This helps if you're interested/preparing for the National Eligibility Test in English. These slides introduce you to question patterns and important areas to learn.

1. D R U . F A T H I M A F A R Z A N A ,
A S S I S T A N T P R O F E S S O R O F E N G L I S H ,
S R I . S . R A M A S A M Y N A I D U M E M O R I A L
C O L L E G E
Cracking the UGC-NET

2. What is NET?
 National Eligibility Test for Lectureship and Junior
Research Fellow.
 Conducted twice every year by the National Testing
Agency (established by the Ministry of Human
Resource Development)
 Application and registration online. An electronic
certificate will be issued after announcement of
results.
 The test is computer based only

3. Benefits of NET
 Lectureship – You are eligible to join any college in
India as Assistant Professor under the aided scheme.
 JRF – Junior Research Fellow: You can pursue Ph.D
in any one of the reputed universities in India. The
UGC will provide full scholarship + contingency
provided you do not work while doing research.

4. Who are Eligible?
 All students in the third semester of PG are eligible.
 If passed in the third semester of PG, the UGC
provides a minimum of two years to submit PG
degree.
 A minimum of 55% of marks in PG is required.

5. Pattern
Paper I
(3 hours: 9.30 am
to 12.30 pm)
Teaching and
Research Aptitude
50 – each question
carries 2 marks.
Paper II
(3 hours: 2.30 pm
to 5.30 pm)
English Literature
– direct questions
100 – each
question carries 2
marks.
Total: 100 + 200 = 300 marks*
For further info: ntanet.nic.in
* Excluding cut-off range which is different for every year

6. Paper I – Teaching and Research Aptitude
 Mathematical ability – sequence, coding, Venn
diagram…
 Logical Reasoning – direction, relations…
 Professional Skill – teaching skill
 Higher Education – universities, colleges, UGC…
 Research Aptitude – data collection, sampling…
 Information and Technology – internet, digital
knowledge, inventions…
 Environment – pollution, waste management,
disasters…
 Government and Administration – human rights,
government bodies…

7. Areas to Learn for Papers II
 Famous works by famous authors – read the whole
book
 Get acquainted with less known works by famous
authors.
 Find out less known authors and their contributions.
 Literature – poetry, prose, essays, short stories,
novels, even ballads…

8. Contd.
 Criticism – from Plato to Northrop Frye
 Theories – from Structuralism to Narratives and
Metanarratives.
 Linguistics – from origin of the language to theories
of linguistics.
 Mythology – the summaries of Greek, Roman,
Scandinavian and Indian mythologies (Welsh and
Scottish).
 History of England – dates, Kings and battles.

9. Paper II – Subject Knowledge
 Author – work – year of publication – historical
background.
 Work – genre – story – characters – intertexuality –
references to mythology
 Poetry – setting – landmarks – important lines
(purple patches)
 Novels – subtitles – setting – characters – opening
and closing lines.
 Drama – characters – acts and scenes – asides and
stage directions

10. Contd.
 Essays and prose – meanings of Latin and French
terms – references to other works.
 Criticism – lines – verse or prose? – in reply to some
other work
 Theories – author – lines – terms – movements.
 Contemporary writers – Stevie Smith, Ruth Prawer
Jhabvala, Kazuo Ishigiro, Thomas Mc Kinnelly,
Julianna Bagot, Hillary Mantel…

11. Sample Questions
 Subtitles: “A trivial comedy for serious people” is the
subtitle of The Importance of Being Earnest.
 Poet – Poem: The Temple is a collection of poems by
George Herbert.
 Poem – poem: L’Allegro’s companion piece is Il
Penseroso.
 Chronological sequence: Moll Flanders, Pamela,
Joseph Andrews, Tristram Shandy.
 Full titles: the full title of Tristram Shandy is The
Life and Adventures of Tristram Shandy,
Gentleman.

12. Contd.
 Character – work: Bess is the innkeeper’s daughter
in The Highwayman by Alfred Noyes.
 Act and Scene: “To be or not to be” is in Act 3, Scene
1 of Hamlet.
 Lines: “God’s in his Heaven/ And all is right with the
World” is from Browning’s “Pippa Passes”.
 Opening/Closing lines: “Last night I dreamt I went
to Manderley again” is the opening line of Rebecca
by Daphne du Maurier.
 Quotations: “Cease to hope and thou shalt cease to
fear” – letter 5 to Lucilius from Seneca’s Letters from
a Stoic

13. Contd.
 Setting/background: Wordsworth’s “Tintern Abbey”
is set against the river Wye.
 Intertexuality/influence: Matthew Arnold’s Sohrab
and Rustum was influenced by “Shah Nameh”.
 Mythology: Medusa is the famous gorgon known for
her power of transforming people into stone.
 History: Lady Jane Grey was the monarch who ruled
England for just nine days (1553).
 Dates: The First Folio was published in 1623

14. Contd.
 Less known works: Frozen Deep is a play by Charles
Dickens.
 Prize winners: William Faulkner was awarded the Nobel
Prize in 1949.
 Imaginary towns: Yoknapatawfa country was created by
Faulkner.
 Critical terms: “Lesbian Continuum” was coined by
Adrienne Rich.
 Criticism – other names for works: the other name of
Ben Jonson’s Discoveries is The Tumbler.
 Criticism – ideas: the mistake of judging a work by being
partial to the author is “Personal Estimate” – Fallacies.
 Criticism – technical terms: ABABABCC is the rhyme
scheme of Ottavarima.

15. Contd.
 Linguistics – phonetics: /h/ is the only glottal
fricative.
 Linguistics – origin: the word “pal” is of Romanian
origin.
 Linguistics – theories: a sign consists of a signifier
and a signified.
 Linguistics – ideas: Count Trubetskoy of Vienna
initiated the Prague School of Linguistics.
 Contemporary writers: Winter of the World (2012) is
a modern historical novel by Ken Follett.
 Other Literatures: the first novel in Japanese
Literature is The Tale of Genji by Murasaki Shikibu.

16. Reference Books
Author Book
John McRae and Ronald Carter The Routledge History of Literature in
English.
M. H. Abrams A Glossary of Literary Terms – 10th
edition
F. T. Wood An Outline History of the English
Language
Pushpinder Syal and D. V. Jindal An Introduction to Linguistics
Seturaman and Ramaswami The English Critical Tradition – Vols. 1
& 2
V. S. Seturaman Practical Criticism
R. J. Rees An Introduction to Literary Terms
Francis Turner Palgrave Palgrave’s Golden Treasury
Peter Barry Beginning Theory

17. Methods
Hard Way – Long Lasting Easy Way – second hand
knowledge
Read complete and unabridged versions
of all the famous works (all genres).
Read summaries from Wikipedia and
SparkNotes.
Sign up with Norton Anthology of
Literature Quiz online.
Buy a few modern works and read
them.
Go to Flipkart – select samples from
‘New Arrivals’ and read them.
Read complete history from Routledge
or Legoius and Cazamian.
Prepare a date-event-king-battle
method from the internet.
Read all the theory books mentioned in
Peter Barry’s Beginning Theory.
Find out important lines, terms and
concepts from the internet.

18. NET Ethics
 Never fear – consider it a game.
 Don’t underestimate yourself – you might know
something that the others do not.
 Don’t be overconfident – something difficult for you
does not mean that it is difficult for the others too.
 Take your time – remain in the hall till the last minute.
 Read the questions again and again – it’s all a matter of
twisting things you know very well.
 Never trust luck – it will blindfold you.
 Don’t cram up – reward yourself with a treat now and
then.
 Persevere – do not give up. Never trust others.
 Aim for more marks in the second paper. This will help
you get over the cut-off range.

19. Prepare Your Own NET Journal
 This little notebook must be your all time reference
book. Draw tabular columns for the author-book-
publication-historical background method.
 Section 1 – subtitles, summaries and influences
 Section 2 – battles and reasons
 Section 3 – famous lines/opening and closing lines
 Section 4 – technical terms and coined words
 Section 5 – prize winners
 This notebook will help you prepare for the second
time. It must be with you on the go.