Answering a Context Question

How to answer a classics context question

Exam board: OCRTopic: The OdysseyCategory: Exam Technique

Objectives:

Understand how to structure the answer to each sub-question Successfully manage timings for each sub-question Investigate how each sub-question is marked Plan and answer your own context question

What is a context question?

In the classical literature sections of this qualification (The Odyssey and The Aeneid) you will be required to answer two questions: essay and context. This presentation focuses on the latter. NB all examples here will be aimed at students currently studying the Odyssey, although the Aeneid formula is the same.The context question: is worth 55 marks should take 45 minutes is split into 3 sub-questions worth 10, 20 and 25 marks respectively If you struggle with timings in your exam it is recommended that you do the context question after your essay.

Decisions, decisions...

In your exam you will be presented with two possible context questions: you only have to answer one! When deciding between them it is important to pick whichever you will feel most comfortable or most enthusiastic to answer.Each context question will contain a passage from the Odyssey with the three sub-questions underneath. Only one of these questions will be entirely directly to do with the passage, so when making your decision I recommend looking at the part c) sub-question. This is the 25 mark question (the most important) so it is vital that you feel able to answer it.DO NOT read through both entire passages to make your decision! This will waste valuable exam time. Skim-read if you must but don't take more than a minute pondering your options - believe me this is not the be all and end all!

Section A: Commentary Questions Answer either Question 1 or Question 21 Read the passage and answer the questions The layout of a context question.

The Passage

Now that you've made your decision you can begin to look at the passage in more detail. It is really up to you how much; I prefer to read through the entire passage before I look at the questions; some of my classmates prefer to read the questions first; some just skim-read the passage before moving on to the questions; this one is really up to you!What I will say is definitely make sure you at least skim-read the passage. It is very easy to ignore it, but the first question will indirectly ask you to use it (see next slide) and having an understanding of its basic idea makes it easier for you to answer the questions quickly.My teacher is also fond of pointing out that, by reading the passage before the questions, you can begin to form an idea of potential topics. This will warm your brain up nicely and help organise your thoughts prior to answering the questions. Left: an example passage from a context question

WIth this, Noemon went back to his father's house, leaving two proud lords appalled and furious. They made the rest leave their games and sit down together, while Antinous, Eupeithes' son, held forth and gave vent to his fury. His heart was seething with black passion, and his eyes were like points of flame.'Damnation take it!' he cried out. 'What coup Telemachus has had the audacity to bring off - this expedition that we swore would come to nothing. With all of us against him, the young puppy calmly sets out, after picking the best men in the place and getting them to launch a ship for him! He is going to give us still  trouble. I hope Zeus clips his wings before he reaches manhood! However, give me a fast ship and a crew of twenty, and I'll lie up for him in the straits between Ithaca and the bluffs of Samos, and catch him on his way. And a grim ending there'll be to this sea-trip of his in search of his father!' The others welcomed the scheme and told him to carry it out. They then got up and moved off to the palace.Before long Penelope heard about the plot her suitors were hatching. ...She said: 'Oh how I hate their pursuit of me and the way they swarm around!They'd never feast here again, if I could stop them.Yes, the whole gang of you that come here day by day, fleecing us of our livelihood, my prudent son's inheritance.

The Questions

As mentioned before there are three parts to a context question:(a) Asks you to place the passage in context of the rest of the Odyssey(b) Asks you to analyse the details of the passage based on either a particular character or theme(c) Asks you to use information in the passage to analyse a character or theme throughout the rest of the OdysseyAgain it is up to you which order you choose to answer these sub-questions in. My teacher always recommends starting with part (c) because it is worth the most marks. Personally it really bothers me if I don't go in chronological order...but that's not necessarily a good idea! That being said I will show you how to answer each question in order, just because it's easier to see the layout.Left: the questions accompanying the passage on the previous slide

(a) What did Telemachus learn about Odysseus at Menelaus' palace?(b) What impression of Antinous and the other suitors does Homer give in this passage? How vivid do you feel the impression is? In your answer you should include discussion of what they say and how they are described.You are reminded that marks are awarded for the quality of written communication of your answer.(c) ' The suitors deserved their punishment.' Using this passage as a starting point, explain how far you agree with this statement. In your answer you should consider both this passage and the rest of the poem.You are reminded that marks are awarded for the quality of written communication of your answer.

Part (a)

Part (a): is worth 10 marks should take you about 7 minutes (specific I know!) needs specific knowledge of  the poem The first question will always ask you about previous events in the poem. This is so the examiner can tell whether or not you really know the text. Here you have a couple of options: make five points with extremely specific detail or make ten relatively specific points. Personally I find the latter easier, as I can always remember general events but struggle with direct quotes.On the next slide is an example of an answer to part (a). Give it a mark out of ten, then go to the next slide to see how your opinion compares to an examiner's.

Part (a) Example 1

Question What did Telemachus learn about Odysseus at Menelaus' palace?Marking (A01):9/10: very good range of detailed factual knowledge, fully relevant to question, well-supported with evidence & reference where required, very good awareness of context7/8: good range of detailed factual knowledge, mostly relevant to question, mostly supported with evidence & reference where required, good awareness of context5/6: range of basic factual knowledge, partially relevant to question, partially supported with evidence & reference where required, some awareness of context 

Answer:Telemachus learns from Helen that Odysseus cleverly disguised himself as a beggar and snuck into Troy. She bathed him there before he left with information about Trojan battle plans, killing some enemy soldiers on his way back to the Achaean camp.Menelaus hints that Telemachus is the spitting image of his father, Odysseus. He also has information regarding Odysseus' whereabouts; the Old Man of the Sea told Menelaus he saw Odysseus on the nymph Calypso's island, tears streaming down his face, being held captive without a ship or crew to help him leave.

Marking:Telemachus learns from Helen that Odysseus cleverly disguised himself as a beggar and snuck into Troy. She bathed him there before he left with information about Trojan battle plans, killing some enemy soldiers on his way back to the Achaean camp.Menelaus hints that Telemachus is the spitting image of his father, Odysseus. He also has information regarding Odysseus' whereabouts; the Old Man of the Sea told Menelaus he saw Odysseus on the nymph Calypso's island, tears streaming down his face, being held captive without a ship or crew to help him leave.

EventDetailAs you can see, in this answer there are five events and five details. The furthest was taken from about 600 lines back in the previous book (any further than that is too far). This shows there is a very good range of detailed factual knowledge. It is also fully relevant to the question and displays good understanding of context. There is not much scope for evidence in this question, but including the book number in your answer could get you that extra mark, which this answer does not include. The candidate could also have included Menelaus' story about Odysseus in the wooden horse to get full marks for this question.Overall the answer was given 9/10 marks. 

Part (b)

Part (b): is worth 20 marks should take 20 minutes needs you to analyse the section of the poem given to you The second question will always ask you about specific characters, themes or events in the given passage. Occasionally one might ask you to put this in context with the rest of the poem, but rarely.Here you need to analyse the poem quickly and concisely as you have a tight time limit. Save the long, detailed explanations for your essay! That being said you do need to include enough detail that the examiner knows what you are talking about - assume they know absolutely nothing about the text. The writing in bold basically means that your sentences should make sense; your grammar and spelling should be correct and you should use varied sentence structures to make your response engaging.On the next slide is an example answer to part (b). Give it a mark out of ten, then go to the next slide and see how your opinion compares to an examiner's.

Part (b) Example 1

Question:What impression of Antinous and the other suitors does Homer give in this passage? How vivid do you feel the impression is? In your answer you should include discussion of what they say and how they are described.You are reminded that marks are awarded for the quality of written communication of your answer.Answer:Early in the passage Homer states that Antinuous (and Eurymachus) "made the rest" abandon their activities to listen to them. This highlights those two as particular bullies - forcing the others to listen - but also demonstrates the spineless characters of the other suitors to let themselves be bullied in this way.At this point Antinuous himself is described as "seething with black passion" - extremely vivid description here; "seething" produces a clear image of someone so angry they are about to boil over like water in a saucepan. The use of the word "black" again reiterates his unpleasant nature as the colour is generally associated with evil or fear.

Near the start of his tirade in the middle of the passage Antinuous refers to Telemachus as a "young puppy". This is extremely rude and patronising, behaviour made worse by the fact that Telemachus is his host - it is completely against the rules of xenia for Antinuous to insult his host in this way, demonstrating both his ignorance and his arrogance.A more murderous side of Antinuous is revealed when he says (regarding Telemachus) "I hope Zeus clips his wings". This sends a clear message that Antinuous wants Telemachus dead; Homers vivid imagery of wings being clipped brings the scene of Icarus falling to his doom to mind.Regarding the suitors as a whole, Penelope describes them first as a "swarm". Here Homer's vivid imagery conjures a picture of an insect/pest infestation, highlighting the suitor's collective persistence and lack of courtesy.

Marking (A01):9/10: very good range of detailed factual knowledge, fully relevant to question, well-supported with evidence & reference where required, very good awareness of context7/8: good range of detailed factual knowledge, mostly relevant to question, mostly supported with evidence & reference where required, good awareness of context5/6: range of basic factual knowledge, partially relevant to question, partially supported with evidence & reference where required, some awareness of context 

Marking (A02):9/10: Thorough analysis of evidence, perceptive evaluation, well-structured response, developed  argument, fluent and effective idea communication, accurately written using specialist terms7/8: Good analysis of evidence, sound evaluation, well structured response with clear argument, mostly fluent and effective idea communication, accurately written using specialist terms5/6: Some analysis of evidence, some evaluation and engagement with task, structured response, underdeveloped argument, generally effective idea communication, generally accurately written with some specialist terms

A01 Mark: 7/10Here the candidate has focussed too much on Antinous and largely ignored the other suitors thus they do not have a very good range of factual knowledge. However the knowledge presented is detailed and mostly relevant to the question (although the Icarus comparison seems a little tangential). All points are supported with evidence from the passage and there is good understanding of context. It would have been nice to see a concluding paragraph as the response is stopped suddenly.

Looking at the examiner's comments it is quite clear how this person could write a better response.It is really important that you cover all bases of the question to get into the top A bracket which is where most of the marks have been lost here.The comment about the seemingly irrelevant Icarus comparison did not lose the candidate any marks, so it is worth noting that personal responses are acceptable as long as you can prove they are relevant by using evidence from the passage. As for the conclusion not every examiner will expect to see one, but it is a god idea to include just a sentence or two to summaries your argument as this could get you marks for structure.