Westlake Boys High School
Year 13 English - Accelerated with Scholarship Classics
Course Description
Teacher in Charge: Mr D. Smale.
Level 3 English Accelerated
The 13ENGA course is designed to challenge and stimulate our most gifted cohort of students, with the assessment focus being the scholarship exam. Emphasis is placed upon developing students’ passion and enthusiasm for the language and ideas of literature in a program which is the culmination of a five year journey in the extension pathway. Wider reading and inter-textual conception is actively encouraged in order to foster lifelong learners. The course will occupy four of the six periods in the single option line with students selecting an additional scholarship option paper (one of Physical Education, Media Studies, Classics or Art History) for the remaining two periods. Scholarship English covers a range of literature including T.S Eliot, Allen Ginsberg, Ernest Hemingway, James K. Baxter, Katherine Mansfield, John Keats, Hone Tuwhare and William Shakespeare as well as exploring alternative avenues such as film, television and music lyrics.
The Scholarship examination is broken into three sections:
- Section A: Unfamiliar Text analysis (analysing two unseen texts, looking for elements of comparison and contrast)
- Section B: Genre (writing an essay about a chosen genre - most students are prepared for the poetry genre)
- Section C: General Literature (writing an essay that responds to a generic statement about literature)
It is a requirement for all students in the Level 3 Accelerated course to sit the Scholarship exam.
Scholarship Classical Studies
Classical Studies is the study of the civilisations of classical Greece and Rome without the study of the classical languages, Greek and Latin. Classical Studies is a “multi-disciplinary subject including a number of different types of study such as religion, history, literature, art, philosophy and science. It is thus at its fullest extent the study (in translation into English) of all the things which form the entire culture of the ancient Greeks and Romans, which are the foundation of Western global culture. The Scholarship courses focuses upon three topics from the Classical Greeks, each of which reinforces and contributes to understanding of the other. We aim to get under the skin of the Greeks and see things their way - with a particular focus on the expected role of a man (andros) among the ancient Greeks, including in war and as leaders.
Course Overview
Term 1
INTRODUCTION to the ANCIENT GREEKS
A brief overview of Greek history and culture, including myths, legends, leaders and events.
GREEK LEADERSHIP - including concepts of manliness and attitudes to war, and expectations of leaders.
A survey of Greek political and military history from the time of Homeric kings to Periclean democracy, including hoplite and trireme warfare, the Spartans versus Athenians, with emphasis upon Greeks and the West versus Persians and the East - with particular focus on the Battles of Marathon, Thermopylae, and Salamis during the epic Persian Wars. Then onto the imperial overstretch of the muscular Athenian Empire and its defeat in the thirty year Peloponnesian War, the resulting dominance of Macedonia and Alexander the Great's ten years of conquest, the Hellenistic successor Kingdoms down to the Roman conquest of the Greek city-states (polies).
Term 2
ALEXANDER THE GREAT
Often hailed as the greatest general of all time, and never defeated, we investigate ancient evidence and modern scholarship to explore viewpoints and analyse the career of Alexander the Great, including his accession, military conquests, his generalship and relations (with Macedonians, Greeks, + Persians), his religious views, socio-political influences upon him and his impact on the classical world.
Term 3
ARISTOPHANES’ Attic OLD COMEDY
Analysis of Aristophanes’ comedic plays the Wasps & the Frogs, both performed against the backdrop of the drawn out and debilitating Peloponnesian War, with reference to religious-social-historical-political background, literary conventions (competition, staging, techniques of humour), characterisation + themes (such as criticism of democratic leaders, like Cleon - a Trump like politician).
Term 4
REVISION - prepare, swap & share practice answers … leading up to the final end of year SCHOLARSHIP examination.
Entry Criteria
Open only to students who have successfully completed Level Two Extension Accelerated. No prior study or knowledge of Classical Studies is required.
Credit Information
You will be assessed in this course through all or a selection of the standards listed below.
Disclaimer
Course selection does not guarantee a course will be available or that you have approval to take a course. Final course confirmation is in January and depends on your final results and in rare cases, staff availability.
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