My apologies: I know this isn't easy to read, but livejournal kept saying the table displaying this information was too big. Therefore, I edited out everything (more or less) but the lines assigned each day, quizzes and tests. Each entry starts with the dates for that week. FYI.

• Aug 23-28 (5 days): 33 lines prologue, invocation, & Juno’s wrath, begin reading background on Vergil and the Aeneid, maps of Italy & Mediterranean, scanning practice, 1.1-11, 1.12-33

• Aug31- Sp4 (5 days): 46 lines Juno & Aeolus, quia, VOCAB QUIZ, 1.34-49 , 1.50-63, 1.44-80

• Sept 8-11 (4 days): 60 lines Trojans and the storm; Neptune , HOLIDAY, quia, VOCAB QUIZ1.81-101, 1.101-123, 1.123-141

• Sept 14-16 (5 days): 0 lines, quia, VOCAB QUIZ , quia/review/discussion, quia/review/discussion, TEST, PART 1

• Sept 21-25 (5 days): 80 lines Aeneas et al. make shore, TEST, PART 2;, 1.142-156, 1.157-179, 1.180-207, 1.207-222

• Sept 28-Oct 2 (5 days): 73 lines Venus complains to Jupiter, quia, VOCAB QUIZ, 1.223-233, 1.234-253, 1.254-277, 1.278-296

• Oct 5-9 (5 days): 73 lines Mercury sent to Dido; Venus talks to Aeneas, quia, VOCAB QUIZ, 1.297-313, 1.314-334, 1.235-356, 1.357-370

• Oct 13-16 (4 days): 0 lines, HOLIDAY, quia, VOCAB QUIZ, sight readingreview, quia/review/discussion, TEST, PART 1

• Oct 19-23 (5 days): 92 lines Aeneas arrives at Carthage, TEST, PART 2;, 1.371-401, 1.402-426, 1.427-440, 1.441-463

• Oct 26-30 (5 days): 109 lines Aeneas begins to tell of the fall of Troy, quia, VOCAB QUIZ 1.464-493, 1.493-519, 2.1-25, 2.26-56

• Nov 2-6 (5 days): 98 lines sea serpents, bringing in the horse, dream of Hector, quia, 2.199-227 , 2.228-249 , 2.250-267 , 2.268-297

• Nov 9-13 (5 days): 0 lines, quia, VOCAB QUIZ, sight readingreview, quia/review/discussion, quia/review/discussion, TEST, PART 1

• Nov 16-20 (5 days): 97 lines Pyrrhus assaults the royal family , TEST, PART 2;, 2.469-505, 2.505-525, 2.526-546, 2.547-566

• Nov 23-24 (2 days): 0 lines, quia, VOCAB QUIZ sight reading, HOLIDAY, HOLIDAY, HOLIDAY

• Nov30-Dec4 (5 days): 74 lines Creusa falls behind, 2.730-746, 2.747-767, 2.768-784, 2.785-795, 2.796-804

• Dec 7-11 (5 days): 0 lines, quiarecitation due, VOCAB QUIZsight reading, quia/review/discussion, quia/review/discussion, quia/review/discussionBook 6 due in English

• Dec 14-18 (5 days): 0 lines, MIDTERMS

• Jan 6-8 (3 days): 114 lines Dido falls in love; Juno speaks to Venus, HOLIDAY, HOLIDAY, 4.1-30, 4.31-66, 4.67-114

• Jan 11-15 (5 days): 104 lines Dido and Aeneas hide from a storm; Iarbas rages with jealousy, quia, VOCAB QUIZ4.114-142 , 4.142-172, 4.173-197, 4.198-218

• Jan 18-22 (5 days): 111 lines Mercury tells Aeneas to leave; Dido rages at Aeneas , quia, VOCAB QUIZ4.219-244, 4. 245-270, 4. 271-303, 4. 304-330

• Jan 25-29 (5 days): 118 lines Aeneas argues fate calls him; Anna pleads , quia, VOCAB QUIZ4.331-361, 4.362-381, 4.382-415, 4.416-449

• Feb 3-5 (3 days): 0 lines, HOLIDAY, HOLIDAY, quia, VOCAB QUIZ, quia/review/discussion

• Feb 8-12 (5 days): 63 lines Dido builds a funeral pyre , TEST, PART 1 sight reading, TEST, PART 2;turn in reading log, 4.642-662, 4.663-681, 4.682-705

• Feb 15-19 (5 days): 114 lines Trojans land in Italy; Aeneas seeks the Sibyl; , quia, VOCAB QUIZ6.1-22, 6.23-54, 6.54-76, 6.77-114

• Feb 22-26 (5 days): 96 lines Aeneas and Achatesbury Misenus, then find the golden bough, quia, VOCAB QUIZ6.115-123, 6. 124-155, 6.156-182, 6.183-211

• March 1-5 (5 days): 0 lines, quia, VOCAB QUIZsight readingreview, TAKS TESTING (A.M.)quia/review/discussion, quia/review/discussion, TEST, PART 1 sight reading

• Mar 8-12 (5 days): 0 lines, TEST, PART 2;, NLE Prep, NATIONAL LATIN EXAM, Dido & AeneasDVD, Dido & AeneasDVD

• Mar 15-19, SPRING BREAK!

• Mar 22-26 (5 days): 79 lines In the underworld, Aen. meets Dido & Anc., Ovid’s Dido Aeneae, 6.450-476, 6.847-859, 6.860-881, 6.882-901

• Mar 29-Apr 1 (4 days): 89 lines The fight in Italy; Pallas & Turnus fight, quia, VOCAB QUIZ10.420-456 , 10.457-489 , 10.490-509, HOLIDAY

• Apr 5-8 (4 days): 51 lines Jup. & Juno discuss final outcome; , quia, VOCAB QUIZ12.791-806, 12.807-828, 12.829-842, HOLIDAY

• Apr 12-16 (5 days): 65 lines Aeneas and Turnus meet for the final battle, quia, VOCAB QUIZ, 12.887-907 , 12.908-929, 12.930-952

• Apr 19-23 (5 days): , quia, VOCAB QUIZquia/review/discussion, quia/review/discussion, TEST, PART 1 , TEST, PART 2;

• Apr 26-30 (5 days): , TAKS TESTING exam review, TAKS TESTING exam review, TAKS TESTING exam review, TAKS TESTING exam review, TAKS TESTING exam review

• May 3-7 (5 days):, AP TESTINGexam review, AP TESTINGexam review, AP TESTINGexam review, AP TESTINGexam review, AP TESTINGexam review

• May 10-14 (5 days): , AP TESTINGexam review, AP TESTINGexam review, AP TESTINGexam review, AP TESTINGexam review, MAY 14 VERGIL EXAM

• May 17-21 (5 days): , Post AP: illuminated manuscript project (IMP);online examples, video clips, background reading material, calligraphy lesson, calligraphy practice, lines for project picked; calligraphy practice

• May 24-28 (5 days): work on projecct

• June 1-4 (3 days): FINAL EXAMS project DUE

In the passsage above, Aeneas sees a mural depicting events of the Trojan War. In a short essay, identify the emotions Aeneas experiences and discuss why this work of art provokes them. Refer specifically to the Latin throughout the passage to support the points you make in your essay.

(This example is missing an introduction and conclusion; I just wanted to show the format for arguing your case.)

Aeneas’s first sight of this temple, this “newly raised structure in the grove,” clearly “softened his fear” (in luco nova res oblata timorem / * leniit, 1.450-451). In addition, Aeneas clearly experiences release and amazement when looking at the pictures because he says: “What place on earth now, Achates, what region on earth is not full of our labor?” (“quis iam locus,” inquit, “Achate, / quae regio in terris nostri non plena laboris?” 1.459-460). Finally, Aeneas also demonstrates that desperate longing for the loved ones and brave allies lost at the fall of Troy when he continues to “feed his soul on the empty picture, sighing lots, and moistening his face with a generous river (of tears)” (animum pictura pascit inani, / multa gemens, largoque umectat flumine vultum, 1.464-465).

* Note above that when you quote more than one line of poetry indicate the division of the line by “ / ”.

I don’t like my own translation of inane/ “empty” here, but it will do fine, as will your own translations. Do not waste excessive time sweating over your English translations; having the right Latin is more than half the battle. Put more time into your argument. As all the scoring guidelines will say, “Occasional mistakes need not spoil the general impression of the essay.”

Also, take note that I am not filling a lot of space with explanations. My commentary is built into my sentences and is leading up to my embedded concrete detail. This allows more space for more examples/arguments. Of course, you also want is that feeling of flow with your argument, so add whatever commentary you think you need—just know that you may well need less than what instruction in your English classes may lead you to believe. Here, you are demonstrating with your knowledge of Latin that you understand the bigger picture in any passage and that you are seeing all the details of the passage when you are looking for that bigger picture.

Most importantly, no argument should ever be made without Latin—at least one word—to support it. Argue in English and put Latin in parentheses with book and line number every single time. And choose examples from throughout the whole passage.

Too often in AP classes there is such a rush to dive into the lines to be "read" (i.e., "translated"), that little time is spent discussing how to improve one's ability to read all those lines of Latin.  To be sure, many serious students develop efficient skills at decoding Latin--looking up words more quickly, identifying grammatical forms more quickly, stringing together English translations more quickly--but they hit a wall at some point that they can't get around.  This wall keeps students of Latin--young and old--from learning to develop true reading skills.  Time is wasted in jumping back and forth in a sentence, missing how phrases and clauses go together, and then more time is wasted in writing out translations for every single word on the page.

Our goal in reading Vergil this year is not just to meet the requirements of the AP syllabus, but to learn how to read Latin--real Latin--more fluently.  Your year with Vergil shouldn't get more stressful as the year goes on, but more enjoyable as you not only get used to Vergil's style, but as you retrain your mind to accept Latin in word order.

There are several habits you should get into this year:

1) READ OUT LOUD.  I cannot emphasize this enough.  Learning how to read out loud with confidence and fluency.  Read out loud the WHOLE section of lines assigned before you begin, then read them again after you've translated/figured out what everything means.  Then read them a THIRD time, with feeling.  The more times you read it, the more easily you'll recognize the passage later on.

2) USE THE PUNCTUATION.  Punctuation helps you understand phrases and clauses and how words go together.   If you are reading in word order, the punctuation and phrasing will make sense. If you ignore the punctuation and jump around in the sentence, not only will you have difficulties understanding the sentence, you will slow yourself down.  Think about the punctuation, use the punctuation.  IN FACT, a major mistake that readers of Vergil make is to read line by line, not to the punctuation, not to the period.  Don't make this mistake!  Use the punctuation.

3) METAPHRASE.  You won't feel the need to skip around in the sentence, looking for a verb, and then wondering what to do with all the clauses if you are reading in word order and metaphrasing in order to hold the place for whatever is missing.  ("Someone verbed something to someone" is our basic metaphrasing placehodling sentence.)   So often sentences may start with an accusative or dative, and it's easy to lose sight of their syntatical meaning if you don't have a way to hold that meaning by using metaphrasing.

4) REREAD.  Before beginning a new passage, reread at least the last few sentences of the previous assignment, if not the whole assignment.  Not only will you begin with a clear recollection of what you did the day before (because you will have just reviewed it), you will notice more how the vocabulary does repeat and overlap, often with intended emphasis.  Does rereading take up time?  Not much. Time yourself.  Read out loud so you don't slow down.  The more you reread as you go along, the easier quizzes, tests, and eventually the AP test will seem.

5) AVOID WRITING OUT TRANSLATIONS WHILE YOU WORK.  Your goal during the week should be reading and rereading the Latin to understand it and absorb new vocabulary and syntactical structures.  It will, however, be very important that you do learn how to write an accurate English translation of any given passage on the Vergil syllabus. NEVER write down a translation of any sort for any reason until you are SURE you understand THE WHOLE SENTENCE or even the whole paragraph.   You will get much better at doing this if you spend the majority of your time reading and rereading the passages in order to fix the vocabulary as well as the idiosyncracies of Vergil's style (word order, contractions/syncopation, and such).  Only then will you be able to translate anything with true confidence.

6) READ OUT LOUD TO MASTER METER. Did I mention you should read out loud?  Hide in the bathroom to read out loud if you need to if you are shy, but read out loud.  Hear the words,spoken correctly, accents on the correct syllable with great attention to long and short vowels.  The more you read out loud, the more you will fix the whole sound of the word accurately in your head.  This is important because guess what?  There will NOT BE ANY MACRONS on the AP exam.  You will soon realize that this truly isn't a problem because meter will help you figure out anything that you find tricky, and your reading ability will reassure you that you've figured it out correctly from the meter.  You ability to scan lines for meter will be made easier if you are confident in reading out loud.  It all goes hand in hand.

I reserve the right to modify this "Developing Your Reading Skills" entry as the year progresses. I think you'll find, though, that these habits mentioned above will help you more than anything else this year.  I know that at first you will think that you don't have enough time to reread old stuff, read the new stuff, and reread the new stuff again.  But I think you will find that once you make a habit of it, you will see its benefits throughout the year.