LATIN 301

Instructor Information

Instructor: Christopher S. Mackay
Email: csmackay@ualberta.ca
Office/phone: Tory 2-54/492-3344
Office hours: MWF 2-3 (best to check first) or by appointment

Aim of Course

The purpose of this course is to finish Wheelock and then to develop deeper understanding of the principles of Latin syntax through the careful reading of the narrative portion of Cicero's speech Pro Cluentio and the reading of relevant sections of the Allen and Greenough grammar. This will enable the student to advance confidently to the independent reading of Latin.

Sections of Grammar to review

Here's a page with references of grammar to review

Course Books

Mandatory:
Cicero: Murder at Larinum, ed. H. Grose-Hodge (Duckworth)
Allen and Greenough's New Latin Grammar (Focus Publishing)
(available in the Campus Bookstore)

Class Procedure

An assignment is given for each day, and students are to prepare that section. Students should ask questions about difficult passages, and are responsible for the assigned reading whether it has all be gone over in class or not. Students will then be expected to identify all inflectional forms and explain the syntax of those forms.

Attendance

Since attendance is crucial to learning, students are expected to attend every class, and apart from medical emergencies and significant personal crises, there are no excuses for absence. Failure to be prepared is considered to be the equivalent of absence. Students will be not be penalized for one unexcused absence over the course of the term. After that, each unexcused absence will result in the deduction of one +/- step from the final grade (e.g., an A- will become a B+, a C+ will become a straight C, and so on).

Testing

Starting on Sept. 15, there will be a quiz on the first day of every week covering the preceding week's readings (there are no make-up quizzes and the one lowest score will be dropped; 25% of overall grade). There will be one midterm (35%, on Oct. 20) and one final examination (40%).

Deferred final

The sole date on which a deferred midterm may be taken is January 12, 2009 (time to be arranged)

Determination of final grade

Students will receive a percentage score for all graded work. At the end of term these percentage marks will be weighted on the scale indicated above to give an overall percentage. This will then be converted to the letter system of grading on the following basis: 100-97%: A+; 96-93: A; 92-90: A-; 89-87: B+; 86-83: B; 82-80: B-; 79-77: C+; 76-73: C; 72-70: C-; 69-67: D+; 66-60: D; 59 and below: F.

Academic Dishonesty

This is a big no-no. Academic dishonesty is defined as "submit[ting] the words, ideas, images or data of another person as the student's own" (Code of Student Behaviour ¤30.3.2(1)). The University has the following statement on how it deals with academic dishonesty.

"The University of Alberta is committed to the highest standards of academic integrity and honesty. Students are expected to be familiar with these standards regarding academic honesty and to uphold the policies of the University in this respect. Students are particularly urged to familiarize themselves with the provisions of the Code of Student Behavior and avoid any behavior which could potentially result in suspicions of cheating, plagiarism, misrepresentation of facts and/or participation in an offence. Academic dishonesty is a serious offence and can result in suspension or expulsion from the University." (U of A Calendar §23.4.2c)

Cheating can consist of a number of offenses, which can be summarized (for present purposes) as

For details, see Code of Student Behavior §30.3.2(2)a-d.

Like the University, I have a zero-tolerance policy for academic dishonesty. I will not hesitate to seek the highest possible penalty against anyone caught committing these offenses or helping others to commit them. Ignorance of what constitutes academic offenses is not an acceptable defense. Refer to the Code of Student Behaviour in the Calendar (pages 743-766) for a full description of academic offenses and their possible penalties. If you have any questions, see me or refer to the University's "Don't cheat" sheet.

For Those Who Don't Like the Syllabus

The University of Alberta cares deeply about being internally recognized for excellence in course information delivery, and accordingly has issued the following regulation, presumably on the grounds that after twenty-two years of university-level instruction, I might not know how to draw up a suitable syllabus:

Every course outline should contain the following statement: "Policy about course outlines can be found in §23.4(2) of the University Calendar" (Calendar §23.4(2).b).
You can't say you weren't warned.
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