Bifurcation of British Literature

It is seen in the Previous Year Papers of the NET exam that sometimes they simply ask which age is preceded or succeeded by which age or what is another name of a particular age. So, this image would help you in answering such questions. Click on the image if it appears unclear.

For instance, see this question below which was asked in Previous Years of NET Exam:

Q. Which of the following periods of English Literature is also called 'Puritan Interregnum'?

        1. The Neo-Classical Period

        2.The Caroline Age

        3. The Restoration Age

        4.The Commonwealth Period   

Previous Year Questions based on the Bifurcation of British Literature would be updated in this very post later.

Just note down this in your History of English Literature book, preferably beside the Contents page of the book, for quick reference whenever you begin a new age.

Thanks, and please come later on this post for Previous Year Questions based on this topic. I'll try to update it ASAP.

A Few Tips to Start Afresh

First of all, leave all the WhatsApp and Telegram groups that you've joined for the preparation of this exam. 

You must have joined these groups for free study materials, for participating in the quiz that students or teachers must be posting, or for updates of NET or SET exams of various states.  

I'm asking you all to leave because you would keep on collecting study materials, but you would never read anything. 

Don't leave the groups if you can control this habit of collecting everything that's free. Enjoy the quizzes and updates.

Secondly, keep your resources limited. Make a list of the books that you'll follow, and the channels you'll subscribe on YouTube. There are various good coaching teachers on YouTube who give valuable videos. Follow them and keep a copy and pen ready always whenever you watch their videos. Moreover, there are various professors of best institutions who have uploaded their lectures via various government channels like CEC UGC, MOOCs, NPTEL from India, and YALE UNIVERSITY and a few teachers from abroad like Michael Moir, who's one of my favourites and others. You can even download SWAYAM app, edX app, IGNOU app for lectures and free notes.

Thirdly, if you're joining any coaching for preparation, please read every day whatever is taught to you. Do not keep pending work. Whatever topic is taught to you, you need to read the same from an authentic book, and then read your coaching notes on that very day. 

Revision is very important once you're done with any topic. Revise your notes everyday just before starting a new topic. Practice MCQs whenever you're free. It's fun to solve these once you're prepared with the topic.

And lastly, don't make notes. English Literature is vast like an ocean. There's no end to it. You don't have so much time. I myself never made notes during preparation. It's a waste of time. Highlight in book itself. Use different colours if required. Make short, crisp points in a page or a copy of every chapter for last minute revision. Write only the keywords and then whenever you have to revise, just read the keywords and try to recall the matter. 

Bye!

Syllabus (Self-Made) of UGC NET Paper 1: General (Code 00)

1.      Teaching 
2.      Research
3.          ICT
4.          Communication
5.         Higher Education
6.          Environment
7.         Polity
8.          English Comprehension
9.          Reasoning
10.          Maths (DI)

Syllabus (Self-Made) of UGC NET Paper 2: English (Code 30)

• British Literature 

• American Literature 

• Indian Literature (includes Dalit Literature) 

• Postcolonial Literature (includes African, Canadian, Caribbean Literatures, etc.) 

• World Literature (includes German, Russian, French Literatures, etc.) 

• Literary Criticism 

• Literary Theory 

• Cultural Studies 

• Linguistics 

• English in India 

• English Language Teaching (ELT) 

• Research in Literature 

• Literary Terms and Literary Movements 

• Prize-Winning authors and Bestseller Books

Suggested Books

Now, if you keep on following only your teacher's lectures, YouTube lectures, or notes of Ignou or just my blog, then that won't do. You should always read the topic from an authentic book. Therefore, I'm suggesting the books that I referred to during my preparation. But remember, it may be the case that you find difficulty in comprehending any of the listed books. In that situation, follow a book that you're comfortable with, and then try to read the listed books. I'm saying so because these are authentic books.

• For British history of English literature:  

Routledge Book of English History (Ronald Carter), 3rd Edition.

Link to purchase

• For Literary Criticism:

A History of Literary Criticism: From Plato to the Present (M.A R. Habib) [840+ pages]

Link to purchase

• For Literary Theory:

Contemporary Literary and Cultural Theory: From Structuralism to Ecocriticism (P.K. Nayar)

Link to buy

• Indian Literature and English in India:

A Concise History of Indian Literature in English (A.K. Mehrotra)

Link to buy

English Studies in India: Contemporary and Evolving Paradigms (Banibrata Mahanta and Rajesh Babu Sharma)

Link to buy

The Story of English in India (N. Krishnaswamy and Lalitha Krishnaswamy)

Link to buy

All three books are important in this section.

• For Cultural Studies:

An Introduction to Cultural Studies (P.K. Nayar)

Link to purchase

Introducing Cultural Studies (Ziauddin Sardar)

Link to buy

Both books are important.

• For linguistics:

Introduction to Linguistics (Pushpinder Syal)

Link to buy

• For Postcolonialism:

Colonialism/ Postcolonialism (Ania Loomba)

Link to purchase

These books are enough for preparation. Hope you would be able to read all. 

If you're a voracious reader and you have a lot of time, you can also read Routledge Critical Thinkers Series. 

Link (see all the books)

Thanks!