Subject Choices for GCSE
O P T I O N S / T WO
Latin
Latin
Latin’s great breadth and diversity invariably captivate students’ interest and imagination through its rich cultural heritage and fascinating history, its elegant language and stimulating literature. COURSE AIMS AND BENEFITS
Metamorphoses (better known as ‘The Golden Ass’),
The course aims to develop a greater understanding of
a lively novel following the exploits and adventures of
the Roman world and its influence on modern society.
its hero Lucius, whose curiosity about witchcraft leads
An increased knowledge of the Latin language can
to his transformation (or ‘metamorphosis’) into an ass;
provide an awareness of the many links with modern
your verse text will be extracts from Book 6 of Virgil’s
European languages, including French and Spanish.
great epic The Aeneid, describing how the poem’s hero
The logical structure of Latin will help you develop
Aeneas goes down to the Underworld in order to meet
an analytical approach to other languages and will
the ghost of his dead father Anchises, who in their
heighten your understanding of English. It is possible to
moving encounter tells Aeneas about the importance of
study Latin alongside another European language
his destiny and the future glory of the Roman race.
at GCSE. One of the main aims of studying Latin GCSE is to
ASSESSMENT
gain access to the wealth of famous literature from
At the end of Year 11 students take three examinations:
the classical world and develop an appreciation for
Language 1 hour 30 minutes; 50% of marks
Latin literature in its cultural context. To that end, the
Prose Literature 1 hour 25% of marks
Department runs a variety of trips, which may include
Verse Literature 1 hour 25% of marks
visiting Oxford or the British Museum. As well as being exciting and inspiring, this course helps you develop
The course caters for a wide variety of interests: literary
an intellectual flexibility, which will be useful in further
and linguistic, as well as cultural and historical, making
study and subsequently a wide range of careers.
it an excellent complement to many other subjects. We stretch students well beyond what is required for
COURSE CONTENT
GCSE, getting them to translate English into Latin and
The GCSE course is taught using Taylor’s Latin to GCSE,
exposing them to many sophisticated literary analytical
Part 2 (supplemented by Essential GCSE Latin and OCR
techniques usually only taught at A level. Latin is very
past papers). Two prescribed texts are studied, one
highly regarded by universities and employers alike
prose and one verse. The prose text for examination
whatever discipline or career you intend to pursue.
in 2023 will consist of extracts from Apuleius’
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