Brandeis AP Latin Syllabus 2013-2014
COURSE OVERVIEW
This AP Latin course is designed to give students the experiences necessary for
success on the College Board AP Latin exam. The course’s goals are to develop the
students’ abilities to translate the required passages from Caesar’s De Bello Gallico and
Vergil’s Aeneid into English as literally as possible, to equip them to understand the
context of the written passages (including the political, historical, literary, and cultural
background of each author and text), and to help them apprehend the reasons behind
the particular style of writing and the rhetorical devices employed
The course will also assist students in analyzing Latin passages to understand
how and why the author uses the language in a particular way and the effects he is
hoping to produce. Students will learn to analyze the text and draw their own logical
conclusions. This course will also give students the skills to read Latin prose and poetry
aloud and with accurate comprehension and appreciation.
For the Vergil text, students will learn dactylic hexameter and how it is used to
enhance the text and create effect and how to scan effectively.
COURSE OBJECTIVES
This course will provide students ongoing opportunities to apply and further
develop skills in Latin reading, comprehension, literal translation, textual interpretation
and analysis, explication of advanced grammar, and scansion of dactylic hexameter.
Students will apply these skills as they read all the required passages from Vergil’s
Aeneid and from Caesar’s De Bello Gallico in preparation to perform successfully on the
College Board AP Latin Exam.
The course will also require students to read various supplementary materials to
improve their understanding of the Roman historical, cultural and literary contexts of
these passages.
COURSE EXPECTATIONS
As the required lines in Latin are being read throughout the year, students will
identify major themes and conflicts, write about and discuss a plot synopsis, and create
a list of major characters for each book.
Students will participate in class discussions that center on the English readings
of both Vergil and Caesar. During these discussions, students will be expected to
contribute both questions and answers about this material and about how this material
helps set the context for the required Latin readings.
As various issues become relevant within the required Latin readings, students
will be asked questions, both oral and written, about topics such as the following: what
characteristics define an epic versus commentarii, how Aeneas follows and fails to follow
the mos maiorum, how an adherence to the mos maiorum colors Caesar’s depiction of
various tribes and leaders in Gaul, how the opening sections of both the Aeneid and De
Bello Gallico set the stage for the birth and the expansion of Rome, how Aeneas must
suppress his personal desires in order to be a strong leader, howthe presentations of
leadership in Vergil and Caesar are both similar and different, the role of Juno and of
Venus in the life of Aeneas, the role of religion in the life of the Gauls according to
Caesar, and whether Caesar respects or disrespects the non-Roman societies that he
encounters in Gaul.
Students will be held accountable for their understanding of these readings both
through class discussions and personal journals (described below) and through written
quizzes and exams that cover the content of these readings.
Throughout the year, students will read Latin aloud at least once each week to
enhance comprehension and to gain a heightened appreciation for the sounds of both
Latin poetry and prose.
During the semester focused on Vergil’s Aeneid, students will read aloud with
attention to the scansion patterns of dactylic hexameter. Students will develop and
demonstrate their understanding of dactylic hexameter through both oral and written
scansion activities in class. Students will write out these scansion patterns for practice,
as well as on quizzes and tests for formal assessment. Students will also practice using
scansion patterns to determine certain grammatical points in lines that lack macrons.
Periodically, students will have opportunity to recite texts for an audience and to
make recordings of their recitation for the purposes of improving pronunciation and
appreciation of the orality of ancient literature.
Students will routinely read and discuss together in class the required lines in
Latin. Students, also, on a regular basis will be assigned a set number of lines to
prepare on their own outside of class. For these homework assignments, students will
be expected to develop skills in sight-reading, vocabulary, grammar, literal translation,
reading comprehension and literary analysis.
Sight-reading and vocabulary skills
With each homework assignment, students will be encouraged to practice the
sight-reading skills developed with teacher guidance in class. Students will be
taught in class to keep vocabulary lists covered during an initial reading of a new
passage and to utilize story-line context clues, grammatical structures, syntax,
Latin cognates and English derivatives to figure out new vocabulary, using a
dictionary or a vocabulary glossary only to check one’s work and to determine
necessary corrections. Students will be given ongoing opportunities to continue
these practices with each homework assignment, as well as with sight-reading
passages studied and discussed in class.
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Interspersed throughout the year with the required Latin lines prepared for
homework and discussed in great detail during class, students will also read,
translate literally and discuss lines at sight. At least one sight-reading will be
covered during each unit (approximately every 2½ to 3 weeks). These lines will
come both from non-syllabus-based Caesar and Vergil passages, and also from
passages written by authors other than Caesar and Vergil. Prose selections for
sight-reading will come from authors such as Cicero, Livy and Pliny the
Younger. Poetry selections will come from authors such as Ovid, Catullus and
Martial.
Grammar
As part of each homework assignment, students will be encouraged to identify
the case, number and gender for each noun, pronoun and adjective in the
assigned lines, students. In class, students will answer questions that address
not only the form, but also the function of each word. For example, students will
be asked to explain the case and reason for case for some words or to explain
exactly why a particular word has the case, number and gender that it has. For
the verbs in each homework assignment, students will be encouraged to identify
the tense, voice and mood. In class, students will be asked to explain the mood
and the reason for mood for some words or to explain the markers that show a
verb is in a particular mood. Both within their homework assignments and
during class discussions, students will have ongoing opportunities to learn and
use specific terminology to analyze the grammar of the required Latin texts.
Literal translation
The standard in this course for literal translation is as follows: while maintaining
respect for the conventions of the English language, a student must clearly
demonstrate a solid grasp of all Latin grammar employed in a passage. This
standard will be applied for every translation written or spoken throughout the
year, be it during class discussions, when quoting Latin lines for textual support
within critical analysis essays, or on quizzes, tests, or semester exams.
Both during homework assignments and through class discussions of assigned
lines, students will be given ongoing opportunities to apply these practices.
Reading Comprehension
After the lines from the required syllabus have been read in Latin, students will
then engage in a discussion of those lines. Each student will both answer and
ask reading comprehension questions relevant to the lines being discussed. This
class session format will be practiced regularly to make certain that the entire
class has the opportunity to develop and demonstrate comprehension of the
Latin being read.
In addition to these daily discussions, students will also demonstrate their
comprehension of the passages and major themes within those passages through
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short written literary analysis pieces that will periodically be included in their
homework, in classtime activities and through formal literary analysis essays
included on exams. Important points from these student writings will be
discussed in class.
Timed Reading And Writing
In order to equip students to write cogent, comprehensive essays for the College
Board AP Latin exam, they will spend extensive time studying essay rubrics,
practicing responses to essay prompts and sharpening their writing and reason
ability.
In class, students will be given a timed passage and will be asked to read and
answer general comprehension questions about that passage. After the general
content of the passage has been discussed together, students will then be
expected to explicate certain points of grammar and certain literary devices
employed within the lines read at sight. The teacher will guide students as
needed. Students will use specific grammatical and literary terminology to
discuss these lines in class. The students will also demonstrate their
understanding of this terminology on quizzes and tests over both the prepared
lines and lines read at sight.
COURSE ASSESSMENT
Grades will be assigned in four main categories: daily assignments, weekly
quizzes, major tests and semester/final exams. Grades will be recorded in six six-weeks
periods. During each six-weeks grading period, daily assignments and quizzes will
count together as 50% of the six-weeks average with the major test and project grades
comprising the remaining 50% of the six-weeks average. The semester average will be
calculated as follows: each of the three nine-weeks averages will count as 40% of the
semester average with the semester or final exam counting as the remaining 20% of the
semester average.
Student achievement will be assessed weekly during class discussions over both
prepared and sight lines. Students will be expected to demonstrate their
comprehension of the Latin passages by contributing insights and responding to
questions each during these discussions.
To ensure that students are able to contribute to these discussions in a significant
manner, they will keep daily logs of their encounter with the assigned readings in the
form of a double-entry journal. In the first entry, the student will record a summary of
the content of the assigned passage and authorial intent; in the second, the student will
record his own assessment of the author’s intentions and identify rhetorical and literary
strategies employed to serve these intentions. In this way the student will enter into a
dialogue with the text that will equip him to render meaningful analysis of the text.
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Daily assignments: Students will complete regular daily assignments that include but are
not limited to an emphasis on the following skills: vocabulary, grammar terminology,
literal translation and literary analysis of the assigned lines. Students will also be
assigned periodic supplementary readings that address historical, cultural and literary
contexts of the Latin being studied.
Students will be expected to come to class fully prepared to discuss the content of these
assignments throughout the year.
Weekly quizzes: Students should anticipate quizzes to be given on a weekly basis. These
quizzes will focus on the following: literal translation of assigned lines, explication of
grammatical concepts using advanced terminology, definitions of Latin vocabulary
words, scansion of dactylic hexameter (Vergil semester), knowledgeable response to
supplementary readings relevant to Roman historical, cultural and literary contexts,
and critical analysis essay writing over assigned lines.
Major tests: Major tests will be given approximately every two to three weeks and will
cover the following: major character and place identifications, literal sight translation
skills, literal translation of assigned lines (both recently assigned and review lines),
explication of grammatical concepts using advanced terminology, definitions of Latin
vocabulary words, scansion of dactylic hexameter (Vergil semester), knowledgeable
response to supplementary readings, and critical analysis essay writing over both
recently assigned and review lines.
Semester/final exams: A semester exam will be administered at the end of the Fall
semester, and a final exam will be administered at the end of the Spring semester. Each
of these exams will be a cumulative assessment of the students’ yearly progress. The
format of this exam will be similar to that of the major tests taken throughout the year
(see above), but the scope of material covered will be much broader.
COURSE READING SCHEDULE
Caesar semester: Selected lines from Caesar’s De Bello Gallico
Unit 1 (Weeks 1-3):
DBG.I.1-7
Unit 2 (Weeks 4-6):
DBG.IV.24-35
Unit 3 (Weeks 7-8½):
DBG.V.24-31
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Unit 4 (Weeks 8½-11):
DBG.V.32-40
Unit 5 (Week 12-13½):
DBG.V.41-48
Unit 6 (Weeks 13½-16):
DBG.VI.13-20 + review.
[Students will complete reading of Fitzgerald’s translation of the Aeneid Books 1, 2, 4, 6,
8 and 12 over the Christmas & New Year holiday].
Vergil semester: Selected lines from Vergil’s Aeneid
Unit 1 (Weeks 1-2):
Aen.I.1-49
Unit 2 (Weeks 3-4):
Aen.I.50-156
Unit 3 (Weeks 5-7):
Aen.I.157-209, 418-440, 494-578
Unit 4 (Weeks 8-10):
Aen.II.40-56, 201-249, 268-297, 559-620
Unit 5 (Weeks 11-13):
Aen.IV.160-218, 259-361, 659-705
Unit 6 (Weeks 14-16):
Aen.VI.295-332, 384-425, 450-476, 847-899 + review.
TEXTBOOKS AND SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIALS
Required lines on reading list in Latin will come from the following:
Fall semester: Steadman, Geoffrey. College Caesar. Self-published. (includes complete AP
test, as well as vocabulary frequency lists and detailed historical/grammatical
annotations facing the Latin text). This eBook contains all the required readings from
CBG, divided into thirty-five lessons, with a running vocabulary and textual
annotations accompanying each lesson. The full document can be downloaded at
http://geoffreysteadman.com/college-caesar/. Dr. Steadman’s resources include
vocabulary flashcards for the most commonly occurring words in CBG.
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Spring semester: Pharr, Clyde. Vergil’s Aeneid, Books I-VI. Bolchazy-Carducci. ISBN
0865164339. This hardcover book features the required readings from Books I-VI of the
Aeneid, with a running vocabulary and textual annotations accompanying every line.
Pharr, Clyde. Vergil’s Aeneid, 10 & 12. Bolchazy-Carducci. ISBN
0865164150. This paperback book includes the required readings from Books X & XII of
the Aeneid with a running vocabulary and textual annotations accompanying every line.
Supplementary readings will come from but are not limited to the following:
Fall semester: Plutarch’s Caesar. http://classics.mit.edu/Plutarch/caesar.html
Suetonius’ chapter on Caesar. http://bit.ly/16JFUx9.
Williams, Rose and Debra L.Nousek. A Caesar Workbook.
Bolchazy-Carducci.
Spring semester: Camps, W.A. An Introduction to Vergil’s Aeneid. Oxford University
Press.
Johnson, W.R. Darkness Visible: A Study of Vergil’s Aeneid. University of
California Press.
Bradley, Katherine, and Barbara Weiden Boyd. A Vergil Workbook.
Bolchay-Carducci.
The required English readings will come from the following:
Fall semester: McDevitte, W.A. and W. S. Bohn (translators). The Gallic Wars.
http://classics.mit.edu/Caesar/gallic.html
Spring semester: Fitzgerald, Robert (translator). The Aeneid: Virgil. Vintage Classics.
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