I am very happy that you have enrolled in Latin 104. I hope that you will find the course both useful and enjoyable. Please raise questions on anything in the course that you don't understand, whether they be about the texts, the study guide, or my corrections (sometimes, I fear, not as legible as I would like) on your writing assignments.
This course will be the equivalent of a (generic) first semester in Latin at a university, or the first year in a high school, and will gain you five hours of university credit. I say "generic" because different teachers in different places move at different rates and use different textbooks.
Pope, Stephanie, et al., eds, Cambridge Latin Course, Unit 1. The North American Fourth Edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001 (hereafter referred to as CLC).
Pope, Stephanie, et al., eds, Cambridge Latin Course, Unit 2. The North American Fourth Edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2001 (hereafter referred to as CLC).
Cambridge Latin Course CDs for Units 1 and 2. The North American Fourth Edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
You will need to furnish a blank audio tape (2-3/4 inch by 4-1/4 inch) on which to record passages for submission.
The main aim of this course is to help you learn to comprehend passages of Latin when you read them. The second aim is to learn about the social and historical background of the Romans; in particular, life in the Roman Empire in the first century AD. These two objectives are those specified by your texts; therefore, I hope that you will find these texts appropriate for the course.
As you read the texts, you will find that the stories themselves reveal much about the life of the time. The narrative moves from Pompeii to Britain and to Alexandria. Each Stage, or chapter, closes with background information in English, and you are expected to know this material, as you will be tested on it.
By the end of this course, you will have read over 2000 lines of Latin. These lines do not include exercises in the texts, the study guide, tests, or additional reading passages I may give you (for instance, you will be reading short sections on mythology in Latin). They are simply those lines from the model sentences and stories in the texts, which in fact form a continuous narrative. They are the single most important factor in helping you learn to read Latin. When in need of something to do, read the stories again. I happen to enjoy these tales in themselves, and I hope you will too. May I encourage you to read these as often as time permits?
In reading these 2000+ plus lines of Latin, you will have been exposed to a large vocabulary and a carefully graded sequence of grammatical information. Because the stories come first in each Stage (chapter) of the texts, this does not mean the grammar is unimportant. It is very important. Understanding the grammar means that you will be able to read both more accurately and more quickly. The narrative will, however, lead you to the grammar, not vice versa. The further in the story you read, the more my questions will direct you not only to following the story but also to identifying and manipulating words in the text.
You could, of course, teach yourself to read Latin and pick up information about the historical and social background by simply reading the different units of the Cambridge Latin Course on your own. Most of us need, however, a little more structure to nudge us along. That is what this study guide is for.
The 11 assignments will cover the first two units of the Cambridge Latin Course. Each assignment will cover one or two Stages (chapters) in the text, and you will be asked, first of all, to read all the Latin passages in each Stage. You may be asked questions on these passages about the narrative, the forms of words, precise meanings of vocabulary, or you may be asked to manipulate particular words into other grammatical forms. Sometimes, you may be asked to translate all or part of certain passages. There are exercises in each Stage that give you practice in vocabulary building and grammar. You may be asked to write these out, or to do them on your own and check your answers against the keys in the Appendix. Sometimes, you may be asked (brace yourself) to illustrate (stick figures, I assure you, if necessary) certain stories or to rearrange pictures in a sequence corresponding to a narrative.
Within each lesson, you will find certain exercises noted by a black dot (·) which means that they are the ones to be completed as part of your writing assignment. At the end of each lesson, you will find detachable answer sheets on which to complete your writing assignments and submit for grading. If this sounds slightly confusing right now, you should find it less so as you begin working through the lessons. Please follow the guidelines below for submitting assignments.
Learning a language in a classroom automatically exposes you to hearing the language constantly. Although in a distance-education course, you may not hear the teacher or colleague in a class reading aloud, you can use the CDs that accompany the two textbooks. You will be asked to listen to these CDs, and in turn, to record and submit certain other passages from the books in Latin for lessons 3, 6, and 9. This gives me a chance to comment on your reading, and gives us both a chance to communicate other other than by simply writing and answering questions. I regard reading Latin aloud as important, so I will take into account your reading of the passages required for lessons 3, 6, and 9 when I grade those assignments.
So what will testing be like? First, each lesson contains various self-tests, which you are not required to submit for grading. You may find answer keys in the Appendix (you will be told when there are keys), or the questions may be ones for which I assume you either know the answer or can find the relevant information in the text. If, at any time, you do not feel sure about anything, please make a note of it and send it to me with your assignment.
Each lesson ends with a summary quiz, which is part of your writing assignment. These quizzes are the equivalent of a short test in the classroom, and they will help you chart your progress only if you take them under self-imposed test conditions.
There are two supervised exams in the course—a midcourse exam after Lesson 6 (at the completion of Unit 1) and a final at the end of the course. The midcourse exam covers lessons 1–6, and the final covers the entire course, with emphasis on lessons 7–11. You must pass the final to pass the course. For both exams, you will be asked to read a passage in Latin. Then, you will be asked questions on the content of the passage and on grammar in the passage. You will also be asked to translate selected phrases or sentences from the passage. Finally, you will be asked questions on background material for the course.
You need to have all assignments corrected and returned to you before you apply for the final exam, and you must have completed and received a grade for your midterm exam. There will be no exceptions to these conditions. If we cannot assume that you are reading the instructor's corrections of your work right up to the time that you write the final, then we make a mockery of the whole process. Latin is too important to me to do that!
Your final grade will be determined according to the following formula:
13 Writing Assignments = 60%
Midcourse Exam = 15%
Final Exam = 25%
You must pass the final exam to pass the course. The above formula applies only if you pass the final.
Plagiarism is presenting someone else's words or work as your own. Plagiarism applies to material taken from a book, article, or the Internet, or to material taken from another person without properly citing your sources. Paraphrasing another writer, substituting words, or rearranging sentences from the work of another also constitutes plagiarism. Plagiarism is easily detected with databases and search engines.
Plagiarism is academic misconduct and is a violation of rules and regulations of the University of Kansas. Penalties for academic misconduct range from failure of the assignment to expulsion from the University. In this course, plagiarism on an assignment will result in an F for that assignment, and any additional plagiarism will result in failure of the course and possible further penalties. Plagiarism on an examination will result in failure of the course, regardless of the current status of your grade. If plagiarism is discovered after you complete the course, your instructor may reexamine your work and will notify you of the proposed penalty. If you disagree with a charge of academic misconduct, you may request a review by Continuing Education.
The KU Writing Center provides guidance on academic integrity, incorporating and properly citing reference sources, and how to avoid plagiarism.
The hardest thing about taking a distance-education course is just doing the assignments on your own. If, however, you chart a series of deadlines for yourself, you will find the course quite painless (dare I hope—even interesting). There is, in fact, nothing very difficult about beginning Latin. Doom and destruction, alas, await those who procrastinate! Try to work steadily through the course once you begin. If you are eager to finish the course as speedily as you can, you may count on working more quickly through Unit 1 than through Unit 2. Budget your time accordingly.
Use the chart on the inside back cover of this study guide to record your progress through the course.
Anne Shaw
My schooling was in Johannesburg, South Africa, where I was lucky enough not
only to have five years of Latin but also a wonderful Latin teacher. As a result,
much of my work in Latin continues to be a tribute to her—Eulie Freislich.
After a B.A. in Classics (Latin, Greek, and English) at the University of the
Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, I went to the University of Exeter, England, for
a B.A. Hons. in Classics. It was in England that I first saw a lively and irreverent
journal on classics, Arion, published by the University
of Texas. It wrote about ancient literature as literature. What a delight!
Then I spent an idyllic three months in Europe, falling in love with Italy, especially Rome. I also visited Istanbul so that I could get to Troy on the long way back to Johannesburg. While working as an assistant in the reference library there, I applied to the University of Texas and was accepted as a doctoral candidate in Classics. My Ph.D. is from there, as is my husband.
We live in Lawrence, Kansas, in a large and hopelessly uneconomic Victorian house, and have two daughters. After retiring from teaching Latin at both high schools in Lawrence, I have continued to teach Latin occasionally at the University of Kansas.
My acknowledgements are many. My thanks first to Professor Ed Phinney for all he did for teachers of the Cambridge Series, especially in the teachers' manuals and the summer workshops; then to members of the CLC workshop I attended in July, 1989, especially to Pat Bell for her ideas for pictograms (as used particularly in Stage 15). I also would like to thank all the teachers at the American Classical League meetings over the years, many of whose ideas I have been using for so long that I no longer remember who gave me ideas in the first place, and to Kate Shortridge for providing the lively illustrations in the study guide. Finally, thanks to my family for help in using the computer and in typing.
Ruth Gibbs
I began my study of Latin in high school and found it both enjoyable on its own terms and an incredibly useful tool for learning other Romance languages. Following my graduation from Valparaiso University with a BA in political science, I spent two years in Sédhiou, Senegal, as a Peace Corps volunteer. On my return to the United States, I received my MA in library science from the University of Michigan. Subsequently, I spent several decades working in libraries, first at Columbia University in New York City, and later at the University of California in Los Angeles.
My husband's profession (also a librarian) brought us to Lawrence, Kansas, in 1990. I had started learning classical Greek while at UCLA to savor my favorite piece of literature, Homer's Iliad, in the original language. The cross-country move presented me with the opportunity to finish my master's degree in classics at the University of Kansas. I spent an additional year acquiring my teaching certification and have been teaching Latin and French in the junior high and high schools in Lawrence ever since. I have taught several courses in Latin, Greek, or classics at the University of Kansas and at Baker University (Baldwin, Kansas), as well. I retired this past spring and am enjoying it immensely.
Kate Shortridge is a 1992 graduate of Lawrence High School, where, among many other things, she read the Cambridge Latin Course.
Top of Page | Bottom of PageI am including a list of Greek and Latin authors, in case you are interested in reading any of them. Almost all of classical literature is translated in the Penguin Series—cheap and accessible—as well as in many other versions. Next to some authors I have mentioned a particular translater whose version I have enjoyed.
Greek
Aeschylus: tragedies (Tony Harrison's version of the Oresteia
is on videotape)
Apollonius Rhodius: Argonautica (a delightful short
epic)
Aristophanes: comedies (William Arrowsmith and Douglass Parker)
Aristotle
Euripides: tragedies (William Arrowsmith)
Herodotus: histories
Hesiod: The Theogony and Works
and Days (Stanley Lombardo)
Homer: Iliad and Odyssey
(Robert Fitzgerald; Stanley Lombardo)
Homeric Hymns (Apostolos N. Athanassakis)
Plato
Plutarch: Lives of Greeks and Romans (particularly
interesting to compare with Shakespeare's Roman plays)
Sappho: lyrics
Sophocles: tragedies
Thucydides: histories
Latin
Apuleius: The Golden Ass/Metamorphoses (which contains
the story of Cupid and Psyche)
Catullus: lyric poetry
Cicero: speeches, and especially The Dream of Scipio
and his letters
Horace: lyric poetry
Livy: history (republic)
Lucretius: On the Nature of the Universe
Martial: epigrams
Ovid: among other things the Metamorphoses (Rolfe
Humphries)
Petronius: Satyricon (especially the chapter on
Trimalchio's banquet)
Plautus: comedies
Suetonius: biographies of emperors, some of whom are mentioned in the CLC
Tacitus: history (empire)
Terence: comedies (Douglass Parker)
Vergil: Aeneid (Robert Fitzgerald and another by
Allan Mandelbaum); Georgics, especially Book IV
for the story of Orpheus and
Eurydice; Eclogues:
pastoral poetry
Historical Novels
Ayrton, Michael: Testament of Daedalus (and his
many sculptures on Daedalus and Icarus)
Bradley, Marion Zimmer: The Firebrand
Bradshaw, Gillian: The Beacon at Alexandria, The Bear Keeper's
Daughter, Imperial Purple
Davis, Lindsey: The Silver Pigs, and its successors in the Marcus Didius Falco series
Duggan, Alfred: Winter Quarters and many others
Fast, Howard: Spartacus
Graves, Robert: I Claudius, Claudius the God, Count Belisarius,
Homer's Daughter
Green, Peter: The Sword of Pleasure
Hersey, John: The Conspiracy
Hawthorne, Nathaniel: The Marble Faun (set
in 19th century Italy, especially Rome)
Lewis, C.S.: Till We Have Faces
Massie, Allan: Let the Emperor Speak: A Novel of Caesar
Augustus
Pater, Walter: Marius, the Epicurean
Renault, Mary: The King Must Die, Bull From the Sea, The
Last of the Wine, Funeral Games, The Persian Boy, The Praise Singer
Saylor, Steven: Arms of Nemesis and many others
Shakespeare, William: Coriolanus, Julius Caesar, Antony
and Cleopatra, Troilus and Cressida, Comedy of Errors
Sutcliff, Rosemary: Song for a Dark Queen (about
Boadicea)
Vidal, Gore: Julian
Wilder, Thornton: The Ides of March, Woman of Andros
Williams, John: Augustus
Yourcenar, Marguerite: Memoirs of Hadrian
You have just read some information about me, and I wonder if you would like to tell me anything about yourself? Please answer the following questions, and add anything else that you think might be relevant.
Please send in your answers to this questionnaire with the writing assignment for Lesson 1 along with your yellow student profile form.
1. Why did you decide to
enroll in this course?
2. Briefly outline your expectations for the course.
3a. When would you like to finish the course?
3b. When do you think you should be writing the midcourse exam?
4. What experience do you have in any foreign language?
5. Have you read any Greek or Latin literature in translation?
6. Have you read any historical novels set in ancient Greece or Rome?