Latin H: Introductory Latin Prose Composition
Spring 2011
Instructor: Ryan Samuels
Email: [email protected]
Office Hours: Th. at 4, Boylston 235
Location: Boylston 237
Meeting Time: M., W., F. at 9
Prerequisites: Latin Ba or equivalent (third-semester college Latin prose) required.
Prior completion of at least one course in Latin prose at the 100-level will be helpful.
Latin H is not recommended for students with prior experience only in Latin poetry.
Description & Aims:
The goal of Latin H is to
increase familiarity with
the language through the
translation of English
sentences and short
passages into Ciceronian
and Caesarian Latin.
Compositions of
accelerated difficulty will
be complemented by a
systematic review of
syntax and close readings
of passages of Cicero,
Caesar, and stylistically similar prose authors (e.g., Nepos, Livy, the Younger Pliny).
Expectations:
Latin H assumes knowledge of basic morphology (e.g., the five
declensions and four conjugations) and syntax (e.g., the most common
uses of the cases and the subjunctive), so the pace will be quick. Homework, in
the form of compositions, worksheets, or readings, will be assigned daily. Written
homework must be printed in double-space type to facilitate correction.
Attendance at all meetings is mandatory and, due to the accelerated pace and heavy
workload, in the student’s interest. It is the student’s responsibility to have absences or
lateness excused in advance or as soon as possible in the event of unforeseen
circumstances. For each unexcused absence after the third instance, the
student’s final grade will be lowered by one third of a letter (e.g., A to
A-, A- to B+, etc.). Repeated lateness will negatively affect the component of the
student’s grade allotted to attendance, preparation, and participation.
In short, avoid unnecessary absences, stay constantly abreast of all material, and ask
me for help early and often!
1
Latin H: Introductory Latin Prose Composition
Spring 2011
Collaboration and Academic Integrity:
Collaboration in the preparation of readings is allowed and encouraged, but all
material submitted for a grade (e.g. compositions, worksheets, etc.) must
be the student’s sole work. Our exercises will not be taken directly from our
primary textbook, for which answer keys have been written and circulated online to
aid students undertaking Latin prose composition independently. Nonetheless,
reference to any form of answer key during the completion of
compositions constitutes cheating, and submission of compositions
informed by answer keys constitutes plagiarism. In order to avoid any and all
temptation to abuse such shortcuts, which are detrimental to the learning process,
begin all assignments well in advance of their due-date and ask me for help as soon as
any problems arise.
Grading:
Attendance, Preparation, & Participation
Compositions and Homework
Midterms (2)
Take-home Final Exam
10%
40%
20%
30%
Required Texts (at the Harvard Coop):
1. T. K. Arnold et al., "Bradley's Arnold" Latin Prose Composition (Aristide D. Caratzas, 2007).
2. J. B. Greenough et al., Allen and Greenough's New Latin Grammar (Dover, 2006).
Recommended Lexica (one of the following):
C. M. Lewis, Elementary Latin Dictionary (Oxford, 1963).
W. Smith and J. Lockwood, Chambers Murray Latin-English Dictionary (Chambers, 1994).
In addition to these intermediate dictionaries, students will begin to acquaint
themselves with the use of standard Latin lexical aids such as Lewis & Short and the
Oxford Latin Dictionary. The former is available in several forms online, for example via
the Perseus Project. Students may access the latter in the Smyth Classical Library.
The use of English-Latin dictionaries such as Cassell’s (Cassell’s, 1977) or
Smith’s (Bolchazy-Carducci, 2000), while not prohibited, is discouraged,
as they do not adequately account for idiom or distinguish between
classical and post-classical or poetic and prose usage (see BA Appendix,
p. 308). Try to limit yourself to the glossary in the back of Bradley’s Arnold and
vocabulary that you have acquired in readings. If, however, you decide to use an
English-Latin dictionary as an aid to composition, be careful always to check the Latin
citations illustrating each meaning to make sure that a given word truly matches the
context and intended meaning of your composition and reflects “standard” or
“classical” prose usage (Cicero and Caesar, Nepos and to a lesser degree Livy and the
2
Latin H: Introductory Latin Prose Composition
Spring 2011
Younger Pliny). Latin K, for which this course prepares students, offers ample
opportunity for practice in the Latin of archaic, archaizing, or otherwise “marked”
stylists such as the Elder Cato, Sallust, and Tacitus.
Tentative Schedule:
Week
Content & Important Dates
1. (M. 01/24 – F. 01/28)
BA Intro., I-VI (Basics, Direct and Indirect
Discourse)
F. 01/28: Study Card Day
2. (M. 01/31 – F. 02/04)
BA VII-XII (Adjectives, Adverbs, Relatives and
Correlatives)
3. (M. 02/07 – F. 02/11)
BA XIII-XVIII (Final, Consecutive, Substantive utClauses, Fearing, Hindering, Commands)
4. (M. 02/14 – F. 02/18)
BA XIX-XXII (Independent Subjunctive, Direct and
Indirect Questions)
5. (W. 02/23 – F. 02/25)
BA XXIII-XXIV (Tense and Aspect, Modality)
M. 02/21: No class (President’s Day)
F. 02/25: Midterm 1 (BA Intro. – XXIV)
6. (M. 02/28 – F. 03/04)
BA XXV-XXVIII (Nominative and Accusative)
7. (M. 03/07 – F. 03/11)
BA XXIX-XXXV (Dative and Ablative)
Spring Recess M. 03/14 – F. 03/18
8. (M. 03/21 – F. 03/25)
BA XXXVI-XLII (Genitive, Locative, Place and
Time)
9. (M. 03/28 – F. 04/01)
BA XLIII-XLVIII (Prepositions, Pronouns)
W. 03/30: Midterm 2 (BA XX-XLIV)
10. (M. 04/04 – F. 04/08)
BA XLIX-LIII (Gerund and Gerundive, Supine,
Participles, Ablative Absolute)
11. (M. 04/11 – F. 04/15)
BA LIV-LIX (Temporal Clauses, Indirect Discourse,
Conditionals)
12. (M. 04/18 – F. 04/22)
BA LX-LXIV (Concessive Clauses, Causal Clauses,
Comparative Clauses, Subjunctive Relative Clauses)
13. (M. 04/25 – W. 04/27)
BA LXV-LXVII, Appendix (Speeches in Indirect
Discourse, Numbers, Calendar, Idiom, Usage, Genre
and Register)
Th. 04/28: start of Reading Period
Take-home Final Exam due on last day of Reading Period (Th.
05/05).
3