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CLAS3241: HIGHER LATIN 3B

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Type Open
Level 3
Credits 20
Availability Available in 2023/24
Module Cap
Location Durham
Department Classics and Ancient History

Prerequisites

  • Advanced Latin 2A OR 2B OR 2C.

Corequisites

  • None.

Excluded Combinations of Modules

  • None.

Aims

  • To study in depth a selection of prose texts suitable for experienced readers of Latin with a broad and in-depth understanding of Roman culture.
  • This is a third-year module.

Content

  • Introduces students to a selection of Latin texts appropriate to experienced readers and interpreters of Latin.
  • Authors may include Tacitus, Ammianus Marcellinus, Apuleius, Petronius.
  • The emphasis will be on prose.
  • All texts will be linked by a theme which will provide the focus for the module as a whole.
  • Examples of themes are: later Roman historiography, the Roman novel etc.

Learning Outcomes

Subject-specific Knowledge:

  • A knowledge of different aspects of a selected Latin text (or texts) - other than that (those) studied in Higher Latin 3A - of some length and/or complexity: aspects which include the varieties of reading and interpretation of that text (or texts), ancient and modern; its origins and antecedents; its genre and cultural location; issues of transmission; textual problems; reception.

Subject-specific Skills:

  • An ability to investigate a given text in depth, using and further developing linguistic, interpretative and other skills acquired in the previous two years of study, especially but not exclusively in Intermediate and Advanced Latin modules.

Key Skills:

  • A critical understanding of what goes to make a 'text', as an artefact and as a potential source of meaning, and of both the cultural processes and the interpretative issues involved.

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

  • Interactive classes will be offered as the most appropriate and effective way of teaching.
  • Students will learn through regular preparation for the classes, and interaction with the teacher and each other in the process of learning.
  • The course will be assessed though an exam paper and summative essay, which will be designed to test the topics and questions addressed in the classes.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

ActivityNumberFrequencyDurationTotalMonitored
Seminars (language classes)442 per week1 hour44Yes
Preparation and Reading156 
Total200 

Summative Assessment

Component: EssayComponent Weighting: 30%
ElementLength / DurationElement WeightingResit Opportunity
Summative essay2,500 words100 
Component: ExaminationComponent Weighting: 70%
ElementLength / DurationElement WeightingResit Opportunity
Written examination2 hours100Examination

Formative Assessment

Homework in the form of translations and/or commentaries to be prepared in advance of every class.

More information

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