All practice questions

Read the line of poetry below and complete the analysis statement by identifying the correct figure of speech.

Read the stanza below:

'The horseman rode through dark of night,
Across the stormy sea,
"Oh, open wide your door, my love,
And fly away with me!"'

Which poetic genre is represented by the excerpt above?

In dramatic structure, a secondary character ranks second in importance to the protagonist and serves as a major figure in advancing the central plot. Which character type does this describe?

Read the excerpt below carefully:

"Before entering the dark forest, Uncle Segun carefully checked his rifle and reminded the hunters of the legend of the rogue elephant that raided neighboring villages every harvest season."

Which narrative device is employed in the passage above to prepare the reader for future events in the plot?

In dramatic analysis, specific character roles drive thematic conflict and narrative progression. Match each character type listed on the left with its exact structural function in a play on the right.

Read the unseen poem below carefully:

1 The ancient oak stands firm against the blast,
2 Whose gnarled boughs have braved a hundred years,
3 Unshaken by the tempest's sudden fears,
4 Holding the sacred memory of the past.
5 Though winter shadows are around it cast,
6 And cold mists rise like silent, ghostly tears,
7 Within its heart no fleeting dread appears,
8 Knowing the fury of the storm won't last.
9 Yet when the spring returns with gentle breath,
10 A softer music stirs the sleeping wood,
11 And green shoots burst from winter's frozen sheath,
12 Now life awakens where the dark trees stood;
13 The quiet earth forgets the chill of death,
14 And finds in silent bloom that all is good.

Which of the following best describes the structural form and rhyme scheme of the poem?

Match each prose extract below to the dominant literary device or stylistic feature of diction it demonstrates.

Complete the following literary analysis statement by identifying the figure of speech exemplified in the excerpt.

Match each prose narrative scenario below with the central theme it primarily illustrates in prose literature.

Match each term related to poetic syntax and diction on the left with its correct definition on the right.

Match each prose excerpt on the left with the dominant setting, atmosphere, or socio-cultural context it establishes on the right.

Below are four fundamental stages of a classical narrative plot structure in prose fiction. In what chronological order do these stages occur from the beginning to the end of a story?

In Amma Darko's novel *Faceless*, which character serves as the tyrannical leader of the street children in Agbogbloshie?

In a presidential system of government, the strict application of the separation of powers prevents cabinet ministers from holding seats in the legislature. Which of the following mechanisms best describes how the legislature exercises constitutional control over executive ministers without violating this separation?

The village square, once loud with honest trade,
Now bends beneath a tawdry reign of show;
Where gilded banners mask the debts unpaid,
And shallow praises in the market flow.
The elders mourn the quiet worth of old,
As empty glitter buys the hearts of gold.

In the poem above, what does the word tawdry most nearly mean as used by the speaker?

Read the poetic excerpt below:

Through winding paths of shadowed pine we tread,
While ancient voices whisper in the breeze,
And guide the weary steps of those who bled.

A sudden light breaks through the silent trees,
Revealing truth long buried in the night,
To bring the heavy-hearted soul some ease.

Which of the following structural designations correctly identifies the stanzaic interlocking rhyme scheme employed in the passage above?

Read the following unseen prose excerpt: "As the night train crested the ridge, a sudden gale swept through the open carriage, snuffing out the solitary lantern. Darkness swallowed us whole. I reached out frantically for my father's hand, feeling the coarse fabric of his coat before a voice whispered in the shadow, 'Hold fast, child, we are nearly home.'"

Statement: The passage above is written using a third-person omniscient narrative point of view.

Read the following prose extract:

"When the former minister returned to his ancestral village after decades in power, he found himself surrounded by a crowd of wealthy beggars—men whose bank accounts overflowed even as their moral integrity had completely withered away. Sitting beneath the shade of the ancient baobab tree, he remarked bitterly to the village elders, 'Indeed, the only absolute certainty in our modern political landscape is that everything is entirely uncertain.'"

Which pair of literary devices is illustrated by the expressions "wealthy beggars" and "the only absolute certainty... is that everything is entirely uncertain" respectively?

Read the unseen passage below:

"The heavy iron gates of the courtyard swung shut with a hollow clang, sealing the courtyard in silence. From behind the carved mahogany screen, we held our breath as the inspector examined the forged document under the flickering lamp, entirely unaware that our covert eyes recorded his every tremor of hesitation."

True or False: The narrative point of view in the passage above is third-person limited because the focus of observation is restricted entirely to the inspector's actions.

In Aminata Sow Fall's prescribed African prose text, *The Beggars' Strike*, what primary motivation compels Mour Ndiaye to desperately seek the return of the beggars to their original street positions after he had previously engineered their violent eviction?