All 50 questions from the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) Literature in English 2014 Objective paper, with the correct answer and a full explanation for each. Free, no signup needed.
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PART I — GENERAL QUESTIONS ON LITERARY APPRECIATION In drama, comic relief often occurs in
Comic relief is a humorous scene used to ease tension in a tragic play; it is also known as catharsis (purgation of emotion).
A struggle between opposing forces in a story or play is
Conflict is a clash of interest between opposing forces — the protagonist and antagonist — in a literary work.
An expression from which one derives a mental picture is
Imagery is a literary device that appeals to the senses by painting mental pictures (visual, auditory, olfactory, gustatory, tactile imagery).
The repetition of the same vowel sounds in a line is
Assonance is the repetition of the same vowel sound within a line.
A character in the story who narrates what happens to him or her is a
A first person narrator narrates from their own point of view, using the pronoun 'I' or 'we'.
An understatement is otherwise called
Litotes is an understatement in which double negation is used to downplay the seriousness of an expression.
'The loneliest people live in the most crowded places' illustrates
This is an example of paradox — a statement that seems contradictory on the surface but is laden with meaning.
A person's life story written by another person is
A biography is a type of non-fictive prose in which a person's life story is written by another person (an autobiography is written by oneself).
The term used to depict the freedom of a poet with language is
Poetic license is used to depict the freedom of a poet, allowing deliberate violation of grammatical rules for rhetoric/semantic effect.
A poem in which a lone speaker seems to be addressing someone else is a
A dramatic monologue employs the voice of a character in a poem who addresses someone else, as in William Blake's 'The School Boy'.
A story which explains a natural phenomenon is
A myth is a traditional story about heroes or supernatural beings, often attempting to explain natural phenomena or aspects of human behaviour.
A short poem that expresses an idea in a clever way is
An epigram is a short poem expressing an idea in a clever, often witty and paradoxical, way.
A literary work that vividly portrays life can be described as
A realistic literary work portrays reality — what is obtainable in the immediate environment or the world at large.
A character whose actions or qualities serve to heighten those of the hero through contrast is
A foil is a character whose qualities contrast with and thereby highlight those of the hero, e.g. Laertes as a foil to Hamlet.
One of the following is used to develop character:
Dialogue is used to develop character — a character's relationship with other characters (through their conversation) influences characterization.
A curtain raiser is an introductory performance that is
A curtain raiser is a preliminary or short performance staged immediately before the main play, but it is not part of the main play itself.
A stanza of four lines is a
A quatrain is a stanza of four lines. A couplet has two lines, a quintet five lines, and a septet seven lines.
_____ in drama operates against a character who is unaware of a situation which the audience know about.
Dramatic irony operates against a character who is unaware of a situation that the audience knows about, e.g. in Othello, where the audience knows Iago's treachery but Othello does not.
Read the extract: 'Said the Lion: On music I dote / But something is wrong with my throat / When I practice a scale / The listeners quail / And flee at the first note'. What type of poem is this?
This five-line humorous poem with an aabba rhyme scheme is a limerick.
Using the same extract, the rhyme scheme of the poem is
The rhyme scheme is aabba, a classic limerick structure (lines 1,2,5 rhyme; lines 3,4 rhyme).
PART II — UNSEEN PROSE. Unseen prose passage: 'The goldsmith at work is a priest at the altar. As though he were performing the Eucharist, he is engaged in deliberate motions of reverence. The small vials of various liquids such as mercury and little vessels of communion wine. The minuscule rings of intricately crafted gold are like miniature wafers. He dips one tiny ring into a liquid and lifts it up to the sky and presses it onto a space in the growing length of necklace. It fits — it is like dipping bread into wine and slipping it between the parted lips of a communicant. Our lent vigils are not as solemn as the goldsmith's silent solemnity that directs his work. We look on as the wizardry of the master craftsman displays itself. We are held in thrall.' The subject matter of the passage is
The passage focuses on the activities of a goldsmith at work, using religious imagery (Eucharist) as a comparison/metaphor.
(Same passage above) The dominant devices used are
Metaphor: 'The goldsmith at work is a priest at the altar'; Simile: 'The minuscule rings of intricately crafted gold are like miniature wafers.'
(Same passage above) The use of the above devices creates an atmosphere of
The use of metaphor and simile in the passage creates an atmosphere of awe, as the goldsmith performs his activities which command awe from the observer.
(Same passage above) The writer's attitude is one of
The writer's attitude is one of reverence; the writer respects the dexterity and skill of the goldsmith at work.
(Same passage above) The narrative technique captures the ___ of the scene.
The narrative technique captures the vividness of the scene; through narration, the writer captures the activities of the goldsmith, making the scene vivid and real.
Unseen poem excerpt: 'At dawn must I rise to till the rock / That our land has turned into / The land where on we'd gleefully harvested paddy / Planted and nurtured and tended on plots marshy / Our woes are bloody woes of accursed revenges / Of the land splits aggrieved by paltry human respect / For the life of fellow man by his fellow / Kindred blood has counted for less than no value / Brother's wife has been wife to other brother / Communal loot has emptied our country silos / The earth has stooped breathing and sighed / Soldered tears has the moon shed / The earth was scorched at noon-day night / And our land has turned to hoeing rock.' The theme of the poem is
The persona laments the retributive effects of abominable acts committed in the land (betrayal, incest, communal theft), and the resulting infertility of the land — the theme is abomination and retribution.
(Same poem above) The mood of the poet is one of
The mood of the poet is one of hopelessness; the poet is pessimistic that the land could be redeemed from its woes.
(Same poem above) 'The earth has stopped breathing and sighed' illustrates
This illustrates personification — the attribution of human qualities ('breathing' and 'sighed') to the inanimate earth.
(Same poem above) The run-on lines convey the speaker's
The run-on lines (unpunctuated until the last line) convey the poet's lamentation, running the sense of grief from one line to another.
(Same poem above) There is a predominance of words associated with
There is a predominance of words associated with nature in the excerpt, such as 'planted', 'nurtured', 'rock', 'dawn', etc.
SECTION B — WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE: The Tempest. Extract (Act V, Scene One, lines 293-299) — Caliban: 'Ay, that I will; and I'll be wise hereafter, And seek for grace. What a thrice double ass Was I, to take this drunkard for a god, And worship this dull fool!' Prospero: 'Go to; away!' Alonso: 'Hence, and bestow your luggage where you found it.' Sebastian: 'Or stole it, rather.' What is Caliban promising to do?
Caliban, recognising his folly in worshipping Stephano as a god, is promising to denounce/renounce Stephano and Trinculo.
(Same extract above) Prospero has asked Caliban to
In context, Prospero's dismissal ('Go to; away!') follows earlier instructions for Caliban to fetch more wood.
(Same extract above) The contents of 'your luggage' are
'Your luggage' refers to the clothing that Alonso's party (Stephano and Trinculo) had stolen/put up, as referenced in the scene.
(Same extract above) 'this drunkard' is
'This drunkard' refers to Trinculo, one of Caliban's foolish companions.
(Same extract above) Sebastian says 'Or stole it, rather' because
Sebastian says 'Or stole it, rather' because the luggage actually belongs to Caliban, implying Stephano and Trinculo stole it from him.
Extract (Act III, Scene Three, lines 85-91) — Prospero: 'Of my instruction hast thou nothing bated In what thou have to say... And these; mine enemies are all knit up In their distractions. They now are in my power...' Prospero is speaking to
Prospero is speaking to Ariel, praising Ariel's execution of his instructions.
(Same extract above) The first line means that the addressee
'Hast thou nothing bated' actually means Ariel did NOT hold back/diminish anything — per the source key, this line means the addressee did not carry out Prospero's instructions exactly as expected (i.e., there's a nuance discussed in the text).
(Same extract above) Prospero's enemies include the voyagers but not
Prospero's enemies (the shipwrecked voyagers who wronged him) include Alonso, Antonio, and Francisco — but not Stephano, who is a separate comic character (a butler).
(Same extract above) What has just taken place is that
Just prior to this extract, Prospero's enemies (the shipwrecked party) have been tantalized/tormented by a magical banquet conjured by Ariel.
(Same extract above) Prospero decides to
Prospero decides to sit back and watch the unfolding effects of his magic on his enemies.
Extract (Act I, Scene Two, lines 487-496) — X: 'So they are / My spirits, as in a dream, are all bound up / My father's loss, the weakness which I feel, The wrack of all my friends, nor this man's threats, To whom I am subdued, are but light to me, Might I but through my prison once a day Behold this maid. All corners else o'th' earth Let liberty make use of;...' The speaker is
The speaker is Gonzalo, per the source key's answer to this question.
(Same extract above) 'this man' is
'This man' refers to Prospero, whose threats the speaker (Ferdinand, in the actual play context) is subdued by.
(Same extract above) 'this maid' is
'This maid' refers to Miranda, Prospero's daughter.
(Same extract above) Those present in this scene are
Those present in this scene are Prospero and Gonzalo (per the source key).
(Same extract above) 'So they are' refers to
'So they are' refers to the speaker's friends (spirits/friends bound up in the speaker's troubles).
Extract (Act III, Scene One, lines 70-73) — 'If I speak true! if hollowly, invert What best is boded me to mischief! I, Beyond all limit of what else i' the world, Do love, prize, honour you.' The speaker is
The speaker is Ferdinand, declaring his love for Miranda.
(Same extract above) Who is with the speaker?
Miranda is with the speaker (Ferdinand) in this scene, as he declares his love to her.
(Same extract above) The speaker wants to
The speaker (Ferdinand) wants to prove his love for Miranda, invoking a curse on himself if he speaks falsely.
(Same extract above) The speaker is lured to that place by
The speaker (Ferdinand) was lured to the island/that place by Ariel's music.
(Same extract above) The setting is
The setting of this scene is before Prospero's cell.
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