Latin Essay and The Art of Nonfiction

Since it's the end of the semester I invariably have a few essays to write as finals for my classes. For my fourth level Latin course I'm supposed to write an essay about the Latin language (thank god, not in Latin). The professor didn't give us any restrictions as to the subject matter, so long as it deals in some way with Roman Latin, as we've spent the semester translating Virgil.

I'm also currently reading The Art of Nonfiction by Ayn Rand, and so thought that I could use this oppourtunity with a wide open essay to practice the principles of writing that she teaches. Even though she seems to be speaking specifically about articles, I think the same principle applies to essays, so long as a put it in a more formal format. The first step is to define your subject and theme which are, respectively, about what are you writing and in what way will you present it.

This makes sense considering my experience with writing. I've always preferred the theme aspect to the subject. It's what makes the essay interesting. There's absolutely nothing more dull than forcing yourself to write an impartial factual account, without being able to convey what the events mean. Of course the subject is important too, it comes first and is literally the stuff of the piece. Just as an onion is only an onion, but a saute makes an onion savory; subject and theme are: what is it and what are you going to do with it.

So, I start my essay with a basic exercise: write out the subject and theme of your piece. Miss Rand identifies a most excellent point in prescribing beginner's to go through this exercise, no matter how rudimentary. You don't really know something until you can convey it (whether written or oral, or better yet, taught).

On what do I wish to write?
The use of Latin vocabulary by Romans.

What is it that I wish to say with this subject?
That Romans had a perceptual understanding of the world as seen in the concrete nature of their concepts.

What I am not going to discuss in this article is epistemology and Rand's theory of concept formation. That is much too broad for my subject. Instead, I will take it as given and only mention the ideas as they are necessary to the connection between my subject and theme.

The reason I chose this subject is that vocabulary is the aspect of the Latin language that I am most comfortable with. Syntax, meter/poetry, grammar, and clause constructions are all very new to me and I don't feel at all confident in my ability to write about them. I chose the theme because it is an aspect of the language that immediately struck me while translating because I've recently become interested in concept formation and it's roles in both cognition and social dynamics.

Ok, now I need to find concretes to demonstrate my claim ...