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Latin Tutorial: 6. How to Choose a Passage

These four sections will help you customize the tutorial to meet the needs of your classroom. You can choose from Vergil, Caesar, Sight Passage (Poetry), or Sight Passage (Prose) by clicking the links below.

Vergil

Vergil, Aeneid (required readings in Latin)

Book 1: Lines 1–209, 418–440, 494–578
Book 2: Lines 40–56, 201–249, 268–297, 559–620
Book 4: Lines 160–218, 259–361, 659–705
Book 6: Lines 295–332, 384–425, 450–476, 847–899

Select a text:

Adjust capitalization to conform to common English usage. Change accusative plurals in -is to -es and consonantal u to v. Do not use j for consonantal i. You may adjust punctuation to improve clarity.

Choose a passage that:

  • is 8 to 12 lines in length
  • treats a self-contained episode or incident
  • employs manageable vocabulary and syntax (few, if any, glosses appear)
  • lends itself to a variety of item types (grammar, translation/comprehension, reference, metrics, figures of speech, background)
  • is not easily confused with another passage (e.g., Jupiter speaking to Mercury and Mercury speaking to Aeneas, in Book 4, might be easily confused with each other)
  • can easily be placed in its book and context (since book and line numbers are not given to students)

Caesar

Caesar, Gallic War (required readings in Latin):

Book 1: Chapters 1–7
Book 4: Chapters 24–35 and the first sentence of Chapter 36 (Eodem die legati ... venerunt.)
Book 5: Chapters 24–48
Book 6: Chapters 13–20

Select a text:

Adjust capitalization to conform to common English usage. Change accusative plurals in -is to -es and consonantal u to v. Do not use j for consonantal i. You may adjust punctuation to improve clarity.

Choose a passage that:

  • is approximately 100 to 120 words, or approximately 9 to 13 lines
  • treats a self-contained episode or incident
  • employs manageable vocabulary and syntax (few, if any, glosses appear)
  • lends itself to a variety of item types (grammar, translation/comprehension, reference, figures of speech, background)

Sight Passage (Poetry)

  • Choose a poem or excerpt written in either the dactylic or elegiac meter.
  • Choose one of the authors recommended in the AP Latin Curriculum Framework (i.e., Ovid, Martial, Tibullus, Catullus). Note that the names listed are representative of authors whose works may be used for sight-reading passages on the AP Exam, but this list is neither exclusive nor exhaustive.

Select a text:

Adjust capitalization to conform to common English usage. Change accusative plurals in -is to -es and consonantal u to v. Do not use j for consonantal i. You may adjust punctuation to improve clarity.

Choose a passage that:

  • is 8 to 12 lines in length
  • is an entire poem or, if an excerpt, treats a self-contained incident
  • employs manageable vocabulary and syntax (though glosses may be used)
  • lends itself to a variety of item types (grammar, translation/comprehension, reference, metrics, figures of speech)
  • is not likely to be found in school textbooks (a very important consideration)

Sight Passage (Prose)

Choose an author whose prose is clear and of intermediate to advanced intermediate (undergraduate) level of difficulty. The AP Test Development Committee recommends the following authors, but this list is neither exclusive nor exhaustive:

  • Nepos
  • Cicero (but not Cicero's letters)
  • Livy
  • Pliny the Younger
  • Seneca the Younger

Select a text:

Adjust capitalization to conform to common English usage. Change accusative plurals in -is to -es and consonantal u to v. Do not use j for consonantal i. Add macrons only where their presence will help students distinguish between forms (e.g., over the a in the ablative singular of the first declension).

Choose a passage that:

  • is approximately 100 to 120 words, or approximately 9 to 13 lines
  • is an excerpt that treats a self-contained incident
  • employs manageable vocabulary and syntax (though glosses may be used)
  • lends itself to a variety of item types (grammar, translation/comprehension, reference, figures of speech, background)
  • is not likely to be found in school textbooks (a very important consideration)