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CHNS3081: Classical Chinese II

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Type Open
Level 3
Credits 20
Availability Available in 2024/2025
Module Cap 30
Location Durham
Department Modern Languages and Cultures (Chinese)

Prerequisites

  • Classical Chinese I or equivalent knowledge

Corequisites

  • None

Excluded Combinations of Modules

  • None

Aims

  • Build on the Classical Chinese reading skills and language knowledge developed in Classical Chinese I to achieve a good level of proficiency in decoding a range of text types including poetry and literary texts. Study also traditional unpunctuated texts and commentaries on the texts. This will also include study of text genres and their prosodic and rhetorical features.

Content

  • Reading a range of literary, philosophical, historical and epistolary texts in Classical Chinese
  • Reading unpunctuated texts
  • Reading interlinear commentaries
  • Analysing and discussing the features of the texts

Learning Outcomes

Subject-specific Knowledge:

  • Knowledge of a range of basic Classical Chinese text types and how to read them
  • Knowledge of vocabulary and rhetorical techniques used in such texts
  • Knowledge of the aesthetic, historical, literary and social background to the texts

Subject-specific Skills:

  • Ability to understand and analyse written discourse in Classical Chinese
  • Ability to recognise and appreciate the rhetorical devices used in Classical Chinese texts
  • Ability to place such texts in their historical, literary and intellectual contexts and explain their significance

Key Skills:

  • Ability to analyse complex language usage
  • Ability to relate texts to their aesthetic, literary, historical and social environments
  • Ability to carry out self-directed study and present the results both orally and in writing

Modes of Teaching, Learning and Assessment and how these contribute to the learning outcomes of the module

  • The teaching will be delivered through two separate weekly classes at which the lecturer will introduce the texts concerned, discuss their content and place in the literary canon, explain their language usage and guide the students in translating the texts into English. The students will be asked to translate unseen and prepared texts and give presentations on the content of the texts. There will be a formative assessment during the year. The summative assessment will consist of a 2,000 word essay and a three hour written examination for which students produce seen and unseen translations of Classical Chinese texts and write commentaries.

Teaching Methods and Learning Hours

ActivityNumberFrequencyDurationTotalMonitored
Lectures2weekly1 hour40 

Summative Assessment

Component: EssayComponent Weighting: 40%
ElementLength / DurationElement WeightingResit Opportunity
Essay2,000 words100No
Component: ExamComponent Weighting: 60%
ElementLength / DurationElement WeightingResit Opportunity
Exam3 hours100Yes

Formative Assessment

Seen and unseen translation, presentations on the contents of the text; a mock examination in the middle of the Epiphany term

More information

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