VCE Classical Studies study plan

Map the political, social, religious and cultural structures of at least two classical societies (e.g. fifth-century Athens and late Republican Rome) into a comparison table

Identify and define the core civic values of each society (e.g. citizen obligation, honour, pietas, competitive excellence) with one primary-source example per value

Classify a set of ten short ancient-source extracts by type (literary, epigraphic, legal, rhetorical) and note the author's purpose and audience for each

Distinguish between evidence and inference when describing everyday life, using at least three concrete examples

Explain how political institutions (assembly, council, magistracies, courts) distributed power in each chosen society

Analyse how religion was embedded in civic life, citing festival, priesthood or public cult evidence

Evaluate the reliability and bias of two contrasting ancient authors writing about the same institution or event

Construct at least five short analytical paragraphs that each state a claim, cite evidence and explain significance

Outline the major myth cycles (creation, heroic, foundation myths) and link each to the values it reinforces

Compare how two versions of the same myth differ and explain what the differences reveal about the society or genre

Identify the functions of ritual and cult practice (e.g. sacrifice, mystery cult, state cult) and connect them to civic identity

Interpret at least three visual or material representations of myth and state what each emphasises

Identify the conventions of at least two genres (e.g. epic, tragedy, historiography, oratory) and their expected audience and performance context

Analyse how a prescribed text uses character, structure and language to convey values or critique them

Evaluate the strengths and limits of a literary text as historical evidence

Draft a thesis statement and outline for an essay question on genre and interpretation