Humanitext Reader

Quintilian · Institutes of Oratory §2.6.1-2.6.7

Division of Topics and Guiding Students toward Independence

Passage 46 of 366 · Latin

Summary

The text discusses the balance between dividing topics and correcting errors in teaching methods, outlines a gradual approach to fostering independence in beginners, and illustrates this with a metaphor of birds teaching their young to fly.

§2.6.1fuit etiam in hoc diversum praecipientium propositum, quod eorum quidam materias, quas discipulis ad dicendum dabant, non contenti divisione dirigere latius dicendo prosequebantur, nec solum probationibus implebant sed etiam adfectibus.
In this also, the purpose of teachers was different, in that some of them, not content with guiding by division the themes which they gave to their pupils for speaking, pursued them more fully by speaking, and filled them not only with proofs but also with emotions.
§2.6.2alii, cum primas modo lineas duxissent, post declamationes, quid omisisset quisque, tractabant; quosdam vero locos non minore cura, quam cum ad dicendum ipsi surgerent, excolebant.
Others, having drawn only the first lines, treated after the declamations what each had omitted; but certain passages they polished with no less care than when they themselves rose to speak.
utile utrumque, et ideo neutrum ab altero separo; sed si facere tantum alterum necesse sit, plus proderit demonstrasse rectam protinus viam quam revocare ab errore iam lapsos:
Both methods are useful, and therefore I separate neither from the other; but if it should be necessary to do only one, it will be more beneficial to have shown the right way from the beginning than to recall those who have already fallen into error.
§2.6.3primum quia emendationem auribus modo accipiunt, divisionem vero ad cogitationem etiam et stilum perferunt; deinde quod libentius praecipientem audiunt quam reprehendentem.
First, because they receive correction only with their ears, but they carry division even to their thought and style; second, because they listen more gladly to one who teaches than to one who finds fault.
si qui vero paulo sunt vivaciores, in his praesertim moribus, etiam irascuntur admonitioni et taciti repugnant.
But if any are a little more high-spirited, especially in these times, they are even angered by admonition and resist in silence.
neque ideo tamen minus vitia aperte coarguenda sunt.
Yet, not for that reason should faults be any less openly exposed.
§2.6.4habenda enim ratio ceterorum, qui recta esse, quae praeceptor non emendaverit, credent.
For regard must be had for the others, who will believe that what the teacher has not corrected is right.
utraque autem ratio miscenda est et ita tractanda, ut ipsae res postulabunt.
But both methods are to be mixed and so handled as the situations themselves shall demand.
§2.6.5namque incipientibus danda erit velut praeformata materia secundum cuiusque vires; at cum satis composuisse sese ad exemplum videbuntur, brevia quaedam demonstranda vestigia, quae persecuti iam suis viribus sine adminiculo progredi possint.
For to beginners, a pre-formed theme must be given according to the strength of each; but when they seem to have composed well enough according to the model, some brief steps must be shown, which having followed, they may now advance by their own strength without support.
§2.6.6nonnunquam credi sibi ipsos oportebit, ne mala consuetudine semper alienum laborem sequendi nihil per se conari et quaerere sciant.
Sometimes it will be necessary for them to be left to themselves, lest from the bad habit of always following another's labor, they know not how to attempt or seek anything by themselves.
quodsi satis prudenter dicenda viderint, iam prope consummata fuerit praecipientis opera; at si quid erraverint adhuc, erunt ad ducem reducendi.
But if they have seen what is to be said with sufficient wisdom, the work of the teacher will be almost complete; but if they err in anything still, they must be brought back to their guide.
§2.6.7cui rei simile quiddam facientes aves cernimus, quae teneris infirmisque fetibus cibos ore suo collatos partiuntur; at cum visi sunt adulti, paulum egredi nidis et circumvolare sedem illam praecedentes ipsae docent, tum expertas vires libero caelo suaeque ipsorum fiduciae permittunt.
We see birds doing something similar to this, which share the food collected with their own mouth with their tender and weak offspring; but when they seem to be grown up, they themselves, going before, teach them to go out a little from the nests and to fly around that dwelling, and then commit their tested strength to the open sky and to their own self-reliance.

Notes

  1. 2.6.1quod eorum quidam — The conjunction quod introduces an appositive noun clause explaining the specific content of the main clause fuit etiam in hoc diversum praecipientium propositum ('in this also, the purpose of teachers was different').
  2. 2.6.2revocare ab errore iam lapsos — lapsos is the accusative masculine plural of lapsus, the perfect participle of the verb labor ('to slip, fall into error'), used substantively here as the direct object of revocare ('those who have already fallen into error').
  3. 2.6.6credi sibi ipsos oportebit — An accusative-with-infinitive (A.C.I.) construction stands as the complement of the impersonal verb oportebit. The pronominal adjective ipsos serves as the subject accusative of the passive infinitive credi, and sibi acts as the dative object, meaning 'that they themselves (ipsos) should be entrusted to themselves (sibi)'.
  4. 2.6.6nihil per se conari et quaerere sciant — sciant is inside the negative purpose clause (ne... sciant) and, in the form of scio + infinitive (conari et quaerere), expresses the meaning 'to know how to do something, be able to do something'. It forms a double negative context: 'lest they not know how to attempt or seek anything by themselves'.
  5. 2.6.7cui rei simile quiddam — cui is a connecting relative pronoun at the beginning of the sentence, referring to the preceding clause or the educational method described. The dative cui rei serves as the dative complement of the adjective simile ('similar'), forming the meaning 'something similar to this (quiddam)'.

Cite this passage

Quintilian, Institutes of Oratory §2.6.1-2.6.7. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:latinLit:phi1002.phi001.humanitext-lat2:2.6.1-2.6.7

Please note the AI-draft status of the translation and the date accessed.

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