essays

nb: PRACTICAL CRITICISMS. Q800 and Classics and English (QQ36) Students taking this module will be required to offer two practical criticisms in lieu of an essay for one of the coursework assessment points. They may choose whether to do this in the first OR second term. See the practical criticism tag above.

Assessed essays for Term 1 (autumn 2018): to be handed in by 12 noon on 22nd November 2018

Write an essay of approximately 2500 (max 3000) words in response to ONE of the following questions:

1) To what extent does the 'vulnus' suffered by the poet-lover in Ovid's Amores challenge conventional Roman masculinity?

(For bibliography on Ovid's Amores, see the bibliography tab, or the module booklet. You are also encouraged to do your own research using the library and its online databases. If you have trouble finding something, or need guidance, please ask. Hard copies of many articles on your bibliography may be found in a box file in the departmental office - just ask one of our administrators; they may be borrowed for a short time or photocopied.)

nb: you are expected to read widely on your chosen text or texts, basing your research on recommended bibliography. As a rough guide, you should attempt to read or partially read at least 6 or 7 pieces. Do not rely on shorter, 'companion' or 'survey' articles, which are intended to serve as introductions to wider research.

2) Analyse the relationship between servitium amoris and amor servae in Ovidian elegy.

(For bibliography on Ovidian elegy, see the bibliography tab, or the module booklet. You are also encouraged to do your own research using the library and its online databases. If you have trouble finding something, or need guidance, please ask. Hard copies of many articles on your bibliography may be found in a box file in the departmental office - just ask one of our administrators; they may be borrowed for a short time or photocopied.)

3) Does Horace exploit imposter syndrome to his advantage? Approach this question in the light of Satires book 1.

(For bibliography on Horace's Satires, see the bibliography tab, or the module booklet. You are also encouraged to do your own research using the library and its online databases. If you have trouble finding something, or need guidance, please ask. Hard copies of many articles on your bibliography may be found in a box file in the departmental office - just ask one of our administrators; they may be borrowed for a short time or photocopied.)

4) In Horace Epodes 8 and 12, 'iambic staining of writer, victim and reader performs abusive erotics'. Unpack and debate this statement.

(For bibliography on Horace's Epodes, see the bibliography tab, or the module booklet. You are also encouraged to do your own research using the library and its online databases. If you have trouble finding something, or need guidance, please ask. Hard copies of many articles on your bibliography may be found in a box file in the departmental office - just ask one of our administrators; they may be borrowed for a short time or photocopied.)

Assessed essays for Term 2 (Spring 2019): to be handed in by 12 noon on 20th February 2019

Write an essay of approximately 2500 words on ONE of the following topics:

1) To what extent and to what effect does Phaedrus situate fable in an 'ambiguous cultural space defined by the intersection of freedom and servitude' (Marchesi)?

(For bibliography on Phaedrus, see the bibliography tab, or the module booklet. You are also encouraged to do your own research using the library and its online databases. If you have trouble finding something, or need guidance, please ask. Hard copies of many articles on your bibliography may be found in a box file in the departmental office - just ask one of our administrators; they may be borrowed for a short time or photocopied.)
nb: you are expected to read widely on your chosen text or texts, basing your research on recommended bibliography. As a rough guide, you should attempt to read or partially read at least 6 or 7 pieces. Do not rely on shorter, 'companion' or 'survey' articles, which are intended to serve as introductions to wider research.

2) Do Persius' Satires harden us up?

(For bibliography on Persius see the bibliography tab, or the module booklet. You are also encouraged to do your own research using the library and its online databases. If you have trouble finding something, or need guidance, please ask. Hard copies of many articles on your bibliography may be found in a box file in the departmental office - just ask one of our administrators; they may be borrowed for a short time or photocopied.)
nb: you are expected to read widely on your chosen text or texts, basing your research on recommended bibliography. As a rough guide, you should attempt to read or partially read at least 6 or 7 pieces. Do not rely on shorter, 'companion' or 'survey' articles, which are intended to serve as introductions to wider research.

3) To what extent is vulnerability treated as repugnant in Seneca's Letters to Lucilius?

(For bibliography on Seneca's Letters, see the bibliography tab, or the module booklet. You are also encouraged to do your own research using the library and its online databases. If you have trouble finding something, or need guidance, please ask. Hard copies of many articles on your bibliography may be found in a box file in the departmental office - just ask one of our administrators; they may be borrowed for a short time or photocopied.)
nb: you are expected to read widely on your chosen text or texts, basing your research on recommended bibliography. As a rough guide, you should attempt to read or partially read at least 6 or 7 pieces. Do not rely on shorter, 'companion' or 'survey' articles, which are intended to serve as introductions to wider research.

4) In what ways and to what effect does Seneca's Thyestes link vulnerability with rhetorical inadequacy and artistic failure?

(For bibliography on Seneca's Thyestes, see the bibliography tab, or the module booklet. You are also encouraged to do your own research using the library and its online databases. If you have trouble finding something, or need guidance, please ask. Hard copies of many articles on your bibliography may be found in a box file in the departmental office - just ask one of our administrators; they may be borrowed for a short time or photocopied.)
nb: you are expected to read widely on your chosen text or texts, basing your research on recommended bibliography. As a rough guide, you should attempt to read or partially read at least 6 or 7 pieces. Do not rely on shorter, 'companion' or 'survey' articles, which are intended to serve as introductions to wider research.

5) How Roman, or un-Roman, is Achilles' education in Statius' Achilleid?

(For bibliography on Statius' Achilleid, see the bibliography tab, or the module booklet. You are also encouraged to do your own research using the library and its online databases. If you have trouble finding something, or need guidance, please ask. Hard copies of many articles on your bibliography may be found in a box file in the departmental office - just ask one of our administrators; they may be borrowed for a short time or photocopied.)
nb: you are expected to read widely on your chosen text or texts, basing your research on recommended bibliography. As a rough guide, you should attempt to read or partially read at least 6 or 7 pieces. Do not rely on shorter, 'companion' or 'survey' articles, which are intended to serve as introductions to wider research.

6) To what extent does the Achilleid in the end 'explain and nullify all the ambiguities of gender and genre that have gone before' (Cowan) - ambiguities which have been associated in this poem with femininity, femaleness, youth and bodily desires?

(For bibliography on Statius' Achilleid, see the bibliography tab, or the module booklet. You are also encouraged to do your own research using the library and its online databases. If you have trouble finding something, or need guidance, please ask. Hard copies of many articles on your bibliography may be found in a box file in the departmental office - just ask one of our administrators; they may be borrowed for a short time or photocopied.)
nb: you are expected to read widely on your chosen text or texts, basing your research on recommended bibliography. As a rough guide, you should attempt to read or partially read at least 6 or 7 pieces. Do not rely on shorter, 'companion' or 'survey' articles, which are intended to serve as introductions to wider research.