UPSC English Literature Optional Syllabus

Post Name : UPSC English Literature Optional Syllabus
Post Date :  19 April, 2024
Post Description :  UPSC English Literature Optional Syllabus, often perceived as uncomplicated and accessible, is an optional subject with a vast array of reading materials. The UPSC English Literature Optional Syllabus includes  novels,  plays,  poems , and fundamental knowledge of the history of English literature.

UPSC English Literature Optional Syllabus For Paper I

A wide variety of literary works and analytical topics are covered in the Paper I English Literature Optional Syllabus for UPSC Mains. Examining a variety of genres, including theater, poetry, and prose fiction, candidates will analyze themes, characters, and storytelling devices.

The table below contains the Complete Syllabus of English Literature Optional Paper I for the UPSC Mains Exam:

Paper I Syllabus

Section A
  1. William Shakespeare : King Lear and The Tempest.
  2. John Donne. The following poems :
    • Canonization;
    • Death be not proud;
    • The Good Morrow;
    • On his Mistress going to bed;
    • The Relic;
  3. John Milton : Paradise Lost, I, II, IV, IX.
  4. Alexander Pope. The Rape of the Lock.
  5. William Wordsworth. The following poems :
    • Ode on Intimations of Immortality.
    • Tintern Abbey.
    • Three years later she grew.
    • She dwelt among untrodden ways.
    • Michael.
    • Resolution and Independence.
    • The World is too much with us.
    •  Milton, thoushouldst be living at this hour.
    • Upon Westminster Bridge.
  6. Alfred Tennyson : In Memoriam.
  7. Henrik Ibsen : A Doll’s House.
Section B
  1. Jonathan Swift, Gulliver’s Travels.
  2. Jane Austen. Pride and Prejudice.
  3. Henry Fielding. Tom Jones.
  4. Charles Dickens. Hard Times.
  5. George Eliot. The Mill on the Floss.
  6. Thomas Hardy. Tess of the d’Urbervilles.
  7. Mark Twain. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

UPSC English Literature Optional Syllabus For Paper II

The UPSC English Literature Optional Syllabus Paper II explores literary works in depth, highlighting certain topics, eras, and styles. It includes genres such as Indian literary works written in English, post-colonial literature, and modern and contemporary literature.

The Table below contains the Complete Syllabus of English Literature Optional Paper II for UPSC Mains Exam:

Paper II Syllabus

Section A
  1. William Butler Yeats. The following poems :
    • Easter 1916.
    • The Second Coming.
    • A Prayer for my daughter.
    • Sailing to Byzantium.
    • The Tower.
    • Among School Children.
    • Leda and the Swan.
    • Meru.
    • Lapis Lazuli.
    • The Second Coming.
    • Byzantium.
  2. T.S. Eliot. The following poems :
    • The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock.
    • Journey of the Magi.
    • Burnt Norton.
  3. W.H. Auden. The following poems :
    • Partition
    • Musee des Beaux Arts
    • In Memory of W.B. Yeats
    • Lay your sleeping head, my love
    • The Unknown Citizen
    • Consider
    • Mundus Et Infans
    • The Shield of Achilles
    • September 1, 1939
    • Petition
  4. John Osborne : Look Back in Anger.
  5. Samuel Beckett. Waiting for Godot.
  6. Philip Larkin. The following poems :
    •  Deceptions
    •  Afternoons
    •  Days
    •  Mr. Bleaney
  7. A.K. Ramanujan. The following poems :
    • Looking for a Cousin on a Swing
    • A River
    • Of Mothers, among other Things
    • Love Poem for a Wife 1
    • Small-Scale Reflections on a Great House
    • Obituary
  • All these poems are available in the anthology Ten Twentieth Century Indian Poets, edited by R. Parthasarthy, published by Oxford University Press, New Delhi.
Section B
  1. Joseph Conrad. Lord Jim.
  2. James Joyce. Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
  3. D.H. Lawrence. Sons and Lovers.
  4. E.M. Forster. A Passage to India.
  5. Virginia Woolf. Mrs. Dalloway.
  6. Raja Rao. Kanthapura.
  7. V.S. Naipaul. A House for Mr. Biswas.

UPSC Exam Pattern of English Literature Optional

The exam pattern for English Literature Optional is as follows:

    • The UPSC main exam is divided into two papers, i.e., Paper-I and Paper-II.
    • Both Paper I and Paper II carry 250 marks each, for a total of 500 marks for the English Literature optional papers.
    • In both Paper I and Paper II of English Literature, optional candidates have to attempt FIVE questions in all. THREE hours are allotted to attempt each paper.
    • Ques Numbers 1 and 5 from both papers are compulsory to attempt, and out of the remaining questions, THREE (3) are to be attempted, choosing at least ONE (1) question from each section.
  • Answers must be written in English.
English Literature Optional Exam Pattern
ParticularDetails
Total PapersTwo papers, Paper I and Paper II
Total Marks500 (250 Each)
Time allowed3 Hours for each paper
SectionsSection A and Section B
Questionstotal 8 questions with subparts
Compulsory QuestionQuestion Nos. 1 and 5
Marks Distribution10, 15, and 20 marker questions
Writing LanguageEnglish

Recommended Books For English Literature Optional UPSC Mains

Below is the list of books for English Literature Optional Paper I and II for UPSC Mains Exam:

List of English Literature Optional Books for UPSC Mains Paper I

Literary History and Theory:

  • A History of English Literature by W.E. Stephen
  • The Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism (Edited by Leitch et al.)
  • A Dictionary of Literary Terms by H. Abrams

Poetry:

  • The Selected Poetry of William Shakespeare (Edited by Stephen Orgel)
  • The Major Works of John Milton (Edited by Stephen Orgel & Nicholas A.H. Millet)
  • The Selected Poems of John Donne (Edited by John Carey)
  • The Selected Poems of William Blake (Edited by W.H. Stevenson)
  • Lyrical Ballads by William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge

Drama:

  • King Lear by William Shakespeare
  • The Tempest by William Shakespeare
  • A Doll’s House by Henrik Ibsen (Translation by Michael Meyer)
  • Doctor Faustus by Christopher Marlowe

Prose:

  • Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
  • Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
  • Tom Jones by Henry Fielding
  • Paradise Lost (Books I, II, IV, and IX) by John Milton

List of English Literature Optional Books for UPSC Mains Paper II

Poetry:

  • Selected Poems of William Wordsworth (Edited by Stephen Gill)
  • Selected Poems of Samuel Taylor Coleridge (Edited by Stephen Gill)
  • Selected Poems of John Keats (Edited by Nicholas Roe)
  • Selected Poems of Alfred Lord Tennyson (Edited by Christopher Ricks)
  • Selected Poems of Robert Browning (Edited by John Bryson)
  • Selected Poems of W.B. Yeats (Edited by Richard J. Finneran)
  • Selected Poems of T.S. Eliot (Edited by Christopher Ricks)
  • Selected Poems of W.H. Auden (Edited by Edward Mendelson)
  • Selected Poems of Philip Larkin (Edited by Archie Burnett)

Drama:

  • A Streetcar Named Desire by Tennessee Williams
  • Waiting for Godot by Samuel Beckett
  • Look Back in Anger by John Osborne

Novel:

  • Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë
  • Great Expectations by Charles Dickens
  • The Portrait of a Lady by Henry James
  • Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad
  • Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Woolf
  • To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
  • In Search of Lost Time (Selection) by Marcel Proust (Translation by C.K. Scott Moncrieff and Terence Kilmartin)
  • The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro.

Download English Literature Optional Question Papers

The table below contains the list of Previous year question papers for English Literature Optional subject, which is distributed year wise:

English Literature Optional Paper 2023
English Literature Optional Paper IEnglish Literature Optional Paper II
English Literature Optional Paper 2022
English Literature Optional Paper IEnglish Literature Optional Paper II
English Literature Optional Paper 2021
English Literature Optional Paper IEnglish Literature Optional Paper II
English Literature Optional Paper 2020
English Literature Optional Paper IEnglish Literature Optional Paper II

 

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