GENERAL GUIDELINES FOR SLST ENGLISH (IX-X & XI-XII) 2025

General Guidelines

• The Commission does not expect you to excel with vast and deep knowledge of English Literature, nor that you revel in the high standard of criticism. What is expected is that you are well acquainted with the main trends and movements in English Literature, the vogue of the particular genres in particular periods, the use of literary terms and apply your learning through MCQ.

• If you look at the syllabus, you may discern a pattern there. Candidates appearing for the pass category will find that the texts cover the area beginning with the Romantic Period down roughly to the first quarter of the 20th century, just before the beginning of the Modernist Movement of Pound, Eliot and others. Candidates appearing for the Hons/PG category will find that the texts range from the Elizabethan period to British literature produced before 1950 or so. The syllabus can be divided, for convenience, into two levels—the general and the particular.

General Aspects:

• On the general level, here you should therefore be well-acquainted with the prevalence of different genres in different periods that come within the area of the syllabus: for instance, ‘sonnet’ during the Elizabethan period, ‘Mock-epic’ during the Augustan period, ‘Ode’ and ‘Lyric’ during the Romantic period, disconnected irregular utterances during the Modernist period etc. You are also advised to take note of the genres like ‘novel’, ‘short-story’ and ‘essay’.
• You should have a clear understanding of different trends and movements in English literature; for instance, the Neoclassical trend in the Augustan period, the Romantic Movement, the Pre-Raphaelite Movement, the Symbolist Movement, the Modernist Movement, etc.
• You should take care to remember the importance of certain years in which some epoch-making events took place; for instance, the accession and death of Queen Elizabeth in 1558 and 1603 respectively, the Glorious Revolution in 1688, the fall of the Bastille Fort and the beginning of the French Revolution in 1789, the publication of the Lyrical Ballads in 1798, the accession of Queen Victoria in 1837, First World War (1914-18), the publications of Eliot’s Waste Land and Joyce’s Ulysses in 1922, the Second World War (1939-45) etc.
• On the general plane, the candidates may be asked directly to express their opinions on individual writers, for instance, you may be asked, ‘How would you differentiate among Wordsworth, Shelley, and Keats?’ or ‘In what ways is Wordsworth’s poetry different from Coleridge’s?’
• You should also remember the full name of a writer from the prescribed texts: for example, ‘What is the full name of T.S. Eliot?’

Particular Aspects:

The Commission intends to test you on some particular levels as well, and that is why there is a prescribed syllabus. However, it does not expect you to examine the texts from a critical perspective, nor is there any scope for doing so on the level you did in your college or university exams. The Commission’s experts will look into whether or not you are capable of answering the questions covering various aspects of the texts prescribed in the syllabus.

• Before entering a text, it is necessary to note whether the title bears any special significance for an understanding and discussion of the text.
• Second in importance, in order, certainly not in degree, comes the opening or unfolding of an action or story in drama or short story. The opening scene sometimes anticipates or sets the keys for the events that are going to take place in the text; for instance, the opening scene in Macbeth.
• Then enter the characters. Different character plays different roles. Sometimes foils or opposite characters are introduced to highlight some lack, excess, or flaw in the principal character. For instance, Telemachus in Ulysses stands in sharp contrast as a symbol of domesticity and stability to his father, who lacks or defies these. Or, in Macbeth, Banquo is presented as a foil, as a moral rebuke to Macbeth to emphasise the latter’s immoral and illegal project.
• Sometimes the characters are named after the kind of function or idiosyncrasy they are associated with; for example, Tony Lumpkin.
• The incidents scattered throughout the text are no less critical; in other words, it is equally essential to know, remember, and explain what happens when, as well as who or what makes it happen when. For instance, you may be asked, ‘When/How did Falder die?’, or ‘When did Darcy confess to Elizabeth that he was violently in love with her?’ etc.

• Some characters sometimes utter words that turn out to be highly significant in the context of an action or a whole text. For instance, Lady Macbeth’s false conviction that a little water was sufficient to wash the mark of the blood turns back on her later, and it brings about her nemesis. Or, the Duke’s sudden utterance ‘All the smiles were stopped together’ suddenly supplies the information of his heinous act of murdering his innocent wife and points to his monomania.
• The end is always replete with significance. However, more often it lies in the ending of a short story and a one-act play.
• While preparing for the poems, you should, first of all, mark the particular rhyme a poem is written in. For instance, you may be asked, ‘What is terza rima?’.
• You should also note the rhyming scheme, especially in the sonnets. You may be asked, ‘What is the difference in stanzaic pattern between a Shakespearean sonnet and a Spenserian sonnet?’ You may also be asked, ‘What is blank verse?’
• It is equally important to make note of significant lines in a poem and their meaning, their denotations and connotations. For instance, Ulysses’ exhortation to the sailors, ‘To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield,’ on the surface level denotes an optimistic overture, but upon closer examination, it connotes a fruitless and pessimistic, desperate cry of an aging person.
• A poem sometimes contains images that become notable for artistic beauty or that may have more profound significance. For instance, Shelley’s comparison of the skylark to ‘a poet/ Hidden in the light of thought’, or Coleridge’s description of ‘the one red leaf, the last of its clan’ in Christabel, or his picture of the ‘woman wailing for her demon lover’ etc. should be carefully noted.
• The prescribed essays are mixed in type. In the Pass category, while Lamb’s ‘Dream Children’ is a personal essay, L.A. Hill’s is prescriptive. In the Hons/PG category, however, besides Lamb’s, there is Shaw’s ‘Freedom’ written in a light-hearted and humorous vein, and another by Bacon, instructive in nature. While doing Lamb, you should be careful of his favourite tactics of mixing autobiography with fiction, humour with pathos, of presenting fictional names for real-life persons and the use of pedantic tags. In Bacon, you will find the use of pithy and contracted constructions, which can easily be expanded into paragraphs. Try to understand only what the author wants to mean.
• In secondary and higher secondary schools, teachers are required not so much to teach English literature or to inculcate literary habits as to teach the use of the English language in practical situations. The teacher should be there to help them so that they can read a text with proper pronunciation, comprehend it, answer the related questions vocally and write those in correct English. What matters most here is teaching situational grammar effectively. That is why you should have a solid understanding of English grammar and the skills necessary for its application. In this, you may be tested in many ways:

• • There will be questions specifically related to the definition and its application; you may be asked, ‘What is a split infinitive?’

• • You may be asked to apply your grammatical skills; for instance, ‘The building is building. Change the voice.’

• • You may be tested on whether or not you can explain different sentences in terms of tense, voice, mood, and so on.

• • You will be tested on whether or not you can mark out an error in a construction, rewrite it correctly, and give explanations for it. For instance, ‘I am looking forward to you come. Rewrite it correctly and explain it.’

• • You may be asked to give adjective/adverb/verb/noun form/s of given word/s and use those in sentences.

• • You may be asked to differentiate between/among homonyms, that is, a word identical with another in pronunciation, but different from it in spelling and meaning.

Stage 1: Set up the mind

• You have passed Hons. /P.G and B.Ed. Time now to apply your skills, knowledge, and judgement in concentrated concentration.
• For concentration, shake off the negative thoughts, mainly the fear of failure. Remember, failure is a temporary setback. If you are qualified, time will reward you accordingly.
• Competitive exams are occasions where you need to prove qualification within the structure of the examination- its syllabus, marks distribution and time allotment.
• A more qualified candidate in terms of knowledge and skills at the university PG/M.A exam may fall behind a less qualified candidate if s/he prepares him/herself in a better way following the structure of the competitive exam.
• The first thing you need to do is to develop a mind of positive thoughts, for negative thoughts will weaken your mind while you need a strong mind.
• Let’s look at the negative and the positive:

Right Course of Thoughts:

• I will try my best.
• I will leave unnecessary assignments and engagements
• I will blame myself if I waste time
• If I fail, I will say, “I was not sufficiently qualified and will try for other exams more sincerely”.
• If I fail, that will not be the end of the world. I will try other avenues of opportunity.

Stage II: Entering the Texts

Now is the time to enter the texts. Strategize your reading as per the guidelines below. We recommend intensive reading for our candidates. For this, we suggest the following:

1. Always use authoritative texts; for example, when referencing Shakespeare, follow the Arden/Cambridge Edition. Whenever possible, use the foreign editions first. If not possible, at least follow the Delhi-based edition, such as Ramjilal or S. Sen, etc. (these, however, are strictly forbidden for higher studies or research). Avoid the local books that give a paraphrase in flawed Bengali.
2. Get the relevant parts of the texts/books photocopied and bind them together in one place so that you can mark essential parts or insert questions liberally. This will also enable you to focus more effectively. Go to College Street or any book market and get the authoritative texts photocopied (not Xeroxed, which is the name of a company).
3. Avoid reading the cheap guidebooks and getting satisfied by being able to answer all the QAs easily.
4. For grammar, use any book that may be helpful. But don’t forget to consult the following books:
   1. A Higher English Grammar (GENERAL) by PK De Sarkar
   2. English is Easy by BSC Publications
5. Form a study group is you have friends nearby, but don’t make a group of gossip, where your precious time may be just wasted.
6. Use the internet, web, Wikipedia, etc., liberally to clear your doubts.

Stage III: How to strategize your reading:

We have devised a system here. But please note, like every system, ours is not a foolproof one, but illustrative. If you find any other area/way that you may feel helpful, or somebody else points out some relevant points, follow them.

A. Outside the text:

1. Cultural Context

• Spirit of the age
• Cultural movements
• Genres
• Publications
• Receptions
• Reactions, etc

2. Biographical Circumstances

• Making of the artist
• Making of the text
• Autobiographical elements
• Critical position of the author
• Occasion of the text

3. Inter-textual content

• Subtexts
• Relationship with and dependency on other texts

B. Inside the Text:

Poetry:

• Compositional context (If any unusual incident acted as inspiration/source/occasion)
• Thematic interpretation
• Exact contextual meaning
• Compositional aspects (Rhetoric, Prosody, rhyme)
• Allusion
• Exceptional use of anything (Variations)
• Genres

Drama:

• Compositional Context
• Stage directions/ Scene set up
• Theatrical devices/ Strategies/ conventions
• Thematic interpretations
• Interpretation of dialogue
• Locating speeches
• Special meaning of words/ phrases
• Development of characters and their positions
• Usage of words, particularly …….. words
• Informative statements (indirect supply of info)
• Spotting things/elements following critical norms- Hamartia, catharsis, etc
• Spotting basic elements- dramatic irony, aside
• Exceptions/variations
• Social customs/ conventions as contained
• Thematic Allusions (to contemporary events)
• Famous producers/ film directors/ adaptations
• Locating scenes

Novel:

• Social, economic, historical, and legal circumstances contained within
• Thematic interpretation
• Thematic idea contained within
• Locating important episodes, dialogues, and incidents
• Subtexts/ inter-textual references
• Simple incidents leading to major developments

Short Story:

• Same as novel
• Meaning of local words/ expressions
• Significance of endings

Essay:

• Major points and illustrative examples
• Scholarly allusions and references
• Meaning of important words

Grammar:

• All forms of advanced grammatical usage
• Definitions and types
• Rules of exceptions, unusual usage
• Unusual words having unusual forms

Rhetoric and Prosody:

• Definitions
• Spotting the correct alternatives
• Variations

On the text:

• Modern critical views
• Controversies
• Adaptations
• Famous critical books

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