Academic testing will take place on Friday night. All delegates are required to take a minimum of one test and a maximum of two. Delegates must compete in the level of Latin in which they are currently enrolled. There are six divisions for academic testing awards: MS 1, MS Advanced, HS 1, HS 2, HS 3, HS Advanced. MS 1 and HS 1 are open only to those students who began Latin in September, 1997. All students who have completed Latin 3 must compete in HS Advanced.

Testing will follow the NJCL format this year. With the exception of grammar and reading comprehension, all levels will use the same test with questions evenly distributed among the levels. Grammar will have two tests (MS/HS 1, HS 2-HS Advanced). Reading comprehension is divided into three tests: MS/HS 1, HS 2, HS 3-HS Advanced. No delegate will be admitted 15 minutes after the testing has begun, and no delegate will be allowed to leave the testing area until 15 minutes of testing time has passed. Each delegate must take AT LEAST ONE TEST during the convention. Please refer to the revised guidelines for the academic tests which were sent to all sponsors in September, 1997.

The following are the nine academic tests to be given at convention.

The sources listed below are suggested sources and are not to be considered definite.

1. Daily Life-Private Life of the Romans, by Harold W. Johnston, revised by Mary Johnston, 1972 reprint; Roman Life, by Mary Johnston.
2. Derivatives-Latin-English Derivative Dictionary, (B102/$2.85) by Rudolf Schaeffer, Ph.D., available from the Teaching Materials and Resource Center, The American Classical League, Oxford, OH 45056-1694.
3. Grammar- Any grammar, but especially Allen and Greenough's New Latin Grammar.
4. History- A History of Rome, by M. Cary and H.H. Scullard.
5. Mottoes, Quotes and Abbreviations- Use all possible sources, especially famous authors and dictionaries.
6. Mythology- Classical Mythology, by Mark Morford and Robert Lenardon; Meridian Handbook of Classical Mythology, by Edward Tripp.
7. Academic Pentathlon- Five sections, each with 20 questions from mythology, Roman history and life, grammar, vocabulary, and derivatives.
8. Reading Comprehension- students must know all vocabulary and uses of language in accordance with their current level of Latin.
9. Latin Vocabulary- Latin Word Building and Etymology, by J.D. Sadler (J6/ $1.35): Latin Word Lists, by Donald J. Brunel (B101/ $3.95) both available from Teaching Materials and Resource Center, The American Classical League, Oxford, OH, 45056-1694. Please also refer to the CJCL Academic Test Master Vocabulary List sent to all sponsors.

Dramatic Interpretation

Participants must memorize their passages. The head judge may prompt at his/her discretion. In this contest, costumes, props or an English introduction are not necessary. There is no point deduction for a false start no longer than one line.

Contestants should make sure their movements and gestures are appropriate to the content of the presentation. It is highly recommended that the student's presentation be heard and approved beforehand. A carefully memorized selection is a sine qua non. Students and advisors are reminded that a poem (advanced poetry level only) must be recited in the appropriate meter, including elisions.

Presentation will be judged on the criteria listed below. The numbers listed in the parentheses represent the point value which will be used in judging the advanced poetry entries.

The National Committee selects the passages to be memorized and publishes them in the January edition of JCL Highlights. Menlo School will request early copies and will mail them to all chapters.
 

Judging Criteria	Points
1. Memorization	25 (25)
2. Character Portrayal & Depth	20 (20)
3. Pronunciation	20 (15)
4. Enunciation	10 (5)
5. Voice Control and Eye Contact	10 (10)
6. Natural Gestures and Appropriate Movement	10 (10)
7. Phraseology	5 (5)
8. Scansion (Advanced poetry level only)	0 (10)
Total	100 (100)

English Oratory

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The student may use a prompter of his own but no cue cards; judges, timers, and/or registrars will not serve as prompters. The student's oration should be three minutes in length; a contestant will be penalized 5 points if his speech is less than 2 minutes 45 seconds or more than 3 minutes 15 seconds in length (including introduction). Participants in English Oratory are requested to have memorized their passages thoroughly prior to their attendance at the convention. Passages must be in a style similar to a classic oration and must be related to the theme of the convention, "Patria...communis est parens omnium nostrum".
 

Judging Criteria	Points
1. Topic (use of themes and classics)	10
2. Introduction	5
3. Interpretation	20
4. Originality	10
5. Memorization	20
6. Flexibility and Control	10
7. Audience Contact	10
8. Conclusion	5
9. Total Effectiveness	10
Total	100

Latin Oratory

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Participants in the Latin Oratory Contest must memorize their passages thoroughly before convention. The head judge may prompt at his/her discretion. In this contest, costume, props and an English introduction are not necessary. A false start no longer than one line will be allowed without point deduction. The National Committee selects the passages to be memorized and publishes them in the January edition of JCL Highlights. Menlo School will request early copies and will mail them to all chapters.
 

Judging Criteria	Points
1. Memorization	25
2. Pronunciation	15
3. Audience Contact	15
4. Natural Gestures and Oratorical Style	15
5. Enunciation and Voice Control	15
6. Phraseology and Interpretation of Passage	15
Total	100

Sight Latin Reading

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Contestants will be given a brief selection in Latin appropriate to the year of study. They will be given a fifteen-minute preparation period in which a dictionary, provided by the contestants themselves, may be used. Macrons will be provided on the selections to indicate long vowels. The student may make notes on the selections; no other scrap paper is allowed. However, at the conclusion of the preparation period the passages and dictionaries will be collected; the contestants will be given an unmarked passage to use as they give their presentations before the judges. The students will be expected to read the passage aloud in Latin.

Each contestant will be judged using a rating of 1-5 for confidence, continuity, phrasing, word accent, vowel quality, vowel length, consonant quality, double consonants, elisions (poetry only), and scansion (poetry only). Classical, Liturgical, and Restored pronunciations are acceptable, but the contestant must inform the judges before performing if using Liturgical or Restored pronunciation.

Sight Reading Judging Criteria: A Definition of Terms:

1. confidence: This criterion measures the reader's comprehension of the text, as evidenced by using an appropriate intonation pattern, pauses in suitable places, and other indications of understanding.
2. continuity: This criterion evaluates the reader's ability to make the language flow, reading syllable-by-syllable earns a 1; word-by-word perhaps a 2 or 3; a smooth continuous reading of the "whole" text, a 5.
3. phrasing: This criterion shows the reader's recognition of word relationships - adjectives said with their nouns, conjunctions and prepositions linked to the word groups they control.
4. vowel length: A difficult quality to evaluate, vowel length is simply that - how long a vowel is held: e.g., in the word bee´per said in ordinary English, the first vowel sound is long, the second is short.
5. vowel quality: This measure checks the consistency with which a reader assigns a particular sound to a graphic vowel symbol: e.g., veni = "way-nee" not "wee-nee" Be careful here to credit liturgical and restored variations.
6. consonant quality: This measurement evaluates a reader's consistency in pronouncing consonants appropriately, as #5 does for vowels: for instance, v = w and c = k in classical pronunciation, but v = v and c = ch before i and e in liturgical. It is generally not required that the r be trilled or tapped, but those readers who have mastered this sound should certainly be credited for its production. Accept either the pronunciation or omission of initial h as long as there is consistency.
7. double consonants: Evaluating this quality requires careful listening-in words with a double consonant, good pronunciation requires that both be sounded: cur-ro vs. cu-ro. It is often difficult to hear the distinction, especially with liquids like l and r.
8. word accent: This quality shows a reader's consistency in placing the stress within a word properly, as in Èrat, not er·t. Contrast this criterion with #3, which places the stress (usually shown by pitch) within a group of words, and #1, which provides a tonal contour for the whole sentence or passage.

9. elision: This criterion measures the student's recognition of regularly omitted vowels in scanned poetry. In general practice, the first two vowels in a sequence at word junctures is omitted-e.g., puella amica puell'amica; similarly, the final -um is often omitted if the following word begins with a vowel-e.g., magnum in bellum magn'in bellum.
10.  scansion: This quality marks the pattern of long and short syllables determined not only by macrons and diphthongs, but also by position: a syllable generally is long if followed by two consonants, especially if the second one is in the next word-e.g., the vowel of sed is usually short, but the syllable becomes long by position in Sed Paulus mansit.