A Little Latin Reader

Book excerpt: This book is designed primarily for use in beginning and intermediate Latin classes at the undergraduate level (semesters 1-4 of college Latin). This Latin reader will present passages of 3-10 lines taken from Classical authors (including Caesar, Catullus, Cicero, Martial, Ovid, Vergil, etc.and inscriptions. The selections will consist of lively unadapted passages suitable for elementary and intermediate level Latin students. These passages will be annotated in such a way that instructors can use them in a wide variety of classroom settings. The selections will be arranged to emphasizecertain points of grammar and syntax (case use: Nominative, Genitive, Dative, Accusative, and Ablative; Pronouns; Ablative Absolutes; Relative Clauses; Indirect Statement; Subordinate Clauses; Subjunctive Verbs; and Conditionals).The arrangement of topics and the length of the passages is intended to provide the highest degree of flexibility in the classroom: a single selection could provide additional practice in syntax and translation during the first or last few minutes of a class session; a series of selections couldprovide the foundation of a class meeting; selections could be used for practice and/or testing in translating at sight; or the entire reader could be used as the foundation of a comprehensive review and transition into intermediate and advanced Latin. In essence, this reader will expose students ofLatin to extended passages of unadapted Latin from a wide variety of important authors at the earliest stage in language instruction. This early exposure to Classical authors will enable students to transition more easily from beginning and intermediate Latin textbooks to authentic Latin prose andpoetry.