Adventures of the Monkey Pilosus Naso: Res Gestae Simii Pilosi Nasonis (Teacher's Guide)
The newly publishedThe Adventures of the Monkey Pilosus Naso, by Thomas Hayes, fulfills a need for an intermediate level reading text designed to help students make the transition from first-year Latin to literature. Students will be exposed to the classical world, social customs, beliefs, history, and a breadth of classical literature. Students who are familiar with Vergil, Horace, Caesar, Cicero, and Catullus will be able to recognize phrases, themes, and parodies in this reading. Students who aren't familiar with these authors will be introduced to a variety of genres and literary motifs, while enjoying a good story.Whether the teacher used the book in its entirety or in part in the second year of high school Latin, returning to the book in the third and fourth years to look at further passages or reread would provide review of the subjunctive construction, composition styles, and literary motifs, as well as important reading practice. The references to the Aeneid throughout and frequent references to Horace and Catullus should be enjoyable for third and fourth year students. Moreover, all of the references make the reading as much fun for the teacher as for the students. The students don't have to understand all the references for their own enjoyment, but the teacher will understand the broad mix that the author calls upon.In addition, three appendices cover further areas of classical scholarship, which would expose students to related disciplines of reading Latin: fragments, archeological evidence, and textual criticism. --Vicky Wine, Lecturer, Department of Classics, Monmouth CollegePresentation - The book is nicely typeset with a readable face. The layout of the story is your typical facing-page style. Each new page of the story text is on the right, and the relevant vocabulary, notes, and summary on the left. I found the brief summaries really useful. Even if some of the grammar here and there is beyond the reader's grasp, it is still possible to focus just on the bits you do know and still keep up with the narrative.Notes - As someone learning Latin on their own I found the running notes accompanying the vocabulary especially useful. Not only were specific words listed, but also idiomatic forms. In many other books that I've read I've only been presented with a word, its declension/conjugation, and a definition. This book went beyond that to point out things like, this is a purpose clause in second sequence, or this is an example of a double dative.The 50 pages of story are enjoyable, and the supplementary materials provide wonderful support. --Chris DeSalvo, Homeschooler, Latin Student--This text refers to an alternatePaperbackedition.