JAMB 2026: 50 Literature In English JAMB Past Questions And Answers

As the JAMB 2026 examination is fast approaching for students seeking admission into tertiary institutions through the Unified Matriculation Examination Board (UTME), Literature in English JAMB Past questions have been compiled for you.

Brand News Day Nigeria has carefully curated 50 Literature in English JAMB Past questions and answers for intending students looking forward to performing exceptionally well ahead of the JAMB 2026 examination.

You are advised to read this article carefully and follow the instructions on how to help you build your chances of attaining a higher score in the JAMB 2026 examination.

JAMB 2026 examination: JAMB Past Questions and Answers

1- A literary work in which the characters and events are used as symbols is known as _________?
A. characteristics
B. allegory
C. metaphor
D. parallelism

2- Characterisation in a novel refers to the _____?
A. writer’s opinion of the characters
B. way the characters are revealed to the reader
C. characters and the way they behave
D. reader’s opinion of the character

3- In literacy work, verbal irony refers to a _________?
A. a device in which the speaker means the opposite of what he says
B. situation in which a character speaks or acts against the tread of events
C. difficult situation which defies a local or rational resolution
D. device in which the actor act on stage

4- In the theatre, words spoken by a character that are meant to be heard by the audience but not by the other characters on stage is called_________?
A. aside
B. soliloquy
C. acoustic
D. tone

5-Drama is the representation of a complete series of actions by means of _________
A. movement and gesture for the screen and audience
B. speech, movement and gesture for the stage only
C. speech, movement and gesture for the stage, screen and radio
D. speech, gesture and movement for the screen and radio

6-A poet‘s use of regular rhythm is known as _______?
A. allegory
B. assonance
C. metre
D. onomatopoeia

7-A literacy genre which directly imitates human actions is______?
A. Drama
B. comedy
C. Prose
D. Poetry

8-A fable is a story in which________?
A. Allegations are made about characters
B. animal is or things are used as characters
C. There is an important setting
D. The story is told in poetic form

9-The juxtaposition of two contrasting ideas in a line of poetry is_________?
A. euphemism
B. synecdoche
C. catharsis
D. oxymoron

10-The main aim of caricature is to_______?
A. describe
B. expose
C. emphasise
D. ridicule

11-The question is based on Richard Wright’s Native Son
Bigger kills Mary due to______?
A. Fear
B. Hatred
C. Envy
D. Distrust

12-The question is based on Richard Wright’s Native Son
Weekly, Bigger is to be paid_________?
A. Twenty Dollars
B. Twenty Five Dollars
C. Thirty Dollars
D. Thirty Five Dollars

13-The question is based on Richard Wright’s NATIVE SON
Mr Dalton is of the opinion that Negroes are happier when they are
A. together
B. servant in the white family
C. educated
D. given some respect

14-The question is based on Bayo Adebowale’s LONELY DAYS
Widows mourning in Kofi wear garments that are________???
A. White
B. Red
C. Black
D. Green

15-The question is based on Bayo Adebowale’s LONELY DAYS
In the novel, bage cap signifies everlasting ________?
A. happiness
B. sorrow
C. freedom
D. despair

16-The question is based on Bayo Adebowale’s LONELY DAYS
Yaremi’s only son is______?
A. Alani
B. Wande
C. Olode
D. Deyo

17-The question is based on William’s Shakespeare’s OTHELLO
ill-starred wench: Pale as thy smoke; When we shall meet at comp”
The device used in the line above is__________
A. Simile
B. Pun
C. Metaphor
D. Paradox

18-The question is based on William’s Shakespeare’s OTHELLO
Othello kills Desdemona because the_______
A. former is jealous
B. former’s race is insulted
C. latter is a witch
D. latter is an idol

19-The question is based on William’s Shakespeare’s OTHELLO
Brabantio is opposed to the relationship between Othello and Desdemona because_________
A. he prefers lago
B. Othello is a moor
C. Rodgerigo woos her first
D. Desdemona is too young

20-The question is based on William’s Shakespeare’s OTHELLO
“Soft you; a word or two before you go. I have done the state some service and they knew’ No more of
A. Travelling
B. Sick
C. Dying
D. Eloping

21- The question is based on William Shakespeare’s OTHELLO
“O heaven; How got she get out?
O treason of the blood!
Father; from hence trust not your daughters’ minds
By what you see them act. Is there not charms
By which the property of youth and maid-hood
May be abused?

The speaker of the excerpt above is________
A. Brabantio
B. Othello
C. Gratiano
D. Roderigo

22- Use the following excerpt to answer the question.
“I wonder how long, you awful parasites,
Shall share with me this little bed.
And make me, from my sweet dreams, be lost,
by sucking blood from my poor head…
Mbure: “To Bed-Bug”
Are the lines an example of a________?

A. limerick
B. lampoon
C. light verse

23- Use the following excerpt to answer the question.
“I wonder how long, you awful parasites,
Shall share with me this little bed.
And make me, from my sweet dreams, be lost,
by sucking blood from my poor head…
Mbure: “To Bed-Bug”
The most dominant figure of speech in the excerpt is________
A. metaphor
B. simile
C. personification
D. hyperbole

24- Your head is like a drum that is beaten for spirits
Your ears are like the fans used for blowing fire.
The lines above are a good example of_________
A. caricature
B. ridicule
C. satire
D. lampoon

25- How can I look at Oyo and say I hate long shiny cars? How can I come to the children and despise international schools? And Koomson comes; and the family sees Jesus Christ in him…

The feeling conveyed by the speaker above is one of_________
A. anger
B. alienation
C. hope
D. despair

JAMB 2026 examination: JAMB Past Questions and Answers

26- “Hide me now, when night children haunt the earth” Wole Soyinka: “Night”.
Night children in the stanza above reflect the consciousness of__________
A. birds
B. armed robbers
C. animals
D. spirit beings

27- Serrated Shadows, through dark leaves,
Till, bathed in the warm suffusion of your dapped cells
sensation pained me, faceless, silent as night thieves
Wole Soyinka: “Night”
The dominant mood in the lines above is one at____________
A. apprehension
B. defiance
C. joy
D. indifference

28- “The drum overwhelmed the guns…” J.P Clark: “Casualties”
The poet in the excerpt above uses
A. litotes
B. symbolism
C. onomatopoeia
D. aliteration

29- “… They do not see the funeral plies, At home eating up the forests…” J.P Clark: “Casualties”
The imagery created in the above excerpt is achieved through______
A. Metaphor
B. Personification
C. Synecdoche
D. Metonymy

30- “I cannot rest from travel: I will drink, life to the lees, all times I have enjoyed greatly, have suffered greatly”. A.L. Tennyson: “Ulysses”
The lines above inform the reader that the poet
A. Is determined to suffer
B. Has his poetic imagination kindled
C. Will cure his sour mood
D. Will not drink much

31- He who writes a prose is a__________?
A. Poet
B. Writer
C. Author
D. Actor

32-In drama, the protagonist is ________
A. the writer of the drama
B. the leading character
C. the “nice guy”
D. the actor

33-Tension between the protagonist and the antagonist is called______
A. Climax
B. Concrete
C. Conflict
D. Confident

34-The phrase “living death” in a literary work is an example_____________
A. Synecdoche
B. Prose
C. Oxymoron
D. Aside

35-Group of lines are called _____
A. Sentences
B. Stanzas
C. Danzas
D. Line Grouping

36-A literary device in which parts of a sentence are grammatically the same, or are similar in construction Is known as__________
A. Simile
B. Aside
C. Parallelism
D. Irony

37-“Peter’s pretty partner paid the bills” is an example of___________?
A. Alliteration
B. Rhyme
C. Satire
D. Digression

38-What does the playwright do?
A. Writes a poem
B. Writes a book
C. Writes a play
D. Directs a drama

39-Which of these is the meaning of “CAST”?
A. a list of all characters in a drama
B. what the character is saying
C. the person who writes the drama
D. a list of protagonists in a drama

40-The writer of a poem is called__________?
A. Author
B. Poet
C. Writer
D. Narrator

41- This element shows how sections are separated into parts with numbers and titles_____________
A. Paragraph
B. Theme
C. Chapters
D. Characters

42- These elements are sections of text within a chapter, they are separated and contain dialogue_____________
A. Syncopation
B. Free Verse
C. Paragraphs
D. Euphony

43-A folk-tale is a__________?
A. Novel
B. Work Of Fiction
C. Biography
D. Novelette

44- In drama, the antagonist is_____________
A. The director of the drama
B. the evil witch
C. the character opposing the lead character
D. the “harsh guy

45- _____________refers to time and place of a drama?
A. place
B. scene
C. setting
D. act

46- A “sub-chapter” in a piece of drama is a______________
A. Act
B. Setting
C. Verse
D. Scene

47- What structure is poetry written in?
A. sentences and paragraphs
B. sentences and stanzas
C. lines and paragraphs
D. lines and stanzas

48-”Tell me not, sweet, I am unkind” illustrates_________
A. inversion
B. paradox
C. humor
D. mood

49-Define “rhyme”?
A. Comparing two things using “like” or “as”
B. the repetition of a letter
C. the repetition of an ending sound
D. the repetition of vowel sounds

50-Which element of drama tells the actor what to do?
A. dialogue
B. stage directions
C. cast
D. scenes

LITERATURE-IN-ENGLISH PAST JAMB ANSWERS

1-B 2-C 3-A 4-A 5-C 6-C 7-A 8-B 9-D 10-D
11-A 12-B 13-B 14-C 15-A 16-A 17-A 18-A 19-B 20-C
21-A 22-C 23-C 24-A 25-D 26-D 27-A 28-B 29-B 30-B
31-C 32-B 33-C 34-C 35-B 36-C 37-A 38-C 39-A 40-B
41-C 42-C 43-B 44-C 45-C 46-D 47-D 48-A 49-C 50-B

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