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LATIN
115.14 syllabus instructor name and contact info | course info | goals | texts/materials | attendance | grades | classroom policies | commitment and personal teaching philosophy | out-of-class experiences | academic integrity | special considerations
Course
Details Instructor Course goals We will pick up our study of Latin at the appropriate chapter in Wheelock's Latin Grammar. Our goal in Latin 115 is to learn enough grammar and vocabulary that we can begin reading intermediate level Latin texts midway through Latin 116. Is is assumed that students entering Latin 115 already know their full paradigms of verb, noun and adjective forms and general uses of the cases. In 116, we will focus on grammatical constructions used to create more complicated sentences: ablative absolute, passive periphrastic, conditionals, gerunds and gerundives, and the myriad uses of the subjunctive mood: jussive, hortatory, result, purpose, indirect question, cum clauses, jussive noun clauses, relative clauses of characteristic, fear clauses etc. Required Texts/materials Material in the texts listed below will be supplemented by on-line Mallard drills written especially for you (by me). Any materials for studying Roman culture will be either supplied to you in class or provided on the website.
Recommended Texts:
Regular attendance is required in this class. Come early, come often. If you are absent, you will miss important explanations of grammatical concepts. If you are absent on the day of a quiz, you will have one opportunity to make up the quiz before the next class meeting, in person, at my convenience. If illness keeps you from coming to class for several days in a row, get in touch as soon as possible. Missed homework assignments will be accepted via email as long as I have time to grade it before the next class meeting.
Please alert me to unavoidable planned absences, and if illness or other reasons cause you to miss class unexpectedly, either call or email. Absences during the course of the semester may adversely affect your grade. Attending class is not only required, but good for you - and fun -too: we will spend a considerable amount of class time working together to find the best way to understand and learn our lessons. Our goal? To build a firm foundation in grammar and vocabulary so we can get to the good stuff (the literature!) as soon as possible. If you aren't here, you will lose out. And so will we.
How
Grades are Calculated Exams: You should be well-prepared for each exam if you do your work all along. I will be posting grammar reviews all along, too. If there is anything else I can do to help you prepare for the big tests, just let me know. No make-ups unless very special circumstances. I reserve the right to write a new test for any student who misses the originally scheduled one. An unexcused absence will earn the student a zero on the exam, which will essentially assure failure for the course. Please don't miss your exams. Quizzes: Lots of 'em. This helps keep you paced, and it also lets me know if and when I lose you... as soon as a point of grammar escapes you, we handle it. Nothing gets out of hand, no snowballs roll downhill, no damage occurs that can't be undone. Quizzes amount to 25 % of your grade. Daily Assignments/Class preparation: Don't fall behind. Follow the schedule and you'll be OK. Please consult the class calendar for the weekly schedule. Come to class with your work completed and your questions at hand. Being prepared will not only help your grade, but it will also make our time together that much more profitable and enjoyable. Participation/Effort: Do more than the minimum. Try the extra drills available on my website and those of other professors (I have provided links). Explore Latin's cultural legacy in our everyday world: if you see a Latin sign, or a comic strip, or an advertisement that draws on knowledge of the ancient world, bring it in! In all other aspects of this course, you are competing only against yourself. But here your contributions will be gauged against those of your classmates, so go get 'em! And...Participate! This is a sure-fire way to become intimately involved with the material. Ask questions, offer answers, engage, engage, engage! Ideas always stick better if you jump into the fray. Classroom Policies student conduct: All students will naturally be expected to comport themselves according to the guidelines established in the university's Student Code of Conduct. Please familiarize yourself with this document. In addition to these general principles, I have certain expectations of student behavior that I have lovingly honed over the course of the years, and I hope that adherence to some simple rules will make our class time enjoyable and profitable for all. Let common courtesy and mutual respect be your guide and your goal. Most important is our sense of community. Join us! Mutual respect is the sine qua non of this course (that means "something we can't do without" in Latin!). My students must feel comfortable voicing their opinions, asking questions, or expressing anxiety or pleasure concerning course expectations and results. But let's keep on task. tardiness: Again, respect for others will be our rule. Please arrive on time and do not leave in the middle of class unless it is absolutely necessary. I much prefer that you arrive late rather than not at all, but if you must enter the class after it has begun, please respect the class and settle in as quickly and as quietly as possible. If you need to leave early, please let me know ahead of time (so I won't think it was something I said!) and try to sit near the door. eating/drinking: Feel free to bring a drink to class, but please - NO food or gum. If you don't know why I have this rule, I will teach a class chewing gum or munching on a sandwich. I approve of sugar and caffeine highs for adults unless it gets out of hand. Commitment and Personal Teaching Philosophy I pledge my attention, time, effort and expertise to you as you learn your paradigms, memorize your vocabulary, grasp the syntactical workings of the language, start thinking and reading in Latin. I expect you to exert an equivalent effort. This is a demanding 4-credit course. Expect to spend a minimum of ten hours a week preparing in addition to the time we will spend together in class. I have spread the assignments out over as much time as possible, given our MTWR schedule. I have programmed into our syllabus a variety of ways you can buttress your grade. Take advantage of your resources (that would be me)! I make myself very available to students, but you have to bring your questions and concerns to me, either in person or electronically. My job is to support students, not to indulge them. If you have too much on your plate (including too many courses, or a heavy work schedule, or any reason for missing class on a regular or semi-regular basis), you are setting yourself up to fail. Please help me to help you get the most possible out of the course. Put forth your best effort and give yourself your best chance. Your job is to learn the material, conquer the frontier, climb the mountain. My job is to run ahead of the pack a little bit - to remove as many obstacles from your path as possible, to offer resources that will help, to guide you on your way. You do your job, and I'll do mine. In the end, we'll both feel a wondrous sense of accomplishment. Out-of-Class Experiences We'll talk about going to some museums, seeing some films, maybe even attending a Catholic Mass in Latin one Friday. Academic Integrity I expect that everyone in this class will do his or her own work, inside and outside of class. It is OK to collaborate with others to gain mastery of the material. It is not OK to be so dependent on a classmate or other knowledgeable soul that the work you hand in is not a product of your own effort and understanding. Academic dishonesty covers a lot of ground: cheating, computer dishonesty, plagiarism, grade falsification, and collusion are all defined in the Undergraduate Catalog handbook, page 57 (or in the on-line Student Code of Conduct, under General Regulations, section B), and more information is available at the Dispute Resolution Services Website. I do not expect any of my students to be dishonest, but it is only fair for me to tell you right up front that I will respond to deliberate acts of academic dishonesty appropriately. Professors are required to report suspected cheating. Please don't put me in that position. Presenting as your own creation work that you did not produce is dishonest. It also works against you: if you let someone else do your work for you, you will not benefit from the learning process. Once this becomes apparent (it is also only fair to tell you that your professors aren't stupid) the short term damage is that you will suffer an academic penalty - failure of a course, suspension from the university, or worse. But much more significant is the damage you do to your own sense of what you are able to accomplish, and the value you put on your own self worth. You can succeed in this course. So do it. If you are not sure whether outside assistance for a particular assignment constitutes academic dishonesty, ask! Special considerations If you need a special accommodation to fully participate in this class, please talk to me about it privately as soon as possible. You may also contact the Office of Disability Concerns directly at (309)438-5853 (Voice) or (309)438-8620 (TTY/TDD).
copyright
2001 Janice
Siegel,
All Rights Reserved
date this page was edited last:
06/29/2005 |
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