ebook aa100 b e4i1 sup002323 l3
Post on 04-Mar-2015
665 Views
Preview:
TRANSCRIPT
AA100 The Arts Past and Present
Assignment Booklet
February 2010
Contents
1 Introduction 2
2 Preparing your assignment 3
3 Plagiarism 7
4 Completing and sending in your assignments 8
5 When your assignments come back 10
6 Grading criteria 11
7 At the end of the course 14
8 Special circumstances 15
9 After the course 16
Assignment 01 17
Assignment 02 20
Assignment 03 23
Assignment 04 28
Assignment 05 30
Assignment 06 33
Assignment 07 35
End-of-course assessment 38
Copyright © 2010 The Open University SUP 00232 3 *SUP002323*Printed in the United Kingdom 4.1
1 Introduction This booklet contains all the assignments which will you will be expected to
complete on The Arts Past and Present (AA100). Before reading it, it would be
helpful to make sure that you are familiar with the Course Companion.
These assignments have three different functions. First, they give you an
opportunity to put into practice the knowledge and skills that you have been
developing on the course. Secondly, they allow your tutor to give you feedback
on what you have produced. Writing assignments and making use of your tutor’s
feedback will play a key role in your progress. Finally, grading your assignments
allows your tutor to assess your progress and to make sure that you have reached
the level of achievement that you need to pass the course.
On The Arts Past and Present, there are seven assignments to be done as you
work through the course materials. Your tutor will grade these seven assignments
and provide you with feedback on your work. (In Open University documents,
you will find that assignments of this kind are usually referred to as tutor-marked
assignments or TMAs).
� Five of these assignments call directly on the skills and knowledge that you
have been developing as you work through the course materials. These
assignments have been designed to take you in gradual stages from relatively
short, focused exercises on a specific object or text to more substantial
essays.
� The remaining two assignments invite you to take a step back to focus on the
ways in which you study and write. These reflective assignments aim to
foster skills and habits that will help you to succeed in your studies, both on
this course and beyond.
The course concludes with a final assignment, which is called an ‘end-of-course
assessment’. (This is usually referred to as an ‘ECA’ in other Open University
documents.) The end-of-course assessment for The Arts Past and Present takes
the form of a 2000 word essay, and requires you to draw together material
relating to a number of different disciplines. Your end-of-course assessment will
be graded by a different tutor, who will also provide some feedback on your
essay.
Please note that The Arts Past and Present has no examination.
Before you start work on your first assignment, please read Sections 2 to 9 of this
booklet, which contain important information about presenting and submitting
your assignments and dealing with feedback. You will also find information
about how your work will be graded and how your overall result will be
determined. The assignment questions and cut-off dates (the dates by which your
assignments need to be submitted) can be found at the end of this booklet.
At certain points, you will be referred for more detailed information to two other
booklets: the Course Companion and the Assessment Handbook. The Assessment
Handbook is a booklet which contains general information about assessment on
all Open University courses. You can access it online at your StudentHome page
on the University’s website at www.open.ac.uk/students.
2
2
Students with a visual or aural impairment
Whenever an assignment requires skills in visual or aural analysis, an alternative
question will be set so that you do not need to refer in detail to visual or aural
material. If this is relevant to you, please contact your tutor, who will request an
alternative assignment from your regional office.
Preparing your assignment For some assignments you will need to write essays and for others short,
analytical answers. Please refer to the Course Companion for detailed advice
about how to tackle assignments. In addition to the guidance given there, you
should bear in mind the following points.
Guidance notes
You will notice that every assignment is accompanied by guidance notes. These
notes do a number of things.
� They tell you what the assignment aims to assess.
� They provide some suggestions about how to interpret and approach the
question.
� They point you to relevant material in the course book and audiovisual
resources: this is the material on which you should draw in answering the
question.
It is worth noting that your tutor will take account of the guidance notes, as well
as the question, in evaluating your work. So it is important for you to read the
notes carefully and to take account of them as you plan your answer.
Nevertheless, where the notes mention approaches that you may wish to take, or
issues that it might be helpful to consider, they should be read as making
suggestions only, not as laying down requirements. Only when the notes specify
that there is some approach that you should or must take to the question should
they be read as laying down a requirement.
Understanding the question
The most important part of the assignment is the question itself. Before you start
work on your assignment, you need to think about the question and what exactly
you are being asked to do. You need to ensure that your answer addresses the
question directly. Different questions require different responses. For example, if
the question asks ‘Why did such a thing happen?’ you should answer that ‘it
happened because…’. If the question asks you to ‘compare and contrast’ two
texts, your answer should show the points at which the two texts are similar, and
those at which they differ.
Listed below are some of the terms most commonly used in assignment
questions:
analyse to analyse a text or an argument is not simply to describe it, but to
identify its most important elements, and to show how they work together to
produce a certain effect or support a certain conclusion.
assess to assess a statement or a document is to make a judgement about it
– a judgement that is supported by evidence.
3
compare identify similarities and differences.
contrast bring out differences.
discuss explore a topic, statement or text from several angles, showing that
you understand its implications.
evaluate to assess the value of a document or an artefact as evidence for
something, or to assess the truth of a certain statement.
examine look closely at a topic, statement or text, exploring its significance
and implications.
explain interpret and give reasons for.
Answering the question
What makes for a good assignment answer? The grading criteria set out in
Section 6 indicate the qualities that your tutor is looking for. A good answer
� answers the question directly, without introducing irrelevant material
� is well organised and has a clear structure
� uses language clearly and precisely
� is supported by evidence and argument
� shows a good understanding of the course materials and how they relate to
the question.
For example, suppose that you are asked to describe a Cézanne painting. You
should not begin by giving a summary of Cézanne’s life story, or a history of
French art. Just concentrate on describing the painting. As you write, try to make
it clear to your reader what the purpose of each sentence and paragraph is, and
how they connect together. Try not to use vague or impressionistic terms, and
keep an eye on the length and shape of your sentences. You should support what
you say about the picture by referring to particular features of the painting or by
drawing on further evidence, especially evidence that you have found in the
course materials.
The grading criteria specify that a good answer will demonstrate that you
understand the course materials. This does not rule out making use of additional
materials that you have found in books or online. But we do not think that this is
necessary to achieve a top grade. In addition, the grading criteria make it clear
that you can be given credit for taking an independent or critical approach to the
course materials. Once again, though, we do not think that it is necessary to do
this in order to achieve a top grade at Level 1.
You can find detailed advice about how to write assignments in the Course
Companion, and we strongly advise you to consult that advice before writing
Assignment 01.
Quotations and references
In writing an essay, you will almost certainly need to quote from or refer to the
work of others (including the course materials for The Arts Past and Present) to
support your argument or to illustrate your point. It is important to let your reader
know where you are quoting from or what you are referring to. This is done in
two stages. The first stage is a brief reference in the actual body of your essay.
The second stage is to create a bibliography: that is, a list of the works that you
have referenced. This should go at the end of your essay. You should use the
4
author-date (or Harvard) system of referencing, as described in Section 2.9 of the
Course Companion.
Quotations should be brief and should be used sparingly. It is not a good idea to
reproduce long passages from the course materials or related readings. You
should always make it clear where a quotation begins and where it ends, either by
using quotation marks or, in the case of longer quotations, by presenting the
quotation in a separate indented paragraph. (For an example of this, look at
Reputations, page 63: the quotation from Rivière is in a separate paragraph which
has been indented to mark it out from the rest of the text.) Remember to include
quotations when you are counting up the number of words you have used for your
answer.
If you are quoting or referring to material in one of the course books, state the
author(s) of the chapter, the date and the page numbers in brackets immediately
after you have quoted from or referred to the material. For example:
‘Pity and fear are the emotions that, according to the Greek philosopher
Aristotle, are aroused by the experience of watching a tragedy’ (Pacheco,
2008, p. 51).
If you are quoting from or referring to one of the extracts provided in the
resources section at the end of a chapter, give the name of the original author and
the date of publication before the details of the course book. For example:
‘Faraday did not view the physical world as an inanimate object to be
subjected to scientific analysis but instead as the work of God that
manifested its divine origin’ (Cantor, 1991, in Falconer, 2008, p. 120).
If you are referring to a discussion on one of the Audio CDs, DVD ROMs or
DVD Videos, you should give the title and date of the resource, and the track
number (where applicable).
‘People who constantly question tradition are in danger of reinventing the
wheel’ (Tim Chappell, speaking in ‘Plato’s Laches – a Discussion with
Tim Chappell’, 2008, track 1).
If you are quoting from a source outside the course materials, you should state the
name of the author(s), the date of publication and the page numbers. For
example:
‘When Plato was writing, there was already an existing tradition of using
prose dialogues to explore moral issues’ (Vlastos, 1991, pp.151–2).
If you are referring to a website, give the name of the author or of the
organisation responsible for the website, and the year in which it was created or
last updated. Here is an example:
‘Pugin is important because he made people think in a new way about
architecture.’ (The Pugin Society, 2009).
You may sometimes make use of ideas suggested by other students, for example,
at a tutorial or on an online forum. This is a perfectly legitimate thing to do,
provided that you acknowledge and reference your source. You can cite a
contribution to a forum as follows:
‘It might be suggested that Cleopatra was the Madonna of her time’
(Smith, 9 June 2008).
And you can cite a comment made at a tutorial like this:
‘It might be argued that relying on traditional moral beliefs is just lazy’
(Jenny Smith, in conversation, 19 May 2008).
5
If you are quoting from or referring to the passage that has been set for an
assignment, you can give the author’s name and the location of the passage in the
Assignment Booklet, like this:
Cleopatra kept Antony ‘in constant tutelage’ (Plutarch, in AA100
Assignment Book, 2008, p.17).
Finally, in writing a reflective assignment, you may wish to refer back to one of
your own assignments or to your tutor’s comments on your assignment. Again,
you should give the writer’s name, the date and the page number. If you need to
refer back to more than one of your earlier assignments use a letter (‘a’, ‘b’, ‘c’
and so on) after the date to distinguish between them. Here’s an example:
In my first assignment, I assumed that tradition had no role to play in art
(Jones, 2009a, p.2) and my tutor questioned that (Evans, 2009a, p.2). But
when I came to write my third assignment, I had come to think that,
without tradition, art can have no meaning (Jones, 2009b, p.3). My tutor
noticed that my view had changed (Evans, 2009b, p.1).
Once you have added references to your assignment, you should create your
bibliography, which should appear at the end of your assignment.
Presenting your bibliography
In your bibliography, you should list all the material you have used in preparing
your assignment, including all the sources that you have quoted from or referred
to, though you do not need to mention face-to-face conversations that you have
cited in your essay. Your list should include, as necessary, course books –
including readings – set books, the Illustration Book and references to the DVD
ROMs, DVD Videos or Audio CDs. If you have quoted from or referred to other
sources, you should list these as well. As a minimum, you need to cover the
information needed to understand the reference in your text, including the title
and publisher. You might list a chapter of a course book like this:
Moohan, E., Jones, N. and Philip, R. (2008) ‘The Diva’, in Moohan (ed.)
Reputations (AA100 Book 1), Milton Keynes, The Open University, pp.
161-96.
You might list an Audio CD, DVD ROM or DVD Video like this:
‘Plato’s Laches – a Discussion with Tim Chappell’ (2008) (AA100
Audio CD), Milton Keynes, The Open University.
A typical format for a book reference is:
Vlastos, G. (1991) Socrates: Ironist and Moral Philosopher, Cambridge,
Cambridge University Press.
Here is an example of how to list an article in a journal:
Ellis, J. (1995) ‘“On the Town”: Women in Augustan England’, History
Today, vol. 45, no.12, pp. 20-7.
Here is an example of how to list an article that you have found on a website:
The Pugin Society (2009) Introduction to the Pugin Society, available
from http://www.pugin-society.1to1.org/index.html (Accessed 12
February 2009).
And here is an example of how to acknowledge an idea that you have drawn from
a discussion with another student on an online forum:
6
3
Smith, Jenny (9 June 2008) ‘Was Cleopatra a diva?’, message to AA100
tutor group forum.
Here is an example of how you might list the passage that was set for the
assignment:
Plutarch, Life of Antony, 29–30; quoted from Plutarch’s Lives, vol. 9,
trans. Bernadotte Perrin, The Loeb Classical Library, Harvard University
Press and Heinemann, 1968.
Finally, for reflective assignments, here is an example of how you might list your
own assignments and your tutor’s comments on your assignments. (Notice again
how letters are used after the dates to distinguish between different assignments
or sets of comments.)
Jones, A. (2009a) AA100 Assignment 01, unpublished work.
Jones, A. (2009b) AA100 Assignment 03, unpublished work.
Evans, L. (2009a) Script annotations for Andrew Jones AA100
Assignment 01, unpublished work.
Evans, L. (2009b) Assessment summary for Andrew Jones AA100
Assignment 03, unpublished work.
For further advice on setting out references, see the section on presenting your
bibliography in the Course Companion.
On The Arts Past and Present, we want you to get into the habit of always
recording the sources you have used to prepare your work. As you move on to
higher level courses, you may be asked to use particular referencing systems that
are suited to the subject you are studying.
Word lengths
Each assignment question states how long your answer should be. The word limit
includes quotations and references but does not include the bibliography.
It is a good thing to be able to make your points concisely, and you will not lose
marks simply because your answer is a little shorter than the maximum length. In
contrast, you must not exceed the word limit. The task set by an assignment is to
answer the question in a certain number of words, so if you have exceeded the
word limit, you have not carried out the task that you have been set.
The first time you submit an answer that is substantially (more than 10 per cent)
over length, your tutor is asked to remind you of the importance of sticking to the
word limit. If you then submit another assignment that is more than 10 per cent
over length, your tutor will deduct 7 marks from your grade. For answers that are
very seriously over length, the penalty may be higher.
Plagiarism Plagiarism is the deliberate use of someone else’s words or ideas without proper
acknowledgement. Like all academic institutions, the Open University regards
this as entirely unacceptable and takes cases of plagiarism very seriously indeed.
If you plagiarise someone else’s work unintentionally, your tutor will advise you
on how to avoid making the same mistake again. You should make sure that you
understand and act on your tutor’s feedback. However, if there is evidence that
you have plagiarised intentionally or in the face of your tutor’s advice, marks will
be deducted, and you may be awarded a mark of zero.
7
4
We appreciate that students new to academic work may not always realise what
counts as plagiarism. You will find detailed advice on what constitutes
plagiarism, and on the benefits of good referencing in Section 2.9 of the Course
Companion. Please do spend some time reading through that section of the
Course Companion now. You can also find helpful advice on the ‘Developing
Good Academic Practice’ website at http://learn.open.ac.uk/site/DGAP001.
Finally, there is also further advice on avoiding plagiarism in the Assessment
Handbook (Appendix 1). But if you are in any doubt about what constitutes
plagiarism, please consult your tutor.
In order to help us to guard against plagiarism, you should not circulate your
assignments or even your essay plans to other students. When you participate in
online forums, you must not post your assignments on the site, either before or
after the submission date. This does not mean that you should not discuss your
work with other students. You may well wish to discuss how you plan to
approach the assignment, which positions you intend to adopt, which examples
you intend to use, and so on. But if you draw on the ideas of another student in
writing your assignment, you should acknowledge this and provide a reference. It
is worth bearing in mind that AA100 assignments will be processed through
plagiarism detection software that can detect copying between students, no matter
which tutor group they are assigned to, as well as answers that copy from the
course materials.
Finally, there have been cases in the past where students have bought their essays
from websites that claim to offer custom-made answers. This is cheating and, like
other forms of copying, it can be detected by plagiarism detection software. It
will not help you progress in your studies and it may affect your ability to study
with the Open University in the future. Remember that the work you submit on
The Arts Past and Present – as on all university courses – must be your own.
Completing and sending in your assignments
Should you submit all your assignments?
One of the main purposes of the assignments on any course is to help you to pace
your study. However, there may well be situations in which you fall behind or
find yourself having to skim a particular chapter to catch up. This may mean that
you are unwilling to submit one of the assignments because you feel you will not
give of your best. However, it is always in your interests to send in an
assignment: not only will you receive feedback from your tutor, but even a poor
grade will improve your overall result. If, for any reason, you do not submit an
assignment, you can only be awarded a zero for that assignment.
If you do fail to submit one of the first six assignments, this will not necessarily
mean that you will fail the course, provided that the grades for your other
assignments are high enough to compensate. If you think that you may be unable
to submit one of the first six assignments, you are strongly advised to contact the
Learner Support Team at your Regional Centre to check what this might mean for
your overall result.
Nevertheless, you should keep in mind that Assignment 07 and the end-of-course
assessment are both compulsory: you cannot pass the course without submitting
both these two pieces of work unless there are special circumstances that prevent
you from doing so (see Section 8).
8
Submitting Assignments 01–07
At the beginning of each question, we give you the date by which your
assignment should reach your tutor; we strongly encourage you to keep to these
dates. If you think you will be unable to complete an assignment by the cut-off
date, you should follow the procedures for the late submission of assignments
outlined in the Assessment Handbook (Section 2.5).
Please note, however, that in the case of Assignment 07, your tutor can grant only
a limited extension and can do so only in exceptional circumstances. This is
because Assignment 07 is the last assignment on the course. If you think that you
will be unable to complete Assignment 07 by the cut-off date, you should contact
your tutor as soon as possible.
You are expected to submit your assignments electronically. In exceptional
circumstances – for example, if your computer breaks down or if you have a
disability that means that you are unable to use the Electronic TMA system – you
should consult your tutor. In these circumstances, your tutor may allow you to
submit your assignment on paper.
Electronic submission
In preparing your assignment, please leave wide margins, so that your tutor has
space to add comments, and use double spacing. To submit electronic
assignments, select ‘eTMAs’ on your StudentHome page and follow the
instructions. The eTMA system allows you to submit a ‘dummy’ assignment
(TMA 00) early in your course, before you submit any real assignments. This
allows you to test your access to the system, the software you will be using to
submit your assignments and to familiarise yourself with the actual process of
submitting an assignment. It also enables your tutor to check that the format in
which you will be saving your assignments is compatible with his or her own
computer software. If you haven’t already had a go at submitting a dummy
assignment, it would be a very good idea to try it now.
Further details on how to use the eTMA system can be found in the booklet
‘Using the Electronic TMA system: A Guide to eTMAs for Students’. But please
note in particular the following points:
1 Your file should be in one of the following formats:
� Microsoft Word document (.doc file extension) Note: If you are using Word
2007 you must use the compatibility mode to save as a Word 97-2003
document.
� Microsoft Write document (.wri file extension)
� Rich text format (.rtf file extension)
� Text file (.txt file extension)
� Word Perfect 5.1 (or earlier document) (.doc or .wpd file extension)
Files saved in other formats may not be accepted, since your tutor may not be
able to open them. In particular, please note that an Open Office document
(file extension .docx) is not an acceptable format. For more information
about this please see ‘Using the Electronic TMA system’, page 6.
2 Your assignment must be submitted as one file. If you try to submit more
than one file, the second submission will over-write the first file. For more
information about this please see ‘Using the Electronic TMA system’, page 7.
9
Paper submission
If you are unable to submit an assignment electronically and have your tutor’s
permission, you may write, type or print your answer on A4 paper, using one side
of the paper only. As with all assignments please leave wide margins (say, five
centimetres) and use double spacing. If your work is handwritten, make sure it is
legible. For advice on how to submit assignments on paper, see the Assessment
Handbook, section 2.5.
Submitting your end-of-course assessment
Please note that submission of the end-of-course assessment is governed by a
different set of procedures.
Your end-of-course assessment must be submitted electronically. As with your
other assignments, please be careful to submit your end-of-course assessment as a
single file, using an acceptable file format. These are listed on the previous page.
It must be uploaded onto the eTMA system by midday on the cut-off date. Four
to six weeks prior to the ECA cut-off date we will send an email to your OU
email account (or preferred email address) to remind you of the cut-off date and
to give you a link to a booklet called Information for Students submitting
Examinable Work Electronically. If you do not receive this email, please note that
the booklet can be accessed at http://www.open.ac.uk/assessment/pages/eECA
submission-info.php.
In certain exceptional circumstances, you may be able to submit your end-of
course assessment up to three weeks after the cut-off date or to defer submission
until the next presentation of the course. Full details are provided in the online
booklet mentioned above. However you should note that neither your tutor nor
staff at your Regional Centre have the authority to give you permission to submit
your end-of-course assessment after the cut-off date. All applications for an
extension or deferral must be in writing and must be received at Walton Hall
before the cut-off date. The University will not accept telephone requests. You
can either write a letter or complete an extension/deferral request form, which is
available from either the Learner Support Team at your Regional Centre or from
the Projects, Portfolios and Dissertations Office at Walton Hall. Please send your
request and supporting documentary evidence to the Assessment Policy Office,
P.O. Box 83, Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, MK7 6BF. Alternatively, you can
send an email to: Eca-Extension@open.ac.uk.
If you are unable to use the Electronic TMA system, the online booklet includes
instructions for submitting your assignment by email. If you need further advice
about submitting your end-of-course assessment, you should contact the Learner
Support Team at your Regional Centre.
Don’t forget to keep a copy of your end-of-course assessment for your own
records.
When your assignments come back Your assignment will be returned to you with an ‘Assessment Summary’,
presented on a ‘PT3’ form. Your tutor will use this to record your grade and to
provide feedback on your assignment. Your assignment will have been given a
grade between 1 and 100. (100 is indicated by ‘HU’ in the grade box on paper
PT3 forms.) Where an assignment has more than one part, each part will have
been graded separately so that you can see whether you have fared better in one
part than in the other, but you will also be given one overall grade.
10
5
6
Your tutor will have added comments and questions to your work. Please contact
your tutor if you cannot see the comments on electronically submitted work. In
addition, he or she will have written a report for you as part of your Assessment
Summary, commenting on what you have done well and making some
suggestions about how you might improve your work.
The grade, of course, is the first thing you will look at, but remember that your
tutor’s feedback is more important in the long run, and you should set aside 10–
15 minutes to study it. The Course Companion includes useful advice on using
feedback to improve your writing. You should also bear in mind that you will
need to make use of your tutor’s feedback in preparing Assignments 02 and 07.
You will receive some feedback on your end-of-course assessment, though this
will not be at the same level of detail as the feedback you will receive from your
own tutor for Assignments 01 to 07. Your essay will not be returned to you.
Grading criteria Below we have set out the criteria that are used to grade all your assignments and
your end-of-course assessment. Your work will be marked at a level appropriate
to students who have not previously taken a university-level course in any
subject. Tutors will take account of spelling, punctuation, grammar, choice of
words and sentence structure if they affect your ability to express your meaning
clearly.
85–100
(Distinction)
Grades within this band are awarded for work that is well
constructed, well-argued and clearly written; which is well
supported by evidence or argument; and which shows an
intelligent grasp of the course materials. In addition, your work
will also show some special distinction in one of more of the
following ways:
� You presented a particularly clear or forceful argument or a
particularly perceptive interpretation;
� You used evidence in an especially imaginative way.
� You expressed your ideas in a particularly effective way.
� You took a critical approach to the material, in a way that
was appropriate to the subject matter and went beyond the
commentary provided in the course book.
Reflective Assignment 02
Grades within this band are awarded for work that shows you
have an intelligent grasp of how to improve or develop your
work in response to feedback, evidenced in a creative approach
to the changes you have made to your Assignment 01 answer
and in a well-constructed, well-argued and insightful reflective
commentary.
Reflective Assignment 07
Grades within this band are awarded for work that shows you
have an intelligent grasp of how to improve or develop your
work and your study skills, evidenced in a particularly lucid,
broad-ranging or enlightening review of your progress.
11
70–84 Grades within this band are awarded for work that is well
constructed, well-argued and clearly written; which is well
supported by evidence or argument; and which shows an
intelligent grasp of the course materials.
Reflective Assignment 02
Grades within this band are awarded for reworked Assignment
01 answers that show a solid grasp of how to improve and
develop your work together with reflective commentaries which
provide clear evidence that feedback has been understood.
Reflective Assignment 07
Grades within this band are awarded for work that shows a solid
grasp of how to improve or develop your work and your study
skills, evidenced in a well-constructed and accurate critical
review of your progress, supported with solid evidence.
55–69 Grades within this band are awarded for work that uses points
and examples provided in the course materials in a way that is
relevant to the question. In addition, you will have shown a
fairly accurate understanding of this material and used it to
make a fairly coherent case (though perhaps with some gaps or
irrelevant points) in support of your answer.
Reflective Assignment 02
Grades within this band are awarded for answers that succeed in
using feedback or advice to improve your work to some extent,
together with reflective commentaries which show a fairly clear
account of the impact of the changes that have been made.
Reflective Assignment 07
Grades within this band are awarded for critical reviews that
draw on relevant evidence to provide a fairly clear and
thoughtful review of your progress.
40–54 Grades within this band are awarded to work that presents some
relevant course material in a reasonably clear way and shows
some understanding of how this material relates to the question.
In addition, you will have provided some argument or evidence
for your answer. But you may not have put it together in a
coherent way.
Reflective Assignment 02
Grades within this band are awarded to answers that use
feedback or advice to make some improvement to your work,
though with only limited success, together with reflective
commentaries that are rather unclear, narrow or lacking in
thought.
Reflective Assignment 07
Grades within this band are awarded to critical reviews that
draw on some relevant evidence but are rather unclear, narrow
or lacking in thought.
30–39 Grades within this band are used for work that presents some
relevant course material, but in a way that is so inaccurate or
incoherent that it suggests that you have understood only a part
12
of this material; or which is so unclear that it is not possible to
tell whether or not you have understood more than a part of it.
Reflective Assignment 02
Grades within this band are awarded to answers that make some
use of relevant feedback or advice, but in a way that suggests
that you have only a limited grasp of what it means or how it
applies to your own work, together with reflective
commentaries that are very unclear, narrow or lacking in
thought.
Reflective Assignment 07
Grades within this band are awarded to critical reviews that
draw on some relevant evidence but are very unclear, narrow or
lacking in thought.
15–29 Grades within this band are used for work that presents only a
very small portion of the relevant course material; or for work
which presents some relevant course material, but in a way that
is so inaccurate or incoherent that it suggests that you have
understood only a very small part of this material. Work in this
band is often scant or severely under length.
Reflective Assignments 02 and 07
These marks are used for work that shows:
� Little grasp of how feedback or advice might apply to your
own work.
� Little willingness to act on feedback.
� Minimal engagement with the task of writing a reflective
commentary (Assignment 02) or a critical review
(Assignment 07).
� Little insight into personal progress as a student
(Assignment 07).
0–14 Grades within this band are used for work that makes only a
poor attempt to answer the question without reference to the
course material; or which presents some relevant course
material, but in a way that is so inaccurate or incoherent that it
suggests that you have not understood this material. Work in
this band is often scant or severely under length.
Reflective Assignments 02 and 07
These marks are used for work that shows:
� No grasp of how feedback or advice might apply to your
own work.
� No willingness to act on feedback.
� No engagement with the task of writing a reflective
commentary (Assignment 02) or a critical review
(Assignment 07).
� No insight into personal progress as a student (Assignment
07).
13
7
Tutors will grade your work according to these grading criteria, together with
advice given on particular assignments. Sometimes, however, they will need to
exercise some discretion in deciding how to apply the criteria to a given piece of
work.
At the end of the course The AA100 Examination and Assessment Board has the task of ensuring that
your work has been marked according to a fair and consistent standard, and of
recommending your overall course result. The Board consists of the team of
Open University staff who set the assignments and one or more external assessors
(independent senior academic staff from other UK universities). Your overall
result will be considered by the Board at an award meeting.
Depending on the grades that you have achieved on Assignments 01 to 07 and on
your end-of-course assessment, you will be awarded a distinction, a pass or a fail.
The criteria for achieving a pass or a distinction on the course are explained
below.
How is your overall result decided?
Your overall result is determined by two factors:
� your overall continuous assessment score
� the grade awarded for your end-of-course assessment.
Your overall continuous assessment score is the weighted average of the scores
that you receive for Assignments 01–07. The weighting for each assignment is as
follows:
Assignment 01 10%
Assignment 02 10%
Assignment 03 15%
Assignment 04 20%
Assignment 05 15%
Assignment 06 20%
Assignment 07 10%
Under certain exceptional circumstances, the Examination and Assessment Board
may make an adjustment to your overall continuous assessment score or your
overall result. This might happen, for example, if your tutor’s grading is found to
be out of line with the standards expected by the Board, or if a serious problem
has arisen with an assignment question. For this reason, you cannot be absolutely
sure what your overall continuous assessment score is until you receive your final
result.
To pass the course:
� You must have submitted Assignment 07.
� Your overall continuous assessment score must be at least 40 per cent.
� The grade awarded for your end-of-course assessment must be at least 40 per
cent.
14
8
Please note that, when it comes to passing the course, the grade awarded for your
overall continuous assessment score and your end-of-course assessment are of
equal importance.
To be sure of being awarded a distinction:
� You must have submitted Assignment 07.
� Your overall continuous assessment score must be at least 85 per cent.
� The grade awarded for your end-of-course assessment must be at least 85 per
cent.
You may be awarded a distinction if you are close to achieving these criteria
and the Examination and Assessment Board judges that this is appropriate given
the standards achieved on assignments 01 to 07 and on the end-of-course
assessment. In this situation, the Examination and Assessment Board will give
greater weight to your overall continuous assessment score than to the grade
awarded for your end-of-course assessment: the weighting will be 75%: 25%.
Special circumstances The University allows you to inform the Examination and Assessment Board of
any circumstances that have seriously affected your performance in assignments.
The Board can give only limited weight to this information, but if there is
evidence that your performance has been seriously affected, the Board does have
the power to allow you to pass even though you have not met all the requirements
listed in the last section. It is important to let us know of special circumstances
affecting any of your assignments; but it may be crucial if circumstances have
prevented you from submitting Assignment 07 or from submitting or doing
yourself justice on the end-of-course assessment. If circumstances have prevented
you from submitting either of these pieces of work altogether, it is essential that
you let us know. Your tutor cannot submit this information on your behalf. The
more evidence (a medical note, for example) you can supply to support your case,
the stronger it will be.
If your circumstances have affected your performance on Assignments 01-07,
you should submit a PT39 form. PT39 forms can be obtained from the Learner
Support Team at your Regional Centre and must be returned to them no later than
14 days after the cut-off date for Assignment 07. If, exceptionally, you cannot
comply with this ruling, contact your Regional Director, giving your reasons.
If your circumstances have affected your performance on the end-of-course
assessment, you should submit an E39P form, which you can find in the
Information for Students Submitting Examinable Work booklet. You should
return it to the address on the form to arrive no later than seven days after the cut
off date for the end-of-course assessment.
In either case, please read the instructions on the form and keep proof that you
have posted it. Further information about special circumstances can be found in
the Assessment Handbook, Sections 2.10 and 3.4.
15
9 After the course
Finding out your result
You will be informed of your result by post after the AA100 Assessment Board
has met. You will be given your overall result and two scores:
1 The overall continuous assessment score (OCAS) is the weighted averages of
the grades you achieved on Assignments 01–07.
2 The overall examination score (OES) is the grade awarded for your end-of
course assessment.
Please do not ask your regional centre, tutor or course team members for your
results. Information about results cannot be given over the telephone or by email.
After course results have been sent out by post you will be able to find your result
on your StudentHome page on the University’s website at
www.open.ac.uk/students. You are strongly advised to ensure that you are able to
sign in to view your StudentHome page before the issue of course results.
Detailed on-screen help is provided.
Pending results
For a few students each year the Assessment Board is unable to come to a
decision about the course result to be awarded. If this happens to you, you will be
given a ‘pending’ result. There are various reasons for this: for example, an
assignment score might be missing from your assessment record. Urgent action is
always taken by the University to provide the Board with the information it needs
so that a final result can be sent to you as soon as possible.
Course result queries
If you want to query your course result, you should write to the Head of
Examinations and Assessment, The Open University, PO Box 720, Hammerwood
Gate, Kents Hill, Milton Keynes, MK7 6ZQ within four weeks of receiving your
result. Before doing so, please read carefully Section 4 of the Assessment
Handbook which explains how course results are awarded, and how to query your
result or make a formal appeal to the Complaints and Appeals Office.
Resubmission
If you fail to submit Assignment 07 you cannot pass the course, unless there are
special circumstances that prevented you from doing so. Assignment 07 cannot
be submitted at a later date.
If you have failed to submit your end-of-course assessment or if it has been
awarded a grade of less than 40 per cent, you may be eligible to (re)submit it at a
later date. This will involve choosing from a fresh set of questions, rather than
revising a piece of work that you have already submitted. Whether or not you are
awarded this opportunity depends upon your circumstances, including your
grades. Your course result letter will tell you if you have been awarded the
opportunity to resubmit your end-of-course assessment, and a new Assignment
Book and advice on how to resubmit will be sent to you after the issue of course
results.
16
Assignment 01 Cut-off date: 12 March 2010
This assignment is in two parts: you should answer both parts of the assignment.
You should write no more than 1000 words in total: 500 words for each part.
Your tutor will give you a grade out of 50 for each answer. These will be added
to produce a grade out of 100 for the assignment as a whole.
Please write out the question in full at the head of each answer. However, where a
piece of text has been set out for you to comment on, there is no need to
reproduce it.
Before beginning work on this assignment, please make sure that you have read
the advice on preparing your assignment and on plagiarism in Sections 2 and 3 of
this booklet.
Part 1 Cleopatra
Compare and contrast the depictions of Cleopatra in the 1934 and 1963 movies as
shown and discussed on the DVD Video. Then, explain how the similarities and
differences between these depictions of Cleopatra reflect the historical
circumstances in which they were created. Your answer should be no longer than
500 words.
Guidance Note
The main aim of this question is to test your ability to examine closely and
interpret modern visual images of the ancient world and to relate these depictions
to the historical and social contexts in which they were produced.
To complete this task you will need to view the DVD segments on the 1934 and
1963 Cleopatra movies several times carefully (you may also want to read the
transcript for the DVD Video which can be viewed on the course website). Whilst
viewing this material you may want to think about such issues as the costume and
staging of the scenes and what impression of Cleopatra these give; the way
Cleopatra is depicted in any promotional material such as posters or trailers for
the movie and what expectations this sets for the audience; and the nature of the
dialogue in the movies and how this represents Cleopatra through her interaction
with other characters. You may find some elements of the depiction of Cleopatra
have remained fairly constant and others have changed quite a lot. Explain why
you think some things have changed and some have stayed the same. How might
these depictions be related to the historical and social circumstances of the 1930
and 1960s?
You may also find it useful to consider Section 1.5, ‘Reassessing Cleopatra’, in
the Cleopatra chapter. This section provides some thoughts on the issues involved
in modern interpretations of Cleopatra and the motivations behind them.
Writing to a tight word limit of 500 words is not easy. You need to be very clear
about what the question is asking you to do. You should
� compare and contrast these two depictions of Cleopatra
� explain similarities and/or differences in terms of the historical circumstances
in which these depictions were produced.
To answer the question successfully you will need to make sure that you answer
both elements of the question.
17
Part 2 Christopher Marlowe, Dr Faustus
Read the following passage from Marlowe’s Doctor Faustus. Discuss Marlowe’s
use of language in the passage and how it contributes to the characterisation of
Faustus. Your answer should be no longer than 500 words.
GOOD ANGEL: Faustus, repent yet, God will pity thee.
EVIL ANGEL: Thou art a spirit. God cannot pity thee.
FAUSTUS: Who buzzeth in mine ears I am a spirit?
Be I a devil, yet God may pity me;
Ay, God will pity me if I repent.
15
EVIL ANGEL: Ay, but Faustus never shall repent.
FAUSTUS: My heart’s so hardened I cannot repent.
Scarce can I name salvation, faith, or heaven
But fearful echoes thunder in mine ears:
20
‘Faustus, thou art damned!’ Then swords and knives,
Poison, guns, halters, and envenomed steel
Are laid before me to dispatch myself;
And long ere this I should have slain myself 25
Had not sweet pleasure conquered deep despair.
Have not I made blind Homer sing to me
Of Alexander’s love and Oenone’s death?
And hath not he that built the walls of Thebes
With ravishing sound of his melodious harp 30
Made music with my Mephistopheles?
Why should I die, then, or basely despair?
I am resolved Faustus shall ne’er repent.
Come, Mephistopheles, let us dispute again
And argue of divine astrology. 35
Tell me, are there many heavens above the moon?
Are all celestial bodies but one globe,
As is the substance of this centric earth?
Christopher Marlowe, Doctor Faustus, Act 2, Scene 3, ll.13–38; in John O’Connor
(ed.) (2003), Doctor Faustus: the A text, Pearson Longman, p.49.
Guidance Note
This close-reading exercise is intended to test your ability to understand and
discuss the language of a play.
The question asks you to do two things: to discuss how Marlowe uses language in
this passage from Doctor Faustus and to consider how this contributes to the
characterisation of Faustus. In relation to the first of these, it would be a good
idea to read the passage carefully several times, noting any aspects of the
language that strike you as significant. Now you need to think about how any
poetic techniques shape the meaning of the passage. Do you think the distinctive
features of the language you have identified encourage a negative or a positive
response to the protagonist, or something in between?
500 words is a tight word limit, so you will need to organise your discussion
carefully. Don’t try to comment on every aspect of the language; instead
concentrate on the features of the extract that strike you as really crucial. Keep
your quotations from the passage short and to the point. The key task here is to
think about how the language of a play actually works. Remember that your tutor
will be looking not for a list of poetic techniques and devices but for a discussion
of the passage that shows awareness both of the main features of the language
18
and of the way in which these contribute to the way in which Faustus is presented
to the audience.
There is plenty of relevant material in Book 1, Chapter 2, especially in the section
‘Reading a Renaissance Play’ (in Section 2.1) and all of Section 2.2. You might
also find it useful to listen to this part of the play on the Audio CD. Your
Longman edition will give lots of help with the language of the extract.
19
Assignment 02 Cut-off date: 16 April 2010
Responding to feedback
The purpose of this assignment is to provide you with an opportunity to reflect on
the work that you did for Assignment 01 and to give you some experience of
using your tutor’s feedback to improve your work. Learning from feedback is a
crucial part of developing as a student; in many ways, it is the central study skill
which this course aims to give you. Your tutor has considerable expertise in
marking the work of students new to university level study. This assignment tests
your ability to understand and respond to your tutor’s advice.
For Part 1 of this assignment, you are asked to take one of the 500 word answers
that you wrote for Assignment 01, and make some changes to it in the light of
your tutor's comments. For Part 2, you are asked to write a reflective commentary
explaining why you have made these changes. You will receive a single grade for
the whole assignment.
Part 1
Look back at the two answers that you produced for Assignment 01, and read
carefully through your tutor’s comments. Remember to check what your tutor has
written on the PT3 form as well as the comments in the margins. You should then
choose one of your answers to rework.
Your answer to this part of the assignment will need to be produced in two
stages:
� First, you will need to present the original version of the answer that you
have chosen to rework. You should include the comments your tutor made on
this question, and any relevant comments from the Assessment Summary
(PT3). The easiest way to do this might be to use your word-processing
programme to copy and paste this material into your answer. You should use
subheadings (for example, ‘Original version with comments’, ‘Comments
from the Assessment Summary (PT3)’) to make it clear what everything is.
� Secondly, you should produce a new draft of your answer, drawing on your
tutor’s comments. You can also draw on the Course Companion and on your
own ideas about how it might be improved or done differently. Again, you
should use a subheading (for example ‘New draft’) to make it clear that this
is your new version. This new version should be no more than 500 words.
To give some examples, you might:
� change the structure of your answer or of a particular paragraph to make it
easier to follow
� change the way in which you have expressed a particular point to make it
clearer or more precise
� change or add to the points that you made to make your answer fuller, more
relevant or more accurate. You might choose to omit one or more points to
create space for others.
� add an in-text reference.
How many changes you should make depends on the size of the changes that you
have chosen to make: restructuring a paragraph is a larger task than changing a
20
few words or adding a reference. As a rough guide, you might aim to make six or
seven small changes to your answer or three or four major changes.
You should include a bibliography. As with other assignments, the bibliography
is not included within the final word count. Nevertheless, you may decide to
make some changes to it in response to your tutor's feedback. If you do that, your
tutor will take these changes into account in grading and commenting on your
assignment.
Part 2
Once you have produced your new draft, you should write a reflective
commentary of between 150 and 200 words. You should use this commentary to
identify and explain the changes that you have made. This might involve quoting
your tutor’s feedback, discussing the ways in which you have tried to address it
and explaining how the changes you have made improve your answer. You
should also identify one element of your writing that you would like to improve
or something that you would like to do differently in a future assignment.
Further guidance
This section contains some further guidance about completing this assignment,
presented in question and answer form.
What if I disagree with one of my tutor’s comments?
It would be best to choose to respond to comments that you agree with. But even
if you disagree with a comment, it is worth trying to respond to it. Sometimes this
may be a matter of making something clearer (perhaps you did not get your
meaning across the first time) or just trying out a different approach.
What if my tutor has told me exactly how to change my answer, so that
making a change is simply a matter of copying my tutor’s suggestion word
for word?
There is obviously nothing wrong with responding to tutor’s comments by doing
exactly what he or she has suggested. But you should make sure that not all the
changes that you make are of this kind. Even if your tutor has made a very
specific suggestion, it might be worth seeing if there is an alternative way of
responding to your tutor’s comment – for example, if it is a matter of phrasing,
perhaps there is yet another way of phrasing your point.
How will my tutor grade this piece of work?
In grading this assignment, tutors will assign roughly equal weight to Part 1 and
Part 2. Tutors are not asked to evaluate the standard of the redrafted piece of
work that you have produced. Instead they are asked to consider:
� your awareness of some of the ways in which a piece of written work can be
improved through redrafting
� the extent to which you have understood, and successfully addressed, the
criticisms or suggestions that you have chosen to address, as evidenced in
your reworked answer and in your reflective commentary
� your ability to reflect on your work and to identify areas for future
improvement
The grading criteria set out in Section 7 of this booklet include some specific
references to the two reflective assignments on the course.
21
Planning for Assignment 07
Assignment 02 is the first of two reflective assignments. Once you have your
tutor’s comments on this assignment, you should begin planning for Assignment
07. Begin by reading the description of Assignment 07 later in this booklet. You
will note that, in order to complete this assignment, you will need to gather notes
and evidence about your work on earlier assignments. You will find it much
easier to complete Assignment 07 if you take time to do this at intervals as you
work through the course, rather than leaving it all to the last minute.
22
Assignment 03 Cut-off date: 14 May 2010
This assignment is in two parts: you should answer both parts of the assignment.
You should write no more than 1200 words in total: 600 words for each part.
Your tutor will give you a grade out of 50 for each answer. These will be added
to produce a grade out of 100 for the assignment as a whole.
Please write out the question in full at the head of each answer. However, where a
piece of text has been set out for you to comment on, there is no need to
reproduce it.
Part 1 The Diva
The passage below is a newspaper review of Maria Callas’s performance in the
role of Tosca. Read it slowly and carefully. After reading this review, listen to the
recording of Callas singing the aria ‘Vissi d’arte’ from Tosca, to help you
understand the style of performance the reviewer is describing. You will find this
on Track 6 of the ‘Assessment Material’ Audio CD. Then answer the question
that follows in no more than 600 words.
Tosca ………………………….Maria Callas
Cavaradossi……………………Giuseppe Campora
Scarpia…………………………George London
Sacristan……………………….Fernando Corena
Spoletta………………………...Alessio De Paolis
Angelotti……………………….Clifford Harvuot
Sciarrone……………………….George Cehanovsky
Shepherd……………………….George Keith [Debut]
Jailer……………………………Louis Sgarro
Conductor………………………Dimitri Mitropoulos
Director…………………………Dino Yannopoulos
Designer………………………...Frederick Fox
Maria Callas’ appearance as Tosca last night – her first at the
Metropolitan – illuminated quite a few matters that had been left obscure
by her recent interpretations of Norma.1 Thus, on the basis of her present
performance this much is sure: her soprano is not big, nor is it of a
quality even approaching velvet. Indeed, there are moments, especially in
the top register, when the tints in her voice prick the ear like barbs. Also,
she has a perceptible wobble and her scale is neither even nor smooth.
The question then arises, what does it all mean? And the answer, as I read
it, is simply that when Miss Callas is shaken with nerves or is otherwise
ill at ease she passes as a perfectly respectable singer of no enormous
distinctions; but when she warms to a role, squares her shoulders, digs
her nails into her palms and pitches in, she can set a house afire with a
single jabbing gesture or a single withering look.
Strangely enough, too, last night’s performance of the first two acts of
Puccini’s masterwork quite strikingly revealed both sides of Miss Callas’
remarkable dual nature. In the first act – though she looked like Audrey
Hepburn2 and could easily have walked out of a bachelor’s dream – her
portrayal was rather pale, her entire manner somewhat vague and
unfocused. The grandeur of the part was not with her, and she seemed
23
distant, remote, her voice as well, taking on precisely those qualities. In
consequence, the electricity native to the act was no brighter than that
produced by a five and dime store flashlight. A pity, one thought; Callas
is not the Callas we have heard of for so many years.
And then, in the roar of applause, the curtain descended. Twenty minutes
later it rose again and there for all the world to see, transformed as if by
witchcraft, was Maria Callas as she is known to legions of admirers
throughout the world. Her voice steadied, its pitch punctured notes like
so many tooled arrows, and its color lightened, brightened and finally
glowed. But actually there is no need for a further discussion of Miss
Callas’ vocal abilities, since its sound stage is scarcely different from its
echo on records. But records, even the best of them, are cold, mechanical
devices and Miss Callas is anything but a cold or mechanical creature.
In the second act, for instance, she reacted to the hideous net of events
gathering around her exactly, I imagine, as any major actress absorbed in
playing a part. Her despair at Cavaradossi’s torture, her revulsion over
Scarpia’s lust, her resignation as she realises that she is lost were all
tightly etched in her face; and even her muscles grew visibly tense as she
moved from one tormenting scene to another.
Despite this, however, Miss Callas is a very feminine Tosca, never an
Italian Brunnhilde3 out to beat her way into the listener’s sensibility with
train-whistle blast of sonority. In fact, a quite convincing argument could
be made out of the condition that the soprano’s youthful femininity
detracts a mite from the more regal, majestic and mature aspects of the
role. But, no matter. A singing actress is a joy to behold; and at her best
Miss Callas is just such a joy.
The remainder of the principals fared exceedingly well which is all the
more laudable as Maestro Mitropoulos placed obstacle after obstacle in
their way. The orchestra was coarse and loud beyond endurance and the
tempos were so sluggish that frequently the opera seemed to be moving
in slow motion. Still, Mr. London was a ringing and resonant and darkly
evil Scarpia, and Mr. Campora sailed through his lines, even the highest,
with the ease of a wind-swept kite. The evening, largely though their
efforts was, as a result, a handsome one. And Miss Callas, while her
Tosca could by no means be termed spotless, began to grow comfortable
on the Met stage and spares not a single effort to prove it.
Jay S. Harrison (1956) review of Tosca at the Metropolitan Opera House, New
York, New York Herald Tribune, 16 November; available online at
http://archives.metoperafamily.org/archives/frame.htm (Accessed 1 July 2009).
Notes:
1 Norma is another famous operatic role sung by Callas at the Metropolitan
Opera House.
2 Audrey Hepburn, a film actress of the 1950s and 60s.
3 Brunnhilde is a notoriously difficult soprano role that requires great stamina
from the performer.
Question
How does the newspaper review help us to understand Callas’s reputation as a
diva?
24
Guidance Note
This question is intended to test your ability to understand a historical source. In
particular it asks you to study a newspaper review, in the light of what you have
learned about Maria Callas in Book 1, Chapter 6, and to consider what it can tell
us about her reputation as an opera singer. The review is of Callas’s first
appearance in the role of Tosca at the Metropolitan Opera House, New York on
15th November 1956. Her debut at this opera house was just seventeen days
earlier in the role of Norma, the work referred to in the first sentence. After
reading this review, reread the relevant sections of Chapter 6 relating to Callas
and the use of historical documents, noting any areas of endorsement and/or new
evidence that informs our assessment of her reputation. In writing your answer,
you should make sure that you relate the material in the review to the discussion
of Callas and her reputation in Chapter 6. You should also consider the value and
reliability of this document for music historians today.
The recording of ‘Vissi d’arte’ is provided (as Track 6 on the ‘Assessment
Material’ Audio CD) to give you a better idea of the type of performance the
reviewer is writing about. In this aria, Tosca is broken with grief having just
heard the sound of drums accompanying her condemned lover to the scaffold.
She cowers, praying in a corner, watched by Scarpia. We learn that she has lived
for love and art, has offered humble prayers to the saints, laid flowers on the altar,
and given her jewels to bedeck a statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary and now asks
why God has forsaken her. You are not required to make specific reference to this
recording in your answer, although credit will be given if you do so. In particular,
you might try to identify one or two aspects of Callas’s performance that accord
with her reputation as a diva: for example, you might think about the dramatic
qualities of her performance or the opportunities the aria gives her to display her
virtuosity as a singer. You will find some useful guidance on how to listen
closely to a piece of music in Section 6.3; however, it is possible to comment on
the recording without using the technical language introduced there. You should
relate any points that you make to specific material in the review or in Chapter 6.
If you wish to refer to a particular moment in the recording, you should identify it
by referring to the CD time reference as shown in Section 6.3.
Part 2 Plato on Tradition and Belief
The passage below is adapted from a passage in Plato’s dialogue the Protagoras.
(Some details of the text have been changed.) Protagoras (c.490-20 BCE) claimed
to be able to teach aristocratic young men how to achieve personal and political
success. In the dialogue, he is presented as denying that virtue is a form of
knowledge. In the passage, Socrates investigates the relationship between
courage and knowledge.
Read the passage below slowly and carefully. Then, in no more than 600 words,
answer the questions below. There is no need to worry if you do not understand
everything on your first read through: the questions are designed to help you to
analyse the passage.
Note: the reference to divers who plunge into tanks continues to puzzle scholars.
It is not known what the purpose of this activity was, but the discussion makes it
clear that it was a dangerous job.
PROTAGORAS: My view is that justice, holiness, temperance, wisdom
and courage are all parts of virtue, and that four of them resemble each
other fairly closely, but that courage is very different from all the rest.
The proof of what I say is that you can find many men who are quite
unjust, unholy, intemperate, and foolish, yet outstandingly courageous.
25
SOCRATES: Do you consider the courageous to be confident?
PROTAGORAS: Confident, yes, and keen to meet dangers from which
most men shrink in fear.
SOCRATES: And do you consider their confidence to be admirable?
PROTAGORAS: Yes.
SOCRATES: Now, do you know which men plunge fearlessly into tanks?
PROTAGORAS: Yes, divers.
SOCRATES: Is that because they know their job or for some other
reason?
PROTAGORAS: Because they know their job. And this holds good
generally, if that’s what you are after. Those with the relevant knowledge
have more confidence than those without it.
SOCRATES: But have you ever seen men with no understanding of some
dangerous occupation who still plunge into it with confidence? Doesn’t
their confidence involve courage too?
PROTAGORAS: No, because their confidence is not something
admirable. Those people are just foolhardy.
SOCRATES: So, those who are foolishly confident turn out not to be
courageous, but foolhardy. Conversely, the confidence of knowledgeable
people will be admirable; and, therefore, it is knowledgeable confidence
that is courageous.
(Adapted from Plato, Protagoras 349d-c (trans. W. K. C. Guthrie), in Hamilton, E.
and Huntington, C. (eds) (1961) The Collected Dialogues of Plato, Bollingen Series
LXXI, Princeton University Press, p. 342.)
Questions
1 In this passage, Socrates and Protagoras present an argument for the claim
that foolish confidence is not the same thing as courageous confidence. How
do they argue for this conclusion?
2 There is a second argument in the passage, which might be summarised like
this:
Premise 1: Courageous confidence is admirable.
Premise 2: Knowledgeable confidence is admirable.
Conclusion: So, knowledgeable confidence and courageous confidence are
the same thing.
Explain, as clearly as you can, why this argument invalid.
3 At the beginning of the passage, Protagoras says that there are many people
who are unjust, unholy, intemperate, and foolish, yet outstandingly
courageous. Drawing on the discussion of the Laches in the course materials,
explain why Plato might have disagreed with this claim, and describe one
reasonable objection to Plato’s views on this issue.
Guidance Note
This part of the assignment draws on your ability to analyse a philosophical
argument and on your understanding of some of the philosophical claims and
arguments discussed in the chapter on Plato’s Laches. Of the 50 marks available
for this part of the assignment, question (1) is worth up to 5 marks, question (2) is
worth up to 10 marks, and question (3) is worth up to 35 marks.
26
For questions (1) and (2) you will find helpful material in Book 2, Chapter 1,
especially Section 1.7. Good answers to these questions will be as clear and
concise as possible. In answering question (1), remember that, although you can
rephrase Socrates’ points, it is a good idea to keep key words the same. You may
wish to present the argument as a pair of premises and a conclusion, but you
could also explain it in a less formal way. In answering question (2), it is a good
idea to begin by explaining what ‘invalid’ means. If you are finding this question
difficult, it is worth trying to invent some other arguments that follow the same
pattern: try to find one that has true premises and a silly conclusion. You can then
make use of it in explaining why Socrates’ argument is invalid.
You will need to save most of your word allocation to deal with question (3). For
this question, you should find helpful material in the chapter (especially Sections
1.9, 1.10 and 1.11), in the first section of the DVD ROM and in the interview
with Tim Chappell on the Audio CD (especially Tracks 5, 6 and 7). You do not
have space to develop a comprehensive answer, so you should pick just two or
three points and try to explain them as clearly and precisely as you can. You are
asked to finish by describing one reasonable objection to Plato’s views. It does
not matter whether or not you agree with the objection you describe: the point is
to show that you understand what might count as a reasonable objection to
Plato’s views.
27
Assignment 04 Cut-off date: 11 June 2010
For this assignment you are asked to write a structured essay of no more than
1200 words. You are also required to submit a brief plan of your essay (see the
section on ‘Planning your essay’ below).
You should choose to answer either Option 1 or Option 2. You should make it
clear which option you have chosen by writing the question in full at the head of
your essay.
Planning your essay
This is the first full-scale essay you are asked to write for this course. Essay
writing is central to all the Arts subjects and is an important and useful skill. It
does, however, require preparation and practice. Your work on Assignments 01 to
03 has already given you experience of creating and polishing a piece of writing.
In producing this assignment, we would like you to think especially carefully
about how you plan and structure your writing. To help you to think about this,
you are required to submit an essay plan with your answer. This will give your
tutor an opportunity to comment on how you approached the question and
constructed your argument. Getting feedback on your essay plan will help you to
structure future essays.
Before starting this essay, you will find it useful to look back at Section 2.8,
‘Working at your own writing’, in the Course Companion. You can also find
advice on structuring and writing an essay on the OU Skills for Study website at
http://www.open.ac.uk/skillsforstudy/ . You should start by creating your essay
plan, which should be no more than one side of paper. Writing a plan first will
help you to make sure that your essay is clearly structured and focused. Your plan
should show how you intend to construct your essay paragraph by paragraph.
Each paragraph should deal with a particular stage of your argument. Your plan
can take the form of a list, or a mind-map, or any other form you like to use, but it
must show clearly the proposed form of your essay. You should indicate by a
note or a sentence what is to be in each paragraph.
When you come to write your essay, you may find that you begin to deviate from
your plan. If this happens you should stop and think about why this is. Is this
because you are starting to introduce material that is not relevant to the question
or because you are losing the thread of your argument? If so, you may wish to go
back and revise what you have been writing. Or is it because, once you started
writing, you thought of some additional points to make or found a better way to
develop your argument? If so, you might add a brief note to the bottom of your
plan, explaining what has happened. Nevertheless, the plan that you submit with
your essay should be your original one: your tutor will not expect it to match up
with your essay in every detail.
Option 1 Tradition and Dissent in English Christianity
In what ways has Roman Catholicism been an example of both religious tradition
and dissent in England?
Use some examples from the course material to support your discussion and
analysis.
28
Guidance Note
This assignment is designed to:
� test your understanding of the material about English Christianity in
Chapter 3 of Book 2 and in particular the way Roman Catholicism changed in
its role and position from the sixteenth century to the nineteenth century
� let you demonstrate that you can be selective with the material and use
examples from the wide time scale involved to support an overall position
and argument
� allow you to show that you can understand different points of view and
recognise that the material is open to varying interpretations in relation to
what is perceived as tradition and dissent
� and let you make an interpretation of your own and argue a viewpoint
regarding the course material.
You are asked to assess Roman Catholicism and how its changing religious and
political experiences shaped it in relation to wider Christianity in England. You
can argue that it is an example of tradition and that it has remained so or that it
has acted as a dissenting force against the consequences of the Reformation and
the dominating presence of Protestantism, or you can argue that it is an example
of both. You should try to provide a clear argument in relation to the question
rather than a descriptive account of what happened to Roman Catholicism during
the period you have studied. You should select examples from the sixteenth
century to the nineteenth century to support your argument. There is no ‘right’
answer here: as you will remember from sources like Newman’s sermon
(Reading 3.4) there are differing interpretations of what form of English
Christianity represents tradition. You should use sources like this as well as the
text and images in the chapter as a whole and the DVD ROM on St Chad’s
Cathedral.
Option 2 Pugin and the Revival of the Gothic Tradition
In what ways did Pugin dissent from tradition? Refer to published texts, works of
art and architecture in your answer.
Guidance Note
This question is intended to test your understanding of ideas of tradition and
dissent, and your ability to analyse works of art using appropriate critical
vocabulary. It also tests your ability to formulate and sustain an argument in a
short essay. You may choose to begin to plan your essay by thinking about Pugin
and the theme of dissent, or by thinking of two or three specific examples of texts
or works that interest you and seem particularly important to the theme of dissent.
In your essay you will need to do both. It is good practice to consider specific
examples in art history essays, and you will usually receive substantially lower
marks if you fail to do this. On the other hand, if you introduce a series of works
of art and architecture without a sustaining argument, the essay will be more like
a list, and risks being incoherent. Asking yourself ‘what am I trying to say?’ and
‘how can I illustrate that point?’ may help you to avoid either pitfall.
All three sections of the Pugin chapter are relevant to this essay, and you should
draw on two of them. If you wish to comment on the limits of Pugin’s dissent, or
even challenge the view that he dissented from tradition, then you are free to do
so, so long as you can support your argument.
29
Assignment 05 Cut-off date: 16 July 2010
The Art of Benin
This assignment is in two parts. For Part 1, you should choose either Option A or
Option B. Your answer should be no more than 500 words. You should then
answer Part 2, using no more than 1000 words. You should write no more than
1500 words in total.
Your tutor will give you a grade out of 40 for Part 1 and a grade out of 60 for Part
2. These will be added to produce a grade out of 100 for the assignment as a
whole.
Please write out the question in full at the head of each answer. However, where a
piece of text has been set out for you to comment on, there is no need to
reproduce it.
Part 1
Option A
Look closely at Plate 3.2.18 which shows the figure of an Oba with attendants
and Portuguese heads. What can this work of art tell us about cross-cultural
encounters?
In your answer, consider for whom it was made, who viewed it, and what purpose
it may have served. (500 words)
Option B
Carefully read the following piece of text. What can it tell us about cross-cultural
encounters? (500 words)
On the British loss of antique works of art from Benin
When on the return of the members of the Punitive Expedition it became
known that fine specimens of bronze castings and ivory and wood
carvings had been found in the old city of Great Benin, Mr. Charles H.
Read, the Keeper of Antiquities at the British Museum, with
characteristic energy at once endeavoured to secure for the national
collection good representative specimens of these bronzes, and he
succeeded in gathering together the finest collections of plaques that is to
be found in any Museum. But owing to the want of proper pecuniary
support, he was not able to obtain possession of any of the more
expensive, and in many cases equally interesting, articles. Not only was
the national institution thus deprived of its lawful acquisitions, but at the
same time another government department sold for a few hundred pounds
a large number of castings which had cost thousands to obtain, as well as
much blood of our fellow countrymen. Hence it is that so many Bini
articles are not represented at all at Bloomsbury. […]
From what I can ascertain, the bulk of these bronzes has been secured by
the Germans […]
For many years the Germans have foreseen that the study of native races
and their development, a study known to us under the awkward name of
30
Anthropology, is essential to every civilised community which trades
with, or is called upon to govern native communities […]
Politically, it is of the first importance that our governing officials should
have a thorough knowledge of the native races subject to them – and this
is the knowledge that anthropology can give them – for such knowledge
can teach what methods of government and what forms of taxation are
most suited to the particular tribes, or to the stage of civilization in which
we find them. In connection with this, there can be no doubt that with
adequate knowledge much spilled bloodshed could have been saved in
the past, both on our frontiers and in our colonies.
(From Henry Ling Roth (1972 [1903]) Great Benin: Its Customs, Art and Horrors,
Northbrook, IL, Metro Books, pp.xviii–xix. Reprinted in Book 3, Chapter 2, Reading
2.3.)
Part 2
Why is the ownership of Benin art so controversial? (1000 words)
Guidance Note
This question is the first that asks you to link two disciplines: History and Art
History. Part 1 asks you to demonstrate skills in either visual or textual analysis,
while the short essay in Part 2 calls on skills relating to both History and Art
History and tests your ability to select appropriate evidence to support your
argument.
Part 1
You will note that the phrase ‘cross-cultural encounters’ occurs in both Option A
and Option B. You will need to think about what this term means and explain
how you are using it.
For Option A you need to look very carefully at the image. Remember that how
an image is made in terms of materials and detailing can be revealing as well as
what is represented. You should also think about the original site and function of
this work of art and the possible reasons for the choice of subject matter for this
context. You will find plenty of material to support your answer in the first
section of Chapter 1 and in the first two sections of the DVD ROM ‘The Art of
Benin’. You may also find it useful to read Book 3, Chapter 2, Section 2.2, p. 68.
Remember that you are being tested on your skills of visual analysis, so be
careful not to use up your word allocation in general background material.
If you choose Option B, you will find that Section 1.2 of Chapter 1 provides
plenty of guidance on how to analyse a source. The text itself is briefly discussed
in Section 2.1 of Chapter 2. You may also find sections of the DVD ROM
helpful. Note that the question is asking you to answer a specific question: what
can the document tell us about cross-cultural encounters? You might want to
consider the way that people and places are presented in the text.
Part 2
You are being asked to explain why the question of ownership of Benin art is so
hotly debated; this means defining the issues involved rather than reaching a
verdict on that question. The interviews on the DVD ROM will be your main
source. You must be careful, however, that you do not simply reiterate the
arguments put forward there. Kevin Dalton Jones’s and Chris Spring’s arguments
are simply two different responses to the common problem of ownership. You
need to define and explain this problem. Chapter 1, Section 2 is fundamental for
how the circumstances under which the art was acquired relates to the issue of
31
ownership. You may find Reading 2.7 and the film of the Quai Branly exhibition
on the DVD ROM useful ways to begin to think about the importance of cultural
context and public access to the ownership question. Whichever issues you
decide to discuss in detail, your response should demonstrate close familiarity
with the course material, and not just the application of your own logical
reasoning.
32
Assignment 06 Cut-off date: 13 August 2010
For this assignment you are asked to write an essay of no more than 1500 words.
You should choose to answer either Option 1 or Option 2. You should make it
clear which option you have chosen by writing the question in full at the head of
your essay.
Option 1 Transmission of Medical Knowledge
In what ways did European practitioners respond to writings on medicine by
Islamic authors and why?
Guidance Note
This question tests your understanding of the medical history set out in Chapter 5
of Book 3. More broadly, it gives you an opportunity to develop your skills in
constructing a historical argument. This essay asks you to assess how
practitioners in Europe reacted to the medical texts from the Islamic world and
how that reaction is expressed in the texts written by European practitioners.
First, you need to identify the reactions of European practitioners. Did they
embrace Islamic ideas? Did they reject them? Did their responses change over
time? How did the European context influence their reactions? You should
provide evidence for your conclusions through examples of the uses (or not) of
particular Islamic texts by European practitioners, and show how European
practitioners made use of Islamic ideas in their own writings. Within your answer
you should give a brief outline of Islamic medical ideas, but do not spend too
much time discussing them. You will find all the material you need for your
answer in section 5.3 and the associated resources.
Option 2 Short Stories
Read the following two short stories from the anthology A World of Difference:
Ana Menéndez, ‘In Cuba I Was a German Shepherd’ (pp.19–36), Roxana
Robinson ‘Mr Sumarsono’ (pp. 79–91). Analyse the way that ‘cultural
encounters’ are played out in terms of each story’s structure and characterisation.
Guidance Note
As you work on this question you will be developing your critical understanding
and appreciation of the short story as a specific literary genre. Close reading will
provide the groundwork for your analysis, so you will be building on the
approaches to written texts that you have practised in earlier assignments.
In working through Book 3, Chapter 4 you will already have read ‘In Cuba I Was
a German Shepherd’ fairly carefully, but re-reading it alongside ‘Mr Sumarsono’
you should notice new things. Aim to read both stories several times, separately
and also consecutively, so that you develop your awareness of the differences
between them as well as similarities. The concept of characterisation was
discussed in Book 1, Chapter 2; examining the way that Menéndez and Robinson
create their characters and present them to the reader will help you to foreground
the ‘cultural encounters’ theme in each story. But you will also want to explore
the ways in which the stories’ structures work, and the meanings that thus
emerge. Build up your plan for an answer making close reference to both stories
for your evidence. You’ll find that, where there are contrasts between the two
33
stories (for example, in narrative voice), these will provide useful structuring
points for your essay.
The idea of structure is discussed in some detail in Book 3, Chapter 4 (pp.143–
147), and the ‘Preface’ to the anthology, A World of Difference, pp.xii–xiii raises
some general points about cultural encounters as the overarching theme of these
stories.
34
Assignment 07 Cut-off date: 3 September 2010
Please note that your tutor can grant only a limited extension for Assignment
07 and can do so only in exceptional circumstances. If you think that you will
be unable to complete Assignment 07 by the cut-off date, you should contact
your tutor as soon as possible.
If you fail to submit Assignment 07, you cannot pass the course, unless there
are special circumstances that prevented you from doing so (see Section 8 of
this booklet).
Reflecting on progress
The purpose of this assignment is to encourage you to take a step back from your
studies and to assess your own progress as a student. It is directly related to the
learning outcome that concerns taking responsibility for your own learning while
responding reflectively to tutor feedback. As with Assignment 02, this
assignment aims to develop your awareness of the way in which you study and
write. It aims to help you to think through your work on the course as a whole, at
the moment at which you start to think about what to study next. You should
begin by looking back over your previous assignments and your tutor’s
comments on these assignments. (If you do not receive Assignment 06 back in
time to take account of it in writing this assignment, there is no need to be
concerned: just focus on Assignments 01 to 05.) You should then write a critical
review of up to 750 words, examining the way in which you study and write your
assignments. For example, you might consider how your skills in reading and
taking notes or in planning and writing your essays have developed through the
course. How you structure your review is up to you, but in the course of it, you
should do the following five things:
� Identify one or more ways in which you have made progress as a student
since starting The Arts Past and Present. (For example, you might describe a
skill that you have developed, or a difficulty in studying that you have
resolved.)
� Identify one or more ways in which your approach to study or your study
skills could be improved.
� For at least one of these, identify some different sources of help.
� Identify one or more strengths that you have as a student.
� Consider which subject(s) you have most enjoyed studying, and which
subject(s) you have got the best marks for. Has the experience of studying the
course modified what you thought you would be interested in before you
started the course? Do you now have a clearer sense of what you’d like to
study next?
You should support what you say with specific examples taken from your
experiences of working through the course materials and writing assignments.
You may wish to refer to one or more of your tutor’s comments on your
assignments.
Further guidance
This section contains some further guidance about completing this assignment,
presented in question and answer form. You might also find it helpful to visit the
35
Skills for OU Study website (http://www.open.ac.uk/skillsforstudy/) where you
can find advice on reflective learning.
Why is it important to review my progress?
The ability to assess your progress is an essential part of becoming an
independent learner, aware of your own strengths and weakness and able to take
responsibility for your own progress. The willingness and ability to review your
own progress is something that you may find essential in other contexts too – in
your employment, for example.
We have timed this assignment towards the end of the course, so that you have
plenty of material to review. The assignment is also timed to allow you to
complete your review before you start work on your end-of-course assessment.
Conducting your review may well help to prepare you to write this final piece of
work. Furthermore, it also coincides with the Moving Forwards week, in which
you are invited to think about what course you might study next. The point is that
reflection on what you’ve learned and the choice of your next course are closely
linked.
What if my tutor disagrees with what I have written?
Although we think that you should take your tutor’s feedback very seriously, it is
hardly to be expected that students will always assess their own progress in
exactly the same way as their tutors. In grading this assignment, your tutor is not
asked to consider whether he or she agrees with what you have written. Instead,
he or she is asked to judge:
� the extent to which you have engaged with the task
� your awareness of the kinds of skills, qualities or habits that make for
successful study and writing
� whether you have written your review clearly and coherently
� whether you have supported what you say with specific examples, drawn
from your own work.
The grading criteria set out in Section 7 of this booklet include some specific
references to the two reflective assignments on the course.
How personal should my answer be?
There is one sense in which your answer will certainly be personal: it will be
about you, your own approach to study, and your own progress. But there is
another sense in which your answer need not be personal at all: if you wish, you
can focus entirely on your study habits and skills, such as note-taking or essay
writing, without ever mentioning your personal thoughts or feelings about
studying. Indeed, most of your review should focus on habits and skills. But in
some cases, it will be perfectly appropriate to talk about your feelings about
studying – for example, if anxiety about deadlines or reading your tutor’s
feedback has been getting in your way. The most important thing is to make
specific points and to support them with specific examples, which you will then
have available for future reference.
Not everyone finds it easy to review their own work, and you may need to
approach this assignment in a deliberately clinical spirit. It may help to bear in
mind that your tutor is not asked to judge whether he or she agrees with what you
have written.
36
How far should I rely on my tutor’s feedback?
You may well wish to make use of, and even quote (with the proper
acknowledgement) your tutor’s comments. But bear in mind that this review is
meant to represent your own reflection on your progress, not just your
understanding of what your tutor has been telling you. To engage with this
assignment you will need to do more than just present a digest of your tutor’s
comments.
Where can I find examples to use?
There are several places where you might look for evidence: you might include
brief quotations from your own assignments, from online tutorial activities, from
your essay plans or from your notes.
How honest do I have to be?
Tutors are not asked to grade for accuracy, so it would be possible to write a
critical review that was partly fictional. (Since you are asked to provide specific
examples from your own work, it would be difficult to produce a review that was
wholly fictional.) But if you approach the assignment in this way, you will not get
much benefit from it. We have set this assignment because we think that
reflecting on your progress is important to your development as a student, and
you will get the most out of it if you engage with it honestly and seriously.
Preparing for the ECA
Once you have completed Assignment 07, you will be ready to start work on
Book 4 and the end-of-course assignment. Before you begin work on Book 4, you
should read the advice on ‘How to approach the end-of-course assignment’ which
is on the next page of this booklet. In particular, you should take note of the
advice to look at the questions for the end-of-course assessment before you begin
work on Book 4.
37
End-of-course assessment Cut-off date: 1 October 2010
Make sure that you know how to submit your end-of-course assessment and
that you are aware of the rules concerning late submission. This information
can be found in Section 4 of this booklet.
For your end-of-course assessment you are asked to write an essay of no more
than 2000 words. You should choose to answer one of the three options. You
should make it clear which option you have chosen by writing the question in full
at the head of your essay.
How to approach the end-of-course assessment
The options set for the end-of-course assessment offer the opportunity to draw
together material from different chapters or sections of Book 4, Place and
Leisure and related course materials. To complete the assessment you will need
to produce an extended piece of writing that shows your ability to analyse texts
and/or objects and to construct a well-substantiated and coherent argument.
The questions set allow for a great degree of choice in selecting and organising
your material. Before planning your essay you should put aside some time to
think about the approach you would like to take to the question and the material
that you are going to use.
It is important to look at the end-of-course assessment questions before you start
work on Book 4 and to read them again before you start studying the seaside
materials. Once you have read the questions and worked through chapters 1, 2
and 3, you should familiarise yourself with the materials for ‘The Seaside’. Begin
by skim reading the introductions and the section headings and look through the
pictures and other supporting materials to get an idea of the sorts of topics
covered. The guidance notes may give further hints about where to find relevant
material. Because the work on the seaside is spread over three weeks, you need to
take extra care in planning your work. You will find it helpful to draw up a
schedule to make sure you don’t get behind and leave too much to cover in the
last week.
Once you have done that, you will be in a position to make a final decision about
which question to answer and which materials you would like to use. You should
then concentrate your attention on the sections or chapters that you intend to draw
on in writing your essay. If you plan to make use of the seaside materials, you
should study at least four sections. Otherwise the guidance notes should make it
clear which materials you will need to study.
At this stage of The Arts Past and Present, you will be familiar with essay
writing. This is your longest piece of writing on the course but you need to apply
the same disciplines of planning and drafting as you used in your shorter essays.
Try to make good use of the feedback that your tutor gave you on your earlier
assignments to build on your strengths and to improve your writing skills.
Option 1
‘There is no such thing as “sacred space” – there are only places to which
different people ascribe different values.’
Discuss with reference to at least two examples drawn from the course materials.
38
Guidance Note
This question asks you to consider what you have read, seen and understood
about what it is that makes somewhere sacred.
In particular, it is asking you to think about the debates and disagreements among
scholars that you have read about as to whether spaces and places are inherently
sacred, or only become sacred when people designate them as such. It also asks
you to consider the ways in which different people might ascribe different values
to a place, and what effect this might have in how they relate to that place
physically, emotionally and religiously.
In order to answer this question, you will have to demonstrate that you have
understood the arguments made for and against the proposition that sacred space
is inherently sacred, and can demonstrate from the course material the different
ways in which people might be said to make places sacred, physically and
conceptually.
To start thinking about how you might answer this question, you might like to
revisit some of the quotations and readings about place in the sacred space
chapter, and ideas around ‘making sacred’. You may also like to contrast this
material with the different spaces of the Roman villa and the seaside. Look again
at the DVD Video for sacred space, concentrating in particular on what is being
said and thought about natural and man-made features in places that are regarded
as sacred by different people.
Option 2
‘The seaside is a place of escape from the restrictions of everyday life.’ How far
do the depictions of the seaside presented in the course materials reflect this
view?
Discuss with reference to two or three specific examples, choosing a different
genre for each example from: art, music, photography and film.
Guidance Note
This question is designed to test your ability to present a coherent essay, drawing
on several sections of the material on ‘The Seaside’. To answer this question, you
will find all the materials you need in the sections on representations of the
seaside – in music, painting and film. You can also use material from ‘Dressing
for the Beach’, especially the accompanying DVD ROM material.
You need to present a reasoned case, showing how much these materials provide
a picture of the seaside as a place of escape from everyday restrictions. You need
to think about how the beach and the sea provided a place to be free. What rules
of behaviour were cast off at the seaside? What forms of dress were worn? What
other restrictions were relaxed? What activities did people take part in at the
beach? To understand how people ‘escaped’ at the seaside, you will need to think
about the ‘restrictions’ of working life. For example – how was time controlled at
work – and were holidaymakers free to do as they liked, when they liked when at
the seaside? Were there rules of appropriate ‘seaside behaviour’? You can make a
counter argument that the seaside wasn’t a ‘place of escape’ but had its own
rules.
Whatever argument you choose to make, remember to give examples from the
material. Don’t be tempted to give a lot of similar cases – it is better to discuss a
few examples in greater detail.
39
Option 3
Would Aristotle have found anything to value in a seaside holiday?
Discuss with reference to three or four examples, drawn from both the ancient
and modern world, of how people spent their time by the sea.
Guidance Note
This question is designed to test your ability to plan and write a coherent essay,
drawing together material from several chapters of Book 4, Place and Leisure. It
also allows you to explore the interplay between general principles and particular
examples discussed in Book 3, Chapter 3. To answer the question, you will need
to draw on the material on Aristotle in Book 4, Chapter 1, Section 1.2. You will
also need to draw on other material in Book 4 to find some examples of the way
in which people have typically spent their time at the seaside. You should use
examples from both the ancient and modern world.
In discussing Aristotle’s views, it is not necessary to set out his arguments in
detail: it is enough to consider what his conclusions were. But you should pay
careful attention to the complexities of his position. In particular, it is important
bear in mind that Aristotle might value an activity either as a means to an end or
as worth pursuing for its own sake; and, of course, there might be some activities
that he would not have valued at all. The seaside activities you choose to discuss
should be ones that enable you explore the complexities of his view. In discussing
these examples, you might wish to draw on several different sources of evidence:
these might include archaeological remains, photographs, posters, music or
newspaper articles. You should use this evidence to identify some different kinds
of seaside activity and to consider why people have chosen to pursue activities of
these kinds. You should then be able decide whether or not Aristotle might have
valued these activities and what reasons he might have given for his views.
40
top related