Classics

The Classics Department at Delbarton School seeks to enrich students' preparatory education by developing their ability to read and appreciate Latin literature and by examining aspects of Roman culture from which this literature originated.

Courses

LT001 LT050 LT101 LT201 LT301 LT401 LT405 LT602 GR103

Latin Ia Latin Ib Latin I Latin II Latin III Latin IV Latin V AP Latin Greek I & II

LT001 Middle School Latin 1  6cr {07} RQ

This introductory course is taught by the word order method, which makes the reading of Latin the central focus of the course. The textbook Ecce Romani enables the student to read very simple prose at the outset of the course. These prose passages form a continuous narrative about an upper class Roman family. Other aspects of Roman life are explored in supplementary essays. The language skills of speaking, listening, writing and reading are all used in the reading of the passages and in the completion of the workbook exercises. Awareness of patterns in the endings of words is emphasized through oral reading and exercises designed to highlight recurrent endings before grammatical explanations are introduced. The students are led to discover how Latin makes sense through their own observations. By these methods the course covers the five cases, their basic uses, the first three declinations, the four conjugations, the concept of principal parts, and the introduction of approximately 400 vocabulary words.

LT050 Middle School Latin 2  6cr {08} RQ

This course covers the material in the third and fourth volumes of the Ecce Romani series. The word-order method is the same. As the prose readings become more challenging, the student is encouraged to use intuition, common sense and English associations to predict the meanings of Latin words in context. There is a great emphasis on oral reading with proper attention to intelligent phrasing and intonation. New grammatical points are reinforced by translating English into Latin. Explanations in the text are concise and clear with little attention to peculiarities, exceptions, and technicalities that are used very rarely. Nevertheless, the traditional features of grammar are developed from the basis formed in the seventh grade course. The passive voice in all tenses is introduced along with the following topics: comparative and superlative adverbs and adjectives, deponent verbs, time and place constructions, the present active participle, various uses of the cases beyond the basic uses introduced in the seventh grade and gerunds. A wide variety of cultural topics is covered in English essays, which supplement the continuous Latin narrative about an upper class family's travels to Rome. These topics include dining, education, hospitality, the bustle of city life, the social and engineering

LT101 Latin I  6cr {09,10} LA

This introductory course incorporates the same methods and similar content as the seventh and eighth grade course. Using the Ecce Romani series the student quickly develops the ability to read simple Latin. The course stresses reading skills and is supplemented with occasional grammar exercises.

LT201 Latin II  6cr {09,10,11} LA [LT101 or LT001 & LT050]

This course comprises students who started Latin in the ninth grade and students who choose to continue the study of Latin after two years of study in the Middle School. The third and fourth units of the Ecce Romani series are used. As in Latin I the course emphasizes translation. Grammatical features are emphasized through reading. The last month of the course is spent reading actual Latin prose and poetry in order to prepare the student for Latin III.

LT301 Latin III  6cr {10,11,12} LA [LT201]

This course is designed to enable students to read and assess Latin literature within its historical context. The legends and history of the Roman Republic are examined in short selections, which become increasingly complex as the year progresses. The concepts of heroic identity and myth are discussed within the framework of the Roman vision of the ideal man and the ideal state. Review exercises are used to reinforce the understanding of the more complex aspects of Latin grammar, such as conditional sentences, and various uses of the subjunctive. Rhetorical devices and figures of speech are discussed in the context of readings. Outside research papers are assigned on selected topics of Roman history. The students are made familiar with the position of Latin in the history of language. Selections of medieval Latin, neo Latin, and ecclesiastical Latin are read occasionally to acquaint students with the enormous historical span of Latin literature.

LT401 Latin IV 6cr {11,12} AP LA [LT301]

This course offers a student the option of a third or fourth year of Latin study without taking the Advanced Placement course. Selections are read from Virgil, Catullus, Horace, Cicero or Ovid. Emphasis is placed on literary analysis.

LT405 Latin V 6cr (12) LA (LT401 or LT602)

Latin V offers a fifth year of study to a student who has a background in AP Latin or Latin IV. Various authors are read, including Terence, Plautus, Cicero or Ovid.

LT602 Advanced Placement Latin   6cr {11,12} LA [LT301 DptRec]

This course is designed to prepare the students for the Advanced Placement exam on Virgil's Aeneid. The students translate Books I, II, IV and VI. Emphasis is placed on the literary analysis of the Aeneid within the epic tradition. Selections of the Iliad and the Odyssey are read in conjunction with parallel scenes in Virgil's work. Oral reading, attention to meter, and the use of poetic devices are covered throughout the year. There is also sight reading assigned from Virgil and other authors to be completed in class. Tests consist of translation questions and short essays. In alternate years this course covers the Catullus and Horace syllabus for the Advanced Placement exam. This allows juniors who are advanced in their study of Latin to take two years of Latin at the Advanced Placement level.

GR103 Ancient Greek I & II 6cr {11,12} [DptRec]

This course is offered to those students wishing to complement three years of modern language with one year of an ancient language. It also provides a student who plans a classics major at college the opportunity to be better prepared for such a major. The course is taught at a more intensive pace than other first year language courses. It is expected that all Ancient Greek grammar and syntax will be covered. In addition a few selections from Homer's Iliad will be read.