Junior Cert Latin, classical studies, Italian: finishing up

The final day of exams was a reasonably good one for the small number of Junior Cert students who were finishing up with Latin, Italian and classical studies.

ASTI representative Jim O’Dea said of the higher level Latin paper that it was “reasonable” but not without its difficulties. After straightforward questions on a passage about Aeneas’s relationship with Dido, a second unseen passage relating to Daphne and Apollo was “quite difficult”, he added.

“Roman history and civilization questions were along expected lines and there was a nice question on Roman religion,” he added.

At ordinary level, “there was a nice connection between the set text and the unseen translation, both relating to Proserpina”, Mr O’Dea said, while an unseen passage relating to Hannibal was “very reasonable.”

Higher level classical studies students were presented with a good range of questions relating to themselves, their thoughts and opinions, he said. “There was a good subdivision of questions,” he said. “The exam was a good test of the pupils’ knowledge of the course.”

At ordinary level, the paper was “along expected lines with a good subdivision of the questions with the maximum mark in any question being 16”.

There were no shocks in the afternoon's Italian papers, according to the ASTI's Robbie Cronin. The higher level exam "had plenty of interesting articles and the language and level of the script was very appropriate for this age group". The articles on the paper were well chosen, including one about a teenage fashion blogger and another about Italian food, according to Mr Cronin. The grammar section was challenging for students but ultimately "fair."

At ordinary level, the paper was “excellent” and full of student-friendly topics including holidays, food and sports.