Module CLAS42630: LATIN TEXT SEMINAR ON ROMAN EPIC

Department: Classics and Ancient History

CLAS42630: LATIN TEXT SEMINAR ON ROMAN EPIC

Prerequisites

• Ability to read Latin independently, to such a level as would be expected from a student who has studied Latin for at least two years as an undergraduate.

Corequisites

• None.

Excluded Combination of Modules

• None.

Aims

• In accordance with the general aims of the MA in Classics, to promote independent reading and self-directed research in the study of a Roman epic for students who have received appropriate linguistic training in their undergraduate studies.
• In accordance with the aims of the MA pathway in Ancient Epic, to promote in-depth study of Roman epic, its relationship to Greek models, its self-definition against other genres of poetry, and its development in the course of time.

Content

• The precise content changes yearly, but will always be based on a selection of Roman epic texts. Typically students will be asked to prepare approximately 80 lines of verse per week, and also to read two chapters or articles in the scholarly literature each week. By the end of the module, students will have read the equivalent in terms of length of two books of epic, and will also have read a substantial proportion of the relevant scholarly discussion on the selected texts. Texts which are more difficult to read, because they are in a fragmentary or mutilated state, may be shorter than this.

Learning Outcomes

• The module builds on the students' knowledge of Latin and on the particular texts they have previously read as undergraduates, and it consists of the intensive study of Roman epic. By the end of the module, students should have acquired a close familiarity with the linguistic, rhetorical, generic and literary aspects of the texts under examination. They should be able to relate them to ancient Greek models, and to discuss them in relation to other genres of poetry. They should also have a comprehensive understanding of the scholarly literature on the transmission and interpretation of the texts.

• Students will develop the ability to discover, by means of independent research, the outlines of scholarly debates on Roman epic, and to participate in those debates by marshalling textual, linguistic and historical data to support their positions, and to learn how to present a cogent interpretation of the texts under examination. Students will also learn how to evaluate and criticize competing interpretations and reconstructions of Roman epic poetry.

• The analytical and interpretative skills required for the successful completion of this module are transferable to any field which demands the ability to evaluate widely disparate kinds of information, to weigh the merits of competing interpretations, and to formulate a cogent argument. It also requires the effective use of library and IT resources; and good oral and written presentation skills.

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

• Teaching will be by weekly seminar, each of which will be divided into two parts. The first part will consist of close reading by the group of a set passage of epic poetry which poses a particular difficulty. This discussion will be led by the instructor, and will involve the students in translation and detailed discussion of the passage. The next part will consist of an oral presentation by a student in which he or she summarizes and critiques a work of scholarship that grapples with the problem under consideration in the first part of the seminar, to be followed by discussion of the evidence and the merits of the interpretation. This combination of both modes of participation will ensure that students develop skills of close reading of primary texts as well as skills in evaluating the secondary literature. It will also ensure that students prepare by reading carefully both the Latin text and the modern discussion.
• Formative assessment will be based on essays written up from the seminar presentations – two during the year. These will include a close reading of a part of the text, along with a consideration of the relevant secondary literature.
• Summative assessment will be by one 5,000 word essay to be submitted at the end of the year. These exercises will foster the ability to provide clear and detailed written articulation of textual and interpretive problems, provide practice for the use of appropriate conventions and style in setting out written research, and ensure that research and assimilation of secondary literature is carried out at the appropriate level.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

Summative Assessment

Formative Assessment:

Two essays (one to be submitted in Michaelmas and one in Epiphany Term). These essays to be written up from oral presentations made in the seminar.

■ Attendance at all activities marked with this symbol will be monitored. Students who fail to attend these activities, or to complete the summative or formative assessment specified above, will be subject to the procedures defined in the University's General Regulation V, and may be required to leave the University