Wednesday, December 17, 2008
I graded the final exams yesterday, input grades, and posted them. Two people failed (although by the University scale, they made D grades). Both students missed too many classes to catch up fully; the male buckled down toward the end and made good grades, but the female continued to miss class. Grade distribution was as expected: mostly As, a couple of Bs, and a couple of Cs.
The last five final exam questions were fill-in-the-blank about mythology. Last question: Actaeon came upon Artemis _________________ in a spring. One person wrote, "fornicating" and another wrote, "making love".
"The virgin goddess!" I exclaimed in the TA office. I was then gently reminded about sexual relations among females, which turned into a hunt for the lexicography of τριβησ. Nevertheless, I counted the above answers incorrect, considering neither student would have made an argumentum e silentio if called upon to defend.
Labels: Actaeon, Artemis, final exams, fornication, grading, lexicography, making love, mythology, office, students, teaching, virgin goddess
[Lauree Frances Keith concluded this diatribe at 3:21 AM]
saepe ambulabam cum luna erat clara
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
Since in the past two weeks, when we were supposed to have been meeting consistently thrice per week, we had only met once, and this week I will have to cancel at least two sessions, yesterday I sent the young man whom I am supposed to be tutoring classical Greek a regretful e-mail permanently suspending our arrangements. He hardly needs my guidance; when I asked him to explain the dative of respect, for instance, he articulated the concept better than I could have. He just needs self-motivation and discipline to develop a more consistent study routine, which is, of course, ultimately something I cannot do for him.
On that note, I have become friendly with Latin grammars lately, since I never look anything up and have relied almost solely on trying to understand things from context. Now I think I know how to use a gerund. fortasse.
Labels: dative case, gerund, grammar, Greek, Latin, routine, teaching
[Lauree Frances Keith concluded this diatribe at 3:55 AM]