SSCE (WASSCE and NECO) Literature-In-English (2026 – 2030) – Set 5 – Questions with Answers and Explanations

When Antony says “Not Caesar’s valor hath o’erthrown Antony, / But Antony’s hath triumphed on itself,” he means that:

A. Caesar surrendered to Antony
B. Antony was killed by his own soldiers
C. Antony’s own actions and flaws defeated him, not Caesar
D. Cleopatra’s navy defeated Antony

The phrase “I am dying, Egypt, dying” contains an example of:

A. Epithet
B. Anaphora
C. Oxymoron
D. Metonymy

Cleopatra’s statement “All strange and terrible events are welcome, / But comforts we despise” reveals her mood as:

A. Joyful and hopeful
B. Indifferent and numb
C. Defiant and embracing of tragedy
D. Fearful and retreating

The “many thousand kisses” Antony speaks of serve to:

A. Show his anger at Cleopatra
B. Contrast the vast love with the “poor last” kiss before death
C. Prove he wants to live forever
D. Insult Cleopatra’s loyalty

Williams Shakespeare - ANTONY and CLEOPATRA

Read the extract and answer the questions

POMPEY To meet Mark Antony, Caesar, and Lepidus, This is the mouth of war. We are to mark How to receive each other.

MENAS Every time You speak of them, they seem to stand before you, Ready to strike.

POMPEY I know it, Menas. They are the giants of the world, and I am but A dwarf that dares to challenge them. But, mark, The gods are just, and when they do delay, They not deny.

MENAS If the great gods be just, They shall assist the deeds of justest men.

POMPEY Whiles we are suitors to their throne, decays The thing we sue for.

MENAS We, ignorant of ourselves, Beg often our own harms, which the wise powers Deny us for our good; so find we profit By losing of our prayers.

ACT 2 Scene 1 from lines 1 to 19

Questions

Which literary device is used when Pompey refers to Antony, Caesar, and Lepidus as "the giants of the world" while calling himself "a dwarf"?

A) Hyperbole
B) Antithesis
C) Personification
D) Onomatopoeia

What is the primary thematic meaning behind Menas’s statement: "We, ignorant of ourselves, / Beg often our own harms, which the wise powers / Deny us for our good"?

A) Human beings are entirely capable of predicting their own destinies without divine intervention.
B) The gods are malicious entities who enjoy misleading human rulers before battle.
C) Humanity often lacks true self-knowledge and prays for things that would ultimately destroy them, making unanswered prayers a hidden blessing.
D) Soldiers should never pray before going to war because it signals fatalistic weakness.

In the line "This is the mouth of war," what literary device is employed?

A) Simile
B) Metaphor
C) Synecdoche
D) Alliteration

When Pompey remarks that "when they do delay, / They not deny," what aspect of the gods' behavior is he describing?

A) The gods are completely indifferent to human political struggles and will never take action.
B) Divine justice operates on its own timeline, meaning a pause or delay does not mean justice has been permanently refused.
C) The gods intentionally slow down human actions to test whether army commanders will mutiny.
D) The Roman gods require constant sacrifices before they will provide an immediate answer to a prayer.

What does the dialogue between Pompey and Menas primarily reveal about their emotional state prior to meeting the Triumvirate?

A) They are overconfident, reckless, and completely dismissive of their opponents' tactical strength.
B) They are highly reflective and acutely aware of the massive, dangerous scale of the enemy they are challenging.
C) They are paralyzed by absolute fear and actively plotting a way to desert their own army.
D) They are bitter and furious at each other over how to distribute their stolen gold.

Williams Shakespeare - ANTONY and CLEOPATRA

Read the extract and answer the questions

CAESAR You praise yourself By laying defects of judgment to me, but You patched up your excuses.

ANTONY Not so, not so. I know you could not lack, I am certain on ’t, Very necessity of this thought, that I, Your partner in the cause ’gainst which he fought, Could not with graceful eyes attend those wars In which my brother missed. As for my wife, I would you had her spirit in such another. The third o' th' world is yours, which with a snaffle You may pace easy, but not such a wife.

ENOBARBUS Would we had all such wives, that the men might go to wars with the women!

ANTONY So much uncurbable, her garboils, Caesar, Made out of her impatience—which not wanted Shrewdness of policy too—I grieve myself To think you could sustain what data of injury My blame might speak of.

ACT 2 Scene 2 from lines 63 to 81

Questions

What does Antony mean by the metaphor "The third o' th' world is yours, which with a snaffle / You may pace easy, but not such a wife"?

A) Caesar is a poor politician who struggles to govern his third of the Roman Empire.
B) Controlling a vast empire with light rein (a snaffle) is easy compared to controlling a headstrong wife like Fulvia.
C) Fulvia has successfully conquered a third of the world away from Caesar's control.
D) Antony wishes to trade his share of the empire to Caesar in exchange for family peace.

Which literary device is used when Caesar tells Antony, "but / You patched up your excuses"?

A) Metaphor
B) Simile
C) Hyperbole
D) Personification

What does the word "garboils" most nearly mean in Antony’s line: "So much uncurbable, her garboils, Caesar..."?

A) Royal garments and luxuries
B) Severe illnesses and health issues
C) Banishments and legal decrees
D) Commotions, brawls, and disturbances

What is the dramatic function of Enobarbus’s interruption: "Would we had all such wives, that the men / might go to wars with the women!"?

A) To provide comic relief and cynical commentary on a highly tense political confrontation.
B) To offer an official military strategy to defeat Pompey.
C) To insult Caesar's masculinity and family lineage.
D) To reveal his secret romantic feelings for Antony's deceased wife.

Based on this passage, what defense does Antony offer regarding his brother's military rebellion against Caesar?

A) Antony claims he explicitly ordered his brother to attack Caesar's forces.
B) Antony argues that it is logical that he could not look favorably ("with graceful eyes") upon a war that opposed his own brother.
C) Antony argues that his brother was temporarily insane and shouldn't be blamed.
D) Antony denies that he has a brother and claims Caesar is mistaken.

Williams Shakespeare - ANTONY and CLEOPATRA

Read the extract and answer the questions

MENAS Aside to Pompey. Wilt thou be lord of all the world?

POMPEY What sayst thou?

MENAS Aside to Pompey. Wilt thou be lord of all the world? That’s twice.

POMPEY How should that be?

MENAS But entertain it, And though thou think me poor, I am the man Will give thee all the world.

POMPEY Hast thou drunk well?

MENAS No, Pompey, I have kept me from the cup. Thou art, if thou dar’st be, the earthly Jove. Whate’er the ocean pales or sky inclips Is thine, if thou wilt ha’ ’t.

POMPEY Show me which way.

MENAS These three world-sharers, these competitors, Are in thy vessel. Let me cut the cable, And when we are put off, fall to their throats. All there is thine.

ACT 2 Scene 7 from lines 67 to 83

Questions

When Menas calls Pompey the potential "earthly Jove," what literary device is being utilized?

A) Simile
B) Allusion
C) Onomatopoeia
D) Oxymoron

What does the word "competitors" most nearly mean in Menas’s line: "These three world-sharers, these competitors..."?

A) Athletes in an official physical tournament
B) Partners, colleagues, or associates sharing power
C) Foreign invaders from outside the empire
D) Commercial merchants trading goods

Which literary device is present in the line: "Whate’er the ocean pales or sky inclips"?

A) Synecdoche
B) Personification
C) Hyperbole
D) Paradox

Unseen Poetry

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

For a person who has lived as long
And one who, as well, has done much
As you Life’s whole process blooms into stark beauty
And failures give no trite, crippling regrets

Yet. On occasion, shamed, horrid green-eyed
Envy fights benign Felicitation exclusively couched
For you By us who won’t be left out of today’s joy
And must send you warm hearty birthday garlands

You must, you wondrous mentor of rouges like us,
Receive copious blessings today; d stay well blessed
To you Age eighty-five is life’s smiley, cloudless dawn
It is the gainful twilight of fulfilled dreams

Hope now nods in contented concert with spent desires
Now restful Hope neither nags nor raves nor rants
At you But your heart sits on garlanded satis shores
Looking out to sea for health delivering vessels

Extracted from Hearty garlands By S.O.H. Afriyie –Vidza

Questions

The phrase "green-eyed Envy" (line 5) is an example of which literary device?

A) Simile
B) Metaphor
C) Personification
D) Synecdoche

The line "Hope now nods in contented concert with spent desires" employs which two literary devices most prominently?

A) Simile and alliteration
B) Personification and consonance
C) Hyperbole and onomatopoeia
D) Metaphor and assonance

The speaker’s use of the phrase "rouges like us" (line 9) to describe themselves and the other well-wishers is an example of:

A) A euphemism
B) A litotes
C) An understatement
D) A self-deprecating appellation

The line "You must shake your own hands like iroko agama" (line 19-20) is an example of:

A) A simile
B) An allusion
C) A pun
D) An allegory

Literary Appreciation (30 Questions ONLY)

Literature can be defined as a _______

A. chronicle of human deeds.
B. creative work of life.
C. documentation of oral works.
D. performance of art.
E. representation of life.

Which of the following is a genre of literature?

A. Playlet
B. Prose
C. Prosody
D. Tragi-comedy
E. Verse

The use of exaggerated pictures for story telling is called _____

A. cartoon.
B. foreshadowing.
C. mimicry.
D. montage.
E. puppetry.

One of the following is common to all forms of literature.

A. Action
B. Chorus
C. Diction
D. Narration
E. Scene

The panic an actor exhibits while facing an audience on the stage is called _______

A. anxiety.
B. stage fear.
C. stage fright.
D. stage tension.
E. weakness.

Literature serves as a means of achieving the following except ______

A. brainwashing the readers.
B. educating the society.
C. entertaining the audience.
D. informing the people.
E. transforming the society.

Opera is a form of drama that is characterised by ______

A. acting.
B. dancing.
C. gesticulating.
D. miming.
E. singing.

Pun as a literary term deals with ______

A. arrangement of words.
B. description of words.
C. juxtaposition of words.
D. placement of two opposite phrases.
E. playing on words.

The writer of a play is known as a/an ______

A. actor.
B. author.
C. playwright.
D. playwright.
E. writer.

Story telling is associated with ______

A. cartoon.
B. comedy.
C. drama.
D. poetry.
E. prose.

A work of art which aims at exposing the ills of a society is called _____

A. caricature.
B. folktale.
C. melodrama.
D. mimesis.
E. satire.

The use of sensual symbols in literary works is called _____

A. imagery.
B. impressionism.
C. sensationalism.
D. style.
E. symbolism.

A play is fully realised when it is _____

A. acted.
B. choreographed.
C. directed.
D. produced.
E. rehearsed.

Romantic poetry extols the beauty of ______

A. art.
B. culture.
C. love.
D. nature.
E. tradition.

The representation of human actions through acting is known as ______

A. choreography.
B. dance.
C. drama.
D. mime.
E. opera.

Which of the following gives additional information in a play?

A. Chorus
B. Clown
C. Director
D. Dramatist
E. Producer

Pick the odd one out.

A. Dirge
B. Epic
C. Lyric
D. Prosody
E. Sonnet

The genre of literature that uses words in an elevated form is _____

A. comedy.
B. drama.
C. poetry.
D. prose.
E. tragedy.

The technical name for a category of literature is ______

A. branch.
B. class.
C. division.
D. genre.
E. taxonomy.

When a character talks to himself on the stage, the device employed is called _____

A. aside.
B. direct address.
C. monologue.
D. murmuring.
E. soliloquy.

A dirge is a poem that deals with ______

A. celebration.
B. disappointment.
C. life's expectation.
D. pathos.
E. sorrow.

A tryout for a role in a play is called ______

A. auditioning.
B. premiere.
C. rehearsal.
D. role-play.
E. testing.

The principal antagonist in a play is known as the ______

A. buffoon.
B. hero.
C. playwright.
D. protagonist.
E. villain.

"Swift soft sail" exemplifies the use of _____

A. alliteration.
B. assonance.
C. consonance.
D. pun.
E. rhyme.

A literary work that involves the use of non-verbal communication is called ______

A. ballet.
B. gesticulation.
C. mime.
D. opera.
E. orchestra

Flashback is a device used to _____

A. appreciate a story.
B. awaken and retain readers' interest.
C. express inner thought.
D. pass value judgment.
E. recall past events.

Drama differs from poetry because it ______

A. deals with comic experience.
B. deals with tragic experience.
C. exists mainly in actions.
D. involves characters.
E. uses elevated language.

A situation where sequence action is withheld in a literary work is called ______

A. dialogue.
B. exaggeration.
C. monologue.
D. soliloquy.
E. suspense.

The principal aim of drama is to ______

A. educate.
B. entertain.
C. excite.
D. reform.
E. ridicule.