AP Latin Vergil and Literature Exams (REA) The Best Test Prep for the AP Vergil and Literature Exams (Advanced Placement (AP) Test Preparation)
PREPARE WITH CONFIDENCEExcelling on the AP Latin Exam If you’re looking for a true edge on Test Day . . .And if you’re not willing to settle for second best . . .…then REA’s AP Latin test prep is for you. REA gives you all the tools you’ll need to master the Advanced Placement  Examinations in Latin for both Literature and Vergil, to wit: ¦ Unrivaled exam-centered review in a context that will sharpen classroom discussion and help you get more out of your textbook.¦ Tips and strategies to bolster your test-readiness.¦ A systematic, AP curriculum-based approach to mastering grammar and syntax.¦ Four full-length, true-to-format practice exams—two that emulate the AP Latin Literature Exam, two modeled after the AP Latin: Vergil Exam—that will prepare you for the actual AP exam like no other book.¦ Full explanations of every practice-exam answer.¦ Comprehensive index that speeds specific referencing. In preparing this book, REA has thoroughly aligned our thinking with that of the AP Latin Development Committee. In fact, we expect that many AP instructors will want to use this book to supplement their classroom text and lectures precisely because it so comprehensively supports specific curriculum objectives for the AP course and exam. General Content and Format of the AP Latin Exam Content of the AP Latin Exam For at least the past four years (2002–2005), the number of students taking the AP Latin Exam has increased and now averages well over 7,000 per year.1 Whether or not this statistic indicates that more students are studying Latin, it does indicate that more students are studying Latin at the college level while in high school. AP Latin Exams test the proficiency of high school Latin students when compared to college students who have taken a fourth- to sixth-semester Latin course. (Traditionally, one semester of college study has been approximately equivalent to one year of high school study.) If you are reading this book, it is likely that you are among the high-achieving students who either want to demonstrate their facility with the Latin language at the end of their study or who intend to continue studying Latin in college. The focus of this book is to help you to prepare for the AP Latin Exam: to assess and expand not only your general skills of comprehending, translating, and analyzing Latin, but also to help you to understand and appreciate the importance of the ability to write coherently and persuasively in English. Since 1994, there have been two different AP Latin exams available, one that evaluates your knowledge of Vergil’s Aeneid and the other, Latin Literature, that assesses your preparation of one of three combinations of authors. Each of the latter exams includes the poems of Catullus, i.e., Catullus-Cicero, Catullus-Horace, and Catullus-Ovid. Both the AP Vergil and the AP Latin Literature exams may be taken in the same year; however, special arrangements need to be madewith your school to schedule the second exam.2 The specific content and format of both the Vergil and Latin Literature Exams are described in greater detail in succeeding chapters of this book. The scoring of the exam is explained at the end. Format of the AP Latin Exam The AP Latin Exam, the format of which was changed in 1999, now consists of two parts: a multiple-choice section (40 percent) and a free-response section (60percent). The multiple-choice section, which is administered fi rst, consists of 50 multiple-choice questions over three sight passages of prose and poetry and one syllabus-based passage, that is, one passage from the lines or poems that you have prepared in Latin. The sight readings of the multiple-choice section are common to the two exams, and the syllabus-based passage comes from either Vergil or Catullus, as appropriate. You have 60 minutes for this part. The free-response section consists of five questions for Vergil and six for Latin Literature, the latter consisting of three on Catullus and three on the choice author Cicero, Horace, or Ovid. These questions, which consist of translations, long and short essays, and discussions of background or short identifications, evaluate your preparation of the assigned syllabus. Those portions of the Aeneid and of Cicero’s De Amicitia not prepared in Latin must be read in English. You are given one hour and 45 minutes for the free-response section, plus a 15-minute “reading period,” during which you may organize your thinking and plan your answers. The total time for the AP Latin Exam is three hours, plus about one-half hour of administrative and break time. Be aware that, periodically, changes are made to the content or format of the AP Latin Exam.For instance, in the Cicero syllabus the Pro Caelio has been replaced for the 2007 exam with the Pro Archia Poeta and selections from the De Amicitia(for specific information, see Chapter 3). Every five yearsor so, the entire AP Latin Exam, both Vergil and Latin Literature, is released and published for reference by students and teachers. Terms Used in AP Latin • Acorn Book: see syllabus.• background question: the fi nal question on the free-response section of the Vergil Exam. This question tests knowledge of those portions of the Aeneid read in English. It requires 20 minutes and counts 15 percent of your free-response score.• choice author: Cicero, Horace, or Ovid. These authors supplement Catullus, which is required for all three Latin Literature Exams.• chunk: see segment.• The Classical Outlook: the official journal of the American Classical League, published quarterly. Contact The Classical Outlook, Department of Classics, Montclair State University, Upper Montclair, NJ 07043 (ISSN: 0009–8361), e-mail englishm@mail.montclair.edu, or go to http://www.aclclassics.org. Annual reports on the AP Latin Exam, prepared by the Chief Reader, appear in this journal, usually in the fall and winter. There are usually separate reports for each Exam.• free response: the larger part of the AP Latin Exam in time (1 hour, 45 minutes) and weight (60 percent), the free-response consists of five or six questions that call for you to translate, compose essays in English, and demonstrate your knowledge of the Aeneid in its entirety or answer shortquestions on a passage of Latin (choice authors only).• gloss: annotations at the foot of a Latin text, in either the multiple choice or free-response sections. Glosses occur rarely, but when they do, they provide assistance with a particularly difficult or uncommon word or form, especially the names of unfamiliar people and places. Glosses no longer include variations in the spelling of the Latin.• item: College Board terminology for an AP Exam question. The word “question” will be used in this book.• “literal”: the rendering of Latin in English with attention to the precise and accurate expression of all vocabulary and forms.• long essay: a (30 or 45-minute) written discussion and analysis of a given passage or passages of Latin on the free-response section. Long essays are required for Vergil and Catullus only. The suggested time for the long essay for Vergil, which is worth 35 percent of your score on the free-response section, is 45 minutes. The suggested time for the long essay on Catullus is 30 minutes, and this long essay counts 20 percent, the same as the other short essays on the Latin Literature Exam. See also short essay.• multiple choice: the smaller part of the AP Latin Exam in time (one hour) and weight (40 percent). There are 50 questions on three sight passages, each 10–15 lines long, from Latin poets and at least one prose author. One additional passage comes from the prepared syllabus of eitherVergil or Catullus, depending upon the exam selected. Each multiple choice question consists of four answers, one of which is correct.• prompt: a term used mostly by those who produce or grade the exam. It refers to the essential question being asked within the wording of an essay question on the free-response section.• Reader: a volunteer high school or college teacher who grades the AP Latin Exam in mid-June. Readers are organized into groups, each of which is guided by a Table Leader, or more e...