UPSC English Syllabus 2024, Download Language Syllabus PDF

UPSC English Syllabus 2024

The UPSC English syllabus 2024 aims to test aspirants’ proficiency in the language which is critical for civil services roles. It covers essay writing, comprehension, précis writing and letter writing to evaluate usage of appropriate vocabulary, grammar and organization of ideas. Topics include literary works like poetry, prose, drama and non-fictional writings that examine knowledge of prominent authors and literary devices. Sections on basic grammar, figures of speech and rhetorical devices test rules of composition.

You can download the UPSC CSE English Optional language paper syllabus from the direct link given below.

UPSC English Syllabus 2024 Overview

The expansive UPSC English literature syllabus encompasses works from old English to modern covering poetry, drama and prose. The compulsory English paper tests usage of grammar, vocabulary and composition in essay, précis, comprehension and letter writing. Proficiency in articulation, critical writing and comprehension in English – a key language for governance – is assessed to select candidates skilled for public services across India’s linguistic diversity.

English Literature Syllabus for UPSC CSE 2024

The UPSC English exam comprises two papers of 250 marks each, totaling 500, testing proficiency in literary works spanning old and modern English. Aspirants keenly interested in English literature and with a strong grasp of the language should opt for this subject. The expansive syllabus examines critical reading, writing and comprehension skills in the key language of governance and public services in India.

If you opt for English language as optional in UPSC mains, prepare it thoroughly. Go through the UPSC CSE Syllabus and previous years’ English papers. The CSE Mains includes two test papers on the optional subject selected by the candidate, each for 250 marks.

The syllabus consists of two papers, designed to test a first-hand and critical reading of texts prescribed from the following periods in English Literature:

• Paper 1 : 1600-1900
• Paper 2 : 1900–1990

There will be two compulsory questions in each paper:

1. A short-notes question related to the topics for general study, and
2. A critical analysis of UNSEEN passages both in prose and verse

UPSC CSE English Syllabus 2024 for Paper 1

Texts for detailed study are listed below. Candidates will also be required to show adequate knowledge of the following topics and movements: The Renaissance; Elizabethan and Jacobean Drama; Metaphysical Poetry; The Epic and the Mock-epic; Neo-classicism; Satire; The Romantic Movement; The Rise of the Novel; The Victorian Age.

Section A

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

Section B

1. Jonathan Swift: “Gulliver’s Travels”.
2. Jane Austen: “Pride and Prejudice”.
3. Henry Fielding: “Tom Jones”.
4. Charles Dickens: “Hard Times”.
5. George Eliot: “The Mill on the Floss”.
6. Thomas Hardy: “Tess of the d’Urbervilles”.
7. Mark Twain: “The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn”.

UPSC CSE English Syllabus 2024 for Paper 2

Texts for detailed study are listed below. Candidates will also be required to show adequate knowledge of the following topics and movements: Modernism; Poets of the Thirties; The stream-of-consciousness Novel; Absurd Drama; Colonialism and Post-Colonialism; Indian Writing in English; Marxist, Psychoanalytical and Feminist approaches to literature; Post-Modernism.

Section A

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

Section B

1. Joseph Conrad: Lord Jim.
2. James Joyce: Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
3. D.H. Lawrence: Sons and Lovers.
4. E.M. Forster: A Passage to India.
5. Virginia Woolf: Mrs. Dalloway.
6. Raja Rao: Kanthapura.
7. V.S. Naipaul: A House for Mr. Biswas.

Overall the UPSC CSE English paper assesses critical writing skills, comprehension abilities, and the capability to articulate logically and effectively in English – a lingua franca key for public services in India’s diverse linguistic landscape. English skills are evaluated through a compulsory qualifying paper.

Important Links	Important Links
UPSC CSE 2024 Apply Online	UPSC CSE 2024 Notification
UPSC CSE Eligibility Criteria	UPSC CSE Syllabus
UPSC CSE Exam Pattern	UPSC CSE Selection Process

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