WAEC GCE Literature in English Questions and Answers 2023/2024 ( Essay and Objectives)

WAEC GCE Literature questions and answers 2023. Welcome to 2023 WAEC Literature in English Questions and Answers. You will find WAEC GCE Literature Objective Answers, WAEC Literature Essay 2023, WAEC GCE 2023 English Literature, and the tips you need to pass your WAEC GCE Literature examination with ease.

WAEC GCE Literature Essay and Objectives Questions and Answers (Expo)

The 2023 WAEC GCE Literature expo will be posted here during the WAEC GCE English Literature examination. Keep checking and reloading this page for the answers.

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Today’s WAEC GCE Lit. Answers:

WAEC GCE Lit. OBJ:

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Note: The answers below are the 2020 Nov/Dec answers.

Drama and Poetry Answers

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the Three Pigeons, where Tony fraternizes with several other drunken men, they all urge Tony to sing a song, and he sings of how liquor provides the best learning, while traditional school wisdom can be ignorance. The song also touches on the hypocrisy of men of manners, who like liquor as much as anyone. The song is a great hit amongst the drunkards, who speak amongst themselves of how wonderful it is to hear songs that are not “low.” They also reminisce to themselves about Tony’s father, who was “the finest gentleman” in the way he celebrated life. The landlord brings news that two gentlemen have arrived, and are lost on their way to Mr Hardcastle’s house, Tony guesses quickly they must be Marlow and Hastings, and since Tony is still angry about Hardcastle’s insults, decides he will play a joke on his stepfather. He will convince them that Hardcastle’s house is in fact an inn and so will they present themselves there not as gracious guests, but as entitled patrons. He has the men brought to him. Marlow and Hastings are in poor spirits from a long day of travel, Hastings more so because Marlow’s reserve prevented him from asking directions. Tony gives them nonsensical directions to Hardcastle’s that make the place sound many miles away (when it is in fact down the road). Tony interrogates them, and they tell how they have heard about Hardcastle’s well-bred daughter and roguish, spoiled son. Tony argues that their information is reversed, that the son (himself) is much loved and the daughter is a “tall, trapesing, trolloping, talkative maypole”. The men ask the landlord if they can stay, but, at Tony’s instructions, he tells them there is no room, and so Tony suggests they head down to a nearby inn he knows of. He then gives directions to Hardcastle’s house, cautioning them that the landlord there puts on airs and expects to be treated as a gentleman rather than servant. They thank him, and leave for Hardcastle’s home, and so the stage is set for the comedy to come.
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(10)
This last stanza of the poem, Ambush sounds more like a concluding statement from the persona. Thus says the poet in stanza four of the poem, Ambush:

In brief, the country, the land and its leadership have become the people’s enemy rather than their partner in the quest for a better standard of living.

The state has not only failed in its sacred duty to create the kind of environment that will enable every Nigerian to work and realize their dreams. In fact, it has actively done everything, placing obstacles everywhere and lying in ambush ready to prevent the ambitious ordinary Nigerian to blossom and prosper.

In other words it further express that the last stanza concludes the poem with the important point that the land “lies patiently ahead”. The impression given here is two-fold. The first is that the land is patient and determined to see her desire and wish translated into reality. The other impression is that land, in its infiniteness, will always be ahead of the people treading on it. Given this background, we later learn that the land lies in ambush of people in pursuit of hopes and possibilities elsewhere,
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“Birches” was published in 1916. It should be noted that Frost’s “Bircher” was influenced by his boyhood experiences of winter and summer in Northern New England, where he would swing on birches, which was a popular game for children in rural areas of New England, one of the states on the east coast of America, In this poem, the reader is made to understand that the narrator looks at the birch trees in the forest and imagines that their bent nature is as a result of a boy “swinging” on them. However, he knows that the bending of the tree branches has been caused by ice, as a result of the weight of the ice on the branches. For the poet, climbing the birch is a means of freedom and thus the act of swinging on birches is presented as a way to escape the hard reality of life in its entirety, even if for a brief period of time. When the boy climbs the tree, the assumption is that he is ascending towards a celestial plane
of experience, “heaven”, a place where he and the elements of his imagination can be free. Climbing a birch is an opportunity to “get away from earth awhile/And then come back to it and begin over” The idea that runs through the poem is that the harsh realities of life make it imperative that a place of refuge, even if it is for a brief period of time be created or located. The birch tree becomes a transcendental escape from the worries of this earth. This conception is derived from a psychological reading of the poem. In this case, climbing birches seems synonymous with the imagination and the imaginative act is a push toward the surreal, the less practical and pragmatic. The poem is therefore very graphic. The poetic persona remembers his childhood days of climbing the birch trees and he is nostalgic. He takes the joy to describe the life/span of the birch tree. He describes the processes of leaves production to its withering with much childhood gusto. He explains the beautiful sight of the tree after the rain and after the breeze. He also describes how the shells crack open, causing a heap on the ground. He describes the beautiful sight as the dome of heaven falling. After being so engrossed in the sweet imagination, the poetic persona escapes out of his platonic utopia and reality dawns on him, the “truth broke in”.

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Section A:

No (1). Fofo and Odarley are street children scrounging for a living around the Agbogboloshie market area. Fofo flees one early morning to Odarley’s shack after her es-cape from the hands of the rapist, Poison. The plight of street children is highlighted during this visit. An attempt has just been made by a ‘street lord’ to rape Fofo, a fourteen-year-old homeless girl, as she sleeps in front of a provision shop in Agbogbloshie market. In her unprotected condition, she is exposed to the va-garies of the weather and the ravages of lawless men. Odarley’s shack offers only a slightly better protec-tion. The description of the shack is striking. The lack of adequate ventilation and children strewn about the single room in various states of undress, underscore the poverty, destitution and degradation which chil-dren who are forced to fend for themselves have to face. Social immorality has now become a part of the children’s lives.

The shoeshine boy and the iced wa-ter seller are fast asleep, naked. Odarley surmises that the couple had sex the night before. Indiscrimi-nate sex no longer shocks the children. Odarley is, herself, a part of the group. Thus, she conjectures that because she still has her underpants on, the shoe-shine boy had probably mistaken the iced water seller for her. The import here is that she and the shoeshine boy have had sexual encounters in the past. It is in these circumstances that Fofo comes to visit Odarley. In addition to the lack of morals already mentioned, the scene paints a vivid picture of the squalor and filth in which the children wallow during the course of thier daily lives. Odarley and Fofo ease themselves at a rubbish dump in the vicinity. They are not the only ones there. This is a popular place of convenience. Though there is mention of a public toilet, the motiva-tion to go there appears to be very low. While the “busi-ness” of easing themselves is in progress, it is learnt that Fofo is suffering from constipation, probably as a result of her having had to live only on bread and water the previous day: “Yesterday was a bad day”. This information is introduced so casually that the impres-sion is given that it is a normal occurrence. The focus here is on the deprivation of the children.

The atmosphere of insecurity in the location is also quite adequately conveyed. Macho, a street bully and petty criminal, pounces on the children as they are easing themselves, frightens them away and grabs Fofo’s plastic bag which contained all the money she made the prevoius week. In this vicinity might is right and only the strong survive. The victims cannot seek redress from the law. Strength and power reign supreme.

Points to Note:

(i) Lack of security/protection

(ii) Lack of decent accomodation

(iii) Prevalence of social immorality

(iv) Lack of convenience

(v) Prevalent lawlessness

(vi) Prevalent squalor

No (2)
On his “Good Morning, Ghana” (GMO) Show, Sylv Pohoone Ms. Komame to discuss the street cluild phenomenon on a certain moming Ms. Kiamame runs a non vemmental organization which had done “a study of the phenomenon in Acer a few months before” (p. 107). Onpromptings from Sylv Po, Ms Kamme lists some of the actors contributing to the emergente of the situation as poverty, absentee fathers, ignorance, distorted beliefs and perceptions, AS well as sheer irresponsibility and misplaced priorities. She, however, admits that there are very poor parents who do not allow their children to take to the streets. Ms. Kamame expounds on the issues of absentee fathers to include not just those who run away or refuse to assume their responsibilities but also those whose perception of fatherhood

is limited to providing food, shelter and school fees. The consequence in either case is the overloading of the mother with the burden of two. When the burden becomes unbearable, she unloads i.e. she hands off the child. become tomorrow’s adults without respect for human life. with “Hallo! Hallo!” (p. 112) Sylv Po tries to make light of the hitch but the caller will not give She also implicates ignorance and attitude in the cause of the phenomenon. Many women, like Foto’s mother, continue to have more babies despite financial incapacity to take care of the ones they already have.

They are also ignorant of the opportunities available to avoid unwanted pregnancies and protection against STI’s. These women tend to prove their womanhood by the number of children they have. Girls are also pressurized to prove their womanhood regardless of whether they have the means to care for a child or not. Childless married women are frowned upon more than single unmarried mothers while a single girl above sixteen is called “man- woman” (p. 109) by the people.

To Sylv Po’s question about why, besides poverty, fathers do not care for their children, the lady notes that such men do so after abandoning their wives to marry other women and having new babies. At this point, a voice barges into the programme with ‘Hallo! Hallo!’ (p. 110) Someone wants to get on to the programme before the lines are opened. The producer promptly turns off the sound of the telephone so that the programme can continue undisturbed. As the signal button light of the phone keeps flashing, showing the persistence of the caller, the producer signals Sylv Po to round of the discussion with Ms. Kamame so that the caller can be given a special consideration Ms.

Kamame illustrates men’s irresponsibility with the case of a church elder who abandons his wife and six children to marry a young woman who is a new member of his church after claiming to have seen a vision from God revealing that the six children are not his, and that the young lady is the new wife for him. In response to some other questions from the show presenter, the woman says her organization is directing awareness to women and girls who are more likely to neglect their children and make street children out of them” (p. 111).

She also points out that the phenomenon is more prevalent in cities than villages due to the contrast in social realities of the two settings. Finally, she advises people with comfortable lives to show concern in the phenomenon because its sustenance has implications for the entire society; that the street children of today would The presenter has barely finished thanking his guest when the persistent caller barges in again with “Hallo! Hallo! (P. 112) sylv po tries to make light of the hitch but the caller will not give a breathing space as he repeats his “Hallo!, Hallo!” Sylv eventually responds with “Hello!” and requests the caller to tell his or her name and where the call is coming from. She dismisses it as unimportant and is allowed to go ahead with his contribution. In substandard English, the caller rants about the station not heeding his information about the dead girl who die behind de blue Kiosk” (p. 113).

He says the girl’s name is Fati, and that “she dies because she does something bad” (p. 113). She abandoned her older husband in the village to come and marry a younger man in the city. When asked if she knew the said Fati, she dismisses it as unimportant. Asked about where she works and what she does, she also dismisses same as unimportant. Frustrated, Sylv Po asks the caller to tell what is important. The woman rambles on about seeing the dead girl, being certain it was Fati and concluding that her face was so mutilated that the mother could not have recognized the girl as her daughter.

Po’s attempt to challenge her ability to recognize a face the biological mother could not have identified suddenly invites a bang! The caller drops the line. Po announces her drop of the call but assures his audience that the last has not been heard of the case.

Section B
Number 5

Bigger tolerates his family because he has to, but he does not appear especially attached or invested in them. He dangles a dead rat in his sister Vera’s face, which scares her so badly she has to lie down. Although he jumps to the rescue to kill the rat when it enters the room, eager to show his strength (and perhaps express his anger), he is generally unconcerned with his family’s well-being. His mother berates him for being unwilling to get a job to help support them, even with the threat that their government relief checks will be cut off. At the same time, she is concerned about his welfare, cooks for him, and worries that he will get in trouble, even though every conversation between the two of them verges on a fight. Bigger gets along well with his younger brother, Buddy, who idolizes and defends him, but the admiration is largely one-sided. When Bigger tells Buddy he got a job as a chauffeur driving a Buick, Buddy asks if he can ride with him, showing his desire to spend time with his older brother. Buddy sees his older brother somewhat as a father figure, as someone to emulate. When Bigger gets hired by the Daltons, Buddy secretly wishes he could find a similar job.

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(8)
Diego; One of Manfred’s servants. After Isabella escapes the castle and the servants are instructed to find her, Diego is shocked to find a giant foot and leg in armor in the gallery.

Jaquez;Another of Manfred’s servants searching for Isabella throughout the castle. Though he did not see the giant leg in armor himself, he was with Diego when the latter encountered it and recounts the tale to Manfred.

In other words diego and jaquez the two of the servants in the castle working for prince manfred. They are the ones who claims to have seen giant in the house and plead with their master to have the castle exorcize because it is enchanted

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The questions below are not exactly 2023 WAEC Literature in English questions and answers but likely WAEC Literature likely repeated questions and answers.

These questions are for practice. The 2023 WAEC GCE Literature expo will be posted on this page on the day of the WAEC GCE Literature examination. Keep checking and refreshing/reloading this page for the answers.

1. A praise poem is (a) a ballad (b) a panegyric (c) an allegory (d) an epigram

2. Literary work in which the characters are animals is a (a) lampoon (b) fable (c) parody (d) pantomime

3. A short single act drama is called (a) opera (b) allusion (c) farce (d) playlet

Use the following line to answer question 4. Through the trees I’ll hear a single ringing sound, a cowbell jingle.

4. The underlined is an example of rhyme (a) end (b) feminine (c) internal (d) masculine

Read the following lines and answer questions 5 to 7

Yet, let me flap this bug with gilded wings. This painted child of dirt that stinks and stings

5. The alliteration in stinks and stings effectively conveys (a) distaste (b) admiration (c) indifference (d) approval

6. The poet’s intention is to (a) create humor (b) arouse sympathy (c) create fun (d) show contempt

7. The lines illustrate (a) blank verse (b) end rhyme (c) internal rhyme (d) free verse

8. The play on words for literary effect is (a) a paradox (b) a pun (c) a satire (d) an elegy

9. ‘It is a matter of sad joy’ illustrates (a) metonymy (b) oxymoron (c) euphemism (d) irony

10. The leading character in a literary work is the (a) foil (b) villain (c) antagonist (d) protagonist

11. A long narrative poem that relates heroic exploits is an (a) epilogue (b) epitaph (c) epic (d) epigram

12. Over the cobbles it clattered and crashed is an example of (a) oxymoron (b) pun (c) onomatopoeia (d) paradox

13. An essential feature of drama is (a) soliloquy (b) conflict (c) irony (d) aside

14. A humorous poem with five lines, the first two rhyming with last is (a) an ode (b) sestet (c) octave (d) a limerick

15. Death be not proud, though some have called thee mighty and dreadful is an example of (a) euphemism (b) metaphor (c) apostrophe (d) alliteration

16. An essential part of the plot is (a) characterization (b) exposition (c) atmosphere (d) foreshadow

17. The climax in a literary work is the (a) middle (b) beginning (c) central part of the dialogue (d) peak of the conflict

18. Dramatis personae is the same as (a) chorus (b) prompter (c) foil (d) cast

19. Ten thousand saw I at a glance…..illustrates (a) caesura (b) climax (c) bathos (d) hyperbole

20. Catharsis is normally associated with  (a) a pantomime (b) tragedy (c) comedy (d) farce

UNSEEN PROSE AND POETRY

We did not go to school on that Friday morning. The night before had been rough. It was turbulent and scary. The strange cry “non-indigene must go” rent the air. Little did I know what it meant. That cry all the same haunted me in my sleep. My dreams were horrible. Why was Mum so trouble? Why was Dad suddenly pale and sickly? That night Mum and Dad had a foreboding silence. They looked at each other, they did not smile. They were utterly silent. Their silence spoke millions. Fear ruled the night. When the family belt summoned us to the family altar, it seemed that it tolled its last for the humans. Death smelled in the air, death was in the eyes…..but why? We were not told. Yes, during the prayer at the family altar, Dad has told us there was trouble in town. No one who was a non-indigene was safe.

21. The dominant feeling in the passage is that of (a) hostility (b) anger (c) anxiety (d) bitterness

22. This feeling is conveyed by the use of (a) long sentences (b) visual images (c) tactile images (d) short sentences

23. Their silence spoke millions illustrates (a) oxymoron (b) litotes (c) antithesis (d) assonance.

24. Their family bell summoned us is an example of (a) apostrophe (b) antithesis (c) assonance (d) euphemism

25. The passage is (a) in first person (b) in third person (c) a dialogue (d) a monologue

Read the poem and answer questions 26 to 30

I know not, Amina

When again on your brightness of smile

My eyes will rest awhile.

Nor when again of your softness of voice

My ears will drink by eager choice

When again into the silver moonshine

You early at night or late venture

As is your wont in weather fine

Astute, awake in bed as doters may, I’ll lie

Dreaming of grasping your velvety texture

26. The first stanza is a (a) tercet (b) couplet (c) quatrain (d) sestet

27. The poem evokes the senses of (a) smell and sight (b) smell and hearing (c) sight and hearing (d) touch and smell

28. The dominant literary device used in the poem is (a) allusion (b) repetition (c) allegory (d) metonymy

29. The poet’s tone is one of (a) anxiety (b) defiance (c) nostalgia (d) regret

30. My ears will drink by eager choice illustrates (a) oxymoron (b) onomatopoeia (c) synecdoche (d) meiosis

WILLIAM SHAKESPEARE

Read and extract and answer questions 31 to 35

Speaker:           I think this tale would win my daughter too,

                        Good Brabantio, take up this mangled matter at the best,

                        Men do their broken weapons rather use

                        Than their bare hands.

                        (Act 1, scene three, lines 171-174)

33. …this tale justifies (a) Roderigo’s unrequited love for Desdemona (b) Cassio’s promotion above lago. (c) Desdemona’s attraction to Othello (d) Brabanto’s rejection of Othello’s love for his daughter.

34. The underlined expression means (a) seek counsel elsewhere (b) wait till the war is ended (c) take your revenge (d) make the best out of this

35. According to the speaker, (a) the tale was good enough to win a woman’s heart (b) the right was unnecessary (c) the charges were a waste of time (d) there were other matters demanding the attention of the Senate.

See: WAEC GCE English Questions and Answers

Read extract and answer 36 to 40

Othello:            So please your grace, my ancient;

                        A man he is of honesty and trust,

                        To his conveyance I assign my wife,

                        With what else needful your good grace shall think

                        To be sent after me.

                        (Act 1, Scene Three, lines 279-283)

36. Othello is speaking to (a) Brabantio (b) Duke (c) Montano (d) Roderigo

37. The speech illustrates the use of (a) Irony (b) litotes (c) paradox (d) comic relief

38. A man he is of honesty and trust refers to (a) Cassio (b) Lodovico (c) Gratiano (d) lago

39. Othello is leaving to (a) fight in Rhodes (b) make peace with the Turks (c) meet the Governor of Cyprus (d) take over the governorship of Cyprus

40. Othello then (a) leaves with Desdemona (b) entrust Desdemona to lago’s care (c) calls his lieutenant (d) confers with the Duke

Read the extract and answer questions 41 to 45

Lago:   Mere prattle without practice

            Is all his soldiership, But he, sir had th’election

            And I, of whom his eyes and seen the proof

            At Rhodes, at Cyprus, and on other grounds

            …must be belee’d and clamed

            By debtor and creditor.

            (Act I, Scene One, lines 23-28)

41, His soldiership refers to (a) Roderigo (b) Montano (c) Cassio (d) Brabantio

42. Sir refers to (a) Cassio (b) Roderigo (c) Othello (d) Duke

43. Lago (a) wants to go to Cyprus with Othello (b) does not regard Roderigo as a good soldier (c) is bitter about Cassio’s appointment as lieutenant (d) has been placed in charge of Desdemona

44. His eyes refers to (a) Lodovico (b) Cassio (c) Othello (d) Duke

45. The setting is (a) the Castle (b) Cyprus (c) a sea port (d) Venice

Read the extract and answer question 46 to 50

46. The speaker is (a) lago (b) Othello (c) Brabantio (d) Duke

47. The first two lines express the speakers’ (a) loneliness (b) fear (c) confusion (d) regret

48. The speaker has just (a) divorced his wife (b) home from war (c) had a nightmare (d) smothered his wife

49. The speech is provoked by (a) Emillia’s call (b) lago’s treachery (c) Cassio’s confession (d) Desdemona’s plea

50. The underlined expression suggests that (a) there is an imminent eclipse (b) life will never be the same again for the speaker (c) nothing will change (d) there is an impending danger for the speaker.

If you have any questions about the WAEC GCE Literature questions and answers, kindly drop your question in the comment box.

Last Updated on November 28, 2023 by Admin