Education

Leaving Cert classical studies and Latin: Positive reaction to classical paper

Latin students faced a tough composition

The questions on the higher-level classical studies paper were very reasonable and ‘pitched at the right level’. Photograph: iStockphoto

Peter McGuire
Fri Jun 15 2018 - 18:26

The questions on the higher-level classical studies paper were very reasonable and pitched at the right level, teachers have said.

“There was a fair range of questions on the paper and it was made clear to pupils what information was actually being sought,” said Jim O’Dea, a classics teacher and ASTI subject representative.

“The reaction of pupils was universally positive. The only complaint was the excessive amount of questions which were not subdivided; all questions carry a total of 50 marks and in some topics three of the four questions in some topics were not subdivided. Teachers have been complaining for years about this issue.”

Topics on the paper, which 596 students sat, include Greek drama, Greek or Roman art and architecture, Socrates and Plato and Alexander the Great, with students answering four out of ten questions.

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At the same time, just 73 students sat the Latin paper. Aryn Penn, a teacher at Gonzaga College and ASTI subject representative, said that the paper was broadly in keeping with expectations although the top level student may have found it easier. “There was a lot of choice on the paper and the question on Roman authors was in the expected style. Question one offered a choice between composing English to Latin or doing a reading comprehension, but the composition seemed more difficult,” she said.

TRY THIS AT HOME: LEAVING CERT LATIN, HIGHER LEVEL

Explain the forms of the verbs occidi and possis, and the case of multo in the following passage: ‘Me quoque’ inquit ‘iube occidi, ut gloriari possis multo fortiorem, quam ipse es, virum abs te occisum esse.’

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