Freshmen Summer Reading

Latin

Benjamin Banneker AHSMs. Levknecht (Gailey)

For rising freshmen at Banneker who are taking have elected to not be pre-IB,

as such, they are taking Latin.

Summer Reading Assignment: Students will study and examine a selection of readings pertaining to culture, history and the development of the Latin language. Students are then expected to complete a series of questions based on the readings. Students will answer questions with complete thoughts, complete sentences and complete work. In addition, students will also read and answer questions about the Roman world from the perspective of maps.

Excerpts from the following (you DO NOT need to purchase):

Janson, Tore. A Natural History of Latin. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2004. Print.

Shelton, Jo-Ann. As the Romans Did: A Sourcebook in Roman Social History. New York, New York: Oxford University Press, 1998. Print.

Standards Addressed:Common Core:RH.9-10.4. Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including vocabulary describing political, social, or economic aspects of history/social science.

RH.9-10.1. Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources, attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.

Language Acquisition:Standard 1.1. Students read, understand, and interpret Latin or Greek.

B.1.1.3 Read and understand Latin and/or Greek words and/or simple sentences in passages using dictionaries and/or thesaurus.

Standard 2.2 Students demonstrate an understanding of the perspectives of Greek or Roman culture as revealed in the products of the Greeks or Romans, and other ancient world cultures.

B.2.2.4 Recognize and identify prominent historical individuals and their contributions associated with the Greco-Roman world and other ancient world cultures.

Standard 4.2 Students compare and contrast their own culture with that of the Greco-Roman world, and other ancient world cultures.

B.4.2.4 Describe daily living patterns and surroundings in both the Greco-Roman world and the dominant and minority cultures of the United States.

Standard 5.2 Students use their knowledge of Greco-Roman culture in a world of diverse cultures.

B.5.2.7 Identify ethnic, cultural, and linguistic diversity in the Greco-Roman world and other ancient world cultures.

June 15, 2017

RE: Summer Reading

To Rising Freshmen for 2017-2018 School Year,

Salvete, omnes! Allow me to be the first to welcome you to a productive and prosperous school year in Latin. If you have picked up this Latin packet for summer reading, it means that you are an incoming freshman who has elected NOT to enter the pre-IB program at Banneker.

Latin offers many opportunities to the budding scholar. Used by the Romans as the language of the Empire, Latin permeated the lives of those living near the Mediterranean and touched the continents of Europe, Africa and Asia. Latin eventually developed into the modern Romance languages of Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, French and Romanian. English, while not a Romance language, was also influenced by Latin – over 60% of English derives from Latin. Study of Latin is rigorous and demanding and can help to improve understanding of English grammar and vocabulary. We will also study how Latin impacts the modern day in our sciences, medicine, legal system and mottoes. Latin also allows for a cultural study of the Romans, whose ideas about the law, government and religion have transferred to the modern day. We will learn about Roman innovation in architecture, sewers and piping, roads, sporting events and military organization, which are imperative to a better understanding of contemporary history.

This summer reading packet begins by introducing the Latin student to a bit of Roman history through the connections of Latin to the modern day and continues with a reading on Roman social structure. After the reading, please complete the questions provided. Please work through the packet over time – one reading and then answer the questions. Be prepared to discuss on the first day of school. Please expect a quiz on the first day over your summer reading. It is vitally important that you complete this work, as we all want you to start out your tenure at Banneker on the right foot! You may answer in the packet or on a separate sheet of paper. If you prefer to type your answers you may also do that. Please ensure that you bring it with you on the first day of school.

If you have any questions, feel free to e-mail me over the summer – Jessica.Levknecht@dc.gov or ms.levknecht@gmail.com. Think critically about the world around you (cogito ergo sum!), do the work to prepare for your success (nihil sine magno labore!) and enjoy your summer (carpe diem!).

BENJAMIN BANNEKER ACADEMIC HIGH SCHOOL800 Euclid Street, N.W.Washington, D.C. 20001

Phone: (202) 671-6320

Sincerely,

Jessica Levknecht (Gailey)Magistra Latinae

“Linqua Latina: A first acquaintance” – Pages 3 – 25 from Tore Janson’s A Natural History of Latin.

N.B. Numbers listed in the parenthesis (next to a question) refer to the book page number, not the page number of the packet.

1. Read the description of Latin words and their development into modern words (femina, clara).

a. What are three of the languages mentioned that developed out of Latin?

b. What are TWO other words that you THINK are English words that derive from Latin?

Ex: aquarium comes from aqua

2. Are there definite articles in Latin? Describe (page 4).

3. What makes Latin different from English (page 4)?

4. How would the Romans have pronounced words with the letter c (page 4-5)?

5. In what year was Rome believed to have been founded? ___________________________

6. Approximately how old is written Latin? ___________________________

7. Read about life in Rome in the early years (bottom of page 7).a. Describe the legend of the founding of the city of Rome:

b. What is another story you have heard that is similar to this legend?

c. In the beginning, what type of government did the Romans have? _____________________

8. In 509 BCE, the Roman government changed to a res publica. What is this government and who holds the power?

9. Read about the why the Roman government was “hardly a democracy” (page 8).a. Describe the make-up of the government. Include in your description: consul, assembly of the people, position for one year, senatus, position for life.

b. Compare this system of government to the American system. Is it similar or different?

c. What is the word origin of the Latin word senatus?

10. What comparison does the author make about the number of languages on page 9?

11. How are the languages of Latin and English related? Look at the description of Indo-European languages at the bottom of page 10.

12. Give one of the examples of how an English word and Latin word share a connection (page 11).

13. What was the relationship of the Romans to the Etruscans in terms of language?

14. In terms of other cultural components, what did the Romans borrow from the Etruscans?

15. What two activities were early Romans known to have done well? _____________ ____________

16. How did Latin spread so easily through the Italian peninsula and how was the military related?

17. In early Rome, what were the names used for wealthy and powerful as compared to the ordinary and poor people?

18. Once the Romans had conquered Italy, they began to look to expand their boundaries. Where did they look to expand and how long did it take them to conquer these lands (page 14)?

19. Read about the ideal picture of an ancient Roman (Page 15).a. Who was the prime example of the ideal Roman? What was he asked to do,

what did he accomplish and how did he react to this success?

b. What was the complex relationship between how Romans felt about bribes and power?

c. Who demonstrated their pride of being a Roman and what did he do to show the Etruscan king the power of Romans?

d. How did the Romans feel about laws and how does the consul Torquatus show this?

20. What was probably the most important word in Latin and why? What qualities did it include?

21. Explain the concept of the role of the pater familias.

22. Writing was not a strength for the early Romans. The first significant writer was Cato the Elder. How does Cato describe the early “good” Roman? Why is this inconsistent with what Cato really describes as the idea?

23. About a thousand miles away from Rome, the Greeks had cultivated a vibrant and creative state. Eventually, the two powers would meet when the Romans conquered Greek colonies and eventually Greece. How did the Greeks influence the Romans? List several ways and the most significant of those.

24. Who was Plautus and what did he do for Roman theatre?

25. As the Romans expanded their area, power was concentrated in a small number of people and families. Eventually, this power dynamic is challenged. Who leads the challenge and what is the issue that he seeks to reform?

26. Who was Gaius Julius Caesar and what were his accomplishments?

27. Caesar eventually rises to dictator. What happens to Caesar?

“Introduction and the Structure of Roman Society” – Pages 1 – 15 from Jo-Ann Shelton’s As the Romans Did: A Sourcebook in Roman Social History.

28. Over time, how did Roman culture evolve? How did it not evolve? (meaning, what aspects of their culture did Romans like to hold on to?)

29. Read “The Roman Ideal” on page 2.a. What characteristics did Romans value as their ‘national character?’

b. How do these ideals compare to the ‘ideal’ person in the United States?

c. What was the concept of pietas?

d. What did Horatius Cocles do to demonstrate pietas?

30. What were the three major factors that determined class structure in Roman society?

31. Among free persons who were Roman citizens, what was status based on? Describe.

32. What were those advisors who acted as fathers of the state called? _______________________

33. What were the other families in the state called? ______________________

34. After the monarchy was expelled, who held the power and what were the restrictions placed on the plebeians?

35. What were the main sources of wealth for most aristocratic families in the republican period?

36. Who were the equites and how were they changing the social make-up of Roman society?

37. Read the description of the social stratification of the Roman society. Describe how Roman society was divided and COMPARE that to American society.

38. Who were the aristocracy and what did they believe that they had, that other Romans didn’t?

39. Cicero explains the aristocracy and those who are not the aristocracy. Compare his characteristics:

40. What were Roman definitions of Justice and Law?

41. The Roman legal system further encouraged the distinctions in class society. How was punishment different for those in the lower classes?

42. Give three examples of the types of punishments described by FIRA:

43. How important was the father in Roman society? How was this analogy extended to the state and social classes?

44. Who (was it believed) established the system of patronage in the monarchy and what were some of the characteristics of the relationship (read FIRA, p. 4)?

45. How did patronage change in the Republican Period?

46. Eventually, how does the patronage system evolve to a more servile system? How does Seneca the Younger describe this?

47. Why would patrons be rude to their clients? What do Seneca and Pliny say about this?

48. How does Juvenal explain the client-patron relationship? Give one example: