UGC NET English - Syllabus & Key Topics
UGC NET English tests literature in English across all periods, plus criticism, theory and research aptitude. Paper 2 has 100 objective questions (2 marks each, no negative marking). These notes map the ten units, the major periods and authors, and the theory you must know, followed by a 20-question practice set.
Exam Pattern
- Paper 1 (common) tests teaching and research aptitude; Paper 2 is subject-specific English.
- Paper 2: 100 multiple-choice questions, 2 marks each, total 200; there is no negative marking.
- The syllabus has 10 units spanning drama, poetry, fiction, criticism, theory, and language.
- Question types: author-work matching, chronology, match-the-following, literary terms, and theory.
Literary Periods (Chronology)
- Old & Middle English: Beowulf; Chaucer (The Canterbury Tales).
- Renaissance/Elizabethan: Shakespeare, Marlowe, Spenser (The Faerie Queene).
- 17th century & Neoclassical: Milton (Paradise Lost), Dryden, Pope, Swift.
- Romantic Age: Wordsworth, Coleridge, Keats, Shelley, Byron.
- Victorian Age: Tennyson, Browning, Dickens, the Bronte sisters, Hardy.
- Modern & Postmodern: T.S. Eliot (The Waste Land), Yeats, Woolf, Joyce, Beckett.
Criticism and Literary Theory
- Classical criticism: Aristotle's Poetics (concepts of mimesis and catharsis).
- 20th-century theory: New Criticism, Structuralism, Post-structuralism (Derrida - deconstruction).
- Postcolonialism: Edward Said (Orientalism), Homi Bhabha, Gayatri Spivak.
- Feminism, Marxism, Cultural Studies, and Reader-response theory are high-yield.
Indian & New Literatures in English
- The syllabus covers ALL literatures in English - British, Indian, American, African, Australian, Canadian.
- Indian English writers: R.K. Narayan, Salman Rushdie (Midnight's Children), Girish Karnad, Kamala Das.
- Know major literary journals, terms, and research methodology basics for Paper 1 overlap.
Key Terms
- Mimesis
- Imitation of life/nature in art - a central idea in Aristotle's Poetics.
- Catharsis
- The purging of emotions (pity and fear) in the audience of a tragedy, per Aristotle.
- Deconstruction
- Derrida's approach showing that texts undermine their own fixed meanings; a post-structuralist method.
- Orientalism
- Edward Said's concept of how the West constructs and dominates images of 'the East'; foundational to postcolonial theory.
Practice Quiz — 20 Questions
correct out of 20
-
UGC NET Paper 2 (English) consists of how many questions?
- A.50
- B.100
- C.150
- D.200
B. 100 — Paper 2 has 100 objective questions of 2 marks each. -
Is there negative marking in UGC NET?
- A.Yes, 0.25 per wrong answer
- B.Yes, 1 per wrong answer
- C.No negative marking
- D.Only in Paper 1
C. No negative marking — UGC NET has no negative marking, so attempt all questions. -
'The Canterbury Tales' was written by:
- A.Chaucer
- B.Spenser
- C.Milton
- D.Marlowe
A. Chaucer — Geoffrey Chaucer wrote The Canterbury Tales in Middle English. -
'Paradise Lost' is an epic by:
- A.Dryden
- B.Milton
- C.Pope
- D.Donne
B. Milton — John Milton wrote the epic Paradise Lost. -
Which poet belongs to the Romantic Age?
- A.Tennyson
- B.Wordsworth
- C.Dryden
- D.Eliot
B. Wordsworth — Wordsworth is a leading Romantic poet. -
'The Waste Land' was written by:
- A.W.B. Yeats
- B.T.S. Eliot
- C.W.H. Auden
- D.Ezra Pound
B. T.S. Eliot — T.S. Eliot published The Waste Land in 1922. -
Aristotle's theory of tragedy appears in his work:
- A.Republic
- B.Poetics
- C.Rhetoric
- D.Ethics
B. Poetics — Aristotle discusses tragedy, mimesis and catharsis in the Poetics. -
'Catharsis' refers to:
- A.Imitation of nature
- B.Purging of emotions in the audience
- C.A rhyme scheme
- D.A type of stanza
B. Purging of emotions in the audience — Catharsis is the emotional purging produced by tragedy. -
Deconstruction is associated with:
- A.Aristotle
- B.Jacques Derrida
- C.Edward Said
- D.Northrop Frye
B. Jacques Derrida — Derrida developed deconstruction, a post-structuralist approach. -
'Orientalism' (1978) was written by:
- A.Homi Bhabha
- B.Edward Said
- C.Gayatri Spivak
- D.Frantz Fanon
B. Edward Said — Edward Said's Orientalism is foundational to postcolonial studies. -
'Midnight's Children' was written by:
- A.R.K. Narayan
- B.Salman Rushdie
- C.Vikram Seth
- D.Amitav Ghosh
B. Salman Rushdie — Salman Rushdie won the Booker Prize for Midnight's Children. -
Which dramatist wrote 'Doctor Faustus'?
- A.Shakespeare
- B.Christopher Marlowe
- C.Ben Jonson
- D.Webster
B. Christopher Marlowe — Christopher Marlowe wrote Doctor Faustus. -
'The Faerie Queene' was written by:
- A.Edmund Spenser
- B.Philip Sidney
- C.Thomas Wyatt
- D.John Skelton
A. Edmund Spenser — Edmund Spenser wrote the allegorical epic The Faerie Queene. -
Which novelist is a key Victorian figure?
- A.Charles Dickens
- B.James Joyce
- C.Virginia Woolf
- D.Samuel Beckett
A. Charles Dickens — Charles Dickens is a central Victorian novelist. -
'Mimesis' in literary theory means:
- A.Rhythm
- B.Imitation of life
- C.Rhyme
- D.Meter
B. Imitation of life — Mimesis means imitation or representation of reality. -
Girish Karnad is best known as a(n):
- A.Poet
- B.Playwright
- C.Novelist
- D.Critic
B. Playwright — Karnad is a major Indian English playwright (e.g. Tughlaq). -
The UGC NET English syllabus covers:
- A.Only British literature
- B.All literatures in English
- C.Only Indian literature
- D.Only American literature
B. All literatures in English — It includes British, Indian, American, African, Australian and Canadian writing. -
Waiting for Godot, a landmark absurdist play, is by:
- A.Harold Pinter
- B.Samuel Beckett
- C.T.S. Eliot
- D.George Bernard Shaw
B. Samuel Beckett — Samuel Beckett wrote Waiting for Godot. -
Which theorist is linked to postcolonial 'hybridity'?
- A.Homi Bhabha
- B.Derrida
- C.Aristotle
- D.I.A. Richards
A. Homi Bhabha — Homi Bhabha developed ideas of hybridity and mimicry. -
The Bronte sisters are associated with which age?
- A.Romantic
- B.Victorian
- C.Modern
- D.Restoration
B. Victorian — Charlotte, Emily and Anne Bronte are Victorian novelists.
References
- NTA UGC NET English syllabus (official)
- M.H. Abrams, A Glossary of Literary Terms (standard reference)