[Fall 2023 LAT 4/521 students: since one of you recently asked about preparation, here is a version of a guide to preparing a Latin prose passage (but still relevant to poetry) I gave to students – back when time moved more slowly (i.e. the 2000s – who were reading their first Latin text]

Preparing a Latin Prose Passage
LAT 400

(1) Read the entire passage aloud: enjoy all its sound effects.

(2) Read the entire passage again in Latin with a view to determining its main structures:

• take note of subordinating conjunctions (e.g. cum, ut, quod) and verbal moods (e.g. indicative, subjunctive?)
• distinguish independent (these can stand as a complete sentence) and dependent (i.e. subordinate) clauses
• note parallelisms, i.e. parallel clauses and verbs, groups of words in the same cases, connectors, etc.

(3) Begin to break down the passage one sentence at a time:

• find a main verb and a subject in each clause
• have syntactical expectations and exercise them (e.g. where’s the direct object a transitive verb requires?)
• bracket distinct units (i.e. subordinate clauses, prepositional phrases, noun and adjective combinations)

(4) Only after you have a sense of the sentence’s structural units, begin to translate, using a dictionary and grammar as necessary; be sure to consult a commentary on the passage:

• create a list of vocabulary items; do not write these in your text
• translate mentally; do not write out a translation in your text or elsewhere

(5) Once you have worked through each sentence, go over the passage again and translate (mentally), consulting your vocabulary and grammatical notes:

• does your translation make sense? (if not, work through the rough spots again)
• consult an English translation (i.e. as another form of commentary)

(6) Read the entire passage aloud (i.e. in Latin).

(7) Go to class prepared, confident, and well positioned to engage with the text in a sophisticated manner – all the more so if (8) you read through the passage once more before class and translate it mentally.

(9) Read the passage again after class. Take delight all its sound effects, i.e. the pleasure of the text . . .