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2009 HSC Notes from the Marking Centre – Classical Greek

Contents

Introduction

This document has been produced for the teachers and candidates of the Stage 6 course in Classical Greek. It contains comments on candidate responses to the 2009 Higher School Certificate examinations, indicating the quality of the responses and highlighting their relative strengths and weaknesses.

This document should be read along with the relevant syllabuses, the 2009 Higher School Certificate examinations, the marking guidelines and other support documents which have been developed by the Board of Studies to assist in the teaching and learning of Classical Greek.

Teachers and students are advised that, in December 2008, the Board of Studies approved changes to the examination specifications and assessment requirements for a number of courses. These changes will be implemented for the 2010 HSC cohort. Information on a course-by-course basis is available on the Board’s website.

General comments

Teachers and candidates should be aware that examiners may ask questions that address the syllabus outcomes in a manner that requires candidates to respond by integrating the knowledge, understanding and skills they developed through studying the course.

Candidates need to be aware that the mark allocated to the question and the answer space (where this is provided on the examination paper), are a guide to the length of the required response. A longer response will not in itself lead to higher marks. Writing far beyond the indicated space may reduce the time available for answering other questions.

Candidates need to be familiar with the Board’s Glossary of Key Words which contains some terms commonly used in examination questions. However, candidates should also be aware that not all questions will start with or contain one of the key words from the glossary. Questions such as ‘how?’, ‘why?’ or ‘to what extent?’ may be asked or verbs may be used which are not included in the glossary, such as ‘design’, ‘translate’ or ‘list’.

Continuers

Section I – Prescribed text – Plato, Apology

Question 1

  1. The passage was generally translated well by almost all candidates. The only recurring errors were:

    • the ethic dative moi in line 1 was often omitted
    • mede omitted in translation
    • etolmese often mistranslated or omitted in translation.

    Better responses translated to plethei with the phrase ‘democratic party’ and thus demonstrated a better understanding of the political background to the point Socrates is making in this passage. They also understood the role of particles in the structure and flow of his argument.

  2. The passage offered more significant challenges but was translated well by most candidates. Misunderstanding of some forms and constructions included:

    • not all incidences of the future tense were recognised
    • pros tauta in line was often omitted or misunderstood
    • diatribein in line 3 was not understood.

    Real challenges arose from the series of conditional clauses and the syntax and structure of the last four or five lines, but the better candidates handled them very well.

Question 2

  1. Better responses indicated that the first sentence referred to two sets of accusations and outlined the content of those accusations.
  2. Better responses recognised that the answer was contained within the passage itself and even provided supportive quotations from the text.
  3. Better responses provided a detailed and sequenced explanation of Socrates’ defence in which they demonstrated a thorough understanding of the structure of the speech.

Question 3

  1. This option was chosen by fewer candidates than the second, but those who did it gave responses of a high standard. The best candidates had clearly spent time studying the Apology as a whole and not just the sections set for translation. All candidates supported their points of view with specific reference to the text.
  2. More candidates chose this question and this elicited a wider range of responses. Better responses demonstrated good discrimination in their choice of quotations used to support their argument.

Section II – Prescribed text – Aristophanes, Frogs

Question 4

  1. The better responses:
    • coped with kai men in line 1
    • understood that the kai in line 614 should be translated ‘even’
    • translated eti line 620 as ‘furthermore’ or ‘too’
    • understood that ti in line 623 means ‘in any way’.
  2. This passage was also generally well done. Better responses distinguished the different registers of the language employed in this passage; so, for example, they effectively contrasted the poetic language of nautilo plate with the triviality of lekuthion apolesen. Most candidates recognised the kata was governing Parnasson and that bion meant ‘livelihood’ in this context.

Question 5

In general all three parts of this question were answered well but the best responses came from those candidates who knew the text well and could offer quotations where appropriate.

Question 6

The better responses were characterised by direct references to the play in a way that demonstrated a clear understanding of the text, and therefore provided strong support for their argument.

  1. Most candidates chose this option. This question required candidates to be very familiar with the whole play and not just the passages set for translation, especially the parabasis, in order to say something about Aristophanes’ concerns. The better responses integrated the various levels on which Aristophanes presents both specific issues – for example, the currency metaphor and the return of the exiles – and more generalised issues, for example, the old generation versus the new; and finally the various political issues.
  2. This choice elicited a full range of responses. Better responses demonstrated an in-depth knowledge of both the play and its social context in discussing a broad range of types of humour in the Frogs. They showed more balance in discussing both the play’s limitations and its possibilities for humour.

Section III – Unseen texts

Question 7

In general, both unseen texts proved challenging.

  1. Better responses demonstrated a greater familiarity with verb endings and showed greater discrimination in their choice from the variety of meanings that common Greek words have. Of particular concern was that many did not recognise that apologei is second person singular and gignoskomai is present passive. Dokeis was often translated as ‘it seems good’ rather than ‘you think’; and chairein was usually translated as ‘to greet’ rather than ‘to rejoice’. Better responses recognised the prohibition me elpises and the potential optatives an lexeias and an mainoimeth’ an.
  2. Better responses demonstrated an ability to follow the grammatical structures throughout the extract. The following proved particularly challenging for some candidates:
    • neither peisetai, the future of pascho, nor hepesthai are from peitho
    • the sequence of participles in the first two clauses
    • the meaning of the phrase eis ti ton tou apeithoutos, ‘to what part of the one who disobeys’ and the meaning of aischunesthai, ‘to revere’
    • how houtos fits in Socrates’ final statement.

Extension

Section I – Prescribed text – Homer, Iliad V and VI

Question 1

  1. In general, the responses demonstrated a commendable degree of sensitivity to the distinctive features of Homeric language. The few problems there were, are as follows: bien t’ agathon, ‘good in strength’ was translated as ‘good life’; os pote, ‘thus one day’, was translated ‘whenever’. Not all the optatives of desire were handled well.
  2. The responses to the questions were generally of high quality, with only (i) offering any difficulty to most candidates. The better responses not only explained the phrase but also its significance in the story.

Question 2

In general both questions were answered well and were chosen by similar numbers of candidates. All essays demonstrated a knowledge of the text and used it to support their argument, but the better candidates were clearly conversant with both books V and VI and not just the passages prescribed for translation. The best responses employed a range of materials from small, but telling details, through to larger thematic patterns, and were characterised by a remarkable clarity and ease of argumentation.

Section II – Non-prescribed text

Question 3

Most translations were of high quality and showed sensitivity to Homeric usage. The following difficulties were noted:

  • some did not recognise the idiom ei d’ agete, ‘come now’, and the hortatory subjunctive peirethomen, ‘let us make an attempt’ in line 381
  • many did not recognise the two verbs of forgetting, epilesomai and katalethonto, and as a result mistranslated the genitives tou and thanonton
  • teuchesi was occasionally translated ‘walls’ instead of ‘arms’
  • in line 390 kai keithi, ‘even there’, gave problems, often translated as though it came from the verb keimai.

Question 4 (Prose)

Only one candidate attempted the optional prose translation. The prose composition was very well done. The candidate demonstrated a significant acquisition of vocabulary from the study of the Apology and a commendable knowledge of grammar to write a very fine translation.

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