Students must pass sight translation examinations in order to graduate with a major in classics. Those electing the Greek and Latin form of the major must pass all four sight examinations. Other majors must take the exams in the language relevant to their variety of the major: Greek for Greek majors, Latin for Latin majors, the language the student has studied most for Classical Civilization majors.
All majors may, if they choose, take the exams in both languages to demonstrate proficiency. There is no limit to the number of times that a student may take the exams.
In any given year the exams take place during each semester on the Wednesday of the 8th, 9th, 11th and 12th full week of classes in the following order: Greek Prose, Latin Prose, Greek Verse, Latin Verse. The examinations will begin at 4:15 pm in Ascension 120. For the academic year 2018/2019, the schedule of exams is as follows:
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October 24 - Greek Prose
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March 20 - Greek Prose
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October 31 - Latin Prose
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March 27 - Latin Prose
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November 14 - Greek Verse
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April 10 - Greek Verse
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November 28 - Latin Verse
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April 17 - Latin Verse
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Each exam will be twenty to thirty lines in length. You will have two hours in which to complete it. The passing grade is 65%, as averaged by two faculty members reading the exam. For practice, a set of sample exams is available online.
On the exams, uncommon words are glossed; definitions are not provided for commoner words. Lists of those words which students are expected to know and which are therefore not glossed may be found online.
Sight Exam Samples and Wordlists