Background :

The course is intended to give students a high level of competence in English with an emphasis on the study of literary texts and will provide extensive exposure to a variety of rich texts of world literature as well as to Indian writings in English, including classics, and develop sensitivity to the creative and imaginative uses of English and give them a taste for reading with delight and discernment. The course will be pitched at a level which the students may find challenging.
The course is primarily designed to equip the students to pursue higher studies in English literature and English language at the college level and prepare students to become teachers of English.

Objectives :

The general objectives at this stage are:
to provide extensive exposure to a variety of writings in English including some classics.
to develop sensitivity to literary and creative uses of language.
to further expand the learners’ vocabulary resources through the use of dictionary, thesaurus and encyclopaedia.
to develop a taste for reading with discernment and delight.
to initiate the study of formal English grammar and elementary linguistics and phonetics.
to enable learners to translate texts from mother tongue into English and vice versa.
to critically examine a text and comment on different aspects of it.

At the end of this stage the Elective Course would ensure that the learner
grasps the global meaning of the text, its gist and understands how its theme and sub-theme relate.
relates the details to the message in it; for example, how the details support a generalization or the conclusion either by classification or by contrast and comparison.
comprehends details, locates and identifies facts, arguments, logical relationships, generalization, conclusions, etc.
draws inferences, supplies missing details, predicts outcomes, grasps the significance of particular details and interprets what he/she reads.
assesses the attitude and bias of the author.
infers the meanings of words and phrases from the context; differentiates between apparent synonyms and appreciates the nuances of words.
appreciates stylistic nuances, the lexical structure, its literal and figurative use and analyses a variety of texts.

identifies different styles of writing like humorous, satirical, contemplative, ironical and burlesque.
does text-based writing (writing in response to questions or tasks based on prescribed as well as ‘unseen’ texts).
develops the advanced skills of reasoning, making inferences, judgements, etc.
develops familiarity with the poetic uses of language including features of language through which artistic effect is achieved.
to develop sensitivity to the literary and creative uses of language.
to further expand the learners’ vocabulary resources through the use of dictionary, thesaurus and encyclopaedia.
to develop a taste for reading with discernment and delight.
to initiate the study of formal English grammar and elementary linguistics and phonetics.
to enable learners to translate texts from mother tongue into English and vice versa.
to critically examine a text and comment on different aspects of it.
At the end of this stage the Elective Course would ensure that the learner
grasps the global meaning of the text, its gist and understands how its theme and subtheme relate.
relates the details to the message in it; for example, how the details support a generalization or the conclusion either by classification or by contrast and comparison.
comprehends details, locates and identifies facts, arguments, logical relationships, generalizations, conclusions, etc.
draws inferences, supplies missing details, predicts outcomes, grasps the significance of particular details and interprets what he/she reads.
assesses the attitude and bias of the author.
infers the meanings of words and phrases from the context; differentiates between apparent synonyms and appreciates the nuances of words.
appreciates stylistic nuances, the lexical structure, its literal and figurative use and analyses a variety of texts.
identifies different styles of writing like humorous, satirical, contemplative, ironical and burlesque.
does text-based writing (writing in response to questions or tasks based on prescribed as well as ‘unseen’ texts).
develops the advanced skills of reasoning, making inferences, judgements, etc.
develops familiarity with the poetic uses of language including features of language through which artistic effect is achieved.

Methods and Techniques: The techniques used for teaching should promote habits of self-learning and reduce dependence on the teacher. The multi-skill, learner-centred, activity based approach already recommended for the previous stages of education, is still in place, though it will be used in such a way that silent reading of prescribed/selected texts for comprehension will receive greater focus as one of the activities.

Learners will be trained to read independently and intelligently, interacting actively with texts and other reference materials (dictionary, thesaurus, encyclopaedia, etc.) where necessary. Some pre- reading activity will generally be required, and course books should suggest those. The reading of texts should be followed  by post reading activities. It is important to remember that every text can generate different readings.  Students should be encouraged to interpret texts in different ways, present their views of critics on a literary text and express their own reactions to them. Some projects may be assigned to students from time to time. For instance, students may be asked to put together a few literary pieces on a given theme from English as well as regional literatures.

Class XI
One Paper 3 Hours Marks 100

1. Reading an unseen passage and a poem 20 Marks (35 Periods)
(a) Literary or discursive passage of about 500-600 words 12
(b) A poem of about 15 lines 08

2. Writing 20 Marks (35 Periods)
(a) To write an essay on an argumentative/discursive/reflective/or descriptive topic (150 words) 10
(b) To write a composition such as an article, a report, a speech (150 words) 10

3. Seminar 10 Marks

• Presentation of a book review, a play, a short story, a novel, novella (tale, fable, parable) to be followed by a question answer session 25

• Poetry reading to be followed by interpretative tasks based on cloze reading and literary analysis of the text.

• Critical review of a film or a play

• Conducting a theatre workshop to be followed by a discussion

Note: The above activities would develop skills, analytical skills, spoken skills and literary criticism.

4. Text for detailed study 30 Marks (75 Periods) Prose 20 Marks
(a) Two passages for comprehension with short question answers testing deeper interpretation and drawing inferences (04 × 2) 08
(b) Two questions for testing global comprehension (Any One to be answered in 100 words) 06
(c) Two short answer type questions testing comprehension to be answered in a paragraph of about 30-40 words each 06

Poetry 10 Marks
(a) One extract from the prescribed poems for comprehension and literary interpretation 04
(b) One out of two questions on the prescribed poems for appreciation to be answered in 100 words 06

5. Drama – Arms and the Man 10 Marks ( 20 Periods)
(a) One out of two questions to be answered in about 150-200 words to test the evaluation of characters, events and episodes.

6. Fiction 10 Marks (20 Periods)
(a) One question to be answered in about 150 words for the analysis of characters, events, episodes and interpersonal relationships. 06
(b) Two out of three short answer type questions to be answered in about 30-40 words on content, events and episodes. (2×2) 04

Books prescribed
1. Text book:Woven words published by NCERT
2. Fiction: The Old Man and The Sea Novel (unabridged) by E. Hemingway
3. Drama: Arms and the Man – Bernard Shaw

Class XII
One Paper 3 Hours Marks: 100

1. Reading an unseen passage and poem 20 Marks (35 Periods)
(a) One literary or discursive passage of about 500-600 words followed by short questions 12
(b) A poem of about 15 lines followed by short questions to test interpretation and appreciation 8

2. Writing 20 Marks (30 Periods)
(a) To write an essay on argumentative/discursive topic (150-200 words) 10
(b) To write a composition such as an article, report, speech (150-200 words) 10

3. Applied Grammar 10 Marks (10 Periods)
(a) Editing and error correction of words and sentences 05
(b) Changing the narration of a given input 05

4. Texts for detailed study 40 Marks (100 Periods)
(a) Two passages or extracts followed by short answer type questions for comprehension, interpretation, drawing inferences (4× 2) 08
(b) Two out of three questions to be answered in 100 words each testing global comprehension (6+6) 12
(c) Five out of six questions to be answered in about 60 words each testing comprehension, characterisation, interpretation (3+3) 4 x 5 = 20

5. Fiction 10 Marks (30 Periods)
(a) One out of two questions to be answered in about 60 words and/or each seeking comments, interpretation 04
(b) One question in about 100 words to test evaluation and appreciation of characters, events, episodes and interpersonal relationships 06

Books prescribed
1. Kaleidoscope- Text book published by NCERT
2. Fiction- Tiger for Malgudi
or
The Financial Expert by R. K. Narayan (Novel)

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