Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Literature in English
Literature in English
GENERAL OBJECTIVES
The aim of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) syllabus in Literature in
English is to prepare the candidates for the Board’s examination. It is designed to test their
achievement of the course objectives, which are to:
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• create an awareness of the general principles of Literature and functions of language;
• appreciate literary works of all genres and across all cultures;
• apply the knowledge of Literature in English to the analysis of social, political and
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economic events in the society.
DETAILED SYLLABUS
TOPICS/CONTENTS/NOTES
1. DRAMA gis OBJECTIVES
Candidates should be able to:
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a. Types: i. identify the various types
i. Tragedy of drama;
ii. Comedy ii. analyse the contents of the
iii. Tragicomedy various types of drama;
iv. Melodrama iii. compare and contrast the
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v. Farce features of different
vi. Opera etc. dramatic types;
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b. Dramatic Techniques
viii. Acts/Scenes
ix. Soliloquy/aside v. differentiate between styles
x. Figures of Speech etc. of selected playwrights;
vi. determine the theme of any
c. Interpretation of the Prescribed prescribed text;
Texts vii. identify the plot of the play;
i. Theme viii. apply the lessons of the
ii. Plot play to everyday living;
iii. Socio-political context ix. identify the spatial and
iv. Setting temporal setting of the play.
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TOPICS/CONTENTS/NOTES OBJECTIVES
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ii. Non-fiction iv. identify the narrative techniques
• Biography used in each of the prescribed
• Autobiography texts;
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• Memoir v. determine an author’s narrative
style;
iii. Faction: combination of fact and
fiction vi. distinguish between one type of
character from another;
b. Narrative Techniques/Devices:
i. Point of view
• Omniscient/Third Person
• First Person gis vii. determine the thematic pre-
occupation of the author of the
prescribed text;
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viii. indicate the plot of the novel;
identify the temporal and spatial
setting of the novel;
ii. Characterisation
ix. identify the temporal and spatial
• Round, flat, foil, hero, setting of the novel;
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antihero, etc. x. relate the prescribed text to real
life situations.
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iii. Language
c. Textual Analysis
i. Theme
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ii. Plot
iii. Setting (Temporal/Spatial)
iv. Socio-political context
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TOPICS/CONTENTS/NOTES OBJECTIVES
b. Poetic devices iii. determine the devices used by
i. Structure various poets;
ii. Imagery iv. show how poetic devices are used
iii. Sound(Rhyme/Rhythm, for aesthetic effect in each poem;
repetition, pun, onomatopoeia,
etc.)
iv. Diction
v. Persona
v. deduce the poet’s preoccupation
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c. Appreciation from the poem;
i. Thematic preoccupation vi. appraise poetry as an art with
ii. Socio-political relevance moral values;
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iii. Style. vii. apply the lessons from the poem
to real life situations.
iii.
prose and poetry;
identify the general principles of
Literature;
differentiate between literary
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figures of speech, satire, stream of terms and principles;
consciousness, etc., in addition to iv. use literary terms appropriately.
those listed above under the different
genres.
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b. Literary principles
i. Direct imitation in play;
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A LIST OF SELECTED AFRICAN AND NON-AFRICAN PLAYS, NOVELS AND
POEMS
Drama:
African:
1. Frank Ogodo Ogbeche: Harvest of Corruption
Non African:
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1. William Shakespeare: Othello
Prose:
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African:
i. Amma Darko: Faceless
ii. Bayo Adebowale: Lonely Days
Non African:
i. Richard Wright: Native Son
Poetry: gis
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African:
i. Gbemisola Adeoti; Ambush
ii. Birago Diop: Vanity
iii. Gabriel Okara: Piano and Drums
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iv. Gbanabam Hallowell: The Dining Table
v. Lenrie Peters: The Panic of Growing Older
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Non African:
i. Alfred L. Tennyson: Crossing the Bar
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RECOMMENDED TEXTS
1. ANTHOLOGIES
Hayward, J. (ed.) (1968) The Penguin Book of English Verse, London Penguin
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Kermode, F. et al (1964) Oxford Anthology of English Literature, Vol. II, London:
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OUP
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Senanu, K. E. and Vincent, T. (eds.) (1993) A Selection of African Poetry, Lagos:
Longman
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Soyinka, W. (ed.) (1987) Poems of Black Africa, Ibadan: Heinemann
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2. CRITICAL TEXTS
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Abrams, M. H. (1981) A Glossary of Literary Terms, (4th Edition) New York, Holt
Rinehalt and Winston
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