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Apogeee

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Everything posted by Apogeee

  1. Apogeee
    I think you can have phenomenal scholarly work, and you can have phenomenal literary work, but a literary translation not done by a scholar is going to be missing substantially more (and worth significantly less) than a scholarly work not done by a "writer". "How does this sound in English" should be, in my opinion, a significant consideration of anyone who is trying to render someone else's ideas into English! But "what did the original author actually say?" has to get at least equal weight. The movie "Troy", for example, is not a movie version of the Iliad. It's a derivative work: another story that covers some of the same ground covered in the Iliad. Such is a work that doesn't cleave closely to the original author's intended meaning - just another telling of a similar story, but not a translation, in my opinion. Fun conversation everyone. Thanks!
  2. Apogeee
    In the program where I am now, attention to the meaning and Latinity is highly important, although our Latin work doesn't involve much, if any, translation to English - it's all in Latin. In our Greek translation work, we pay careful attention to fidelity to the text, whether we are translating Greek to Latin or Greek to English, or any other language. To the second point I quoted, very often, when you read any translation of, say, the Bible, you find that words and ideas are taken so far out of their original cultural context as not to serve the meaning they had at the time they were originally written. To the third point I quoted, I am sure that it is a very specialized audience who wants to read Augustine or Jerome, and a much wider audience who would want to read Cicero or Plutarch. Would that change someone's translation, do you suppose?
  3. Apogeee
    If we have tried to attempt "word for word" then it will be no translation at all, except for a really small area where the two languages happen to overlap in idiom. A faithful translation, to me, gets at "idea for idea" while maintaining the integrity, and where possible, the structure of the original. Mars puellam amat. "Mars loves the girl" is faithful. "Mars fell in love with the girl" is not. "Mars thought she was hot" isn't a translation: it becomes a derivative work, to my mind.
  4. Apogeee
    Ouch. I think if it's not a faithful rendering, then that makes it a derivative work, not a translation. Am I off base here?
  5. Apogeee
    Is there room for more works from different eras? Do classicists have to choose one era over the other?
  6. Apogeee
    By "our patrimony" I mean the extant Latin literature from the last 2500 years. Didn't I post this in Classics? Sorry if I misfiled it.
  7. Apogeee
    Just as you sent your thank-you notes to all of the professors who wrote letters of recommendation just after you sent your applications, send a brief thank-you note to each faculty member who spent time with you, right after the intereview. If you did not send those thank-you notes already, send one to each now along with your regrets. If you did send your thank-you notes immediately after the interview, it is appropriate to send one email to the DGS with your regrets. Keep it short and positive. (3-4 sentences is sufficient.) In the note, thank the department for their time and interest, express that you appreciate their offer, and mention that you have decided to enroll in a different program, although it was a difficult decision for you. If you are feeling especially like thanking everyone a second time, send them a personalized version of the note you send to the DGS with your regrets, reiterating your thanks for the time they spent with you. I think it is wonderful that you want to balance a healthy respect for their time having to deal with email, with your reasonable desire to thank them a second time and let them know what you decided. Even if a second thank-you is not precisely dictated by good manners, it isn't completely out of line, either. Just my opinion, having been the writer of recommendations for a dozen or so years.
  8. Apogeee
    Well, they are on Spring break now.
  9. Apogeee

    Plan B?

    Apogeee replied to FY5913's topic in Waiting it Out

    In that case, I would find a trusted advisor who is familiar with the admissions committee decision process in your field, and ask for help creating a specific plan of action. Is there such a person you trust? I would try to have this conversation in person, if that is possible.
  10. Apogeee

    Plan B?

    Apogeee replied to FY5913's topic in Waiting it Out

    Ah. It looked to me like they were able to do research in the oncology lab. I was wondering if more of that is possible.
  11. Apogeee
    I am in a waiting situation too, and I feel that, with each day that passes, my chances are receding. What would you do if you don't get the interview you want? Maybe you can start on that work now. Doing so seems like it could only help you when you do get an interview (without knowing what your plans are).
  12. Apogeee

    Plan B?

    Apogeee replied to FY5913's topic in Waiting it Out

    Is this PhD absolutely required for the type of work you want to do in your field? Are there other avenues to doing the sort of work you envision? What is the rate of placement/hiring for those who obtain the PhD in this field? Will the degree in biology that you are considering help you with the ultimate goal of being able to do the work, or is it just a way to beef up your application?
  13. Apogeee
    I do think that when we limit ourselves to only what happened before 200 AD or so, we are pandering to that elitism, because everyone has to scramble for some new angle, and keep others from finding out before we can eke out a publication. Maybe that's not a good way for me to be looking at the issue.
  14. Apogeee
    That sounds so funny, but I know what you mean!
  15. Apogeee
    I think that freshness of translation is what keeps students interested. They read a translation and say, "Well, no, that's not quite what it says." And then they want to do better. And then they're hooked!
  16. Apogeee
    I think that there is a case for each generation to interact with the material from our patrimony, so I think that is at least one reason why new translations are a good idea. While Latin isn't really changing, vernacular languages certainly are. English is not the same as it was ten, twenty, fifty, three-hundred years ago. What do you think?
  17. Apogeee
    If you have chosen to cleave to one language over another, are you a Hellenist or a Latinist? It's perfectly okay to be either, or both. I am just wondering what people here think.
  18. Apogeee
    Apparently he was in charge of the program. How much jail time will this evil man get? Who is taking his place in the department?
  19. Apogeee
    I don't think you can call one inferior to another. Is a Pure Math degree inferior to Physics? They are different. A degree in Teaching and Curriculum is good for someone with at least 5 years of teaching experience in public schools. SLA is going to be discussing the nuts and bolts of that theory, which is relatively new. Teaching and Curriculum is going to get you involved with designing and evaluating curriculum and its implementation. And it is possible to find a marriage of the two, if you look carefully. You have about 8 months before you start submitting applications to do a lot of this research.
  20. Apogeee
    Take the GRE. It's a pain, but it's not really hard. Just annoying and expensive. Also, write to some of the programs where you are interested and make an appointment for a visit. Talk it over with the people you would be working with - visit both types of programs.
  21. Apogeee
    I know people with two MAs in the same field. As to whether or not that improves your chances, I cannot really say. I have been very happy with the responses I have gotten during this admissions cycle, but I have heard that it is not always just or fair. Some people get in and some don't, and even very knowledgeable professors are sometimes at a loss as to the thinking of the committee that has rejected them. If you learned from the situation in which you got the B, you can address that in a carefully crafted statement of purpose (don't allude to the grade itself, but discuss what you learned in the process of meeting challenges, for example, and how this makes you a strong candidate for the target institution.)
  22. Apogeee
    If "what is the grade I earned on my paper" is the question you want to ask the professor, then ask that question. The professor isn't a mindreader. "Can it be guaranteed?" No. Nothing in school is guaranteed until you get it in writing. If you are given an assignment without a rubric, then it is up to you to do your absolute best, and spend as much time as you possibly can to do it well. If you are not confident in the way you are doing the assignments, you could hire a tutor, or you could spend more time on them. By being so frugal with information about this issue with the people who are trying to help, you present yourself as someone who is unwilling to work hard for what you earn. This may not be the case, but that is the presentation. It seems that you are still in a high school mindset, where the teacher is supposed to tell you exactly what you must do, provide rubrics so that you can work within that framework just as hard as it takes to get the grade you are aiming for on that assignment, then you regurgitate the assignment - and then you get handed a grade. That's not the way school is supposed to work, and it is not the way graduate school will work. You have to work much harder than the professor if you want to learn all you can. That's just reality. Look at the syllabus again. What are the course goals? Are you there yet in the course goals? What do you have to do to get yourself there? If the course is not challenging, then you would have earned all the possible points on the assignments. You should re-examine your thinking on what "challenging" means.
  23. Apogeee
    You should make an appointment with the professor and ask for this help specifically. You must read widely in your field, including the bibliography that is used by others who are writing. Of course you can't make assumptions about what a study will show. That's why you do a study: to find out what it will show. You will get more information if you post this in a thread that relates to your field and to the kind of work you are attempting.
  24. Apogeee
    What do you want the professor to tell you? What, exactly, are you hoping to get from the professor? The professor's job is to help you to learn how to think critically about the course content. Your academic advisor can give you academic advice regarding what courses to drop or not, and you should make an appointment with that person if you are unable to decide on your own what you should do next. They will know how you are doing in the course because you will tell them how you are doing. Is this a graduate course? If so, you should be meeting with your advisor on a regular basis. If it's an undergraduate course, you're in the wrong place but you have been given good advice here and by your professor.
  25. Apogeee
    What do you mean by Passing your PhD? It seems like someone is just sending you a spammy link.
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