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Intermediate Latin: Introduction to Latin Literature - Virgil's Aeneid (Spring 2004) |
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Summary |
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In this class I gave 15 second-year Latin students their first exposure to Roman poetry by teaching Book 1 and part of Book 4 of the Aeneid. The majority of class time was spent on translating daily assignments, which started at about 25 lines per class and grew to about 45 lines. I also taught students to scan the hexameter and read aloud in meter. To help students gain proficiency in scansion and reading I had the class memorize the first 11 lines of the Aeneid and recite them to me privately. When it became clear from the short weekly quizzes and from in-class translation that some students were finding the daily assignments difficult and others were insufficiently challenged, I began to offer two weekly, optional sight translation sessions to help those having having problems and to provide an extra challenge to the more advanced. To respond to widespread mistakes in translating certain words I developed a handout and lesson on potentially confusing words. To help students begin to appreciate the poem as a work of literature and not simply a word puzzle to solve, I devoted part of each class to discussing poetic and rhetorical figures, and I assigned one book of the Aeneid to read in translation each week. While I initially felt that this extra assignment could be an undue burden, the students enjoyed it, and I found that it greatly enhanced classroom discussion.
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Selected Course Material |
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Syllabus |
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Introduction to Meter handout |
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Confusing Words handout |
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Midterm Exam |
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Evaluations |
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"Ben is one of the best professors that I have had at Brown. He definitely goes above and beyond to help students." |
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"Ben deserves recognition for his performance in Latin 40. Not only did he accommodate students' learning needs, but he also accomodated students' schedules. He held sight reading sessions twice a week so that scheduling problems would not hinder translation practice. He was also kind and approachable, and was dedicated to helping students learn Latin. When Ben completes the graduate program and seeks a teaching job, I am sure that he will continue to be a great success."
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"I enjoyed the course more than I thought possible... Ben Low is a phenomenal teacher!! I really cannot think of any weakness. He was always willing to answer questions and meet outside of class, as well as offer review sessions for exams. I would take another class with him. His knowledge of the material was evident and he added interesting facts that made class more interesting... I never translated Latin poetry before and feel confident about doing so in the future."
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"Ben was great. He was extremely knowledgeable and would go at any pace to help us understand anything. He provided self-made vocab and literary figures supplemental lessons/packets. He made himself very available with office hours and sight reading sessions. He did a great job as instructor. No weaknesses."
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"Excellent instructor. Good, dry humor. Open to questions, good at pacing class, a subtle motivator, clear explication... It was a great course." |
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"It's easy to be interested in whatever Ben is saying. He keeps it interesting and fun... He entertained all creative ideas during translations and always told us clearly what was good or bad about those ideas." |
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From the Critical Review (for full report see: http://www.brown.edu/Students/Critical_Review/):
"Class members gave very positive reviews of graduate student Benjamin Low, calling him clear, engaging, efficient, and very sensitive to their needs. Students reported that in addition to keeping regular office hours, Professor Low also held optional sight-translation sessions, and made helpful guides to clarify confusing concepts throughout the course. Members of the class also noted that Professor Low was very open to questions during class, and that he always responded clearly and thoroughly... If you have the opportunity to take the class with Benjamin, you should definitely enroll."
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