Latin II students:

Good grief! I nearly forgot to post the assignment.

Be sure you know what you were asked to memorize for last week: 415, 421 vocab. Grammar 28, the numbers 1--20 and 1st--10th.

Next, memorize the verbs and their principal parts on page 422. You will need these verbs plus the ones on 415 and 421 to begin the study of indirect statements when we meet again.

If you have completed your homework by doing Ch. 8 in Latin Two Years, you are aware that "possum" is not just that beady-eyed creature who tears up trash cans and plays dead. It's a Latin verb--an irregular verb--mean "to be able, can." The parts are possum, posse, potui.

Possum ambulare in oppidum translates then as "I am able to walk into town" or "I can walk into town." Review the forms for this verb in Lesson 8 of Latin Two Years. Now go to Lesson 13 in the same book. Here is the perfect indicative of sum and possum. Look at the forms. You take the third principal part of the verb--both are quite irregular--and simply add the endings for the perfect tense: i, isti, it, imus, istis, erunt. Potuit translates, for example, as "he could" or "he was able." Be sure when you do the exercises below that you review the vocab. for sum in Lesson 8.

Exercises from Lesson 13: A, B, c, e.

Now do Lesson 14. This is a review of the pluperfect, where the endings are eram, eras, erat, eramus, eratis, erant. When we see those attached to the end of a Latin verb, we ALWAYS use in our translation the English word 'had'. Amaveram--I had loved; posuerat--he had placed; fueramus--we had been; potueratis--you (pl.) had been able.

Lesson 14: Complete Ex. A, B, C.

Lesson 15: Read about the future perfect indicative and do exercises A and C.

Lesson 16: A, B, D

You have studied these forms in Henle. They should be familiar to you. Use pages 46 and 47 of your Grammar book for extra help on the endings.

Lesson 91: The first section is labeled "Names in Fact and Fiction." There will be a test on the following names: Aeneas, Castor and Pollux, Cato, Cicinnatus, Cicero, Cornelia, Daedalus, Hercules, Horatius, Jason, Medea, Medusa, Midas, Olympus. Just learn the brief description here.

Hope all goes well. Write or call if you get stuck (in Latin, not the snow).

Mr. Minick

Weds. January 12 Latin III assignments

Salvete omnes,

Review your pages from Wheelock from last week (171--174).

Then turn to Ch. 27 of Wheelock. Read pages 179--181. Learn the vocabulary on pages 181--182. Complete Practice and Reviw, p. 181, 1--10. Translate Catullus' "Alley Cat" on page 183. Read "Latina Est Gaudium" on page 185.

Next, read Ch. 28 pages 186--189. Learn the vocabulary on pages 189--190. Translate Sententiae Antiquae on page 191. On page 192 translate "Days of the Week." It's interesting stuff here. Look up Isidore of Seville online.

Finally, finish the Pliny translation assigned last week (you were supposed to translate through line 20. I believe it's the translation on page 384 of your Latin For Americans book. Look up Pliny the Younger online.

Be sure to know the vocabulary above as well as that assigned last week. Most of it should be familiar to you.

Try to spend class time today doing these assignments. It will make your upcoming week much easier.

We'll make up this class with a review session before the NLE.

See you next week!
Mr. Minick

Tuesday January 11 World History and Literature Assignments

Hello, all,

The snow has prevented us from meeting today, and I'm still trying to decide how to make up the class. We could 1) wait until next week and proceed from there; 2) have you meet on Thursday with that class, which would complicate the Reformation Project somewhat (and drive your teacher round the bend), but which might also prove interesting; or 3) meet on Friday afternoon from 2 until 3:50. That last one is a dubious possibility, as most of you follow tight schedules and the class will go much better if most of you can be there for your team. I'll send an email if Thursday looks like an option (I would also need to clear that with the church, since we would need additional space). If you don't hear from me, class will meet again next Tuesday at the regular time.

Now for the assignments for this week:

1) Finish reading the chapter on Tenochtilan. We're reading this now because the Reformation coincides with the age of European expansion. Spain's incursion into Mexico, though more bloody than most colonial efforts, has ramifications even today in terms of Mexico's language, its social divisions, and its politics. Here in this battle for the Aztec Empire we see why Europeans were so successful at colonization: superior technology, religious fervor, enormous willpower. After reading Hanson's account of the battle, you should be able to explain, from Hanson's point of view, the causes for this war, the general beliefs of the participants, and the outcome, both in the short and long term. On Tuesday, January 18, we'll have a quiz on this chapter in class (this quiz is not part of the Reformation Project).

2) Finish reading West With The Night. Book IV is long, so I would suggest you spend part of what would have been today's class-time reading. You will be writing an essay on this book--an academic essay, no "I" usage, formal--that is due in two weeks (January 25). The general question asked of you will be to explain how Beryl Markham's upbringing influenced her later life. What character traits developed during childhood, for example, served her well--or poorly--in later life? What virtues does she display? Vices? There are some of each. Keep in mind that she is writing the book about herself, and few of us enjoy--or are even capable of--critical self-appraisal. You need to bring an outline for your essay to class on Tuesday. This should be fairly detailed. It should contain a thesis, rough topic sentences supporting the thesis, and the page numbers from the book which you intend to use as evidence to support your thesis and topic sentences. This outline will be checked in class by me or a grader.

3) Project Reformation should be receiving quite a bit of your attention. You should be in touch with your teammates. You should also be compiling evidence of your research online of your character, religious ideas of the time, the politics of Elizabethan England, and the general customs of the people.

Some of the points you score must be done in class with your team: the quiz bowl at the next class, the face-to-face negotiations with other groups, the arrangments, secret and otherwise, made by your team, the decisiveness and insight with which you deal with sudden problems that arise (Incidentally, though it may seem as if the Elizabethans dealt primarily in violence and blood rather than in diplomacy, the opposite is true. Elizabeth is a monarch who managed though very sticky times to avoid entangling alliances and most warfare).

Other points you or you team may earn outside the classroom. Here are some suggestions:
a. write a character sketch of a famous Elizabethan (other than Elizabeth);
b. write a paper on some aspect of Elizabethan society, from buildings to disease, from dress to politics;
c. draw a sketch of some scene from Elizabeth's court;
d. memorize fourteen lines or more--fourteen lines being the length of a sonnet--from Shakespeare's verse or plays;
e. writing up, and bringing to class, a list of Elizabethan words and sayings;
f. writing a paper on some aspect of religious ideas during the Reformation: sola scriptura, the Council of Trent, the influence of The Book of Common Prayer on the English language, the Ana-Baptists, or various Reformation figures;

If you have other ideas, please run them past me.

Here's to our next meeting!

Mr. Minick

Monday, January 10, 2011

Latin I:
Monday (Two hours):
Spend ½ hour reviewing vocabulary in the Henle Purple book from pages 96--131.
Read pages Henle Purple book 132--133. Refer to the pages indicated in the Grammar.
Read Henle Purple book pages 135--137. Refer to the pages indicated in the Grammar. “Se” can mean himself, herself, itself, themselves.
Complete Exercise 155 on pages 138--139.

Tuesday (One hour):
Spend fifteen minutes reviewing the present, imperfect, and future conjugations of laudo and moneo on pages 44--45 of the Grammar book.
Read with attention pages 140--141 in the Henle Purple book. Add the vocabulary list on pages 140--141 to your vocabulary cards. These are third conjugation verb forms. Note that although the second principal parts of both the second conjugation and the third conjugation end in -ere, it is easy to tell the difference between the conjugations without reference to the macron (the long mark over the -e- in the second conjugation). The first principal part of the second conjugation ends in -eo (like moneo), while third conjugation verbs in the first principal part simply end in -o. Thus, moneo, monere, monui, monitus is second conjugation while mitto, mittere, missi, missus is third conjugation (see these forms on page 43 of the Grammar).
Complete Exercise 158 on page 141. Do the words in the exercise as follows: 1. Defendunt--they defend, they do defend, they are defending
Spend the remaining time studying the forms of the vocabulary on pages 140--141.

Wednesday (One hour):
Keep memorizing the verbs on pages 140--141 (10 minutes).
Complete Exercise 159 on page 142.
Read carefully page 143. Add the vocabulary words, including principal parts, to your vocabulary cards.
Refer to page 45 in the Grammar. Chant the third conjugation present tense and imperfect tense of mitto for three minutes.

Thursday (One hour):
Keep memorizing the verbs on pages 140--141 and page 143 (10 minutes).
Review the present and imperfect forms of mitto on page 45 of the Grammar.
Complete Exercise 162 on page 143--144 of Henle. PAY attention to which verbs are in the present tense and which are in the imperfect. Imperfect verbs include -ba--in their endings and are translated was, were, or used to.

Friday (One hour):
Keep memorizing the verbs on pages 140--141 and page 143 of Henle Purple book (5 minutes).
Complete Exercises 163 and 164 on page 144 of Henle Purple book. Follow the directions.
In your Latin First Year books, find the page that has the gods and goddesses on it (I have lent out my own books and so can’t give you the page number). Read about the Greco-Roman deities and begin to memorize their attributes (example: Jupiter is the king of the gods. His attributes are the eagle, the lightning bolt, and the oak tree).

ENJOY YOUR WEEKEND!

3Rs I class
Monday, Jan. 10 (Two hours)
Add the following vocabulary words to your list:
Aspersion (n.)--a curse, an expression of ill-will. The rival politicians cast aspersions on each other’s integrity.
Demure (adj.)--quiet, modest, reserved. Though everyone else at the party was dancing and going crazy, Sophie remained demure.
Feral (adj.)--wild, savage. Sometimes feral dogs run in packs and can attack mammals larger than themselves.
Vex (v.)--to annoy, confuse. My older brother vexes me by rapping my head with his knuckles.
Pariah (n.)--an outcast. Though Jack was proven innocent of shoplifting, he nonetheless remained a pariah among his former friends.
Work for 15 minutes memorizing “Ozymandias,” p. 69 in How to Eat a Poem.
Write the rough draft of your narrative essay, if you have not already done so. This is an essay with “snow” or “winter” as the theme. Remember that a narrative essay essentially tells a story. You may use first-person singular (I). If you are writing the rough draft, write it out without stopping to correct grammar, spelling, etc. Get the words down on paper. Possible topics might include a ski trip, a snowball fight, sledding, a winter hike, and so on.
If you have already written the rough draft, begin your editing. Remember to correct first for the “big” items. Do you have a thesis? Do you have topic sentences? Is there a “hook” in the first few lines to draw the reader into your essay?

Tuesday (One hour):
Keep memorizing “O.”
Work on the essay. Continue editing.
Write one journal entry (Those of you who claim you have nothing to write might try a modified version of the Swedish sauna: fill a bathtub with hot water, put on a swimming suit, go outside and roll in the snow, then race back into the house and slip into the warm bath. Swedes apparently do this in reverse, claiming it’s good for the circulation. Cold to warm strikes me as more comfortable. At any rate, you will have something to write in your journal:)).

Wednesday (One hour):
Memorize “O.”
Begin checking your essay for grammar, spelling, and syntax (the shape and structure of the sentences). Do your sentences make sense? Have you written complete sentences? Do your verbs and nouns agree? Does the essay flow, that is, do the sentences read well? To check out this last condition, you’ll need to read the essay aloud.

Thursday (One hour):
Memorize “0.”
Finish your essay. Polish it up. Check again for grammar and spelling errors. Have someone in your household read it (Your eight-year-old sibling is probably not a good choice here).
Journal one time.

Friday (One hour):
Memorize “O.”
Print your essay. Look at the finished work one last time for errors or for ways to make the essay better.

ENJOY YOUR WEEKEND!

3Rs II

Monday, Jan. 10 (Two hours)
Add the following vocabulary words to your list:
Aspersion (n.)--a curse, an expression of ill-will. The rival politicians cast aspersions on each other’s integrity.
Demure (adj.)--quiet, modest, reserved. Though everyone else at the party was dancing and going crazy, Sophie remained demure.
Feral (adj.)--wild, savage. Sometimes feral dogs run in packs and can attack mammals larger than themselves.
Vex (v.)--to annoy, confuse. Sometimes my older brother vexes me by rapping my head with his knuckles.
Pariah (n.)--an outcast. Though Jack was proven innocent of shoplifting, he nonetheless remained a pariah among his former friends.
Read Chapters 1 and 2 of Very Good, Jeeves!
Pick a topic for your persuasive essay. A persuasive essay exists to persuade the reader of the validity of a certain position. Some possible topics might be: “MacDonald’s: It’s Not as Bad as Critics Would Have You Believe;” “Swimming: The Best Exercise;” “Getting a Tan Can Be Good for You;” “Why Teenagers Need Jobs.; “Cats Make the Best Pets;” and so on. Remember: you are not arguing a point so much as trying to persuade the reader to agree with you. We’ll get to argumentative essays in a month. There are similarities, but a persuasive essay exists to convince the reader to try something new or to think in a different way. You can pick a topic of your choice. If you aren’t sure whether you’ve picked a good topic for a persuasive essay, feel free to call me.
Once you have picked the topic, then conduct any research you may want to include in the essay. If you were writing about MacDonald’s, for example, you might point out such factors as its efficiency in serving, its low-cal meals, and its low cost.
Journal one time (See 3Rs I journal entry #1 above if you claim to have nothing to write).

Tuesday (One hour)
Read Chapter 3 of Very Good, Jeeves!
Outline your persuasive essay. Follow the sample outline below:

Persuasive Essay Outline
I. Introduction
A. Get the reader’s interest with a “hook.”
B. Give some brief background information if necessary.
C. Thesis
II. First reason to support your position
A. Topic sentence explaining your point in the paragraph
B. Evidence or elaboration to back your point

III. Second reason to support your position
A. Topic sentence
B. Evidence

IV. Third reason to support your position
A. Topic sentence
B. Evidence

V. Opposing viewpoint briefly stated (This is optional but highly recommended, so that the reader will know you have considered another point of view and have a rebuttal to it:
A. Opposing point
B. Rebuttal and evidence (refer to other arguments)

VI. Conclusion
A. Summary of main points
B. Personal comment or call to action

Wednesday (One hour)
Read Chapter 4 of Jeeves
Write out a rough draft of your persuasive essay.
Try to leave yourself (I) out of this essay. You can strengthen your position by making it universal instead of giving personal details. Avoid expressions like “I think” or “I feel.” These weaken your arguments.

Thursday (One hour)
Read chapters 5 and 6 of Jeeves.
Write one journal entry.
Reread your rough draft. Look at the structure. Is there a thesis? Topic sentences? Do you have some sort of “hook?”

Friday
Read Chapter 7 of Jeeves.
Read How to Eat a Poem, 51--63.
Rewrite rough draft if it is illegible. Put the draft with your 3Rs books and papers so that you will remember to bring it to class on Monday, January 17.

ENJOY YOUR WEEKEND!