UGC NET English Literature 2025: Syllabus, Key Topics, Prep Tips & Study Resources to Crack the Exam Successfully

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08-Sep-2025

The UGC NET English Literature Paper II is one of the most sought-after exams for aspirants aiming to become assistant professors or qualify for junior research fellowships in India. Clearing this exam requires not only a thorough understanding of the syllabus but also a smart and well-structured preparation plan. In this blog, we will cover the detailed syllabus, important topics, preparation tips, and recommended study resources for Paper II of English Literature.

UGC NET Paper II English Literature Syllabus Overview
The syllabus for Paper II in English Literature is designed to test candidates’ comprehensive knowledge of literary history, theory, and critical understanding.
Key Units in the Syllabus
- Drama
  - Elizabethan & Jacobean Drama: Shakespeare, Marlowe, Ben Jonson John Webster, Thomas Kyd, etc.
  - Restoration & 18th Century Drama: Aphra Behn, William Congreve, Richard Brinsley Sheridan, Oliver Goldsmith.
  - 19th Century Drama to Modern plays: Oscar Wilde, George Bernard Shaw, Henrik Ibsen.
  - 20th Century & Modern Drama: S. Eliot, Sean O’Casey, J. M. Synge, John Osborne, Samuel Beckett, Harold Pinter, Eugene O’Neill, Arthur Miller, Tennessee Williams, Edward Albee.
- Poetry
  - Medieval & Early Renaissance: Geoffrey Chaucer, William Langland, John Skelton, Sir Thomas Wyatt, Henry Howard, Earl of Surrey, Edmund Spenser.
  - Metaphysical & Cavalier Poets (17th Century): John Donne, George Herbert, Andrew Marvell, Abraham Cowley, Robert Herrick, Richard Lovelace, Thomas Carew.
  - Restoration & Augustan / Neoclassical (18th Century): John Dryden, Alexander Pope, Samuel Johnson, James Thomson.
  - Romantic Poets (1798–1830): William Blake, William Wordsworth, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Lord Byron, Percy Bysshe Shelley, John Keats.
  - Victorian Poets (1830–1900): Alfred Lord Tennyson, Robert Browning, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Matthew Arnold, Christina Rossetti, Dante Gabriel Rossetti, Gerard Manley Hopkins
  - Modernist Poets (20th Century): Thomas Hardy, W. B. Yeats, T. S. Eliot, Ezra Pound, Wilfred Owen, D. H. Lawrence, W. H. Auden
  - Postmodern & Contemporary Poets: Ted Hughes, Sylvia Plath, Allen Ginsberg, Margaret Atwood
- Fiction, Short Story, and Non-Fictional Prose
  - Early Fiction & Prose (16th–17th Century): Thomas More, Philip Sidney, Francis Bacon.
  - 18th Century Novelists & Essayists: Daniel Defoe, Jonathan Swift, Samuel Richardson, Henry Fielding, Laurence Sterne, Oliver Goldsmith, Joseph Addison & Richard Steele.
  - 19th Century Fiction & Prose: Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Sense and Sensibility (Jane Austen), Frankenstein (Mary Shelley), Waverley, Ivanhoe (Sir Walter Scott), David Copperfield, Great Expectations, Oliver Twist (Charles Dickens), Jane Eyre (Charlotte Brontë), Wuthering Heights (Emily Brontë), Agnes Grey (Anne Brontë), Middlemarch, The Mill on the Floss (George Eliot), Culture and Anarchy (Matthew Arnold), Modern Painters (John Ruskin).
  - Late 19th & Early 20th Century (Modernist Fiction): The Portrait of a Lady, The Turn of the Screw (Henry James), Heart of Darkness (Joseph Conrad), The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds (G. Wells), The Picture of Dorian Gray (Oscar Wilde), Ulysses, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, Dubliners (James Joyce), Sons and Lovers, Women in Love, The Rainbow (D.H. Lawrence), Mrs Dalloway, To the Lighthouse (Virginia Woolf), A Passage to India, Howards End (E.M. Forster).
  - Postcolonial & Contemporary Fiction: Animal Farm, 1984 (George Orwell), The Power and the Glory (Graham Greene), Lord of the Flies (William Golding), Things Fall Apart (Chinua Achebe), A Grain of Wheat (Ngugi wa Thiong’o), Beloved (Toni Morrison).
  - Non-Fictional Prose & Essays (Modern & Contemporary): Politics and the English Language, Shooting an Elephant (George Orwell).
- Cultural Studies and Literary Theory: Structuralism, Post-structuralism, Marxism, Feminism, Postcolonialism, Queer Theory, Ecocriticism.
- Indian Writing in English:K. Narayan, Raja Rao, Anita Desai, Arundhati Roy, Salman Rushdie, Amitav Ghosh. Mulk Raj Anand, Kamala Das, and contemporary authors.
- American and Other Literatures: African-American writers, Harlem Renaissance, Transcendentalism, American drama, and poetry.
- English Language and Linguistics: History of English, phonology, morphology, syntax, and applied linguistics.
- Critical and Literary Movements: Renaissance, Romanticism, Victorian Age, Modernism, Postmodernism.
- Research Methods and Literary Criticism: From Plato and Aristotle to contemporary critics.
- Contemporary Developments in English Studies: Digital literature, diasporic writing, new literary trends.
Preparation Tips for UGC NET Paper II English Literature
- Start with the Syllabus: Download the official NTA UGC NET syllabus for English Literature and divide it into weekly targets.
- Make Concise Notes: Prepare short notes for each literary movement, author, and theory. Mind maps can help recall quickly.
- Read Standard Books:
  - History of English Literature – W.J. Long / Edward Albert
  - Literary Theory – Peter Barry
  - Indian Writing in English – K.R. Srinivasa Iyengar
  - A Glossary of Literary Terms – M.H. Abrams
  - The Routledge History of Literature in English – Ronald Carter, John McRae
  - Oxford Companion to English Literature for quick reference.
- Practice Previous Year Questions: Solving past papers is crucial for understanding exam trends and frequently asked topics.
Recommended Study Resources
- Drishti UGC NET English Literature Online Course: The course offers complete coverage of the English Literature syllabus with expert guidance. It includes live and recorded classes, topic-wise test series, and detailed study notes. Aspirants also benefit from interactive doubt-clearing sessions and performance analysis. This structured approach ensures focused preparation and exam success.

Final Words

Cracking the UGC NET Paper II English Literature requires consistency, conceptual clarity, and rigorous practice. By following a structured syllabus plan, focusing on high-value topics, and utilizing authentic study resources, aspirants can maximize their chances of success. Combine your preparation for Paper I and Paper II, revise regularly, and stay confident.