Wednesday, September 10, 2008
I dress well on the days (Mondays through Thursdays) when I teach. This afternoon I appeared, as usual, "casually sophisticated" in all but one detail- a button on the chest of my blouse came undone as I distributed a quiz, so that anyone who cared to could clearly observe meine großen Brüsten. Wunderbar. I turned around to face the blackboard while the chickadees were bent over their quizzes to pack my chest back in.
Yesterday, the students read and translated a story from the book. The passage ended with one main character, Horatia, calling to another, Quintus, to wait for her. The passage ends: "Horatia runs to him. They go forth to school together." I made some comment about crazy love in the ancient world, upon which a girl in the class said,
'But aren't Quintus and Horatia brother and sister?'
...whoops. Well, times and customs sure have changed, haven't they?
Other than minor, daily disasters, the teaching has been going well. As a group, the chickadees are a good little bunch. Since the book exercises and readings lack verve, I incorporate real Latin poetry every week for pronunciation practice and to introduce the students to the range of literature available. Thus far, if not enthusiastic, no one seems opposed to this.
Labels: blouse, breasts, button, chickadees, clothes, incest, Latin, literature, poetry, quiz, students, teaching, translating
[Lauree Frances Keith concluded this diatribe at 4:10 PM]