![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Well, my Vergil project is plodding along. Of course, I know I don't really get the results I want... but on the other hand, I know I'm catching the interest in many of the kids and certainly exposing them to authentic Latin in an exciting setting. (I can't help but wonder, though, how students would react if I were at a school where kids took a real interest or at least did their homework!!)
I know my being gone at APA last week in the middle of this didn't help, but we'll get through the film scenarios tomorrow. 2 minutes per line isn't much... ok, minus my 2 lines on Laocoon at the beginning when he's sacrificing the bull. But it will be pretty good. I really think so.
ANYWAY. We worked on scanning lines today. Some people got it (Magnus, for one, when Anguis didn't... curious... why? Oh... he's in BAND!), others were slower with it. Interesting thing about scanning lines: you can't scan lines if you don't say the words outloud (or at least HEAR the lines in your head). The kids who struggled the most with it were those who need the most hand-holding, who are afraid to venture forth unless they are SURE you've got it, and who don't want to try to read anything that consists of words they don't know.
Rules are simple, of course. Long vowel = long syllable. Short vowel followed by double consonants = long syllable. Otherwise short. 6 feet. Feet are either dactyl or spondee, and all lines end in BUM ba da BUM BUM. You check for elisions, do the last two feet, see if you can manage the first 4 after that. Ok, ok, I know some people find scanning hard. But let's be fair--I did one line for each group on the overhead. The people that did the best when left to try it themselves were the people that would happily participate as I walked them through, asking about "Do we elide these? Yes/no. Long vowel? Double consonants? Yes/No" But many wouldn't do it, thinking that since I was scanning lines that weren't in their section that it didn't matter. So part of me is discouraged, a bit, and not sympathetic. BUT some people DID get it. SO THAT'S GOOD.
And none of this was done in isolation--we'd scan, and we'd READ THE LINES OUTLOUD and talk about how the meter effected the line. We noted the dactyl for diffugimus and that it then went to spondees for visU exsanguEs--scattering people (dactyl) but the heaviness/seriousness of the spondees. This will all go toward the "film scenarios" they are working on. Many didn't bother with the first draft; we'll see what they've done for homework tonight. Tomorrow, as I said, we'll go over it. We begin essays Friday, yes? And, once again, we've got a holiday coming up which will mess up when I start Stage 16. OH I AM GETTING TOO FAR BEHIND.
Which brings up a good point: is it worth having to rush through parts of the book to do this? I think the answer is yes, even still, even with these students because they must--THEY MUST--be exposed to real Latin as early as possible, especially if you fear they may never see it again.
They are hearing REAL Latin every time I read this scene with the sea monsters dramatically... if I keep it up, I'll have it memorized. Hmmm... not a bad plan. Latin was meant to be heard and there's no other way, frankly, to learn meter or Latin.
So, it's not done yet. And it's not all bad... I think more people understood meter by the end of class today than those that did it last year. We'll see....
I know my being gone at APA last week in the middle of this didn't help, but we'll get through the film scenarios tomorrow. 2 minutes per line isn't much... ok, minus my 2 lines on Laocoon at the beginning when he's sacrificing the bull. But it will be pretty good. I really think so.
ANYWAY. We worked on scanning lines today. Some people got it (Magnus, for one, when Anguis didn't... curious... why? Oh... he's in BAND!), others were slower with it. Interesting thing about scanning lines: you can't scan lines if you don't say the words outloud (or at least HEAR the lines in your head). The kids who struggled the most with it were those who need the most hand-holding, who are afraid to venture forth unless they are SURE you've got it, and who don't want to try to read anything that consists of words they don't know.
Rules are simple, of course. Long vowel = long syllable. Short vowel followed by double consonants = long syllable. Otherwise short. 6 feet. Feet are either dactyl or spondee, and all lines end in BUM ba da BUM BUM. You check for elisions, do the last two feet, see if you can manage the first 4 after that. Ok, ok, I know some people find scanning hard. But let's be fair--I did one line for each group on the overhead. The people that did the best when left to try it themselves were the people that would happily participate as I walked them through, asking about "Do we elide these? Yes/no. Long vowel? Double consonants? Yes/No" But many wouldn't do it, thinking that since I was scanning lines that weren't in their section that it didn't matter. So part of me is discouraged, a bit, and not sympathetic. BUT some people DID get it. SO THAT'S GOOD.
And none of this was done in isolation--we'd scan, and we'd READ THE LINES OUTLOUD and talk about how the meter effected the line. We noted the dactyl for diffugimus and that it then went to spondees for visU exsanguEs--scattering people (dactyl) but the heaviness/seriousness of the spondees. This will all go toward the "film scenarios" they are working on. Many didn't bother with the first draft; we'll see what they've done for homework tonight. Tomorrow, as I said, we'll go over it. We begin essays Friday, yes? And, once again, we've got a holiday coming up which will mess up when I start Stage 16. OH I AM GETTING TOO FAR BEHIND.
Which brings up a good point: is it worth having to rush through parts of the book to do this? I think the answer is yes, even still, even with these students because they must--THEY MUST--be exposed to real Latin as early as possible, especially if you fear they may never see it again.
They are hearing REAL Latin every time I read this scene with the sea monsters dramatically... if I keep it up, I'll have it memorized. Hmmm... not a bad plan. Latin was meant to be heard and there's no other way, frankly, to learn meter or Latin.
So, it's not done yet. And it's not all bad... I think more people understood meter by the end of class today than those that did it last year. We'll see....
