M.A. (English) - Syllabus for MA (English) - Introduction to the Study and Appreciation of Literature

Sep 18, 2026

The M.A. (English) syllabus defines the scope, function, and social roots of language and literature, then trains students to analyze figurative language through tools such as simile, metaphor, allusion, personification, pun, alliteration, antithesis, climax, and related sound imagery. It covers major forms of poetry, prose, and drama, appreciation of selected passages, and anchored reading lists from canonical English, Elizabethan, Romantic, and Victorian-to-modern traditions, including Indian and African and selected Old/Middle/Modern English excerpts. The program also introduces multiple critical approaches including biographical, historical, formalist, psychological, sociological, gender criticism, mythological, archetypal, and dialogic frameworks, plus critical theory elements.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryLiterature

FormatPDF

Pages4

Reading Time6 min

AccessFree to download

Department of English

Introduction to the study and appreciation of literature

Essay and short story

Elizabethan poetry

Romantic poetry

Literary movements

Nineteenth century British novel

Victorian and modern poetry

Shakespearean drama

Post-Shakespearean drama

Approaches to literature

Indian and African novel

Twentieth century British and American novel

History of English studies

Old English

Middle English

Modern English (up to 17th century and early 18th century)

Modern English (up to 19th century)

Modern English (20th century)

World Englishes

English studies in translation

Introduction to critical theory

Studies: Approaches to culture and cultural studies

Dialogic criticism: Polyphony, Dialogism, Heteroglossia, Carnivalesque

FACULTY OF ARTS M.A. (English) SYLLABUS FOR MA (ENGLISH) | Faculty/ Department | Syllabus | | --- | --- | | Faculty of Arts | | | Department of English | AN INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY AND APPRECIATION OF LITERATURE
Definition, function and scope of language and literature.
The social roots of literature.
Definition and function of figurative language: simile, metaphor, allusion, personification, pun alliteration, anti thesis, climax, assonance.
Definition of symbol, image, myth, allegory, parable, fable.
Major Forms of Poetry:
Definition of lyric, sonnet, ode, elegy, epic, satire, ballad, dramatic monologue.
Major Forms of Prose:
Definition of essay, biography, autobiography, short story and novel.
Major Forms of Drama:
Definition and major components of tragedy, comedy, one-act play, farce, melodrama. Appreciation of poetry, prose and drama passages.
ESSAY AND SHORT STORY
Bacon : ‘Of Friendship’
Lamb : ‘The Praise of Chimney Sweepers’
Benson : ‘The Art of the Essayist’
Bernard Malamud : ‘The First Seven Years’
Ruskin Bond : ‘The Night Train at Deoli’
ELIZABETHAN POETRY
Shakespeare : ‘Shall I compare thee….’ ‘When in the chronicles of Wasted time’
Milton : ‘On the late Massacre in Piedmount’ ‘Lycidas’
Gray : ‘Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard’
Blake : ‘The Tyger’
Burns : ‘O my Luve’s like a red, red rose’
ROMANTIC POETRY
Wordsworth : ‘The World is too much with us’ ‘Lines Written in Early Spring’
Coleridge : ‘Kubla Khan’
Byron :‘All for love’
‘On the Castle of Chillon’Shelley : ‘Ode to the West Wind’
Keats : ‘On First Looking into Chapman’s Homer’: ‘Ode to Autumn’
LITERARY MOVEMENTS
Renaissance, Augustan Romantic, Victorian Modern, Post Modern
NINETEENTH CENTURY BRITISH NOVEL
A brief history and representative features of 19th Century British Novel Sense and Sensibility
The Return of the Native | | | VICTORIAN AND MODERN POETRY
Tennyson : ‘Ulysses’
Browning : ‘My Last Duchess’
Arnold : ‘Thyrsis’ ‘Dover Beach’
Yeats :‘The Lake Isle of Innisfree’ ‘Among School Children’ Auden : ‘Seascape’
‘The Shield of Achilles’
Eliot: ‘Landscapes-New Hampshire’‘Journey of the Magi’
SHAKESPEAREAN DRAMA
Macbeth
As You Like It
POST-SHAKESPEAREAN DRAMA
She Stoops to Conquer Look Back in Anger Arms and the Man All My Sons
APPROACHES TO LITERATURE | | --- | --- | | | Biographical, Historical and Formalist Approaches to Literature Concepts
Practice texts
Excerpts from Charles Dickens by Jane Smiley Excerpts from Delhi by Khushwant Singh Understanding Elizabeth Bishop through ‘One Art ’Mythological and Archetypal Approaches to Literature Concepts.
Excerpts from The Golden Bough by Frazer
Excerpts from Haroun and Sea of Stories by Salman Rushdie Psychological, Sociological and Gender Criticism Approaches to Literature Concepts
Excerpts from Death of Salesman by Arthur Miller
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott. Fitzgerald‘To be or not to be’, Hamlets’ Soliloquy | | | INDIAN AND AFRICAN NOVEL | | | Representative Features of Indian and African Novel in English The Voice
Kanthapura | | | TWENTIETH CENTURY BRITISH AND AMERICAN NOVEL
Representative Features of Twentieth Century British and American Novel A Passage to India
A Farewell to Arms
History of English Studies
OLD ENGLISH History
Excerpts from Beowulf MIDDLE ENGLISH History
Excerpts from Piers Plowman by William Langland and Everyman MODERN ENGLISH (Upto 17th Century and Early 18th Century)
A: History
B: Excerpts from Hamlet by William Shakespeare | | | C. Excerpts:
Donne: ‘The Sun Rising’
Milton: ‘On His Blindness’
Addison and Steele: ‘A Silent Man's Advantages in Society’ (Excerpts)
Swift: Gulliver's Travels
Defoe: Robinson Crusoe
MODERN ENGLISH (Upto 19th Century)
A: History: (18th & 19th Century)
b. Excerpts:
Pope: ‘Rape of The Lock’

FAQs

What topics are covered under the introduction to literature in this syllabus?

It covers the definition, function, and scope of language and literature, the social roots of literature, and key concepts in figurative language such as simile, metaphor, allusion, personification, pun, and more.

Which literary forms are included in the course overview?

The syllabus outlines major forms of poetry, prose, and drama, including lyric, sonnet, ode, elegy, epic, satire, ballad, dramatic monologue, along with major prose forms like essay and biography, and drama components like tragedy and comedy.

What critical approaches and theory areas are included?

It includes biographical, historical, and formalist approaches; psychological, sociological, and gender criticism; mythological and archetypal approaches; and core critical theory areas such as reader-response, Marxist criticism, postcolonial theory, and dialogic criticism.

Sep 18, 2026

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