Latin Continuers 2020 HSC exam pack

Prescribed Text

Question 1

In better responses, students were able to:

• provide a correct and contextually appropriate translation for rebus,and for the demonstrative pronouns and adjectives huius, illi, illum
• recognise honos as a nominative singular
• provide a translation which was sensitive to the author’s manipulation of word order to give emphasis.

Areas for students to improve include:

• developing a more precise understanding of pronouns.

Question 2

In better responses, students were able to:

• identify three clear rhetorical techniques and explain how each one emphasises the value of literature (aiii)
• go beyond outlining the historical background to explain clearly how the historical exempla assist Cicero’s defence (bii).

Areas for students to improve include:

• focusing on the specified number of techniques required by the question, rather than outlining several (aiii)
• knowing the context of an extract and any cultural or historical references in it (bii)
• developing an understanding of the significance of cultural or historical references in their context (bii).

Question 3

In better responses, students were able to:

• identify different aspects of Cicero’s portrayal of Archias in the extracts
• link Cicero’s portrayal of Archias to their argument
• make judicious, selective use of a variety of methods used by Cicero to support their response
• provide a balanced response, drawing examples from both extracts.

Areas for students to improve include:

• moving beyond mere description of Archias to an analysis
• focusing on the key requirements of the question, in this case the portrayal of Archias and Cicero’s argument
• ensuring that comments about Cicero’s language and style are used to support the response and do not become its focus.   

Prescribed Text

Question 4

In better responses, students were able to:

• provide accurate and contextually appropriate translations for Corripuere viam [sic] (418), qui plurimus urbi imminet (419-20), strata viarum (422), ardentes (423)
• provide different synonyms for viam and semita (418), respecting the use of two different nouns in the Latin text
• recognise that hic (427) is an adverb.

Areas for students to improve include:

• accounting for every word in their translation, avoiding careless omissions: for example, interea (418), desuper (420), alii (427-8).

Question 5

In better responses, students were able to:

• outline the four causes of Juno’s hostility and not just translate the text (aii)
• recognise elision between a word ending with –m and the next one starting with a vowel, for example fugientem est (bi)
• identify different aspects of the relationship between Aeneas and his mother (bii)
• select three clear examples of Virgil’s use of language and link them to the depiction of the relationship (bii).

Areas for students to improve include:

• developing a clear understanding of the difference between identify, outline and explain (aii)
• focusing on the specified number of examples or items required by the question, rather than outlining several or responding in general terms (aii, bii)
• becoming more familiar with the scansion rules for elision and for the treatment of two vowels next to each other (bi).

Question 6

In better responses, students were able to:

• identify and focus on significant elements of Virgil’s depiction of the character of Dido
• draw out the implications behind the words of the two narrators
• make appropriate links and comparisons between the aspects of Dido’s character that are revealed in the extracts.

Areas for students to improve include:

• providing a balanced response and not focusing largely on one aspect of the character
• not making stylistic analysis the focus of their response, regardless of the question
• avoiding irrelevant references to other characters, for example, Pygmalion.

Unseen Texts

In better responses, students were able to:

• recognise that nihil is the object of habet (Q7)
• recognise and translate accordingly the impersonal construction nobis interdictum sit with ne and the subjunctive (Q7)
• recognise the agreement of dissidentem and coniunctam with gentem (Q7)
• recognise that praeclara and comparata agree with iura (Q8a)
• identify dissimilitudo as the subject of habeat (Q8b)
• translate visa correctly as a main verb in line 637 (Q9)
• recognise the alternative accusative plural -IS ending of puppis in line 635 and ardentis in line 637 (Q9)
• identify ellipsis of the verb and substitute with a suitable verb in their translation (Q9)
• understand that maxima natu in line 644 refers to age (Q10)
• identify eunti in line 649 as a present participle (Q10).

Areas for students to improve include:

• developing effective dictionary skills (Q7, Q9)
• examining carefully the context of a Latin word in the extract before determining its grammatical function (Q7, Q8c, Q9, Q10b)
• identifying words in agreement, for example, noun and adjective, noun and participle (Q7, Q9)
• focusing on the continuity of the text to keep track of what is happening (Q7, Q8d, Q9, Q10a, d).