gce model questions vol1 2024 literature_in_english | Essay

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Question 1 View Details
Literary Genres – Tragedy and Comedy
Question Parts
(a)
Define the genre of tragedy and outline its essential characteristics.
(b)
Compare tragedy with comedy, highlighting at least two contrasting elements, and illustrate each element with a specific example from any two literary works you have studied.
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Question 2 View Details
Literary Devices – Irony and Symbolism
Question Parts
(a)
Explain the three main types of irony (verbal, situational, dramatic) and give a specific illustration of each from a literary text of your choice.
(b)
Identify two symbols used in the same text and discuss how each symbol contributes to the development of the central theme.
(c)
Evaluate the overall impact of irony and symbolism on the reader’s understanding of the theme, citing specific passages where their interaction is most effective.
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Question 3 View Details
Read the following original poem and answer the questions that follow. *Silent City* The streets lie still beneath a silvered sky, Neon flickers, ghosts of yesterday; Footsteps echo, though the crowds have gone, A lone saxophone sighs in the rain. Windows stare, their curtains drawn tight, Dreams drift like paper boats on the tide; In every corner, whispers of hope Blend with the night’s soft, relentless tide.
Question Parts
(a)
Explain how the poet employs imagery and sound devices to create the mood of the poem.
(b)
Discuss the central theme of the poem and evaluate its relevance to contemporary urban life.
(c)
Evaluate how the poem’s structure (line length, stanza arrangement, and punctuation) contributes to its overall message.
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Question 4 View Details
Read the following original prose excerpt and answer the questions that follow. *The Market Stall* Ada lifted the heavy canvas sack, its contents shifting like a restless tide. The early morning market was already a chorus of shouts, the scent of fried plantains mingling with the sharp tang of fresh fish. She set the sack down beside an old wooden table, its surface scarred by decades of bargaining. A child darted past, clutching a bright red balloon that bobbed above his head, a stark contrast to the muted browns and greys of the stalls. As the sun rose higher, a sudden gust sent a cascade of loose papers fluttering, momentarily obscuring Ada’s view of the bustling crowd. In that brief pause, she caught sight of her own reflection in a polished copper pot—eyes tired, but a faint smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
Question Parts
(a)
Analyse the narrator’s tone in the excerpt and discuss how it shapes the reader’s perception of Ada.
(b)
Discuss how Ada’s character is developed through the details provided in the passage.
(c)
Examine how the setting of the market influences the mood and the unfolding of the scene.
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Question 5 View Details
Read the following excerpt from the contemporary drama *The Broken Bridge*: > **Scene 3 – The Market Square** > > *[A bustling market. Stalls line the square, their colours vivid against the grey sky. The sound of barter fills the air.]* > > **MARA** (clutching a worn satchel): > "They say the river will rise again, but the bridge that once linked our homes lies in ruins. How can we trust a promise when the stones have crumbled beneath our feet?" > > **ELI** (leaning against a stall, eyes distant): > "Promises are like the wind, Mara—heard by all, felt by none. Yet we must cross, for the market waits for no one." > > *[A sudden shout erupts from the far end of the square. The crowd parts as a figure, cloaked and hurried, darts past, dropping a sealed envelope at Mara’s feet.]* > > **MARA** (picking up the envelope, voice trembling): > "What is this? A message from the council? Or a trap set by those who profit from our fear?" > > **ELI** (softly, almost a whisper): > "Read it, and perhaps the river will speak its truth." > > **[Mara opens the envelope, the paper fluttering in the wind, revealing a single line of ink.]** > > **MARA** (reading aloud): > "The bridge will be rebuilt at dawn, if the river yields its water." > > *[The crowd murmurs, the tension palpable.]* Analyse how the playwright employs **dialogue, stage directions, and dramatic irony** to develop tension in this scene, and **evaluate the effectiveness of the climax** in reflecting the central theme of social division.
Question Parts
(a)
Analyse how the playwright employs dialogue, stage directions, and dramatic irony to develop tension in the excerpt.
(b)
Evaluate the effectiveness of the climax in reflecting the central theme of social division.
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Question 6 View Details
Read the following passage from the novel *The Silent Market*: > The rain had turned the cobbled streets into a mirror, reflecting the flickering lanterns that hung like reluctant stars above the stalls. Amid the clamor, **Nadia**, a young woman with soot‑stained hands, moved with a quiet determination. Her eyes, dark and observant, missed nothing – the way a merchant tucked a stolen coin into his coat, the way an old man lingered longer at the spice stall, as if searching for a memory. > > Though she never spoke of her past, the scar that traced a thin line across her left cheek whispered of a fire she had once escaped. When the market’s bell tolled, announcing the closing hour, Nadia lingered, not to rest, but to gather the discarded scraps of cloth that children had tossed aside. She stitched them together, creating a patchwork cloak that seemed to carry the weight of the city’s untold stories. Discuss how the author develops **Nadia’s character** through **direct and indirect characterization**, and evaluate the impact of these techniques on the reader’s perception of her role within the community.
Question Parts
(a)
Explain how direct characterization is used to present Nadia’s physical appearance and background.
(b)
Analyse the indirect characterization techniques that reveal Nadia’s personality, values, and relationship to the market community.
(c)
Evaluate how the combination of direct and indirect characterization shapes the reader’s perception of Nadia’s significance in the novel’s broader social commentary.
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Question 7 View Details
TEXT
The night was thick with the scent of dry earth. Kemi stood at the edge of the silent river, its waters long since reduced to a thin, black line that barely reflected the moon. Her father, the village elder, had told stories of a hidden spring that once fed the valley, but the old map was torn, its ink faded. The villagers gathered around the cracked well, their faces gaunt, eyes pleading. "If you go," her father whispered, "bring back the water, or we shall all perish." Determined, Kemi slipped into the darkness, the map clutched tightly in her hand, and followed the faint markings that led deep into the forest where the river once sang.
Read the following excerpt from the short story “The Silent River” (see shared stimulus).
Question Parts
(a)
Identify the exposition in the excerpt and explain how it introduces the main characters and the central conflict.
(b)
Describe the rising action, highlighting at least two events that increase tension in the narrative.
(c)
State the climax of the narrative and discuss its significance to the overall plot development.
(d)
Explain how the resolution resolves the central conflict and reflects the story’s theme.
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Question 8 View Details
Read the following excerpt from the novel “Shadows over Lagos” (see shared stimulus).
Question Parts
(a)
Analyse how the author establishes the physical setting in the opening paragraph and its effect on the mood.
(b)
Discuss how the social setting reflected in the passage influences the protagonist’s choices.
(c)
Evaluate the role of the temporal setting (time of day and season) in shaping the narrative’s tension.
(d)
Synthesize your analysis to argue how the combined physical, social, and temporal settings reinforce the central theme of survival in an urban landscape.
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Question 9 View Details
Read the following excerpt from an original short story: "The village market thrummed with the clatter of wooden carts and the chatter of women bargaining over millet. Yet, beyond the stalls, the ancient baobab stood, its roots tangled with the memory of generations. Kofi, who had just returned from the city with a degree in engineering, watched the elders perform the age‑old rite of the first harvest. He felt the weight of expectation – to bring progress, to build bridges, to replace the cracked mud road with concrete. But the elders whispered that the spirit of the baobab would not survive a road that cut through its heart. Kofi's heart swayed between the promise of modernity and the pull of tradition, as the wind carried both the scent of fresh paint and the earthy perfume of rain on old bark." Answer the following questions:
Question Parts
(a)
Identify the central theme of the passage.
(b)
Explain how the author develops this theme, using at least two literary techniques evident in the excerpt.
(c)
Evaluate the relevance of this theme to contemporary Nigerian society, giving at least one concrete example.
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Question 10 View Details
Read the following excerpt from an original short story: "I woke to the sound of rain tapping the tin roof, but the world outside was not as it seemed. The street I had walked down yesterday was now a river of light, each lamp post a lighthouse guiding ships that never left the shore. My sister's voice, a distant echo, called my name from a house that did not exist in the map I kept in my pocket. I tried to write it down, but the ink dissolved before the words could settle. The narrator, who had been watching me from the corner of the room, smiled and whispered, 'Stories are not always told; they are lived.'" Answer the following questions:
Question Parts
(a)
Identify the narrative point of view employed in the passage.
(b)
Analyse two narrative techniques used in the excerpt and discuss how each influences the reader’s perception of reality within the story.
(c)
Discuss how these techniques contribute to the overall impact of the story, particularly in relation to themes of memory and perception.
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