UGC-NET English Syllabus: All 10 Units
The official UGC-NET English (Paper 2) syllabus, unit by unit, with the key authors and topics students should know for each unit. Also useful for SET and SLET English.
Exam Pattern at a Glance
UGC-NET is a computer-based test with two papers in one sitting.
The 10 Units of Paper 2
The official syllabus gives only the unit titles. The authors and topics below are the ones that come up most often in NET and SET papers.
Unit 1: Drama
From Greek tragedy and Elizabethan theatre to modern, absurdist and postcolonial drama: playwrights, plays, characters, dramatic forms and theatre movements.
Unit 2: Poetry
Chaucer to the contemporary: major poets, poems, movements, forms and metre, across British, American, Indian and postcolonial poetry.
Unit 3: Fiction, Short Story
The rise and growth of the novel and the short story: novelists, novels, narrative techniques and literary movements.
Unit 4: Non-Fictional Prose
Essays, autobiography, travel writing and political prose, from the Renaissance essay to modern Indian thinkers.
Unit 5: Language: Basic Concepts, Theories and Pedagogy; English in Use
Linguistics, phonetics, grammar, language acquisition and English language teaching methods.
Unit 6: English in India: History, Evolution and Futures
How English came to India and grew here: education policy, Indian English, and the future of English in a multilingual country.
Unit 7: Cultural Studies
Culture, power and representation: popular culture, media, gender, race, class and identity.
Unit 8: Literary Criticism
Classical to modern criticism, plus Indian poetics.
Unit 9: Literary Theory post World War II
The major schools of theory after 1945 and their key thinkers and texts.
Unit 10: Research Methods and Materials in English
How literary research is planned, written and documented.
Source: UGC-NET English (Code 30) syllabus, University Grants Commission / NTA.
Start with Unit 1: Drama
Try our free 25-question Drama mock test, written on the real NET pattern, with an explanation for every answer.