., picking 'Ozidi' as the only African drama) rather than genre.

The question asks you to identify the mood, which is the feeling the passage creates for the reader. The writer uses strong words like 'sad', 'funeral', 'wept', and 'miserable' to describe the harvest and the farmers' reactions. The tragic event of a farmer hanging himself shows extreme despair, confirming that the overall atmosphere is one of deep sadness.

Common mistake: A student might make a mistake by not reading carefully and choosing an opposite emotion like 'joy' or 'excitement', completely missing the clear clues in the text.

The climax is the most intense or turning point in the plot of any story, including plays. Both tragedies and comedies, regardless of their final outcome, feature a climax where the main conflict reaches its peak before the resolution begins. This makes 'climax' a dramatic technique common to both forms.

Common mistake: Students might mistakenly choose 'happy ending' or 'tragic hero' because these terms are directly associated with comedy and tragedy respectively, failing to recognize that the question requires a term applicable to *both*.

The question asks for the specific literary term that defines a character who consistently works against the protagonist's interests. A 'villain' is the correct general literary term for such an antagonist. Understanding these fundamental terms is essential for interpreting and appreciating literary works across different genres.

Common mistake: Students might mistakenly choose 'opposition' because the villain provides opposition, but 'villain' is the specific literary term for the character, while 'opposition' describes the conflict or resistance.

Metre is a fundamental poetic device that refers to the rhythmic pattern of stressed and unstressed syllables in a line of poetry. It dictates the 'beat' or 'flow' of the poem, making 'rhythm' the most accurate description of its idea. Understanding metre helps in appreciating the musicality and structure of a poem.

Common mistake: Students often confuse metre with rhyme (C) because both relate to sound in poetry, but rhyme is about similar ending sounds, not the rhythmic pattern of syllables.

A tragic hero is a main character in a story, usually of noble birth, who has a personal weakness or character flaw. This flaw, also known as 'hamartia', is the primary cause of their eventual downfall, suffering, or death. The question describes this exact character type, making 'Tragic hero' the correct answer.

Common mistake: Students often mistakenly choose 'Tragic flaw' because it is related, but the flaw is the weakness itself, while the 'Tragic hero' is the character who possesses that flaw.

A travelogue is a form of non-fiction prose that is all about travel. The word itself combines 'travel' and 'logue' (which means a record or account). Therefore, the correct definition is a record of a writer's personal experiences while on a journey, describing the places they visited and what happened to them.

Common mistake: Students might mistakenly choose option B, confusing a travelogue, which focuses on a specific journey, with an autobiography, which is the story of a person's entire life.

The correct answer is 'a satire'. Satire is a style of writing that uses humour, irony, or exaggeration to mock and criticise the foolishness or bad habits of people, governments, or society. The goal is often to encourage improvement or change. The question's description of a work that 'ridicules the shortcomings of people' perfectly matches the definition of satire.

Common mistake: Students often mistakenly choose 'irony' because irony is a common tool used within satire, but satire is the complete literary work or style that does the ridiculing.

Copyright is the specific legal term for the exclusive right an author or creator has over their original work. This right protects their book, poem, or play from being copied, distributed, or sold by others without their permission. It ensures that the creator alone can benefit financially and control how their work is used.

Common mistake: Students might mistakenly choose 'an author's right' because it sounds correct, but 'copyright' is the specific legal and official term for the protection described in the question.

Empathy in drama refers to the audience's ability to understand and share the feelings of the characters on stage. This is achieved when the audience becomes deeply involved in the performance, experiencing the events and emotions as if they were happening to them, which is known as vicarious participation.

Common mistake: Students might choose options describing negative audience reactions, but empathy is about shared emotional connection, not conflict or betrayal.

Mock-heroic poetry is a specific type of poetry that takes a trivial or unimportant subject and treats it with the grand, elevated style and conventions of a classical epic poem. The humor and satire arise from this contrast between the low subject matter and the high, formal style. Option B accurately describes this characteristic.

Common mistake: Students might choose option A because they associate 'heroic' with important tales, confusing mock-heroic with actual epic poetry.

A dynamic character is a character who undergoes significant change or personal development during the course of a story. A round character is complex and has many different personality traits, just like a real person, which allows them to change and evolve. Because of this capacity for change, a round character is also known as a dynamic character.

Common mistake: Students might mistakenly choose 'Protagonist' because the main character often changes, but a protagonist can sometimes be a flat or static character who does not develop.

The subject matter of a literary work refers to its central idea, message, or underlying meaning. This is precisely what is defined as the 'theme' in literature. The theme is the main topic or concept the author explores throughout the text.

Common mistake: Students might mistakenly choose 'plot' because it describes what happens in the story, but plot is the sequence of events, not the underlying message or subject matter.

A lampoon is a specific type of writing that uses harsh and bitter ridicule to attack a particular person or institution. The question asks for a dramatic type that severely ridicules an individual, which is the exact definition of a lampoon. It is more personal and vicious than general satire.

Common mistake: The most common mistake is choosing 'satire' because while a lampoon is a form of satire, satire is a broader term for criticizing society in general, whereas a lampoon is a more vicious and personal attack on a specific individual or institution.

Anaphora is a figure of speech where a word or phrase is repeated at the beginning of successive clauses or sentences. In the given example, the phrase 'A time to' is repeated at the start of each line. This repetition is used to create emphasis and a rhythmic effect, making it a clear example of anaphora.

Common mistake: Students might confuse anaphora with anadiplosis, not realizing that anaphora is repetition at the beginning of lines, while anadiplosis is repetition at the end of one line and the beginning of the next.

The correct answer is simile because the line uses the word 'Like' to directly compare the speaker's passion to that of Jehovah. A simile is a figure of speech that makes an explicit comparison between two different things using connecting words such as 'like' or 'as'. The presence of 'Like' in the line makes it a clear example of a simile.

Common mistake: Students often confuse simile with metaphor, but a metaphor makes a comparison without using 'like' or 'as', for example, by saying 'I am a passionate Jehovah'.

The term 'dramatis personae' is a Latin phrase that literally means 'the persons of the play'. In a written play, this is the official list of all the characters that are part of the story, usually found at the beginning of the script. Therefore, it directly refers to the list of characters.

Common mistake: Students often mistakenly choose 'cast list', but a cast list refers to the real-life actors playing the roles, while 'dramatis personae' refers to the fictional characters in the play itself.

The question asks for the specific term that describes an irredeemable reversal of the hero's fortune in a tragedy. This concept, known as peripeteia, is a fundamental dramatic technique and plot device in classical tragedy. It signifies a sudden change in circumstances for the protagonist, usually from good to bad, leading to their downfall.

Common mistake: Students often confuse peripeteia with anagnorisis, as both are critical turning points in a tragedy, but anagnorisis refers to a moment of recognition or discovery, not the reversal of fortune itself.