Classics and English

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CLASSICS AND ENGLISH FINALSHANDBOOK MICHAELMAS 2007

This Handbook applies only to those taking theexamination in the Final Honour School of

Classics and English in 2009

UNIVERSITY OF OXFORDBoard of the Faculty of Classics

Board of the Faculty of English Language and Literature


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HANDBOOK FOR CLASSICS AND ENGLISH OCTOBER 2007

This Handbook is for those taking Classics and English Finals in 2009 only. We have triedour best to make it accurate in all respects: comments and corrections should be addressed to the

Administrative Secretary, English Faculty Office, St Cross Building, Manor Road.

CONTENTSI.

Structure of the Course ............................. .............................. .............................. .......... 1

A: English Papers...................................................................................................................................................1B: Classics Papers...................................................................................................................................................3C: Link Papers .4D: Restrictions........................................................................................................................................................6II. Practical Hints and Information.....................................................................................6

1. Choosing your Options..........................................................................................................................62. Tutors........................................................................................................................................................63. Tutorials, Classes and Collections........................................................................................................74. Modes of Work and Examination Techniques ..................................................................................8

Classics (i) Literary Commentary: Some Guidelines. .......................................................................8(ii) Examination Essays in Classical Literature: Some Guidelines. ..................................9

English (i) Essays: Presentation, Content and Style. ........................................................................9 Presentation ... 11 Content..............................................................Error! Bookmark not defined. Style....................................................................Error! Bookmark not defined.

(ii) Revision and Exams........................................................................................................145. Lectures ..................................................................................................................................................156. Joint Consultative Committees for Undergraduate Matters ..........................................................167. Complaints.............................................................................................................................................168. Illness ......................................................................................................................................................169. Where to get help..................................................................................................................................1710. Vacations................................................................................................................................................1711. Theses .....................................................................................................................................................1812. Examinations.........................................................................................................................................19

13. The Classics Centre ..............................................................................................................................2014. The English Faculty Office .................................................................................................................2015. Faculty Websites....................................................................................................................................2116. The Administration...............................................................................................................................2117. Libraries..................................................................................................................................................2118. Bookshops..............................................................................................................................................2219. Information Technology......................................................................................................................2220. Museums ................................................................................................................................................2321. Societies..................................................................................................................................................2322. Taking your Degree ..............................................................................................................................2323. Afterwards: Careers ..............................................................................................................................2424. Appendix A: More Detailed Information on Some Papers in English ........................................2525. Appendix B: Detailed Prescriptions for Papers in the Final Honour School of Classics and

English from Examination Regulations 2007 ........................................................................................3426. Appendix C: Official Stylesheet and Guidelines for the Presentation of Extended Essays and

Optional Theses in Classics and English ..........................................................................................4027. Appendix D: Conventions for Classification in the Final Honour School of Classics and

English....................................................................................................................................................4228. Appendix E: University Rules Governing IT Use...............................................................................4429. Appendix F: Disability Statement .4930. Appendix G. Classical Greek and wordprocessing . ... ... 50


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Aims and Objectives of Classics and English

Aims

(i) To build and encourage a properly grounded intellectual confidence instudents, enabling them to work independently but in a guided framework.

(ii) To use the study of key texts and issues systematically to compare classical and

English-speaking cultures(iii) To provide for students a sustained, carefully-designed and progressively-structured course which requires effort and rigour from them and which yieldsconsistent intellectual reward and satisfaction.

(iv) To train and encourage students in appropriate linguistic, analytical, researchand presentational skills to the highest possible standards.

(v) To equip students to approach major issues in their own as well as othercultures with a thoughtful and critical attitude.

(vi) To produce graduates who are able to deal with challenging intellectualproblems systematically, analytically, and efficiently, and who are suitable for a

wide range of demanding occupations and professions, including teaching oursubjects in schools and higher education.

Objectives

(i) To provide expert guidance over a very wide range of options in challenging fields of study within the Greco-Roman world and within English and relatedliteratures

(ii) To help students to acquire the ability to read accurately and critically texts anddocuments in Latin and/or Greek as well as English and relevant relatedlanguages.

(iii) To help students to acquire the skills to assess considerable amounts of material of diverse types, and to select, summarise and evaluate key aspects.

(iv) To foster in students both the skills of clear and effective communication in written and oral discourse, and the organisational skills needed to plan work and meet demanding deadlines.

(v) To provide a teaching environment in which the key features are close andregular personal attention to students, constructive criticism and evaluation of their work, and continuous monitoring of their academic progress.

(vi) To maintain and enhance the broadest possible base for student recruitment,and to maintain the highest intellectual standards at admission.

(vii) To provide effective mechanisms through which able students of differentlevels of experience can rapidly acquire the linguistic and other skills needed toachieve their potential in the subject.

(viii) To make full and effective use in our courses of the very wide range of research expertise in our faculties and the excellent specialist resources andcollections available in the University.

(ix) To offer courses which are kept under continuous review and scrutiny.


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I. Structure of the Course

This Joint Honour School pairs the study of Classical literature (Latin and/or Greek) with thatof English literature, taking a broad comparative approach. Candidates normally enter the School afterthe preparatory year of Classics and English Moderations (two years for those beginning their classicallanguage at Oxford), described in the relevant handbook, in which some basic texts are studied in bothClassics and English; candidates can also enter the School from English Moderations, though they cannot do so from Classics Moderations.

[From October 2008 there will be a new option to take a Second Classical Language as one of your Classical papers. For this option you will only have to offer two link papers and may also offer afurther paper or thesis. You should consult your tutor on teaching.]

Candidates are required to cover seven papers in the six terms (which are in effect five terms,the last term normally being occupied with revision). These seven comprise two papers in Classics, twoin English, and three Link papers which combine both subjects. In addition, you may take an eighthpaper in either English or Classical Literature (subject to various restrictions - see Section D below), oroffer a thesis in one literature or both. What follows is a more up-to-date and more user-friendly account than the Examination Regulations , the official but formidably technical handbook which was givento you when you came to Oxford (the relevant pages from the most recent version are reprinted in

Appendix B). Fuller accounts of the wide range of Classical papers in the course are to be found in theHandbook for Greats (Classics Finals); similar brief accounts of some English papers are given in

Appendix A. The following pages list the papers available in three categories : English papers (A),Classics papers (B), and Link papers (C), with a final section on restrictions of choice (D). Section Dshould be read carefully by all candidates in order to avoid the (few) illegitimate combinations of papers.

A: English Papers

1. 'Period' paper . Of the two English papers offered by candidates in the School, one must be oneof the following periods of English literature, taken in a single paper unless otherwise noted:

(a) 1100-1509(b) 1509-1642(c) 1642-1740(d) 1740-1832

(e) 1832-1900(f) 1900-present day.

There are some restrictions on who may take papers (b), and (d - f) - see section D below.Candidates will be given an opportunity to show their knowledge of classical influence.

2. Second Paper . This is selected from a very wide range of papers in English and associatedlanguages and literatures, more than forty in number, listed briefly below (some descriptions of papersare to be found in Appendix A, and the full regulations of the Examination Regulations are reprinted in

Appendix B). These papers are usually examined by a three-hour written examination; but some usealternative methods of assessment: (c) The English Language is examined at the end of Trinity Term of the second year by a portfolio of two essays written on themes set by the examiners; (d) Special Authorsare examined in Michaelmas Term of the third year by an Extended Essay written on a theme suppliedby the examiners; (e) Special Topics are examined in Hilary Term of the third year by an Extended Essay on a title devised by the candidates and approved by the examiners; some of the options listed from (f)to (y) are also examined by Extended Essay (for full details on these alternatives see Appendix A below,and for the general regulations for pre-submitted essays see the relevant sections from the Examination Regulations , given in Appendix B below). The numeration of the papers is generally that used in thedescription of the Final Honour School of English Language and Literature in the Examination Regulations . Candidates must choose one of the following (for fuller details of most of these options see

Appendix A below):

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(a) a second 'period' paper from those listed above (subject to therestrictions in section D below)

(b) Shakespeare (Course I, Subject 2)(c) The English Language

(Course I, Subject 1)(d) any of the Special Authors for the year concerned (Course I,

Subject 7). Those available for examination in 2008 are as follows:

(a) The Beowulf Poet, Alfred, The Exeter Book (b) Chaucer, Langland, The N-Town Cycle(c) Spenser, Milton, Jonson(d) Marvell, Dryden, Eliza Haywood(e) Wordsworth, Austen, Byron(f) Tennyson, Dickens, Wilde(g) Conrad, Yeats, Woolf (h) Walcott, Roth, Friel(i) Emerson, Dickinson, Faulkner

(e) one of the following Special Topics (Course I, Subject 8):(a) Fiction in English(b) Drama in English, excluding Shakespeare

(c)

Prose in English(d) Poetry in English(e) American Literature from the beginnings to the present day (f) Women's Writing (g) Postcolonial literature(j) Any one of the centrally organized Special Topics for the year concerned.

These options will be published in the University Gazette by the beginning of thefifth week of the Trinity Term one year before the examination.

(f) The History of the English Language to c.1750 (Course II, subject A.5)(g) English Literature 600-1100 (Course II, subject A.1)(h) Old English Philology (Course II, subject B.1)(i) Middle English Dialectology (Course II, subject B.2)(j) Modern English Philology (Course II, subject B.3)(k) Linguistic Theory (Course II, subject B.4)(l) The Archaeology of Anglo-Saxon England, seventh to ninth

centuries (Course II, subject B.10)(m) Gothic (Course II, subject B.11)(n) Old Saxon (Course II, subject B.12)(o) Old High German (Course II, subject B.13)(p) Middle High German (Course II, subject B.14)(q) Old Norse (Course II, subject B.15)(r) Old Norse Texts (Course II, subject B.16)(s) Old French Language 1150-1250 (Course II, subject B.18)(t) Medieval French Literature 1100-1300 OR

Medieval French Literature 1300-1500 (Course II, subjects B.19 and B.20)(u) Medieval Welsh Language and Literature I OR

Medieval Welsh Language and Literature (Course II, subjects B.21 and B.22)(v) Old and Early Middle Irish Language and Literature (Course II, B23)(w) The Latin Literature of the British Isles Before the Norman Conquest of England

(Course II, subject B.25)(x) Medieval and Renaissance Romance (Course II, Subject B.7(a))(y) Scottish Literature pre-1600 (Course II, Subject B.7 (b))

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B: Classics Papers

3. First Classics paper -'Core' paper . Of the two Classics papers offered by candidates in the School,one must be a 'core' paper, in either Greek or Latin; these papers can also be taken by candidates inClassics. The Greek core paper is 'Greek Literature of the Fifth Century B.C.' the Latin core paper is'Latin Literature of the First Century B.C.'. Each of these studies six key texts in prose and verse from akey period of literary history.

4. Second Classics paper . The second paper can be selected from more than thirty options within anumber of the disciplines of Classics (which include Ancient History, Philology and Linguistics, and

Ancient Philosophy), subject to a few restrictions of combination connected with the Link Papers; thoseoffering one of the below as an extra eighth paper are also subject to various restrictions of combination(see section D below).

The full list of Classics papers is as follows (a fuller and more informative description of eachpaper is to be found in the Greats Handbook); the numeration of papers is generally that used forClassics in the Examination Regulations .

FIRST CLASSICAL PAPER

You must take as your first Classical paper EITHER :

Greek Core: Greek Literature of the Fifth Century B.C OR Latin Core: Latin Literature of the First Century B.C.

[An additional translation paper of one-and-a-half hours will be set on these subjects.]

SECOND CLASSICAL PAPER Any one of the following subjects:

LITERATURE The other core paper (with additional translation paper)

HistoriographyLyric PoetryEarly Greek Hexameter Poetry Greek Tragedy ComedyHellenistic Poetry CiceroOvidLatin DidacticNeronian LiteratureEuripides, Orestes : Papyri, manuscripts, textEITHER: Seneca, Agamemnon : manuscripts, text, interpretation.OR Catullus: manuscripts, text, interpretation

The Conversion of AugustineByzantine LiteratureModern Greek Poetry

Greek Historical LinguisticsLatin Historical LinguisticsComparative Philology: Indo-European, Greek and LatinGeneral Linguistics and Comparative Philology (see below for restrictions)

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These subjects will be examined by an extended essay of 5,000-6,000 words. Essay topics will be released on Monday of Week 6 of Hilary Term immediately preceding theexamination; essays should be submitted by Monday of Week 10. Only one of thesesubjects may be offered. All of them require an additional one-and-a-half hour paper of translation, of texts.

PHILOSOPHY

130 Plato: Republic 131 Plato: Theaetetus and Sophist 132 Aristotle: Nicomachean Ethics 133 Aristotle: Physics 134 Sextus Empiricus: Outlines of Pyrrhonism 135 Cicero: De Finibus III

For texts to be read in the original language in these philosophical options, see Regulations 2007 p. 427.

ANCIENT HISTORY

The Early Greek World and Herodotus Histories: 650 to 479 BC Thucydides and the Greek World :479 to 403 BC

The End of the Peloponnesian War to the death of Phillip II of Macedon: 403 to 336 BCPolybius, Rome and the Mediterranean: 241-146 BCRepublic in Crisis: 146-46 BCRome, Italy and Empire from Caesar to Claudius: 46 BC to 54 AD

Athenian Democracy in the Classical Age Alexander the Great and his early Successors The Hellenistic World: Societies and Culture c.300 100 BCCicero: Politics and Thought in the Late RepublicPolitics, Society and Culture from Nero to HadrianReligions in the Greek and Roman WorldSexuality and Gender in Greece and Rome

C: Link Papers

The Link papers are one of the striking and most attractive features of the Final Honour Schoolof Classics and English; relatively rarely for Oxford joint schools, they give an opportunity to study,contrast and compare the two parts of the school in the same paper, and in each paper it is obligatory toanswer at least one essay question which relates Classical and English literature. This allows unrivalledopportunity for deep and broad consideration of ancient literary genres and texts in the context of theirlater reception in English literature, and over a long period of their histories.

Of the Link papers listed below, you must take paper 5, Epic ; you must then choose two furtherLink papers from papers 6,7 (a)-(g).

In papers 5 and 6,7 (a)-(d) and (g), you will be expected to be familiar with the texts prescribed,but will be given the opportunity to show knowledge of other authors and texts; in each of these papersit is also obligatory to answer at least one essay question which relates Classical and English Literature.

5. Epic . Compulsory paper. Set authors : Homer, Virgil, Lucan, Milton, Dryden, Pope. There will be a compulsory passage for comment from Milton's Paradise Lost , and also a compulsory passage for comment involving direct comparison between Homer or Virgil and one or moreEnglish translations (five books of Homer, Odyssey 6 and 9-12, and three of Virgil, Aeneid 7, 8and 12 are specified for this question).

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6,7. Further link papers. TWO to be chosen, one of which must be taken from papers (a)-(d).

a. Tragedy . Prescribed texts: Aeschylus, Agamemnon ; Sophocles, Oedipus The King ; Euripides, Medea and Hecuba ; Seneca, Medea and Thyestes ; Kyd, The Spanish Tragedy ; Marlowe,Tamburlaine the Great (Parts 1 and 2), Edward II , Dr Faustus , Dido Queen of Carthage ; Shakespeare; Jonson,Sejanus, Catiline ; Webster, The White Devil, The Duchess of Malfi ; Middleton, The Changeling ,Women Beware Women ; Ford, 'Tis Pity She's a Whore ; Milton, Samson Agonistes . There will be anoptional commentary question with passages from Aeschylus, Agamemnon and Seneca, Thyestes .

b. Comedy . Prescribed texts: Aristophanes, Birds ; Menander, Dyscolos ; Plautus, Amphitryoand Menaechmi ; Terence, Adelphoe ; Gascoigne, Supposes ; Lyly,Campaspe, Mother Bombie ; Shakespeare'scomedies; Jonson, Every Man in his Humour, Volpone, Epicoene, The Alchemist, Bartholomew;

Wycherley, The Country Wife ; Vanbrugh, The Relapse ; Congreve, The Double Dealer, The Way of the World ; Sheridan, The Rivals, The School for Scandal, The Critic . There will be an optionalcommentary question with passages from Aristophanes, Birds and Terence, Adelphoe .

c. Satire . Prescribed texts: Horace, Satires Book 1.1, 4-6, 9-10, and Book 2.1, 6; PersiusSatires 1 and5; Juvenal Satires 1, 3, 6, and 10; the satires of Wyatt, Donne, Marston, Dryden, Johnson andPope. There will be an optional commentary question with passages from Juvenal, Satires 1, 3, 6,and 10.

d. Pastoral . Prescribed texts: Theocritus, Idylls 1, 3, 4, 6, 7, 10, 11; Bion, Adonidis Epitaphium ;[Moschus], Epitaphium Bionis ; Virgil, Eclogues ; Mantuan 1; Tasso, Aminta ; Guarini, Il Pastor Fido;Spenser, Astrophel and The Shepheardes Calendar , Faerie Queen VI.ix-xii; Fletcher,The Faithful Shepherdess ; Milton, Lycidas and Epitaphium Damonis ; Pope, Windsor Forest, Pastorals ; Shelley, Adonais ; Arnold, Thyrsis . There will be an optional commentary question with passages from theprescribed texts of Theocritus and Virgil.

e. Medieval and Renaissance Latin Hexameter Poetry : Prescribed Texts : ( ) Walter of Chtillon, Alexandreis 10, Petrarch, Africa 9; Bucolicum Carmen 1 and 3, Vida, Ars Poetica 3, Milton, InQuintum Novembris, Mansus, Epitaphium Damonis ( ) Walter, Alexandreis 1-9, Petrarch,

Africa 1-8, Vida, Ars Poetica 1-2.

This paper will be examined through an extended essay of 5,000-6,000 words in Hilary Term,and by a one and a half hour translation paper containing passages from all set texts, in Trinity

Term. Essay topics set by the examiners will be released on Monday of 6th week of Hilary Termimmediately preceding the examination and essays should be submitted to the ExaminationSchools by 12 noon on Monday of 10th week.

f. Rhetoric and Literary Theory in Ancient and Modern Times . This paper includes elements fromthe English paper The History and Theory of Criticism , and cannot be combined with it.

g. The Reception of Classical Literature in Twentieth-Century Poetry in English since 1900. This paper looksat the reception of classical literature in the English poetry of the twentieth century. Authors

who are likely to feature include Hardy, Yeats, Frost, Eliot, Pound, H.D., Auden, MacNeice,Lowell, Hughes, Walcott, Carson, Harrison Longley and Heaney in English, and Homer,

Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, Aristophanes, Vergil, Horace and Ovid in Classics.

This paper will be examined only by an extended essay of 5,000-6,000 words. Essay topics setby the examiners will be released on Monday of 6th week of Hilary Term and essays should besubmitted to the Examination Schools by 12 noon on Monday of 10 th week of the same term.Candidates will be required to use at least three authors in their essays, at least one of whichmust be a classical author.

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D: Restrictions

Eighth Paper .Candidates wishing to offer an optional eighth paper may offer only another paper from 2

(Second English Paper) or 4 (Second Classics Paper); no candidate may offer more than one optionfrom either 2(d) [English Special Authors] or 2(e) [English Special Topics].

English Papers.Of the English period papers (A:1), Paper (b) may NOT be offered by those who have already

taken that paper in Classics and English Mods; papers (e) and (f) may NOT be offered by those whohave taken those papers in English Mods. Those who offer 2(b) Shakespeare or 2(d) Special Authors willnot be permitted to answer questions on these authors in other papers specified under 2.

Classics PapersSection (a) of Classics Paper V.3 General Linguistics and Comparative Philology may not be offered

together with English Paper A.2(l) Linguistic Theory ; those offering this section are further not permittedto answer a question from section A of English Paper A.2.(c), The History, Use and Theory of the English Language.See also above under Second Classical Paper: Literature.

Link Papers .Link paper 6,7 (a) Tragedy cannot be offered together with Classics paper Greek Tragedy .

Link paper 6,7 (b ) Comedy cannot be offered together with Classics paper Comedy .General

Candidates should not offer two options that are examined by extended essay at the same time;for example, The Reception of Classical Literature in Twentieth-Century Poetry in English since 1900may not beoffered with any of the English Special Topics (paper A.2e).

Where an option is examined by an extended essay , the essay must be the work of thecandidate alone, and he or she must not discuss with any tutor either his or her choice of theme or themethod of handling it.

II. Practical Hints and Information

1. Choosing your Options

In choosing your options in Finals, it is vital that you discuss the question with your tutors inboth Classics and English before you take Mods at the end of year 1. The syllabus allows you a widediversity of choice, and you need to choose your papers with care if you are to make the most of what ison offer. Your tutors, as well as having views about good combinations of papers and about yourparticular academic strengths, will know what the timetabling constraints are (some papers are taught inUniversity Classes and so can only be taken in particular terms). Make sure you know before you godown for the summer vacation which two papers you will be working on during the Michaelmas Termso that you can start C&E adequately prepared. Whatever your choice of papers, C&E is a very challenging degree; and to ensure that it is exhilarating and not just gruelling, it is vital to get off to a

flying start.

2. Tutors

Anybody to whom you go for tutorials or college classes counts as one of your tutors. Over the whole course there will certainly be two and probably several more. Some will be tutorial Fellows orLecturers of your own college; some may be tutorial Fellows or Lecturers of other colleges, or ResearchFellows, or graduate students. The overall responsibility for giving or arranging your tuition will lie withtutorial Fellows or Lecturers of your own college. Behind them stands the Senior Tutor (or in some

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colleges Director of Undergraduate Studies), who carries final responsibility for seeing that properarrangements are made if one of these people is absent through illness or on leave.

It will probably be a rule of your college that you call on these in-college tutors at the beginning of term to arrange tuition, and at the end of term to arrange vacation reading and next term s subjects.In any case it is a very good idea to pay such calls, if necessary on your own initiative. Colleges havedifferent rules about when term begins . The official start is Sunday of First Week of Full Term, but you

will certainly be expected back before then, and you should try to ensure that by the Sunday you know who your tutors for the term will be, have met or corresponded with them, and have been set work andassigned tutorial times by them.

If you would like a change of tutor, say so if it is not embarrassing; otherwise don t just donothing, but take the problem to someone else in your college - your College Adviser, the Senior Tutor,the Women s Adviser, the Chaplain, or even the head of college, if your difficulty is serious. Most suchproblems arise from a personality-clash that has proved intractable; but since in a university of Oxford ssize there are likely to be alternative tutors for nearly all your subjects, there s no point in putting up witha relationship which is impeding your academic progress. In these circumstances you can usually expecta change, but not necessarily to the particular tutor whom you would prefer. Most colleges have a systemof feedback whereby you can comment on your tutorials (including your own performance within them)and your tutors: this is normally done by a written questionnaire, though the format varies considerably.Please do use these questionnaires: confidentiality can always be assured if you wish, and comments(even if made anonymously) are extremely useful both to the college and to the tutors themselves.

At the end of each term you can expect a formal report, discussed perhaps with the Head of

House and perhaps with your tutors. These are intended to be two-way exchanges: if you have concernsabout your work or your tuition, do not hesitate to say so.Both University and colleges also have networks of welfare and pastoral care: details are given in

the University of Oxford: Essential Information for Students , and in the literature which will have been givenyou by your college.

3. Tutorials, Classes and Collections

What you are expected to bring to a tutorial is an intelligent understanding of the reading which was set for it (or a variant on your own initiative if some book or article proves really inaccessible) andany written work demanded. What you have a right to expect is your tutor s presence and scholarly attention throughout the hour agreed, plus guidance, e.g. a reading list, for next time. Beyond that styles

differ, depending on how many students are sharing the tutorial, the nature of the topic, and the habitsand personality of your tutor. You must not expect uniformity, and you will gain most if you succeed inadapting to differences.

In C&E Finals it is necessary to cover seven subjects in five tutorial terms (the weeks before theexamination being usually set aside for revision). This means that you will often be studying a Classicsand an English paper together in the same term (though individual arrangements will vary according topaper and College), having more than one tutorial a week. You should not be writing more than twelvetutorial essays per term.

The more you bring to a tutorial or class, the more you will gain from it. Tutorials are anopportunity for you to raise the issues and ask the questions which concern you, and to try out your ownideas in discussion with someone of greater experience; classes are an opportunity to explore issuestogether, and to get used to general discussion. Do not be afraid to speak up if something strikes you orif you are unsure of something : those who say least in class are seldom those who get most benefit.

Missing a tutorial is a very serious matter. If you cannot attend your tutorial for a good reason(e.g. illness), you must let your tutor know in advance and make arrangements to catch up on the work missed. If you do miss a tutorial without good reason, immediately explain and apologise, and let yourtutor have the work for that tutorial. Tutors have many other duties, so tutorials should not berearranged or postponed except for the most serious reasons.

For most tutorials, and for many classes, you will be asked to produce written work, and a gooddeal of your time will be spent writing and preparing essays on topics suggested by your tutors. They willnormally direct you towards some secondary reading. However, you should be careful not to let thereading of bibliography detract from reading the text, or to allow other scholars' writings to dictate the

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order of presentation of your own essays. The examination, and the course, is about the subjects and the works prescribed in the Regulations , not the books in bibliographies.

Most colleges set at least one 'collection', i.e. examination, at the beginning of each term; many set two, and some expect a vacation essay as well, particularly in the long vacation. Collections willnormally be on the reading which you will have covered over the vacation: on the importance of such

vacation reading, see below, p. 17It is reasonable to expect written comments on any work a tutor takes in; but many tutors do

not put marks on written work, except for collections. If you are left uncertain of the general quality of your work, do not hesitate to ask.

4. Modes of Work and Examination Techniques

CLASSICS

(i) Literary Commentary: Some Guidelines.

Writing a literary commentary should not be the same as writing a short essay. A commentary islargely concerned with the explication of a single passage of text; an essay is directed towards a differentgoal making a more general argument or arguments on a set topic, using a wide range of primary andsecondary evidence. Here are some guidelines on commentary-writing which may be of use.

1. Identify the context (briefly but precisely), paying some attention to what follows as well as what precedes. If the passage is part of direct speech, identify the speaker.

2. Say what you feel should be saidabout the passage as a whole . This will vary from author toauthor and passage to passage, but the following suggestions may be useful:(a) How the passage fits into the overall themes of the work from which it comes (for

example in a play). Do cross-refer to other relevant passages, but do this fairly briefly (commentary, not essay!)

(b) [In drama] general elements of stagecraft and scene-setting.(c) [In narrative works] the passage's place in the plot and narrative development (is this a

crucial or a pivotal point? does it look forward or back to other points?)(d) In works written in the first person] tone - i.e. the presumed relationship between

the persona/speaker and the addressee.(e) Logical and rhetorical structure (argument, coherence).(f) Intertextuality, i.e. significant relationship to other literature (e.g. Greek lyric model for

a Horatian ode, Aeschylus used by Euripides).(g) Any relevant literary conventions which determine the overall character of the passage -

e.g. hymn-style, supplication scene, priamel, ekphrasis,locus amoenus , paraklausithyron,propemptikon (if any of these terms or others are unknown to you, look them up in(e.g.) the indices of Nisbet and Hubbard's commentaries on Horace's Odes or of Russelland Winterbottom's Ancient Literary Criticism , Liddell and Scott, or the Oxford Latin Dictionary ).

3. Say what you feel should be said about the details of the passage , going through it in orderand indicating points of interest. You may find it useful to quote a few words of the original andthen comment on them, or use line numbers to refer to the text. The following might be worth

noting:(a) Significant names, periphrases and factual references (note significant : there may not betime to explain all, and some will be too obvious to bother with).

(b) Detailed examples of the elements listed in 2 above (specifically keyed to the wording of the passage).

(c) Rhetorical devices (e.g. anaphora, apostrophe, tricolon).(d) Metaphor and related figures (simile, personification, etymological play, metonymy).(e) Verbal style (general linguistic register, unusual/colourful vocabulary).(f) Word order (e.g. artistic rearrangement of natural order, esp. in poetry).

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(g) Use of metrical form in poetry (couplet, stanza, verse paragraph); particular metricaleffects (enjambement, hypermetre, antilabe, stichomythia), sound effects (but not toofanciful 'sinister s-sounds', 'gloomy spondees' etc).

4. Finally, if possible,explain as well asdescribe: it may be worth saying that grata compede (Horace, Odes 1.33.14) is an oxymoron, but you might also say why it is there, what its literary function is within the passage (partly humour, in that case).

(ii) Examination Essays in Classical Literature: Some Guidelines.

1. Selection. Examination essays of 40 or 60 minutes cannot hope to cover the wide territory oftensurveyed in tutorial essays written with full use of books over much longer periods. The key is selection : asuccessful examination essay needs to select the points crucial to the topic in hand, and not too many of them, and deal swiftly and methodically with each. Just going through the text summarising andcommenting on it may be a useful preparation for tutorials, but it will cut little ice in examination essays.Choose the most important passages in your view, and use them in your answer.

2. Relevance. Read, think about, and answer the question on the paper not the one you would like tohave been asked. Don't simply regurgitate material from a tutorial essay which was not quite on the sametopic. Beginning the essay by defining the question, and ending it by returning to it to work out whatkind of answer you have produced, can often be helpful in ensuring that what you write is relevant.

3. Personal Views. Don't be afraid to give your personal views; the examiner will be much moreinterested in what you think than in regurgitation of standard opinions, of which he or she has already read large numbers. Of course, personal views should be more than purely subjective comments;judgements should always be accompanied by justifying argument. But the whole point of reading classical literature at Oxford is to engage in and enjoy a personal encounter with a text, and this shouldbe reflected as much in examination essays as in tutorial discussions.

4. Essay Structure. This may vary according to topic and taste, but the essay as a whole should have aclear and coherent argument, which should be reflected in its structure. The use of paragraphs inarticulating material is particularly important: if possible, try to use a single paragraph for each crucialpoint, and ensure that there are logical connections between paragraphs. The writing of a short essay plan often helps to clarify structure.

5. Evidence. Do use textual evidence to back up your arguments and suggestions: ideas are much morepersuasive when supported by passages of text without such evidence they become mere assertions.

Textual evidence need not mean massive memorising of chunks of ancient languages: accurateparaphrase in English is much better than inaccurate quotation.

ENGLISH

(i) Essays: Presentation, Content and Style.

Presentation Presentation is important, especially for your extended essays and your optional thesis if you choose todo one. You will find it much easier to meet the standards required for these if you have practised goodessay presentation throughout your course. The scholarly procedures tutors and examiners will belooking for are really very straightforward.

1. Spelling and grammar . Take care to make these as accurate as possible. Invest in a decentdictionary. Most word-processing programmes also have grammar and spell-checking functions.

2. Critics. When you refer to the work of a critic, you should acknowledge that you have done so. Namethe critical work in question (e.g. not ...recent critics have claimed that... but ...in Browning s Hatreds

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(1993), Daniel Karlin claims that... ), and of course include the page number. These works should beincluded in your list of works cited at the end of the essay. To do this you will of course need to takeaccurate notes of your critical reading in the first place.

3. Quotations. When you quote from a text, make sure you do it accurately: always check! Giving pagenumbers, or line references, will help you to locate the quotation when you come to revision, and is arequirement of the extended essays. Start all quotations of more than a few words on a line of their own,and always quote poetry with line breaks in the right places.

4. References. When you refer to a book, or a play, or a long poem, underline the title (Bleak House,Hamlet, Paradise Lost) or print it in italics if you are word-processing your work. Titles of short stories,essays, or shorter poems, should go in quotation marks ( Amos Barton , The Function of Criticism atthe Present Time , The Kraken ). It is often useful, particularly for revision purposes, to note the datetoo ( ...Browning s Men and Women (1855)... ). In order for you and others to find the quotation, at theend of your essay you should provide a short list of the works (both literary and critical) that you haveconsulted and/or cited in your essay. Include sufficient brief publication information for it to be clear

which edition of a work you have used (e.g., Penguin, 1994; or, more fully, ed., Isobel Armstrong,Penguin, 1994). This may seem like a lot of work for a weekly essay, but you will be required to providethis information in your extended essays, it is good scholarly practice, and it will be useful for you to getinto the habit now of including these details.

5. Electronic citations. You are referred to the MLA Handbook for Writers of Research Papers (6thedition, New York: Modern Language Association of America, 2003 pp. 207-235), for a generally recognized form of citation for electronic publications. You should further refine the distinction madethere between the status of electronic publications on CD-ROM and diskette (portable databases) andthat of online databases. While CD-ROM publications may be regularly updated, they neverthelessconstitute products whose identity can be verified in many of the ways that operate for printed sources.Online databases, however, often have a far less stable and verifiable existence - they may be continually updated, altered, or may even disappear without notification to users. Because of the absence of many of the protocols that guarantee printed sources, online sources may lack further reliability as authoritativesources. Consequently, it is advised that you exercise considerable caution in their use, that you considerthem as work-in-progress documents, and their availability as unique (i.e., not necessarily reclaimable onany other occasion). In the citation of online sources you should therefore, and in addition to the

conventions of citation outlined in the MLA Handbook, in every case include the date of accessing thematerial and, where practical, print outs of the relevant sections cited. Where sources are available inprinted and electronic versions, you should make every effort to cite the printed version in preference.

Content1. Don t try to include everything in your essay. If, for instance, you re writing on Shakespeare s imagery,you are not going to be able to say all that there is to be said about Shakespeare s stagecraft as well,though it might be relevant to say something brief about it. One of the things you have to learn as youpractise the skill of writing a literary essay is to be selective - again, it is crucial both for extended essaysand for Schools.

2. Always try to construct a coherent argument. Write with the aim of persuading your tutor or tutorialpartner of your point of view. First, you need to be sure that you do in fact have a point of view, andthat it is defensible - and, preferably, interesting. There s no rule against being controversial. You mighthave changed your mind by the end of term (or indeed by the end of the tutorial), but that may be agood thing.

3. Be specific. Vague generalisations about an author or a topic never get you very far. This is true whether you re engaged on a piece of focused textual analysis, or discussing a large cultural issue. Alwayspin your argument down to specific texts, and specific evidence.

Style

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1. Critical language is formal, and chatty colloquialisms are best avoided. But don t go to the otherextreme and become pompous. A simple and direct style is usually most convincing.

2. Avoid clichs, always a sign of a brain off-duty ( harsh reality , deep yearning , dark despair ...). Makesure that every word you use earns its keep.

3. Avoid critical terms, either of commendation or condemnation, that have no real content. Effectivelanguage is a good example - effective in what way? Vague adjectives such as powerful , rich , strikingalso fall into this category (still more, phrases like incredibly rich , extremely striking , very powerful ...).

PLAGIARISM These are the Faculty s agreed guidelines on plagiarism. They are particularly directed towardsFinalists writing extended essays and optional thesis, but have relevance throughout yourundergraduate career.

1. Plagiarism is the use of material appropriated from another source or from other sources with theintention of passing it off as one s own work, and may take the form of unacknowledged quotation orsubstantial paraphrase. Plagiarism can also be the unintended result of careless presentation, if extensivequoted material or close paraphrase are included without acknowledgement. This constitutes recklessplagiarism. Sources of material include all printed and electronically available publications in English orother languages, or unpublished materials, including theses, written by others. The Proctors regard

plagiarism as a serious form of cheating for which offenders can expect to receive severe penalties.

2. Your essays will inevitably sometimes involve the use and discussion of critical material written by others with due acknowledgement and with references given. This is standard critical practice and can beclearly distinguished from appropriating without acknowledgement (and presenting as your own)material produced by others, which is what constitutes plagiarism. If you employ good working habits inpreparing your weekly essays and extended essays, there is little danger that you will be accused of plagiarism unjustifiably.

3. An essay is essentially your view of the subject. While you will be expected to be familiar with critical views and debates in relation to the subject on which you are writing, and to discuss them as necessary,it is your particular response to the theme or question at issue that is required by tutors and examiners.

4. When you read the primary texts that you will be discussing in your essay, make sure that you find your own examples of episodes, themes, arguments, etc that you wish to discuss. Note these down, inthe back of your own copy of the book, or elsewhere, and make sure that they form the basis of thematerial you will be discussing in the essay. If you work from your own examples, you will be much lesslikely to appropriate other people s materials. Get to know your primary texts well before you embark ondetailed secondary reading.

5. When you are taking notes from secondary sources:(a) always note author, title (of book or journal, and essay or article title as appropriate), place of

publication (for books), and page numbers.(b) If you have time, it is a good idea to read the chapter or article through once quickly before you

take notes on it. This will make the notes that you take on a second, slower reading, morediscriminating, and will make you less likely simply to transcribe quantities of material withoutthinking it through.

(c) If you do copy out material word for word from secondary sources, make sure that you identify it as quotation (by putting inverted commas round it) in your notes. This will ensure that yourecognise it as such when you are reading it through in preparing your essay.

(d) At the same time always note down page numbers of quoted material. This will make it easierfor you to check back if you are in doubt about any aspect of a reference. It will also be anecessary part of citation (see 6 below).

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6. When you are writing your essay, always make sure that you identify material quoted from critics orideas and arguments that are particularly influenced by them. There are various ways of doing this, inyour text and in footnotes (see Essays: Presentation, Content and Style , pp. 26-7, and Guidelines forthe Presentation of Extended Essays and Optional Theses , pp. 40-3). If you are substantially indebtedto a particular critic s arguments in the formulation of your materials, it may not be enough to cite his orher work once in a footnote at the start or the end of the essay. Make clear, if necessary in the body of your text, the extent of your dependence on these arguments in the generation of your own and,ideally, how your views develop or diverge from this influence.

7. You may wish to acknowledge ideas or material that you have obtained from lectures in the EnglishFaculty. The best way to do this is to put in a footnote citing the lecturer, the lecture series and the termin question.

8. Example This is a passage from Barry Windeatt sTroilus and Criseyde (The Oxford Guides to Chaucer; Oxford,1992, p. 196):

At the very centre of the poem s structure Troilus is at last impelled inside the curtained bed of Criseyde, which stands inside the litel closet within Pandarus house in the walled and besieged city of Troy. The most intimate experience of Troilus lies not only at the centre of its structure as a poembut at the centre of a succession of containing and enclosing structures in the fabric of its setting at

Troy, within which the physical union of Troilus and Criseyde is a climax not only intrinsically but

also as the fulfilment and completion of a pattern. It is towards this central episode that the poemmoves with a centrifugal energy which, once the centre is passed, becomes a centripetal force, andthis is given form and shape through the setting and background of the action.

Legitimate use of this passage: Like Sir Gawain and the Green Knight , or indeed Beowulf , Troilus and Criseyde is a poem susceptible to anumber of different approaches to its structure. The move fro wo to wele, and after out of ioie (I,4), announced at its opening, focuses on the fortunes of the poem s main protagonist as a key element in its construction. The Troy ioye rhyme in this stanza (I, 2 and 4) is a recurrent one inthe poem and draws attention to the central role that location also has in Troilus . As Barry Windeattnotes, as the poem approaches its structural centre, the Trojan locations narrow down to thecurtained bed of Criseyde, which stands inside the litel closet within Pandarus house in the

walled and besieged city of Troy .1 As he also observes, this central episode, in which the firstphysical union of Troilus and Criseyde takes place, is in fact part of a structural sequence, whichplaces this union at the heart of the poem - and one might say, almost at the heart of Troy - andthen moves after it to an increasing fragmentation of location and action. But it is arguable that thefact that Chaucer puts wele and human love at the structural centre of Troilus is as important as

what he puts at its end.

1 B. Windeatt, Troilus and Criseyde , Oxford Guides to Chaucer (Oxford, 1992), p. 196. This illustration both quotes from and paraphrases parts of the passage in question, but it acknowledgesits debts, in footnote (for the quotation) and in the text (for the paraphrase). It also incorporates thematerial within a set of arguments that are either not dependent on Windeatt s material or develop it inan original direction, and it adds in its own original examples or insights.

Plagiarism: What Chaucer puts at the heart of his poem is worthy of note. At the very centre of Troilus and Criseyde Troilus is at last brought inside the curtained bed of Criseyde, which stands within the

litel closet within Pandarus house in the walled and besieged city of Troy. The intimacy of thisscene is further intensified by the fact that it completes a structural pattern in the poem in which

what might be seen as centrifugal and centripetal elements are involved. The poem movestowards this central episode so that it forms a climax in the work; after this centre is passed, thecentripetal movement takes over.

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This version is almost entirely derivative of Windeatt s original passage. It quotes some of it directly or with minimal variation and puts other parts of it into close paraphrase. It contains no new material, nordoes it add to the sum of the ideas in the original. It offers no acknowledgment of its source, and givesthe impression that its author intends this argument and choice of illustrations to be taken as original tohim or her.Every time you use another s ideas, you must give them credit - even in your weekly essays. Certainly,should you be found guilty of plagiarism in any piece of work you submitted towards completion of therequirements for a degree of the University, you would be subject to disciplinary action. The Proctors regard plagiarism as a serious form of cheating for which offenders can expect to receive severe penas.

Extended Essays for papers 7 and 8 and Course II B papers and thesesExtended essays for papers 7 and 8, and theses, must be presented in proper scholarly form.

The approved stylesheet for presentation of these essays is given in Appendix C at the end of thisbooklet.

Vacation PreparationBoth papers are preceded by lengthy vacations (especially Paper 7 and some course II B papers).

It is essential that you use these vacations as preparation for the 5/6 weeks of teaching you willbe getting in term. For Paper 7 it is essential that you ve at least read the major works of the authorconcerned. You should also have done some kind of survey of the critical reception of this author up tothe present day. Most tutors will have issued you with a reading list to take away. Various critical

introductions, which may of themselves not be either helpful or stimulating, are worth consulting fortheir bibliographies in this respect. Try to have the major critical bases covered. Paper 8 is ratherdifferent, as within the broad topics offered in the options you should already have started to define

what you re going to work on. Indeed your College tutor will have almost certainly arranged your tuitionon the basis of some indication on your part of where your particular interests lie - e.g. for the Novelpaper the Gothic Novel or for Women s Writing criture feminine in contemporary fiction, etc. Often you

will have met with your prospective tutor to discuss your options. It is important that you use the vacation to fine-tune your sense of your area of interest e.g. to decide within the Gothic novel that you wish to write on Radcliffe and Reeve and women s Gothic. That is not to say that you should know exactly what you intend to write on (either in terms of texts or issues), but you should at least come back to Oxford with enough knowledge to shape the course of the tutorials over the coming six weeks.

Term Time Tutors teach the papers in different ways. For Paper 7, for instance, some tutors will cover the

major texts of a writer week by week, raising broader issues, as they become relevant. Others may devotedifferent weeks to different topics within the corpus of an author s work. Similarly with Paper 8, someauthors will offer a survey of, say, the Gothic novel in relation to your expressed interests; others willseek to work closely with texts you and he or she have already identified. So, for instance, to revert tothe Gothic novel example, you may begin with tutorials on Radcliffe and Reeve, but discover or beintroduced to the work of Charlotte Dacre during the term, and decide you want to develop theextended essay to incorporate her work. Either way, for both papers the more you know when youcome up the more you can shape the direction of these tutorials. It is also important that as the tutorialsdevelop you begin to build up a sense of a thesis. Unlike a lot of your work so far, extended essaysrequire you to invent an area in which to work.

Writing the EssayBasically you have three weeks. Don t panic. Don t start writing without thinking.Choose a quotation which in general terms allows you to develop issues which you ve already

been thinking about. Then sit down and work out an argument. An extended essay needs an argumentto underpin it. You cannot simply describe some books you ve read in the context of the quotation.

Don t start writing without some sort of plan. This plan may change. Most people work out orat least improve the definition of their ideas by writing. Don t leave this process until it s too late.Don tstart writing straight away, but equally don t leave writing until the end. It can be very helpful toproduce a draft as early as possible. Working out an argument with only days to go is not a position you

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wish to be in. Of course you must be flexible, and not close your mind to new ideas or confine yourself to thoughts you ve already written about in term-time essays, but you must leave yourself plenty of timeto check your references and pay attention to the proper scholarly presentation of your material. When

you are writing the essay always keep a back-up and up-to-date copy of your essay on a disk kept separately from your computer.

TROUBLESHOOTING

It is not uncommon to find it harder to write essays when you are in your second year than when you were in your first year. Treat this positively: it s usually a sign that you have grown beyond the style thatused to be sufficient for what you wanted to say. If you have major difficulties, discuss the problem withyour tutor, and work at finding what techniques will enable you to survive until the phase passes (as it

will). The important thing is to keep writing something , or else you may lose the habit and weaken yourconfidence further. Adrenalin may be a necessary adjunct to doing exams, but sleeplessness and panicare not. If you find yourself with unhelpful responses of that kind, try to make them helpful. If youpanic when you look at a page, go for a walk, and keep walking until you have had three new ideas aboutthe author in question. Keep primary texts by your bed: if you can t sleep, learn a poem or a dramaticspeech by heart. This will give you an invaluable bank of detailed textual knowledge to draw on (youshouldn t quote at length in an exam, but you can pick the choicest items from what you know), and is

very soporific at 3 a.m. If you still can t sleep, think about the words you have just learned and what new ideas you can derive from them, about the author, the period, or the state of the language at the time.

Prevention, however, is better still: get some exercise during the day, and do whatever you find soothing before you go to bed - a bath, music, herbal tea.

There are many resources both within individual colleges, and the University more widely, to help if youfind yourself in trouble - emotionally or academically. Of course, your tutor may well be aware that youare having difficulties, but you may also wish to speak to someone else. If things look as if they aregetting out of control, the college doctor or nurse can help. The University s Student Counselling Service, too, can provide support. Or you may want to speak to your college chaplain. Similarly, mostcolleges have Advisers or Moral or Personal Tutors who can often help sort out academic difficulties,and many colleges have student welfare officers and peer support groups to help with emotional,financial or academic problems.

Of course, students most often turn to one another and friends can be a tremendous help. You need tomake certain, though, that you take care of yourself as well as your friends and that your own work doesnot suffer because you have spent too much time and energy trying to help others. Remember, too, thatthere are many people within the University who are better able to be of real help in difficult times. If afriend is very stressed or otherwise troubled the best way to help them may well be to offer toaccompany them to the college doctor or nurse or to the Student Counselling Service. Don t leave ituntil the last minute to seek help - intervention early can prevent worse trouble later.

(ii) Revision and Exams

Revision and writing three-hour exams require some different skills from your normal tutorial work. Practising these will not only enable you to do the exams better, but help to keep your stress levels

manageable.Decide which topics and authors you are going to work up to exam standard you won t be able to re-doall your work. Do read through all your notes and essays to remind yourself briefly what you have done,though, so that you can make informed comparisons where they would help your argument. You shouldrevise in detail at least four topics for a three-question paper, so that you can answer on your sparetopic if you don t like the question on one of the others, and to help with broadening arguments.

Make yourself a revision timetable so that you can see that you are getting through all the work youneed to cover.

Read some new work. You won t have time for much, but some of the less-known poems of a poetyou are working on or an extra Jacobean play can help to give you new ideas and keep your mind fresh.

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Practise writing to time . An hour gives you very little space. Either do some timed essays, or,perhaps better, write first paragraphs and essay plans those need only take ten or fifteen minutes onceyou have learned the art, so you can practise adapting your thoughts to different questions on the sameauthor without having to spend so much time on each as a full timed essay would take. Look at pastpapers (available in both Faculty Offices, college libraries and on the internet) to see the various kinds of issues that can be asked about.

In the exam -Read the questions carefully , both to understand just what they are asking, and to make sure that the

ideal question for you does not appear somewhere else on the paper. Then divide out your time . If you are still writing your first answer after 75 minutes (80 as the

absolute maximum), stop , and leave a space so that you can finish it later if you have time (you won t, infact, but you will lose far fewer marks than if your other essays are only half there). You can t be markedon what isn t there. Examinerswill penalise short weight answers.

Conciseness and, in particular , relevance are virtues; length and writing down everything you know are not. Select what you need to say to answer the question that is set . Examiners will penaliseanswers that show clear signs of downloading or dumping rehearsed material that is of no relevance tothe function you have selected. There is a world of difference between an ingenious and applied answerto a question and one that essentially ignores the demand of the question posed. Remember thatexaminers are human beings: your answers should be legible , and, if humanly possible, interesting.

Troubleshooting. Adrenalin may be a necessary adjunct to doing exams, but sleeplessness andpanic are not. If you find yourself with unhelpful responses of that kind, try to make them helpful. If

you panic when you look at a page, go for a walk, and keep walking until you have had three new ideasabout the author in question. Keep primary texts by your bed: if you can t sleep, learn a poem or adramatic speech by heart. This will give you an invaluable bank of detailed textual knowledge to draw on(you shouldn t quote at length in an exam, but you can pick the choices items from what you know), andis very soporific at 3 a.m. If you still can t sleep, think about the words you have just learned and whatnew ideas you can derive from them, about the author, the period, or the state of the language at thetime for Paper 1. Prevention, however, is better still: get some exercise during the day, and do whateveryou find soothing before you go to bed a bath, music, herbal tea.

5. Lectures

(i) Lecture Lists

Lecture lists for both Classics and English are published each term, covering all the lecturesrelevant to Classics and English Finals; lecture prospectuses, outlining the subject matter of each lecturecourse, are also issued for Classics lectures. You should get a copy of the list and the relevantprospectuses from your tutors when you meet before the beginning of term; your tutors will have adviceon which lectures to attend.

The Classics lecture list includes a provisional programme for lectures for the whole academicyear, which will help you to plan for the future; this, along with the currentLecture List, can be found on the home page of the Oxford Classics website athttp://www.classics.ox.ac.uk (these items, like the equivalents for English, to be found similarly on thehome page of the Oxford English website at http://www.english.ox.ac.uk, are too long to republish inthis booklet). Do not expect lectures on a subject always to coincide with the term in which you are

writing essays on that subject. Important lectures may come a term or two before your tutorials, and in thecase of some less popular options they may come in one year and not be repeated in the following year:consult your tutors early about this risk.

The importance of lectures varies from subject to subject within Classics. Some lectures providean interesting alternative view of a subject. Others provide the last word on a fast developing topic, orthe only satisfactory conspectus on a large subject. For some Special Subjects lectures may be the mainteaching provided. It is perilous to cut the core lectures on your chosen options: although in Oxford ssystem lecturers do not necessarily set the University examinations that relate to the subjects they havebeen lecturing on, they may be consulted by those who do, and the lecture prospectuses informexaminers as well as undergraduates of the content of lectures.

(ii) Lecture Questionnaires

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In Classics, a questionnaire is circulated each term by the JCC (see below) for you to fill in withyour comments on the course and on all the lectures you have attended; In English, lecturers hand outquestionnaires on each lecture course to attenders, and further copies are available from the EnglishFaculty Office. It is important to fill these forms in because lecturers (who are given an indication of thecomments), and indeed the Faculty as a whole, like to know whether they are providing what peopleneed; and also because it strengthens the arm of the JCC in seeking changes and innovations. Thecomments made will remain totally anonymous.

6. Joint Consultative Committees for Undergraduate Matters

There are Undergraduate Joint Consultative Committees on Faculty Matters (JCCs), one forancient history and classical literature combined, and one for English. Under their constitutions thesecommittees contain about half a dozen Senior Members, and an undergraduate representative fromevery college whose students care to appoint one. The committees meet once or twice a term, and may make recommendations to their respective sub-faculties, or through them to the faculty board. They appoint two of their undergraduate members to attend sub-faculty meetings as observers. Undergraduaterepresentation on these committees is often patchy, and it is to be hoped that circulation of thishandbook will help to advertise the existence of the JCCs.

7. Complaints

Complaints about the course can be made to your tutor or to JCC representatives. Over majorissues it might be worth making contact with the convener of the Joint Standing Committee for Classicsand English. The Classics Faculty appoints two people each year to whom complaints about harassmentof any kind may be referred.

Occasionally undergraduates have complaints about their tutors. If you simply want a changebecause of a personality clash, see above, section 3. Many complaints can be dealt with inside thecollege: the Senior Tutor (or Director of Undergraduate Studies) or the Head of House are obviouspeople to approach, but there may well be other possibilities (e.g. another tutor with whom you havecontact). If discussion within college has not resolved difficulties, then an approach might be made to asenior member of the relevant JCC.

It is always possible to address complaints about any matter to the Proctors and Assessor:please see theUniversity of Oxford, Essential Information for Students .

8. Illness

If illness interferes seriously with your academic work, make sure that your tutors know the fact.If at all possible choose a Fellow or Lecturer of your college in whom to confide; otherwise it will bedifficult for the college to be aware and therefore help. Help may involve: excusing you tutorials for aperiod; sending you home; asking the University to grant you dispensation from that term s residence (toqualify for the BA you must reside and study in Oxford for nine terms - or six if you have Senior Status- and a term for that purpose means forty-two nights); or permitting you to go out of residence for anumber of terms, with consequent negotiations with your funding body.

If illness has interfered with preparation for a University examination, or has affected youduring the exam itself, your college must report the fact to the Vice-Chancellor and Proctors, who will

pass the information to your examiners if, in their opinion, it is likely to assist the examiners in theperformance of their duties. Your college also reports to the Proctors if illness or disability hasprevented you from attending part of a University examination, or makes it desirable that you should beexamined in a special place or at a special time. The college officer concerned is the Senior Tutor. You,therefore, must deal with your Senior Tutor, never with the examiners. Give the Senior Tutor as muchnotice as possible; in particular, examinations specially invigilated in a separate place (usually yourcollege) take a lot of organising. If you anticipate difficulties (e.g. in the case of dyslexia), you shouldinform your tutor at the beginning of the term of the examination. Probably you will need a medicalcertificate; college doctors have the right University forms.

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9. Where to get help

If you find yourself in real difficulties with your work, or any other difficulties, do not hesitateto contact your tutor (or any other tutor, especially your Moral Tutor if your college appoints one). They may look busy, but they will not be too busy to discuss your problems, many of which may getmiraculously better just by being discussed with someone sympathetic. Being a student these days can bedifficult in non-academic ways too. Financial difficulties are widespread, and many students findthemselves under stress at some time during their academic career. You may be worrying about money,you may be stressed-out at the prospect of formal examinations, or you may have other personal oracademic difficulties. Don t be too embarrassed to talk about them to somebody. Oxford is full of sympathetic ears, and most problems you are likely to encounter will have been experienced by many students before you. Don t suffer in silence!

College tutors are traditionally the first port of call for students with problems. Many colleges alsoassign you a Moral or Personal Tutor; there are likely to be Advisers or Counsellors who areavailable for consultation, including a Tutor for Women Students, and College Deans, Chaplainsand Senior Tutors can also help.

College Doctors and Nurses can be very helpful with a range of problems, including study-related difficulties.

The University Counselling Service ( 70300) is very experienced in handling the problems thatbeset students, as is the student-run Nightline service ( 270270), and Oxford Samaritans( 722122) are not just there as a last resort.

Harassment: the University has a clear policy on inappropriate behaviour which is enshrined in aCode of Practice, part of which states:

Harassment may be broadly understood to consist of unwarranted behaviour towards anotherperson, so as to disrupt the work or reduce the quality of life of that person, by such means assingle or successive acts of bullying, verbally or physically abusing, orill-treating him or her, or other wise creating or maintaining a hostile or offensive studying,

working or social environment for him or her.

Unacceptable forms of behaviour can include sexual harassment, racial or religious abuse, andcomments about sexual orientation. Harassment can be a disciplinary offence. The abuse of a position of authority (for example that of a tutor) is an aggravating feature of harassment. The Faculties of Classicsand of English seek to provide a supportive and positive work environment for all its members and isfully committed to the implementation of the University Code. Both Faculties have appointed twoConfidential Advisers who can give advice to its members and may be able to resolve the problem. Theadviser for Classics is Professor Matthew Leigh, St Annes College. Those for English are Dr HelenBarr, Lady Margaret Hall, and Dr Glenn Black, Oriel College. Most colleges have similar posts.Whatever your problem, somebody in the University will know how to help you. Don t letdifficulties build up: talk to someone.

10. Vacations

British degree courses are among the shortest in the world. They hold their own in internationalcompetition because they are full-time courses, covering vacation as well as term. This is perhapsparticularly true of Oxford, where the official terms occupy less than half the year. Vacations have toinclude holiday time too; and everyone recognises that for very many students they also have to includemoney-earning time, which is sometimes educational in itself, but often can t be. Nevertheless vacationstudy is vital.

You are said to read for an Oxford degree, and Classics and English is certainly a reading course: its study is to a great extent the study of books. In term you will mostly rush from one article orchapter to another, pick their bones, and write out your reactions. Vacations are the time for less hectic

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attention to complete books. Tutorials break a subject up, vacations allow consolidation. They givedepth and time for serious thought, and they are also vital for reading texts for the following term stutorial work.

11. Theses

You may offer one thesis as an optional eighth subject in C&E, as well as the possibility of oneextended essay under Papers 7 or 8 in English (see I.A above). A thesis is potentially a most exciting option, but it is important to get the choice of topic right: it is all too easy to pick a subject which hasinterested you in a weekly essay, but proves too vast to handle profitably within the word limit. Dodiscuss this with your tutor at an early stage. It may well be that your first ideas will need to be refinedconsiderably before you are in a position to submit a topic for approval. For C&E the subject of thethesis must fall in the area of Classics or English or of both and be approved by either the Faculty Boardof Classics or by the Faculty Board of English.

You then need to submit a title and a 100-word outline, with a letter of support from your tutor,to either the chairman of the Faculty Board of Classics or to the Deputy Chairman of the Faculty Boardof English. The latest date for doing this is Wednesday of the second week of the Michaelmas Termpreceding your examination; but you may wish to obtain approval before you start work on the thesis inearnest, and for many people that will mean making the application earlier, so that you can spend time inthe long vacation reading widely and developing your ideas.

The word limit is 6,000, excluding bibliography but including notes and appendices. In the case

of a commentary on a text, any substantial quoting of that text need not be included in the word limit. You may discuss with your tutor the field of study, the sources available, and the method of presentation. The plan and the ideas must be yours, but the tutor can help you make sure it is clear,coherent, and feasible, and give advice on reading. But bear in mind that much of your reading will bematerial discovered by yourself.

The tutor may also read and comment on a first draft. However, you have to write the finished version on your own. Make sure you allow plenty of time: almost certainly, it will take longer than youexpect.

Some general points:

1. The examiners cannot read your mind: explain in your introduction what you are going to do,

and in what follows present your argument, step by step, in as sharp a focus as you can achieve.2. Examiners will notice if you try to fudge issues or sweep difficulties aside; it is much better tobe candid about them, and to show that you appreciate the force of counter-arguments.

3. Bad spelling and bad grammar do not help to convey an overall impression of clarity andcompetence; and word-processing carries dangers of its own to the inexperienced, such as half-revised sentences leaving gibberish, sections continually re-edited rather than re-written, andspell-checks leaving errors which happen to generate new words.

Your bibliography should list all works to which you refer, plus any others which you havefound particularly valuable. The style for references can be modelled on any recent book in yoursubject.The rules for submission are reproduced in Appendix B of this Handbook; someguidance as to format is given in Appendix C. In the Finals examination, remember that you

should avoid repetition in papers of material used in your thesis .If for any reason you expect tosubmit your thesis late, consult your Senior Tutor in good time. The Vice-Chancellor andProctors may grant permission on payment of a late-presentation fee which they determine, butthey may at the same time give permission to the examiners to reduce the mark on the thesis by up to one class. If permission is not sought, or is refused, the thesis may be rejected, or its mark may be reduced by up to one class.

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12. Examinations

Each year a board of examiners, mostly drawn from the faculties of Classics and English butincluding some external members, is appointed to examine Classics and English Finals. The Finalsexaminers are assisted by a number of assessors, also members of the faculties, who spread the load anddeal with some of the specialised subjects. It is chance whether any of your own tutors examines you. If that happens, the convention is that the tutor takes no part knowingly in deciding your result; but sincescripts are anonymous, the convention is rarely operative.

It is your personal responsibility to enter for University examinations, and if you enter, orchange your options, after the due date, you must pay a late fee and gain the examiners consent. Entry isthrough colleges. The forms are kept in college offices, which usually tell you when you need to apply.

The deadline for Classics and English is normally in October. The starting dates of examinations don t often vary in relation to weeks of term. The examiners

issue a timetable a month or two before each examination; it is posted in the Examination Schools, andprobably also in your college lodge. About a month before Finals the examiners send a document to allcandidates about the conduct of the examination, check this carefully and see your tutor in the event of any errors.

When planning your examination strategy, it is sensible to keep before your mind the nature of the examination method which the University uses (the conventional method in British higher educationover the last two centuries). If the examiners allowed you to set the questions, you could prepare goodanswers in a few months; by setting the questions themselves, they ensure that a candidate cannot be

adequately prepared without study over the whole course. They will therefore not be interested inanswers which in any way are off the point, and they will severely penalise short weight - too few properly written out answers. The examiners are looking for your own ideas and convictions, and youmustn t be shy of presenting them as your own. When you have selected a question, work out what itmeans and decide what you think is the answer to it. Then, putting pen to paper, state the answer anddefend it; or, if you think there is no answer, explain why not. Abstain from excessive backgroundmaterial. Don t write too much: many of those who run out of time have themselves to blame for being distracted into irrelevance. Good examinees emerge from the examination room with most of theirknowledge undisplayed. [Some further advice on answering essays and gobbet-questions is given abovein Section 4]

Some weeks after the written part of Finals, when scripts have been marked, the examiners may summon you to a viva voce examination. A timetable is published before the end of the written

examination. Vivas are rare. Nevertheless they are part of the Finals examination, and if you aresummoned and fail to appear, you are considered to have withdrawn from the entire examination unlessyou can satisfy the Vice-Chancellor and Proctors that the reason for [your] non-attendance was illnessor some other urgent and reasonable cause'.

At University examinations, including vivas, you must wear academic dress with sub-fuscclothing. Academic dress is a gown, and a regulation cap or mortar board (must be mortar board formen). Sub-fusc clothing is: for women, a dark skirt or trousers, a white blouse, black tie, black tights orstockings and shoes, and, if desired, a dark coat; for men, a dark suit and socks, black shoes, a white bow tie, and plain white shirt and collar.

There are special University regulations on the typing of illegible scripts (NB: the cost of typing and invigilation shall not be a charge on university funds ), on the use of typewriters in examinations, onblind, dyslexic and disabled candidates, on Jewish candidates unable to take papers on certain days, onthe use (where permitted) of calculators in examinations, and on the use (where permitted) of computersin examinations; see Examination Regulations.If your native language is not English, you may request touse your own bilingual dictionary during examinations. The request must go to the Proctors throughyour college, usually your Senior Tutor and should be made at least a term in advance.

The conventions for marking and for assigning classes will be circulated to you some timebefore the examination. Once the examination is over, it normally takes a little over a month for theexaminers to mark and to assign classes; after the list is posted the examiners report your marks to yourcollege, which will normally pass them on to you.

If you have any problems connected with University examinations which you want to takefurther, never approach the examiners directly: always communicate through your Senior Tutor. This

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applies to complaints too (although every student has a statutory right to consult the Proctors directly onany matter at any time in their Oxford career).

There are established conventions for the awarding of classes in the Final Honour School of Classics and English. This important information is separately listed in Appendix D. Do read this as itgives you the criteria by which your examination performance is likely to be judged.

13. The Classics Centre

The Classics Centre is at The Ioannou Centre for Classical and Byzantine Studies, 66 StGiles, OX1 3LU. Several research projects are based in the building as well as the administrativestaff, including the staff of the Classics Office: Anne Smith - Classics Administrator, Marie Foster-Ali

Administrative Officer (Finance), Erica Clarke - Administrative Officer (Research), Helen McGregor Administrative Officer (Academic), Ghislaine Rowe - Graduate Administrator, Susan McCann - Administrative Assistant, Rachel Chapman - Examinations Secretary. The Classics Office is open from9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m., Monday to Friday. There are also seminar rooms and alecture theatre and common room.

To enter the Classics Centre you can either use the bell or the operate the swipe card access with yourUniversity card. Before you use it, you will need to have your University card registered atthe Classics Centre. Please contact Susan McCann on 288391 or [email protected] to register your card.

14. The English Faculty Office The English Faculty Office is in Room 9 on the ground floor, underneath the Library on the

left-hand side as you go towards the seminar rooms down there. The staff (Administrative Secretary: Joan Arthur, Exams Secretary: Angie Johnson, Undergraduate Studies Officer: Francesca Heffernan, and Administrative Assistant: Charlotte Heavens) are happy to be consulted on matters of general faculty business. The Faculty noticeboards alongside the stairs down from the Library carry details of seminars,dates of examinations, and advertisements for one-off lectures in the University, conferences in otheruniversities, and so on. It is important to keep an eye on these noticeboards.

You will already be familiar with the location of the main lecture and seminar rooms in theFaculty, but a number of other rooms and facilities elsewhere in the St Cross Building are used by theEnglish Faculty. These are described as follows:

On the ground floor, to the right of Lecture Theatre 2, is a single door. This leads along a corridor, off which are several offices, numbered 1-13. These rooms provide offices for some of the English Faculty sprofessors and university lecturers; they are also offices for members of the Faculty carrying out specificjobs, such as Chair of the Faculty Board and the Director of Undergraduate Studies..

The corridor leads (through three glass doors) into a large lobby (the Manor Road lobby). Atthe far side at the bottom of the stairs are two rooms. The one on the left is the History of the Book room and the one on the right is the Law and English IT Training room, which provides computing facilities for undergraduates reading these two subjects and their joint schools (see p. 21). On the nextfloor up, you will find the English graduate work area, where co

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Classics and English