Take-home quizzes on Catullus' style, syntax, and grammar will be assigned throughout the term: three quizzes in all, each due one after a reading unit.

Quizzes must be completed and submitted by the specified date, either in person or via email (PDF documents, please).

Quizzes will require you to re-read our Catullan texts and to select specific grammatical and syntactic contructions (such as purpose clauses, result clauses, gerundives) and poetic devices (such as enjambment or alliteration). Select ONE construction or device from the range of passages/poems covered in each unit. Quizzes will also have a scansion component and a brief essay.

Like every document you submit in CL 310, your quizzes should be double-spaced, have numbered pages and one-inch margins, and be in PDF format.

GRAMMAR AND SYNTAX:

1. Identify quotations from Catullus' poems by [poem.line] references, e.g. 1.8–9 [= poem 1, verses 8 through 9].

2. Quote as much of the construction as needed in order to demonstrate you've identified it successfully. If the construction is a subordinate clause, include some of the main clause (which is usually the "trigger") for context. By quoting only the necessary components of a construction, students reveal themselves as careful and discerning readers.

3. Translate the quotation (and only the quotation) as accurately as possible and in your own words.

4. Discuss the essentials of the construction: what they are, how they work. If the construction is a subordinate clause, be sure to relate it back to the main clause. IMPORTANT: Consult the Guide to Subordinate Clauses (44k, MS Word format) when formulating your discussion, especially as regards the essential elements of such constructions. Allen and Greenough will be helpful for the rest.

POETIC DEVICES:

For poetic devices follow the same proces as for constructions, identifying, quoting, translating, and discussing specific examples.

SCANSION:

Download the scansion portion of the quiz from our Opera page, and fill it in as you would our scansion drills. Submit it in hardcopy on Prof. Curley's door or scan it — taking care that the image is thoroughly legible — and submit it with the rest of your quiz.

ESSAY:

Essays should be at least 3-4 full paragraphs and supported with evidence from the text.

GRADING:

Constructions: 10 points each: identification, 3; quotation, 2; translation, 2; discussion, 3.

Poetic devices: 5 points each: identification, 1; quotation, 1; translation, 1; discussion, 2.

Scansion: 5 points for each line.

Essay: 40 points unless otherwise stated.

Due: Sunday, February 19, 11:00 p.m.
Coverage: Catullus 1, 14, 22, 36, 42, 50, 53, 95, 105, 116

1 ablative of comparison 
1 accusative of exclamation 
1 partitive genitive 
1 passive periphrastic
1 jussive subjunctive
2 indirect statements

B.  Poetic devices.  Locate and explicate examples of the following:

1 syncopated (abbreviated) verb
1 learned mythological reference
2 Catullan "buzzwords" that denote ideal poetry
1 hendiadys

C.  Scansion (via our Opera page):

Cat. 14.1-5 (can be printed out and turned in separately, or scanned and emailed).

D.  Essay:

You are eager to establish a friendship with Catullus, and so you decide to write him a poem.  What kind of poetry — in terms of subject matter, content, form, function — would you compose in order to curry favor with him?

Due: Sunday, March 26, 11:00 p.m.
Coverage: Catullus 2, 3, 5, 7, 8, 11, 16, 38, 43, 51, 58, 60, 70
Coverage: Catullus 72, 75, 76, 79, 83, 85, 86, 87, 92, 107, 109

A.  Constructions.  Locate and explicate examples of the following:

2 datives of advantage/disadvantage
1 ablative of degree of difference
1 tantus...quantus correlation
1 indicative cum-clause
1 subjunctive cum-clause
1 purpose clause
1 result clause
1 subjunctive indirect command

B.  Poetic devices.  Locate and explicate examples of the following:

polyptoton
litotes
1 learned mythological reference
1 Catullan "buzzword" that denotes ideal friendship

C.  Scansion (via our Opera page):

Cat. 8.12–19 (can be printed out and turned in separately, or scanned and emailed).

D.  Essay.

"What did the liberated lady herself think of her puritanical admirer? As usual, 'Lesbia' is a shadowy figure."  (Wiseman 1985, 172.)

After reading most of the poems in Catullus' Lesbia cycle, what have you learned (or think you have learned) about his puella in terms of her personality, her upbringing, and her station?

Due: Sunday, April 16, 11:00 p.m.
Coverage:  Catullus 10, 24, 29, 31, 39, 48, 49, 56, 57, 69, 81, 84,
Coverage:  Catullus 88, 89, 90, 93, 97, 99, 100, 101

A.  Constructions.  Locate and explicate examples of the following:

1 partitive genitive
1 descriptive genitive
1 subjunctive cum-clause
1 subjunctive condition
1 indirect question
1 indirect statements

B.  Scansion (via our Opera page):

Cat. 69.5–10 (can be printed out and turned in separately, or scanned and emailed).

C.  Essay.

Describe Catullus' social values, both positive and negative. Who are his friends? His enemies? Why? To support your assertions, use individual poems as examples, and quote Latin words and phrases from those poems.