Assessment Opportunities - LATN 399 - S22
Commonplace Book | Translation Assignment | Opuscula | Final Creative Project |
Below you will find a summary of all the major assessments for this course. For the grading schema for course, see the specifications grading page.
Commonplace Book
Throughout the course, you will keep a type of journal, known as a commonplace book, in which you will record and reflect on passages in your readings that stand out to you. The hope is that keeping a commonplace will make you a more attentive reader, more reflective thinker, and more active class participant.
Your grade on the commonplace book will be determined by the number of satisfactory entries that you complete and you must complete at least 12 entries to pass the course. Please note that for an entry to be counted as satisfactory, it must be turned in by class time on the day that the entry is due on the syllabus.
Further details on the commonplace book assignment can be found here.
Translation Assigments (due March 3; April 12, 11:00 AM)
We will have two assignments in which you will be asked to produce a definitive translation of a passage from Petronius. Through consultation with the original text as well as modern commentaries and translations of the passage, you will produce a translation of the passage that is not only grammatically accurate and idiomatic, but one that reflects the tone of passage, presents a clear narrative of events, and takes a strong stance on any controversial aspects within it. Put another way, it represent not just a word-for-word translation of the passage, but an interpretation of it.
In addition to producing a translation, you will also write a 500 - 600 word reflection on the process of coming up with your translation. In this reflection, you will explain why you chose a particular tone in the passage or why you used a particular English phrase that wasn’t a word for word translation of the Latin. You will also highlight the places where you had to make a decision regarding the interpretation of a word or phrase and how you reconciled the difference in opinion that you found in commentaries or other translations.
You must complete at least one translation assignment to pass the course. Further details on the assignment can be found here.
Opuscula (due May 5, 11:00 AM)
There will be four opuscula (mini-projects) that you will have the opportunity to complete over the course of the semester. These projects will ask you to dive deeply into different aspects of the Satyrica. You will do some basic reading and research about the text and then complete activity and/or analysis based on this reading. By doing these assignments, you will not only learn more about key facets of the text, but get the chance to explore themes in the text that you personally find interesting.
Completion of the opuscula are not necessary to pass the class. There are no specific due dates for particular opuscula, but they must be completed in the order in which they are listed and you must receive a satisfactory grade from me before trying the next one. Further details of these assignments can be found here.
Creative Final Project (due May 18, 11:59 PM)
The final project represents an opportunity for you to offer your own intepretation of the Satyrica in a way that best fits with whatever creative interests and talents you might have. As such, there is no specified form and content for your final project, other than that it engage with the material of the text that we have been reading and does not take the form of an essay or translation. Some examples of creative projects that you might undertake include (but are certainly not limited to) coming up with a modern playlist to accompany the Cena, illustrating a graphic novel based a portion of the text, making tombstones for different characters who appear at the feast, or writing your own version of one of the lost scenes from the novel.
In order to ensure that everyone’s final project fits the bill and that you start working on it well in advance of the due date, you will be required to meet with me by April 5 to propose your project and explain the scope that you iagine. We will meet again two weeks later to discuss your progress and establish a personal rubric for a successful project.
Completion of the final project is necessary to pass the class.