of Venus and Rome
one through three will test your overall comprehension
of the grammar and syntax of intermediate Latin poetry.
various intervals throughout the term, you will be assigned
a take-home quiz that must be completed by the specified
responses in each quiz must be typed and neatly formatted.
Each quiz will ask you to re-read
poems by Propertius and Tibullus and to locate certain
grammatical and syntactic constructions (e.g. purpose clauses,
result clauses, gerundives, and so on). Once
you have located a construction, you should do the following:
as much of the construction as you need in order to demonstrate
that you have located it successfully. Although
your focus will be on subordinate clauses, as a general
rule you should include some of the main clauses for context. By
using only the necessary components of the main and subordinate
clauses, you show that you are a careful and discerning
book/poem/line references with your quotation.
a translation of the quotation, which should be as accurate
as possible. Be sure to translate only what you
have quoted, not what is actually in your textbook.
and discuss the essentials of the construction with reference
to the patterns we have observed in class. Be
sure to relate the subordinate clause back to the main clause.
should consult the handout on subordinate clauses to help
your discussion, especially as regards the essential elements
of each construction. See the Downloads
Page for details.
the quiz calls for a purpose clause:
ne tibi insolitos portarent visa timores. (Prop.
stood silent so that the sight (of me) not bring you unaccustomed
The main clause consists of obstupui, which is
the poet's reaction to the restless Cynthia. The
subordinate clause consists of ne through timores,
with portarent being the subjunctive verb within
the subordinate clause. The subordinate clause
explains why or for what purpose the poet stood still
so as not to disturb Cynthia.
you compare the above quotation from Propertius with what
is actually printed in your textbook, you will see that some
words have been omitted in the service of a more coherent
discussion. In fact, the word insolitos
could just as well have been omitted from the quotation, as
it is not crucial to the purpose clause itself.
you can see, your success on the quiz depends on many things:
your ability to analyze the Latin, to discuss it cogently,
and to offer a correct translation. While
the style of your discussion might differ from the one above,
you should nevertheless strive for clarity at all times.