LATN 303: Prose Composition Spring Semester 2011 Once you've read Latin extensively and attentively enough to achieve fluency as a reader, you make your next step in mastery best by taking up your Latin forebears and carrying them with you. Prose Composition is all about learning by doing. Regular work through focused exercises builds a Latin-writer's perspective on the workings of the language. This knowledge in turn permits fuller exploration of Latin prose's expressive potential. Through practical application, students will develop a critical vocabulary of concepts with which to appreciate the technical artistry of Latin writing. Our work this semester will pursue four main aims (plus the fifth, of having fun with them): to write technically correct Latin sentences that express specified ideas accurately to clarify, extend, and consolidate understanding of the principles of Latin syntax to investigate the stylistic choices of recognized masters of Classical Latin prose to formulate, test, and refine theories about the expressive aims and artistry of users of Latin prose - and, comparatively, English

• Required: J. F. Mountford, ed., Bradley's Arnold Latin Prose Composition, 1938; Caratzas 1981 and rpt.
• Required: J. H. Allen et al., New Latin Grammar, 1903, Dover 2006 and rpt. or B. L. Gildersleeve & G. Lodge, Latin Grammar, 3rd edn. 1894, Dover 2009
  • Allen & Greenough On-Line is available thanks to the Perseus Project
• Recurrent resource for Latin reading-texts: The Latin Library
• Recommended: D. P. Simpson, ed., Cassell's Latin Dictionary: Latin-English, English-Latin, 1968, 1977; Wiley 2003 & rpt.
• Recommended: Lewis & Short On-Line, a historical dictionary of Latin usage, is available from the Perseus Project

Participation and other policies

• Active discussion and collaboration are important components of this course. Missing class cheats you of the opportunity to enrich your understanding with the insights of others and to share your insights and questions with us. It is a matter of respect, but far more importantly a matter of self-respect.
• If you are forced to miss class, please tell me the reason, as soon as possible (in advance, if it's a schedulable reason).
• Legitimate absences (serious illness or other crisis) should be documented in writing by the appropriate authority. Appointments should be scheduled for times other than when a class for which you are registered meets.
• Absences shall be defined as excessive, as follows:
  • Each unexcused absence beyone a total of three absences, excused or unexcused. That is, excused absences kill your budget of unexcused absences.
  • Repeated chronic lateness (more than 10 minutes) shall be counted as partial absences. Nevertheless, it is better to attend even part of a class, late, than to miss it entirely. Just don't disturb your colleagues.
  • Absences will be totalled over the whole semester.
• All Compositions
  • are due physically in hand (or mailbox) at the time for which they are assigned.
  • must be easily legible (typing works).
  • should leave blank space enough around each Latin sentence for corrections and commentary to be inserted.
• Exams can be rescheduled only for truly dire and documented reasons. Bring pens that don’t smear on the days when these exams are scheduled. Write legibly and spell correctly. Thanks!

Internet resources

• Allen & Greenough is a reference grammar with sections on forms and syntax. Navigate by the headings and subheadings in the "Table of Contents" box at the left of the page to which this link takes you, down to the numbered chapters of specific text. Part of the Perseus Digital Library.
• Lewis & Short On-Line offers look-up access to a detailed reference dictionary. The pull-down menu in the "Dictionary Entry Lookup" box at the right of the page can be set to "the exact word,", "words starting with," "words ending with," or "words containing." Also part of the Perseus Digital Library.
• Early Roman Calendar, an overview presented by Calendars through the Ages.
• Nuntii Latini, current news briefs in Latin. Produced by YLE, the Finnish Broadcasting Company, edited by Professor Emeritus Tuomo Pekkanen and Docent Reijo Pitkaranta of Helsinki University.
• Latin Weather Reports, produced by The Weather Underground, Inc.

Additional University resources

• Loyola's Academic Advising and Support Services, on the Web and in the Sullivan Center for Student Services on the Lakeshore Campus, offer various pieces of advice as Academic Success Tools and will schedule workshops for practical assistance with things like study skills and test taking.
• Services for Students with Disabilities can help arrange accommodations for students who need that support.
• The Tutoring Center (physically in the Sullivan Center; peer-counselors) and the Writing Centers (sponsored by the Department of English: graduate students with expertise in writing pedagogy; Sullivan Center 245 and on the Water Tower Campus in 25 East Pearson 605) both offer consultation services.

Academic honesty, a.k.a. the life's blood of the intellect:

• Any practice of academic dishonesty (cheating, plagiarism, obstructing the work of other students, etc.) perpetrated in this course will result in failure of the course. Do not do it.
• For basic principles and definitions, see the subsection on "Academic Integrity" in the General Academic Standards and Regulations and the College of Arts and Sciences' Academic Integrity Statement. The Department of Classical Studies' Policy on Academic Integrity incorporates these documents. We also recommend you consult the helpful discussion of The Use and Misuse of Source Materials, provided by Loyola's Writing Center.
• Loyola University requires that all instances of academic dishonesty must be reported to the chairperson of the department involved and to the academic Dean of the student's College.
• Learning is wholly personal: it only happens if you do it yourself. Your University record should be certifying only what has really happened.

Revised 15 January 2011 by jlong1@luc.edu
http://www.luc.edu/classicalstudies/