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  • Q: What changes has the NLE made to the content of their exams?
    A: The National Latin Exam has been made aware of several ways we can improve our question writing to reflect the diverse populations of students taking the exam. Some ways we can “change” an existing question:

    • Naming female characters as often as we name male characters

    • Expanding the roles and activities of women, while still maintaining cultural authenticity (i.e. Roman women did more than shop for dresses!)

    • While acknowledging that slavery did exist in ancient times, and that warfare and conquest were part of the history of ancient Rome, balancing questions that include references to slavery and warfare with the many other culturally authentic activities of the Romans, as well as including non-Roman views of the Romans

    • Avoiding portrayals of rape in mythology and avoiding euphemisms of rape (i.e. referring to Jupiter as “appearing” to Leda  or to Apollo’s “love“ of Daphne).

VERY IMPORTANT: we do not believe the above topics should never be addressed –  on the contrary, teachers play crucial roles in leading classroom discussions. However, these topics are not suitable as “one-off” questions students may encounter on an exam.