So the AP Latin test is fast approaching. What have you done to prepare? In our class, we’ve gone over Caesar twice now, and have gone through Aeneas once (now on our second time). I have the REA prep book, as well as the Vergil Workbook. I’ll read over the paperback english books several times and memorize the plots.
I figure passage predictions would also be pretty good, so I guess I’ll start off. My teacher recommended a focus on the sections that were “added” to the reading when the course changed 2-3 years ago:
Book I - 519-578
Book II - 268-297, 559-620
Book VI - 295-332, 384-425, 847-899
Some other incidents from Vergil:
the part about Charon (VI)
the part where Aeneas considers “dispatching” Helen (II)
From Caesar:
the Pullo and Vorenus episode (V)
something about the Druids (VI)
And something about compare/contrast the two storms in both books.
So anyone else have any tips or passage predictions? To all current AP Latin students, email or ask YOUR teacher what passages they think will be on the exam. The more predictions the better (hopefully).
Reading the Aeneid and De Bello Gallico in whole isn’t really necessary. Just read the English for the selected Latin passages. I was feeling Pullo and Vorenus too. Luckily, I’m almost perfect with Caesar. I started memorizing vocab I don’t know using the glossary in my Caesar workbook a few days ago. You could probably do that with the Vergil workbook.
I suspect the passages you mentioned might be on the AP exam. Maybe they’ll have hard Caesar short answer and easy Vergil short answer this year, so maybe there will be Vergil short answer over something in Book 1. I’m hoping to get perfect with Caesar over the next few days and then start getting strong with the Vergil translations. Hopefully I’ll be the first from my school to get a 5 on the AP Latin exam.
what prep books are y’all using? any specific ideas for last minute prep?
Anyone know how strict the graders are for this exam?
Roughly one more week to go.
For books, I mentioned it above already. For last minute prep, I suggest going over the english translations several times. Above all, try your best to memorize the plot. You might not be able to translate a passage word for word, but you should get an idea of what a passage is about.
I’m not really sure how strict the graders are. If you’ve memorized the plot, then I suggest looking over the passages I mentioned above a couple more times, and if you have time, translate them.
There are no worthwhile review books on the market right? Just go over the translations you did in class?
My teacher is a great Latin teacher, but he didn’t teach quite to the test… how are you guys studying with an eye towards that?
@pelennor, @lizautry9 was asking about Review Books, not books in Latin (i.e. Barrons, Princeton, etc)
It’s impractical to do all of the Caesar and Vergil. so how do you review? I only just got around to Latin after my other AP’s so … I’m kind of toast on the FRQs (at least 1 and 2, where it’s just straight translate)
There is a REA prep book that I mentioned, as well as “the Aeneid workbook,” which is the title of an actual book (which might be considered a prep book). Perhaps you didn’t catch that @collegeinspired? To reiterate, try to memorize the plot of the required reading for both books to prepare. And if you don’t know what the required reading is, here you go:
Required Readings in Latin
Vergil, Aeneid
Book 1: Lines 1-209, 418-440, 494-578
Book 2: Lines 40-56, 201-249, 268-297, 559-620
Book 4: Lines 160-218, 259-361, 659-705
Book 6: Lines 295-332, 384-425, 450-476, 847-899
Caesar, Gallic War
Book 1: Chapters 1-7
Book 4: Chapters 24-35 and the first sentence of Chapter 36
(Eodem die legati . . . venerunt.)
Book 5: Chapters 24-48
Book 6: Chapters 13-20
Required Readings in English
Vergil, Aeneid
Books 1, 2, 4, 6, 8, 12
Caesar, Gallic War
Books 1, 6, 7
@pelennor: I did catch that there was an REA prep book, but the most recent one I can find on Amazon was copyrighted in 2010, before the 2013 rewrite of the exam. It can’t be that useful, as the rewrite added Caesar and changed the format of the test as well, I believe.
Re: The required readings, I meant that it would take a long time to retranslate, but I wanted to see A) if you guys were doing it, and B) If you are, how fast you are going.
Re: Passage guesses, it’s a pretty good guess in my mind that the passage about Dido’s self-immolation will show up. It might show up in the essay portion however.
Speaking of the Essay portion (5 paragraphs, in English, comparing 2 passages), how are you guys doing it? Our teacher never prepared us for it, so I have no idea what to do there. What do the graders look for? How do you allocate your time? etc. The other FRQs are straightforward, but I’m kind of freaking out about this one.
Anymore passage predictions from teachers?
I know it’s general, but something from Book 6 is bound to be on the test (I think at least and my teacher does too)
Book 6 Vergil or Caesar @Rittytwikky ?
As far as preparation goes for me, I am only going to briefly review the English readings for De Bello Gallico and the Aeneid because, as far as I know, the only place on the exam that requires knowledge of the English readings is the last question of the two FRQ’s in which you are asked to answer about 10 short answer questions pertaining to a certain passage, one from De Bello Gallico and one from the Aeneid. For example, on the 2014 FRQ section, the only outside knowledge of the Aeneid required is for the question, “In Book 1, Cupid is sent in disguise into the city of Carthage. What is his mission there?”. I am also reviewing all of my De Bello Gallico and Aeneid translations as frequently as possible so that the translations of the FRQ section will be very familiar to me. Personally, the hardest part for me will be the MC section on the new poetry section (non-Aeneid)… I like prose much more than poetry!
Does anyone else think that 2 hours PLUS a 15 minute reading period is a bit excessive for the FRQ section of this exam? My teacher gave my class the 2013 FRQ section to do in class this past week and we finished it in slightly more than an hour (over the course of two class periods) and, according to my teacher, we scored well according to the AP rubric. My class was able to finish De Bello Gallico by December and we finished the Aeneid in mid-April. The translations that I find most difficult are some of the speeches in the Aeneid, like Venus’s address to Aeneas in Book 2 and Anchises’ Marcellus speech in Book 6.
@pelennor While it is a good idea to have a general recollection of the passage, the directions on the FRQ section say, “It is your responsibility to convince the reader that you are drawing conclusions or support from the Latin text and not from a general recall of the passage.” It is a lot of material, but the translation rubric calls for groupings of three to four Latin words throughout the entire passage to be translated correctly in order to gain full points.
@collegeinspired A good way to practice in a manner that is similar to the exam is try the multiple choice sections from the National Latin Exam website for Latin V (Link: http://www.nle.org/exams.html#previousexam). They ask questions about sight translation passages that are similar in style to the sight translation MC questions on the AP Latin exam. You can also get a feel for the FRQ section from the College Board AP Central website. The only problem is that AP Latin has only existed since 2013 so only two FRQ sections are available for this class, though there are plenty of AP Latin Vergil and AP Latin Literature FRQ sections available for practice.
A good resource for practicing scansion is www.hexameter.co. You can make a free account and practice scanning Vergil, Horace, Ovid, etc.
@FLStudent97 Thanks! you’ve been really helpful. I was wondering: Do you know exactly how much Latin we need to demonstrate? (i.e. for the comp/cont essay, how much of the grading is the points we make in the essay, and how much is the translation of the latin?)
I’m going to need the full time for the FRQs … :-< The translation will take about 20 - 30 min each I’m guessing, the Short Answer will take another 30 min, and then the rest will be spent on the essay. Hopefully I can shave down the translation time to 15 min … I know they’re pretty short, but I’m scared I’ll forget the passage entirely (i.e. I don’t even know whats going on) and so I won’t be able to translate it. X_X
Hey how fast are you guys working through the Latin? I finished Books 1,2,4 of Vergil yesterday and 6 today. Today I’m also (hoping) to do Caesar 1,4, and half of 5. I wanted to see if I was on track with the rest of you all in terms of review pace.
@collegeinspired I have reviewed everything in the AP curriculum this weekend at least once. For the “long” essay that compares and contrasts two passages from Vergil and/or Caesar, you just have to make sure you use an adequate amount of the supplied passages to back up your argument and to demonstrate to the AP readers that you thoroughly understand the passages. My teacher has said that this generally entails about 80% of the given Latin.
Due to a family emergency I will be unable to take the exam this Friday, so I will have to take Form B on May 22. I have heard that Form B is sometimes more difficult than Form A for some AP exams. Good luck everyone!
I did not prepare enough and I’m kinda freaking out… I’m realistically aiming for a 4 at best 