AP Latin: Vergil.html



Advanced Placement Latin: Vergil (or AP Vergil, or AP Latin) is an examination offered by the College Board's Advanced Placement Program.

Material tested

The AP Latin: Vergil exam is based upon Vergil's Aeneid.

Students are expected to be familiar with the following 1,856 lines of the Aeneid:

• Book 1: lines 1-519
• Book 2: lines 1-56, 199-297, 469-566, and 735-804
• Book 4: lines 1-448, 642-705
• Book 6: lines 1-211, 450-476, and 847-901
• Book 10: lines 420-509
• Book 12: lines 791-842, 887-952

Students must also be familiar with the total content of Books 1 through 12.

Abilities tested

The exam tests students' abilities to:

• Translate a Latin passage from the syllabus into English literally
• Explicate specific words and phrases in context
• Identify the context and significance of short excerpts from the works specified in the syllabus
• Identify and analyze characteristic or noteworthy features of the authors' modes of expression, including their use of imagery, figures of speech, sound effects, and metrical effects (in poetry only), as seen in specific passages
• Discuss particular motifs or general themes not only suggested by passages but also relevant to other selections
• Analyze and discuss structure and to demonstrate an awareness of the features used in the construction of a poem, thesis, or an argument
• Scan the meters specified in the syllabus

Reading and translation

Critical appreciation of the Aeneid as poetry implies the ability to translate literally, to analyze, to interpret, to read aloud with attention to pauses and phrasing, and to scan the dactylic hexameter verse. Students should be given extensive practice in reading at sight and in translating literally so that their translations not only are accurate and precise, but also make sense in English.

The instructions for the translation questions, "translate as literally as possible," call for a translation that is accurate and precise. In some cases an idiom may be translated in a way that makes sense in English but is rather loose compared to the Latin construction. In general, however, students are reminded to remember that:

• The tense, voice, number, and mood of verbs need to be translated literally
• Subject-verb agreement must be correct
• Participles should be rendered precisely with regard to tense and voice
• Ablative absolutes may be rendered literally or as subordinate clauses; however, the tense and number of the participle must be rendered accurately
• Historical present is acceptable as long as it is used consistently throughout the passage.

Grade distribution

In the 2007 administration 4,929 students took the exam from 736 schools. The mean score was a 3.00.

The grade distribution for 2007 was:¹

External links

• AP Latin: Vergil at CollegeBoard.com

References