Course Syllabus
Course Description and Objectives
In Latin 202, you will consolidate the vocabulary, morphology and syntax that you have learned and build upon that knowledge to facilitate reading and discussing an ancient adventure, the Historia Apollonii regis Tyri. This continuous narrative will give you ample practice in reading as well as material to discuss (in Latin) in class.
The Historia Apollonii has emerged as an interesting text in twenty-first scholarship, especially since the discovery of two illustrated manuscripts, one a large-format Roman copy from the sixth century, indicating more antique prestige than previous scholarship had attributed the work; its apparent blend of pagan and Christian elements, once thought impossible, is now seen in a wider context of co-existence found in other authors like Macrobius and Nonnus.
HUM GUR Credit
Intermediate Latin (LAT 202) provides you with five of the twelve necessary General University Requirement (GUR) credits in Humanities (HUM). The University requires the following description of the Humanities be given on the syllabus:
Whenever you tell a story, see a film or a work of art, or ponder an ethical question, you are encountering the humanities. The humanities include academic disciplines that use critical, historical, and aesthetic approaches to explore how people experience and document their lives, examine and question the values of their societies, and creatively engage with their world. Currently, our courses in the humanities address the languages, literatures, fine arts, history, philosophies, and religions of Western cultural traditions.
Humanitas, of course, never occurs in the plural in Latin; Gellius NA 13.17 best explains what humanitas is, namely eruditio institutioque in bonas artes which ex universis animantibus uni homini datast, idcircoque "humanitas" appellata est. Nevertheless, the University requires that I put the paragraph including the plural form "humanities" on the syllabus. It also requires that I include a "literacies cluster."
These literacy practices focus on reading, interpreting, and communicating information through oral, print, & digital media and genres for audiences, both specialized and general.
In addition to reading the Historia Apollonii Tyri, you will engage in writing exercises and discussions that will engage you both analytically and creatively.
Language Skills Objectives
Our main goals will be to ramp up reading speed and conversational skills, which also involves acquiring new vocabulary. Building on the Latin 100-level series and 201, we shall also progress in the following areas:
Syntax
- review and learn subordination of clauses;
- review and learn conditionals; and
- review and learn indirect discourse.
On Keeping an Open Mind
The ancient world lies at the roots of modern culture, yet it can seem very alien to our moral perspectives. In the middle ages the Historia Apollonii regis Tyri was immensely popular as a morality tale, and monks frequently copied its disturbing first chapter as an example of shocking, terrible sin. The text contains many ideas that we, today, find morally abhorrent—rape, incest, piracy, kidnapping, murder, slavery, forced prostitution, and so forth. These topics are not unusual in ancient novels. Be advised that this is not a Disney tale, even if it shares thematic links with the fairy tale precursors to Disney movies. The discomfort that we feel in encountering an ancient text should serve to remind us that tempora mutantur, nos et mutamur in illis.
Class Times and Location
LAT 202: Intermediate Latin meets every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from 10:00 AM until 11:20 AM in Miller Hall 022 (basement).
Classes begin Wednesday, January 8, and continue through Friday, March 14. We do not meet on Monday, January 20, or on Monday, February 17.
The Final Examination will be held on Monday, March 17, from 10:30 AM to 12:30 PM.
Instructor
- Office
- Miller Hall 122D
- Office Hours
-
- Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays
- 12:00–1:00 PM
- Tuesdays and Thursdays
- 2:00–2:30 PM
- miller.krause@wwu.edu
- Office Phone
- (360) 650-4269 (email is better)
Textbooks
We shall continue to read the Historia Apollonii regis Tyri, which you have already in print form. There is also a PDF file available: Historia Apollonii.
Academic Honesty
Don't commit academic dishonesty. See the University's website on Academic Honesty.
Grading
Traditional Letter Grading Scale
Course Requirements
This course is set up to give you constant, low-intensity practice in reading, writing, and speaking Latin. You will have reading and short writing assignments every night. Every Monday (or Wednesday, if there is no class on Monday), you will also have a longer composition assignment due.
Præsentia Participātiōque (20%)
As you are aware from your previous quarters, the core of the Latin program at Western is active use of the Latin language in conversation with your instructors and fellow students. Attendance and participation are therefore essential to the course and consequently carry a heavy weight in the grading.
Silence is a grave you dig for yourself: the more you talk in Latin in class, the more you will learn. There are no penalties for grammar or Latin mistakes in speaking in class, so there is no reason not to try to express yourself in Latin at every possible opportunity. Hiding quietly in a corner will profit you nothing.
I understand that emergencies arise, and so I have set Canvas to drop three absences (10% of the quarter) automatically. After that, you will need to show documentation of a good reason for missing class in order to avoid missing points for attendance.
Athletes and anyone planning on missing class for athletics, university-sponsored events, military duty, or religious holidays should inform me of absences in advance. That lets me excuse absences and add time to Canvas assignments for those students in advance. Within the first two weeks of class, give me a letter listing the games/matches/meets, events, military service, or holidays requiring absences for the quarter, so that I can plan ahead to help you stay on track. I like planning ahead.
Pēnsa Cottīdiāna (20%)
Each reading in the Historia Apollōniī has exercises to help you hone your skills in Latin. When you read chapters of the Historia Apollōniī, you should complete the written exercises that accompany those chapters. Please double-space what you write: I shall make corrections. Be ready in class to discuss your answers.
You should focus your efforts outside of class on understanding the reading for the next class and answering the questions in its exercises. If something is unclear in the reading, you should ask about it at the beginning of class.
Commentāriola (20%)
Since Latin 101, you have been writing in pugillāribus to practice applying Latin to situations beyond the classroom, often to your own, authentic life or some facsimile thereof. This quarter, a composition will be due every week, although not always on Mondays as in the past: compositions will be due on Mondays normally, or Wednesdays if Monday is a holiday or test. These weekly compositions are important, because they give you a chance to develop long-form writing skills, as opposed to the short-form answers of the daily exercises.
Please double-space what you write.
Probātiōnēs (20%)
Scheduled tests are tied to major turning points in the Historia Apollonii. When a major episode in the story concludes, we'll have a test on that episode. Tests are intended as communal activities: you should speak to each other and discuss the test, but only in Latin. You can also make use of your notes and book, but your classmates are your best resources, because they can tell you when you're wrong.
Probātiō Ultima (20%)
The final examination will cover all the chapters of the Historia Apollonii that we read this quarter. Know the characters and what happened in the episodes and be prepared to describe them in Latin. As always, you may take the final examination with others as a social activity, so long as you speak only in Latin.
For all assignments and examinations, please double-space your writing.
Weekly Schedule
This syllabus is subject to change. Changes, if any, will be announced in class. Since the syllabus is on Canvas, students will have the latest information available at all times.
Canvas provides feeds to which you can subscribe, to keep all your course info in your favorite calendar program like Apple's Calendar or Microsoft Outlook. For details, see the Canvas Guide on Calendar.
Course Summary:
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