Practice Questions: Narrative Point Of View

Narrative Point of View - JAMB English Literature Practice Questions

Q1: A story told using "I" or "we" where the narrator is a character in the story is written in -
(a) third person omniscient point of view
(b) first person point of view
(c) second person point of view
(d) third person limited point of view

Q2: In Chinua Achebe's Things Fall Apart, the narrator describes the thoughts and feelings of multiple characters throughout the Igbo community. This narrative technique is called -
(a) first person participant
(b) stream of consciousness
(c) third person omniscient
(d) dramatic monologue

Q3: "You walk into the room and see the letter on the table. Your heart begins to race." This passage exemplifies -
(a) second person point of view
(b) first person point of view
(c) third person objective
(d) third person limited

Q4: A narrator who tells the story but does not reveal the inner thoughts of any character is using -
(a) third person limited point of view
(b) first person observer
(c) third person omniscient point of view
(d) third person objective point of view

Q5: In a narrative where the narrator is not a character in the story but reveals the thoughts of only one character, the point of view is -
(a) first person peripheral
(b) third person limited
(c) second person
(d) third person omniscient

Q6: The advantage of first person narration is that it -
(a) provides complete objectivity about all events
(b) allows the reader to know everyone's thoughts
(c) creates intimacy and immediacy with the narrator
(d) eliminates all bias from the storytelling

Q7: A narrator who participates in the story's events but is not the main character is called a -
(a) protagonist narrator
(b) peripheral narrator
(c) omniscient narrator
(d) detached narrator

Q8: "He watched her leave, wondering if she would ever return. He couldn't know that she had already decided never to see him again." This passage demonstrates -
(a) consistent third person limited narration
(b) first person unreliable narration
(c) a shift in narrative perspective
(d) second person narration

Q9: An unreliable narrator is one who -
(a) uses third person pronouns consistently
(b) provides questionable or distorted information to the reader
(c) never participates in the story's action
(d) knows the thoughts of all characters

Q10: In Wole Soyinka's The Lion and the Jewel, the story is presented primarily through -
(a) dramatic action and dialogue without a narrator
(b) first person narration by Sidi
(c) third person omniscient narration
(d) epistolary format

Q11: The main limitation of third person objective narration is that it -
(a) reveals too many characters' thoughts
(b) uses first person pronouns inconsistently
(c) prevents readers from knowing characters' internal motivations
(d) makes the narrator a participant in events

Q12: "I heard the story from my grandfather, who swore it was true, though I had my doubts." This narrator can be classified as -
(a) third person omniscient
(b) first person with acknowledged limitations
(c) second person observer
(d) third person objective

Q13: Stream of consciousness narration is most closely associated with which point of view?
(a) Third person objective
(b) Second person
(c) First person or third person limited
(d) Epistolary

Q14: When a narrator addresses the reader directly with comments about the story or characters, this technique is called -
(a) dramatic irony
(b) narrative intrusion
(c) foreshadowing
(d) characterization

Q15: In epistolary narratives, the story is told through -
(a) dramatic dialogue only
(b) letters, diary entries, or documents
(c) third person omniscient narration
(d) direct address to the reader

Q16: "She smiled, but inside her heart was breaking into a thousand pieces." This sentence requires which narrative perspective to be possible?
(a) Third person objective
(b) Dramatic presentation
(c) Third person with access to internal states
(d) Second person limited

Q17: The narrator in a bildungsroman often uses first person to emphasize -
(a) objective reporting of historical events
(b) the protagonist's personal growth and development
(c) multiple characters' perspectives equally
(d) dramatic action without commentary

Q18: Which point of view allows the author the greatest flexibility in revealing information about different characters and events?
(a) First person participant
(b) Third person objective
(c) Third person omniscient
(d) Second person

Q19: A narrator who tells a story that happened to someone else, using "he" or "she," but claims to have witnessed the events is using -
(a) third person limited narration
(b) first person observer converted to third person
(c) third person omniscient narration
(d) unreliable third person narration

Q20: The narrative distance between reader and character is typically shortest in -
(a) third person objective narration
(b) omniscient narration with commentary
(c) first person present tense narration
(d) dramatic presentation

Q21: In John Munonye's The Only Son, the narrator's ability to reveal both Nnanna's thoughts and Chiaku's concerns demonstrates -
(a) first person multiple narration
(b) third person omniscient perspective
(c) second person narration
(d) epistolary technique

Q22: When a story alternates between different characters' first person accounts in separate chapters, this technique is called -
(a) omniscient narration
(b) multiple first person narration
(c) third person limited
(d) frame narration

Q23: The chief disadvantage of first person narration is that it -
(a) creates too much emotional distance
(b) limits knowledge to what the narrator experiences or learns
(c) prevents character development
(d) eliminates dialogue possibilities

Q24: A narrator who knows the ending of the story while telling it is using -
(a) present tense narration
(b) limited perspective
(c) retrospective narration
(d) objective narration

Q25: In Shakespeare's plays, the absence of a narrator means the audience learns about characters primarily through -
(a) epistolary revelation
(b) omniscient commentary
(c) dialogue, soliloquy, and action
(d) first person monologue