Latin Extension 2024 HSC exam pack

Prescribed text

Students should:

• provide translations of prescribed texts that are coherent and fluent
• check their translations to ensure that words or phrases have not been omitted
• address all elements of a commentary question in a logical and cohesive manner, focusing only on relevant information
• support their explanation or analysis with relevant and specific examples, explaining the link between the examples given and the aspect being analysed
• use ellipsis or line numbers when quoting more than a few words from an extract, for example, exegi … altius or ‘in lines 1-2’ in order to avoid copying long sections of text
• explain how the Latin supports their argument in their English response, and not leave a section of quoted Latin text to speak for itself.

In better responses, students were able to:

• account for every Latin word in their translation, avoiding the omission of words and phrases, for example, nemus, delubra, supellex (Q1)
• recognise that omnis agrees with arbor (Q1a)
• provide a contextually appropriate and fluent translation for speluncas dissimiles veris (Q1a)
• recognise the correlatives quantum…tantum (Q1b)
• provide a succinct outline of Juvenal’s comments on the negative impact of the Greeks on patron-client relationships in Rome (Q2aii)
• focus on the persona’s relationship with Fuscus and not on the function of the Fuscus episode (Q2bii)
• focus on the relationship between Fuscus and Horace’s persona, and not the Boor (Q2bii)
• provide a balanced response, drawing relevant examples from the three extracts (Q3)
• set up the initial terms for the comparison and analyse the extracts with reference to those terms (Q3)
• support their comparison with detailed and specific reference to the extracts (Q3)
• recognise the difference in agency between the victims of the undesirable social encounters (Q3)
• move beyond the description of superficial differences, such as the light-heartedness of Horace and intensity of Juvenal, demonstrating a perceptive understanding of the authors’ purpose (Q3).

Areas for students to improve include:

• developing a more precise understanding of key words such as outline, explain, analyse, compare (Q2a, Q3)
• not making stylistic and rhetorical features key elements of their response unless clearly connected to the question (Q3)
• developing a more thorough understanding of cultural and literary references in the text (Q2ai)
• developing a more thorough understanding of the content, context and purpose of the extracts (Q2, Q3).

Non-prescribed text

In better responses, students were able to:

• recognise and translate appropriately the ablative absolute te divite (Q4a)
• recognise and translate appropriately the partitive genitive acti (Q5a)
• identify the correct meaning of words which look similar, for example, not confusing eget with the verb agere (Q4a)
• recognise verb contractions, for example, adsuerit, aptarit (Q4a)
• translate the historic presents consistently, either as a present tense or as a past tense (Q5a)
• provide succinct responses for 2 and 3 mark questions (Q4b, Q4c)
• identify one poetic technique and link it clearly to the author’s message (Q4b)
• identify how Horace treats the theme of wealth in the extract before comparing it to its treatment in the rest of the prescribed texts (Q4c)
• make appropriate and relevant reference to the rest of the prescribed texts (Q4c).

Areas for students to improve include:

• selecting contextually appropriate meanings of vocabulary for the context (Q4a, Q5a)
• developing a more precise understanding of syntax in complex sentences (Q4a)
• paying attention to the descriptive title which precedes each text (Q4a, Q5a)
• making effective use of the vocabulary listed under each text (Q4a, Q5a)
• developing effective dictionary skills (Q4a, Q5a)
• distinguishing between words which look similar (Q4a, Q5a)
• answering the short-answer questions with clear reference to the extract they have translated (Q4b, Q4c).