Course Description

Greek 201 reviews and builds upon the basic elements of the Attic dialect of the ancient Greek language, including high frequency vocabulary and fundamental grammar. Students will not only read and write but also listen to and speak in Attic Greek.

BCOM GUR Credit

A passing grade of C- or better satisfies the BCOM Communication requirement of the General University Requirements (GUR).  The university requires that the following be noted on the syllabus:

Communication is the foundation of your academic education and essential for your professional and personal success. These GURs develop your ability to generate, assess, and express ideas accurately, clearly, and creatively in a range of modalities and using a variety of technologies. Through ongoing learning and practice in different contexts, good communicators acquire skilled expertise in designing information effectively in different ways for different audiences. This area includes courses in writing, speaking, and information literacies.

This course most specifically addresses "Communicative and Interpretive Literacies":

These literacy practices focus on reading, interpreting, and communicating information through oral, print, and digital media and genres for audiences, both specialized and general.

Language Skills Objectives

We covered most of the grammar of the language (save for some imperative forms and perfect active participles) in first year; this year we shall work at reviewing and employing what we know to read Greek, talk in Greek about our readings, and write in Greek.

Morphology

• Perfect active participles
• Review imperatives
• Review αὐτός

Syntax

• Conditions
• Review result clauses
• Review participial syntax

Active Language Use

Ancient Greek is a language, like French or Spanish. The fact that ancient Greek is an older language does not make it a code or logic puzzle instead of a language: it is still a language, and you should approach learning it as you would any other language. You wouldn't try to learn Spanish by reading some grammar instructions, memorizing a list of vocabulary, and taking a quiz—you learn Spanish by using the language to get increasingly more complex points across to another human being. The same applies to Greek: the more you use the language to express your thoughts, both in speech and writing, the better you will get at it.

Class Meetings

Greek 201 meets every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday in the fall quarter, from Wednesday, September 27, until Friday, December 8, from 8:30 AM to 9:50 AM, in Miller Hall 022 (basement).  We do not meet on Friday, November 10 (Veterans Day), nor on Friday, November 24 (Thanksgiving Break).

The Final Examination will be held on Monday, December 11, from 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM in the usual classroom.

Instructor

Miller Krause ( miller.krause@wwu.edu )

Office: Miller Hall 122D

Office Hours: 

• Monday, Wednesday, and Friday: 10:00–11:00 AM
• Tuesday and Thursday: 2:00–2:30 PM

Course Materials

Most of the readings will be from Lucian's Dialogues of the Dead or Νεκρικοὶ διάλογοι.  I'll supply you with copies of the following edition:

Hayes, E. and Nimis, S. 2015. Lucian's Dialogues of the Dead: An Intermediate Greek Reader.  Oxford, OH: Faenum.

We'll have other readings during the initial review week and dead week in December (New Testament, because it's easy), which I'll also supply.  You won't need to purchase any books for this class.

Academic Honesty and Integrity

Western has a policy on academic honesty and a statement on integrity.  Unusually, and quite Platonically, Western does not focus on the negative consequences of cheating or plagiarism, but on the positive results of honesty and integrity.  There are many forms that dishonest academic behavior might take, from plagiarism to having another write your papers for you to cheating on a test: honesty, though, has but one form, namely putting in the required work, and one consequence, namely learning.

Course Requirements and Grading

Grading Scale

Course Requirements

συνουσία καὶ μετάληψις (Attendance and Participation; 20%)

Classes will give you time to interact with other students in Greek, and this will be the primary way that you learn ancient Greek. You need the practice in interpersonal communication, including listening and speaking, that class provides, so you need to come to class. I understand that sometimes problems do arise, so Canvas will automatically excuse two absences.

If you plan to miss class to undertake military service, observe religious holidays, or travel for sports or other University-sponsored activities, let me know in writing during the first two weeks of class, so that I can excuse your absences and work with you to change due dates for your assignments.

For each class of the νεκρικοὶ διάλογοι, Lucian's Dialogues of the Dead, you'll need to come to class prepared to discuss the reading assigned.  Be sure you've prepared your readings before class!

μελετήματα καθ' ἡμέραν (Daily Assignments; 30%)

There will be short, nearly daily assignments.  Each will have five questions in Greek about the next day's readings: while you read to prepare for class, you should answer those questions in Greek.  You should be able to answer each in a sentence at most. This should help you think about how you'll talk about the reading passage in Greek the next day.

Turn in μελετήματα on paper at the beginning of class. If you miss class, turn in your μελέτημα for that class the next time you're in class.  The μελετήματα are to help you prepare for class, so I won't accept them late. Canvas will excuse two μελέτηματα.

συγγράμματα ἑβδομαδικά (Weekly Compositions; 20%)

Each weekend, you will have a writing prompt for compositions, relating to the subject matter we covered that week. Write your συγγράμματα in the ἐγχειρίδιον that you received your first year. Work on writing longer, more complex material, and feel free to use lsj.gr or other resources to aid you. You should be able to judge your own progression in using the language by looking back at what you have done.

You are not obligated to tell the truth in your συγγράμματα—I don't really care what you like to do after class or what you did during the summer, and you don't have to tell me your secrets. In fact, lying may be better, because it lets you adapt your response to your own proficiency and comfort zone.

ἐξετάσεις (Tests; 20%)

There will be four ἐξέτασεις. It is possible to finish these by oneself, but they are meant to be collaborative tasks: you may talk to each other during the tests and about the tests, so long as you speak only in ancient Greek.

ἡ ἐσχάτη ἐξέτασις (Final Examination; 10%)

There will be a final examination, to be taken in class on paper. The final exam will be collaborative like the regular tests: you may talk to each other during the exam and about the exam, so long as you speak only in ancient Greek. The final examination will be administered according to the Registrar's schedule for final examinations:

• Monday, December 11, 10:30 AM – 12:30 PM