ISC Class 12 English Literature Syllabus 2027
The ISC Class 12 English Literature syllabus for the 2027 exam has 3 units and 11 chapters, with about 18 topics. Each chapter below links to every past question on it with answers. For how the 80-mark theory paper is laid out, see the paper pattern guide.
Drama
- Macbeth - William Shakespeare 101 questions
Act III, Act IV, Act V
Prose
- Atithi/Guest - Rabindranath Tagore 14 questions
Understanding and analysis - The Cookie Lady - Philip K. Dick 14 questions
Understanding and analysis - There Will Come Soft Rains - Ray Bradbury 16 questions
Understanding and analysis - Indigo - Satyajit Ray 13 questions
Understanding and analysis - The Medicine Bag - Virginia Driving Hawk Sneve 17 questions
Understanding and analysis
Poetry
- Telephone Conversation - Wole Soyinka 17 questions
Content and appreciation, Stylistic and literary features - Tithonus - Alfred, Lord Tennyson 15 questions
Content and appreciation, Stylistic and literary features - Beethoven - Shane Koyczan 18 questions
Content and appreciation, Stylistic and literary features - Small Towns and the River - Mamang Dai 12 questions
Content and appreciation, Stylistic and literary features - Death be not Proud - John Donne 12 questions
Content and appreciation, Stylistic and literary features
Project work
Project work carries 20 marks besides the 80-mark theory paper: a written assignment on the drama, short stories or poems, marked 10 by the teacher and 10 by the visiting examiner, as set out in CISCE’s English syllabus.
The prescribed texts for 2027 are Macbeth (Acts III, IV and V); the short stories Atithi / Guest, The Cookie Lady, There Will Come Soft Rains, Indigo and The Medicine Bag; and the poems Telephone Conversation, Tithonus, Beethoven, Small Towns and the River and Death be not Proud.
Common questions
How many units and chapters are in the ISC Class 12 English Literature syllabus?
The 2027 syllabus lists 3 units: Drama, Prose, Poetry. They hold 11 chapters.
Which English Literature chapters were in earlier ISC papers but not in the 2027 syllabus?
Prescribed Play, The Tempest - William Shakespeare, Prescribed Prose, To Build a Fire - Jack London, The Story of an Hour - Kate Chopin, The Singing Lesson - Katherine Mansfield, The Sound Machine - Roald Dahl, B. Wordsworth - V.S. Naipaul, Prescribed Poetry, The Darkling Thrush - Thomas Hardy, Birches - Robert Frost, Crossing the Bar - Alfred, Lord Tennyson, Dover Beach - Matthew Arnold, We are the Music Makers - Arthur William Edgar O'Shaughnessy. Older papers on Prashnika still have questions on them, marked by chapter, which are useful only if your syllabus still has the chapter.
Keep reading
Units, chapters and topics from CISCE’s ISC 2027 syllabus. Last checked 2026-10-16.