CL1TR: Texts, Readers, and Writers

Module code: CL1TR

Module provider: Classics; School of Humanities

Credits: 20

Level: Level 1 (Certificate)

When you'll be taught: Semester 1

Module convenor: Dr Andreas Gavrielatos, email: a.gavrielatos@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2024/5

Available to visiting students: Yes

Talis reading list: No

Last updated: 21 May 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

This module aims to give students the knowledge and skills needed for an academic approach to ancient literature that supports independent thought that aims to contribute to existing scholarship. The knowledge includes an understanding of the major ancient writing and numeral systems and of the types of literary  texts produced in ancient Greece and Rome, their contexts, the appropriate methods and literary models for approaching them, and the care needed when approaching them in translation.

The module will include approaches to analysing a variety of ancient texts, offering interpretations based on their historical, cultural, and political contexts, and examining the invention of different genres, their development, and their influence today. The students will develop skills necessary for handling large amounts of information in written form and ancient sources, whilst they engage critically with scholarship. 

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to: 

1. describe the types of literary texts produced in ancient Greece and Rome, their contexts, the different themes that emerge, and the diversity of cultures, societies, and individuals expressed through them;
2. distinguish between different genres of literature and identify influences and interactions between different texts and cultures; 
3. describe the most important literary models and theories that inform our understanding of ancient literature; 
4. provide their own analyses of ancient literature within modern literary theories and models of interpretation. 

Module content

Topics studied will include: 

• Greek literature (for example Homer, Euripides, Plato, Menander, Lucian) 
• Latin literature (for example Catullus, Plautus, Cicero, Ovid, Vergil) 

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

The module will be taught by in-person interactive seminars; students are expected to prepare for seminars by reading texts and answering questions on them, or via other exercises. 

Study hours

At least 20 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 40% to pass this module.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: /cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

200-250-words Essay Plan due in Semester 1, Teaching Week 6: This will feed in into the essay submitted at the end of the Semester 

200-250-words Annotated Bibliography due in Semester 1, Teaching Week 6: This will feed in into the essay submitted at the end of the Semester 

Reassessment

Additional costs