Latin 210: Latin Prose Composition

Latin 210: Latin Prose Composition Fall 2015 Brenda Fineberg

Office hours: by appointment Phone: 341-7304 (off.) 342-1858 (hm.)

Class meetings: M 4th period (12:00-1:10) GDH 309B

This course reviews the fundamentals of Latin morphology, grammar, and syntax, and works toward refined understanding of Latin idiom and structures of thought. As we work through a comprehensive review of Latin forms and grammatical constructions, you will be asked to compose in Latin sentences that call upon the new material in each lesson. Because Latin is not the spoken language of any modern people (with the exception of certain precincts in the Vatican and Reginald Foster’s classroom in Rome), composing in Latin is always, in a sense, an artificial exercise. It continues to be taught in classics programs because it is arguably the best way to become a good reader of Latin texts.

Course requirements

This course is a workshop. Collaborative effort is essential. I assume that you will attend every class, come to class prepared, and complete all required work. Missing class unexcused is considered one whole absence; coming to class unprepared is considered ½ an absence. If you have three or more full absences (in any combination of missed/unprepared), I may (and probably will) ask you to withdraw from the course at my discretion. If an emergency should require you to miss class, contact me as soon as possible. Satisfactory performance in the course requires the following:  turning in all assignments when they are due  completion of all quizzes (with score of 80% or better)  satisfactory completion of individual project

You may retake (each time a different version of) quizzes as many times as necessary until you achieve 80% on each one. That said, you will get tired of retakes, especially if they begin to accumulate; you (and I!) will enjoy the course more if you pay close attention to detail so that you won’t have to repeat things too often.

Required text: Review Latin Grammar. John K. Colby. Longman 1971. Recommended: New Latin Grammar: Allen and Greenough.

For use on individual projects (available in Seymour Library reference room):

Smith, William, and Theophilus D. Hall. 2000. Smith's English-Latin dictionary. Wauconda, Ill: Bolchazy- Carducci Publishers. Schedule of assignments, due dates, and quizzes

1 F 9/11 Introduction

2 M 9/14 Colby I (odds) Review: Nouns declensions 1-3

W 9/16 Colby II (odds) Review: Adjs. 1&2 and 3; and Demonstrative Pronouns (hic, ille, is) *Turn in passage you wish to translate into Latin for your individual project

F 9/18 Quiz: Colby I-II; Nouns 1-3; Adjs. 1 & 2, 3; Demonstrative Pronouns (hic, ille, is)

3 M 9/21 Colby III-IV (odds) Review: Noun/Adj. mixed agreement (all declensions)

W 9/23 Colby V (odds) Review: Pronouns (Relative, Personal, Reflexive); Adjectives (Possessive, Reflex.) *Turn in 5 lines (or 25%) of your individual project translated into Latin

F 9/25 Quiz: Colby III-V (and retake of I-II if needed); Review: Noun/Adjective mixed agreement (all declensions); Pronouns (Relative, Personal, Reflexive) and Adjectives (Possessive and Reflexive); Review quiz retakes as needed

4 M 9/28 Colby VI-VII (odds) Review: Regular Verbs (Active forms, Conjugations 1-2)

W 9/30 Colby VIII (odds) Review: Regular Verbs (Active forms, Conjugations 3, 3-io, 4)

F 10/2 Quiz: Colby VI-VIII; Colby retakes as needed; Review: Regular Verbs (active forms, Conjs. 1-4); Review retakes as needed

5 M 10/5 Colby IX (odds) Review: Regular Verbs (Entire synopsis—active and passive, Conjugations 1-2) *Turn in 10 lines (or 50%) of your project (first 25% a corrected draft)

W 10/7 Colby X (odds) Review: Verbs (Entire synopsis—active and passive, Conjugations 3, 3-io, 4)

F 10/9 Quiz: Colby IX-X; Verbs (Entire synopsis—active & passive, Conjugations 1-4) Colby and review retakes as needed

6 M 10/12 Colby XI (odds) Review: Irregular verbs (sum, possum) W 10/14 Colby XII (odds) Review: Irregular verbs (eo, volo)

F 10/16 Quiz: Colby XI-XII; Irregular verbs (sum, possum, eo, volo) Colby and review retakes as needed

7 M 10/19 Colby XIII (odds) Review: Deponent Verbs (Conjugations 1-4) *Turn in 15 lines (or 75%) of project (first 50% a corrected draft)

W 10/21 Fall Institute Day (No Class)

F 10/23 Colby XIV (odds) Review: As needed for make-up quizzes

8 M 10/26 Quiz: Colby XIII-XIV; Colby and review retakes as needed

W 10/28 Colby XV-XVI (odds) Review: As needed for make-up quizzes

F 10/30 Colby XVII (odds) *Fall festival: Bring to class a greeting card or poem that commemorates or celebrates one of the following autumn rituals: --Autumnal Equinox (September 23) --Halloween (October 31) --Thanksgiving (November 26) Your card or poem should be written in your best Latin, and should be no fewer than 10 words and no morethan 20 words in length. Please bring enough copies for each of us to have one. If you will email the text to me by 9 am, I will provide the copies.

9 M 11/2 Quiz: Colby XV-XVII; Colby and review retakes as needed

W 11/4 Colby XVIII-XIX (odds); *Turn in draft of entire project (first 75% a corrected version)

F 11/6 Colby XX (odds)

10 M 11/9 Quiz: Colby XVIII-XX; Colby and review retakes as needed

T 11/10 Individual appointments to review full drafts of projects

W 11/11 Make-up quizzes as needed By noon: email me final version of your composition

F 11/13 *Composition party: Presentations of individual projects