Study Guide

Field 258: World Language: Latin 
Presentational Writing

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Directions for Presentational Writing Assignment

For the presentational writing section of this pilot test, you will translate a Latin passage into written English. You should use your time to plan, write, review, and edit your response to the assignment. You may use the erasable notebooklet provided to make notes; however, your final translation must be typed in the response box provided for the assignment.

Your response to the assignment will be evaluated on the basis of the following criteria:

Your response must be written in English.

You may not use any reference materials during the test. Remember to review what you have written and make any changes you think will improve your response.

Select the Next button to continue.

Sample Presentational Writing Assignment

Objective 0007 
Apply knowledge of target-language structures and writing conventions to compose an effective, coherent, and clear response to a prompt.

Translate into idiomatic English the passage below from Ovid's Metamorphoses, in which Baucis and Philemon are granted their request. Your translation should fully and completely express the meaning of the Latin text. Metrical scansion does not need to be retained in the English translation.

Tālia tum placidō Sāturnius1 ēdidit ōre:
"Dīcite, iūste senex et fēmina coniuge iūstō
digna, quid optētis." Cum Baucide pauca locūtus
iūdicium superīs aperit commūne Philēmōn:
"Esse sacerdōtēs dēlubraque vestra tuērī
poscimus, et quoniam concordēs ēgimus annōs,
auferat hōra duōs eadem, nec coniugis umquam
busta2 meae videam, neu sim tumulandus ab illā."
Vōta fidēs sequitur: templī tūtēla3 fuēre,
dōnec vīta data est.

1Sāturnius, -ī (m.): Jupiter
2bustum, -ī (n.): tomb
3tūtēla, -ae (f.): protection

Sample Strong Response to Presentational Writing Assignment

Then Jupiter uttered such things from his peaceful mouth: "Say, just old man and woman worthy of a just spouse, what you will desire." After speaking a few words with Baucis, Philemon reveals their shared decision to the gods above: "We ask to be priests and to watch over your shrines, and since we have spent our years in harmony, let the same hour take us both away. May I never see the tomb of my spouse, nor be buried by her." Faith follows the prayers: they were the guardians of the temple until life was given (up).

Rationale for Sample Strong Response to Presentational Writing Assignment

This translation is accurate and clear, and fully expresses the meaning of the Latin text. The translation recognizes and accurately renders complex structures of Latin, while using idiomatic English. For example, the perfect active participle "locūtus" is rendered "after speaking," and the jussive subjunctive in "auferat hōra duōs eadem" is rendered "let the same hour take us both away." This translation also nicely shows that "duōs" refers to Baucis and Philemon themselves.

The translation effectively uses idiomatic English vocabulary to express the meaning of the original where the literal Latin words would not work in English. For example "ēdidit," "gave forth," is rendered "uttered," and "iūdicium . . . commūne," "common judgment," is rendered "shared decision," a phrase that nicely captures the nature of Baucis and Philemon's relationship. Also the translation of "concordēs ēgimus annōs," "we have spent our years in harmony," accurately captures Latin's idiomatic use of "agree," meaning to spend (time), but avoids the awkward English of the literal "harmonious years."

The presence of some minor errors does not interfere with the comprehensibility of the translation. For example, the present subjunctive "optētis" used in an indirect question should not be translated with the future tense but simply as "you desire," and the mistranslation of "donec" as "until" throws off the translation of the final phrase, which would be better rendered "as long as life was given."

Performance Characteristics for Presentational Writing Assignment

The following characteristics guide the scoring of responses to the Presentational Writing assignment.

Comprehension the extent to which the response provides an accurate translation of the literal meaning of the Latin text and retains significant details; relationships among ideas; and references to products, practices, and perspectives of the target-language culture
Interpretation the extent to which the response accurately expresses the meanings conveyed by figurative language and rhetorical devices used in the Latin text
Vocabulary the extent to which the response uses appropriate English vocabulary and idiomatic language to express the contextualized meanings of the vocabulary and idiomatic language in the Latin text
Grammar and Syntax the extent to which the response uses appropriate English grammar and syntax to express the contextualized meanings conveyed by the linguistic structures (e.g., sentences, clauses, tenses, moods, voices) in the Latin text

Score Scale for Presentational Writing Assignment

A score will be assigned to the response to the Presentational Writing assignment according to the following score scale.

Score Point Score Point Description
4 The "4" response is an effective and accurate translation of the Latin text.
  • The response provides an accurate translation of the literal meaning of the Latin text and fully retains significant details; relationships among ideas; and references to products, practices, and perspectives of the target-language culture. Minor errors or omissions do not compromise overall effectiveness.
  • The response accurately and fully expresses the meanings conveyed by figurative language and rhetorical devices used in the Latin text. Minor errors or omissions do not compromise overall effectiveness.
  • The response uses completely appropriate English vocabulary and idiomatic language to fully express the contextualized meanings of the vocabulary and idiomatic language in the Latin text. Minor errors do not compromise overall effectiveness.
  • The response uses completely appropriate English grammar and syntax to fully express the contextualized meanings conveyed by the linguistic structures in the Latin text. Minor errors do not compromise overall effectiveness.
3 The "3" response is a generally effective and accurate translation of the Latin text.
  • The response provides a generally accurate translation of the literal meaning of the Latin text and largely retains significant details; relationships among ideas; and references to products, practices, and perspectives of the target-language culture. Some elements of the Latin text are omitted or distorted, or some extraneous content is introduced.
  • The response generally expresses the meanings conveyed by figurative language and rhetorical devices used in the Latin text. Some aspects of the Latin text are omitted or distorted, or some extraneous content is introduced.
  • The response uses generally appropriate English vocabulary and idiomatic language to express the contextualized meanings of the vocabulary and idiomatic language in the Latin text. Some errors may compromise effectiveness.
  • The response uses generally appropriate English grammar and syntax to express the contextualized meanings conveyed by the linguistic structures in the Latin text. Some errors may compromise effectiveness.
2 The "2" response is a partially effective and accurate translation of the Latin text.
  • The response provides a partially accurate translation of the literal meaning of the Latin text and retains only some significant details; relationships among ideas; and references to products, practices, and perspectives of the target-language culture. Many elements of the Latin text are omitted or distorted, and/or a large amount of extraneous content is introduced.
  • The response only partially expresses the meanings conveyed by figurative language and rhetorical devices used in the Latin text. Many aspects of the Latin text are omitted or distorted, and/or a large amount of extraneous content is introduced.
  • The response uses only partially appropriate English vocabulary and idiomatic language to express the contextualized meanings of the vocabulary and idiomatic language in the Latin text. Frequent errors compromise effectiveness.
  • The response uses only partially appropriate English grammar and syntax to express the contextualized meanings conveyed by the linguistic structures in the Latin text. Frequent errors compromise effectiveness.
1 The "1" response is an ineffective and inaccurate translation of the Latin text.
  • The response provides an inaccurate translation of the literal meaning of the Latin text and retains few, if any significant details; relationships among ideas; or references to products, practices, and perspectives of the target-language culture. Most, if not all, of the Latin text is omitted or distorted, and/or the translation consists almost entirely of extraneous content.
  • The response inaccurately expresses the meanings conveyed by figurative language and rhetorical devices used in the Latin text. Most, if not all, of the Latin text is omitted or distorted, and/or the translation consists almost entirely of extraneous content.
  • The response uses little to no appropriate English vocabulary and idiomatic language to express the contextualized meanings of the vocabulary and idiomatic language in the Latin text.
  • The response uses little to no appropriate English grammar and syntax to express the contextualized meanings conveyed by the linguistic structures in the Latin text.
U The response is unscorable because it is unrelated to the assigned topic, illegible, not written in the required language, or not of sufficient length to score.
B There is no response to the assignment.