← Classical Studies syllabus

ScotlandClassical Studies

Classical Literature Skills

3 dot points across 3 inquiry questions. Click any dot point for a focused answer with worked past exam questions where available.

How do you analyse a classical writer's technique and its effect in the Advanced Higher source questions?

Analysing technique and effect: showing how a classical writer uses language, imagery, structure and characterisation to achieve a deliberate effect on the audience.
How to analyse a classical writer's craft in the SQA Advanced Higher Classical Studies source questions: identifying the technique, quoting precisely, and explaining the deliberate effect on the reader or audience rather than just naming the device.
11 min answer →

How do you place a classical source in its wider literary and social context in the Advanced Higher source questions?

Placing a source in context: relating a passage to the wider work, the genre and the society that produced it, to deepen the analysis and the evaluation.
How to set a classical passage in its wider context in the SQA Advanced Higher Classical Studies source questions: relating it to the whole work, the conventions of its genre, and the society that produced it, to deepen analysis and evaluation.
11 min answer →

How do you read a classical text as evidence for ideas and values in the Advanced Higher source questions?

Reading classical literature as evidence: treating an ancient text as a source for the ideas, values and assumptions of its society, not just retelling its story.
How to read an ancient text as evidence in the SQA Advanced Higher Classical Studies source questions: drawing out the ideas, values and assumptions it reveals about its society, rather than retelling the plot.
11 min answer →