Which of these lines illustrates onomatopoeia?

The kettle hissed and the oil spat in the pan.

O Death, why must you come for the young?

The old gate groaned each time the wind pushed it.

The baker kneaded the dough he needed.

Which line conveys private sorrow hidden behind a public face?

She smiled at the guests and locked her grief away.

He counted the coins twice, then a third time, and sighed.

He returned to find the compound swept and the pot warm.

Two names were on the list, and only one could be chosen.

In prose fiction, which term means the words the characters speak to one another, as set down in the text?

the third-person limited point of view

In prose fiction, which term means a secondary line of action running beside the main story?

the third-person limited point of view

In drama, a curtain-raiser is:

a short piece performed before the main play of the evening

the imagined boundary between the actors and the audience watching them

a division of an act, usually continuous in place and in time

the group in Greek drama that comments on the action as it unfolds

In prose fiction, characterisation is:

the means by which a writer reveals the qualities of the people in a story

a narrator whose account the reader has reason to doubt

the quality that makes a fictional account seem true to life

an extended fictional narrative written in prose

Which line conveys the respect that age and experience command?

The old man spoke, and the arguing men fell silent.

He counted the coins twice, then a third time, and sighed.

The road he had built was the road that took his son away.

The lamp burned low, and still she waited by the door.

In the study of literature, oral tradition is:

the body of literature preserved by word of mouth rather than in writing

the writer's own introductory note explaining the purpose of a work

a short account of a single incident, often told to illustrate a point

a short critical account of a newly published or newly performed work

Which of these lines illustrates a pun?

The baker kneaded the dough he needed.

Who does not want a better life for his children?

The room was filled with a deafening silence.

Twenty hands were hired to bring in the harvest.

In prose fiction, an episodic plot is:

a plot built out of a series of loosely linked incidents

detail of dress, speech and custom used to fix a story in one region

an extended fictional narrative written in prose

the technique of opening a story in the middle of the action

In the study of literature, censorship is:

the examination of a work by an authority that may remove what it judges unacceptable

a short critical account of a newly published or newly performed work

the body of literature preserved by word of mouth rather than in writing

an assumed name under which a writer chooses to publish

Which of these lines illustrates a rhetorical question?

Who does not want a better life for his children?

The more he explained, the less we understood.

The bright bird burst from the bending branch.

The examination hall was a furnace that morning.

In prose fiction, a frame story is:

a story that encloses another story told within it

a novel that follows its central character from youth to maturity

an extended fictional narrative written in prose

detail of dress, speech and custom used to fix a story in one region

Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board

JAMB UTME · Literature in English

40 of 218 exam-style questions, written to the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board format and free to read. The answers are here too — what they do not tell you is how many you would get right with a clock running.

Sit this paper timed All JAMB UTME papers

1. A narrator who knows the thoughts and feelings of every character is described as

1. A narrator who knows the thoughts and feelings of every character is described as

2. Which of these lines illustrates onomatopoeia?

3. Which line conveys private sorrow hidden behind a public face?

4. A play that ends happily after the main character overcomes difficulty is generally classified as

5. In prose fiction, which term means the words the characters speak to one another, as set down in the text?

6. In drama, which term means a short piece performed before the main play of the evening?

7. In prose fiction, which term means a secondary line of action running beside the main story?

8. The writer's choice of words in a literary work is referred to as

9. In drama, a curtain-raiser is:

10. In prose fiction, characterisation is:

11. The repetition of initial consonant sounds, as in "the silent silver stars", is called

12. Which line conveys the respect that age and experience command?

13. The final part of a play in which the plot is resolved is the

14. In the study of literature, oral tradition is:

15. Which of these lines illustrates a pun?

16. In prose fiction, an episodic plot is:

17. In the study of literature, censorship is:

18. Which of these lines illustrates a rhetorical question?

19. In prose fiction, a frame story is:

20. In drama, which term means a light episode introduced to ease the tension of a serious play?

21. A speech delivered by a character alone on stage, revealing inner thoughts, is a

22. Which of these lines illustrates apostrophe?

23. A narrator whose account the reader has reason to doubt is called

24. In poetry, free verse is:

25. A poem of fourteen lines written in iambic pentameter is called a

26. In prose fiction, an unreliable narrator is:

27. In prose fiction, suspense is:

28. In drama, catharsis is:

29. In prose fiction, a bildungsroman is:

30. Which line conveys the security of shelter while a storm passes outside?

31. Which figure of speech is illustrated by this line? — The crown has ruled this kingdom for three hundred years.

32. Which figure of speech is illustrated by this line? — He is not a bad player at all, as the whole town knows.

33. Which figure of speech is illustrated by this line? — The old gate groaned each time the wind pushed it.

34. Which of these lines illustrates hyperbole?

35. In poetry, which term means a metrical foot of one stressed syllable followed by two unstressed ones?

36. In poetry, which term means the pattern in which the end-sounds of lines repeat, written as abab or the like?

37. In drama, the fourth wall is:

38. In prose fiction, the third-person limited point of view is:

39. What does this line suggest? — She smiled at the guests and locked her grief away.

40. In the study of literature, a preface is:

Reading these is not the same as sitting them.