Your writing must answer the following questions, and your grade will be based on how well you answer these questions in your writing:

• Your Poet as a Historical Figure

  • ​What do we know about their life and upbringing?

  • What do we know about their death?

  • What years did they live or at least write?

  • How did politics function during their lifetime (i.e., was Rome a republic, were there emperors, or did they live after the Roman empire had already collapsed?) 

  • How did their writing survive until the modern day?

• Your Poet as an Author

  • ​What type or genre of poetry did they write in general?

  • What themes and topics did they discuss?

  • What piece of their writing did you choose to look at?

  • Give an example of their writing, in both Latin and an English, 10-15 lines in length (The translation does not have to be your own, but if it is not yours, you have to cite who wrote the translation).

• Your Response to Their Writing

  • ​How do these 10-15 lines compare to the author's other works?

  • What do you like about the lines you chose? Why did you pick them?

  • What differences are there between the Latin and the English translation?

  • What makes this poet worth reading?