BECE Literature Questions and Answers

 A. Essay Type BECE Literature Questions and Answers

SACKEY J. A. and DARMANI L. (COMP.): The Cockcrow

BECE 2017

5. Questions 5(a) to 5(c) are based on one of the prescribed short stories for your study. Provide short

answers to them.

MERRILL CORNEY: Debbie, Sandy and Pepe

(a) What is referred to as Poor little thing in the story?

(b) What is the setting of the story?

(c) The attitude of the girls to the baby bird is that of ………………………….

Read the following extract carefully and answer Questions 5(d) and 5(e)

KAAKYIRE AKOSOMO NYANTAKYI: Tell My Son to Hold On to His Gun

“Be courageous, be courageous, Kwame, be courageous!”

“I will be, Father, I will be,” I answered,

and entered the thick forest …

(Page 93)

(d) Be courageous, be courageous, Kwame, be courageous is an example of the use of a literary

device termed ………………….

(e) How did Kwame show that he was courageous at the end of the story?

Read the following extract carefully and answer Questions 5(f) and 5(g)

JEAN WATSON: The Old Man and His Children

Once there was an old man who had seven sons.

They should have been his pride and joy.

But they were not.

(Page 17)

(f) The above extract is a/an ……………………..to a story.

(g) The idea expressed in the second sentence is that of ……………….

Read the following extract carefully and answer Questions 5(h) and 5(j)

AMA ATA AIDOO: The Dilemma of a Ghost

Yes, my young woman, I shall remember you.

I shall remember you in the hours of the night –

In my sleep,

In my sleepless sleep.

(Page 62)

(h) “… young woman” refers to ………………..

(i) The ‘sleepless sleep’ of the speaker is caused by ………………………

(j) “… sleepless sleep” shows that the speaker is ……………………..

Answers:

5. Questions 5(a) to 5(c) are based on one of the prescribed short stories for your study. Provide

short answers to them.

(Write any one of the following words or phrases for each)

(a) What is referred to as Poor little thing in the story?

Pepe / the baby bird / the little bird / the bird with the yellow beak / “the bird with the bright

eyes” / the baby bird that fell from its nest.

(b) What is the setting of the story?

The immediate environment of Debbie and Sandy’s house

OR

Countryside, Rural community, a village / the girls’ mother’s garden/ compound

(c) The attitude of the girls to the baby bird is that of ………………………….

Admiration / Compassion / Care / Pity / Sympathy

(d) Be courageous, be courageous, Kwame, be courageous is an example of the use of a literary

device termed ………………….

Repetition

(e) How did Kwame show that he was courageous at the end of the story?

He killed the killer beast

OR

By killing the killer beast

OR

He killed the monster

Note: “By killing a beast” is not accepted.

Once there was an old man who had seven sons.

They should have been his pride and joy.

But they were not.

(f) The above extract is a/an ……………………..to a story.

Prologue / beginning of / introduction

(g) The idea expressed in the second sentence is that of ……………….

Contrast

Yes, my young woman, I shall remember you.

I shall remember you in the hours of the night –

In my sleep,

In my sleepless sleep.

(h) “… young woman” refers to ………………..

Eulalie / Eulalie Yawson / Eulalie Rush / Ato’s wife

(i) The ‘sleepless sleep’ of the speaker is caused by ………………………Her barrenness / Childlessness

(j) “… sleepless sleep” shows that the speaker is ……………………..

Restless / worried / disturbed / cannot find peace

BECE 2015

B. Multiple Choice Type BECE Literature Questions and Answers

1. A comedy is a play that

A. ends sadly

B. ends happily

C. condemns society

D. preaches honesty

2. The main female character in a play is the …………..

A. hero

B. chorus

C. heroine

D. persona

3. Expressions that appeal to the senses are collectively called ………..

A. irony

B. devices

C. pictures

D. imagery

4. The purpose of a comic relief is to ……………

A. reduce tension

B. teach a moral lesson

C. set a moral standard

D. compound a character’s problems

5. A play is better enjoyed when ………..

A. acted

B. read

C. discussed

D. memorised

6. A narrative poem usually ……………

A. praises actions

B. tells a story

C. mourns the dead

D. condemns actions

Read the following extract below and answer Questions 39 and 40.

So fair art thou my bonnie lass

So deep in luve am I

And I will luve thee still my dear

Till all the sea gang dry

7. The last line is a/an ………..

A. litotes

B. hyperbole

C. euphemism

D. understatement

8. The rhyme scheme of the stanza is ………….

A. abcd

B. abca

C. abcb

D. abba

BECE 2016

9. A poem of six lines is called a/an …………..
A. octave
B. opera
C. sextet
D. sonnet

Read the following extract below and answer Questions 34 to 38.

The sudden change in the weather frightened Araba.
The bright orange colour of the sunset sky had
quickly turned dull as the grey clouds gathered,
rumbling, dark and angry.
The booming voice of thunder was intimidating.
Lightning flashed shards of light from his formidable torch.
Araba was a cornered rat.

How would she get home if the worst happened?
10. The atmosphere is ……………..
A. cheerful
B. friendly
C. frightening
D. undaunting

11. The state of the weather is emphasized by the word ………….
A. angry
B. cloud
C. flashed
D. grey

12. ‘Lightning flashed …light from …..torch.’ is an example of …………
A. alliteration
B. ellipsis
C. parallelism
D. personification

13. What is being referred to by the question, ‘How would she ……..happened?’
A. Current calm
B. Imminent rain
C. Latent sky
D. Rumbling clouds

14. The extract is …………
A. drama
B. poetry
C. prose
D. story

15. One special feature of prose is the ………….
A. paragraph
B. stanza
C. stage direction
D. rhyme

16. The work of the novelist is in ………….
A. drama
B. poetry
C. prose
D. verse

BECE 2013

17. Which of the following is not an example of oral literature?

A. Myth

B. Folktale

C. Proverb

D. Melodrama

18. The dominant idea in a literary work constitutes its …………..

A. plot

B. theme

C. diction

D. structure

19. The expression “The world is a stage.” is an example of ……….

A. metonymy

B. simile

C. personification

D. metaphor

20. A genre is ……………..

A. any kind of poetry

B. another name for prose

C. a subdivision of drama

D. any of the three forms of literature

Read the following extract carefully and answer questions 37 and 38

Sweet sensation rises in pressure

Tiny legs kick with pleasure

Sleep comes gently and strong

Sleep whispers softly and strong

21. The device used in “Sleep comes gently and strong” is ……………

A. irony

B. hyperbole

C. euphemism

D. personification

22. The rhyme scheme of the stanza is ………….

A. abba

B. bbaa

C. aabb

D. abab

Read the following extract carefully and answer questions 39 and 40

The fair breeze blew; the white foam flew,

The furrow followed free;

We were the first that burst

Into the silent sea.

23. The main sound device used in the stanza is …………..

A. pun

B. rhyme

C. alliteration

D. onomatopoeia

24. The device helps to express …………….

A. the silence of the sea

B. the whiteness of the foam

C. the fairness of the weather

D. the smoothness of the movement