These instructions are adapted from Prof. Mulligan’s “Guide to Preparing a Reading Assignment”
The majority of your preparation time should be spent carefully and diligently preparing the readings and assignments for the upcoming class meeting. In keeping with the idea that literature is best when shared as a convivial and communal activity, I encourage you to work in pairs or small groups to share insights and work through challenges. Learning a language rewards your willingness to work carefully and diligently. Like Nietschze’s philology, it is,
“that venerable art which demands of its votaries one thing above all: to go aside, to take time, to become still, to become slow—it is a goldsmith’s art and connoisseurship of the word which has nothing but delicate, cautious work to do and achieves nothing if it does not achieve it lento. But for precisely this reason it is more necessary than ever today, by precisely this means does it entice and enchant us the most, in the midst of an age of “work,” that is to say, of hurry, of indecent and perspiring haste, which wants to “get everything done” at once, including every old or new book: this art does not so easily get anything done, it teaches to read well, that is to say, to read slowly, deeply, looking cautiously before and aft, with reservations, with doors left open, with delicate eyes and fingers.”—Daybreak (1886)
You should plan to spend no fewer than three hours outside of class preparing for each hour of class time. There are many steps on the path towards mastering this wonderful language.
To start you on your way, I offer the following principles:
- ἀναγίγνωσκε: Read aloud! Engage as many senses as possible: always read out loud. After all, we are reading works that were made to be heard. Reciting will give you a better sense of the Greek, will help you remember vocabulary (and the text), and will facilitate “chunking”—the recognition of natural patterns of discrete and meaningful phrases. Don’t fret about the precise pronunciation, and don’t mumble: just roar it out and take pleasure in the sound of the language.
- ἐπανδίπλαζε καὶ σαφῶς ἐκμάνθανε: Repeat and repeat and you will learn it clearly! To prepare for class you should use the process that works best for you, but before you come to class, you must have re-read the text several times, noting phrases that require immediate attention, as well as have formulated interpretative questions and observations. Be prepared to summarize, to translate, and to explain how meaning is generated by the phrase or passage or poem.
- ἐγγράφου σὺ μνήμοσιν δέλτοις φρενῶν: Inscribe it on the memory tablets of your mind! After class, re-read or “post-pare” what we discussed in class; doing so will take little time and it is the best way to reinforce the lessons from the day and reveal those words and concepts that are still causing you difficulties. You should seek assistance on these difficulties from peers or from me during office hours.
- πάθει μάθος: Learning comes through experience (or “through suffering”)! Taking a shortcut when preparing or using translations and on- line parsing tools may save a few minutes in the short term but will only result in hours of ever-increasing drudgery going forward. The more Latin you have mastered, the faster and more enjoyable reading Latin will become. And is that not why you are taking this class? Reading from translations in class? οἴμοι! Readings and discussions in class must be from a clean, (almost) unmarked text—i.e. in class we will be reading and discussing Greek literature, not prepared English translations. You may include short comments or summaries as you might when reading a work in English, and you may underline and use word arches or parentheses to remind you of certain phrases or stylistic effects, but writing out a complete translation will make Herodotus roll in his grave and Lucian rend his garments.
