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2013 Notes from the Marking Centre – Classical Greek Continuers

Introduction

This document has been produced for the teachers and candidates of the Stage 6 Classical Greek Continuers course. It contains comments on candidate responses to the 2013 Higher School Certificate examination, indicating the quality of the responses and highlighting their relative strengths and weaknesses.

This document should be read along with:

• the Classical Greek Continuers Stage 6 Syllabus
• the 2013 Higher School Certificate Classical Greek Continuers examination
• the marking guidelines
• Advice for HSC students about examinations
• other support documents developed by the Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards NSW to assist in the teaching and learning of Classical Greek in Stage 6.

Section I – Prescribed Text – Thucydides, Book VII

Characteristics of better responses:

• translations of the texts were in idiomatic English but accurately represented the Greek extracts, with particular care taken over the tenses of verbs, especially when the imperfect tense was used instead of the aorist (Q.1a and b)
• candidates demonstrated an understanding of the question by including appropriate references to the question in their answers, for example by identifying
  • ‘the tragic aspects’ (Q.2b)
  • explaining the terms of surrender and arguing ‘to what extent’ (Q.2cii)
• the inclusion of quotations from the extracts demonstrated that candidates understood the Greek
• candidates demonstrated that they understood the extract and supported each point made with reference to events throughout Book VII (Q.3).

Characteristics of weaker responses:

• candidates offered translations of seen extracts that did not account for every word in the Greek extract (Q.1a and b)
• in relation to questions based on extracts, candidates’ responses demonstrated a weaker grasp of what the Greek extract meant; instead, responses were based on remembering information loosely relevant to the question
• for the essay, weaker responses offered no insight into the depiction of the Athenian commanders in the extract, but rather tended simply to discuss the Athenian commanders as they are presented in Book VII (Q.3).

Section II – Prescribed Text – Euripides, Medea

Characteristics of better responses:

• translations demonstrated understanding of not just what the speakers were saying, but also what they meant by what they said, for example when Medea says ‘in this is a very great agon’ (line 235) (Q.4a and b)
• responses based on extracts demonstrated that candidates had read and understood the question by including appropriate references to the question in their answers, for example they explained what Creon had agreed to and then the means Medea had used (Q.5aii) and identified the ‘conflict at the heart of the play’ and then showed how this extract exemplifies it (Q.5c)
• where appropriate, better responses included quotations from the extracts and demonstrated understanding of the Greek. A high degree of analysis of the extract was demonstrated (Q.5a)
• the statement was discussed in a way that demonstrated it was understood, in particular that Medea was rejecting being perceived along traditional female lines, and was claiming to possess masculine attributes. These responses then discussed the significance of this to understanding Medea’s character and actions in a way that indicated a thorough knowledge of the whole play (Q.6).

Characteristics of weaker responses:

• the translation of seen extracts was often characterised by choosing the meaning for a Greek word inappropriate to the particular context
  • the last word of line 232 implies excess not just expenditure
  • the second to last word of line 237 means ‘deny’ or ‘refuse’, consistent with lines 233–4, not ‘reject’
  • the last word of line 915 is better translated as ‘security’ rather than ‘salvation’ (Q.4a and b)
• responses to the questions accompanying extracts did not always focus on exactly what the question was asking and often did not indicate a thorough knowledge of the meaning of the Greek
• the weaker essays discussed Medea’s character and actions from a general knowledge of the play rather than from an understanding of the Greek extract and a thorough knowledge of the whole play (Q.6).

Section III – Unseen Texts

Characteristics of better responses:

• translations of the Alcestis indicated an understanding that the first two words of the Greek referred back to the preceding English translation and meant ‘on these terms’ (Q.7d)
• candidates knew when English words needed to be added where no Greek word was present, for example the verb ‘to be’ at the beginning of line 388 and something like ‘do this’ so the line means something like, ‘There is a great necessity that I do this’
• the correct meaning of individual words capable of multiple meanings was chosen, for example ‘who are dying for you’ (line 383) not ‘who are dying before you’ and ‘wife’ (line 386) is preferable to ‘woman’
• translations of the Thucydides extract dealt better with the complex clauses, for example understanding that the two conditional clauses both interrupted constructions that need to be picked up after them, ‘that, if … Plataea would not …’ (lines 4–7) and a messenger saying that, ‘if … they would punish the wrongdoers‘ (lines 9–11) (Q.8).

Characteristics of weaker responses:

• translations of the Alcestis were characterised by the omission of words, mistakes with mood, for example ‘you will now become mother …’ instead of ‘you now become mother ...’ (line 377), mistakes with case, for example ‘You will soften time …’ instead of ‘time will soften you ...’ (line 381) and not showing familiarity with common phrases, for example ‘to the gods …’ instead of ‘by the gods …’ (line 382) (Q.7d)
• Thucydides translations showed that some candidates had difficulty with the arrangement of the clauses and tried to make their translation simply follow the word order as it appeared in Greek (Q.8).