Intensive Latin Exercises II

Course Description: We will meet four nights a week (an hour per session), doing exercises drawn from Latin Via Ovid (2nd edition). This course continues from Part 1 of “Intensive Latin Exercises,” given in the previous semester (and offered again this semester), but it is also open to students who wish to join mid-stream with more advanced concepts rather than the simpler grammatical constructions of Part 1; it begins with Chapter 29 of Latin Via Ovid. The aim is to help students with a basic knowledge of Latin grammar to build confidence, preparing them for courses that require reading proficiency or conversation. The exercises will promote thinking in Latin by including translation from English to Latin (i.e., basic composition). We will work through the exercises systematically, at a pace conducive to the internalization of the material, striving for fluent thought and expression. We will also analyze the readings, which are mostly selections of verse drawn from Ovid and Virgil with minimal editorial intervention and helpful guidance in the notes. Although we will use Latin Via Ovid as a guide, the course is flexible, so we may shift our focus based on student interest, giving more attention to particular aspects of grammar as desired, possibly introducing material outside of Latin Via Ovid for this purpose.

DETAILS

Level: Intended for students with a basic knowledge of Latin grammar, who would like to review key grammatical concepts and build confidence before taking a conversational course or a course on authors such as Ovid or Virgil. This is the continuation of a course given previously, but it is open to students who are willing to join mid-stream in order to focus on the more difficult concepts of introductory Latin grammar, and it will be of particular interest for those who may be contemplating an intermediate course on Ovid’s Metamorphoses or Virgil’s Aeneid. The course will begin with Chapter 29 of Latin Via Ovid (2nd ed.). The readings are mostly drawn directly from Ovid and Virgil, and thus constitute an introduction to the actual verses of those authors. (N.B.: if a review of more basic information is desired, “Intensive Latin Exercises (Part 1)” is also being offered this semester.)

Textbook: Latin via Ovid, by Goldman and Nyenhuis (2e, Wayne State University Press, 1982).