Teacher note (short): This worksheet uses English translations derived from the Latin readings of Augustine's De civitate Dei. Sentences 1–5 are taken from the 11th-century exemplar (label M). Sentences 6–10 are taken from the 14th-century copy (label N). Each sentence is intentionally written with no punctuation or with ambiguous breaks. Your task: add punctuation to make the sentence clear, then write a one-sentence explanation showing how the meaning changed when you chose that punctuation. Write your answers in the boxes provided. Be dramatic like Ally McBeal in court — legal cadence, clear reasoning, and a little theatrical flourish.
Worksheet — Add punctuation and explain how meaning changes
- M (11th c.) Quoniam de civitatis utriusque terrenae scilicet et caelestis debitis finibus deinceps mihi uideo disputandum
Student task: Add punctuation and explain how that punctuation clarifies whether Augustine will first set limits or already presumes limits.Answer area:
- M (11th c.) Priora exponenda sunt quantum operis huius terminandi ratio patitur argumenta mortalium
Student task: Add punctuation to show whether Augustine says the reasons permit explanation first or whether the mortal arguments are to be explained first.Answer area:
- M (11th c.) Quibus sibi ipsi beatitudinem facere in huius uitae infelicitate moliti sunt
Student task: Add punctuation to show whether the phrase modifies the people who strive or the way they strive.Answer area:
- M (11th c.) Ut ab eorum rebus uanis spes nostra quid differat quam deus nobis dedit
Student task: This is famously ambiguous. Add punctuation in two different ways (two short answers) and explain how each punctuation changes meaning.Answer area (punctuation option A):Answer area (punctuation option B):
- N (14th c.) Et res ipsa hoc est uera beatitudo quam dabit non tantum auctoritate diuina sed adhibita etiam ratione
Student task: Add punctuation to show whether Augustine separates the gift of beatitude from divine authority or ties them together.Answer area:
- N (14th c.) Qualem propter infideles possumus adhibere clarescat
Student task: Add punctuation so the reader knows whether Augustine asks that the way be shown or that the act of showing be a request to God.Answer area:
- N (14th c.) Hoc est uera beatitudo quam deus dabit et res ipsa
Student task: Add punctuation to decide whether "and the thing itself" clarifies or contrasts with the previous clause.Answer area:
- N (14th c.) Sed ab eorum rebus vanis spes nostra quid differat quam deus dedit
Student task: Add punctuation to show whether the hope differs from what God gave or whether it differs because of vain things.Answer area:
- N (14th c.) Non tantum auctoritate diuina sed etiam ratione adhibita clarescat
Student task: Add punctuation to show whether Augustine gives two separate supports or one combined support; explain the legal-like effect of your punctuation choice.Answer area:
- N (14th c.) Punctus elevatus post dabit olim stetit sed nunc in copia non adest quid significet considerandum
Student task: Here invent the punctus elevatus (a raised dot like a semicolon) where you think it would go and explain in one sentence why the scribe might have used it (think: pointing the sensus literaliter).Answer area:
Exemplary outcome — Ally McBeal cadence (short answers shown as model)
Model answers (concise):
- Punctuated: Since I must now discuss the proper limits owed to both cities, earthly and heavenly, I will proceed to argue.
Meaning change: The commas group "earthly and heavenly" as a description and show the main verb is "I will proceed to argue," clarifying Augustine's immediate intention. - Punctuated: First must be explained how much of this work the plan allows; next, the arguments of mortals.
Meaning change: The semicolon separates the methodological claim from the content (mortal arguments), so readers know order of treatment. - Punctuated: By which means they themselves strove to make beatitude in the unhappiness of this life.
Meaning change: The clause now clearly modifies the people who strove, not some abstract method; punctuation marks the actor and the action. - Option A: From their vain things our hope differs, what God gave.
Meaning: Emphasis on contrast between vain hopes and the gift of God.
Option B: From their vain things our hope; what differs is what God gave.
Meaning: Emphasis that the thing that differs is the divine gift — a slightly different logical focus. (Two punctuations change whether the stress is on the vain things or on the divine gift.) - Punctuated: And the thing itself — this is true beatitude which will be given, not only by divine authority, but made clear when reason is also applied.
Meaning change: Breaking before "not only" ties the giving of beatitude to divine authority first, then adds human reason as corroboration. - Punctuated: Let it be made plain what sort we can apply because of the unfaithful.
Meaning change: The clause becomes a request to make clear the kind of reasoning applicable; punctuation indicates an imperative/optative tone. - Punctuated: This is true beatitude which God will give, and the reality itself.
Meaning change: The comma and "and" make "the reality itself" a reinforcing apposition rather than a contrast. - Punctuated: But from their vain things our hope differs — how is it different from what God gave?
Meaning change: A dash and question turn this into a rhetorical inquiry that separates human vanity from divine gift. - Punctuated: Not only by divine authority, but also when reason is applied, let it be made clear.
Meaning change: The commas mark two separate supports (authority and reason) that together strengthen the claim; legal-like parallelism. - Punctuated: Insert punctus elevatus after "dabit;" thus: "quam dabit; non tantum auctoritate divina."
Meaning change: The raised point signals a pause stronger than a comma, marking the end of a clause and keeping "non tantum" as a new corrective clause — it helps readers construe the sentence step by step (precisely the scribe's aim).
Exemplary homeschool report — presented as a short legal brief (Ally McBeal cadence)
Case: Student v. Medieval Punctuation — The Meaning of Augustine
Issue: Does adding punctuation clarify the sensus literalis and align with medieval scribal practice as shown in the 11th- and 14th-century witnesses?
Held: Yes. Properly placed punctuation points the sensus; it prevents the "sensus perishing with the letter" (Bacon's concern) and permits readers to construe Augustine step by step.
Reasoning: The student demonstrated the capacity to identify ambiguous groupings, to place commas, semicolons, dashes and a punctus elevatus analog where logical breaks are required, and to explain how each choice shifts emphasis or syntactic relations. This mirrors the medieval scribes' decisions — adding pauses where confusion likely arose, and leaving other areas less marked when the exemplar's intended reading was assumed.
Disposition: The student exceeds formative expectations by providing two alternative punctuations for the most ambiguous sentence and explaining both consequences in reasoned legal-style language. Their work is precise, historically aware and rhetorically vivid.
Signed: Advocate Ally McBeal (dramatic persuasion; clarity achieved)
ACARA v9 alignment summary (legalese, succinct)
This lesson addresses ACARA v9 strands in English and History as follows:
- English — Language: Analysing and explaining how punctuation changes meaning; interpreting complex sentences and textual intention (meets expected Year 8 capabilities for punctuation, clause analysis, and textual interpretation).
- English — Literature: Reading a historical primary text (Augustine) in translation, considering authorial meaning and transmission; interpreting different manuscript witnesses (meets/extends expectations for historical-context reading).
- History: Investigating medieval manuscript practice, scribal correction, and the communicative function of punctuation in the Middle Ages; understanding continuity and change from 11th to 14th centuries (meets curriculum standards for medieval study and source interpretation).
- Legal Studies (skills transfer): Exercising legal style reasoning — brief construction, careful clause parsing and argument about textual intention (extends learning through disciplinary transfer to legal reasoning conventions).
Conclusion (Ally-style): Cute, clear, and convincing — the student has punctuated their way to clarity and legal persuasion. The lesson meets and in practice can exceed ACARA v9 expectations by combining historical source work with precise language analysis and a legal-mode report. Order in the court of textual meaning: sustained.
Teacher follow-up suggestion: Ask students to transcribe one short sentence back into Latin (optional) and mark where medieval punctuation might have appeared, or to compare a modern printed edition's punctuation with the manuscript options they chose.