NECO 2025/2026 Literature in English – Drama & Poetry

NECO 2025/2026 Literature in English – Drama & Poetry

Drama (Questions 1–15)

1. A play written to be performed is called a —
   A. novel
   B. poem
   C. drama
   D. short story
   Answer: C

2. The turning point in a play is known as the —
   A. exposition
   B. climax
   C. conflict
   D. denouement
   Answer: B

3. A character who stands in opposition to the protagonist is called —
   A. actor
   B. foil
   C. antagonist
   D. narrator
   Answer: C

4. In a play, aside is a —
   A. long speech
   B. song
   C. short comment not heard by others
   D. summary of the scene
   Answer: C

5. A tragic hero often has a —
   A. perfect ending
   B. fatal flaw
   C. comic relief
   D. moral weakness
   Answer: B

6. The use of humour to relieve tension in a tragedy is called —
   A. tragic flaw
   B. irony
   C. comic relief
   D. foreshadowing
   Answer: C

7. The playwright of The Lion and the Jewel is —
   A. Chinua Achebe
   B. Wole Soyinka
   C. Ola Rotimi
   D. J.P. Clark
   Answer: B

8. In Othello, Iago is driven by —
   A. love
   B. jealousy
   C. loyalty
   D. justice
   Answer: B

9. The final part of a play where conflicts are resolved is the —
   A. climax
   B. falling action
   C. denouement
   D. exposition
   Answer: C

10. The term “soliloquy” means —
    A. dialogue between two actors
    B. speech to the audience
    C. speech to oneself
    D. speech with no meaning
    Answer: C

11. In Look Back in Anger, Jimmy Porter is portrayed as —
    A. satisfied and content
    B. indifferent and lazy
    C. angry and disillusioned
    D. cheerful and hopeful
    Answer: C

12. The main theme of The Lion and the Jewel is —
    A. power and politics
    B. tradition versus modernity
    C. crime and punishment
    D. war and peace
    Answer: B

13. A literary work written in dialogue and intended for performance is a —
    A. drama
    B. narrative
    C. lyric
    D. sonnet
    Answer: A

14. The opening part of a drama that gives background information is the —
    A. plot
    B. exposition
    C. conflict
    D. setting
    Answer: B

15. The use of a character to highlight the traits of another is called a —
    A. antagonist
    B. hero
    C. foil
    D. narrator
    Answer: C

NECO 2025/2026 Literature in English – Drama & Poetry

Poetry (Questions 16–30)

16. A poem of fourteen lines written in iambic pentameter is called a —
    A. ballad
    B. lyric
    C. sonnet
    D. ode
    Answer: C

17. A poem that expresses intense emotion is a —
    A. narrative poem
    B. lyric poem
    C. epic poem
    D. satire
    Answer: B

18. The attitude of a poet to the subject of the poem is the —
    A. tone
    B. setting
    C. rhyme
    D. theme
    Answer: A

19. Which of the following is a type of sound device in poetry?
    A. Metaphor
    B. Simile
    C. Alliteration
    D. Oxymoron
    Answer: C

20. A line that continues without a pause into the next line is called —
    A. enjambment
    B. caesura
    C. refrain
    D. stanza
    Answer: A

21. The central message of a poem is known as its —
    A. tone
    B. mood
    C. setting
    D. theme
    Answer: D

22. “The sun smiled on the earth” is an example of —
    A. simile
    B. irony
    C. personification
    D. allusion
    Answer: C

23. A poem that tells a story is a —
    A. lyric
    B. narrative
    C. ode
    D. elegy
    Answer: B

24. A poem written to mourn the dead is called an —
    A. ode
    B. sonnet
    C. elegy
    D. epigram
    Answer: C

25. “He is a lion in battle” is an example of —
    A. simile
    B. metaphor
    C. irony
    D. hyperbole
    Answer: B

26. The use of words to create mental images is —
    A. rhyme
    B. enjambment
    C. imagery
    D. repetition
    Answer: C

27. A stanza of four lines is known as a —
    A. couplet
    B. tercet
    C. quatrain
    D. sestet
    Answer: C

28. The repetition of the same sound at the beginning of words is —
    A. alliteration
    B. pun
    C. rhyme
    D. rhythm
    Answer: A

29. The mood of a poem is the —
    A. rhyme scheme
    B. arrangement of stanzas
    C. emotional feeling it evokes
    D. type of punctuation
    Answer: C

30. An ode is a poem that —
    A. mourns the dead
    B. expresses love
    C. celebrates a person or thing
    D. narrates history
    Answer: C

NECO 2025/2026 Literature in English – Drama & Poetry

Section B: Essay/Theory Questions

Answer four (4) questions in all — two from each section (Drama and Poetry).

DRAMA

1. Discuss the conflict between tradition and modernity in The Lion and the Jewel.

2. Examine the role of Iago as a villain in Shakespeare’s Othello.

3. Discuss any three dramatic techniques used in one of the plays you have studied.

4. Describe the role of women in any African play you have studied.

POETRY

5. Examine the theme of death in “Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night”.

6. Analyse the use of imagery and symbolism in “Piano and Drums” by Gabriel Okara.

7. Discuss the poet’s attitude to colonialism in any poem you have studied.

8. Identify and explain three poetic devices used in “The Pulley” by George Herbert.