Modules
Exemplarity: Literature, Memory and Ethics (CLAM080)
| Staff | Professor Rebecca Langlands - Convenor |
|---|---|
| Credit Value | 15 |
| ECTS Value | 7.5 |
| NQF Level | 7 |
| Pre-requisites | None |
| Co-requisites | None |
| Duration of Module |
Module aims
The overall aims of the module are:
- To introduce you to the historical and cultural background of Roman attitudes towards exempla.
- To read and discuss extracts from the genres of Latin historiography and Latin epic, such as Livy’s Histories and Silius Italicus’ Punica, in order to compare their treatments of exempla.
- To read modern theory and scholarship on exempla and comparative material, exploring how this can be applied to the study of ancient literature and exempla.
ILO: Module-specific skills
- 1. Demonstrate a detailed knowledge of the prescribed set texts, and evaluate and discuss their significance
- 2. Identify and explain relevant theoretical approaches to the study of exempla, and demonstrate how they may be appropriately applied
- 3. Demonstrate awareness of the extent to which interpretations of ancient literature are shaped by changing modern concerns
ILO: Discipline-specific skills
- 4. Demonstrate sophisticated critical and analytical skills which can be applied to a wider range of textual and other evidence from ancient and modern contexts
ILO: Personal and key skills
- 5. Demonstrate awareness of historical and cultural differences, and an ability to interpret the ideas and assumptions of unfamiliar societies
- 6. Demonstrate sophisticated skills in independent research and the development of research questions, and in the construction, organisation and presentation of interpretations and arguments, both written and verbal
- 7. Demonstrate the ability to work as part of a group, and to engage constructively in debate and discussion
Syllabus plan
Whilst the content may vary from year to year, it is envisioned that it will cover some or all of the following topics:
Initial seminars will introduce you to the historical and cultural background of Roman exempla, including imagines and funeral processions, the rhetorical aspects of exempla, and the cultural changes of the Augustan era. Subsequent sessions will focus on close readings of passages from Livy’s Histories and Silius Italicus’ Punica, in order to compare their treatments of the legends of early Rome (Mucius, Horatius Cocles, Cloelia) and of the events of the Punic war with Hannibal. These sessions will also bringing in further comparative material from, for example, Valerius Maximus and the Greek historian Polybius, discussing how scholarship and comparative material can inform our readings.
Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching Activities | Guided independent study | Placement / study abroad |
|---|---|---|
| 15 | 135 | 0 |
Details of learning activities and teaching methods
| Category | Hours of study time | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Scheduled Learning and Teaching | 15 | Intensive seminar and reading group activity |
| Guided Independent Study | 135 | Working independently and in groups preparing for seminars and essays |
Formative assessment
| Form of assessment | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close study of key primary and secondary texts in class, with broader discussions of issues. | In class | 1-7 | Oral feedback in class from lecturer and peers |
Summative assessment (% of credit)
| Coursework | Written exams | Practical exams |
|---|---|---|
| 80 | 0 | 20 |
Details of summative assessment
| Form of assessment | % of credit | Size of the assessment (eg length / duration) | ILOs assessed | Feedback method |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Essay plan | 10 | c. 750 words | 1-7 | Feedback through written comments on essay plan and response sheet; individual discussions with students |
| Essay | 70 | 4000 words | 1-7 | Feedback through written comments on essay and response sheet |
| Seminar presentation (individual) | 20 | 20 minutes + 10 minutes discussion | 1-7 | Feedback through comments on response sheets, and individual discussions with students |
Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)
| Original form of assessment | Form of re-assessment | ILOs re-assessed | Timescale for re-assessment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Essay plan | Essay plan | 1-7 | Referral/deferral period |
| Essay | Essay | 1-7 | Referral/deferral period |
| Seminar presentation (individual) | Essay (2000 words) | 1-7 | Referral/deferral period |
Re-assessment notes
Deferral – if you miss an assessment for certificated reasons judged acceptable by the Mitigation Committee, you will normally be either deferred in the assessment or an extension may be granted. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of deferral will not be capped and will be treated as it would be if it were your first attempt at the assessment.
Referral – if you have failed the module overall (i.e. a final overall module mark of less than 50%) you will be required to submit a further assessment as necessary. The mark given for a re-assessment taken as a result of referral will be capped at 50%.
Indicative learning resources - Basic reading
On Roman exempla:
- Barchiesi, Alessandro (2009) “Exemplarity between practice and text” in Wim Verbaal, Yanick Maes, Jan Papy (eds.) Latinitas Perennis: Appropriation and Latin literature, Brill: 41-61
- Bell, Sinclair and Inge Lyse Hansen (eds.) (2008) Role Models in the Roman World: Identity and Assimilation, Michigan.
- Chaplin, Jane (1999) Livy’s Exemplary History, Oxford.
- Langlands, Rebecca (2018) Exemplary Ethics in Ancient Rome, Cambridge.
- Morgan, Teresa, (2007) Popular Morality in the early Roman Empire, Cambridge.
- Roller, Matthew (2018) Models from the past in Roman Culture: A world of exempla, Cambridge.
- Skidmore, Clive (1996) Practical Ethics for Roman Gentleman, Exeter.
- Stem, Rex (2007) ‘Exemplary lessons of Livy’s Romulus’, TAPhA 137: 435-471.
Exempla and exemplarity outside classics:
- Gayer, L. and Therwath, I. (2010) “Introduction. Modelling Exemplarity in South Asia,” SouthAsia Multidisciplinary Academic Journal [Online], 4 URL: http://samaj.revues.org/3011.
- Flescher, Andrew M. (2003) Heroes, Saints, and Ordinary Morality, Georgetown.
- Gelley, Alexander (ed.) (1995) Unruly Examples: On the Rhetoric of Exemplarity, Stanford.
- Hampton, Timothy (1990) Writing from History: The Rhetoric of Exemplarity in Renaissance Literature, Ithaca.
- Harvey, Irene (2002) Labyrinths of Exemplarity: At the Limits of Deconstruction, New York.
- Journal of the History of Ideas 59 1998 issue devoted to exemplarity.
- Kristjánsson, Kristján, (2006) “Emulation and the Use of Role Models in Moral Education,” Journal of Moral Education, 35 (1): 37-49.
- Lyons,John D. (1989) Exemplum: The Rhetoric of Example in Early Modern France and Italy, Princeton.
- Mitchell, J. Allan, (2004) Ethics and Exemplary Narratives in Chaucer and Gower, Cambridge.
- Rigolot, Francois (2004). 'Problematizing Renaissance Exemplarity: The Inward Turn of Dialogue From Petrarch to Montaigne', in Dorothea Heitsch, ed. Printed Voices: The Renassiance Culture of Dialogue, Toronto: 3–24.
- Stierle, Karlheinz (1972), “L’Histoire comme Exemple, l’Exemple comme Histoire” Contribution à la pragmatique et à la poétique des textes narratifs. Poetique 10: 176-98.
Module has an active ELE page?
Yes
Available as distance learning?
Yes
Origin date
01/01/2019
Last revision date
12/03/2019
Key words search
Latin literature, Roman history, cultural memory, exempla, exemplarity, ethics