The Student Room Group
Uni students - Complete our survey >>
Uni students - Complete our survey >>
Uni students - Complete our survey >>

AQA A2 - Virgil's Aeneid Discussion Thread

Not sure how well this will go, but since the Aeneid exam is looming, thought it would be a good time to discuss any issues and how revision is going? x
Rather horribly at the moment but I'm working on it. It seems that the whole Aeneas as a Roman Hero has seemed to have come up very consistently as 40 markers since the introduction of the new scheme. Do you think that it will follow suit this year, or is that just coincidental do you think?
Original post by PretzelLogic
Rather horribly at the moment but I'm working on it. It seems that the whole Aeneas as a Roman Hero has seemed to have come up very consistently as 40 markers since the introduction of the new scheme. Do you think that it will follow suit this year, or is that just coincidental do you think?

Ofcourse It will.
How it going? Are you guys understanding that the essays have to be synoptic otherwise you cannot get over a C. Literally every point you make, you should refer it back to Rome.
Original post by Thestudentreem
Ofcourse It will.
How it going? Are you guys understanding that the essays have to be synoptic otherwise you cannot get over a C. Literally every point you make, you should refer it back to Rome.


I know what you mean, I just found it interesting how the themes of discussion for the section B's were always Aeneas as a Roman hero, and the audience's perception of Aeneas as it / Virgil's didacticism to his original audience / the epic as a tribute to Augustus. I didn't know whether to take it as a constant for the new format of the exams. Any ideas as to what they will muster up for the Section A this year? I'm annoyed that all the books I enjoyed the most have already featured in previous years, but if I had to hazard a guess I'd put my money on either Book 5 or 12
How did everyone find it? The narratives 20 marker was definitely one hell of a curve ball!
Original post by PretzelLogic
How did everyone find it? The narratives 20 marker was definitely one hell of a curve ball!


was so annoyed that the 20 marker seemed synoptic!? and the 40 markers were harder than previous years. did the fate question and kind of struggled. what did everyone else do?
Original post by daisyaleigh
was so annoyed that the 20 marker seemed synoptic!? and the 40 markers were harder than previous years. did the fate question and kind of struggled. what did everyone else do?


I did the Section A on book Book 2, and in all honesty I felt that question on Virgil's use of perspectives in writing to create impact seemed more at home on an English Literature paper. I was literally borrowing information I learnt from my English lessons to answer that to a reasonable degree.

I found the section B was slightly more reasonable though, again I did the one about Aeneas' development as a from a defeated Trojan leader to the Roman Hero of Augustus' time and that certainly was plainer sailing, where more contextual information could have been drawn in.

However, even though I didn't mind it (well, maybe a bit), I felt the 20 marker was almost too literary, might just be me though
Original post by PretzelLogic
I did the Section A on book Book 2, and in all honesty I felt that question on Virgil's use of perspectives in writing to create impact seemed more at home on an English Literature paper. I was literally borrowing information I learnt from my English lessons to answer that to a reasonable degree.

I found the section B was slightly more reasonable though, again I did the one about Aeneas' development as a from a defeated Trojan leader to the Roman Hero of Augustus' time and that certainly was plainer sailing, where more contextual information could have been drawn in.

However, even though I didn't mind it (well, maybe a bit), I felt the 20 marker was almost too literary, might just be me though


ah i did the other two, the shield book 8 and fate.. was a very hard paper in my opinion and I'm worried! i have a feeling the grade boundaries are high for Roman epic..
Original post by daisyaleigh
ah i did the other two, the shield book 8 and fate.. was a very hard paper in my opinion and I'm worried! i have a feeling the grade boundaries are high for Roman epic..


I was tempted to do the shield but decided against it because I just felt more at ease discussing Book 2. You're right, it wasn't the easiest paper. Hopefully they will be a bit more understanding with the boundaries this year. I can understand why they were high for previous years, simply because the papers were so easy in comparison, but I can't imagine them fluctuating too wildly in all honesty.

Hopefully they'll get loads of letters from disgruntled Classics students from all over the country :P

What other unit did you do with the Roman Epic?
Am i wrong to talk about father and son relationships and the use of virgillian similes when comparing book 2 and 10. Also writing a couple on 1st person vs 3rd person and Allegories etc. I'm worried that i wrote about the completely wrong topics on that 20 marker.

Quick Reply

Related discussions

Latest

Trending

Trending

Articles for you