HSC Latin Extension study plan
HSC Latin Extension · Give each week a clear focus.
8 weeks · About 6 hours per week
Translation of unseen Latin prose into English & Literary, stylistic and metrical commentary on Latin texts
Parse every word of two unseen prose passages (about 120 words each) into case, number, gender, tense, mood, voice and function before writing any English
Translate those two passages into idiomatic English, then annotate each sentence for the stylistic devices you noticed (tricolon, chiasmus, historic present, ablative absolute)
Build a personal checklist of the ten prose constructions that most often derail you (indirect statement, gerundive of obligation, impersonal passives, subjunctive in subordinate clauses) and drill each until you can identify it on sight
Mark quantities on every finite verb form you meet so that ambiguity in indirect statement becomes mechanical rather than guesswork
Your checkpoint
A 400-word annotated translation of one unseen prose passage with a margin note identifying the construction behind every subordinate clause
Translation of unseen Latin prose into English & Literary, stylistic and metrical commentary on Latin texts
Complete four timed unseen prose translations (25 minutes each, about 90-110 words) with no dictionary for the first ten minutes
Review each timed attempt against a model rendering and log every error under one of four headings: vocabulary, morphology, syntax, idiom
Memorise 40 high-frequency prose connectives and particles (tamen, enim, igitur, quamquam, utpote) and test yourself by cloze
Practise converting Latin participial phrases into English finite clauses so your translations read naturally rather than literally
Your checkpoint
An error log covering four timed passages, with the single most frequent error category identified and a written plan to attack it in week 3
Translation of unseen Latin verse into English & Literary, stylistic and metrical commentary on Latin texts
Scan and mark the metre of two unseen verse passages (dactylic hexameter and elegiac couplet) before translating, using elision and caesura to guide word grouping
Translate those passages into English that respects line-by-line sense units rather than Latin word order
Identify and name the rhetorical figures in each passage (alliteration, apostrophe, hyperbaton, enjambment) and explain in one sentence what each figure contributes
Recite aloud six lines of each passage to internalise the rhythm and check your scansion by ear
Your checkpoint
A scansion-and-translation sheet for one unseen verse passage: full metrical markings, a literal rendering, and a polished English version
Translation of unseen Latin verse into English & Prescribed Latin verse text: translation and analysis
Complete three timed unseen verse translations (30 minutes each) and compare your renderings with a model, logging metrical and lexical errors separately
Read the whole prescribed verse set in Latin twice, once for sense and once marking every word whose form you cannot instantly explain
Build a vocabulary list of every prescribed verse word you marked, grouped by frequency, and learn the top 50
Draft a one-paragraph summary of each prescribed poem's argument and tone in your own words
Your checkpoint
A complete prescribed-verse vocabulary list with the 50 highest-frequency items learned and self-tested at 90 percent accuracy or better
Prescribed Latin verse text: translation and analysis & Literary, stylistic and metrical commentary on Latin texts
Scan every line of the prescribed verse set and mark caesurae, diaereses and any metrical effects that reinforce sense (spondaic lines, elision at emotional peaks)
Write analytical notes on at least eight passages covering diction, sound, imagery and structure, each note making a claim and supporting it with a quoted Latin phrase
Translate the prescribed verse set into English twice: once literal for accuracy, once literary for register, and compare the two
Memorise six short Latin quotations suitable for use as evidence in an essay
Your checkpoint
A scanned and annotated copy of the full prescribed verse set plus eight analytical paragraphs, each with a quotation and a metrical observation
Prescribed Latin prose text: translation and analysis & Historical, cultural and intertextual context of prescribed texts
Translate the prescribed prose set in sections, checking each against a commentary and recording every construction you missed
Map the historical and political background of the prescribed prose text onto specific passages, noting where context changes the interpretation
Identify intertextual echoes between the prescribed prose and other authors you have read, and write a sentence explaining each echo's effect
Draft four essay-style paragraphs that combine translation accuracy, stylistic analysis and contextual argument
Your checkpoint
A context-and-intertextuality table listing at least ten passages from the prescribed prose set with the historical or literary background needed to interpret each
Prescribed Latin verse text: translation and analysis & Prescribed Latin prose text: translation and analysis
Write two full essay responses under exam timing (40 minutes each), one on the verse set and one on the prose set, each quoting Latin accurately from memory
Self-mark both essays against the criteria of translation accuracy, analysis of style, use of evidence and contextual awareness, and rewrite the weakest section of each
Reread both prescribed sets in Latin and translate any passage cold that you have not yet tested yourself on
Consolidate the quotation bank to twelve items, six verse and six prose, each with a one-line explanation of its significance
Your checkpoint
Two timed essays with written self-assessment and revised versions of the weakest paragraph in each
Translation of unseen Latin prose into English & Translation of unseen Latin verse into English & Prescribed Latin verse text: translation and analysis & Prescribed Latin prose text: translation and analysis
Sit two full mock papers under exam conditions, mixing unseen prose, unseen verse and prescribed-text questions in the real proportions
Review every mock error and re-translate the three sentences that cost the most marks
Recite and re-scan the prescribed verse set one final time, checking the six memorised verse quotations and six prose quotations
Write a one-page exam-day routine covering time allocation, the order in which you will attempt sections, and a checklist for checking translations
Your checkpoint
Two completed mock papers with a mark estimate per section and a one-page exam-day routine
Milestones
Week 4: Translate a 100-word unseen prose passage and a 12-line unseen verse passage cold, scoring at least 70 percent on sense and construction accuracy against a model
Week 6: Translate any 15 consecutive lines of the prescribed verse set and any 120 words of the prescribed prose set at sight, with no more than three lexical errors
Week 8: Score at least 75 percent overall on a full mock paper, with no section below 65 percent