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Honour School of Classics and English

A

  • 1. The Honour School of Classics and English shall be under the joint supervision of the Boards of the Faculties of Classics and English Language and Literature and shall consist of such subjects as they shall jointly by regulation prescribe. The boards shall establish a joint committee consisting of three representatives of each faculty, to advise them as necessary in respect of the examination and of the First Public Examination in Classics and English.

  • 2. No candidate shall be admitted to the examination in this School unless they have either passed or been exempted from the First Public Examination.

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B

All candidates must offer seven subjects:  

Subjects (i), (ii) two subjects under A: English. 

Subjects (iii), (iv) two subjects under B: Classics. 

Subjects (v), (vi) two subjects linking both sides of the school under C: Link Papers, except that candidates who offer Beginners’ Ancient Greek or Beginners’ Latin under B: Classics will only offer one subject under C: Link Papers. 

Subject (vii) D: a dissertation. 

Notes on Classics extended essays: 

Extended essays for subjects 503, 504, 507 and 519 must not exceed 6,000 words. Extended essays for subject 553 must not exceed 4,000 words. Candidates may offer only one of these five subjects. Essay topics set by the examiners will be released on Monday of Week 6 of the Hilary Term of the final year of the Honour School and essays should be uploaded to the University approved online assessment platform by 12 noon on Tuesday of Week 10 of the same term. 

A: ENGLISH

1. Subject (i): One of the following periods of English literature: 

(a) Literature in English 1350 – 1550 (one paper) 

(b) Literature in English 1660 – 1760 (one paper) 

(c) Literature in English 1760 – 1830 (one paper) 

2. Subject (ii): One of the following: 

(a) a second of the periods specified in 1 above; 

(b) Shakespeare (portfolio) 

(c) The Material Text (portfolio) 

(d) a Special Option from the lists specified for the Honour School of English Language and Literature, Courses I and II.

3. Full specifications for the subjects listed above will be published in the course handbook for the Honour School of English Language and Literature.

B: CLASSICS

4. Subject (iii): A text-based subject in Ancient Greek or Latin Literature 

5. Subject (iv): One of the following:

(a) A second text-based subject in Ancient Greek or Latin Literature. 

(b) A subject in Philology and Linguistics. 

(c) A subject in Ancient Greek and Roman or Medieval Philosophy. 

(d) A subject in Ancient History. 

(e)  Beginners’ Ancient Greek or Beginners’ Latin. This counts as two subjects. Candidates will take either:

i. 561 Beginners’ Ancient Greek Paper I: Translation and 562 Beginners’ Ancient Greek Paper II:  Commentary

or

ii. 563 Beginners’ Latin Paper I: Translation and 564 Beginners’ Latin Paper II: Commentary.

Candidates may not offer these subjects in a language in which they satisfied the Examiners in Honour Moderations in Classics.

6. A full list of the subjects available under 4 and 5(a)-(d) above, including details of subjects that qualify as text-based and any restrictions on permitted combinations, will be published in the course handbook.

7. All subjects in section B will be in person written examinations, with the exception of subjects 503, 504 and 507, each of which will be examined by an extended essay and a written examination, and subject 553, which will be examined by an extended essay only.

8. Any candidate whose first language is not English may bring a bilingual (first language to English) dictionary for use in any examination paper where candidates are required to translate Ancient Greek and/or Latin texts into English.

C: LINK PAPERS

9. All papers in this section will be in person written examinations, with the exception of 12(c), which will be examined by an extended essay.

10. Detailed prescriptions and set texts for link papers will be provided in the Classics and English FHS handbook for the relevant year of examination.

11. Subject (v): Epic

12.  Subject (vi): One of the following:

(a) Tragedy. This subject may not be combined with 506: Ancient Greek Tragedy.

(b) Comedy. This subject may not be combined with 507: Comedy.

(c) The Reception of Classical Literature in Poetry in English since 1900 (subject 519). Subject 519 may not be combined with subjects 503, 507, or 533. Candidates must avoid repetition in this paper of material used for the paper offered under 2(d).

13. Candidates who offer Beginners’ Ancient Greek or Beginners’ Latin under B: Classics may take only one of the subjects listed for subject (v) or subject (vi).

D: DISSERTATION

14. All candidates for the Honour School of Classics and English must offer a dissertation (subject (vii)), the subject of which must be substantially connected with any subject area in Literae Humaniores and/or English Language and Literature.

15. The subject of the dissertation may, but need not, overlap any subject or period on which the candidate offers papers.  Candidates should avoid repetition in examination essays of material used in their theses and may be penalised for substantial repetition.

16. The candidate may not discuss with any tutor either their choice of content or the method of handling it after Friday of the sixth week of the Hilary Term of the final year of the Honour School.

17. The dissertation shall be of 7,000 to 8,000 words. The word count excludes the bibliography. The course handbook provides information on the word count requirements for dissertations that include a commentary on a text.

18. The dissertation must be uploaded to the University approved online assessment platform, by noon on Tuesday of the ninth week of Hilary Term of the final year of the Honour School.