Course Description
Review of Classical Attic Greek grammar, as needed, plus selected readings in Herodotus and Euripides.
Athena Title
INTERMEDIATE GRK I
Equivalent Courses
Not open to students with credit in GREK 2001
Non-Traditional Format
This version of the course will be taught as writing intensive, which means that the course will include substantial and ongoing writing assignments that a) relate clearly to course learning; b) teach the communication values of a discipline—for example, its practices of argument, evidence, credibility, and format; and c) prepare students for further writing in their academic work, in graduate school, and in professional life. The written assignments will result in a significant and diverse body of written work (the equivalent of 6000 words or 25 pages) and the instructor (and/or the teaching assistant assigned to the course) will be closely involved in student writing, providing opportunities for feedback and substantive revision.
Prerequisite
GREK 1002 or GREK 2060 or permission of department
Semester Course Offered
Offered fall
Grading System
A - F (Traditional)
Course Objectives
Students will learn how to translate classical Greek prose and tragedy. Course work will consist of daily translation, both prepared and at sight. Students will also read some secondary literature about the works being translated and will have some written assignments. The syllabus includes a number of writing assignments that occur throughout the semester. They are designed both to improve student writing and to challenge students to think about translation from Greek to English as an intellectual process. The assignments also introduce students to professional writing in classical studies and familiarize them with the commentaries and grammars which are used by Greek scholars. The following writing assignments are integral to the course: 1. 350-word summaries of 2 or 3 important articles on Herodotus and Euripides around which class discussions will flow. These are low-stakes assignments; the goal is to help students understand the arguments presented in these articles (and thus improve class discussion) and to model good writing in Classics. 2. 1500-word essay comparing the accounts of the Tyrannicides passages in Herodotus, Thucydides, and Aristotle. This is a high-stakes, non-research assignment that will include a draft and a final version; the goal of this assignment is to introduce students to the skills involved in close reading and textual analysis which are critical to the study of the Greek language. 3. translation plus grammatical notes for lines 1-20 of Euripides’ Alcestis. This is a low-stakes assignment; the goal of this assignment is to get students to think about their translation choices and to help them master the grammar that underpins those translation choices. 4. translation plus grammatical notes and commentary of any 15- 20 lines of Euripides’ Alcestis; this is a high-stakes, non- research assignment that will include a draft and a final version; the goal of this assignment is to encourage students to think about translation as an intellectual exercise and to help them master the grammar that underpins their translation choices.
Topical Outline
Weeks 1-8: Translation of selections from books 1-6 of Herodotos' histories. Weeks 9-15: Translation of one complete tragedy by Euripides. Translation assignments will be supplemented by weekly quizzes and periodic tests.
General Education Core
CORE IV: World Languages and Global Culture