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JAMB • Literature in English • Syllabus

JAMB Literature in English Syllabus for UTME 2027

The JAMB Literature in English syllabus is the list of topics UTME Literature in English questions are set from, with the exam body's notes on how far each topic goes. Use it as a revision checklist: pick a topic, read what it covers, then practise past questions on it until you can answer them in exam time.

Syllabus content © The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board. Source. Summaries marked “Our summary” are written by DeeepSolve.

Drama

Our summary: Plays: the kinds of drama, the techniques playwrights use on stage, and reading the set plays for theme, plot and setting.

Types of drama

Our summary: The main kinds of play, such as tragedy, comedy and farce, and the features that set each apart.

Contents

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

Objectives

  • 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.

Dramatic techniques

Our summary: The tools a playwright uses, from characters and dialogue to costume, scenery, acts and soliloquies.

Contents

  • Characterisation
  • Dialogue
  • Flashback
  • Mime
  • Costume
  • Music/Dance
  • Décor/scenery
  • Acts/Scenes
  • Soliloquy/aside
  • Figures of Speech

Objectives

  • demonstrate adequate knowledge of dramatic techniques and stage directions used in each prescribed text;
  • differentiate between styles of selected playwrights;

Interpretation of the prescribed texts

Our summary: Reading each set play for its theme, plot, setting and the society it reflects.

Contents

  • Theme
  • Plot
  • Socio-political context
  • Setting

Objectives

  • 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

Our summary: Novels and other prose: the kinds of prose writing, how stories are told, and reading the set novels closely.

Types of prose

Our summary: Fiction, non-fiction and faction, and the kinds of book that belong to each.

Contents

  • FictionJAMB note: Novel; Novella/Novelette; Short story
  • Non-fictionJAMB note: Biography; Autobiography; Memoir
  • Faction: combination of fact and fiction

Objectives

  • 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.

Narrative techniques/devices

Our summary: How a story is told: the point of view, the kinds of character and the language the author uses.

Contents

  • Point of viewJAMB note: Omniscient; First person; Second person; Third person; Stream of consciousness; Epiphany
  • CharacterisationJAMB note: Round, flat, foil, hero, antihero, villain, heroine, etc.
  • Language

Objectives

  • 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.

Textual analysis

Our summary: Reading each set novel for its themes, plot, setting in time and place, and the society it reflects.

Contents

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

Objectives

  • 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

Our summary: Poems: the kinds of poem, the devices poets use, and reading the set poems for meaning and style.

Types of poetry

Our summary: The main kinds of poem, such as the sonnet, ode, elegy and ballad, and what marks each one.

Contents

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

Objectives

  • identify different types of poetry;
  • identify the distinctive features of the poetic types.

Poetic devices

Our summary: Imagery, sound, word choice and the speaking voice, and how poets use them to make meaning.

Contents

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

Objectives

  • 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.

Appreciation

Our summary: Reading a poem for its main concerns, its relevance to society and its style.

Contents

  • Thematic preoccupation
  • Socio-political relevance
  • Style

Objectives

  • 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

Our summary: The terms used to talk about all kinds of literature, and where drama, prose and poetry overlap.

Literary terms

Our summary: Terms such as foreshadowing, suspense, symbolism and satire, and the figures of speech found in every genre.

Contents

  • Literary termsJAMB note: 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

  • 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

Our summary: Reading passages you have not seen before and saying what they mean and how they are written.

Unseen passages/extracts

Our summary: Finding the devices in an unseen passage or extract of drama, prose or poetry and interpreting it.

Contents

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

Objectives

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

More from the JAMB Literature in English syllabus

Aim

  • The aims of the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) syllabus in Literature in English is to prepare the candidates for the Board's examination. Which are to generate, deepen and sustain interest in literature in English generally, and create awareness and understanding of the principles and techniques of all the genres of literature from diverse cultures.

Objectives

  • It is designed to test their achievement of the course objectives which are 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.

A list of selected African and non-African plays, novels and poems

Drama, African
(i) Efua Sutherland: Marriage of Anansewa.
Drama, Non-African
(i) William Shakespeare: Antony and Cleopatra.
Prose, African
(i) Pede Hollist: So the Path Does not Die; (ii) Elma Shaw: Redemption Road.
Prose, Non-African
(i) Susanne Bellefeuille: Path of Lucas: The Journey He Endured.
Poetry, African
(i) Gabriel Okara: Once Upon a Time; (ii) Elizabeth L. A. Kamara: New Tongue; (iii) Wole Soyinka: Night; (iv) Niyi Osundare: Not my Business; (v) S.O.H. Afriyie-Vidza: Hearty Garlands; (vi) Syl Cheney-Coker: The Breast of the Sea.
Poetry, Non-African
(i) Lord Byron: She Walks in Beauty; (ii) Geoffrey Chaucer: The Nun's Priest's Tale (shortened); (iii) Fleur Adcock: The Telephone Call; (iv) Wilfrid Wilson Gibson: The Stone.

Recommended texts: anthologies

Of Shadows and Rainbows: Musings in Times of Covid (An Anthology of poems, plays and short stories)
Obafemi, O. and Agoi (eds), PEN Nigeria, Online.
The Penguin Book of English Verse
Hayward, J. (ed.) (1968), London: Penguin.
New Poetry from Africa
Johnson, R., Ker, D., Maduka, C., Obafemi, O. (eds.) (1996), Ibadan: UP Plc.
Oxford Anthology of English Literature, Vol. II
Kermode, F. (1964), London: OUP.
Camouflage: Best of contemporary writing from Nigeria, an anthology of new Nigerian writers
Nduke Ofiono and Odoh Diego Okenyodo (eds), Mace Books Association, 2021, New edition.
A Pageant of Longer Poems
Parker, E. W. (ed.) (1980), London: Longman.
A Selection of African Poetry
Senanu, K. E. and Vincent, T. (eds.) (1993), Lagos: Longman.
Poems of Black Africa
Soyinka, W. (ed.) (1987), Ibadan: Heinemann.

Recommended texts: critical texts

A Glossary of Literary Terms (4th Edition)
Abrams, M. H. (1981), New York: Holt, Rinehart and Winston.
A Dictionary of Literature
Emeaba, O. E. (1982), Aba: Inteks Press.
Understanding Unseen, An Introduction to English Poetry and English Novel for Overseas Students
Murphy, M. J. (1972), George Allen and Unwin Ltd.

Syllabus content © The Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board. Taken from https://ibass.jamb.gov.ng/static/media/Literature.f24a00818658eb8ecbd0.pdf (UTME).

DeeepSolve is an independent study platform and is not affiliated with JAMB. The topic lists, notes and exam scheme are the exam body's wording; “Our summary” lines are ours. If anything here differs from what JAMB publishes for your sitting, follow JAMB.