Latin Extension 2017 HSC exam pack

Students should:

• provide translations of prescribed texts that are coherent and fluent, and not awkwardly literal
• check their translations to ensure that no words or phrases have been accidentally omitted
• pay close attention to the wording of the question to see if it requires them to respond only with reference to the extract(s) given or to other sections of the text they have studied
• look carefully at the marks allocated to a question as they indicate the depth and length of response required; better responses for short answer questions are succinct
• support their explanation or analysis with relevant and valid examples, explaining the link between the examples given and the aspect being analysed
• use ellipsis when quoting more than a few words from an extract (for example,  non vidit… fugas) in order to avoid copying long sections of text
• demonstrate in English their understanding of how the Latin is relevant to their argument, and not leave sections of quoted Latin text to speak for itself.

In better responses, students were able to:

• recognise that nos terrarum ac libertatis extremos functioned as a sense unit; select contextually appropriate English renderings for recessus ipse ac sinus, pro magnifico and ambitiosi; translate fluently and idiomatically Auferre, trucidare, rapere falsis nominibus imperium … appellant and cuncta uastantibus defuere terrae, rendering cuncta  as the object of vastantibus (Q1)
• identify relevant uses of language and explain clearly how they convey the horror of Rome’s recent past (Q2 (c))
• respond to the broader issues targeted by the question. They comment on the extracts in terms of the theme of freedom and slavery, rather than provide a literary analysis of freedom and slavery within the extracts. They made effective links between the two extracts, recognising the overarching political and historical context shared by Domitian and Agricola. They supported their analysis with reference to other sections of the text they had studied (Q3)
• demonstrate their understanding of the ablative absolute pretio pro auro matronis persoluto  and give a contextually appropriate English rendering for the technical phrase pretio…persoluto. They also recognised the indirect statement dependent on the impersonal verb constat (Q4)
• recognise the ablative tutore as dependent on the deponent verb usus erat; and recognise that the present participle offerentes functions as a pronoun, and translate accordingly as ‘those offering’, ‘those who were offering’ (Q5 (a)).