Final Exam on Tuesday, 12-20-16

Dear Intermediate Hellenists,

Our midterm exam on Tuesday, December 20 (1:30-4:30 p.m.), will have the following format.

(A) Streamlined verb blocks — -μι verb edition:

I'll give you one of the -μι verbs from Groton 46 and 47, and a pronoun. You give me the following:

• Indicative: present active, present middle/passive, aorist active, aorist middle, aorist passive, perfect active, perfect middle/passive;

• Subjunctive: present active, present passive, aorist active, aorist middle, aorist passive; and

• Optative: present active, present passive, aorist active, aorist middle, aorist passive.

NOTE: Three blocks total, 17 forms in each.

(B) Indirect statement transformations:

I'll give you up to 5 Greek direct statements with an English translation. You reconfigure the Greek into the three kinds of indirect statement according to my instructions. (We'll practice this as much as we can the last day of class.)

(C) Passage to translate:

A short passage of connected prose from Xenophon's Anabasis, with notes and vocabulary help. Read it carefully and write out your translation.

(D) Reading out loud (take-home portion, due Friday, December 23, 11:00 p.m.):

Practice reading the final exam passage out loud: use Groton's textbook to help you determine vowel/consonant sounds and place accents. When you have perfected your reading, call my campus voice mail and read me the Greek over the phone. 

NOTE: Please prepare for and complete this portion of the exam on your own. I'll supply a copy of the passage for you to practice on and mark up. (No, you do not have to memorize the passage. Yes, you can read from the copy.)

*                    *                    *                    *                    *

For this exam, you'll be responsible for all concepts and vocabulary in Groton from CG 110 and 210. Your preparation will necessitate some memorization. Toward that end, I would suggest (at a minimum) memorizing principal parts of verbs in our flashcard sets, as well as the formation of participles.

Everyone will be allowed to ask, out loud, one vocabulary question per established custom.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

DC

Midterm Exam on Friday, 10-28-16

Dear Intermediate Hellenists,

Our midterm exam on Friday, October 28, will have the following format.

(A) Verb blocks:

I'll give you the first principal part of a verb and specify a person and number, you give me the Greek forms in all tenses of the indicative and all voices — 14 forms in all, 3 verb blocks total.

NOTE: Although I will chose at least one contract verb, all of the verbs will be fairly regular: that is, they'll all have six principal parts and display a minimum of volatility from part to part.

(B) Genitive absolute transformations:

I'll give you up to 5 Greek sentences that feature a subordinate clause introduced by a conjunction, you translate the sentence and rewrite the original Greek sentence with a genitive absolute in place of the subordinate clause.

(C) Passage to translate:

A short passage of connected Greekprose, using vocabulary and grammar through chapter 30. Read it carefully and write out your translation.

(D) Reading out loud (take-home portion, due Sunday, October 30, 11:00 p.m.):

Practice reading the midterm passage out loud: use Groton's textbook to help you determine vowel/consonant sounds and place accents. When you have perfected your reading, call my campus voice mail and read me the Greek over the phone. 

NOTE: Please prepare for and complete this portion of the exam on your own. I'll supply a copy of the passage for you to practice on and mark up. (No, you do not have to memorize the passage. Yes, you can read from the copy.)

*                    *                    *                    *                    *

For this exam, you'll be responsible for all concepts and vocabulary through Groton Chapter 30. Your preparation will necessitate some memorization. Toward that end, I would suggest (at a minimum) memorizing principal parts of all verbs from chapters 22 onward, as well as the formation of all participles.

Everyone will be allowed to ask, out loud, one vocabulary question per established custom.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

DC

Assignment for Wednesday, 10-26-16

Dear Intermediate Hellenists,

For Wednesday morning, October 26, please do the following:

(1) Homework (not to turn in):

• Read and translate "Athens Reacts to Bad News — Part 2" (#188, pp. 208–9).

NOTE: Don't miss the Greek at the top of p. 209.

Khang will review the passage with you and award points, as per usual. The rest of class will be devoted to review before the midterm exam, so bring your questions!

DC

Assignment for Friday, 09-16-16

Dear Intermediate Hellenists,

By Friday morning, September 16, please do the following:

(1) Review: Groton, Lessons 24 and 25 on the following forms and concepts. Note any questions along the way.

• Formation of active participles in various tenses (#146–7, pp. 154–6);
• The present participle of εἰμί (#148, p. 156)
• Participles of contract verbs (#149, p. 157);
• Aspect of participles (#150, pp. 157–8);
• Uses of participles: attributive, circumstantial, and with particles (#151, pp. 158–9)
• Vocabulary for Lesson 24 (#52, p. 159).
• Formation of middle/passive participles (#154–8, pp. 163–5)
• Supplementary participles (#159, p. 166);
• Summary of prepositions and their cases (#160, p. 166); and
• Vocabulary for Lesson 25 (#161, p. 167)

(2) Homework (not to turn in):

• Read and translate "A Hare-Raising Experience" (#162, p. 169).

DC

Assignment for Wednesday, 09-14-16

Dear Intermediate Hellenists,

By Wednesday morning, September 14, please do the following:

(1) Review: Groton, Lesson 23, on the following forms and concepts. Note any questions along the way:

• Relative pronouns (#140, pp. 145–7;
• The adjective πᾶς, πᾶσα, πᾶν (#141, pp. 147–8);
• Expressions of time (#142, p. 148); and
• Vocabulary for Lesson 23 (#143, pp. 148–9).

(2) Homework (due by email, 8:00 a.m.):

• Greek-to-English sentences (all) (#144, p. 150).

DC

Assignment for Sunday, 09-11-16

Dear Intermediate Hellenists,

For Sunday, September 11, please do the following:

(1) Review: All verb systems through the perfect and pluperfect middle/passive. Especially helpful will be Lessons 3, 6, 10, 11, 15, 18, 19, 20, and 22. I'm not saying you need to re-read everything, just that you'll want to revisit the salient points in some way. And there are always the Appendices (pp. 395 and onward) if you want the paradigms in one place.

(2) Homework (via email, due 11:00 p.m.)

• Verb synopses for the following:

-- frighten, they
-- stop, we
-- take, you pl.

Friendly reminders:

• A verb synopsis is a matrix of the six tenses we've covered (present, imperfect, future, aorist, perfect, and pluperfect) and two voices (active and middle) -- so, twelve forms in all, using the same person and number throughout. Middle forms are the same as the passive, except in the future (and we haven't learned the future passive...yet).
  
• I'll grade this assignment and turn it back on Wednesday. If you want it back sooner, let me know.
  
• If you hand-write your answers, please be sure to send me a legible PDF with a bright image  (no dark patches).

Please let me know if you have any questions.

DC

Assignment for Friday, 09-09-16

Dear Intermediate Hellenists,

As noted in class, your assignment is to read and translate Groton's supplemental passage for Lesson 22, "A Happy Exchange." Unlike other assignments, there is nothing to turn in ahead of time; have it done by the time you come to class).

As you work through this passage, bear in mind the following:

(1) DO consult the accompanying vocabulary as well as Lesson 22 of our textbook.

(2) DO make little notes in the margins (notes on cases or tenses or other important points).

(3) DON'T write out a full translation of the passage (or DON'T bring it to class if you do), for reasons explained on the Policy page of our website.

(4) DON'T rush it, but DON'T despair if you don't finish (though DO try). Unlike other readings, I won't attach any points to this particular assignment. Rather, I want to use it as an in-class opportunity to illustrate how we can read together in a deeper, more nuanced way.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

DC