Normally I wouldn't put family news in this blog, but this relevant item appeared in my daughters' school newsletter:
2010 National Mythology ExaminationEarlier this year, over 100 students in Years 4–10 participated in the 20th annual National Mythology Examination, along with over 10,000 others from the USA, Canada and Australia. This exam tested knowledge about Greek and Roman classical myths as well as Virgil’s Aeneid. Their outstanding results have been worth the wait...
What a brilliant idea! I'd never heard of it before. The National Mythology Exam is the brainchild of the American Classical League, whose motto is Excellence Through Classics. Their stated goal is to promote classics in elementary and middle schools, and introductory classics courses.
The school's results were indeed outstanding, but I won't repeat it all except for this bit at the end:
The talented students in Years 4–7 deserve special congratulations, because they participated quite voluntarily in the examination, giving up their own free time to study for it.Most commendably, seven of these students gained a perfect score: Catriona Corby ...
I'd give the names of the other six with perfect scores except I don't have parent permission. I had no idea Catriona was doing this until she brought home the material to read. She did all the study on her own. So now you know my excuse for writing the post: I'm being a proud daddy.
And seriously, this means there are 10,000 kids out there who've read some classics, who otherwise might never have seen them. Top marks to the Classical League.
12 comments:
Awesome!! Congratulations to her!
That's totally cool! I didn't know such a test existed, but your daughter should be totally proud.
Wow. Congrats to Catriona. Do you run any mythological references in your books by her?
What RWMG said. How great for you to have an expert consultant right there in your own house. Congratulations to Catriona! (And what a beautiful name! Is she relieved, given your historical inclinations, not to be named Clytemnestra or Automedusa?)
(And, totally irrelevant, Automedusa? What? She turned herself to stone?)
Catriona says to say thank you all! (But is a bit too shy to say it herself.)
To answer the questions:
I wanted to call one of the girls Cassandra, but was vetoed when my wife Helen (so appropriately named) discovered that Cassandra was cursed always to tell the truth but never to be believed. Alas, now I shall have to wait for granddaughters and then apply pressure.
Our younger daughter by the way is Megan. There's no loss of privacy in revealing their names since the whole world can read them on the acknowledgements page come October.
Catriona has never worked on mythological allusions, but has indeed helped with the books. In Pericles Commission she rebalanced a few of my sentences she didn't like. ("Daddy, you got that sentence wrong. It should be like this...") The catalog copy of The Pericles Commission -- that's the description of the book in the publisher's catalog -- was written by Catriona and me together.
How very cool! I wish we had had something like that here when I was in school-- I would have been all over it :)
Congrats to Catriona.
Congratulations to Catriona! It must be in the genes. :)
Thanks L.T. & Susan.
Since the Mythology Exam originates in America, I would have thought many more Americans were doing it, but it seems even people who are interested in classics haven't necessarily heard of this?
Then who are the 10,000 registered?
Congratulations, Catriona! That's truly a feat.
And I have a dilemma: do I name a character Cassandra or Catriona, or save the names for any future children? Ah, well, I've got plenty of time to decide on the second one.
Congratulations Catriona.
Thank you, Auntie Leonie!
Rachel, naming characters is almost as fraught as naming children, except you get to do it more often. Unless you have an extraordinarily large family, that is.
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