This makes the case for Latin. If you want quality professionals who are
properly educated, make Latin compulsory in high schools for all those who
will attend university. Latin language, especially when taught in its historical
and social context, is one of the great educators. Because it has rules of
grammar and syntax which are different from those of English, it compels
those who learn it to develop a deep insight into what and how English coveys
meaning so that they can properly understand how Latin does. In other words,
learning Latin compels us first to obtain a thorough understanding of how
English works by interrogating its grammar and syntax. By this means it takes
English comprehension to a deep level, thus sharpening the student’s facilities
for both reading and writing their native tongue.
There is a further advantage, which accrues from Latin literature. It deals with
issues from a past time of significance that endures to the present.
Consequently as the esteemed classicist, Professor Godfrey Tanner pointed
out, when we study the great texts of the great Latin writers not only do we
survey a fascinating and instructive past, we engage in a dialogue with the
present.
Structural Location
Structural location of words is one of the major determinants of the sense that
readers make of a sentence. In plainer language, “where a word appears in the
sentence has a great deal to do with what
a reader is likely to do with it”.
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Three applications of this are of major importance.
First, let the verb do the work. A verb is a natural doer. Syntactically the
sentence pivots on the verb. It is, literally, the source of the action. Therefore
generally avoid using nouns as substitutes. Thus, the action is more intense if a
writer says “X questioned Y” than if they said “X asked a question of Y”.
Second, be aware that a narrative is sometimes some person’s tale or some
thing’s explanation. Therefore keep this person or thing near the centre of the
narrative path. To illustrate, if a story is about King Frederick, it focuses more
on King Frederick to say: “King Frederick was stabbed by Roger” than to say:
“Roger stabbed King Frederick”. This is a case where the passive voice is well
justified since it activates the reader in its own way.
Third, a reader is likely to give great emphasis to anything located at the end of
an ordinary sentence finished with a period or at the end of a “special”
sentence finished by a comma, a colon or a semi colon.
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As an example
consider first
this rendition: “There was Connie sitting in her favourite chair
___________________
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Gopen (2007) p 325
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Gopen (2007) p 325
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