SSCE (WASSCE and NECO) Literature-In-English (2026 – 2030) – Set 2 – Questions with Answers and Explanations

Literary Appreciation (30 Questions ONLY)

One of the following is not a type of drama.

A. Comedy
B. Farce
C. Opera
D. Tragedy
E. Tragi-comedy

A playwright is also referred to as a/an _______

A. actor.
B. comedian.
C. dramatist.
D. poet.
E. writer.

The odd item from the list below is _____

A. allegory.
B. ballad.
C. epic.
D. lyric.
E. ode.

The kind of play which is funny and its action is hard to accept is referred to as _______

A. allegory.
B. comedy.
C. fable.
D. farce.
E. melodrama.

The dominant idea in a literary work is referred to as _______

A. language.
B. subject.
C. theme.
D. tone.
E. topic

An introductory part to a play is called _______

A. dialogue.
B. epilogue.
C. introduction.
D. monologue.
E. prologue.

The sequential presentation of events in a work of art is called ______

A. Epistolary method.
B. Eye of God method.
C. Linear chronology.
D. Shifting chronology.
E. Stream of consciousness.

"Thanks a million for attending my wedding ceremony" is an example of _________

A. epigram.
B. euphemism.
C. hyperbole.
D. paradox.
E. sarcasm.

When a drama features only one character, it is a _______

A. farce.
B. heroic drama.
C. melodrama.
D. monodrama.
E. multi-drama.

A character that changes with time and performs different roles can be referred to as being _______

A. active.
B. dynamic.
C. flat.
D. heroic.
E. round.

The list of characters that feature in a play is referred to as ______

A. actors.
B. actresses.
C. audiences.
D. cast.
E. people.

The character whose role is to create laughter in the audience is called a/an ______

A. actor.
B. actress.
C. antagonist.
D. clown.
E. protagonist.

The character who features prominently in a novel or a play is the _____

A. actor.
B. antagonist.
C. clown.
D. foil.
E. protagonist.

A compressed form of comparison is known as _______ 

A. antithesis.
B. metaphor.
C. metonymy.
D. parallelism.
E. simile.

The story of a person's life written by another is called a/an ______

A. anthology.
B. autobiography.
C. biography.
D. fiction.
E. resume.

Dance drama is devoid of ______

A. acting.
B. drumming.
C. gesticulating.
D. messaging.
E. talking.

An effective choice and usage of words in a literary piece is called ______

A. diction.
B. editing.
C. poetic licence.
D. semantic level.
E. syntactic order.

Which of the item below is odd?

A. Audience
B. Cast
C. Congregation
D. Costume
E. Stage

The central female character in a novel is a/an ______

A. actress.
B. amazon.
C. heiress.
D. hero.
E. heroine.

A comparison drawn between two things that may be similar is referred to as _______

A. allegory.
B. allusion.
C. analogy.
D. antithesis.
E. inversion.

A writer's explanatory remarks at the end of a book is called ______

A. epilogue.
B. explanation.
C. interlude.
D. preface.
E. prefix.

The time frame actions are performed in a play is called _______

A. action time.
B. montage.
C. plot.
D. setting.
E. strike hour.

"Oh, my love's like a red, red rose" is a good example of _______

A. irony.
B. metaphor.
C. paradox.
D. romance.
E. simile.

The arrangement of incidents in a story is called ______

A. characterization.
B. plot.
C. setting.
D. subject matter.
E. theme.

"The coach described the team's victory as bitter sweet" illustrates the use of _______

A. analogy.
B. epigram.
C. litotes.
D. oxymoron.
E. synecdoche.

"His teeth are sharper than a razor" is an example of ______

A. epigram.
B. hyperbole.
C. irony.
D. litotes.
E. synecdoche.

Which of the following statements does not apply to tragedy? It is ______

A. a dramatic genre.
B. acted on stage.
C. character-involving.
D. humorous.
E. sad.

Unseen Prose

Read the passage and answer the questions (5 Questions ONLY)

Fina heard them and woke up, twenty plus years removed from the scene of her aborted initiation deep in the forest. She sat upright and breathed a sigh of relief as she recognized the lavender-themed master bedroom of her townhouse in a quiet suburb of Gaithersburg, Maryland. It was a warm July Saturday morning—her wedding day.

The dream left Fina feeling so jaded that when the phone rang, she ignored it. Here she was, just a few hours away from beginning a new life, taking a path that would bring her the happiness that had eluded her for so many years, and her past had chosen this particular morning to reassert itself.

Fina leaned back against the headboard, her elbows tucked between her upper body and thighs, her fingers interlocked, and her thumbs pressed against her puckered lips.

Questions

The opening image sequence in the chapter (firelight, chanting, a python, screams) that precedes this passage functions as:

A. A dream sequence revealing Fina's traumatic past
B. A literal, present-day event happening to Fina
C. A flashback narrated by another character
D. A newspaper report Fina is reading

What does the phrase "twenty plus years removed" indicate about the narrative's structure at this point?

A. The story is told in strict, unbroken chronological order
B. There is a significant time gap between Fina's past trauma and her present life
C. Fina is only twenty years old
D. The events of the initiation happened only weeks earlier

The contrast between the "lavender-themed master bedroom" in Maryland and the earlier forest initiation scene primarily serves to highlight:

A. Fina's indifference to her surroundings
B. The similarity between her past and present environments
C. The emotional distance between Fina's safe, modern present and her unresolved traumatic past
D. Fina's wealth and social status

Fina's physical posture at the end of the passage ("leaned back against the headboard, her elbows tucked... fingers interlocked... thumbs pressed against her puckered lips") most suggests:

A. Excitement and joy about her wedding day
B. Physical exhaustion from lack of sleep
C. Anger toward her fiancé
D. Introspection and unresolved inner tension

The situational irony in this passage arises mainly from the fact that:

A. Fina ignored a phone call from her best friend
B. Fina's wedding day, meant to represent new happiness, is instead marked by the return of past trauma
C. Fina lives far from her country of origin
D. Fina's bedroom is decorated in lavender

Williams Shakespeare - ANTONY and CLEOPATRA

Read the extract and answer the questions

Speaker: Thidias, then Cleopatra

THIDIAS
Hear it apart.

CLEOPATRA
None but friends. Say boldly.

THIDIAS
So haply are they friends to Antony.

ENOBARBUS (aside)
He needs as many, sir, as Caesar has,
Or needs not us. If Caesar please, our master
Will leap to be his friend. For us, you know
Whose he is we are, and that is Caesar's.

THIDIAS
So—
Thus then, thou most renowned: Caesar entreats
Not to consider in what case thou stand'st
Further than he is Caesar.

CLEOPATRA
Go on; right royal.

THIDIAS
He knows that you embrace not Antony
As you did love, but as you feared him.

Act 3, Scene 13, lines 55–77

Questions

What does Thidias imply about Cleopatra’s feelings toward Antony in these lines?

A) She loves him more than ever
B) She embraces him out of fear, not love
C) She is indifferent to him
D) She plans to marry him

What literary device is used in Enobarbus’s aside “He needs as many, sir, as Caesar has”?

A) Metaphor
B) Irony
C) Hyperbole
D) Alliteration

The phrase “right royal” spoken by Cleopatra is an example of:

A) Simile
B) Oxymoron
C) Verbal irony
D) Personification

What theme is most prominent in this extract?

A) The power of true love
B) Loyalty and betrayal in politics
C) The joys of military victory
D) The innocence of messengers

Thidias’s speech “Not to consider in what case thou stand’st / Further than he is Caesar” suggests that Caesar wants Cleopatra to:

A) Ignore her own danger
B) See Caesar’s power as the only reality
C) Flee Egypt immediately
D) Marry Caesar instead of Antony

Read the extract and answer the questions

CAESAR
The breaking of so great a thing should make
A greater crack. The round world
Should have shook lions into civil streets
And citizens to their dens. The death of Antony
Is not a single doom; in the name lay
A moiety of the world.

DERCETUS
He is dead, Caesar,
Not by a public minister of justice,
Nor by a hirèd knife, but that self hand
Which writ his honor in the acts it did
Hath, with the courage which the heart did lend it,
Splitted the heart. This is his sword.
I robbed his wound of it. Behold it stained
With his most noble blood.

CAESAR
Look you sad, friends?
The gods rebuke me, but it is tidings
To wash the eyes of kings.

AGRIPPA
And strange it is
That nature must compel us to lament
Our most persisted deeds.

ACT 5 Scene 1, lines 14 to 36.

Questions

When Caesar claims that in the name of Antony lay "a moiety of the world", what does the word "moiety" mean?

A) The total destruction
B) A half or significant share
C) A small remnant
D) The absolute ruler

What is the poetic function of Caesar's imagery regarding "lions into civil streets / And citizens to their dens"?

A) To describe a literal ecological disaster that happened in Rome.
B) To mock Antony's chaotic governing style in Egypt.
C) To use cosmic/natural hyperbole to show that a figure as grand as Antony deserved a world-shattering end.
D) To complain about the poor security measures within the city walls.

In Dercetus's speech, the phrase "but that self hand / Which writ his honor in the acts it did" functions primarily as a metaphor comparing Antony's sword/actions to:

A) A legal document signing away his land.
B) A pen writing down his historical legacy and heroic reputation.
C) A paintbrush painting a tragic portrait.
D) A deceptive disguise used to trick his enemies.

When Caesar says the news consists of "tidings / To wash the eyes of kings", what does he mean?

A) The news is so joyful that monarchs will celebrate by cleansing themselves.
B) The news is a cleansing warning that forces rulers to see their political enemies clearly.
C) The news is so profoundly tragic that it commands even rival kings to weep tears of mourning.
D) The news is so confusing that it blinds royal figures from seeing the truth.

Agrippa reflects that it is strange "That nature must compel us to lament / Our most persisted deeds." What central paradox of political ambition does this underline?

A) Human beings naturally weep for their enemies even when they are winning.
B) Rulers are forced to grieve the very outcomes they spent years fighting to achieve.
C) Soldiers are naturally peaceful but forced by kings to engage in persistent wars.
D) Nature always destroys political alliances regardless of human effort.

The description "His legs bestrid the ocean, his reared arm / Crested the world" contains a distinct literary allusion to which legendary structure of antiquity?

A) The Great Pyramids of Giza
B) The Colossus of Rhodes
C) The Lighthouse of Alexandria
D) The Hanging Gardens of Babylon

What paradox is expressed in Cleopatra's description of Antony’s generosity: "For his bounty, / There was no winter in ’t; an autumn ’twas / That grew the more by reaping"?

A) The more generosity Antony showed, the poorer his empire became.
B) Autumn is traditionally a season of harvest and loss, yet Antony’s bounty infinitely increased the more it was taken from.
C) Antony hated winter and only traveled through the Roman territories during the harvest months.
D) Antony's agricultural policies in Egypt were a failure despite his best intentions.

Read the extract and answer the questions

CLEOPATRA
Thou teachest like a fool: the way to lose him.
Tempt him not so too far. I wish, forbear.
In time we hate that which we often fear.
Enter Antony.
But here comes Antony.
I am sick and sullen.
ANTONY
I am sorry to give breathing to my purpose—
CLEOPATRA
Help me away, dear Charmian! I shall fall.
It cannot be thus long; the sides of nature
Will not sustain it.
ANTONY
Now, my dearest queen—
CLEOPATRA
Pray you stand farther from me.
ANTONY
What’s the matter?
CLEOPATRA
I know by that same eye there’s some good news.
What, says the married woman you may go?
Would she had never given you leave to come.
Let her not say ’tis I that keep you here.
I have no power upon you. Hers you are.
ANTONY
The gods best know—
CLEOPATRA O, never was there queen
So mightily betrayed! Yet at the first
I saw the treasons planted.
ANTONY Cleopatra—
CLEOPATRA
Why should I think you can be mine, and true—
Though you in swearing shake the thronèd gods—
Who have been false to Fulvia? Riotous madness,
To be entangled with those mouth-made vows
Which break themselves in swearing!

(ACT 1, Scene 3, lines 11 to 33)

Questions

Right before Antony enters, Cleopatra states, "I am sick and sullen." What does this reveal about her strategy in managing Antony?

A) She is genuinely incapacitated by a sudden illness.
B) She deliberately uses emotional manipulation and theatricality to keep him off-balance and defensive.
C) She wants to appear weak so he will feel guilty about leaving Egypt.
D) She is planning to secretly poison him to prevent his departure.

When Cleopatra refers to Fulvia as "the married woman," what tone is she adopting?

A) Respectful and formal
B) Dismissive and mocking
C) Fearful and intimidated
D) Sorrowful and empathetic

What does the phrase "mouth-made vows" imply about the nature of Antony's promises?

A) They are sacred declarations spoken aloud to the gods.
B) They are official legal contracts drawn up by the Roman Senate.
C) They are insincere, superficial words that carry no real emotional weight or commitment.
D) They are romantic poems written specifically for the Egyptian court.

Which of the following best describes the central irony Cleopatra highlights regarding Antony's loyalty?

A) Antony claims to love Rome but spends all his time spending Egypt's wealth.
B) Antony expects Cleopatra to be faithful to him while he remains married to Fulvia.
C) Antony swore allegiance to the Roman gods but now worships the Egyptian goddess Isis.
D) Antony expects Cleopatra to believe he will be true to her, even though he is currently betraying his own wife.

Cleopatra's exclamation "Help me away, dear Charmian! I shall fall" functions primarily as what dramatic element?

A) A genuine medical emergency requiring physical intervention.
B) Hyperbolic, performative fainting intended to disrupt Antony's speech and punish him.
C) A private soliloquy revealing her internal existential dread.
D) Foreshadowing of her eventual physical collapse at the end of the play.