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SS3 Literature Mock Examination Past Questions. Students or teachers seeking for Marking guide or direct answers in PDF should contact us. We have compiled the ss3 Literature-In-English past questions and answers based on previous assessments to enable students properly revised for their internal mock examinations. This would also also assist teachers in setting questions and typing.

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SS3 Literature Mock Examination Past Questions

Literature – in – English

SECTION A

LITERARY APPRECIATION

 Answer all questions.

Each question is followed by four options lettered A to D. Find the correct option for each question and shade in pencil on your answer sheet, the answer space which bears the same letter as the option you have chosen. Give only one answer to each question. An example is given below.

All the world’s a stage is an example of —– A. metaphor B. paradox C.allusion 

D. personification

The correct answer is metaphor, which is lettered A, therefore, answer space A would be shaded

1. A literary work by an author using a fictitious name is called a/an —- A. pseudonym 

B. eponym Synonym D. memoir

2. The heightened tension in a play is momentarily eased through A. verbal irony

 B. transferred epithet C. comic relief D. pathetic fallacy

3. A Shakespearean sonnet has the rhyme scheme A. abab cdcd efef gg B. abba abba cde def C. abab adcd efef gg D. abba abba cde cde

4.” Oh star, wither thy candle!” is an example of A. synecdoche B. personification 

C. metonymy D. apostrophe

5. A figure of speech in which words are underplayed is A. pun B. paradox C. litotes

 D. antithesis

Read the extract below and answer questions 6 to 8

 There they left him everyone

Left him there without a lick

Left him there for birds to pick

Left him there for carrion.

6. The theme echoed in the poem is that of A. loneliness B. feasting C. festivity 

D. abandonment

7. The poem paints a picture of a person denied the luxury of A. shelter B. burial C. food D. water

8. The tone of the poem is one of A. disapproval B. happiness C. indifference 

D. contentment

9. Two heads are better than one illustrates A. synecdoche B. onomatopoeia

 C. inversion D. metonymy

10. A novel which focuses on the adventures of a rogue is a/an A. Romanesque

 B. picturesque C. picaresque D. burlesque

11. “The whole town was present at the wedding ceremony” exemplifies the use of 

A. repetition B. paradox C. oxymoron D. hyperbole

Read the extract below and answer questions 12 to 13

Surprised and hurt he sits and awaits his turn

Aloof with wish that all in hell do burn

But what with all of them intent to spurn

The things of pain and right and vice we learn?

12. The tone is A. cordial B. jovial C. vengeful D. spiteful

13. The lines are A. end-rhymed lines B. internal rhymes C. end-stopped lines D. alternate rhymes

14. As the chains clatter, the prisoner groans, grunts and gasps illustrates

 A. euphemism B. metaphor C. personification D. onomatopoeia.

15. A character trait which leads the hero to his downfall is called A. anagnorisis 

B. peripeteia C. catharsis D. harmatia

16. The conflict in a plot requires A. complication B. climax C. resolution D. drama

17 A character who does not change in the course of events in a play is A. villainous 

B. round C. foil D. flat 

18. A character whose name is the title of a literary work is A. pseudonym B. foil 

C. eponymous D. anonymous

19. ” The peacock proceeds in a pompous one-bird procession” exemplifies the use of A. repetition B. assonance C. homophone D. alliteration

20. A rhyming two-line poem is a/an A. tercet B. sestet

 C. quatrain D. couplet

21. A clown evokes A. amusement B. regret C. hatred D. anger

22. The most important element of drama is A.theme B. setting C. plot 

D. characterisation

23. Two words of opposite meaning is A. personification B. oxymoron C. metaphor 

D. irony

24. A panegyric poem is composed to A. rebuke B. praise C. educate D. condemn

PART II

UNSEEN PROSE AND POETRY

Read the passage and answer questions 25 to 28

I have had different relationships  – with people, places and things. Yet, none is more remarkable than the one I have with Lagos. It has been a love-hate kind of fling. Sometimes, I love her so much and run into her arms. At other times, she gives off a repulsive stench.

Lagos, a land of the great, where excellence and folly dwell side by side; where wealth

and poverty hold hands- one with a smile, the other with a grin. My first visit to Lagos Island made me irritated and excited at the same time. There are snacks cramped together at the edge of the ocean. The houses, which are just bits of wood held together, compete with heaps of refuse. Lagos, the night of nightmarish dreams.

25. The writer’s view of Lagos is one of A. confusion B. ambivalence C. nostalgia 

D. uncertainty

26. The dominant literary device in the second paragraph is A. simile B. metonymy 

C. contrast D. paradox

27. The narrative technique used in the passage is A. interior monologue B. first person C. stream of consciousness D. third person

28. …where wealth and poverty hold hands illustrates A. allusion B. euphemism

 C. personification D. onomatopoeia

Read the poem and answer questions 29-30

What use is it to slumber here,

Though the heart be sad and weary?

What use is it to slumber here,

Though the day rise dark and dreary?

For that mist may break when the sun is high,

And this soul forget it’s sorrow;

And the rosy ray of the closing day

May promise a brighter morrow. 

29. Stanza 1 and 2 producea a contrast of A. atmosphere B. emblems C. setting

 D. moods

30. The change of rhyme scheme in the second stanza spells/ marks A. anticipation 

B. anxiety C. serenity D. hope

SECTION B

Answer all the questions in this section

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE:

A Midsummer Night’s Dream

Read the extract below and answer questions 31-35

Theseus: But in this kind, wanting your father’s voice

                  The other must be held the worthier.

Hermia:   I would my father looked but with my eyes.

Theseus: Rather your eyes must with his judgement look.

Hermia:.   I do entreat your Grace to pardon me.

                  I know not by what power I am made bold,

                  Nor how it may concern my modesty

                  In such a presence here to plead my thoughts:

                                              ( Act One, Scene 1, lines 55-62)

31. Hermia has A. agreed to let Helena have Lysander  

  B. Decided to be a man. C. told the Duke all her secrets. D. refused to marry Demetrius

32. Hermia is before Theseus because A. her father has forgiven her. B. her father has disowned her. C. she loves Demetrius D. she loves Lysander

33. Hermia informs the Duke that she will A. give up her love for Lysander B. marry Demetrius after all C. prefer to become a nun D. retire to the forest

34. The underlined expression means A. ask for time to think B. beg for mercy immediately C. revise my stand D. defend my conviction

35. Hermia ends this speech asking A. how her father could be so cruel to her B. who will fetch Lysander from the forest. C. what will happen if she will not marry Demetrius D. why Helena has not been invited

Read the extract and answer questions 36-40

He goes before me, and still dares me on;

When I come where he calls, then he is gone.

The villain is much lighter-heeled than I:

I followed fast, but faster he did fly,

That fallen am I in dark uneven way,

And here will rest me 

                  (Act Three, Scene II, Lines 413-418)

36. The speaker is A. Demetrius B. Helena C. Lysander D. Hermia

37.’ He’ in the first line refers to A. Bottom B. Puck C. Lysander D. Titania

38. The speaker is being separated from A. Helena B. Demetrius C. Hermia D. Titania

39. The speaker’s language shows A. frustration B. anger C. impatience D. urgency

40. The speech is A. an aside B. a dialogue C. a soliloquy D. a lyric 

Read the extract below and answer questions 41-45

… To her, my Lord, was I betrothed ere I saw…;

But like in sickness did I loathe this food; 

But, as in health, come to my natural taste, now I do wish me it, love it, long for it.

And will for evermore be true to it.

             (Act Four, Scene I, lines 167-172)

41. The speaker is A. Hermia B. Demetrius C. Oberon D. Theseus

42. her refers to A. Hermia B. Helena C. Hippolyta D. Titania

43. my Lord refers to A. Egeus B. Oberon C. Theseus D. Pyramus

44. In the second line, the character I saw is A. Hippolyta B. Hermia C. Thisby D. Titania

45. The speaker is unaware that this new feeling is due  to A. Egeus’ decision not to demand his right. B. Puck’s intervention C. Lysander’s kindness D. Theseus’ threat to invoke the Athenian law.

Read the extract and answer questions 46-50

The lunatic, the lover, and the poet

Are of imagination all compact.

One sees more devil’s than vast hell can hold;

That is the madman. The lover, all as frantic, sees Helen’s beauty in a brow of Egypt.

The poet’s eye, in a fine frenzy rolling,

Doth glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven,

And as imagination bodies forth

               ( Act Five, Scene I, lines 7-14)

46. The speaker is A. Hermia B. Lysander C. Theseus D. Hippolyta

47. The speaker is speaking to A. her betrothed B. her lover C. his lover D. his betrothed

48. The underlined expression means A. Helena and Hermia both love Lysander B. the lover regards what is not beautiful as beautiful. C. the poet sees beauty in himself. D. the lover is too restless to see love.

49. The poet’s glance from heaven to earth, from earth to heaven results in A. writing poems of fantasy and love B. producing planets in his poetry C. writing poems about gobblins and horror D. conjuring up things which do not exist.

50… come on stage just after the speech. A. Helena and Demetrius B. Hermia, Helena and Demetrius. C. Lysander, Demetrius, Hermia and Helena

D. Lysander and Hermia.

Theory

Section A

Answer one question from each section.

African Prose

 Alex Agyei- Agyiri :Unexpected Joy at Dawn

1. Discuss in detail the theme of xenophobia

2. Dicuss the role of Mama in the play.

Buchi Emecheta: Second- Class Citizen

3. Discuss the meaning of irony using the events in the prose to drive it.

4. Give a detailed account of the setting of the prose.

SECTION B

African Drama

John  Kolosa  Kargbo: Let Me Die Alone

5. Discuss Ndapi as a warrior and as a husband. For which of the two roles do you admire him most?

6. Explain Yoko as a tragic character in the play.

John James Osborne: Look Back in Anger

7. Discuss the play as a psychological one.

8. Analyze and discuss Jimmy Porter’s anger in the play.

Section D

African Poetry

Niyi Osundare: The Leader and the Led

Answer one question.

9. Discuss the theme of leadership.

Non – African Poetry

Dylan Marlais Thomas: Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night

10. What does the title of the poem mean? Discuss it in relation to the poem.