How to Answer Literature Questions

Do these seven simple things to answer Literature questions correctly:

• Identify exactly what the Literature question you are about to answer requires from you.
• Have a brief outline or plan for your Literature answer.
• Begin your Literature essay with a direct reference to the main point of the Literature question.
• State and develop each point of your answer in separate paragraphs.
• For each point, quickly give evidence from the novel, drama or poem to support it.
• Make brief, occasional general comments about how a point relates to real-life situations.
• Finally, close your Literature essay with a brief but compelling concluding paragraph.

The above is just a summary of the necessary steps to take to answer Literature questions correctly. If you need further explanation on these points about how to answer the WAEC Literature question, for example, then continue reading. Because in the coming paragraphs, I will show you the details of all the tips and tricks you can use to answer Literature questions.

So whether you are a high school student or an adult learner looking for how to answer the WAEC/WASSCE Literature essay questions on prose, drama and poetry, I’ve got you covered.

The same applies to you if you are an undergraduate student studying for a college degree in Literature and English. It does not really matter the particular degree-awarding institution you are attending because Literature questions and the way to answer them are generally the same everywhere.

A Special Note to My Colleague Teachers of Literature

I trust that you will find something useful in this post to add to the guidelines you will be giving to your students regarding what they need to do to answer Literature questions correctly.

Access Sample Literature Essay Templates

Do you want a practical demonstration of the tips in this post? Well, you can have as many as over 200 Literature essay templates or plans right here at Cegast Academy.

We have over 80 essay questions and answer templates on Second Class Citizen. Additionally, there are more than 70 questions and answers templates on both African and Non-African Poetry.

Then also, you can access more sample Literature essay plans and templates on The Lion and the Jewel, The Invisible Man, Fences as well as Look Back In Anger.

With that out of the way, allow me to walk you through the simple steps to take to answer Literature questions correctly. We shall begin with the first point above.

You Really Need This

First of all, I assume that any student of Literature who is looking for tips on how to answer Literature questions must have already read, thoroughly, the prescribed Literature prescribed books. At the very least, such a student should have read a detailed plot summary and analysis of the Literature texts.

It is also advisable to have a chapter-by-chapter summary of the novel or a scene-by-scene summary of the prescribed drama text.

Such a student must have as well gone through the set poems for the examination already.

For WAEC/WASSCE, NECO/SSCE and JAMB Literature candidates up to the year 2025, I strongly recommend that you take a look at the following tutorials. They will help you to have a good feel of the various Literature textbooks as well as other related topics you need to study.

Plot Summary and Analysis of Second Class Citizen

Chapter by Chapter Summary of Second Class Citizen

Analysis of Caged Bird by Maya Angelou

The Grieved Lands of Africa Analyzed

17 Reasons Why Students Fail Literature

The Lion and the Jewel Plot Summary and Analysis

Harvest of Corruption Summarized – Themes, Characters and Dramatic Techniques

Summary of Scene 4 of Harvest of Corruption

A Brief Summary of Faceless by Amma Darko

Summary and Analysis of Chapter 4 of Faceless by Amma Darko

You need to know the stories, plays and poems well enough. It makes enough sense to say that you cannot say anything meaningful about what you know nothing about.

So let’s take it that you’ve got your stuff all set and ready to roll.  Now you’re looking for how to use it to answer any Literature question that might come your way.

Let’s go.

1. Know what the questions require from you

Look at it this way. When someone asked you a question, you would only give the right answer if you heard and understood it well enough. This is why we ask for a repeat of a question when we didn’t hear it well the first time.

How to Get A WAEC/WASSCE Certificate Without Attending Senior High School

The Shortest Plot Summary of Fences

A Short Summary of Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison

The same goes for examination questions. You can only get the marks you need if you provide the right answer to the Literature question. And the starting point is knowing exactly what you are being asked to do. Take some time to get your understanding of the question right.

Let me explain a bit further. Look at this question.

Comment on the use of repetition in D.H. Lawrence’s poem, Bat.

The above question requires just one simple thing from you. That is, write an essay on the use of REPETITION in the poem BAT.

Almost every Literature essay question tries to make the student’s work as easy as possible. In this case, all you need to focus on is the literary technique known as REPETITION and nothing more. And the poem is ‘Bat’, please.

This is where you need to convince yourself that you can truly say as much as possible about REPETITION in D.H. Lawrence’s poem called ‘Bat’.

Quite frankly, it is easy to write an essay on just one literary technique in a poem. The same goes for a question about a theme or a character in the text in question.

Knowing what the question requires from you will help you to limit the scope of your essay to only what is needed to carry a very high mark. You will not have to go on writing about unnecessary stuff that takes you nowhere.

2. Have a brief outline for your Literature answer.

A good essay plan is an essay half-written. Take a small fraction of your time to list the key points and stages of your essay.

Let’s take another example.

Examine Senghor’s Black Woman as a negritude poem.

A simple but effective answer plan for the above Literature question could be this.

• Introduction – what negritude literature/poetry is about
• Brief subject matter/meaning of ‘Black Woman’
• Elements of negritude poetry found in Black Woman

-Subject Matter

-Theme

-Some relevant poetic techniques – 2 or 3

• Conclusion – restatement of elements of negritude and how effective they are.

About six to eight paragraphs should be enough for this essay on Black Woman as a negritude poem.

The moment you have a rough outline of what you will be writing about in the essay, the writing process itself becomes much easier.

3. Begin with a direct reference to the main point.

As you can see in the essay plan example I gave you a moment ago, the introductory paragraph is about the main point in the question – negritude poetry.

Every other thing you know about the poem, novel or drama is irrelevant if it is not mentioned in the question you want to answer.

Just learn to start answering all Literature questions with a quick reference to the main point. Life gets easier this way. And your examiner will reward you for knowing what to say and what not to say.

4. State and develop each point of your answer in separate paragraphs.

Another key step to take to correctly answer Literature questions is to organize your essay in an orderly manner.

Simplify everything by devoting each point to a separate paragraph. And do not waste time in doing so.

For example, in the ‘Black Woman’ essay plan above, the point about the theme can be in a single paragraph. Then you can share the two or three poetic devices among two or three paragraphs as the case may be.

Remember that all your points must have something to do with the main point of the Literature question.

5. Give evidence from the text to support each point.

Do not just make a point and leave it hanging there. Prop it up with concrete evidence from the novel, play or poem.

For example, if you say the poet has used personification in ‘Black Woman’, go ahead and quickly cite an example or two.

Quote a line or just a couple of words to prove what you have just said. Then explain how this evidence relates to the main point in the question.

Again, in the case of Senghor’s ‘Black Woman’, say how what you have quoted supports the assertion that truly, the poem belongs to the negritude tradition.

Please note that you can paraphrase areas of the original text as your evidence.

The truth is it is not always easy to quote exactly what you want to use as proof of a point you have made in your Literature essay. This is why you are free to use paraphrasing instead of quoting wrongly.

6. Relate your points to real-life situations.

Literature mirrors life. One of the best ways to answer Literature questions, whether in a WAEC exam or similar high school exams, is to occasionally relate what you have observed to practical life situations.

This works best when your Literature answer is about a character and their role in a play or novel. It is equally good for Literature questions that ask the candidate to discuss a particular theme in the text.

A quick warning, though. Do not overdo this. Always remain focused on the core demands of the question.

Also, any brief general commentary can be part of the explanation of your points in the respective paragraphs. You do not need to give them their own separate paragraphs.

7. Write a concluding paragraph.

Here are some quick tips to consider when you are writing your conclusion

• Make it short
• Summarize what you consider to be your most important points in the body of the essay.
• Give an assessment especially when the question contains words like, ‘examine’ and ‘assess’. How do you do this?

All you need to do here is to state the extent to which you think (based on all that you’ve been saying in the essay) the author has been able to effectively deal with whatever literary device or theme or character you are looking at.

In most cases, you will be on the safer side to give credit to the author even if you do not agree with everything.

Final Thoughts

Now you know the key steps to take to answer Literature questions in the most acceptable manner. Make sure to check out additional tutorials on characters and themes that will give you more practical examples of how to answer all types of WAEC Literature questions. And don’t hesitate to leave a comment if something is still not clear to you.

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