GATE Syllabus

Overview of GATE English Literature Exam

Particulars	Details
Examination Mode	Computer Based Test (Online)
Duration	3 Hours
Number of Paper in English Literature	02 Papers
Section	General Aptitude (GA)Candidate Selected Subject
Type of Questions	Multiple Choice Questions (MCQs)Multiple Select Questions (MSQs)Numerical Answer Type (NAT) Questions
Design of Questions	The questions are designed to test the listed abilities Application Analysis Comprehension Recall Synthesis
Number of Questions	65 Questions (including 10 questions from General Aptitude)
Distribution of Questions in , XH and XL	Questions from Subject Concerned – 85 Marks General Aptitude – 15 Marks Comprehension – 20 Marks
Total Marks	100 Marks
Marking Scheme	All of the questions will be worth 1 or 2 marks
Negative Marking	Two types of MCQs: MCQs – 1 mark for each correct answer; 1/3 mark will be deducted for every wrong answer. MCQs – 2 marks for each correct answer; 2/3 mark will be deducted for every incorrect response.
Subject	English Literature

Unit -1 Multi-genre literatures in English

Topics	Chapters to be Covered
Poetry & Prose	chaucer to Shakespeare Jacobean to Restoration Austain Age 18th Century
Drama	Hamlet William Shakespeare. Macbeth William Shakespeare. Othello William Shakespeare.  Ben Jonson- Volpone Ben Jonson- The Alchemist Ben Jonson- Every Man in His Humour
short Story	Edgar Allen Poe’s Short Stories George Orwell- Shooting an Elephant Ray Bradbury- A Sound of Thunder Oscar Wilde- The Nightingale and the Rose Ernest Hemingway- The Snows of Kilimanjaro Guy de Maupassant- The Necklace
reative non-fiction, and non-fiction prose	Rhetoric and Prosody
19th and 20th centuries	American Literature other Non British Literature Modern & Contemporary Period
forms of fiction	three main types of fiction: the short story, the novella and the novel
Novel	Sir Thomas More- Utopia Sir Thomas Malory- Le Morte d’Arthur John Bunyan- Pilgrim Progress Jonathan Swift- Gulliver’s Travels Mary Shelley- Frankenstein

Unit -2 Especially in a comparative context

Topics	Chapters
Especially in a comparative context	Definition of Comparative Literature Scope of comparative literature Concepts of Comparative Literature Objectives of Comparative Literature National Literature World Literature History of the Comparative Literature and It’s Development Major aspects of Comparative Literature Analogy Thematology Interliterariness COMPARATIVE CULTURE STUDIES ROLE OF TRANSLATION IN COMPARATIVE LITERATURE
anglophone and in English translation	THE FICTIONAL TRANSLATOR IN ANGLOPHONE LITERATURES The English Patient Remembering Babylon & More translation history
literatures from India	Indian Poetry Indian Epics Indian Regional Literature Pali literature Sanskrit drama The Important Features in a Nutshell Language pedagogy
larger Indian subcontinent	Theories of Language Cognitivism as a theory Vygotsky’s Socio Cultural Theory English in South Asia Origin and Development of Drama in Ancient Tamil Society Types of Kuttus Literary Translation in India Language in Contemporary Indian Literature

Unit -3 Literary criticism and theory

Topics	Chapters
Literary criticism and theory	Importance of Literary Theory Types of Literary Criticism Why Study Literary Theory The Nature and Meaning of Literary Criticism Post-Structuralism Deconstruction Plato’s Philosophical Concepts Theory of Imitation Theory of Art Criticism in Greco-Roman Culture Renaissance criticism The Defence of Poetry
Critical and cultural intellectual-traditions	Neoclassic period Influences and the Secular Ethos Mimesis or Phantasia Romantic Criticism Sir Philip Sidney’s Life Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) Johnson’s Editorial Method Literary Criticism in The Victorian Age Aestheticism Heterological thinkers The Importance of Poetry or Poetry as a Spiritual Force The Touchstone Method Arnold’s Contribution
Approaches widely referred to and used in the discipline of English	Henry James as Critic of Novelistic Art Critics’ Remarks on Henry James as Critic Art for Art’s Sake Development of Art for Art’s Sake The English Aestheticism Lionel Trilling (1905-1975) and his Contemporaries Sigmund Freud (1856-1939) as literary critic Trilling’s essay “Freud and Literature” CONTEMPORARY TRENDS IN LITERARY THEORY AND CRITICISM W. K. Wimsatt and Robert Penn Warren THE APPROACH THROUGH SOCIO-CULTURAL CONTEXT

Unit -4 History of English literature

Topics	Chapters
History of English literature	Old English (Anglo-Saxon Period) 450–1066 Middle English Period 1066-1500 The Renaissance 1500-1600 The Neoclassical Period 1600-1785 The Romantic Period 1785-1832 The Victorian Age 1832-1901 The Edwardian Period 1901-1914 The Georgian Period 1910-1936 The Modern Period Early 20th century The Postmodern Period Mid-20th century Homeric or Heroic Period (1200-800 BCE) Classical Greek Period (800-200 BCE) Classical Roman Period (200 BCE-455 BCE) Patristic Period (c.70 CE-455 CE) The Old English (Anglo-Saxon) Period (423-1066 CE) The Middle English Period (c.1066-1450 CE) Early Tudor Period (1485-1558) Elizabethan Period (1558-1603) Jacobean Period(1603-1625) Caroline Age (1625-1649) Commonwealth Period/ Puritan Interregnum(1649-1660) Restoration Period (1660-1700) The Augustan Age (1700-1750) The Age of Johnson (1750-1790) Modernist Writers, Realism, etc MIDDLE ENGLISH ROMANCES Life and Works of Chaucer (1340 -1400) Elizabethan Romantic Drama
English literary studies	The Elements of Poetry Classification of Poetry METRE Kinds of Ballad Kinds of Epic metrical romance limerick Kinds of odes Biographies The Essay in the 20th century The novel and the short story Kinds of Novel

Unit -5 Research approaches and methodologies

Topics	Chapters
Research approaches and methodologies	Research Methods Primary and Secondary Sources Use of Standard Abbreviations Explanative Writing Argumentative Writing Form and style of thesis writing research design Research in English Language Teaching [ELT] Narrative research Phenomenological research Grounded theory research Ethnographic research Case-study research Movement in English Language Teaching Triangulation
interpretive techniques	Qualitative Research The Nature of Qualitative Data Gathering Qualitative Data Common literary devices, Major Literary Forms Eliabethan Drama
Responsive to literary forms, devices, concepts, and genres	AESTHETICISM ALLEGORY Significance of Ambiguity in Literature Significance of Analogy in Literature Difference Between Biography and Autobiography Significance of Biography in Literature Colloquialism Significance of Colloquialism in Literature Significance of Drama in Literature Significance of Elegy in Literature Common Examples of Idiom Significance of Imagery in Literature Common Examples of Intertextuality Verbal Irony Situational Irony Significance of Memoir in Literature NOVELLA, NOVELETTE, NOVELLE, NOUVELLE Onomatopoeia Significance of Poem in Literature First Person Singular Common Examples of Satire Spenserian Sonnet Types of Stanzas Difference between Tone and Mood Characteristics of Genres

GATE English literature [XH-C2] Important Topics Chapter Wise-

Units Included in GATE English Syllabus	Important-topics
C2.1	From Chaucer to Shakespeare, Augustan Age, Romantic Period, American Literature, Non British Literature, Jacobean to Restorations etc.
C2.2	literatures from India, study of “literature without borders,anglophone etc
C2.3	Literary criticism,critical and cultural intellectual-traditions,
C2.4	English literature and English literary studies Like Shakespeare Jane Austen Holocaust literature Victorian print culture literature and law
C2.5	Research approaches and methodologies, including interpretive techniques responsive to literary forms, devices

GATE English Four-Month Preparation Plan 

Preparation Time	4 Months (16 Weeks)
Total Chapters/ Topics to Prepare	7
Total Sub-Topics	Over 60
Studying Hours Per Day	4 – 5 Hours
Number of Days Required to Prepare Each Chapter	12 Days
Number of Chapters Completed in a Month	2 Chapters
Break Days or Extra Days Each Month	2 – 3 Days*
Time Taken to Complete Entire Syllabus	3 Months
Remaining Time	One Month
Days to Solve Sample Papers/ Model Papers/ Mock Tests	20 Days
Days Left for Final Revision	10 Days

Career Scope:

GATE English (Code -C2) Exam Pattern-

Total Number of Questions in GATE 2022

• GATE 2022 will have a total of 55 + 10 (General Aptitude) questions.
• General Aptitude will have 10 questions + Reading Comprehension 15 Questions and English literature will have 40 questions.
• There is No Restriction to move to and from among the Papers.
• All the questions are compulsory to attempt.

English literature	No. of Questions	Maximum Marks	Duration
General Aptitude	10	15	Cumulative time duration of 3 hours.Shift 1: 9.30 AM – 12.30 PMShift 2: 2.30 PM – 5.30 PM
Reading Comprehension	15	25
Gate English	40	60
Total	65 MCQs	100 Marks	180 minutes