Assessment of the module for all students is 50% for work submitted during the course and 50% for a 2-hour exam in the May/June session of examinations. Overlap should be avoided between pre-submitted essays and the questions answered in the exam. Lack of breadth may be penalised.

Non-assessed work:

During the first half of the autumn term, students will also be required to produce a piece of non-assessed work. This will consist of practice in writing a gobbet, a skill required for the examination. The gobbet answer should be handed in during the lectures in Week 3. It will be marked and returned to you.

Seminars:

Note that all students are required to attend seminars, and are expected to prepare for and to be able to take part in discussions. Seminar groups will be announced in due course, and worksheets distributed.

Assessed Essays:

Students are required to produce TWO essays during the module (length 2,500 words, including footnotes, but excluding bibliography). The normal expected length for assessed essays is ‘c. 2,500 words’, which in practice means 2250-3000 words (including footnotes not including bibliography). Students are required to declare a word count on the cover sheet. Over-length essays will not be accepted.

Essays must include footnotes where appropriate, and a bibliography of works cited. They should be word-processed. Due attention should be given to literacy (both spelling and grammar). Titles and submission dates follow below. Please refer to the departmental handbook and the document ‘Advice on writing essays’ for further information about assessment criteria and marking.

The second assessed essay for Q800 Classics students will be closely focused upon the set texts, and require detailed linguistic analysis of the Latin original.

For titles and submission deadlines, see essays.

General guidance on essay writing:

1. Presentation: your essay should contain accurate use of English expression; you will be penalised for poor presentation, including poor grammar and spelling.
2. Clarity of analysis: your essay should be organised coherently on the basis of arguments; you will be penalised for work which is incoherent or which presents a mass of amorphous material. The case the student is arguing should be clear to the assessor in every paragraph - don't fall automatically into a chronological arrangement of your material, or a line by line examination of a text, unless you are making a specific point, narrowly argued, about development or change over time.
3. Primary data: your essay should show thoughtful use of a wide range of ancient texts and other material; unsubstantiated arguments and opinions will be penalised. Unless you engage directly with primary evidence (texts, objects), you will not get a good mark.
4. Secondary material: your essay should isolate the main issues and debates in modern scholarship on the subject. You will be penalised for overdependence on a single unquestioned authority.
5. Originality and sophistication: your essay should demonstrate thoughtfulness, well-founded scepticism and original ideas which attempt to surpass the issues and debates found in modern discussions in order to take the argument in a new direction.

Submission of Essays:

Essays for submission should be signed into the departmental office and a cover sheet filled in before 12 noon on or before the date posted. Anonymity of marking is an adopted principle of the University for both assessed essays and examinations. By University regulation, late essays will attract a penalty of 5% (i.e. 5 marks) for each day they are late. The essays are to be submitted anonymously, identified only by your university number (on your library card) on the cover sheet. Do NOT write your name anywhere on the essay: if you do so, it will be returned to you.

Deadlines

• Non-assessed gobbet: hand this in during lectures in Week 3.
• First assessed essay: 12 noon, Wednesday 23rd November 2011.
• Second assessed essay: 12 noon Monday 6th February 2012.

You may not submit essays by email, but should hand them in to the departmental office.

Extensions to Essay Deadlines:

Applications for an extension of the essay-deadline are only allowed in exceptional circumstances – well-documented medical reasons etc. Any such application should be made to the Head of Dept (Prof Kevin Butcher) or Director of Undergraduate Studies (Prof Andrew Laird) well before the deadline. Problems with e.g. printers, getting hold of books, bunching-up of essay-deadlines etc. are rarely considered acceptable excuses. When an extension is granted, students must ensure that the module tutor is informed and that the extension (with date limit) is recorded by the secretaries in the ledger in the Office. Only in exceptional circumstances will an extension be allowed beyond two weeks.

Feedback:

Essays should be returned to students within three working weeks or at the beginning of the following term. The marked copy of an assessed essay is retained by the Office. Copies of cover sheets and other comments can be made available to students once marks have been finalized and recorded. Essays will be handed back individually, when there will be a chance to discuss them. It is essential that students attend these tutorials.

Plagiarism:

Plagiarism, defined as ‘the attempt to pass off someone else’s work as one’s own’ is a variety of cheating or fraud. It is taken very seriously by the University and students who are caught can suffer penalties which are extremely detrimental to their career. Fortunately plagiarism has not been a problem in our Department and we fully anticipate that this situation will continue.

To avoid any confusion however you should take special care with two things:

1. Cite the sources you are using
2. Use quotation marks for the quotes you are quoting.

Exam:

The exam will be divided into two parts: students will be required

1. to comment on two 'gobbets' (from a choice of six) – one text and one artefact - from a choice of six
2. to write two essays (from a choice of seven titles).

Q800 Classics students will translate and comment on two text ‘gobbets’ (from a choice of six), and write one essay (from a choice of seven titles).