Latin Speech

Intro

Once, a Trojan hero known as Aeneas described the Trojan war as something in which ‘no

man could ever speak such things and not weep’

. Now, what about it makes it so significant

to him and how on earth could this relate to the founding of Rome? Hello, I am Thaisa, and

in this assembly I will tell you the answers to these questions as well as any others you may

have about Latin. I hope this will highlight to you how this is the best route for ambitious

young individuals like yourselves.

P1

One thing we will learn during the course of the history of Rome. It all started when 3

goddesses offered Paris, the Prince of Troy, a few rewards in return for a golden apple. Hera

offered him power and dominion, Athena offered wisdom and glory while Aphrodite offered

the Queen of Sparta, Helen. Paris chose the fairest of the goddesses: Aphrodite, the

goddess of beauty. Thus, Helen was abducted from Sparta and after refusing to return her to

King Menelaus, he sparked the Trojan War- which would have lasting effects to this day.

During the end of this war, young Aeneas escaped Troy and founded Alba Longa, where the

founders of Rome, Romulus and Remus, would be born. The Trojan War and the

subsequent founding of Rome would have a significant knock on effect on the rest of the

world, and the OCR spec explores this in depth.

P2

The spec will also explore the arts in depth. For example, once you choose latin, we will look

at several poems. The Aeneid by Publius Virgilius Maro (also known as just Virgil) explains

the story of Aeneas once he leaves Troy. He is described as someone who ‘showed the face

of hope and kept misery deep in his heart’

, where he is repeatedly shown to be a good

leader. Poems such as the Aeneid poems as well as other poems studied, for example,

Catullus 50, show an emotional aspect of history and allow you to learn it further in depth.

P3

As inquisitive and ambitious young individuals, you would surely be picking subjects based

on their benefit to you in the future. Well, did you know that data from the Cambridge

Schools Classics Project suggests that 97% of the candidates taking the examining body

OCR’s Latin GCSE are in the top third of the national ability range? This means that if you

take Latin, you will be among the most historically educated individuals in the U.K, including

the link between your country and the Romans. Did you know that it was actually Brutus of

Troy who founded London, according to medieval British chronicles? Brutus, a

great-grandson of Aeneas, migrated with his followers to Britain and founded ‘New

Troy’

...London.

P4

By picking Latin, you will also engage with learning about powerful and idyllic leaders; for

example, Brutus of Troy. In Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia Regum Britanniae (12th

century) once he arrives in Britain, he says ‘Here I am to found the new Troy, and this land

shall be called Britain after my name.

’ Not only does this show him as a noble, visionary

leader, it also shows the importance of this domino effect- a chain reaction from the Trojan

War to where you are today, living in Britain, a land which wouldn’t exist without the Trojan

War. Therefore, you shouldn’t take Latin solely to learn about the Romans’ language, history

and culture, but to learn about you and why you’re here today, in your country and your

home

Call to Action

I hope this assembly helped clarify some things about GCSE Latin and why it is the perfect

subject for you. After you leave, why don’t you sign up for my longer seminar about the

course? Trish is at the door, and she will take your name as you leave. Thank you so much

for listening and I hope you have a good rest of your day.

How did you match the topic to the audience

-The audience are Year 9 students.

-The topic flowed like a story, which made it more interesting to follow. This is because the audience are unlikely to engage otherwise.

-Less depth in order to keep them engaged and focused on the goal- picking Latin GCSE.

How did you match your presentation (visual aids, delivery, pace, content) to the audience

-The audience is a small group of students

-Visual aids are clean, plain and simple as to not overwhelm the audience.

-Personable yet formal- gets the point across but is also relatable.

-Slightly fast paced to engage but too much that they can’t absorb it too much that they can’t absorb it.

-Teenage friendly but educational- cut out gore.

-Imagined being behind a podium, speaking as if I was presenting a formal assembly.

How did you match your vocabulary to the audience

-Used simpler vocabulary and shorter sentences, not overly detailed.

-Formal, lack of slang in order to provide the atmosphere necessary for an assembly, as well as my role.

-Repetition, emphasises the point which may be missed by young students otherwise.

Explain the techniques required for organising material including those presented: p1

Once I had done my research, the next stage was to organise my materials.

I reflected on my materials, this

• allowed themes to emerge by putting it all into a mindmap

• Find a logical structure

• Select material which follows that logic by using subheadings

Explain the techniques required for organising material including those presented: p2

I evaluated my materials by

• ranking materials from weakest to strongest using numbering

• Prioritising information that supports my theme by doing in-depth research by doing in-depth research on certain themes. For example, Aeneas.

Explain the techniques required for organising material including those presented p2

Then I looked at my structure and chose which materials I needed for

• Introduction: engaging, hooked my audience

• Main body: 4 paragraphs

• Call to action: I’m really passionate about the benefits of learning Latin- esp. used in careers such as law.

Explain the techniques required for organising material including those presented: (Summary)

• Did research on my original themes

• I realised some were irrelevant to the speech, while focusing on those which were more relevant to the Trojan War.

• Therefore, I emitted some topics and organised everything into an A3 sheet.