These Once Upon a Time objective questions cover the whole poem: its speaker, themes, devices, tone and structure. Try all 20 before you look at the answer key at the bottom. Each answer comes with a short explanation, so you learn from every mistake.

Line numbers follow the standard 43-line layout. Want to revise first? Read the complete study guide.

Once Upon a Time objective questions

Questions 1–5: The poet, speaker and opening

1. Who wrote Once Upon a Time?

A) Wole Soyinka    B) Gabriel Okara    C) Niyi Osundare    D) Kofi Anyidoho

2. The speaker in the poem is

A) a teacher    B) a son    C) a father    D) a host

3. In the poem, the son represents

A) wealth    B) innocence    C) Western culture    D) old age

4. According to the speaker, people now laugh with their

A) hearts    B) eyes    C) teeth    D) hands

5. By “ice-block-cold eyes” (line 5), the poet suggests

A) anger    B) a lack of warmth    C) tears    D) old age

Questions 6–10: Images and themes

6. While shaking hands, the people’s left hands search the speaker’s

A) face    B) shadow    C) home    D) empty pockets

7. Which theme do the handshakes in stanza 2 mainly show?

A) Materialism    B) Patriotism    C) Romantic love    D) Bravery

8. On which visit does the speaker find the doors shut?

A) The first    B) The second    C) The third    D) The fourth

9. Homeface, officeface and streetface are examples of

A) coinage    B) onomatopoeia    C) alliteration    D) rhyme

10. Line 24, “like a fixed portrait smile”, contains a

A) metaphor    B) simile    C) hyperbole    D) pun

Questions 11–15: Irony, imagery and tone

11. When the speaker says “Goodbye”, he really means

A) see you soon    B) good riddance    C) thank you    D) welcome

12. Saying “Glad to meet you” without being glad is an example of

A) irony    B) personification    C) euphemism    D) paradox

13. In stanza 6, the speaker compares his laugh in the mirror to

A) a lion’s roar    B) a snake’s bare fangs    C) a child’s smile    D) a mask

14. What does the mirror in stanza 6 symbolise?

A) Vanity    B) Self-examination    C) Wealth    D) Beauty

15. The dominant tone of stanzas 1–3 is

A) joyful    B) nostalgic    C) humorous    D) fearful

Questions 16–20: Form and structure

16. Okara writes the poem in

A) sonnet form    B) free verse    C) ballad metre    D) heroic couplets

17. Where is the turning point of the poem?

A) Stanza 1    B) Stanza 3    C) Stanza 4    D) Stanza 7

18. Repeating “once upon a time” in lines 1 and 43 gives the poem

A) a circular structure    B) a rhyme scheme    C) a chorus    D) a regular metre

19. Speaking directly to the son throughout is an example of

A) apostrophe    B) enjambment    C) assonance    D) alliteration

20. The poem ends on a note of

A) despair    B) anger    C) hope    D) fear

Answer key to the Once Upon a Time objective questions

Answers 1–10

1. B (Gabriel Okara): Gabriel Okara, the Nigerian poet of Ijaw origin, wrote the poem.

2. C (a father): A father speaks to his son throughout.

3. B (innocence): The child stands for the sincerity the father has lost.

4. C (teeth): Line 4 says they laugh only with their teeth.

5. B (a lack of warmth): Cold eyes show people without real feeling.

6. D (empty pockets): Lines 11–12 describe hands searching his empty pockets.

7. A (Materialism): People value the speaker only for what they can gain.

8. C (The third): He is welcome once and twice, but there is no third time (lines 16–18).

9. A (coinage): Okara joins two words to create new ones.

10. B (simile): The comparison uses the word like.

Answers 11–20

11. B (good riddance): Lines 28–29 make this clear.

12. A (irony): The words mean the opposite of the feeling.

13. B (a snake’s bare fangs): Line 39 uses this image to show his disgust.

14. B (Self-examination): Looking in the mirror, he sees himself honestly.

15. B (nostalgic): The father longs for the sincere past.

16. B (free verse): It has no fixed rhyme or metre.

17. C (Stanza 4): In stanza 4, the speaker admits his own faults.

18. A (a circular structure): The poem begins and ends with the same phrase.

19. A (apostrophe): Apostrophe addresses a silent listener.

20. C (hope): The father believes he can relearn sincerity from his son.

How did you do?

Scored 16 or more? Well done, you know the poem well. If you scored lower, go back over the areas you missed. Our guides to the themes and poetic devices explain each topic in detail.

Once Upon a Time objective questions test facts, but essays test understanding. To practise both, try our Once Upon a Time questions and answers.

Frequently asked questions

Does WAEC set objective questions on this poem?

In the WAEC objective paper, set-text questions come mainly from the Shakespeare play. Poems are usually tested through essays, but schools often use objective questions like these in class tests and mock exams.

Can teachers use these questions?

Yes. They work well as a quick class test or revision quiz.