Syllabus for

B.A.(Optional English)

PrasanthiNilayam – 515 134

Anantapur Dt., Andhra Pradesh, Ph: (08555) 287239 Fax: 286919

Website: www.sssihl.edu.in Email: registrar@sssihl.edu.in

 SYLLABUS FOR OPTIONAL ENGLISH

Programme Objectives:

The programme aims to –

1. Introduce the students to representative samples of prose, poetry, drama, fiction, short fiction, and to
the critical writing on different genres of English literature, and to the growth and development of
the English language and literature.
2. Expose the students to Indian culture and values through the study of Indian writings in English; also
make them familiarise with the world literature.
3. Stimulate the interest of the students and sharpen their critical sensibility so that they may appreciate
the beauty and richness of the texts they study.
4. Encourage the students to express their personal responses to the works they have studied.
5. Make them proficient in literary and language oriented skills.

Programme Specific Outcomes:

By the end of the course, students will have –

1. Acquired a comprehensive understanding of socio-cultural and literary history of English.

2. In-depth knowledge of various genres of literature, the literary masters and their styles of writing, the
literary techniques, diction, figures of speech and jargons.
3. Gained an exposure to the literature and writers of other countries.
4. Attained the ability to interpret the text with relevant textual and contextual evidences.
5. Refined critical sensibility and improved language skills.
6. Attained the understanding of growth and development of English language, and will have learnt the
standard pronunciation of the English words, their stress pattern and modulation in the connected
speech.
7. Imbibed and developed critical evaluation, writing, and interpretive practices, which assist
expression of ideas in an informed manner.
8. Critical and integrated thinking; creative and analytical dimensions; global consciousness, communal
accountability, and moral mindfulness.
 PAPER CODE: TITLE OF THE PAPER: CREDITS: 5 PER WEEK
PROSE TOTAL HOURS: 70
UOEN: 101

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

The course aims to –

1. Introduce the students to the evolution and growth of English essay from the 16th century till the
present age.
2. Help them appreciate the organic wholeness of prose, as well as the individual contribution of
each essayist, through the reading of essays selected from diverse ages, chronologically arranged.
3. Provide a platform to comprehend each essayist’s personal, social and cultural history; thereby,
help them appreciate literature in the cultural or historical contexts.
4. Familiarise them with different styles of writing and various kinds of essays.
5. Create an atmosphere for classroom discussions and student participation during the analysis of
essays.
6. Make them proficient in literary and language oriented skills.
7. Provide aesthetic pleasure through the study of select literary texts.

COURSE OUTCOMES:

By the end of the course, students will have –

1. Critical and integrated thinking; creative and analytical dimensions; global consciousness, communal
accountability, and moral mindfulness.
2. In-depth knowledge of various styles of writing, figures of speech and literary diction through the
study of prescribed essays.
3. Acquired confidence to present their responses, through classroom interactive sessions.
4. Gained knowledge of literary and technical elements that enhance the learning of literature.
5. Attained the ability to interpret the text with relevant textual and contextual evidences.
6. Refined critical sensibility and improved language skills.
 CONTENT

UNIT UNIT TITLE UNIT CONTENTS NO. OF

NO. PERIODS

1) Francis Bacon: Of Studies

2) Joseph Addison: Ladies’ Head-dresses
3) Charles Lamb: Dream Children: A Reverie 35
UNIT-1 Detailed Study 4) William Hazlitt: On Commonsense
5) A.G. Gardiner: On Points of View
6) G.K. Chesterton: The Contented Man

1) Abraham Cowley: Of Myself

2) Oliver Goldsmith: On National Prejudices
3) Leigh Hunt: Windows
UNIT-2 Non-Detailed Study 4) R.L. Stevenson: Letter to a Young Gentleman 25
Who Proposesto Embrace theCareer of Art
5) Hilaire Belloc: On the Pleasure of Taking Up
One’s Pen
6) Nirad C. Chaudhuri: Indian Crowds

UNIT-3 Study of Different 1) Formal: Balanced, Pseudo-Biblical, Oratorical

Styles 2) Informal: Colloquial, Slang, Jargon 3

UNIT-4 Study of Types of Descriptive, Narrative, Reflective, 3

Essays Argumentative, Formal, Informal

UNIT-5 Study of Literary Allusion, Ambiguity, Antithesis, Archaism,

Terms Cliché, Euphemism, Hyperbole, Understatement, 4
Irony, Pathos, Wit, Humour

REFERENCE TEXT BOOKS

S. NO. AUTHOR TITLE PUBLISHER YEAR EDITION
1 Edward Macmillan Anthology of Macmillan 1994 1st
Leeson English Prose Publications
Ltd.
2 M.H. Abrams A Glossary of Literary Akash Press 2007 8th
Terms

SUGGESTED READING
S. NO. AUTHOR TITLE PUBLISHER YEAR EDITION
1 Marjorie The Anatomy of Prose Kalyani 1979 1st
Boulton Publishers

2 Herbert Read English Prose Style G. Bell and 1928 1st

Sons, Ltd.
3 Hugh Walker The English Essay and J. M. Dent & 1915 1st
Essayists Sons Ltd.
 PAPER CODE: TITLE OF THE PAPER: CREDITS:5 PERWEEK
UOEN- 201 POETRY TOTAL HOURS:70

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

The course aims to –

1. Introduce the students to the evolution and growth of English poetry through the ages.
2. Help them appreciate the organic wholeness of poetry, as well as the individual contribution of each
poet, through the reading of poems selected from diverse ages, chronologically arranged.
3. Provide a platform to comprehend each essayist’s personal, social and cultural history; thereby, help
them appreciate literature in the cultural or historical contexts.
4. Familiarise them with different kinds of Poetry and the figurative diction in poems.
5. Teach them the technical analysis of the form of poems by the study of prosody.
6. Create an atmosphere for classroom discussions and student participation during the analysis of poems.
7. Make them proficient in literary and language-oriented skills.
8. Provide aesthetic pleasure through the study of select literary texts.

COURSE OUTCOMES:

By the end of the course, students will have –

1. Critical and integrated thinking; creative and analytical dimensions; global consciousness, communal
accountability, and moral mindfulness.
2. In-depth knowledge of various aspects of poetry, figures of speech and literary diction through the study
of prescribed poems.
3. Acquired confidence to present their responses, through classroom interactive sessions.
4. Assimilated knowledge of literary and technical elements that enhance the learning of literature.
5. Attained ability to interpret the text with relevant textual and contextual evidences.
6. Refined critical sensibility and improved language skills.

CONTENT
UNIT NO. UNIT TITLE UNIT CONTENTS NO. OF
HOURS
1) Shakespeare: When to the sessions of sweet silent
UNIT-1 Detailed Study thought 35
2) John Donne:Batter My Heart
3) John Milton:On His Blindness
4) Alexander Pope:Know then thyself… (From:
An Essay on Man)
5) William Wordsworth:Mutability
6) John Keats: To Autumn
 7) Alfred Tennyson: Ulysses
8) Robert Browning: My Last Duchess
9) W.B. Yeats: The Second Coming
10) T.S. Eliot: Journey of the Magi
1) William Blake: The Chimney-Sweeper
UNIT-2 Non- Detailed Study 2) S.T. Coleridge: The Rime of the Ancient Mariner 20
3) P.B. Shelley: To a Skylark
4) G.M. Hopkins: God’s Grandeur
5) Wilfred Owen: Dulce et Decorum est
6) Toru Dutt: Love Came to Flora Asking for a
Flower

1) Sonnet, Lyric, Ode, Ballad, Elegy, Satire, Epic,

UNIT-3 Literary Terms: Mock Epic, Dramatic Monologue, Pastoral Elegy 15
2) Blank Verse, Heroic Couplet, Free Verse,
Spenserian Stanza, Rhyme Royal, Terza Rima,
Prosody, Iamb, Anapaest, Trochee, Dactyl,
Spondee, Rhythm, Rhyme, Assonance,
Alliteration, Metaphor, Simile, Imagery

REFERENCE TEXT BOOKS

S. NO. AUTHOR TITLE PUBLISHER YEAR EDITION
1 Ed. Jahan Ramazani, The Norton Anthology of W. W. Norton & 2003 3rd
Richard Ellman and Modern and Contemporary Company
Robert O’Clair Poetry
2 M.H. Abrams A Glossary of Literary Akash Press 2007 8th
Terms

SUGGESTED READING
S. NO. AUTHOR TITLE PUBLISHER YEAR EDITION
1 Marjorie Boulton The Anatomy of Poetry Routledge Kegan 1953 1st
Paul Limited
2 Ed. Cleanth Brooks and Understanding Poetry Holt Rinehart and 1976 4th
Robert Penn Warren Winston
 PAPER CODE: TITLE OF THE PAPER: CREDITS: 5 PER WEEK
UOEN: 301 Drama and One-Act Play TOTAL HOURS: 70

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

The course aims to –

1. Introduce the students to the evolution and growth of Drama from the Classical Age till the
Modern Age.
2. Help them appreciate the organic wholeness of a play, as well as the individual contribution of
each playwright, through the reading of plays selected from diverse ages and cultures,
chronologically arranged.
3. Provide a platform to comprehend each playwright’s personal, social and cultural history;
thereby, help them appreciate literature in the cultural or historical contexts.
4. Familiarise them with different kinds of drama and the technical aspects of drama.
5. Make them understand the seriousness of drama in affecting socio-cultural and political issues.
6. Create an atmosphere for classroom discussions and student participation during the analysis of
dramas.
7. Expose the students to various psychological and sociological layers of characterisation.
8. Make an attempt towards the re-examination, performance and production of any play through
the loud reading of the texts.
9. Make them proficient in literary and language-oriented skills.
10. Provide aesthetic pleasure through the study of select literary texts.

COURSE OUTCOMES:

By the end of the course, students will have –

1. Critical and integrated thinking; creative and analytical dimensions; global consciousness,
communal accountability, and moral mindfulness.
2. In-depth knowledge of various aspects of drama, figures of speech and literary diction through
the study of prescribed dramas.
3. Acquired confidence to present their responses, through classroom interactive sessions.
4. Assimilated knowledge of literary and technical elements that enhance the learning of literature.
5. Attained the ability to interpret the text with relevant textual and contextual evidences.
6. Refined critical sensibility and improved language skills.
 CONTENT
UNIT UNIT TITLE UNIT CONTENTS NO. OF
NO. HOURS
1) William Shakespeare: The Merchant of Venice 15
UNIT-1 Detailed Texts 2) J. M. Synge: Riders to the Sea 10
3) G. B. Shaw: The Apple Cart 10
1) Sophocles:Antigone 5
UNIT-2 Non- Detailed Texts 2) Oliver Goldsmith: She Stoops to Conquer 5
3) Rabindranath Tagore: The Post Office 5
The History and Evolution from the Classical Age till 5
UNIT-3 Evolution of English the Modern Age
Drama
Tragedy, Comedy, Tragicomedy, One-Act Play, 10
UNIT-4 Forms of Drama Romantic Comedy, Comedy of Humours, Comedy
of Manners, Sentimental Drama, Farce, Romance,
Melodrama, Problem Play, Chronicle, Miracle
Play, Morality Play, Interlude, Poetic Drama,
Theatre of the Absurd

Action, Setting, Atmosphere, Character, 5

UNIT-5 Features of Drama and Characterization, Chorus, Comic Relief, Plot,
One- Act Play Dramatic Irony, Soliloquy, Stock Characters, Stock
Situations, Three Unities, Act, Scene, Anagnorisis,
Aside, Catharsis, Hamartia, Epilogue

REFERENCE TEXT BOOKS

S. NO. AUTHOR TITLE PUBLISHER YEAR EDITION

1 Sophocles Antigone Cambridge 2007 1st
University
Press
2 William Shakespeare The Merchant of Maple Press 2013 1st
Venice
3 Oliver Goldsmith She Stoops to Conquer Peacock 2001 1st
Books
4 J. M. Synge Riders to the Sea Orient 2010 1st
Blackswan
5 G. B. Shaw The Apple Cart Maple Press 2013 1st
6 Rabindranath Tagore The Post Office Wisdom Tree 2002 1st
7 M. H. Abrams A Glossary of Literary Akash Press 2007 8th
Terms

SUGGESTED READING
S. NO. AUTHOR TITLE PUBLISHER YEAR EDITION
1 Marjorie Boulton The Anatomy of Drama Kalyani 1979 1st
Publishers
2 Cleanth Brooks Understanding Drama Stearns Press 2007 1st
 PAPER CODE: TITLE OF THE PAPER: CREDITS: 5 PER WEEK
UOEN: 401 Novel TOTAL HOURS: 70

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

The course aims to –

1. Introduce the students to the evolution and growth of English novel from the 17thcentury till the
present age.
2. Help them appreciate the organic wholeness of a play, as well as the individual contribution of
each novelist, through the reading of novels selected from diverse ages and cultures,
chronologically arranged.
3. Provide a platform to comprehend each novelist’s personal, social and cultural history; thereby,
help them appreciate literature in the cultural or historical contexts.
4. Familiarise them with different kinds of novel and its technical aspects.
5. Create an atmosphere for classroom discussions and student participation during the analysis of
dramas.
6. Expose the students to various psychological and sociological layers of characterisation.
7. Make them proficient in literary and language-oriented skills.
8. Provide aesthetic pleasure through the study of select literary texts.

COURSE OUTCOMES:

By the end of the course, students will have –

1. Critical and integrated thinking; creative and analytical dimensions; global consciousness,
communal accountability, and moral mindfulness.
2. In-depth knowledge of various aspects of novel, figures of speech and literary diction through the
study of prescribed novels.
3. Acquired confidence to present their responses, through classroom interactive sessions.
4. Assimilated knowledge of literary and technical elements that enhance the learning of literature.
5. Attained ability to interpret the text with relevant textual and contextual evidences.
6. Refined critical sensibility and improved language skills.

CONTENT
UNIT UNIT TITLE UNIT CONTENTS NO. OF
No. PERIODS
1) Jane Austen:Pride and Prejudice 8
UNIT-1 Detailed Study 2) Charles Dickens: David Copperfield 8
3) George Eliot: The Mill on the Floss 8
4) Thomas Hardy:The Mayor of Casterbridge 8
5) R L Stevenson: Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde 8
 6) William Golding:Lord of the Flies 8
7) R.K. Narayan: The English Teacher 8

Anti–novel, Autobiographical Novel, Bildungsroman,

UNIT-2 Forms and Picaresque Novel, Novel of Character, Novel of
Types Incident, Epistolary Novel, Kunstlerroman,
Sociological Novel, Historical Novel, Novel of Ideas, 10
Psychological Novel, Philosophical Novel, Gothic
Novel, Satirical Novel, Epic Novel, Science Fiction,
Stream-of-Consciousness Novel

UNIT-3 Elements of Atmosphere, Setting, Local Colour, Plot, Character,

Fiction Distance and Involvement, Tone, Voice, Point of View, 4
Theme, Motif, Dialogue

REFERENCE TEXT BOOKS

S. NO. AUTHOR TITLE PUBLISHER YEAR EDITION

1 Jane Austen Pride and Prejudice J.M. Dent and Sons 1954 1st
Ltd.
2 Charles Dickens David Copperfield Collins 1959 2nd
3 George Eliot The Mill on the Floss Oxford University 2008 1st
Press
4 Thomas Hardy The Mayor of Casterbridge Macmillan & Co. Ltd. 1960 1st
5 R L Stevenson Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde Blackie & Son (India) 1965 1st
Limited
6 William Golding Lord of the Flies Faber and Faber 1982 1st

7 R.K. Narayan The English Teacher Indian Thought 1988 1st

Publications
8 M.H. Abrams A Glossary of Literary Terms Akash Press 2007 8th

SUGGESTED READING

S. NO. AUTHOR TITLE PUBLISHER YEAR EDITION

1 Marjorie Boulton The Anatomy of Novel Routledge 1975 1st
2 Cleanth Brooks Understanding Fiction Pearson 1979 3rd
3 Edwin Muir The Structure of the Novel B. I. Publications 1979 1st
 PAPER CODE: TITLE OF THE PAPER: CREDITS: 5 PER WEEK
UOEN: 501 TOTAL HOURS: 70
STUDY OF A LITERARY
FORM:SHORT STORY

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

The course aims to –

1. Trace the historical development of short story by examining select literary works.
2. Identify and interpret the importance of the crucial literary elements of short story.
3. Provide a platform to comprehend each writer’s personal, social and cultural history; thereby,
help them appreciate literature in the cultural or historical contexts.
4. Create an atmosphere for classroom discussions and student participation during the analysis of
short stories.
5. Expose the students to various psychological and sociological layers of characterisation.
6. Make them proficient in literary and language-oriented skills.
7. Provide aesthetic pleasure through the reading of select literary texts.

COURSE OUTCOMES:

At the end of the course, students will have –

1. Critical and integrated thinking; creative and analytical dimensions; global consciousness,
communal accountability, and moral mindfulness.
2. Assimilated knowledge of literary and technical elements that enhance the learning of literature.
3. Attained ability to compare and contrast different literary elements and essential concepts in
various literary works.
4. Gained required skills to read, appreciate and explore short stories.
5. Acquired ability to interpret the text with relevant textual and contextual evidences.
6. Refined critical sensibility and improved language skills.

CONTENT

UNIT UNIT TITLE UNIT CONTENTS NO. OF

NO. PERIODS
UNIT-1 Introduction A General Study of Short Story 2

UNIT-2 British Short Story 1. Rudyard Kipling:The Miracle of Puran

Writers Bhagat 15
2. Roald Dahl:Parson’s Pleasure
3. Somerset Maugham: Louise
UNIT-3 Irish Short Story 1. Oscar Wilde: The Model Millionaire 10
Writers 2. Rhys Davies: Gents Only
UNIT-4 American Short 1. Henry James: Paste 5
Story Writers
UNIT-5 French Short Story 1. Maupassant: The Jewellery
Writers 5
UNIT-6 Commonwealth 1. Morley Callaghan: A Very Merry Christmas
Short Story Writers 2. Katherine Mansfield: The Garden Party
3. Ruskin Bond: The Woman on Platform 8 20
4. Gabriel Garcia Marquez:
The Handsomest Drowned Man in the World

UNIT-7 Aspects of Short Plot, Atmosphere, setting, point of view,

Story symmetry of design, unity of effect, humour,
irony, objectivity and subjectivity of method, 6
realism, regionalism, symbolism, naturalism,
determinism, tension, plot, character and
dialogue
UNIT-8 Types of Short Adventure Story, Psychological Story, Love
Story Story, Social Story, Fantasy, Science Fiction 5

UNIT-9 Short Story and Allegory, Tale, Sketch, Ballad, Essay, Fable, 2
Other Forms Parable

SUGGESTED READING

S. NO. AUTHOR TITLE PUBLISHER YEAR EDITION

1. M.H.Abrams A Glossary of Cengage 2015 11th
Literary Terms
2. Ian Reid The Short Story Routledge 2017 1st
3. Valerie Shaw The Short-story: A Longman 1983 1st
Critical
Introduction
4. Virgil Scott Studies in the Short Holt Reinhart 1980 5th
Story Livinston

REFERENCE TEXT BOOKS

S. NO. AUTHOR TITLE PUBLISHER YEAR EDITION

1. Marjorie Boulton The Anatomy of Kalyani 1979 1st

Prose Publishers

2. B. Prasad A Background to Laxmi 2016 1st

the Study of English Publications
Literature
 PAPER CODE: TITLE OF THE PAPER: CREDITS: 6
UOEN: 502 HISTORY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TOTAL HOURS: 85

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

The course aims to –

1. Instil an overall knowledge of the origin of language and recognise the mechanisms of
language change.
2. Trace the history of English language and determine the influences of other languages on English.
3. Familiarize Old English, Middle English, and Early Modern English with an emphasis on
morphological, phonological and semantic changes.
4. Render a critical understanding of different approaches to the study of the English language.
5. Equip the students with the techniques of phonetics and intonation.

COURSE OUTCOMES:

At the end of the course, students will have –

1. A comprehensive understanding of growth and development of English language.

2. Gained etymological understanding of English vocabulary.
3. Learnt the standard pronunciation of the English words, their stress pattern and modulation in the
connected speech.
4. Developed a critical orientation toward the study of language, hence, understood its correct usage.
5. Become familiar with the phonology of English language.

CONTENT
UNIT UNIT TITLE UNIT CONTENTS NO. OF
No. PERIODS
UNIT-1 A Historical Introduction Development of the English Language over 20
to the English language the period of time
UNIT-2 Vocabulary Study of loan words from several languages
(Italian, French, German, Scandinavian, 20
Sanskrit, Spanish)

UNIT-3 The Shaping, Building Evolution of English grammar and vocabulary 20

and Ordering of Words

UNIT-4 The Makers of Modern Influence of individual writers, poets, orators 15

English and lexicographers
 The English Language Globalization: English as a world language
UNIT-5 Today 10

REFERENCE TEXT BOOKS

S. NO. AUTHOR TITLE PUBLISHER YEAR EDITION

1. C.L. Wren The English Language Vikas 2007 1st

SUGGESTED READING

S. NO. AUTHOR TITLE PUBLISHER YEAR EDITION

1. A. C. Baugh A History of the Routledge 2013 6th
English Language
2. Henry Bradley The Making of English Dover 2006 12th
3. Simeon Potter Our Language Penguin 2000 1st
4. G. L. Brook A History of the Macmillan 1979 2nd
English Language
5. Otto Jespersen Growth and Structure Oxford 1997 10th
of the English
Language
6. Albert H. A Common Language The English 1975 5th
Marckwardt & Language Book
Randolph Quirk Society
7. F.T. Wood An Outline History of Laxmi 2014 1st
the English Language
 PAPER CODE: TITLE OF THE PAPER: CREDITS: 5 PER
UOEN: 601 HISTORY OF ENGLISH LITERATURE WEEK
TOTAL HOURS: 70

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

The course aims to –

1. Trace the growth and development of English literature from the sixteenth century till the present age.
2. Help students appreciate the diversity and heritage of England and understand the literary genres and
works in connection with the times that shaped them.
3. List and justify the ways in which cultural, social, and historical differences have influenced the
development of literature.
4. Make them familiar with various literary writers writing in different ages, their major works and their
style of writing.
5. Give them a comprehensive knowledge of major trends and movements in different eras.

COURSE OUTCOMES:
At the end of the course, students will have:

1. Gained a critical overview of the tradition of English literature through the ages.
2. Acquired knowledge about the socio-economic, political, and cultural scenarios in Britain during the
various eras in a chronological order.
3. Understood how literature is affected by contemporary happenings inseveral periodsor eras.
4. Become familiar with the growth of various genres of literature and their major writers in different
ages.
5. Gained an exposure to major writers, textsand movements of English literature.

CONTENT
UNIT UNIT TITLE UNIT CONTENTS NO. OF
No. PERIODS
UNIT- The Age of 1) General Characteristics (Social and Literary)
1 Elizabeth and 2) Development of Poetry, Drama, Prose
Milton 3) Major Writers –Spenser, Bacon, Marlowe, 10
Shakespeare, Ben Jonson, Milton
UNIT- The Age of Dryden 1) General Characteristics (Social and Literary)
2 and Pope 2) Development of Prose, Poetry, Drama, Criticism
3) Major Writers: Dryden, Pope, Addison, Steele, 15
Defoe, Swift

UNIT- The Age of 1) General Characteristics (Social and Literary)

3 Transition 2) Development of Prose, Poetry, Novel
3) Major Writers: Johnson, Goldsmith, Richardson,
and Fielding, Thomson, Gray, Collins, Blake 10
UNIT- The Return to 1) General Characteristics (Social and Literary)
4 Nature 2) Developments in Prose, Poetry, Novel, Criticism
3) Major Writers: Wordsworth, Coleridge, Shelley,
Keats, Byron, Walter Scott, Jane Austen, Lamb, 15
Hazlitt

UNIT- The Victorian Age 1) General Characteristics (Social and Literary)

5 2) Development in Prose, Poetry, Novel, Criticism
3) Major Writers: Tennyson, Browning, Dickens,
Ruskin 10

1) General Characteristics (Social and Literary)

2) Development in Prose, Poetry, Novel, Criticism
UNIT- Modern Literature 3) Major Writers: Hardy, Hopkins, Wells, Yeats, Shaw,
6 and the Mid- Eliot, Lawrence, Joyce, Woolf, Greene, Golding, 10
Twentieth Century Hughes Brecht, Pinter

REFERENCE TEXT BOOKS

S. NO. AUTHOR TITLE PUBLISHER YEAR EDITION

1. Edward Albert History of English Literature Oxford University 2005 5th
Press

SUGGESTED READING

S. NO. AUTHOR TITLE PUBLISHER YEAR EDITION

1. Michael A History of English Literature Palgrave Macmillan 2013 1st
Alexander
2. Emily Legouis A Short History of English Oxford University 1998 1st
Literature Press
3. David Daiches A Critical History of English SupernovaPublishers 2011 2nd
Literature, Vol. I–IV
4. Compton-Rickett A History of English Literature UBS Publishers 1st
Distributors Pvt. 2009
Ltd.
 PAPER CODE: TITLE OF THE PAPER: CREDITS: 6 PER WEEK
UOEN: 602 LITERARY CRITICISM TOTAL HOURS: 85

COURSE OBJECTIVES:

The course aims to –

1. Outline, define and apply specific theoretical concepts, ideas, and terms to literary and cultural texts.
2. Differentiate and examine literary forms in the context of chief developments in literary history.
3. Enhance analytical and critical thinking, and research skills through close readings of critical essays.
4. Facilitate the discussion on literary and critical theory that demonstrates engagement, insightful
thought, effective inquiry and perception of specific patterns in literary works.

COURSE OUTCOMES:

At the end of the course, students will have –

1. Understood the major theoretical/critical movements and theorists, and the principal concepts with
which they are connected.
2. Recognised the timelessness of the literary traditions and the relevance of literature and critical
attitude towards the real and imaginary worlds.
3. Obtained acquaintance with the key critical and interpretative approaches and apply them to literary
sources to build interpretive opinions.
4. Refined their aesthetic skills through creative and critical thinking.
5. Imbibed and developed critical evaluation, writing, and interpretive practices, which assists
expression of ideas in an informed manner.

CONTENT
UNIT UNIT TITLE UNIT CONTENTS NO. OF HOURS
NO.
1) Longinus: 5
On the Sublime 15
2) Dr. Johnson:
UNIT-1 Study of Critical Essays/Texts Preface to Shakespeare 10
3) Wordsworth:
Preface to the Lyrical Ballads 10
4) Matthew Arnold:
The Function of Criticism 10
5) T.S. Eliot:
Tradition and the Individual 5
Talent 10
6) Virginia Woolf: Modern 10
 Fiction
7) Walter Pater: Style
8) Helen Gardner:
The Sceptre and the Torch
UNIT-2 Study of Critical Terms Catharsis, Poetic Justice, Negative
Capability, Touchstone Method, Tenor 5
and Vehicle, Dissociation of
Sensibility, Objective Correlative, Two
Uses of Language, Tension, Aesthetic
Distance, Sublime
UNIT-3 Study of Schools/Forms of Mimetic, Aesthetic, Biographical,
Criticism Historical, Humanistic, Psychological, 5
Impressionistic, Judicial, Objective,
Practical, Pragmatic, Structuralist

REFERENCE READING

S. NO. EDITOR TITLE PUBLISHER YEAR EDITION

S. Ramaswamy
1. and The English Critical MacmillanPublishers India 2012 2nd
V.S. Tradition – Vol. I & II Ltd.
Sethuraman

SUGGESTED READING
S. NO. AUTHOR TITLE PUBLISHER YEAR EDITION
1. M.H. Abrams A Glossary of Literary Cengage Learning India 2015 11th
Terms Private Limited
2. David Daiches Critical Approaches to Longman 2009 10th
Literature
3. Scott-James The Making of Shree Niwas Publication 2007 2nd
Literature
4. Princeton Princeton University Press 1992 1st
------- Encyclopedia of Poetry
and Poetics
5. Paul Verghese Literary Criticism – A Macmillan India Ltd 1981 1st
Workbook