MA I Sem (New Syllabus- 2025-26)

 Semester: I

Syllabus (Session 2025-26 onward)
MA English Literature: PG 2- Year Programme
Semester: I
Course Title: Poetry (Paper I)
Course Type: Core Course
Credit Value: Option I= 5, II & III= 4
Max Marks- 40+60; Min. Passing Marks- 40
Content of the Course
Unit I: Lyric Poetry
John Donne: The Good-Morrow, The Sun Rising
William Blake: The Lamb, The Tyger
Emily Dickinson: I heard a Fly buzz- when I died, Because I could not stop for Death
Activities:

1. Creative Monologue / Dramatic Reading: Students perform a dramatic monologue from the perspective of the speaker addressing his lover, drawing on imagery and tone from the poems.

2. Symbolism Scavenger Hunt: Assign students to find modern symbols in media, advertising, or art that represent innocence or danger and link them to Blake’s themes.

Unit II: Narrative Poetry
Geoffrey Chaucer: Prologue, The Canterbury Tales,
Robert Frost: The Death of the Hired Man

Activities:

1. Character Trading Cards: Create ‘pilgrim trading cards’ featuring Chaucer’s characters. Each card includes an illustration, personality traits, quote from the Prologue, and modern equivalent {e.g., Miller = reality TV star?).

2. Tableau or Readers’ Theatre: Perform a dramatic reading of the poem using voice and rhythm to highlight shifting tones and relationships.

UNIT III: Dramatic Poetry
Robert Browning: My Last Duchess, A Grammarian's Funeral, Porphyria’s Lovers
T. S. Eliot: The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock
Activities:

1. Court Case Role Play: Put the Duke on trial for the Duchess’s death. Assign roles: prosecutor, defense, Witnesses (e.g., the artist, the servant), jury. Debate guilt/ innocence.

2. Prufrock’s Social Media Profile: Design a fictional Instagram or Twitter page for Prufrock. Include bios, hash tags, posts, and DMs that reflect his character and mindset.

Unit IV: Ode, Elegy
John Keats: Ode to a Nightingale, Ode on a Grecian Urn
P. B. Shelley: Ozymandias
Thomas Gray: Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard
W. H. Auden: In Memory of W. B. Yeats
Activities:
1. Dramatic Reading & Tone Exploration: Assign groups to perform different stanzas with varied tones (melancholy, ecstatic, contemplative) and explain their interpretive choices.
2. Poetry Pairing: Compare with a modern political or protest poem (e.g., Maya Angelou, Amanda Gorman). Discuss how both address power and legacy.
UNIT V: Satirical, Didactic and Allegorical Poetry
Alexander Pope: The Rape of the Lock
John Dryden: Absalom and Achitophel
W. H. Auden: The Unknown Citizen
Activities:

1. Character Courtroom Drama: Hold a mock trial where characters (Belinda, the Baron, Ariel) defend or justify their actions. Use evidence from the poem and present arguments with wit and flair.

2. Historical-Poetic Parallels Chart: Create a visual chart comparing the biblical story, the poem’s characters, and the real political figures (e.g., Absalom = Monmouth, Achitophel = Shaftesbury, David = Charles II).

Keywords/Tags: Poetic Forms, Lyric and Narrative Poetry, Dramatic Monologue, Ode and Elegy, Satire and Allegory.

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Syllabus (Session 2025-26 onward)
MA English Literature: PG 2- Year Programme
Semester: I
Course Title: Drama (Paper II)
Course Type: Core Course
Credit Value: Option I= 5, II & III= 4
Max Marks- 40+60; Min. Passing Marks- 40
Content of the Course
Unit I: Tragedy
Sophocles: Oedipus Rex (Classical Greek Tragedy)
William Shakespeare: Hamlet (Elizabethan Tragedy)
Activities:

1. Chorus Creation & Performance: Activity: Have students write and perform a choral ode in the style of the Greek chorus, responding to a major event in the play.

2. Diary Entries: Activity: Write diary entries from Ophelia’s or Hamlet’s perspective at key points, exploring inner thoughts.

Unit II: Comedy
Ben Jonson: The Alchemist (City Comedy)
William Congreve: The Way of the World (Restoration Comedy)
Activities:

1. Role-Play & Dramatic Reading: Assign roles and have students perform selected scenes (e.g., Face’s con or Subtle’s manipulation).

2. Wit Duels and Epigrams: Activity: Identify and perform ‘wit duels’ between characters (e, g., Mirabell and Millamant).

Unit III: Revenge Tragedy & Jacobean Drama
Thomas Kyd: The Spanish Tragedy (Revenge Tragedy)
Marlowe: Jew of Malta
Activities:

1. Socratic Seminar: Is Revenge Ever Justified? Objective: Debate moral philosophy using the plays as case studies.

2. Creative Writing: Alternative Endings Objective: Engage with character agency and moral resolution.

Unit IV: Comedy of Manners and Sentimental Comedy
Richard Brinsley Sheridan: The School for Scandal
Oliver Goldsmith: She Stoops to Conquer
Activities:

1. Then vs. Now: Social Norms Debate: Activity: Host a class debate on topics such as ‘Is appearance more important than truth in today’s society?’ or ‘Do we still marry for status?’ Students use evidence from the plays and current events.

2. Character Trial: Activity: Put a character like Joseph Surface on trial for hypocrisy. Students take roles as lawyers, witnesses, and jurors to argue the case.

Unit V: Absurd Drama
Martin McDonagh: The Pillowman
Harold Pinter: The Dumb Waiter
Activities:

1. Ethical Debate: Topic: ‘Should disturbing stories be censored if they inspire real-life violence?’

2. Absurdist Scene Creation: Activity: In pairs, students write and perform a short scene in Painteresque style filled with pauses, circular dialogue, and a vague sense of threat.

Keywords/ Tags: Types of Drama, Tragedy and Comedy Revenge Tragedy, Absurd Drama.

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Syllabus (Session 2025-26 onward)
MA English Literature: PG 2- Year Programme
Semester: I
Course Title: Fiction (Paper III)
Course Type: Core Course
Credit Value: Option I= 5, II & III= 4
Max Marks- 40+60; Min. Passing Marks- 40
Content of the Course
Unit I: Early Narrative Fiction
Aphra Behn: Oroonoko
Daniel Defoe: Robinson Crusoe
Activities:

Historical Context Research Project: Activity: Assign students to research the historical context of slavery, Colonial Surinam, and Aphra Behn’s life as a Restoration writer.

2. Colonialism Case Study: Activity: Analyze Robinson Crusoe as a colonial text; include short readings from postcolonial theorists (e.g., Edward Said, Homi Bhabha).

Unit II: Picaresque and Satirical Novels
Henry Fielding: Tom Jones
Laurence Sterne: Tristram Shandy
Activities:

1. Historical Context Presentation: Research and present on 18th-century England—class structures, legal systems, and gender roles—to better understand the novel’s social  commentary.

2. Podcast or Mock Interview: Produce a podcast episode or mock interview with Laurence Sterne or Tristram himself; Focus on why the novel is constructed as it is and what it's trying to do with narrative form.

Unit III: Gothic and Sentimental Fiction
Horace Walpole: The Castle of Otranto
Richardson: Pamela
Activities:

1. Debate: Is The Castle of Otranto a Satire or a Serious Gothic Tale? Structure: Divide class into two teams to debate Walpole’s intent and tone.

2. Epistolary Role-Play: Activity: Students write letters in character from Pamela, Mr. B, or Lady Davers responding to key events or moral dilemmas.

Unit IV: Realist & Domestic Novels
Charlotte Bronté: Jane Eyre
Gustav Flaubert: Madame Bovary
Activities:

1. Art & illustration: Students illustrate a key scene or create a visual character map. Encourage them to annotate their work with textual evidence explaining their creative choices.

2. Literary Trial: Who is to Blame? Stage a mock trial where different characters (Charles, Rodolphe, Homais, Emma, society itself) are on trial for Emma’s downfall. Students argue and provide evidence from the text.

Unit V: Victorian Social & Psychological Realism
George Eliot: The Mill on the Floss
Thomas Hardy: Tess of the d’Urbervilles
Activities:

1. Comparative Literary Analysis: Compare Maggie with another Victorian heroine (e.g. Jane Eyre or Dorothea Brooke) in terms of agency, morality and fate.

2. Courtroom Role-Play: Put Tess on trial: students play the roles of prosecutor, defender, judge, and jury, debating moral and legal responsibility in the novel.

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Syllabus (Session 2025-26 onward)
MA English Literature: PG 2- Year Programme
Semester: I
Course Title: Prose (Paper IV)
Course Type: Core Course
Credit Value: Option I= 5, II & III= 4
Max Marks- 40+60; Min. Passing Marks- 40
Content of the Course
Unit I:Annotations
Essay- Introduction, Development, Types, Types of Style- Aphoristic

Suggested Enrichment Activities (SEA): 1. Hunting for the historical facts in the library.

Aphorism Hunt & Imitation:
Task 1: Identify- Provide excerpts from Francis Bacon or other aphoristic writers. Students highlight and analyze aphorisms.
Task 2: Create- Students rewrite a short essay paragraph in aphoristic style (i.e., packed with compact, thought provoking sentences).
Unit II: Philosophical and Biographical Writings
J. Krishnamurti: Awareness, Desire.
Radhakrishnan: Religious Experience (1st Chapter of Hindu Way of life)
Romain Roland: The Life of Swami Vivekananda

Suggested Enrichment Activities (SEA):1. Speech practice, shashtrarth (group discussion).

2. Drama/Performance:

Students script and perform a short scene from Vivekananda’s life, focusing on moments of moral courage or deep insight.

Unit III: Political and Social Essays
Bacon: Of Youth and Age, Of Marriage and Single Life
Addison: The Coverley Witch (On Witch-Craft: Story of Moll White)
Charles Lamb: The Superannuated Man

Suggested Enrichment Activities (SEA):

1. Comparative Reflection Journal: Prompt: Compare your views on marriage or youth/age with those expressed by Bacon. Do you agree or disagree? Why?

2. Contextual Research: Research 17th-18th century English witch trials or superstitions. Present findings in a mini-poster or short presentation.

Unit IV: Argumentative Essays
William Hazlitt: On the Pleasure of Hating
Bertrand Russell: On Being Modern Minded (from Unpopular Essays)
G.K. Chesterton: The Worship of the Wealthy
Suggested Enrichment Activities (SEA):

1. Debate: Is hatred a natural and necessary part of human nature? Split students into pro/con sides to explore Hazlitt’s argument.

2. Comparison Chart: Compare Russell’s idea of the ‘modern mind’ with today’s social media-driven culture - how does open-mindedness differ from trend following?

Unit V: Familiar Essays and Contemporary Essays (Non-detailed study)
R.N. Tagore: Nationalism
APJ Abdul Kalam: Ignited Minds
Suggested Enrichment Activities (SEA):

1. Panel Discussion: Nationalism and Culture, Students act as various historical figures (Tagore, Gandhi, Subhas Chandra Bose, etc.) and discuss how nationalism should Shape culture, education, and politics.

2. Vision 2040 Presentation: Students present their own vision for India in 2040, inspired by Kalam's themes of innovation, education, and unity.

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