Unit rationale, description and aim
In this unit, students will engage with a range of texts from Classical antiquity that each hold a foundational status in the western literary canon, including works by Homer, Sophocles, Virgil and Ovid. They will consider each work in its distinctive political and intellectual context. Students will become familiar with a selection of the strongly delineated literary genres, from epic to lyric poetry, that were newly developed in antiquity, and that have imparted shape and meaning to western literary production. They will gain a knowledge of core elements in Classical mythology, and they will consider, across a variety of texts, universal concerns such as: the nature of and limits to human agency, human achievement and human rationality; the roles and responsibilities held by the individual in relation to the state and in the family; and the nature and complications of the heroic ideal. The aim of the unit is to develop a critical appreciation of the nature of the Classical legacy and the complexities of our long engagement with the texts of the Greek and Roman world.
Learning outcomes
To successfully complete this unit you will be able to demonstrate you have achieved the learning outcomes (LO) detailed in the below table.
Each outcome is informed by a number of graduate capabilities (GC) to ensure your work in this, and every unit, is part of a larger goal of graduating from ACU with the attributes of insight, empathy, imagination and impact.
Explore the graduate capabilities.
Identify key aspects of works from Classical antiq...
Learning Outcome 01
Discuss literary, social, historical, philosophica...
Learning Outcome 02
Evaluate and synthesise knowledge from diverse sou...
Learning Outcome 03
Locate, use and appropriately reference a variety ...
Learning Outcome 04
Analyse key aspects of the legacy of Classical lit...
Learning Outcome 05
Content
Topics may include:
- The complex legacy of the Classical literary tradition in western life and culture
- Literary, social, historical, philosophical, political, aesthetic and ethical ideas and movements in texts drawn from Classical antiquity
- The distinctive features of the Classical literary culture, including the importance of genre, and the role of ‘imitation’ and ‘competition’ (imitatio and aemulatio)
- The ‘translation’ of the Greek literary heritage to Rome
- Key thematic concerns such as the nature of and limits to human agency, human achievement and human rationality; the roles and responsibilities held by the individual in relation to the state and in the family; and the nature and complications of the heroic ideal
- The nature and content of Greek and Roman mythology
Key authors, texts, and genres will include a selection of the following:
- Homer, the Iliad and the Odyssey
- Aeschylus (e.g. Prometheus Bound; Philoctetes)
- Sophocles(e.g. Oedipus Rex, Antigone)
- Euripides (e.g.Medea; Bacchae)
- Aristophanes (e.g.Clouds, The Frogs)
- Aristotle, Poetics
- Plautus (e.g. Menaechmi)
- Terence (e.g. Adelphi)
- Lucretius, De rerum natura
- Virgil, Aeneid
- Ovid, Metamorphoses
- Selections from Greek and Roman lyric and elegiac poetry (e.g. Sappho, Catullus, Propertius, Tibullus, Horace, Ovid)
- Pastoral (e.g Theocritus’ Idylls; Virgil’s Eclogues)
- Roman Satire (e.g. Martial and/or Juvenal)
Assessment strategy and rationale
Assessment tasks are designed to build knowledge and skills relevant to the learning outcomes. The first task develops students’ skills in textual analysis of ancient texts, while also incorporating their developing knowledge of the political, intellectual, and literary contexts in which the texts were written.
The major research essay promotes students' understanding of the unit content by focusing on one or more Greek or Roman Classical texts and developing a researched argument in relation to those texts and the wider themes of the unit.
The final summative assessment task gives students the opportunity to demonstrate that they can synthesise and apply the knowledge and skills they have gained throughout the unit.
The assessment tasks for this unit have been designed to contribute to high-quality student learning by both helping students learn (assessment for learning) and by measuring explicit evidence of their learning (assessment of learning). Assessments have been developed to meet the unit learning outcomes and develop graduate attributes consistent with the University's assessment requirements. These have been designed so that they use a variety of tasks to measure the different learning outcomes at a level suitable for first-year studies in this subject area.
Overview of assessments
Assessment 1: Close reading task This task...
Assessment 1: Close reading task
This task tests students’ ability to locate works from the Classical period within their cultural contexts and produce analyses that take this context as well as the specific genre or style into account.
20%
Assessment 2: Research Essay This essay re...
Assessment 2: Research Essay
This essay requires students to interpret one or more literary works from the Classical period with reference to some of the wider concerns of the unit.
40%
Assessment 3: Summative Task/Exam This ass...
Assessment 3: Summative Task/Exam
This assessment requires students to demonstrate detailed knowledge and synthetic understanding of the key texts, genres, themes, and concerns of the unit.
40%
Learning and teaching strategy and rationale
This unit will be taught to students in a small group setting, in which the texts and thematic concerns of the unit can be discussed and debated in a supportive and inclusive manner. The small group setting will facilitate the use of the ‘Socratic’ method, in which analytical discussion and dialogue is stimulated through the use of an engaging question and answer format to consider texts and ideas from the Classical period.
This is a 10-credit point unit and has been designed to ensure that the time needed to complete the required volume of learning to the requisite standard is approximately 150 hours in total across the semester. To achieve a passing standard in this unit, students will find it helpful to engage in the full range of learning activities and assessments utilised in this unit. The learning and teaching and assessment strategies include a range of approaches to support students’ learning such as reading, reflection, discussion, webinars, podcasts, video etc.