Jamb Literature in English Syllabus 2021/2022

JAMB Literature in English Syllabus: The Literature in English 2021/2022 JAMB Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) Syllabus is aim at preparing candidates for the Board’s examination.

These course objectives are as follows:

1. Stimulate and sustain their interest in Literature in English;
2. Create an awareness of the general principles of Literature and functions of language;
3. Appreciate literary works of all genres and across all cultures;
4. Apply the knowledge of Literature in English to the analysis of social, political and economic events in the society.

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Jamb Literature in English Syllabus From Jamb

1. DRAMA

Topics:

1. Types:

  • Tragedy
  • Comedy
  • Tragicomedy
  • Melodrama
  • Farce
  • Opera etc.

2. Dramatic Techniques

  • Characterisation
  • Dialogue
  • Flashback
  • Mime
  • Costume
  • Music/Dance
  • Decor/scenery
  • Acts/Scenes
  • Soliloquy/aside
  • Lighting etc.

3. 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 dramatic types;
  • Demonstrate adequate knowledge of dramatic techniques 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 everyday living
  • Identify the spatial and temporal setting of the play.

2. PROSE

Topics:

1.Types:

  •  Fiction
    – Novel
    – Novella/Novelette
    – Short story
  • Non-fiction
    – Biography
    – Autobiography
    – Memoir
  • Faction: combination of fact and fiction

2. Narrative Techniques/Devices:

  • Point of view
    – Omniscent/Third Person
    – First Person
  • Characterisation
    – Round, flat, foil, hero, antihero, etc
  • Language

3. Textual Analysis

  • Theme
  • Plot
  • Setting (Temporal/Spatial)
  • Socio-political context

Objectives: 

Candidates should be able to:

  • Differentiate between types of prose;
  • Identify the category that each prescribed text belongs to;
  • Analyse the components of each type of prose;
  • 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;
  • Determine the thematic pre-occupation of the author of the prescribed text;
  • Indicate the plot of the novel; identify the temporal and spatial setting of the novel.
  • Identify the temporal and spatial setting of the novel
  • Relate the prescribed text to real life situations.

3. POETRY

Topics:

1. Types:

  • Sonnet
  • Ode
  • Lyrics
  • Elegy
  • Ballad
  • Panegyric
  • Epic
  • Blank Verse, etc.

2. Poetic devices

  • Structure
  • Imagery
  • Sound(Rhyme/Rhythm, repetition, pun, onomatopoeia, etc.)
  • Diction
  • Persona

3. Appreciation

  • Thematic preoccupation
  • Socio-political relevance
  • Style.

Objectives:

Candidates should be able to:

  • Identify different types of poetry;
  • Compare and contrast the features of different poetic types:
  • Determine the devices used by various poets;
  • Show how poetic devices are used for aesthetic effect in each poem;
  • Deduce the poet’s preoccupation from the poem;
  • Appraise poetry as an art with moral values;
  • Apply the lessons from the poem to real life situations.

4. GENERAL LITERARY PRINCIPLES

Topics:

  • 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.
  • Literary principles
    i. Direct imitation in play;
    ii. Versification in drama and poetry;
    iii. Narration of people’s experiences;
    iv. Achievement of aesthetic value, etc.
  • Relationship between literary terms and principles.

Objectives:

Candidates should be able to:

  • Identify literary terms in drama, prose and poetry;
  • Identify the general principles of Literature;
  • Differentiate between literary terms and principles;
  • Use literary terms appropriately.

5. LITERARY APPRECIATION

Topics:

  • Unseen passages/extracts from Drama, Prose and Poetry.

Objectives:

Candidates should be able to:

  • Determine literary devices used in a given passage/extract;
  • Provide a meaningful inter-pretation of the given passage/extract;
  • Relate the extract to true life experiences.

UTME HARMONIZED PRESCRIBED TEXT BOOKS (LITERATURE IN ENGLISH) 2016-2020

Drama:

African:

  •  Frank Ogodo Ogbeche : Harvest of Corruption

Non African:

  • William Shakespeare : Othello

Prose:
African:

  • Amma Darko : Faceless
  • Bayo Adebowale : Lonely Days

Non-African:

  • Richard Wright : Native Son

Poetry:

African:

  • Birago Diop : Vanity
  • Gbemisola Adeoti : Ambush
  • Gabriel Okara : Piano and Drums
  •  Gbanabam Hallowell : The Dining Table
  • Lenrie Peter : The Panic of Growing Older
  • Kofi Awoonor : The Anvil and the Hammer

Non African:

  • Alfred Tennyson : Crossing the Bar
  • George Herbert : The Pulley
  • William Blake : The School Boy
  • William Morris : The Proud King

RECOMMENDED TEXTS (Jamb Literature in English Syllabus)

  1. ANTHOLOGIES
    Gbemisola, A. (2005)Naked Soles, Ibadan: Kraft
    Hayward, J. (ed.) (1968) The Penguin Book of English Verse, London: Penguin
    Johnson, R. et al (eds.) (1996) New Poetry from Africa, Ibadan: UP Plc
    Kermode, F. et al (1964) Oxford Anthology of English Literature, Vol. II, London: OUP
    Nwoga D. (ed.) (1967) West African Verse, London: Longman
    Senanu, K. E. and Vincent, T. (eds.) (1993) A Selection of African Poetry, Lagos: Longman
    Soyinka, W. (ed.) (1987) Poems of Black Africa, Ibadan: Heinemann2. CRITICAL TEXTS
    Abrams, M. H. (1981) A Glossary of Literary Terms, (4th Edition) New York, Holt Rinehalt and Winston
    Emeaba, O. E. (1982) A Dictionary of Literature, Aba: Inteks Press
    Murphy, M. J. (1972) Understanding Unseen, An Introduction to English Poetry and English Novel for Overseas Students, George Allen and Unwin Ltd.
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