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CLAS3431: HIGHER GREEK 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 Greek 2A OR Advanced Greek 2B.

Corequisites

  • None.

Excluded Combinations of Modules

  • None.

Aims

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

Content

  • This module introduces students to a selection of ancient Greek texts appropriate to experienced readers and interpreters of Greek texts in the original language.
  • Authors may include Thucydides, Aristotle, Polybius, Heliodorus, Longus.
  • All texts will be linked by a theme which will provide the focus for the module.
  • The emphasis will be on prose.
  • Examples of themes are: the ancient novel, the concept of fate in Hellenistic philosophy and history, etc.

Learning Outcomes

Subject-specific Knowledge:

  • A knowledge of different aspects of a selected ancient Greek text (or texts) - other than that (those) studied in Higher Greek 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 Greek 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 the module.
  • 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 through an exam paper and a summative essay, each of which will be designed to test knowledge and interpretation of the set texts at Higher level.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

ActivityNumberFrequencyDurationTotalMonitored
Seminars (language classes)442 per week1 hour44 
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 hours100 

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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