How to Format a Wheelock Assignment

To assemble a collation from separate emails, most groups use collation software that understands the simple formatting conventions described below.

Please pay attention to these conventions.  The less time your group coordinator spends manually editing submissions, the quicker and easier everything goes.

Basic Formatting

First, pick a two or three letter set of initials.  If your name is Gaius Julius Caesar, you might pick the initials GJC.

For a group using Wheelock's Latin, 7th edition and Scribblers, Sculptors, and Scribes there are four types of exercises:.

  1. The EX are the numbered Exercitationes exercises that start with Chapter 3.

  2. The SA are the Sententiae Antiquae exercises, also numbered.

  3. The TR are passages of Latin to be translated at the end of each chapter.  The TR sentences are not numbered in Wheelock, so we give them numbers starting with 1, 2, and so forth.

  4. The SSS are passages from Scribblers, Sculptors, and Scribes; we also number the SSS sentences starting 1, 2, and so on.

Each exercise starts on a new line with the exercise type (EX, SA, TR, or SSS), its number, and your initials.  Please separate these items with spaces.  Your answer to an exercise may continue onto succeeding lines.  Don't worry about blank lines or extra spaces.

As an example, suppose the first sentence in the SA exercises was

1.  Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres.

I would write my translation as

SA 1 GJC All Gaul is divided into three parts.

Finish your assignment with the word END in all capitals on a line by itself.  This tells the collation software to ignore the rest of your email, including signature files and other stuff that is not part of the assignment.

Fancy Formatting

You can safely ignore this section. 

The ampersand symbol & tells the collation software to start a new line.  It is useful for formatting poetry.

The two letter symbol >> tells the collation software to start a new line and indent.  Some people use >> to append their comments to an exercise, for example:


SA 1 GJC All Gaul is divided into three parts.
>> Is this from Caesar's Gallic Wars?

A line beginning with the # symbol is ignored by the collation software.  You can use # to leave notes to yourself that won't appear in the final collation.

An Example

Below is an example of a Wheelock assignment (7th edition) from someone whose initials are GJC.  Pay attention to the ordering of and the spaces between the leading items such as EX 1 GJC.  Note that you may have multiple lines per exercise.

# Practice and Review

EX 1 GJC I never know something before having heard it.
EX 2 GJC You did hot help that speaker seeking an end of wars and evil deeds.
EX 3 GJC The sure fruits of peace were desired by the terrified common people 
and even by the senate. 
EX 4 GJC Which great-hearted man will free other peoples from the heavy
hand of servitude?

# Sententiae Antiquae

SA 1 GJC You will live suppressed by my guards.
SA 2 GJC Those men, however, extending their right hands, were pleasing
 for life.
SA 3 GJC Tantulus, thirsty, was desiring to touch the rivers
fleeing from his   lips.  
SA 4 GJC Signs of things about to be are displayed to the world by the gods.

# The Trojan War

TR 1 GJC Overwhelmed by a long war and turned away by the gods, the 
leaders of the Greeks, now after ten years, made a great horse of wood
by the art of Minerva.

TR 2 GJC They fill it up with many soldiers, leave the horse on the
shore, and sail to a nearby island.

TR 3 GJC All Troy rejoices; the gates are opened.

END