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UTME syllabus

JAMB Literature in English syllabus

Every topic JAMB can set Literature in English questions on, with what you should be able to do for each. Open a topic to see its contents and objectives.

Download the Literature in English syllabus (PDF)

What the syllabus aims to do

It prepares candidates to:

  • stimulate and sustain their interest in Literature in English
  • create an awareness of the general principles of Literature and the functions of language
  • appreciate literary works of all genres and across all cultures
  • apply the knowledge of Literature in English to the understanding of cultural literature, political and economic activities in the society
Drama

Contents

  • Types
    • Tragedy
    • Comedy
    • Tragicomedy
    • Melodrama
    • Farce
    • Opera etc.
  • Dramatic Techniques
    • Characterisation
    • Dialogue
    • Flashback
    • Mime
    • Costume
    • Music/Dance
    • Décor/scenery
    • Acts/Scenes
    • Soliloquy/aside
    • Figures of Speech
  • Interpretation of the Prescribed Texts
    • Theme
    • Plot
    • Socio-political context
    • Setting

Objectives: candidates should be able to

  • identify the various types of drama
  • analyse the contents of the various types of drama
  • compare and contrast the features of different types of drama
  • demonstrate adequate knowledge of dramatic techniques and stage directions used in each prescribed text
  • differentiate between styles of selected playwrights
  • determine the theme of any prescribed text
  • identify the plot of the play
  • apply the lessons of the play to social reality
  • identify the spatial setting and temporal period of the play
Prose

Contents

  • Types: Prose fiction
    • Fiction
      • Novel
      • Novella/Novelette
      • Short story
    • Non-fiction
      • Biography
      • Autobiography
      • Memoir
    • Faction: combination of fact and fiction
  • Narrative Techniques/Devices
    • Point of view
      • Omniscient
      • First Person
      • Second person
      • Third person
      • Stream of consciousness
      • Epiphany
    • Characterisation
      • Round, flat, foil, hero, antihero, villain, heroine, etc.
    • Language
  • Textual Analysis
    • Theme
    • Plot
    • Setting (Temporal/Spatial)
    • Socio-political context

Objectives: candidates should be able to

  • differentiate between types of novel
  • identify the category that each prescribed text belongs to
  • analyse the components of each type of prose
  • identify the balance of facts and fiction in literary faction
  • identify the narrative techniques used in each of the prescribed texts
  • determine an author’s narrative style
  • distinguish between one type of character from another
  • Grammar, diction and clarity of expression
  • determine the thematic pre-occupation of the prescribed text
  • indicate the plot of the novel
  • identify the setting and period/timing of the novel
  • relate the prescribed text to social reality
Poetry

Contents

  • Types
    • Sonnet
    • Ode
    • Lyrics
    • Elegy
    • Ballad
    • Panegyric
    • Epic
    • Blank Verse, etc.
  • Poetic devices
    • Imagery
    • Sound (Rhyme/Rhythm, repetition, pun, onomatopoeia, etc.)
    • Diction
    • Persona
  • Appreciation
    • Thematic preoccupation
    • Socio-political relevance
    • Style

Objectives: candidates should be able to

  • identify different types of poetry
  • identify the distinctive features of the poetic types
  • determine the devices used by various poets
  • show how poetic devices are used for aesthetic effect in each poem
  • identify the figure of speech in the texts
  • Show how poetic devices convey message and meaning
  • Deduce the poet’s thematic preoccupation from the poem
  • appraise poetry as an art with moral values
  • apply the lessons from the poem to social reality
General Literary Terms and Principles

Contents

  • Literary terms: foreshadowing, suspense, theatre, monologue, dialogue, soliloquy, symbolism, protagonist, antagonist, figures of speech, satire, stream of consciousness, synecdoche, metonymy, etc., in addition to those listed above under the different genres

Objectives: candidates should be able to

  • identify literary terms that are specific to drama, prose and poetry
  • identify areas of overlap in all the genres e.g. verse in drama and poetry, narration in all the genres
Literary Appreciation

Contents

  • Unseen passages/extracts from Drama, Prose and Poetry

Objectives: candidates should be able to

  • identify literary devices used in a given passage/extract
  • provide an interpretation of the given passage/extract
  • relate the extract to true life experiences

Prescribed texts

Drama

Contents

  • African
    • Efua Sutherland: Marriage of Anansewa
  • Non-African
    • William Shakespeare: Antony and Cleopatra
Prose

Contents

  • African
    • Pede Hollist: So the Path Does not Die
    • Elma Shaw: Redemption Road
  • Non-African
    • Susanne Bellefeuille: Path of Lucas: The Journey He Endured
Poetry

Contents

  • African
    • Gabriel Okara: Once Upon a Time
    • Elizabeth L.A. Kamara: New Tongue
    • Wole Soyinka: Night
    • Niyi Osundare: Not my Business
    • S.O.H. Afriyie-Vidza: Hearty Garlands
    • Syl Cheney-Coker: The Breast of the Sea
  • Non-African
    • Lord Byron: She Walks in Beauty
    • Geoffrey Chaucer: The Nun’s Priest’s Tale (shortened)
    • Fleur Adcock: The Telephone Call
    • Wilfrid Wilson Gibson: The Stone

Practise every Literature in English topic

JambCBT sorts its Literature in English past questions by these syllabus topics, so you can practise one topic at a time and see which ones need more work.

2 free practice quizzes. No card needed.

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