English Honours · Semester 7

English Major, Semester 7

University of Kalyani B.A. English NEP 2020 syllabus. Check your registered combination and route.

MAJ701 · Tools and Methods of Literary Research

1. Unit I: define a research project, find and engage useful sources, construct an argument and plan a first draft.
2. Unit II: draft and revise a research paper, write an introduction and conclusion, respond to comments and present research in other formats.
3. Unit III: formatting, inclusive language, documenting sources, works cited, in-text citations and notes.

MAJ702 · Literary Criticism and Theory from 1801 to 1950

1. Unit I: Matthew Arnold’s “The Function of Criticism at the Present Time” and Ralph Waldo Emerson’s “The Poet.”
2. Unit II: T. S. Eliot’s “Tradition and the Individual Talent” and K. C. Bhattacharya’s “Svaraj in Ideas.”
3. Unit III: the history of English studies, structuralism, Freudian psychoanalysis and postcolonial criticism.

MAJ703 · Indian Literature in Translation

1. Unit I, prose: essays by Bankim Chandra Chatterjee and Gopal Krishna Gokhale; stories by Premchand, Saadat Hasan Manto, Vaikom Muhammad Basheer and Perumal Murugan.
2. Unit II, poetry: selected work by Kapilar, Amrita Pritam, Narayana Guru, Rabindranath Tagore, Nilmoni Phukan, Jibanananda Das and Namdeo Dhasal.
3. Unit III: Alms in the Name of a Blind Horse by Gurdial Singh and Andha Yug by Dharamvir Bharati.

Study suggestions

1. Close reading: Choose a prescribed text. How do two choices of language or form shape an idea in it?
   Answer guide

   Use a short quotation and identify two precise features. Explain each feature’s effect and consider an alternative interpretation supported by the passage.

2. Compare: Choose two prescribed texts or theories from different units. Where do they agree and disagree?
   Answer guide

   Define a shared question first. Make one point of agreement and one of difference, with a specific example from each text rather than generalising about periods.