UPSC English Literature Syllabus for Optional Paper-I and Paper-II

UPSC English language Paper 1 and Paper 2 optional syllabus is framed by the UPSC. The UPSC English paper syllabus PDF can be downloaded from the UPSC official website. Both the papers carry 250 marks each. Candidate with an English background, or who has an interest in reading English novels, or poetry collection should take up this optional. The UPSC Mains syllabus for English Literature optional can be checked here in detail. 

Check more UPSC optional subject syllabus in detail. 

UPSC English Literature Optional Paper I Syllabus

IAS (UPSC CSE) English Literature Optional Syllabus Paper-I

The syllabus for UPSC Civil Service Examination English Literature (Optional) Paper-I is divided into two sections- Section A and Section B. The details of the syllabus for both sections are mentioned below. Candidates have to show sufficient knowledge of the following movements and topics: The Renaissance; Metaphysical Poetry; The Mock-epic and the Epic; Jacobean and Elizabethan Drama; Neo-classicism; The Romantic Movement; Satire; The Victorian Age; The Rise of the Novel.

IAS (UPSC CSE) English Literature Syllabus Paper-I: Section A

Poets	Poems
William Shakespeare	King Lear and The Tempest
John Donne. The following poems	Death be not proud Canonization The Good Morrow The Relic On his Mistress going to bed
John Milton	Paradise Lost, I, II, IV, IX
Alexander Pope	The Rape of the Lock
William Wordsworth: The following poems:	Tintern Abbey Odeon Intimations of Immortality. Three years she grew Michael She dwelt among untrodden ways Independence and Resolution The World is too much with us Upon Westminster Bridge Milton, thou shouldst be living at this hour
Alfred Tennyson	In Memoriam
Henrik Ibsen	A Doll's House

IAS (UPSC CSE) English Literature Syllabus Paper-I: Section B

Novelists	Novels
Jonathan Swift	Gulliver's Travels.
Jane Austen	Prejudice and Pride
Charles Dickens	Hard Times
Henry Fielding	Tom Jones
Thomas Hardy	Tess of the d'Urbervilles
George Eliot	The Mill on the Floss
Mark Twain	The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn

UPSC English Literature Optional Paper II Syllabus 

The details of the syllabus for UPSC Civil Service Examination English Literature (Optional) Paper-II comprises Section A and Section B which is discussed below. Candidates have to show sufficient knowledge of the following movements and topics: Modernism; Poets of the Thirties; Absurd Drama; The stream-of-consciousness Novel; Post-Colonialism and Colonialism; Marxist, Indian Writing in English; Feminist and Psychoanalytical approaches to literature; Post-Modernism.

IAS (UPSC CSE) English Literature Syllabus Paper-II: Section A

Poets	Poems
William Butler Yeats:	Easter 1916 A Prayer for my daughter The Second Coming Sailing to Byzantium Among School Children The Tower Meru Leda and the Swan Lapis Lazuli
T.S. Eliot:	Journey of the Magi Love Song of J.Alfred Prufrock Burnt Norton
W.H. Auden:	Musee des Beaux-Arts Partition in Memory of W.B. Yeats The Unknown Citizen Lay your sleeping head, my love Mundus Et Infans Consider September 1, 1939 The Shield of Achilles Petition
John Osborne	Look Back in Anger
Samuel Beckett	Waiting for Godot
Philip Larkin:	Next Please Deceptions Afternoons Days Mr. Bleaney
A.K. Ramanujan:	A River Looking for a Causim on a Swing Love Poem for a Wife 1 Of Mothers, among other Things Small-Scale Reflections on a Great House Obituary

IAS (UPSC CSE) English Literature Syllabus Paper-II: Section B

Download UPSC English Literature Books

The syllabus covers literature from old English that is used during the early, medieval, and modern period from 1900 AD onwards. Candidates can get the IAS (UPSC CSE) Main Examination syllabus on the official website of upsc.gov.in. This article will give a detailed idea of the English literature syllabus of the IAS (UPSC CSE) Main Exam.

Download UPSC English Syllabus PDF (Official)

Preparation Tips for IAS (UPSC CSE) English Literature

To crack UPSC Civil Services Examination, it is very essential for a candidate to follow the preparation tips. Candidates can follow some of the important preparation tips which are discussed in below points:

Before starting preparation, candidates should know and go through the syllabus in detail. Try to solve previous years' sample papers. By solving previous years' question papers, candidates will get an idea of what type of questions are asked in the exam.

Understanding the exam pattern is another important preparation tip to crack the exam. Aspirants before appearing for the exam should understand the types of questions, marking scheme, exam mode, time duration, etc. Candidates should make sure that the conclusion of the answer shouldn't be copied. It should be original.

IAS (UPSC CSE) English FAQs