UGC NET English August 2024 Evening Shift Analysis: Topic-Wise Question Distribution & Insights

If you’ve appeared for the UGC NET English August 2024 Evening Shift, or are preparing for the upcoming attempts, this blog gives you the complete topic-wise breakdown of all questions, along with trends and insights based on previous year papers and current exam patterns.

🔍 Overall Paper Pattern (Evening Shift - August 2024)

The UGC NET English Paper featured:

✅ Match the Following: 15 Questions
✅ Chronology-Based Questions: 15 Questions
✅ General Statement A-E Type Questions
✅ Simple MCQs (Four Options)
✅ Reading Comprehension: 10 Questions

The paper reflected a strong emphasis on canonical texts, literary chronology, authorship, and critical concepts, making it crucial for aspirants to study in an organized, category-wise manner.

📊 Topic-Wise Question Distribution (Verified from the August 2024 Paper)

Category	No. of Questions
British Literature	22
Indian Writing in English	20
American Literature	8
World Literature & Diaspora	7
Criticism, Theory, and Culture	20
Language and Linguistics	8
Research Aptitude	5
Reading Comprehension	10

📘 Detailed Topic Highlights

🇬🇧 British Literature – 22 Questions

The section covered an extensive range:

Authors & Poets: Shakespeare, G.B. Shaw, Wordsworth
Dramatists & Novelists: Restoration to Modern
Movements & Techniques: Stream of Consciousness, Letter Form
Quotes & Lines: Bible allusions, stylistic phrases
Clubs, Journals, Periodicals: Kit-Cat Club, Theatre history
Chronology: Major part of the paper focused on matching authors/works with dates and periods

🇮🇳 Indian Writing in English – 20 Questions

Strong focus on:

Partition & Dalit Narratives
Graphic Narratives & Children’s Literature
Cross-cultural Influence: British presence in Indian texts & vice versa
Translators & Awards
Writers like Perumal Murugan, Attia Hosain, Raja Rao, and Urmila Pawar featured

🇺🇸 American Literature – 8 Questions

Covered:

Black American & LGBTQ+ Writers
Themes like identity, race, and resistance
Focused on both classic and contemporary voices

🌍 World Literature & Diaspora – 7 Questions

Topics included:

Aboriginal Australian Writers
African & Black Literature
Global issues in diaspora narratives
Authors like Derek Walcott, Soyinka, and Sabiha Sumar

🎓 Criticism, Theory & Culture – 20 Questions

Important questions from:

Postmodernism, Structuralism, Marxism, Feminism
Thinkers like Lyotard, Foucault, Bakhtin, Freud, Jung
Literary Theory (e.g., standpoint theory, polyphony, collective unconscious)

📚 Language and Linguistics – 8 Questions

Included:

Key Terms: Langue, parole, heteroglossia, diglossia
Translation Theory & Language Acquisition
Theorists like Saussure, Bloomfield, Chomsky, House

🔬 Research Aptitude – 5 Questions

Questions from:

Hypothesis formulation
Validity vs Reliability
Self-plagiarism and research ethics
Quantitative vs Qualitative methods

📖 Reading Comprehension – 10 Questions

Passages included:

Modern poetic expression
Francis Bacon-style prose
Focused on tone, theme, mood, and figurative language

🔑 Takeaways for UGC NET Aspirants

Chronology-based and Matching questions are on the rise. Make sure you master timelines and movements.
Prepare comprehensively across genres: poetry, prose, drama, theory, and language.
Focus on underrepresented areas like Diaspora Literature, Translation Studies, and Graphic Narratives, as they are gaining prominence.
Don't ignore reading comprehension—it can fetch easy marks if practiced well.