Assignments for Latin 395A
Fall 2007
This page provides a compendium of assignments made throughout the semester. The assignments are arranged in reverse chronological order, i.e., the most recent assignment appears first. They are to be done by the date on which they are listed.
Note: The words HARD COPY in the assignments below indicate a portion of the assignment that is to be submitted as written work on the specified date.
NB Please note the ABBREVIATIONS for the texts we use in our assignments:
- LPC = Latin Prose Composition
- NLG = Allen and Greenough's New Latin Grammar
- REX = Readings and Exercises in Latin Prose Composition
Tuesday, 18 December
- Final Examination. The exam is a do-at-home project.
- REX 22.4 (pp. 153-154)
- Rewrite this passage from Livy as Oratio Recta (direct speech).
- As we discussed in class, your work will be a Latin composition.
- Begin after the first colon. The first word out of Hannibal's mouth is Miror.
- You may consult the usual reference works:
- dictionary
- manuals of grammar, syntax, and usage, i.e. LPC and NLG.
- Especially useful for treatments of Indirect Statement:
- LPC pp. 71-75
- NLG sections 580-588
- Mechanical considerations:
- Prepare your composition on computer.
- Double-space.
- Leave a margin of 1.5 inches on all sides.
- Make all verb forms bold. This includes:
- Finite forms (indicatives, subjunctives, imperatives)
- Infinitives
- Participles
- Gerunds
- Carefully proof-read your work to eliminate misspellings, etc.
- Print your composition and staple the pages together. Write and sign the Honor Code on the back of the last page.
- The exam must be in my box (on top of the file cabinet just outside my office door, JAC 306B) no later than 3 p.m., Tuesday, 18 December.
- I will put a folder in my box and label it LATIN 395 FINAL. Please place your exam in that folder.
- Finally, just to be safe, make a hard copy for yourself and store the electronic file on your computer or a server where you have personal space.
Tuesday, 11 December (our last meeting this semester)
- LPC
- REX
- Review your work on 17.1, paragraph 44 (pp. 114-115).
- Carefully read 22.4 (pp. 153-154).
- NB This passage is taken from Livy xxi.30.
- As always, keep a wordlist, and post comments/questions on LatinitasWiki, section 15.1.
- Laborate diligenter! Material on the final examination will be based, in part, on this passage from Livy.
- The Final Exam will be given on Tuesday, 18 December, noon - 3 p.m. in JAC 105.
Thursday, 6 December
- REX
- Carefully read 17.1, paragraphs 43 and 44.
Tuesday, 4 December
- LPC
- REX
- HARD COPY. 15.2 (p. 100)
- This should be prepared on computer and printed for submission today.
- Carefully read 17.1, paragraphs 38, 39, and 42 (pp. 113-114).
- As always, keep a wordlist, and post comments/questions on LatinitasWiki, section 14.1.
- NB Tacitus' style can be difficult. Work carefully, aiming for accuracy of form identification, and employ techniques of analysis we have practiced together in class. Know that everyone has trouble with Tacitus, so don't be discouraged.
- For a broad introduction to Tacitus see Annals (Tacitus).
Thursday, 29 November
- LPC. Read pp. 42-43, and 45-46.
- REX
- Carefully read section 15.1 (pp. 99-100).
Tuesday, 27 November
- REX
- HARD COPY Revision. Completely redo section 13.2. For each item, include a brief and accurate explanation, with an appropriate citation from NLG or LPC, of why you chose the form you have written.
- Review your work on section 13.5, paragraph 29 (p. 88).
- Work carefully on section 13.5, para. 32 (p. 88).
Thursday, 15 November
- REX
- Work carefully on:
- section 13.3, paragraph 28 (p. 87)
- section 13.5, paragraph 29 (p. 88)
- NB This is the first paragraph of section 13.5.
- As always, keep a wordlist, and post comments/questions on LatinitasWiki, section 12.4.
- HARD COPY. Section 13.4 (pp. 87-88)
- NB You will need to write the complete sentence, both the beginning that is given in the exercise and the statement that is to be joined with it. Follow the model for the statements joined.
- NB2 Prepare this exercise on computer and print it for submission in class today.
Tuesday, 13 November
- LPC. Review pp. 33-43.
- REX
- Review section 13.1, paragraph 22 (p. 85).
- Work carefully on:
- HARD COPY. Section 13.2 (p. 86).
- NB Prepare this exercise on computer and print it for submission in class today.
- NB2 This exercise has a lot to do with the rules of Sequence of Tenses. Take Minkova's comments to heart in LPC, pp. 33-43. You may also refer to my online Sequence of Tenses chart.
- NB3 No need to rewrite the entire paragraph. Just write the appropriate forms of the verbs in parentheses -- one verb per line of your HARD COPY.
- Finally, be sure not to miss any of the verbs in parentheses. There are fourteen, and you should number them consecutively in your work.
Thursday, 8 November
- LPC
- Review pp. 4-7 (Negative statement of fact).
- Read pp. 33-43.
- REX
- QUIZ. Be able to do the exercise in section 8.4 (p. 52).
- Work carefully on section 13.1, paragraph 22 (p. 85).
- As always, keep a wordlist, and post comments/questions on LatinitasWiki, section 11.2.
- NB I changed my mind after Tuesday's class. We will read a bit more Cicero.
Tuesday, 6 November
- REX
- NLG. Read the following sections:
Thursday, 1 November
- LPC. Review the pages assigned for Tuesday, 30 October.
- REX
- Work carefully on section 8.1, paragraph 19 (pp. 49-50).
- NB You may not find Cicero as congenial as Caesar. Try to read linearly.
- It may be that working on section 8.1 will exhaust the time you have between this meeting and our last, but if you have some extra time, go on to paragraph 20 (p. 50). At least try to get through line 8 of this paragraph.
- As always, keep a wordlist, and post comments/questions on LatinitasWiki, section 10.3.
Tuesday, 30 October
- NLG. Read the following discussions of uses of the ACCUSATIVE case:
- 390
- 390. c., d., and N2
- 214. d.
- 397. a.
- LPC. Read pages 2-9. This includes the following topics:
- 1. Statement of fact
- 2. Negative statement of fact
- 3. Statement of possibility
- 4. Counterfactual statement
- REX
- Carefully read section 7.1, paragraph nos. 27 and 28 (pp. 42-43).
- Section 7.2 (p. 43). Composition (to be posted on the composition pages for each student under section 10.2 of LatinitasWiki)
- NB Read the directions carefully. You will be writing two complete sentences for each animal. Of the six descriptions at the bottom of the exercise, two go with each animal.
- NB2 In addition to posting your compostions on the wiki, bring a copy to class. We will look at some of these together on the board.
Thursday, 25 October
-
- NLG. Read these sections in NLG. They address some matters of syntax in the assignment for 23 October.
- (In reference to Caesar, Bellum Gallicum 6.17): ea quae belo ceperint plerumque devovent: nice example of a Conditional Relative Clause. See NLG section 519: A clause introduced by a Relative Pronoun or Relative Adverb may express a condition and take any of the constructions of Protasis. AND 520: The special constructions of General Conditions are sometimes found in Conditional Relative Clauses -- 2. The Perfect or Pluperfect Indicative in the protasis and the Present or Imperfect Indicative in the apodosis. Note also NLG 513.2.: A General Condition reers to any one of a class of acts which may occur (or may have occurred) at any time.
- (in reference to BG 6.17): accidit ut ... auderet. See NLG 569. Substantive clauses of result.
- (In reference to BG 6.18): hoc differunt quod. See NLG 572.: A peculiar form of Substantive Clause consists of quod (in the sense of that, the fact that) with the Indicative.
- Note esp. their citation: inter inanimum et animal hôc maximê interest, quod animal agit aliquid (Academica ii.37).
- REX. Carefully read section 7.1, paragraph nos. 22, 24, 25, and 26.
- As always, keep a wordlist and post comments/questions on LatinitasWiki.
Tuesday, 23 October
- REX. Carefully read section 7.1, paragraph nos. 16, 17, 18, and 21 (pp. 40-41).
- As always, keep a wordlist and post comments/questions on LatinitasWiki.
- A note about comments and questions on our wiki:
- I commend and encourage comments students have made about the historical and cultural content of readings we have done this semester. Generally, questions/comments about the grammar and syntax of the Latin have been good.
- Still, I would like to encourage more frequent and more specific posts about the language itself. To that end, I will consider posts in the wiki to be worth ten points during each of the weeks of class between now and the end of the semester. Students must post every week at least two questions or comments that refer specifically to matters of the Latin in our readings, and these posts should include precise references to a particular passage. Fewer than two questions or comments of this kind will earn fewer than the ten possible points for the week in which the deficiency occurs.
- Our wiki has been many good things, and I want to encourage members of the class to continue approaching it in the interesting and engaging ways that you have done so far. I also want our wiki to be a kind of dynamic map of the on-going experience of reading unadapted texts of Roman authors. It's clear to me from our class meetings that everyone's Latin is becoming stronger and analytical skills are getting more precise. Don't hesitate to reveal this progress on the wiki.
Tuesday, 16 October
- The quiz on Catilinae Coniuratio 51.16-36 is due today.
- LPC. Carefully read pp. 93-97. This includes the following topics:
- 14. Quality
- 15. Quantity, partition, abundance, lack
- 16. Cause
- 17. Origin
- 18. Comparison
- 19. Material
- 20. Topic
- 21. Aim
- 22. Restriction
- 23 Address
- REX. Carefully read section 7.1, paragraph nos. 13 and 14 (pp. 39-40).
- As always, keep a wordlist and post comments/questions on LatinitasWiki.
Thursday, 11 October
- Handout: Catilinae Coniuratio, pp. 40-41
- Carefully read p. 40, lines 30 (Maiores nostri) through p. 41, line 22 (facturum).
- NB The standard section references are Catilinae Coniuratio 51.37-43.
- Keep a wordlist faithfully and post comments/questions on LatinitasWiki.
- QUIZ. Grammar, syntax, translation on p. 39, line 7 (D. Silanum) through p. 40, line 29 (quis moderabitur?).
- NB There may also be a brief section dealing with a passage from Sallust you haven't seen.
Tuesday, 9 October
- Handout: Catilinae Coniuratio, pp. 39-40
- Carefully read p. 39, line 7 (D. Silanum) through p. 40, line 29 (quis moderabitur?).
- Keep a wordlist faithfully and post comments/questions on LatinitasWiki.
- REX
- HARD COPY. Free composition (bottom of p. 36)
- NB Write at least four more sentences to make up the paragraph.
- NB2 As you think about how to incorporate two (or more) of the Latin expressions for love in your composition, it may make sense to change subjects, genders, etc. in the original expressions. Use your imaginations to write an interesting narrative; however, keep your Latin straightforward.
- NB3 You will find links to your composition pages on the wiki under Week VII.
Thursday, 4 October
- Handout (distributed in Tuesday's class): Catilinae Coniuratio, pp. 38-39
- Carefully read p. 38, lines 6-33 through p. 39, lines 1-6.
- Line numbers appear on the inside margins.
- You may be interested to know that this handout comes from a standard edition of Sallust's works. Scholars have conventionally referred to these works by what we might think of as chapters and sections within chapters. The excerpt you are asked to read can be cited as Catilinae Coniuratio 51.6-15.
- NB This may seem like a long assignment, but do the best you can, keeping a wordlist faithfully and posting comments/questions on LatinitasWiki.
- LPC. Read pages 91-92. This includes the following brief discussions:
- 9. Instrument (quibus auxiliis?)
- 10. Manner (quomodo? qua ratione?)
- 11. Accompaniment (quocum? quacum?)
- 12. Price and value (quanti?)
- 13. Degree of difference (quanto maior? quanto melior? etc.)
Tuesday, 2 October
- Check out the Latin version of Wikipedia (Vikipedia).
- Read the Wikipedia article about Catiline.
- REX
- Read 5.8 (pp. 29-30).
- HARD COPY
- Part I. Section 5.10 (p. 30)
- NB Please type and leave an empty line between each sentence.
- Part II. Read and understand the Latin proverb on p. 31. Then follow the instructions for the Free composition exercise on p. 31.
- NB Your composition must be posted on LatinitasWiki. I've created links to Wiki pages for each student under the section for Week VI.
- As always, post questions, comments, responses to the HARD COPY Part I on LatinitasWiki.
Thursday, 27 September
- LPC
- REX
- Read and understand the Latin proverb at the bottom of page 19 (Scopae dissolutae).
- Follow the instructions on p. 20 for the Free Composition exercise.
- NB1 Write at least three sentences.
- NB2 Keep your Latin simple; however, you might give some thought to using participles more often than English tends to do. We've seen a number of examples of this kind of verbal compression in Latin.
- Try to get through 5.4 (Sallustii Cat. 31) on pp. 28-29.
- LatinitasWiki. Post questions, comments, observations on our wiki. As of Tuesday afternoon, some members of the class had posted nothing. I will reluctantly record a grade of zero for the week for students who fail to post anything on the wiki. The range of acceptable posts is pretty liberal:
- Questions about grammar and syntax in assigned passages
- Observations about literary style, e.g. figures of speech, a writer's deployment of participles, etc.
- Answers and helpful suggestions about questions/comments posted by others in the class
Tuesday, 25 September
- REX
- For class discussion carefully continue reading 3.1, beginning with the second paragraph on p. 14 (Iam navibus cinis incidebat) and ending about the middle of the first paragraph on p. 15 (through timorem timor vicit). This is such a famous letter by Pliny that it would be a shame not to finish it. I'm not assigning an additional HARD COPY or quiz, so work diligently on the reading.
- But don't forget to contribute to LatinitasWiki. This is an important part of your work (and your grade) in our course.
Thursday, 20 September
- LPC
- Read Chapter V, section 7 (pp. 81-88), if you haven't already done so.
- To find a more detailed discussion of the locative form of names of towns, cities, and small islands, find LOCATIVE in the index of NLG.
- REX
- HARD COPY. Page 17: Exercise a.
- As usual, prepare this exercise using a wordprocessing application, and print it for submission today. You will need to type complete questions for each item. Label the first set of questions as Exercise a., and begin like this:
- Review your work on the first paragraph of page 14.
- Be sure to post questions and comments, as well as helpful suggestions, on LatinitasWiki.
Tuesday, 18 September
- REX
- Learn the Latin expressions for agreement and disagreement (p. 10). These will be useful for our heated discussions in class. ;-)
- 3.1 (pp. 13-14). Carefully read the first two paragraphs of this letter by Pliny the Younger down to dictaret enotaretque (p. 14).
- You will find Pliny's Latin different from Cicero's, but it has its challenges, as well as its charms. Also bear in mind that the assignment to read this passage is not the same as a demand that you master all the grammatical details. Read and analyze carefully, but don't get bogged down in a single construction, clause, or sentence.
- As usual, keep a thorough wordlist for yourself. You may post it on the wiki if you like, but this isn't a requirement.
- Also use our LatinitasWiki for questions, observations, and frustrations this assignment may prompt. (This is a requirement.) I've created a new section for Week IV.
- LPC
- Read Chapter V, section 7 (pp. 81-88).
Thursday, 13 September
- LPC. Review Chapter VI: Word Order (pp. 98-112). We will do an exercise in class today that involves familiarity with this material.
- REX
- Review your work on 2.1 and 2.4 (pp. 7-9).
- HARD COPY. 2.9 (pp. 9-10)
- You should now assume that HARD COPY assignments are to be prepared with wordprocessing software and printed for submission.
- As always, engage and contribute enthusiastically and regularly to our LatinitasWiki.
Tuesday, 11 September
- Read NLG section 208d. for a brief discussion of the Impersonal Passive.
- HARD COPY
- REX 1.8 (p. 4)
- REX 1.9 (p. 4)
- Note: Prepare these exercises using a wordprocessing application and print them for submission in class today.
- REX. Review your work on 2.1 (pp. 7-8).
- REX. Carefully prepare 2.4 (pp. 8-9). You will now have formed the good habit of keeping a thorough vocabulary list that also includes notes about matters of grammar and syntax that may have puzzled you.
- Write at least one question or observation on the style, grammar, and/or syntax of REX 2.4 in our LatinitasWiki. Everyone will receive a weekly grade based on contributions to the wiki. (Your responses to your colleagues on the wiki also count toward this grade.)
Thursday, 6 September
- Wiki for our course
- Have a look at the LatinitasWiki we will use in our course. You should be able to see the HomePage without logging in, but to make changes to the Latin Prose Composition area of the wiki, you will need to log in. Here's how:
- Scroll down the HomePage and click on the link named Latin 395A - Fall 2007. Now you should be on a page with the header Latin Prose Composition - Fall 2007.
- Look above the header and click on the link named UserSettings.
- Fill in these textboxes (all are required):
- Your WikiName (remember to use the WikiName format we talked about on Tuesday)
- Password
- Confirm password
- Email address
- Click the Login / Register button below the textboxes.
- If your registration was successful, you should see Hello, xxx (your WikiName).
- Now click on the HomePage lilnk at the top of the page, scroll down the new page and click on the link named Latin 395A - Fall 2007. Now you're on the page we will use in our course.
- Try to edit our course page. Here's how:
- After following the steps above you should be logged in and looking at the Latin Prose Composition page. There's a drawing of the Roman Forum at the top of the page.
- You will see I've already created two areas called 1. Week I 08.27 - 08.31 and 2. Week II 09.04 - 09.07. At the bottom of the page click on the link Edit this page.
- In the large text area click under the division that looks like this: =====Week II 09.04 - 09.07=====.
- Hit the return key so the cursor is below this division.
- Now you're ready to add text much as you would in a wordprocessing document. Type something, anything at all, just so long as you begin with your first name.
- When you finish typing, you're ready to save the modified page. Do this by clicking on the Store button.
- NB Clicking on the Store button is essential if you want to save your comments on our Wiki.
- Now let's say you've finished your session on our Wiki. Remember to click on the UserSettings link at the top of the page and click on the Logout button.
- One last thing: Be sure to write down or secure in memory your WikiName and password. You will repeat the login process each time you want to change our wiki.
- LPC. Chapter VI: Word Order (pp. 98-112). Read this chapter carefully.
- REX. Chapter 2
- Read the passage in section 2.1 (pp. 7-8). Make a word list for yourself. Be conscientious in your work but don't panic if parts of the syntax resist analysis.
Tuesday, 4 September
- REX
- HARD COPY (an assignment to be submitted in class today for evaluation): 1.2 Summarize the story that you just read within fifteen simple sentences. (pp. 2 - 3)
- Carefully read and follow the directions for this exercise.
- About Word Order: In general, subjects come first, followed by objects, followed by the verb at the end. Place modifiers near the words they modify.
- Please prepare the exercise using a wordprocessing application and print out your work for submission. Double-space your work.
Thursday, 30 August
- REX
- 1.1 Carefully read Liv. III, 26 (pp. 1 - 2).
- NB It's always a good idea when working on Latin texts to prepare a word list like the one distributed in class on Tuesday. Such a list includes vocabulary you will want to make your own, as well as notes about matters of grammar and syntax that presented any problems.
- NB2 Today's reading assignment is short and sweet, so please read and analyze thoroughly. You will want to pay particular attention to Livy's use of participles in this excerpt.
- HARD COPY. Print the Synopsis Form and write a synopsis, using the third person plural (1p), of this verb:
- aro, arare, aravi, aratum
Tuesday, 28 August
